Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 29 / Wednesday, February 12, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 6449

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service

7 CFR Chapter XVII

Policy Statement for Direct Final

Rulemaking

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Policy statement.

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service

(RUS) is implementing a new

rulemaking procedure to expedite

making noncontroversial changes to its

regulations. Rules that RUS judges to be

noncontroversial and unlikely to result

in adverse comments will be published

as ‘‘direct final’’ rules. ‘‘Adverse

comments’’ are those comments that

suggest a rule should not be adopted or

suggest that a change should be made to

the rule. Each direct final rule will

advise the public that no adverse

comments are anticipated, and that

unless written adverse comments or

written notice of intent to submit

adverse comments is received within 30

days from the date the direct final rule

is published in the Federal Register ,

the rule will be effective 45 days from

the date the direct final rule is

published in the Federal Register.

At the same time, RUS will publish a

document in the proposed rules section

of the same issue of the Federal Register

proposing approval of and soliciting

comments on the same action contained

in the direct final rule. If adverse

comments or notice of intent to file

adverse comments are received by RUS,

the direct final rule will be withdrawn

prior to the effective date.

RUS will address the comments

received in response to the direct final

rule in a subsequent final rule. This new

policy should expedite the

promulgation of noncontroversial rules

by reducing the time that would be

required to develop, review, clear and

publish separate proposed and final

rules.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: F.

Lamont Heppe, Jr., Director, Program

Support and Regulatory Analysis, Rural

Utilities Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Room 4034–S, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW., STOP

1522, Washington, DC 20250–1522.

Telephone: 202–720–0736. FAX: 202–

720–4120. E-mail: fheppe@rus.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RUS are

committed to improving the efficiency

of its regulatory process. In pursuit of

this goal, we plan to employ the

rulemaking procedure known as ‘‘direct

final rulemaking’’ to promulgate some

RUS rules.

The Direct Final Rule Process

Rules that RUS judges to be

noncontroversial and unlikely to result

in adverse comments will be published

in the Federal Register as direct final

rules. At the same time, RUS will

publish a document in the proposed

rules section of the same issue of the

Federal Register proposing approval of

and soliciting comments on the same

action contained in the direct final rule.

Each direct final rule will advise the

public that no adverse comments are

anticipated, and that unless within 30

days, the direct final rule will be

effective 45 days from the date the

direct final rule is published in the

Federal Register.

‘‘Adverse Comments’’ are comments

that suggest that the rule should not be

adopted, or that suggest that a change

should be made to the rule. A comment

expressing support for the rule as

published will not be considered

adverse. Further, a comment suggesting

that requirements in the rule should, or

should not, be employed by RUS in

other programs or situations outside the

scope of the direct final rule will not be

considered adverse.

If RUS receives written adverse

comments or written notice of intent to

submit adverse comments within 30

days of the publication of a direct final

rule, a document withdrawing the direct

final rule prior to its effective date, will

be published in the Federal Register

stating that adverse comments were

received. RUS will address the

comments received in response to the

direct final rule in a subsequent final

rule on the related proposed rule. RUS

will not institute a second comment

period on the action.

In accordance with rulemaking

provisions of the Administrative

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 533), the direct

final rulemaking procedure gives the

public general notice of RUS’s intent to

adopt a new rule, and gives interested

persons an opportunity to participate in

the rulemaking process through

submission of and consideration by RUS

of comments. The major feature of the

direct final rulemaking process is that if

RUS receives no written adverse

comments and no written notice of

intent to submit adverse comments

within the comment period specified in

the RUS will publish a document in the

Federal Register stating that no adverse

comments were received regarding the

direct final rule, and confirming that the

direct final rule is effective on the date

specified in the direct final rule.

Determining When To Use Direct Final

Rulemaking

Not all RUS rules are good candidates

for the direct final rulemaking. RUS

intends to use the direct final

rulemaking procedure only for rules that

we consider to be non-controversial and

unlikely to generate adverse comments.

The decision whether to use the direct

final rulemaking process for a particular

action will be based on RUS experience

with similar actions.

Dated: February 5, 1997.

Wally Beyer,

Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.

[FR Doc. 97–3373 Filed 2–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency

12 CFR Part 4

[Docket No. 97–02]

RIN 1557–AB56

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 208

[Regulation H; Docket No. R–0957]

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION

112 CFR Part 337

RIN 3064–AB90

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Thrift Supervision

12 CFR Part 563

[Docket No. 96–114]

RIN 1550–AB02

Expanded Examination Cycle for

Certain Small Insured Institutions

AGENCIES: Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, Office of the

Comptroller of the Currency, Federal

Deposit Insurance Corporation, and

Office of Thrift Supervision.

ACTION: Interim rule with request for

comment.

SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System (Board), the

Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit