Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 243 / Thursday, December 18, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 66259

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

9 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. 97–061–2]

Expenses Associated With

Transporting and Disposing of

Tuberculosis-Exposed Animals

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as

final rule.

SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final

rule, without change, an interim rule

that amended the regulations

concerning animals destroyed because

of tuberculosis to allow the U.S.

Department of Agriculture to pay herd

owners some of their expenses for

transporting tuberculosis-exposed cattle,

bison, and cervids to slaughter or to the

point of disposal, and for disposing of

the animals. Prior to the interim rule,

herd owners could only receive help

with these costs for affected animals.

Consequently, herd owners in some

cases elected to keep exposed animals

in a herd until testing revealed them to

be either free of tuberculosis or affected

with tuberculosis, or elected not to

depopulate an affected herd, providing

opportunity for further spread of the

disease. The interim rule also made

minor changes to the provisions for

paying some of the expenses for

transporting tuberculosis-affected

animals to the point of disposal and

disposing of them. The interim rule was

necessary to ensure continued progress

toward eradicating tuberculosis in the

U.S. livestock population.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The interim rule was

effective on September 17, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Mitchell A. Essey, Senior Staff

Veterinarian, National Animal Health

Programs, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road,

Unit 36, Riverdale MD 20737–1231,

(301) 734–7727.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In an interim rule effective September

17, 1997, and published in the Federal

Register on September 23, 1997 (62 FR

49590–49593, Docket No. 97–061–1), we

amended the regulations in 9 CFR 50.8

to allow the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (the Department) to pay

herd owners one-half the expenses of

transporting tuberculosis-exposed cattle,

bison, and cervids to slaughter or to the

point of disposal, and for disposing of

the animals. The interim rule also

provided that the Department may pay

more than one-half of the expenses

when the Administrator of the Animal

and Plant Health Inspection Service

(APHIS) determines that doing so will

contribute to the tuberculosis

eradication program. Prior to this

interim rule, herd owners could only

receive help with these costs for affected

animals. We also amended § 50.8 in the

interim rule to allow the Department to

pay herd owners of tuberculosis-affected

cattle, bison, and cervids more than onehalf of the expenses of transporting the

animals to slaughter or the point of

disposal, and for disposing of the

animals when the Administrator of

APHIS determines that doing so will

contribute to the tuberculosis

eradication program. In addition, we

amended § 50.8 to remove the

provisions concerning forms for

payment of expenses for disposal or

transportation of tuberculosis-affected

animals, and we amended § 50.8 to

remove the provision that the

Department will not pay any portion of

the expenses for transporting or

disposing of affected animals when the

transportation or disposal is provided

by the owner of the affected animals.

Comments on the interim rule were

required to be received on or before

November 24, 1997. We received one

comment by that date. The commenter

supported the interim rule as written.

The facts presented in the interim rule

still provide a basis for the rule.

This action also affirms the

information contained in the interim

rule concerning Executive Order 12866

and the Regulatory Flexibility Act,

Executive Orders 12372 and 12988, and

the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Further, for this action, the Office of

Management and Budget has waived the

review process required by Executive

Order 12866.

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 50

Animal diseases, Bison, Cattle, Hogs,

Indemnity payments, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements,

Tuberculosis.

PART 50—ANIMALS DESTROYED

BECAUSE OF TUBERCULOSIS

Accordingly, we are adopting as a

final rule, without change, the interim

rule that amended 9 CFR part 50 and

that was published at 62 FR 49590–

49593 on September 23, 1997.

Authority: 21 U.S.C. 111–113, 114, 114a,

114a–1, 120, 121, 125, and 134b; 7 CFR 2.22,

2.80, and 371.2(d).

Done in Washington, DC, this 12th day of

December 1997.

Craig A. Reed,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 97–33037 Filed 12–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 203

[Regulation C; Docket No. R–0993]

Home Mortgage Disclosure

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System.

AGENCY: Final rule; staff commentary.

SUMMARY: The Board is publishing

revisions to its staff commentary that

interprets the requirements of

Regulation C (Home Mortgage

Disclosure). The Board is required to

adjust annually the asset-size exemption

threshold for depository institutions

based on the annual percentage change

in the Consumer Price Index for Urban

Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The

adjustment reflects changes for the

twelve-month period ending in

November. In 1998, depository

institutions with assets totaling $29

million or less are not required to

collect data.

DATES: Effective date. This rule is

effective January 1, 1998.

Applicability date. This rule applies

to all data collection in 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Pamela C. Morris, Staff Attorney,

Division of Consumer and Community

Affairs, at (202) 452–3667; for users of

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf

(TDD) only, contact Diane Jenkins at

(202) 452–3544.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act

(HMDA; 12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) requires

most mortgage lenders located in

metropolitan statistical areas to collect

data about their housing-related lending

activity. Annually, lenders must file

reports with their federal supervisory

agencies and make disclosures available

to the public. The Board’s Regulation C

(12 CFR part 203) implements HMDA.

Provisions of the Economic Growth and

Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of

1996 (Pub. L. 104–208, 110 Stat. 3009)

amended HMDA to modify the

exemption threshold for small

depository institutions. Until 1997,

HMDA exempted depository

institutions with assets of $10 million or
66260 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 243 / Thursday, December 18, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

1Corporate Governance, 61 FR 64007 (December

3, 1996). Subsidiaries and Equity Investments, 61

FR 66561 (December 18, 1996).

2 12 U.S.C. 4803(a)(1).

less, as of the preceding year end. The

statutory amendment increased the

asset-size exemption threshold by

requiring a one-time adjustment of the

$10 million figure based on the

percentage by which the Consumer

Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and

Clerical Workers (CPIW) for 1996

exceeded the CPIW for 1975, and annual

adjustments thereafter based on the

annual percentage increase in the CPIW.

The one-time adjustment increased the

exemption threshold to $28 million for

1997 data collection.

To implement the statutory

amendment, the Board published an

interim rule in January 1997. (62 FR

3603, Jan. 24, 1997). The interim rule

was made final in May. (62 FR 28620,

May 27, 1997; correction at 62 FR

62339, June 19, 1997). Section

203.3(a)(1)(ii) provides that the Board

will adjust the threshold based on the

year-to-year change in the average of the

CPIW, not seasonally adjusted, for each

twelve-month period ending in

November, rounded to the nearest

million. During the period ending in

November 1997, the Consumer Price

Index for Urban Wage Earners and

Clerical Workers increased by 2.4%. As

a result, the new threshold is $29

million. Thus, depository institutions

with assets of $29 million or less as of

December 31, 1997 are exempt from

data collection in 1998. An institution’s

exemption from collecting data in 1998

does not affect its responsibility to

report the 1997 data if it was required

to collect it.

The Board is adopting this

amendment to the staff commentary to

implement the annual change in the

exemption threshold. The

Administrative Procedure Act provides

that notice and opportunity for public

comment are not required if an agency

finds that notice and public comment

are unnecessary or would be contrary to

the public interest. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).

Regulation C establishes a formula

(adopted by the Board after notice and

comment) for determining the annual

adjustment, if any, to the exemption

threshold. The Board’s amendment to

the staff commentary, which merely

applies the formula, is technical and not

subject to interpretation. For these

reasons, the Board has determined that

publishing a notice of proposed

rulemaking for public comment for the

following amendment is unnecessary.

Therefore, the Board has adopted this

amendment, establishing a new

threshold, in final form. This rule is

effective as of January 1, 1998, so that

institutions that are no longer covered

can avoid collecting data unnecessarily.

II. Section Analysis

Section 203.3—Exempt Institutions

Comments 3(a)–2 and 3(a)–3 have

been redesignated as comments 3(a)–3

and 3(a)–4, respectively, and a new

comment 3(a)–2 has been added to

specify the exemption threshold, which

is adjusted annually each December.

Depository institutions with assets that

are at or below the threshold as of

December 31, 1997, need not collect the

HMDA data for 1998.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 203

Banks, banking, Consumer protection,

Federal Reserve System, Mortgages,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, the Board amends 12 CFR

part 203 as follows:

PART 203—HOME MORTGAGE

DISCLOSURE (REGULATION C)

1. The authority citation for Part 203

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 2801–2810.

2. In Supplement I to part 203, under

Section 203.3—Exempt Institutions,

under 3(a) Exemption based on location,

asset size, or number of home-purchase

loans, paragraphs 2 and 3 are

redesignated as paragraphs 3 and 4,

respectively; and a new paragraph 2 is

added to read as follows:

Supplement I to Part 203—Staff

Commentary

* * * * *

Section 203.3—Exempt Institutions

3(a) Exemption based on location, asset

size, or number of home-purchase loans.

* * * * *

2. Adjustment of exemption threshold for

depository institutions. For data collection in

1998, the asset-size exemption threshold is

$29 million. Depository institutions with

assets at or below $29 million are exempt

from collecting data for 1998.

* * * * *

By order of the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, December 12, 1997.

William W. Wiles,

Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 97–33036 Filed 12–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Thrift Supervision

12 CFR Parts 506, 544, 545, 552, 559,

560, 561, 563, 565, 567, 575

[No. 97–126]

Technical Amendments

AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision,

Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Office of Thrift

Supervision (OTS) is amending its

regulations to incorporate a number of

technical and conforming amendments.

The OTS is amending its capital rules to

remove transition periods that are

outdated, making technical revisions to

final rules issued during December,

1996 pursuant to the regulatory

reinvention initiative, and making other

miscellaneous technical changes to

existing regulations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 18, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary H. Gottlieb, Senior Paralegal

(Regulations), (202) 906–7135, or Karen

A. Osterloh, Assistant Chief Counsel,

(202) 906–6639, Regulations and

Legislation Division, Chief Counsel’s

Office, Office of Thrift Supervision,

1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC

20552.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Capital

OTS is today adopting several

technical amendments to its capital

regulations to remove references to

transition periods that have elapsed and

to streamline its definitions relating to

capital.

Regulatory Burden Reduction

Regulations

OTS is also making a number of

technical corrections to its charter and

bylaw, conversion, and subordinate

organization regulations 1 that were

substantially revised during December,

1996, pursuant to the Regulatory

Reinvention Initiative of the Vice

President’s National Performance

Review and section 303 of the Riegle

Community Development and

Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994.2

In particular, § 552.10, regarding the

mailing of annual reports to

stockholders, is being amended. Section

552.10 currently requires Federal stock

associations that are not wholly-owned