47178 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 173 / Monday, September 8, 1997 / Proposed Rules

Mineral Materials

§ 292.68 Mineral material operations.

Subject to the provisions of part 228,

subpart C, and part 293 of this chapter,

the authorized officer may approve

contracts and permits for the sale or

other disposal of mineral materials,

including but not limited to, common

varieties of gravel, sand, or stone.

However, such contracts and permits

may be approved only if the material is

not within a designated wilderness area

and is to be used for the construction

and maintenance of roads and other

facilities within the SRNRA or the four

excluded areas identified by the Act.

Other Provisions

§ 292.69 Concurrent reclamation.

Plans of operations involving

locatable minerals, operating plans

involving outstanding mineral rights,

and contracts or permits for mineral

materials should all provide, to the

maximum extent practicable, that

reclamation proceed concurrently with

the mineral operation.

Indemnification

§ 292.70 Indemnification.

The owner and/or operator of mining

claims and the owner and/or lessee of

outstanding mineral rights are jointly

and severally liable in accordance with

Federal and State laws for indemnifying

the United States for the following:

(a) Costs, damages, claims, liabilities,

judgments, injury and loss, including

those incurred from fire suppression

efforts, and environmental response

actions and cleanup and abatement

costs incurred by the United States and

arising from past, present, and future

acts or omissions of the owner, operator,

or lessee in connection with the use and

occupancy of the unpatented mining

claim and/or mineral operation. This

includes acts or omissions covered by

Federal, State, and local pollution

control and environmental statutes and

regulations.

(b) Payments made by the United

States in satisfaction of claims, demands

or judgments for an injury, loss, damage,

or costs, including for fire suppression

and environmental response action and

cleanup and abatement costs, which

result from past, present, and future acts

or omissions of the owner, operator, or

lessee in connection with the use and

occupancy of the unpatented mining

claim and/or mineral operations.

(c) Costs incurred by the United States

for any action resulting from

noncompliance with an approved plan

of operations or activities outside an

approved operating plan. Such costs

may include, but need not be limited to,

attorneys’ fees and expenses.

Dated: September 2, 1997.

Robert Lewis, Jr.,

Acting Associate Chief.

[FR Doc. 97–23722 Filed 9–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Part 111

Eligibility Requirements for Certain

Nonprofit Standard Mail Matter

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule will

amend the standards for mail matter

eligible to be sent at the Nonprofit

Standard Mail rates. Specifically, mail

matter that seeks or solicits

contributions or membership dues

payments and offers a premium item

such as a tote bag or umbrella will be

considered eligible for the Nonprofit

Standard Mail rates provided that

certain criteria are met. The Postal

Service has determined that a revision

to the standards in this manner is

consistent with the treatment of similar

solicitations by other agencies, most

notably the Internal Revenue Service

and the Federal Trade Commission.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before October 8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be mailed or delivered to Manager,

Business Mail Acceptance, USPS

Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW.,

Washington, DC 20260–6808. Copies of

all written comments will be available

for inspection and photocopying

between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday, in Room 6801 at the

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jerome M. Lease, 202–268–5188.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Nonprofit

organizations authorized to mail at the

Nonprofit Standard Mail rates

commonly offer premium items when

soliciting contributions or membership

in their organizations. These premiums,

often referred to as ‘‘backend

premiums’’ since they are offered in

return for a contribution, donation, or

membership dues payment, include

such items as tote bags, umbrellas, tshirts, and coffee mugs.

By statute, material that advertises,

promotes, offers, or, for a fee or

consideration, recommends, describes,

or announces the availability of any

product or service, other than separately

restricted travel, insurance, and

financial instruments such as credit

cards, is ineligible for the nonprofit

rates of postage unless certain

prescribed exceptions are met. 39 U.S.C.

3626(j)(1)(D). In accordance with its

responsibility to administer the statute,

the Postal Service promulgated new

standards effective October 1, 1995.

Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)

E670.5.4d. provides that Nonprofit

Standard Mail rates may not be used for

the entry of material that advertises a

product or service unless the sale of the

product or the provision of such service

is substantially related to the exercise or

performance by the organization of one

or more of the purposes used by the

organization to qualify for mailing at the

Nonprofit Standard Mail rates. In the

implementation of these rules, the

Postal Service has concluded that

‘‘utilitarian’’ items such as tote bags,

umbrellas, coffee mugs, t-shirts, and

similar items are not normally

considered substantially related to an

organization’s qualifying purposes.

Since the adoption of the regulations

implementing the statute, the Postal

Service has consistently held that

backend premiums are to be considered

advertising for the product offered as a

premium. This policy was discussed in

Federal Register articles promulgating

the new rules. See 60 FR 22270, 22272

(May 5, 1995); 59 FR 23158, 23162 (May

5, 1994). It has also been followed in

publications such as USPS Publication

417 (Nonprofit Standard Mail

Eligibility) and training in this area.

Backend premiums are similar to typical

advertisements because they invite a

transaction which provides funds to the

sender, but are dissimilar from typical

advertisements because the value of the

premium is usually much less than the

required donation or other payment.

Although cognizant of the argument that

the donor is motivated by eleemosynary

purposes, rather than a desire for the

article, the transaction can also be

viewed as part donation and part sale,

which, in the view of the Postal Service,

makes the offer an advertisement under

the statutory restrictions. This

interpretation of the statute is, at least

in part, supported by IRS policy, which

requires donors declaring charitable

deductions to subtract the value of

premiums from donations.

Recently, the Postal Service has

become aware of new developments

which warrant review of the policy

concerning backend premiums. Notably,

an advisory opinion by the Federal

Trade Commission held that telephone

fundraising calls in which certain

backend premiums are offered are not

‘‘telemarketing’’ because they are not

‘‘conducted to induce the purchase of
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 173 / Monday, September 8, 1997 / Proposed Rules 47179

goods or services.’’ Similarly, the

Internal Revenue Service does not deem

nonprofit organizations that provide

backend premiums to be involved in

sales transactions.

The Postal Service believes it is

reasonable to provide similar treatment

to backend premiums, particularly

where the receipt of the premiums does

not appear to be the principal

motivation of the donors or members. In

these instances, the offer of the

premiums will not be considered as

‘‘advertisements’’ for postal purposes;

thus the announcements are exempt

from the substantially related rules

affecting advertisements in nonprofit

mail. The Postal Service proposes two

tests. First, the requested contribution or

other payment must be at least five (5)

times the total cost of the premiums to

exempt the announcements from being

considered as advertisements for the

premiums. The cost of each premium is

its actual cost to the nonprofit

organization. Second, the requested

contribution or other payment must be

at least three (3) times the represented

values in the mailpiece, if any, of the

premiums. Both tests must be met or the

offer will be considered an

advertisement. Nonprofit organizations

wishing to mail solicitations for

contributions which offer a premium

may be asked to substantiate the cost to

the nonprofit organization for the

premium, consistent with their usual

obligation to demonstrate eligibility for

nonprofit rates.

Although exempt from the notice and

comment requirements of the

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.

553(b), (c)) regarding proposed

rulemaking by 39 U.S.C. 410(a), the

Postal Service invites comments on the

following proposed revisions of the

Domestic Mail Manual, incorporated by

reference in the Code of Federal

Regulations. See 39 CFR part 111.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 111

Postal Service.

PART 111—-[AMENDED]

The authority citation for 39 CFR part

111 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 101,

401, 403, 404, 3001–3011, 3201–3219, 3403–

3406, 3621, 3626, 5001.

2. Amend Domestic Mail Manual

E670.5.0, Eligible And Ineligible Matter,

by renumbering subsections 5.9 to 5.10,

5.10 to 5.11, 5.11 to 5.12, and 5.12 to

5.13, and adding a new subsection 5.9

to read as follows:

5.0 ELIGIBLE AND INELIGIBLE

MATTER

* * * * *

5.9 Contribution and Membership

Premiums

Announcements for premiums

received as a result of a contribution or

payment of membership dues are not

considered advertisements if the

requested contribution or membership

dues is at least 5 times the cost to the

nonprofit organization of the premium

item(s) offered and at least 3 times the

represented value in the mailpiece, if

any, of the premium item(s) offered.

* * * * *

3. An appropriate amendment to 39

CFR 111.3 to reflect these changes will

be published if the proposal is adopted.

R. Andrew German,

Acting Chief Counsel, Legislative.

[FR Doc. 97–23682 Filed 9–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7710–12–U

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

41 CFR Parts 101–1 and 101–46

RIN 3090–AG50

Replacement of Personal Property

Pursuant to the Exchange/Sale

Authority

AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide

Policy, GSA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule amends

regulations issued by GSA for

replacement of personal property

pursuant to the exchange/sale authority.

The exchange/sale authority permits

executive agencies when acquiring

replacement personal property, to

exchange or sell similar items and apply

the exchange allowance or proceeds of

sale in whole or in part payment for the

replacement property acquired. Changes

have been made to incorporate plain

English principles, streamline the

narrative, define key terms, update

organizational references, delete

outdated regulatory references, delegate

authority to executive agencies to

approve deviations under certain

conditions, and reduce restrictions and

limitations on use of the authority.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before October 8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be sent to the Personal Property

Management Policy Division (MTP),

Office of Governmentwide Policy,

General Services Administration, 1800 F

St., NW., Washington, DC 20405.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Martha Caswell, Director, Personal

Property Management Policy Division

(202–501–3828).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. The General Services

Administration (GSA) has determined

that this rule is not a significant

regulatory action for the purposes of

Executive Order 12866 of September 30,

1993.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

This rule is not required to be

published in the Federal Register for

public comment. Therefore, the

Regulatory Flexibility Act does not

apply.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

The Paperwork Reduction Act does

not apply because the proposed

revisions do not impose recordkeeping

or information collection requirements,

or the collection of information from

offerors, contractors, or members of the

public which require the approval of

OMB under 44 U.S.C. 501 et seq. This

rule also is exempt from Congressional

review prescribed under 5 U.S.C. 801

since it relates solely to agency

management and personnel. This rule is

written in a ‘‘plain English’’ style.

What is the ‘‘plain English’’ style of

regulation writing?

The ‘‘plain English’’ style of

regulation writing is a new, simpler to

read and understand, question and

answer regulatory format.

How does the plain English style of

regulation writing affect employees?

A question and its answer combine to

establish a rule. The employee and the

agency must follow the language

contained in both the question and its

answer.

List of Subjects in 41 CFR Parts 101–1

and 101–46:

Exchange/sale of government

property, government property

management.

Therefore, it is proposed that 41 CFR

Ch. 101 be amended set forth below:

PART 101–1—INTRODUCTION

1. The authority citation for 41 CFR

parts 101–1 and 101–46 continues to

read as follows:

Authority: Sec. 205(c), 63 Stat. 390 (40

U.S.C. 486(c)).

2. Section 101–1.110(a) is revised to

read as follows: