This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

68661 

Vol. 74, No. 248 

Tuesday, December 29, 2009 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Parts 100 and 106 

[Notice 2009–30] 

Funds Received in Response to 

Solicitations; Allocation of Expenses 

by Separate Segregated Funds and 

Nonconnected Committees 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Interim final rule. 

SUMMARY: The United States District 

Court for the District of Columbia 

ordered that the Federal Election 

Commission’s (‘‘Commission’’) rules 

regarding funds received in response to 

solicitations and the allocation of 

certain expenses by separate segregated 

funds and nonconnected committees are 

vacated. The Commission is inserting a 

note to these regulations that reflects the 

court’s decision. The Commission will 

engage in a separate notice of 

rulemaking to remove these rules from 

the Code of Federal Regulations. Further 

information is provided in the 

supplementary information that follows. 

DATES: The interim final rule is effective 

on December 29, 2009. Comments must 

be received on or before January 28, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: All comments must be in 

writing, must be addressed to Mr. 

Robert M. Knop, Assistant General 

Counsel, and must be submitted in 

either e-mail, facsimile, or paper copy 

form. Commenters are strongly 

encouraged to submit comments by email to ensure timely receipt and 

consideration. E-mail comments must 

be sent to ifrnote@fec.gov. If e-mail 

comments include an attachment, the 

attachment must be in either Adobe 

Acrobat (.pdf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) 

format. Faxed comments must be sent to 

(202) 219–3923, with paper copy followup. Paper comments and paper copy 

follow-up of faxed comments must be 

sent to the Federal Election 

Commission, 999 E Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20463. All comments 

must include the full name and postal 

service address of the commenter or 

they will not be considered. The 

Commission will post all comments on 

its Web site after the comment period 

ends. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Robert M. Knop, Assistant General 

Counsel, or Mr. Neven F. Stipanovic, 

Attorney, 999 E Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694–1650 

or (800) 424–9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

September 18, 2009, the United States 

Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit 

(‘‘DC Circuit Court’’) ruled that 11 CFR 

100.57, 106.6(c), and 106.6(f) violated 

the First Amendment of the United 

States Constitution. See EMILY’s List v. 

FEC, 581 F.3d 1 (DC Cir. 2009). The 

court also ruled that 11 CFR 100.57 and 

106.6(f), as well as one provision of 

106.6(c), exceeded the Commission’s 

authority under the Federal Election 

Campaign Act (‘‘Act’’). See id. At the 

direction of the DC Circuit Court, the 

United States District Court for the 

District of Columbia ordered that these 

rules are vacated. See Final Order, 

EMILY’s List v. FEC, No. 05–0049 (D.DC 

Nov. 30, 2009). The Commission is now 

inserting a note to 11 CFR 100.57, 

106.6(c), and 106.6(f) that reflects this 

court order. 

The Commission will issue a separate 

notice of rulemaking document to 

implement the court’s order vacating 11 

CFR 100.57, 106.6(c), and 106.6(f) from 

the regulations pursuant to the EMILY’s 

List decision. The Commission is first 

inserting a note to give the public 

immediate guidance that these 

provisions were vacated by court order 

while the Commission completes the 

rulemaking process of implementing the 

EMILY’s List decision. 

Administrative Procedure Act 

The Commission is issuing this rule 

as an interim final rule. This interim 

final rule will take effect immediately 

upon publication in the Federal 

Register. The public nonetheless may 

comment on this interim final rule and 

the Commission may address any 

comments received in a later 

rulemaking document. 

The Administrative Procedure Act 

(‘‘APA’’) requires an agency 

promulgating regulations to publish a 

notice of a proposed rulemaking in the 

Federal Register. 5 U.S.C. 553(b). The 

notice and comment requirement does 

not apply, however, ‘‘when the agency 

for good cause finds (and incorporates 

the finding and a brief statement of 

reasons therefore in the rules issued) 

that notice and public procedure 

thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, 

or contrary to the public interest.’’ 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B). The notice and 

comment requirement in this case is 

unnecessary because the Commission 

action is merely to insert language 

reciting the fact that the DC District 

Court has ordered that the 

aforementioned regulations are vacated. 

The result of the court’s order is that 

neither public notice nor a comment 

period is likely to benefit the 

Commission in this rulemaking. This 

interim final rule is merely an 

informational amendment indicating 

that a court has issued an order 

concerning these rules. 

Moreover, the notice and comment 

period may be contrary to the public 

interest. The Commission notes that the 

2010 elections for Federal office are 

scheduled to begin as early as February 

2010, when some States begin holding 

their primary elections. The State of 

Illinois, for example, will hold its 2010 

primary election on February 2, 2010. 

See http://www.elections.il.gov/ 

Votinginformation/2010GPGE.aspx. It is 

urgent, therefore, to give immediate 

notice to the public that these rules have 

been vacated by court order. The 

additional delay that would be incurred 

by providing notice and an opportunity 

to comment could be contrary to the 

public interest. 

For the same reasons, this interim 

final rule is not subject to the APA’s 

thirty day delayed effective date 

requirement under the ‘‘good cause’’ 

exemption to the delayed effective date 

requirement. 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Because this interim final rule is 

exempt from the notice and comment 

procedure under 5 U.S.C. 553(b), the 

Commission is not required to conduct 

a regulatory flexibility analysis under 5 

U.S.C. 603 and 604 (Regulatory 

Flexibility Act). See 5 U.S.C. 601(2) and 

604(a). 


cprice-sewell on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with RULES
68662 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 29, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

List of Subjects 

11 CFR Part 100 

Elections. 

11 CFR Part 106 

Campaign funds, Political committees 

and parties, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, the Commission is amending 

Subchapter A of Chapter I of Title 11 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations as 

follows: 

PART 100—SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS 

(2 U.S.C. 431) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 100 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 2 U.S.C. 431, 434, 438(a)(8), 

and 439a(c). 

■ 2. Section 100.57 is amended by 

adding a note to read as follows: 

§ 100.57 Funds received in response to 

solicitations. 

* * * * * 

Note to § 100.57: On November 30, 2009, 

the United States District Court for the 

District of Columbia ordered that § 100.57 is 

vacated. See Final Order, EMILY’s List v. 

FEC, No. 05–0049 (D.D.C. Nov. 30, 2009). 

PART 106—ALLOCATIONS OF 

CANDIDATE AND COMMITTEE 

ACTIVITIES 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 106 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 2 U.S.C. 438(a)(8), 441a(b), 

441a(g). 

■ 4. Section 106.6 is amended by adding 

a note to read as follows: 

§ 106.6 Allocation of expenses between 

federal and non-federal activities by 

separate segregated funds and 

nonconnected committees. 

* * * * * 

Note to 11 CFR 106.6: On November 30, 

2009, the United States District Court for the 

District of Columbia ordered that paragraphs 

(c) and (f) of § 106.6 are vacated. See Final 

Order, EMILY’s List v. FEC, No. 05–0049 

(D.D.C. Nov. 30, 2009). 

Dated: December 21, 2009. 

On behalf of the Commission, 

Steven T. Walther, 

Chairman, Federal Election Commission. 

[FR Doc. E9–30767 Filed 12–28–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

12 CFR Part 25 

[Docket ID OCC–2009–0019] 

RIN 1557–AD29 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

12 CFR Part 228 

[Regulation BB; Docket No. R–1380] 

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE 

CORPORATION 

12 CFR Part 345 

RIN 3064–AD54 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

12 CFR Part 563e 

[Docket ID OTS–2009–0022] 

RIN 1550–AC37 

Community Reinvestment Act 

Regulations 

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of 

the Currency, Treasury (OCC); Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (Board); Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Office of 

Thrift Supervision, Treasury (OTS). 

ACTION: Joint final rule; technical 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: The OCC, the Board, the 

FDIC, and the OTS (collectively, the 

‘‘agencies’’) are amending their 

Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) 

regulations to adjust the asset-size 

thresholds used to define ‘‘small bank’’ 

or ‘‘small savings association’’ and 

‘‘intermediate small bank’’ or 

‘‘intermediate small savings 

association.’’ As required by the CRA 

regulations, the adjustment to the 

threshold amount is based on the 

annual percentage change in the 

Consumer Price Index. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 1, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

OCC: Margaret Hesse, Special 

Counsel, Community and Consumer 

Law Division, (202) 874–5750; or 

Gregory Nagel or Brian Borkowicz, 

National Bank Examiners, Compliance 

Policy Division, (202) 874–4428, Office 

of the Comptroller of the Currency, 250 

E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219. 

Board: Rebecca Lassman, Supervisory 

Consumer Financial Services Analyst, 

(202) 452–3946; or Brent Lattin, 

Attorney, (202) 452–3667, Division of 

Consumer and Community Affairs, 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, 20th Street and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20551. 

FDIC: Janet R. Gordon, Senior Policy 

Analyst, Division of Supervision and 

Consumer Protection, Compliance 

Policy Branch, (202) 898–3850; or Susan 

van den Toorn, Counsel, Legal Division, 

(202) 898–8707, Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20429. 

OTS: Stephanie M. Caputo, Senior 

Compliance Program Analyst, 

Compliance and Consumer Protection, 

(202) 906–6549; or Richard Bennett, 

Senior Compliance Counsel, 

Regulations and Legislation Division, 

(202) 906–7409, Office of Thrift 

Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20552. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Description of the 

Joint Final Rule 

The agencies’ CRA regulations 

establish CRA performance standards 

for small and intermediate small banks 

and savings associations. The 

regulations define small and 

intermediate small institutions by 

reference to asset-size criteria expressed 

in dollar amounts, and they further 

require the agencies to publish annual 

adjustments to these dollar figures based 

on the year-to-year change in the 

average of the Consumer Price Index for 

Urban Wage Earners and Clerical 

Workers (CPIW), not seasonally 

adjusted, for each twelve-month period 

ending in November, with rounding to 

the nearest million. 12 CFR 25.12(u)(2), 

228.12(u)(2), 345.12(u)(2), and 

563e.12(u)(2). 

The threshold for small banks and 

small savings associations was revised 

most recently effective January 1, 2009 

(73 FR 78153 (Dec. 22, 2008)). The CRA 

regulations, as revised on December 22, 

2008, provide that banks and savings 

associations that, as of December 31 of 

either of the prior two calendar years, 

had assets of less than $1.109 billion are 

‘‘small banks’’ or ‘‘small savings 

associations.’’ Small banks and small 

savings associations with assets of at 

least $277 million as of December 31 of 

both of the prior two calendar years and 

less than $1.109 billion as of December 

31 of either of the prior two calendar 

years are ‘‘intermediate small banks’’ or 

‘‘intermediate small savings 

associations.’’ 12 CFR 25.12(u)(1), 

228.12(u)(1), 345.12(u)(1), 563e.12(u)(1). 

This joint final rule further revises these 

thresholds. 


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