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.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

70579 

Vol. 88, No. 196 

Thursday, October 12, 2023 

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS 

AUTHORITY 

5 CFR Part 2424 

Negotiability Proceedings 

Corrections 

In Rule Document C1–2023–19269, 

appearing on page 69873 in the issue of 

Tuesday, October 10, 2023, make the 

following correction: 

§ 2424.25 [Corrected]

■ 1. On page 69873, beginning in the 

first column, amendatory instruction 6

should read:

■ 6. On page 62458, in the first column, 

in the twenty-fourth line from the

bottom, ‘‘© Content.’’ should read, ‘‘(c)

Content.’’

[FR Doc. C2–2023–19269 Filed 10–11–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 0099–10–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Office of the Secretary 

7 CFR Part 2 

RIN 0503–AA78 

Delegations of Authority 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This document revises the 

delegations of authority from the 

Secretary of Agriculture and general 

officers of the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) to reflect changes 

and additions to the delegations as 

summarized below. 

DATES: Effective October 12, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melissa McClellan, Office of the General 

Counsel, (202) 720–5565, 

melissa.mcclellan@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview of Changes 

This rule amends the delegations of 

authority in 7 CFR part 2 to reflect 

changes to the organizational structure 

of the Office of Partnerships and Public 

Engagement (OPPE). This includes 

removing the delegations of authority by 

the Director, OPPE to the Director, 

Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO) 

at section 2.700, as OAO is no longer a 

separate entity within OPPE. In 

addition, this rule reflects the transfer of 

oversight of the 1994 Tribal Scholars 

Program from the Director of OPPE 

(section 2.38) to the Director of the 

Office of Tribal Relations (section 2.39) 

and the transfer of oversight of the 

Centers for Faith Based and 

Neighborhood Partnerships from the 

Director of OPPE to the Assistant 

Secretary for Congressional Relations 

(section 2.23). 

This rule also amends the delegations 

of authority to reflect the transfer of 

responsibility for USDA’s Controlled 

Unclassified Information Program from 

the Assistant Secretary for 

Administration (section 2.24) and the 

Executive Director of the Office of 

Homeland Security (section 2.95) to the 

Chief Information Officer (section 2.32). 

See Secretary’s Memorandum 1077–006 

(Nov. 2, 2022), available at https://

www.usda.gov/directives/sm-1077-006. 

Finally, this rule amends the 

delegations to the Under Secretary for 

Natural Resources and Environment 

(section 2.16) and the Chief of the Forest 

Service (section 2.60) to authorize the 

Forest Service’s Law Enforcement and 

Investigations staff to enforce and 

investigate violations of the Lacey Act, 

16 U.S.C. 3371–3378, involving timber 

and timber products. These delegations 

do not affect the existing delegations of 

authority under the Lacey Act to the 

Under Secretary for Marketing and 

Regulatory Programs and the 

Administrator of the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

Classification 

This rule relates to internal agency 

management. Accordingly, pursuant to 

5 U.S.C. 553, notice of proposed 

rulemaking and opportunity for 

comment are not required, and this rule 

may be made effective less than 30 days 

after publication in the Federal 

Register. This rule also is exempt from 

the provisions of Executive Orders 

12866 and 13771. This action is not a 

rule as defined by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, as amended by the 

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 601 et 

seq., or the Congressional Review Act, 5 

U.S.C. 801 et seq., and thus is exempt 

from the provisions of those acts. This 

rule contains no information collection 

or recordkeeping requirements under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 2 

Authority delegations (Government 

agencies). 

Accordingly, as discussed in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 2 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 2—DELEGATIONS OF 

AUTHORITY BY THE SECRETARY OF 

AGRICULTURE AND GENERAL 

OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 2 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6912(a)(1); 5 U.S.C. 

301; Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1953, 3 

CFR 1949–1953 Comp., p. 1024. 

Subpart C—Delegations of Authority to 

the Deputy Secretary, Under 

Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries 

■ 2. Amend § 2.20 by adding paragraph 

(a)(2)(xliii) to read as follows:

§ 2.20 Under Secretary for Natural

Resources and Environment.

(a) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(xliii) Enforce and conduct

investigations of violations of the Lacey 

Act, which prohibits importing or 

exporting any plant or plant product in 

interstate or foreign commerce in 

violation of any Federal, State, Tribal, or 

foreign law regulating plants or plant 

products (16 U.S.C. 3371–3378). 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 2.23 by adding paragraph 

(a)(2)(v) to read as follows:

§ 2.23 Assistant Secretary for

Congressional Relations.

(a) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(v) Oversee the Center for Faith Based

and Neighborhood Partnerships. 

* * * * * 

§ 2.24 [Amended]

■ 4. Amend § 2.24 by removing and 

reserving paragraph (a)(8)(xi).


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1
70580 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 196 / Thursday, October 12, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

Subpart D—Delegations of Authority to 

Other General Officers and Agency 

Heads 

■ 5. Amend § 2.32 by adding paragraph 

(a)(14) to read as follows: 

§ 2.32 Chief Information Officer. 

(a) * * * 

(14) Administer the Controlled 

Unclassified Information (CUI) Program 

for the Department pursuant to E.O. 

13556, ‘‘Controlled Unclassified 

Information’’ (75 FR 68675, 3 CFR, 2011 

Comp., p. 267) and 32 CFR part 2002. 

* * * * * 

§ 2.38 [Amended] 

■ 6. Amend § 2.38 by removing and 

reserving paragraphs (a)(1)(xii) and 

(a)(4). 

■ 7. Amend § 2.39 by adding paragraph 

(a)(9) to read as follows: 

§ 2.39 Director, Office of Tribal Relations. 

(a) * * * 

(9) Administer the USDA/1994 Land 

Grant Institutions (Tribal Colleges) 

Programs. 

* * * * * 

Subpart J—Delegations of Authority by 

the Under Secretary for Natural 

Resources and Environment 

■ 8. Amend § 2.60 by adding paragraph 

(a)(45) to read as follows: 

§ 2.60 Chief, Forest Service. 

(a) * * * 

(45) Enforce and conduct 

investigations of violations of the Lacey 

Act, which prohibits importing or 

exporting any plant or plant product in 

interstate or foreign commerce in 

violation of any federal, state, Tribal, or 

foreign law regulating plants or plant 

products (16 U.S.C. 3371–3378). 

* * * * * 

Subpart P—Delegations of Authority 

by the Assistant Secretary for 

Administration 

§ 2.95 [Amended] 

■ 9. Amend § 2.95 by removing and 

reserving paragraph (b)(11). 

Subpart V—Delegations of Authority 

by the Director, Office of Partnerships 

and Public Engagement 

§ 2.700 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 10. Remove and reserve § 2.700. 

The Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas 

J. Vilsack, having reviewed and 

approved this document, is delegating 

the authority to electronically sign this 

document to Mary Beth Schultz, Acting 

General Counsel, for purposes of 

publication in the Federal Register. 

Mary Beth Schultz, 

Acting General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22524 Filed 10–11–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–90–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Parts 429 and 431 

[EERE–2017–BT–STD–0048] 

RIN 1904–AF27 

Energy Conservation Program: Energy 

Conservation Standards for Dedicated 

Purpose Pool Pump Motors 

Correction 

In rule document 2023–20343, 

appearing on pages 66966 through 

67041 in the issue of Thursday, 

September 28, 2023, make the following 

correction: 

On page 66967, in Table I.1, in the 

fifth column, on the third line, 

‘‘September 28, 2025’’ should read 

‘‘September 28, 2027’’. 

[FR Doc. C1–2023–20343 Filed 10–11–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 0099–10–D 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

13 CFR Part 120 

RIN 3245–AH78 

Debt Refinancing in the 504 Loan 

Program 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: SBA is adopting with changes 

the interim final rule published in the 

Federal Register on July 29, 2021. That 

interim final rule implemented section 

328 of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit 

Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and 

Venues Act, which modified the 

requirements for refinancing debt in the 

504 Loan Program, as set forth in section 

521(a) of title V of division E of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 

and section 502(7) of the Small Business 

Investment Act of 1958. The 

modifications included: increasing the 

amount of existing indebtedness that 

may be refinanced for 504 debt 

refinancing involving expansions; and 

for 504 debt refinancing not involving 

expansions, removing two limitations 

on the program, reinstating an alternate 

job retention standard for the 

refinancing project, revising the 

definition of qualified debt, and 

removing the prohibition against 

Certified Development Companies 

(CDCs) participating in the Premier 

Certified Lenders Program using their 

delegated authority to make these loans. 

DATES: The effective date of this final 

rule is November 13, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregorius Suryadi, Senior Financial and 

Loan Specialist, 504 Program Branch, 

Office of Financial Assistance, Small 

Business Administration, 409 3rd Street 

SW, Washington, DC 20416; telephone: 

(202) 205–6806; email: 

gregorius.suryadi@sba.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background Information 

The 504 Loan Program is an SBA 

financing program authorized under 

title V of the Small Business Investment 

Act of 1958, 15 U.S.C. 695 et seq. The 

core mission of the 504 Loan Program is 

to provide long-term financing to small 

businesses for the purchase or 

improvement of land, buildings, and 

major equipment, in an effort to 

facilitate the creation or retention of jobs 

and local economic development. Under 

the 504 Loan Program, loans are made 

to small business applicants by Certified 

Development Companies (‘‘CDCs’’), 

which are certified and regulated by 

SBA to promote economic development 

within their community. In general, a 

project in the 504 Loan Program (a ‘‘504 

Project’’) includes: a loan obtained from 

a private sector lender with a senior lien 

covering at least 50 percent of the 

project cost; a loan obtained from a CDC 

(a ‘‘504 Loan’’) with a junior lien 

covering up to 40 percent of the total 

cost (backed by a 100 percent SBAguaranteed debenture); and a 

contribution from the Borrower of at 

least 10 percent equity. 

In addition, the 504 Loan Program 

may be used to refinance debt under 

two options authorized under section 

502(7)(B) and (C) of the Small Business 

Investment Act of 1958. First, if a 504 

Project involves the expansion of the 

small business, any amount of existing 

indebtedness that does not exceed 50 

percent of the project cost of the 

expansion may be refinanced and added 

to the project’s cost (Debt Refinancing 

with Expansion) under the conditions 

set forth in section 502(7)(B) and the 

implementing regulations. See 13 CFR 

120.882(e) and (f). Second, debt 

refinancing is available for a 504 Project 

that does not involve the expansion of 

the small business under the 

requirements set forth in section 

502(7)(C) and 13 CFR 120.882(g) (Debt 

Refinancing without Expansion). 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1