77836 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

administration of preference in Federal 

employment. (5 U.S.C. 2108, 2108a) 

§ 211.102 Definitions. 

For the purposes of preference in 

Federal employment, the following 

definitions apply: 

(a) Veteran means a person who has 

been discharged or released from active 

duty in the armed forces under 

honorable conditions, or who has a 

certification as defined in paragraph (h) 

of this section, if the active duty service 

was performed: 

(1) In a war; 

(2) In a campaign or expedition for 

which a campaign badge has been 

authorized; 

(3) During the period beginning April 

28, 1952, and ending July 1, 1955; 

(4) For more than 180 consecutive 

days, other than for training, any part of 

which occurred during the period 

beginning February 1, 1955, and ending 

October 14, 1976; 

(5) During the period beginning 

August 2, 1990, and ending January 2, 

1992; or 

(6) For more than 180 consecutive 

days, other than for training, any part of 

which occurred during the period 

beginning September 11, 2001, and 

ending on August 31, 2010, the last day 

of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

(b) Disabled Veteran means a person 

who has been discharged or released 

from active duty in the armed forces 

under honorable conditions performed 

at any time, or who has a certification 

as defined in paragraph (h) of this 

section, and who has established the 

present existence of a service-connected 

disability or is receiving compensation, 

disability retirement benefits, or a 

pension because of a statute 

administered by the Department of 

Veterans Affairs or a military 

department. 

(c) Sole survivor veteran means a 

person who was discharged or released 

from a period of active duty after August 

29, 2008, by reason of a sole 

survivorship discharge (as that term is 

defined in 10 U.S.C. 1174(i)), and who 

meets the definition of a ‘‘veteran’’ in 

paragraph (a) of this section, with the 

exception that he or she is not required 

to meet any of the length of service 

requirements prescribed by paragraph 

(a). 

(d) Preference eligible means a 

veteran, disabled veteran, sole survivor 

veteran, spouse, widow, widower, or 

mother who meets the definition of 

‘‘preference eligible’’ in 5 U.S.C. 2108. 

(1) Preference eligibles other than sole 

survivor veterans are entitled to have 5 

or 10 points added to their earned score 

on a civil service examination in 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3309. 

(2) Under numerical ranking and 

selection procedures for competitive 

service hiring, preference eligibles are 

entered on registers in in the order 

prescribed by section 332.401 of this 

chapter. 

(3) Under excepted service examining 

procedures in part 302 of this chapter, 

preference eligibles are listed ahead of 

persons with the same ratings who are 

not preference eligibles, or listed ahead 

of non-preference eligibles if numerical 

scores have not been assigned. 

(4) Under alternative raking and 

selection procedures, i.e., category 

rating, preference eligibles are listed 

ahead of individuals who are not 

preference eligibles in accordance with 

5 U.S.C. 3319. 

(5) Preference eligibles, other than 

those who have not yet been discharged 

or released from active duty, are 

accorded a higher retention standing 

than non-preference eligibles in the 

event of a reduction in force in 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3502. 

(6) Veterans’ preference does not 

apply, however, to inservice placement 

actions such as promotions. 

(e) Armed forces means the United 

States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine 

Corps, and Coast Guard. 

(f) Active duty or active military duty: 

(1) For veterans defined in paragraphs 

(a)(1) through (3) and disabled veterans 

defined in paragraph (b) of this section, 

means active duty with military pay and 

allowances in the armed forces, and 

includes training, determining physical 

fitness, and service in the Reserves or 

National Guard; and 

(2) For veterans defined in paragraphs 

(a)(4) through (6) of this section, means 

full-time duty with military pay and 

allowances in the armed forces, and 

does not include training, determining 

physical fitness, or service in the 

Reserves or National Guard. 

(g) Discharged or released from active 

duty means with either an honorable or 

general discharge from active duty in 

the armed forces. The Departments of 

Defense is responsible for administering 

and defining military discharges. 

(h) Certification means any written 

document from the armed forces that 

certifies the service member is expected 

to be discharged or released from active 

duty service in the armed forces under 

honorable conditions not later than 120 

days after the date the certification is 

submitted for consideration in the 

hiring process, at the time and in the 

manner prescribed by the applicable job 

opportunity announcement. Prior to 

appointment, the service member’s 

character of service and qualifying 

discharge or release must be verified 

through a DD form 214 or equivalent 

documentation. 

§ 211.103 Administration of preference. 

Agencies are responsible for making 

all preference determinations except for 

preference based on a common law 

marriage. Such a claim must be referred 

to OPM’s General Counsel for decision. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30295 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Office of the Secretary 

6 CFR Part 37 

RIN 1601–AA74 

[Docket No. DHS–2006–0030] 

Minimum Standards for Driver’s 

Licenses and Identification Cards 

Acceptable by Federal Agencies for 

Official Purposes 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DHS. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to REAL ID 

regulations, beginning December 1, 

2014, federal agencies may not accept 

State-issued driver’s licenses or 

identification cards for official purposes 

from individuals born after December 1, 

1964, unless the license or card is REAL 

ID-compliant and was issued by a 

compliant State as determined by DHS. 

Also, beginning December 1, 2017, 

federal agencies may not accept driver’s 

licenses or identification cards for 

official purposes from any individual 

unless the card is REAL ID-compliant 

and was issued by a compliant State as 

determined by DHS. This final rule 

changes both document enrollment 

dates to October 1, 2020. Nothing in this 

rule affects the prohibition against 

federal agencies accepting for official 

purposes licenses and identification 

cards issued by noncompliant States, 

pursuant to the REAL ID Act and in 

accordance to the phased enforcement 

schedule. 

DATES: Effective on December 29, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ted 

Sobel, Director, Office of State-Issued 

Identification Support, Screening 

Coordination Office, Department of 

Homeland Security, Washington, DC 

20528, (202) 282–9570. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 77837 

1The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations 

Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and 

Tsunami Relief, 2005, Public Law 109–13, 119 Stat. 

231, 302 (May 11, 2005) (codified at 49 U.S.C. 

30301 note). 

I. Background 

The REAL ID Act of 2005 1 (the Act) 

prohibits federal agencies, effective May 

11, 2008, from accepting a state-issued 

driver’s license or identification card for 

any official purpose unless the license 

or card is issued by a State that meets 

the requirements set forth in the Act. 

Official purpose as defined in the Act 

includes accessing federal facilities, 

boarding federally regulated commercial 

aircraft, entering nuclear power plants, 

and any other purpose as determined by 

the Secretary of Homeland Security. Id. 

at § 201(3). Section 205(b) of the Act, 

however, authorizes the Secretary of 

Homeland Security to grant extensions 

of time for States to meet the 

requirements of the Act if the State 

provides adequate justification for 

noncompliance. 

On January 29, 2008, DHS 

promulgated a final rule implementing 

the requirements of the Act. See 73 FR 

5272, also 6 CFR part 37. The final rule 

extended the full compliance date from 

May 11, 2008, to May 11, 2011. See 6 

CFR 37.51(a). Since promulgation of the 

final rule, States have made significant 

progress towards securing their 

document issuance and productions 

processes in accordance with the 

standards set forth in the REAL ID Act. 

DHS has worked closely with the States 

to assist with implementation and has 

provided states with more than $263 

million in grants since fiscal year 2008. 

Notwithstanding the States’ significant 

progress in meeting the requirements of 

the Act, many States continued to 

experience difficulties in satisfying all 

the requirements, especially in light of 

diminished budgets during the 

economic downturn. Because of this, 

DHS believed that additional time was 

warranted and, in March 2011, DHS 

changed the full compliance deadline to 

January 15, 2013. See 76 FR 12269. 

In December 2012, DHS began issuing 

compliance determinations to States 

submitting certification materials; DHS 

also announced that DHS would enforce 

the Act through a phased approach and, 

in the fall of 2013, released its phased 

enforcement schedule. Phased 

enforcement ensures that REAL ID can 

be implemented in a strategic manner, 

taking into account the progress made 

by the States. Phased enforcement also 

provides DHS with an opportunity to 

evaluate the effects of enforcement in a 

measured way that can help inform the 

development and implementation of 

future phases as more States continue to 

work to come into full compliance. In 

order to inform the pathway to full 

enforcement, DHS plans to conduct an 

evaluation in 2015 to assess the effects 

of phased enforcement and States’ 

progress in meeting the standards. This 

approach also can assist federal agencies 

in applying lessons learned as they 

consider future access control strategies. 

II. Document Enrollment Periods 

The REAL ID regulations include 

document enrollment dates after which 

time Federal agencies are prohibited 

from accepting for official purposes 

driver’s licenses or identification cards 

from certain individuals, depending on 

their age, unless those documents are 

REAL ID-compliant and issued by a 

fully compliant State. The current 

regulatory text provides that, beginning 

December 1, 2014, federal agencies may 

not, for official federal purposes, accept 

any driver’s licenses or identification 

cards from individuals born after 

December 1, 1964, unless such 

document is a REAL ID-compliant 

license or card issued by a State 

determined by DHS to be in full 

compliance. Furthermore, on or after 

December 1, 2017, federal agencies may 

not, for official federal purposes, accept 

a driver’s license or identification card 

from any individual unless such 

document is a REAL ID-compliant 

license or card issued by a compliant 

State. See 6 CFR 37.5(b) and (c); 6 CFR 

37.27. 

With this rule, DHS is changing these 

document enrollment dates. Without the 

change, large portions of individuals 

from REAL ID-compliant jurisdictions 

would either need to renew their 

licenses before the end of this year or 

risk not being able to use them for 

official federal purposes beginning 

December 1, 2014. This is because 

although these individuals may hold 

licenses from compliant States, those 

licenses may have been issued prior to 

State compliance and, therefore, the 

document itself may not have been 

issued in accordance with REAL ID 

standards. Furthermore, the December 

1, 2014, and December 1, 2017, 

document enrollment dates may 

complicate DHS’s enforcement plan and 

diminish DHS’s opportunity to 

reasonably evaluate the effects of the 

various enforcement phases. 

Additionally, to enforce the December 

1, 2014, document enrollment date 

would require compliant States to 

significantly accelerate their license 

issuance processes to accommodate 

large numbers of residents seeking to 

renew their licenses by December 2014. 

Enforcing the date also could result in 

these individuals seeking to obtain an 

alternative acceptable document to 

establish identity for official federal 

purposes. Because of these significant 

operational and cost burdens on both 

compliant states and their residents, 

DHS believes there is adequate 

justification to stay the document 

enrollment dates. 

Thus, the Secretary of Homeland 

Security, under the authority granted 

under section 205(b) of the Act, is 

changing both document enrollment 

dates to October 1, 2020. Under the 

REAL ID Act, the maximum validity 

period for driver’s licenses and 

identification cards may not exceed 

eight years. The new October 1, 2020 

document enrollment date represents 

nearly a full eight-year enrollment cycle 

from the January 15, 2013 full 

compliance date and should give 

residents of compliant states sufficient 

time to obtain licenses that satisfy the 

REAL ID standards, which presumably 

they will do in accordance with their 

normal renewal schedule. DHS also is 

establishing a single document 

enforcement date, as opposed to a bifurcated approach based on a person’s 

age, to accommodate the phased 

enforcement schedule and to simplify 

the implementation process for federal 

agencies’ access control personnel. 

Nothing in this rule affects the 

prohibition against federal agencies 

accepting licenses and identification 

cards issued by noncompliant States, 

pursuant to the REAL ID Act and in 

accordance to the phased enforcement 

schedule. DHS believes this rule 

balances the security objective of 

improving the reliability of 

identification documents presented for 

official purposes with the operational 

and cost burdens on compliant States 

and their residents. 

III. Regulatory Analyses 

A. Administrative Procedure Act 

The Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA) provides that an agency may 

dispense with notice and comment 

rulemaking procedures when an agency, 

for ‘‘good cause,’’ finds that those 

procedures are ‘‘impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). 

Throughout REAL ID’s 

implementation, DHS has engaged in 

extensive, ongoing discussions with the 

States regarding their ability to comply 

with the REAL ID Act and regulations. 

Based in part on those communications, 

DHS believes that phased enforcement 

offers States the best ability to obtain 

full compliance with REAL ID. As DHS 

is currently implementing phased 

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77838 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

enforcement, DHS believes it is contrary 

to the public interest to retain and 

enforce the document enrollment dates 

as REAL ID-compliant States would 

experience additional burdens by 

requiring the accelerated issuance of 

REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses 

and identification cards. Furthermore, 

to seek public comment prior to 

changing the age-based document 

enrollment dates is impracticable, given 

that such comments could not be 

received and acted upon prior to 

December 1, 2014, when the Federal 

government would decline to accept all 

legacy licenses and cards issued before 

a State became compliant held by 

individuals born after December 1, 

1964. 

Based on the above, DHS finds that 

notice and comment rulemaking in this 

instance would be impracticable, 

unnecessary, and contrary to the public 

interest. For the same reason, DHS finds 

good cause to make this rule effective 

immediately upon publication in the 

Federal Register. See 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 

In addition, because this final rule 

relieves a restriction, and because 

compliant States will be able to renew 

driver’s licenses and identification cards 

in accordance with their normal 

processes, States will now have more 

time to ensure that the documents they 

issue meet the security requirements of 

the REAL ID Act, there is good cause to 

make this rule effective immediately 

upon publication in the Federal 

Register. 

B. Executive Order 13563 and Executive 

Order 12866 

This rule constitutes a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ under Executive 

Order 12866, as supplemented by 

Executive Order 13563, and therefore 

has been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). 

Executive Order 12866 defines 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ as one 

that is likely to result in a rule that may 

(1) have an annual effect on the 

economy of $100 million or more or 

adversely affect in a material way the 

economy, a sector of the economy, 

productivity, competition, jobs, the 

environment, public health or safety, or 

State, local, or Tribal governments or 

communities; (2) create a serious 

inconsistency or otherwise interfere 

with an action taken or planned by 

another agency; (3) materially alter the 

budgetary impact of entitlements, 

grants, user fees, or loan programs or the 

rights or obligations of recipients 

thereof; or (4) raise novel legal or policy 

issues arising out of legal mandates, the 

President’s priorities, or the principles 

set forth in the Executive Order. 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980, 5 U.S.C. 601–612, as amended by 

the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. 

L. 104–121), requires Federal agencies 

to consider the potential impact of 

regulations on small businesses, small 

government jurisdictions, and small 

organizations during the development of 

their rules. This final rule, however, 

makes changes for which notice and 

comment are not necessary. 

Accordingly, DHS is not required to 

prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis. 

See 5 U.S.C. 603, 604. 

D. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This rule calls for no new collection 

of information under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501– 

3520). 

E. Executive Order 12132 (Federalism) 

A rule has implications for federalism 

under Executive Order 13132, 

‘‘Federalism,’’ if it has a substantial 

direct effect on State or local 

governments and would either preempt 

State law or impose a substantial direct 

cost of compliance on them. We have 

analyzed this rule under that Order and 

have determined that it does not have 

these implications for federalism. 

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531–1538) requires 

Federal agencies to assess the effects of 

their discretionary regulatory actions. In 

particular, the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act addresses actions that may 

result in the expenditure by a State, 

local, or Tribal government, in the 

aggregate, or by the private section of 

$100 million (adjusted for inflation) or 

more in any one year. This final rule 

will not result in such an expenditure. 

G. Executive Order 13175 (Tribal 

Consultation) 

This rule does not have Tribal 

Implications under Executive Order 

13175, ‘‘Consultation and Coordination 

with Indian Tribal Governments,’’ 

because it does not have a substantial 

direct effect on one or more Indian 

Tribes, on the relationship between the 

Federal Government and Indian Tribes, 

or on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

Government and Indian Tribes. 

H. Executive Order 13211 (Energy 

Impact Analysis) 

DHS has analyzed this rule under 

Executive Order 13211, ‘‘Actions 

Concerning Regulations that 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply 

Distribution, or Use.’’ DHS has 

determined that it is not a ‘‘significant 

energy action’’ under that Order and is 

not likely to have a significant adverse 

effect on the supply, distribution, or use 

of energy. Therefore, it does not require 

a Statement of Energy Effects under 

Executive Order 13211. 

List of Subjects in 6 CFR Part 37 

Document security, Driver’s licenses, 

Identification cards, Incorporation by 

reference, Motor vehicle 

administrations, Physical security. 

The Amendments 

For the reasons set forth above, the 

Department of Homeland Security 

amends 6 CFR part 37 as follows: 

PART 37—REAL ID DRIVER’S 

LICENSES AND IDENTIFICATION 

CARDS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 37 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30301 note; 6 U.S.C. 

111, 112. 

■ 2. In § 37.5, remove paragraph (b), 

redesignate paragraph (c) as paragraph 

(b), redesignate paragraph (d) as 

paragraph (c), and revise redesignated 

paragraph (b) to read as follows: 

§ 37.5 Validity periods and deadlines for 

REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification 

cards. 

* * * * * 

(b) On or after October 1, 2020, 

Federal agencies shall not accept a 

driver’s license or identification card for 

official purposes from any individual 

unless such license or card is a REAL 

ID-compliant driver’s license or 

identification card issued by a State that 

has been determined by DHS to be in 

full compliance as defined under this 

subpart. 

* * * * * 

§ 37.27 [Amended] 

■ 3. In § 37.27, remove the last two 

sentences. 

Jeh Charles Johnson, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30082 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

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