72406 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 202 / Friday, October 20, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

15 Institute for Free Speech, Comment at 2. 

16 Id. 

17 Id. at 3. 

18 47 CFR 73.1212(a)(2)(ii). 

19See Communications Disclaimer Requirements, 

60 FR 52069, 52071 (Oct. 5, 1995) (noting that ‘‘the 

FCC conducted a lengthy rulemaking, in which the 

FEC participated, before deciding that the current 

standards were appropriate’’). 

20 Id. Thus, even if this Commission were to 

revise its standard, disclaimers on advertisements 

falling within the FCC’s jurisdiction would still be 

subject to the FCC’s minimum four-percent size 

requirement. 

21The Petition does not provide information 

supporting its contention that there is an industry 

standard for the size of letters in disclaimers, or that 

the standard is or should be two percent of the 

vertical picture height. Only one of the three 

network advertising guidelines submitted with the 

Petition has established 22 pixels as a minimum 

size for disclaimers. Petition at 3–6. Moreover, as 

this is a minimum standard, a disclaimer appearing 

at greater than 22 pixels would be consistent with 

that guideline. 

1See 52 U.S.C. 30108(a); see also 11 CFR part 

112. 

2 11 CFR 112.5. 

3See 52 U.S.C. 30108(a); 11 CFR 112.4(a) and (b). 

4The Commission must respond to a person who 

submits an incomplete AOR or one that does not 

qualify under 11 CFR 112.1(b) within 10 days to 

‘‘specify the deficiencies in the request.’’ 11 CFR 

112.1(d). 

5See 52 U.S.C. 30108(a); 11 CFR 112.4(a) and (b). 

6 Id. Candidates are entitled to receive a response 

to a AOR within 20 days if the request is made 

within 60 days of an election in which the 

candidate is participating and it presents a specific 

transaction or activity related to the election that 

may invoke the 20 day period if the connection is 

explained in the request. See 52 U.S.C. 30108(a)(2); 

11 CFR 112.4(b). Further, the Commission has an 

informal process under which it may, upon request, 

issue an opinion within 30 days under certain 

circumstances. See Notice of New Advisory 

Opinion Procedures and Explanation of Existing 

Procedures, 74 FR 32160 (July 7, 2009). 

7See 52 U.S.C. 30108(d); see also11 CFR 112.3. 

8See Revision to Advisory Opinion Comment 

Procedure, 58 FR 62259 (Nov. 26, 1993); Notice of 

Advisory Opinion Procedure, 74 FR 32160 (July 7, 

2009). The Commission endeavors to release at least 

one draft AO at least one week in advance. Drafts 

that are not available by the one-week deadline are 

required to be identified as ‘‘late submitt[ed]’’ and 

subject to additional procedural requirements 

before the Commission may consider them. See 

Comm’n Dir. No. 17 (effective date May 6, 2021), 

available at https://www.fec.gov/resources/cmscontent/documents/directive_17.pdf. 

most televisions in use today ‘‘are 

significantly larger than those of the 

1970’s when [the Act] was enacted, and 

even than the televisions of the early 

2000’s when [the Bipartisan Campaign 

Reform Act] was enacted.’’ 15

Consequently, the comment stated, 

‘‘[w]hile still proportionally 4% of the 

screen, the disclaimer itself has 

significantly increased in size, and will 

continue to increase as screen size 

grows.’’ 16 The comment further asserted 

that ‘‘the disclaimer visibility proposed 

in the Petition can easily be seen and 

read by the human eye.’’ 17

After considering the comments 

received, the Commission has decided 

not to initiate a rulemaking at this time. 

The Petition’s proposal that the 

Commission reduce the minimum 

permissible size of disclaimers on 

political advertisements appearing in 

high-definition format to just two 

percent of the vertical picture height 

would create a conflict between the 

Commission’s regulations and the FCC’s 

regulation requiring broadcasters under 

the FCC’s jurisdiction to carry 

disclaimers on televised political 

advertisements ‘‘with letters equal to or 

greater than four percent of the vertical 

picture height.’’ 18 Indeed, the 

Commission adopted the minimum 

four-percent disclaimer standard in 

1995 precisely to be consistent with the 

FCC’s four-percent standard.19 As the 

Commission recognized in that 

rulemaking, ‘‘the FCC and not the FEC 

has authority over these technical 

requirements’’ for broadcasters.20

Further, neither the Petition nor the 

public comments provided a compelling 

reason for the Commission to depart 

from its current minimum four-percent 

standard.21

For the above reasons, the 

Commission therefore declines to 

commence a rulemaking to revise its 

regulation on the size of letters in 

disclaimers on television ads at 11 CFR 

110.11(c)(3)(iii)(A). 

Copies of the comments and the 

Petition for Rulemaking are available on 

the Commission’s website, http://

www.fec.gov/fosers/ (REG 2018–05 Size 

of Letters in Disclaimers (2018)), and at 

the Commission’s Public Records Office, 

1050 First Street NE, Washington, DC 

20002, Monday through Friday between 

the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Dated: October 16, 2023. 

On behalf of the Commission. 

Dara Lindenbaum, 

Chair, Federal Election Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23122 Filed 10–19–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Part 112 

[NOTICE 2023–16] 

Advisory Opinion Comment 

Procedures 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Notification of disposition of 

Petition for Rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Commission announces 

its disposition of a Petition for 

Rulemaking. The Petition asked the 

Commission to modify its regulation on 

written comments on advisory opinion 

requests to provide time for the public 

to comment on drafts of advisory 

opinions before the Commission votes 

on the drafts. For the reasons described 

in detail below, the Commission is not 

initiating a rulemaking at this time. 

DATES: October 20, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert M. Knop, Assistant General 

Counsel, or Mr. Evan R. Christopher, 

Attorney, 1050 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694–1650 

or (800) 424–9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal Election Campaign Act (the 

‘‘Act’’), 52 U.S.C. 30101–45, authorizes 

the Commission to issue advisory 

opinions on written questions about the 

applicability of the Act or Commission 

regulations to a specific transaction or 

activity that the requesting person plans 

to undertake or is presently undertaking 

and intends to undertake in the future.1

The persons involved in the specific 

activity described in the request, as well 

as any person involved in an activity 

‘‘which is indistinguishable in all its 

material aspects’’ from the specific 

activity described in the request, may 

rely on the advisory opinion to avoid 

sanction by the Commission for 

engaging in that activity.2

The Act and Commission regulations 

require the Commission to respond to 

all requests for advisory opinions.3 The 

Commission must respond to any 

advisory opinion request (‘‘AOR’’) that 

is complete and qualified under 11 CFR 

112.1(b) 4 with either a formal advisory 

opinion (‘‘AO’’) or notice that the 

Commission was unable to issue an AO 

with the required minimum of four 

affirmative votes.5 The Commission 

must publicize receipt of a complete 

and qualified AOR and formally 

respond within 20 or 60 days of 

receiving a complete AOR.6

Requestors and interested persons are 

provided several opportunities to 

participate in the Commission’s AOR 

process. First, the Act requires that the 

Commission provide a 10-day window 

for public comment on complete, 

qualified, AORs before the Commission 

issues a formal response.7 Second, 

beginning provisionally in 1993 and 

adopted formally in 2009, it is the 

Commission’s policy to seek comments 

on drafts of advisory opinions, which it 

endeavors to release at least one week 

before the meeting at which it will 

consider the AOR and any draft AOs.8

Third, the Commission allows an AOR 

requestor to ask to appear before the 

Commission to answer questions about 

the AOR at the open meeting at which 

the Commission considers the AOR and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 202 / Friday, October 20, 2023 / Proposed Rules 72407 

9See Notice of Advisory Opinion Procedure, 74 

FR 32160. 

10Petition at 4. 

11 Id. at 1. 

12Rulemaking Petition: Advisory Opinion 

Procedures, 83 FR 62283 (Dec. 3, 2018). 

13Comment from Campaign Legal Center at 2. 

14 Id. 

any draft AOs; if the Commission does 

not release a copy of all draft AOs under 

consideration at least one week before 

the open meeting at which the draft AOs 

are to be considered, the requestor is 

automatically entitled to appear before 

the Commission at that meeting.9

On February 10, 2016, the 

Commission received a Petition for 

Rulemaking from Make Your Laws PAC, 

Inc., Make Your Laws Advocacy, Inc., 

Make Your Laws, Inc., and Dan Backer, 

Esq. (‘‘Petition’’). The Petition asked the 

Commission to amend 11 CFR 112.3 to 

provide a right to the public to comment 

on draft AOs with a fixed comment 

period and a requirement that the 

Commission publish ‘‘redlines’’—copies 

of documents showing the differences 

between drafts—when releasing 

multiple draft AOs.10 The Petition 

argued that the ‘‘spirit of the rule is to 

encourage the public to participate in 

the Commission’s decision-making 

process. However, without the 

corresponding draft opinions, requests 

alone may not enable the public to fully 

appreciate the impact of such requests 

or to make fully informed comments.’’ 11

The Commission published a 

Notification of Availability (‘‘NOA’’) on 

December 3, 2018, asking for public 

comment on the Petition.12 The 

Commission received one comment in 

response to the NOA. The comment 

supported the Petition for several 

reasons. The comment argued that 

amending the regulation as proposed by 

the Petition would bring greater 

‘‘transparency to the Commission’s 

advisory opinion process and to ensure 

the public has a meaningful opportunity 

to weigh in’’ before the Commission 

votes on the drafts.13 The comment 

further stated that allowing comments 

on AO drafts is important because AOs, 

‘‘in practice, often provide general 

answers to unresolved legal questions in 

a manner that affects broad categories of 

individuals and entities.’’ 14

After considering the Petition and the 

comment, the Commission has decided 

not to initiate a rulemaking at this time. 

As outlined here, the Act and existing 

regulations provide for a meaningful 

opportunity for public comment on 

AORs; adding to that, the Commission 

has substantially expanded 

opportunities for public comment by 

committing to releasing draft AOs in 

advance, soliciting comments on those 

drafts, and allowing AOR requestors to 

appear before the Commission when 

their AOR and any draft AOs are being 

considered. 

Neither the Act nor existing 

Commission regulations require the 

Commission to accommodate this level 

of public participation in the AO 

drafting process. However, the Act and 

accompanying regulations do impose 

strict timing requirements on when the 

Commission must respond to AORs: as 

soon as 20 days and in no event later 

than 60 days after receiving a complete 

AOR. These are binding, bright-line 

requirements; the Commission cannot 

bend or break them. As a result, the 

Commission must balance its strict 

obligations under Federal law with any 

desire it may have to encourage 

participation by requestors and the 

public. To date, the Commission has 

done so by adopting policies that 

expand opportunities for public 

participation wherever possible while 

still retaining the flexibility the 

Commission requires to meet its 

obligations under Federal law. Those 

obligations are not insignificant; the 

Commission notes that 10 of the 20 or 

60 days it is allotted to respond to a 

typical AOR are devoted to receiving 

public comments, each of which the 

Commission must consider in addition 

to analyzing the facts and materials 

submitted with the AOR, researching 

relevant legal authority, developing a 

legal theory and draft response, 

circulating drafts, and building a 

majority consensus behind a final 

opinion the Commission can approve. 

For that reason, the Commission 

believes that creating additional, 

expanded, and strictly defined rights to 

public comment on draft AOs is not 

necessary and would likely prove 

unworkable within the Commission’s 

short deadlines for issuing AOs. 

Requiring the Commission to devote 

resources to marking up and circulating 

one or multiple draft AOs within a fixed 

timeframe, as proposed by the Petition, 

would unduly constrain the 

Commission in ways that could impair 

its ability to timely and effectively 

respond to AORs. The potential adverse 

effects of this constraint outweigh any 

prospective benefit to public input or 

transparency, particularly in light of the 

Commission’s existing policies ensuring 

robust public engagement. 

For the above reasons, the 

Commission therefore declines to 

commence a rulemaking to amend its 

regulation at 11 CFR 112.3 to provide a 

right to comment on one or multiple 

advisory opinion drafts a certain 

amount of time in advance of the 

Commission meeting at which those 

drafts will be discussed and to require 

the Commission to release ‘‘redlines’’ 

showing edits among multiple drafts. 

Copies of the Comments and the 

Petition are available on the 

Commission’s website, https://

www.fec.gov/fosers/ (REG 2016–01 

Advisory Opinion Procedures) and at 

the Commission’s Public Records Office, 

1050 First Street NE, Washington, DC, 

Monday through Friday between the 

hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Dated: October 16, 2023. 

On behalf of the Commission, 

Dara Lindenbaum, 

Chair, Federal Election Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23124 Filed 10–19–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 71 

[Docket No. FAA–2023–2027; Airspace 

Docket No. 23–AMN–15] 

RIN 2120–AA66 

Establishment of Class E Airspace; 

Antone Ranch Airport, Mitchell, OR 

(64OG) 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: This action proposes to 

establish Class E airspace extending 

upward from 700 feet above the surface 

at Antone Ranch Airport, Mitchell, OR, 

in support of the airport’s forthcoming 

transition from visual flight rules (VFR) 

to instrument flight rules (IFR) 

operations. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before December 4, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by FAA Docket No. FAA–2023–2027 

and Airspace Docket No. 23–AMN–15 

using any of the following methods: 

* Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

www.regulations.gov and follow the 

online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

* Mail: Send comments to Docket 

Operations, M–30; U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Room W12–140, West 

Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 

20590–0001. 

* Hand Delivery or Courier: Take 

comments to Docket Operations in 

Room W12–140 of the West Building 

Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 


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