26 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 1998 / Rules and Regulations

2. Paragraphs (f) and (g) are

redesignated as paragraphs (g) and (h),

respectively.

3. A new paragraph (f) is added.

4. Paragraph (h), as redesignated, is

revised.

The addition and revisions read as

follows:

§ 48.4082–5 Diesel fuel; Alaska

* * * * *

(b) * * *

Qualified dealer means any person

that holds a qualified dealer license

from the state of Alaska or has been

registered by the district director as a

qualified retailer. The district director

will register a person as a qualified

retailer only if the district director—

(1) Determines that the person, in the

course of its trade or business, regularly

sells diesel fuel for use by its buyer in

a nontaxable use; and

(2) Is satisfied with the filing, deposit,

payment, and claim history for all

federal taxes of the person and any

related person.

* * * * *

(f) Registration. With respect to each

person that has been registered as a

qualified retailer by the district director,

the rules of § 48.4101–1(g), (h), and (i)

apply.

* * * * *

(h) Effective date. This section is

applicable with respect to diesel fuel

removed or entered after December 31,

1996. A person registered by the district

director as a qualified retailer before

April 2, 1998 may be treated, to the

extent the district director determines

appropriate, as a qualified dealer for the

period before that date.

§ 48.6416(b)(4)–1 [Removed]

Par. 7. Section 48.6416(b)(4)-1 is

removed.

§ 48.6421–3 [Amended]

Par. 8. In § 48.6421–3, paragraph

(d)(2) is amended by removing the last

sentence.

§ 48.6427–3 [Amended]

Par. 9. In § 48.6427–3, paragraph

(d)(2) is amended by removing the last

sentence.

Par. 10. In § 48.6715–1, paragraph

(a)(3) is revised to read as follows:

§ 48.6715–1 Penalty for misuse of dyed

diesel fuel.

(a) * * *

(3) The alteration or attempted

alteration occurs in an exempt area of

Alaska after September 30, 1996.

* * * * *

§ 48.6715–2T [Removed]

Par. 11. Section 48.6715–2T is

removed.

Approved: November 6, 1997.

Michael P. Dolan,

Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Donald C. Lubick,

Acting Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

[FR Doc. 97–33988 Filed 12–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[FRL–5937–7]

Final Determination to Extend Deadline

for Promulgation of Action on Section

126 Petitions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The EPA is extending by an

additional three-day period the deadline

for taking final action on petitions that

eight States have submitted to require

EPA to make findings that sources

upwind of those States contribute

significantly to nonattainment problems

in those States. Under the Clean Air Act

(CAA), EPA is authorized to grant this

time extension if EPA determines that

the extension is necessary, among other

things, to meet the purposes of the Act’s

rulemaking requirements. By this

document, EPA is making that

determination.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective

as of December 15, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Howard J. Hoffman, Office of General

Counsel, MC–2344, 401 M St., SW,

Washington, D.C. 20460, (202) 260–

5892.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Today’s action follows closely EPA’s

final actions taken by notice dated

October 22, 1997 (62 FR 54769) and

November 20, 1997 (62 FR 61914).

Familiarity with those documents is

assumed, and background information

in them will not be repeated here.

In the November 20, 1997 document,

EPA extended by one month, pursuant

to its authority under CAA section

307(d)(10), the time-frame for taking

final action on petitions submitted by

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,

New Hampshire, New York,

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and

Vermont under CAA section 126. This

extension established the deadline at

December 14, 1997, but because that

date fell on a Sunday, the deadline

became the following Monday,

December 15, 1997. In the November 20,

1997 document, EPA indicated that it

was reserving its option to extend the

date for final action by all or part of the

remaining four months of the six-month

extension period provided under

section 307(d)(10).

EPA is today extending the deadline

for an additional three days, to

December 18, 1997. In the November 20,

1997 document, EPA justified the

second one-month extension as

necessary in part to allow the agency,

working with the section 126 petitioners

and other interested parties, to conclude

the process for determining an

appropriate schedule for action on the

section 126 petitions. This schedule

would include, as important elements,

timetables for proposed rulemaking, a

public hearing, and a public comment

period. In this manner, the extension

furthered the purposes of section

307(d)(10) by promoting public

participation in the rulemaking process.

EPA believes that these same reasons

continue to apply to favor another, brief

extension, at this time. In particular,

EPA seems to be in the final stages of

finalizing with the section 126

petitioners an appropriate schedule for

section 126 rulemaking. Accordingly,

EPA again concludes today that

extending the date for action on the

section 126 petitions for another three

days is necessary.

As EPA indicated in its previous

notices, EPA, even with today’s action,

continues not to use the entire six

months provided under section

307(d)(10) for the extension. EPA

continues to reserve the right to apply

the remaining period, or a portion

thereof, as an additional extension, if

necessary, immediately following the

conclusion of the three-day period, or to

apply the remaining time to the period

following EPA’s proposed rulemaking.

II. Final Action

A. Rule

Today, EPA is determining, under

CAA section 307(d)(10), that an

additional three-day period is necessary

to assure the development of an

appropriate schedule for rulemaking on

the section 126 petitions, which

schedule would allow EPA adequate

time to prepare a notice for proposal

that will best facilitate public comment,

as well as allow the public sufficient

time to comment. Under this extension,

the date for action on each of the section

126 petitions is December 18, 1997.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 1998 / Rules and Regulations 27

B. Notice-and-Comment Under the

Administrative Procedures Act (APA)

This document is a final agency

action, but may not be subject to the

notice-and-comment requirements of

the APA, 5 U.S.C. 553(b). EPA believes

that because of the limited time

provided to make a determination that

the deadline for action on the section

126 petitions should be extended,

Congress may not have intended such a

determination to be subject to noticeand-comment rulemaking. However, to

the extent that this determination is

subject to notice-and-comment

rulemaking, EPA invokes the good cause

exception pursuant to the APA, 5 U.S.C.

553(b)(3)(B). Providing notice and

comment would be impracticable

because of the limited time provided for

making this determination, and would

be contrary to the public interest

because it would divert agency

resources from the critical substantive

review of the section 126 petitions.

C. Effective Date Under the APA

Today’s action will be effective on

December 15, 1997. Under the APA, 5

U.S.C. 553(d)(3), agency rulemaking

may take effect before 30 days after the

date of publication in the Federal

Register if the agency has good cause to

mandate an earlier effective date.

Today’s action—a deadline extension—

must take effect immediately because its

purpose is to move back by a three-day

period the December 15, 1997 deadline

for the section 126 petitions. Moreover,

EPA intends to use immediately the

new extension period to continue to

develop an appropriate schedule for

ultimate action on the section 126

petitions, and to continue to develop the

technical analysis needed to develop the

notice of proposed rulemaking. These

reasons support an effective date prior

to 30 days after the date of publication.

D. Executive Order 12866

The Office of Management and Budget

has exempted this regulatory action

from Executive Order 12866 review.

E. Unfunded Mandates

Under the Unfunded Mandates

Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1501 et

seq., EPA must undertake various

actions in association with proposed or

final rules that include a Federal

mandate that may result in estimated

costs of $100 million or more to the

private sector or to State, local, or tribal

governments in the aggregate. In

addition, before EPA establishes any

regulatory requirements that may

significantly or uniquely affect small

governments, EPA must have developed

a small government agency plan. EPA

has determined that these requirements

do not apply to today’s action because

this rulemaking (i) is not a Federal

mandate—rather, it simply extends the

date for EPA action on a rulemaking;

and (ii) contains no regulatory

requirements that might significantly or

uniquely affect small governments.

F. Regulatory Flexibility Act

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

(RFA), 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA must

propose a regulatory flexibility analysis

assessing the impact on small entities of

any rule subject to the notice-andcomment rulemaking requirements.

Because this action is exempt from such

requirements, as described above, it is

not subject to RFA.

G. Submission to Congress and the

General Accounting Office

Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), added by

the Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

(SBREFA), EPA submitted, by the date

of publication of this rule, a report

containing this rule and other required

information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S.

House of Representatives and the

Comptroller General of the General

Accounting Office. This rule is not a

‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C.

804(2).

H. Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not contain any

information collection requirements

which require OMB approval under the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.)

I. Judicial Review

Under CAA section 307(b)(1), a

petition to review today’s action may be

filed in the Court of Appeals for the

District of Columbia within 60 days of

January 2, 1998.

Dated: December 15, 1997.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–34199 Filed 12–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA–97–3145]

RIN No. 2127–AB85

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standards; Head Impact Protection

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Correcting amendments.

SUMMARY: On April 8, 1997, (62 FR

16718) NHTSA published a final rule

amending Standard No. 201, ‘‘Occupant

Protection in Interior Impact,’’ to

include another phase-in option, allow

manufacturers to carry forward credits

for vehicles certified to the free-motion

headform impact requirements prior to

the beginning of the phase-in period,

exclude buses with a GVWR of more

than 3,860 kilograms (8,500 pounds),

specify that all attachments to the

vehicle upper interior components are

to remain in place during compliance

testing, and make other changes to the

test procedure to clarify some areas of

confusion. This document corrects

minor errors in S2 and S8.12(a)(1) of

Standard No. 201 (49 CFR 571.201).

DATES: The amendments are effective on

January 2, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

following persons at the NHTSA, 400

Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC

20590.

For non-legal issues: Dr. William Fan,

Office of Crashworthiness, NPS–11,

telephone (202) 366–4922, facsimile

(202) 366–4329, electronic mail

‘‘bfan@nhtsa.dot.gov’’.

For legal issues: Steve Wood, Office of

the Chief Counsel, NCC–20, telephone

(202) 366–2992, facsimile (202) 366–

3820, electronic mail

‘‘swood@nhtsa.dot.gov’’.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standard No. 201 ‘‘Occupant Protection

in Interior Impact,’’ is intended to

reduce deaths and injuries resulting

from occupant impacts with vehicle

interiors. On April 8, 1997, NHTSA

published a final rule (62 FR 16718)

amending Standard No. 201 to (1)

include another phase-in option, (2)

allow manufacturers to carry forward

credits for vehicles certified to the freemotion headform impact requirements

prior to the beginning of the phase-in