Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 11 / Thursday, January 18, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 2185 

Dated: January 12, 2007. 

Todd Stevenson, 

Secretary, Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 07–193 Filed 1–17–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–P 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

20 CFR Part 404 

[Docket No. SSA–2006–0087] 

RIN 0960–AG42 

Title II Cost of Living Increases in 

Primary Insurance Amounts 

AGENCY: Social Security Administration. 

ACTION: Final rules. 

SUMMARY: We are revising our rules that 

deal with automatic cost-of-living 

increases to primary insurance amounts 

under title II of the Social Security Act 

(the Act). The revision is necessary 

because, beginning with the Consumer 

Price Index (CPI) for January 2007, the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish 

the CPI to three decimal places. The CPI 

is currently published to one decimal 

place as is now reflected in our 

regulations. With this revision, our rules 

will conform to the change in the 

reporting of the CPI. 

DATES: These regulations are effective 

January 18, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry 

Strauss, Social Insurance Specialist, 

Office of Income Security Programs, 

Social Security Administration, 107 

Altmeyer Building, 6401 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235–6401, 

(410) 965–7930 or TTY (410) 966–5609. 

For information on eligibility or filing 

for benefits: Call our national toll-free 

number, 1–800–772–1213 or TTY 

1–800–325–0778 or visit our Internet 

Web site, Social Security Online, at 

http://www.socialsecurity.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic 

Version: The electronic file of this 

document is available on the date of 

publication in the Federal Register at 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ 

index.html. 

Background 

The Social Security Act requires 

annual increases in Social Security 

benefits to keep up with increases in the 

cost-of-living as measured by the CPI. In 

order to provide more accurate 

information regarding increases in the 

CPI, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will 

begin publishing the CPI to the third, 

rather than the first, decimal place for 

January 2007. The effect of this change 

on benefit amounts is negligible. For 

additional information on cost-of-living 

increases and the types of benefits 

affected, see §§ 404.270 and 404.271. 

Explanation of Changes 

We have revised § 404.275(a) by 

replacing the current language stating 

that we will round the calculations of 

the CPI average to the nearest 0.1 with 

language stating that we will round the 

CPI average ‘‘to the same number of 

decimal places as the published CPI 

figures.’’ In addition, we added language 

stating that when a different number of 

decimal places is used for the beginning 

and ending quarters, we will use the 

number for the ending quarter. 

Therefore, since the CPI is now 

published by the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics to the third decimal place, 

rather than the first, our computation of 

quarterly average CPI’s will be 

consistent with such publication. 

Regulatory Procedures 

Pursuant to section 702(a)(5) of the 

Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5), 

as amended by section 102 of Public 

Law 103–296, SSA follows the 

Administrative Procedure Act (APA) 

rulemaking procedures specified in 5 

U.S.C. 553 in the development of its 

regulations. The APA provides 

exceptions to its notice and public 

comment procedures when an agency 

finds there is good cause for dispensing 

with such procedures on the basis that 

they are impracticable, unnecessary, or 

contrary to the public interest. 

In the case of these final rules, we 

have determined that, under 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(B), good cause exists for 

dispensing with the notice and public 

comment procedures in this case 

because these regulations merely 

conform our rules to reflect the way the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics now 

publishes the CPI. Also, these 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with RULESER18JA07.008</GPH>
2186 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 11 / Thursday, January 18, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

regulations contain no substantive 

changes of interpretation. Therefore, 

opportunity for prior comment is 

unnecessary, and we are issuing these 

regulations as final rules. 

In addition, we find good cause for 

dispensing with the 30-day delay in the 

effective date of a substantive rule, 

provided for by 5 U.S.C. 553(d), since 

we are making no substantive changes 

in the cost-of-living increase provisions. 

Without this change, however, our rules 

will conflict with the computation of 

the CPI as reported by the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics. 

Executive Order 12866 

We have consulted with the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

determined that these rules do not meet 

the criteria for a significant regulatory 

action under Executive Order 12866, as 

amended by Executive Order 13258. 

Thus, they were not subject to OMB 

review. We have also determined that 

these rules meet the plain language 

requirement of Executive Order 12866, 

as amended by Executive Order 13258. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

We certify that these regulations will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. Therefore, a regulatory 

flexibility analysis as provided in the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, as amended, 

is not required. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

These final regulations impose no 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements requiring OMB clearance. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 96.001, Social Security—

Disability Insurance; 96.002, Social 

Security—Retirement Insurance; 96.004, 

Social Security—Survivors Insurance) 

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 404 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Blind, Disability benefits, 

Old-age, Survivors and Disability 

Insurance, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Social Security. 

Dated: January 10, 2007. 

Jo Anne B. Barnhart, 

Commissioner of Social Security. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, we are amending subpart C of 

part 404 of title 20 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations as follows: 

PART 404—FEDERAL OLD-AGE, 

SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY 

INSURANCE (1950–) 

Subpart C—[Amended] 

■ 1. The authority citation for subpart C 

of part 404 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Secs. 202(a), 205(a), 215, and 

702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

402(a), 405(a), 415, and 902(a)(5)). 

■ 2. Section 404.275 (a) is revised to 

read as follows: 

§ 404.275 How is an automatic cost-ofliving increase calculated? 

(a) Increase based on the CPI. We 

compute the average of the CPI for the 

quarters that begin and end the 

measuring period by adding the three 

monthly CPI figures, dividing the total 

by three, and rounding the result to the 

same number of decimal places as the 

published CPI figures. If the number of 

decimal places in the published CPI 

values differs between those used for 

the beginning and ending quarters, we 

use the number for the ending quarter. 

If the average for the ending quarter is 

higher than the average for the 

beginning quarter, we divide the average 

for the ending quarter by the average of 

the beginning quarter to determine the 

percentage increase in the CPI over the 

measuring period. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E7–620 Filed 1–17–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Office of Justice Programs 

28 CFR Part 91 

[OJP (OJP)—Docket No. 1382] 

RIN 1121–AA41 

Grants for Correctional Facilities 

AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, 

Justice. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Justice Programs 

(OJP), Department of Justice, is adopting 

as a final rule, without change, an 

interim final rule with request for 

comments that OJP published on 

January 15, 2004, at 69 FR 2298. That 

interim rule updated and clarified what 

the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), 

a component of OJP, considered to be an 

eligible ‘‘Indian tribe,’’ and what the 

BJA considered to be ‘‘construction,’’

under the Grants for Correctional 

Facilities on Tribal Lands Program. OJP 

did not receive any comments. 

DATES: Effective February 20, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maria Pressley, Bureau of Justice 

Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, 

810 Seventh Street, NW., Washington, 

DC 20531; Telephone: (202) 353–8643. 

(This is not a toll-free number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) 

administers several major grant 

programs and provides technical 

assistance to state, local, and tribal 

governments to help them with the 

implementation of corrections-related 

programs under the Violent Crime 

Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

1994. One such program is the Grants 

for Correctional Facilities on Tribal 

Lands Program. This program provides 

funding for the construction of 

correctional facilities on tribal lands for 

the incarceration of offenders subject to 

tribal jurisdiction. 

Grants for Correctional Facilities on 

Tribal Lands Program funds may not be 

used for the purchase of land or for the 

costs associated with the operation of 

the correctional facility. 

Background 

On September 24, 1996, the Office of 

Justice Programs (OJP) published an 

interim rule (at 61 FR 49969), amending 

28 CFR part 91, subpart C, Grants for 

Correctional Facilities, to implement the 

Violent Offender Incarceration and 

Truth-in-Sentencing Grants Program for 

Indian Tribes, as required by section 

114 of the Fiscal Year 1996 Omnibus 

Consolidated Rescissions and 

Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 104–134). 

Section 114 amended the Violent Crime 

Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

1994, 42 U.S.C. 13701 et seq., to 

authorize a reservation of funds for the 

specific purpose of allowing the 

Attorney General to make discretionary 

grants to Indian tribes. 

After the publication of the 1996 

interim rule, OJP received comments 

requesting further clarification of certain 

terms. Accordingly, on January 15, 

2004, OJP published a second interim 

rule seeking comments (at 69 FR 2298) 

and further clarifying what the BJA 

considers to be an eligible ‘‘Indian 

tribe’’ and what it considered to be 

‘‘construction.’’

Comments on the second interim rule 

were required to be received on or by 

March 15, 2004. OJP did not receive any 

comments. Therefore, for the reasons 

given in the interim rule, OJP is 

adopting the interim rule as a final rule. 

No changes were made between the 

second interim rule and this final rule. 


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