36658 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 146 / Monday, July 30, 2018 / Notices 

40 15 U.S.C. 78q–1. 

41 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(d)(8). 

42 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

43 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(b)(2)–(4), (d)(8). 

44 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

45 In approving the proposed rule change, the 

Commission considered the proposal’s impact on 

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. 15 

U.S.C. 78c(f). 

46 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

as the Framework owner and would 

make the ROO responsible to the ICC 

President for the successful operation 

and maintenance of the Framework. The 

Framework would also designate certain 

responsibilities to ICC’s CRO and the 

Risk Committee. The Commission 

believes that in doing so the Framework 

would allow ICC to establish clear and 

transparent arrangements for governing 

the Framework and its model validation 

procedures. The Commission further 

believes that these same arrangements 

would contribute to ICC’s fulfilling the 

public interest requirements in Section 

17A of the Act 40 applicable to clearing 

agencies, and the objectives of owners 

and participants. Finally, the 

Commission believes that these 

procedures and arrangements would 

promote the effectiveness of ICC’s risk 

management procedures by clarifying 

the process for, and responsibilities 

associated with, using the Framework to 

improve ICC’s risk management system. 

Therefore, for the above reasons the 

Commission finds that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with Rule 

17Ad–22(d)(8).41

IV. Conclusion 

On the basis of the foregoing, the 

Commission finds that the proposal is 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Act, and in particular, with the 

requirements of Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of 

the Act 42 and Rules 17Ad–22(b)(2), 

17Ad–22(b)(3), 17Ad–22(b)(4), and 

17Ad–22(d)(8) thereunder.43

It is therefore ordered pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act 44 that the 

proposed rule change (SR–ICC–2018– 

004) be, and hereby is, approved.45

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.46

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16164 Filed 7–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[License No. 03/03–0249] 

Argosy Investment Partners IV, L.P.; 

Notice Seeking Exemption Under the 

Small Business Investment Act, 

Conflicts of Interest 

Notice is hereby given that Argosy 

Investment Partners IV, L.P., 950 West 

Valley Road, Suite 2900, Wayne, PA 

19087, a Federal Licensee under the 

Small Business Investment Act of 1958, 

as amended (‘‘the Act’’), in connection 

with the financing of a small concern, 

has sought an exemption under Section 

312 of the Act and Section 107.730, 

Financings which Constitute Conflicts 

of Interest of the Small Business 

Administration (‘‘SBA’’) Rules and 

Regulations (13 CFR 107.730). Argosy 

Investment Partners IV, L.P. is seeking 

post-financing approval from SBA for 

loan and equity financings it made to 

POSC Holdings LLC, formerly known as 

Panhandle Oilfield Service Companies, 

Inc., 14000 Quail Springs Parkway, 

Suite 300, Oklahoma City, OK 73134. 

The financing is brought within the 

purview of § 107.730(a)(1) of the 

Regulations because Argosy Investment 

Partners V, L.P., an Associate of Argosy 

Investment Partners IV, L.P., owns more 

than ten percent of POSC Holdings LLC, 

and therefore this transaction is 

considered Financing an Associate 

requiring prior SBA approval. Argosy 

Investment Partners IV, L.P. has already 

made its investments in POSC Holdings 

LLC and is seeking post-financing SBA 

approval. 

Notice is hereby given that any 

interested person may submit written 

comments on this transaction within 

fifteen days of the date of this 

publication to the Associate 

Administrator, Office of Investment and 

Innovation, U.S. Small Business 

Administration, 409 Third Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20416. 

A. Joseph Shepard, 

Associate Administrator for Office of 

Investment and Innovation. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16206 Filed 7–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[Docket No.: SBA–2018–0007] 

Surety Bond Guarantee Program Fees 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Notification of temporary 

initiative to test lower fees; request for 

public comments. 

SUMMARY: This document announces a 

temporary decrease in the guarantee fees 

that the U.S. Small Business 

Administration (SBA) charges all Surety 

companies and Principals on each 

guaranteed bond (other than a bid bond) 

issued in SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee 

(SBG) Program. 

DATES:

Applicability Date: The fee decreases 

described in this document will apply 

to all SBA surety bond guarantees 

approved during the one year period 

beginning October 1, 2018 and ending 

September 30, 2019. 

Comment Date: SBA must receive 

comments on or before August 29, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. SBA–2018– 

0007, by any of the following methods: 

(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov, following the 

instructions for submitting comments; 

or (2) Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: 

Jermanne Perry, Surety Bond Specialist, 

U.S. Small Business Administration, 

Office of Surety Guarantees, 409 Third 

Street SW, Suite 8600, Washington, DC 

20416. 

SBA will post all comments on 

www.regulations.gov. If you wish to 

submit confidential business 

information (CBI) as defined in the User 

Notice at www.regulations.gov, you 

must submit such information to U.S. 

Small Business Administration, 

Jermanne Perry, Office of Surety 

Guarantees, 409 Third Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20416 or send an email 

to jermanne.perry@sba.gov. Highlight 

the information that you consider to be 

CBI and explain why you believe SBA 

should hold this information as 

confidential. SBA will review your 

information and determine whether it 

will make the information public. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jermanne Perry, Surety Bond Specialist, 

Office of Surety Guarantees, (202) 401– 

8275; jermanne.perry@sba.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under its 

SBG Program, the SBA guarantees bid, 

payment and performance bonds for 

small and emerging contractors who 

cannot obtain surety bonds through 

regular commercial channels. SBA’s 

guarantee gives Sureties an incentive to 

provide bonding for small businesses 

and, thereby, assists small businesses in 

obtaining greater access to contracting 

opportunities. SBA’s guarantee is an 

agreement between a Surety and SBA 

that SBA will assume a certain 

percentage of the Surety’s loss should a 

contractor default on the underlying 

contract. Pursuant to its statutory 

authority ‘‘to establish such fee or fees 

for small business concerns and 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 146 / Monday, July 30, 2018 / Notices 36659 

premium or premiums for sureties as it 

deems reasonable and necessary,’’ and 

to administer the SBG Program ‘‘on a 

prudent and economically justifiable 

basis,’’ 15 U.S.C. 694b(h), SBA assesses 

a guarantee fee against both the small 

business concern (the Principal) and the 

Surety and deposits these fees into a 

revolving fund to cover the program’s 

liabilities and certain program expenses. 

SBA last changed the fees over 12 

years ago when the fee charged to the 

Sureties was increased from 20% to 

26% of the bond premium and the fee 

charged to Principals increased from 

$6.00 per thousand dollars of the 

contract amount to $7.29 per thousand 

dollars of the contract amount. Those 

fees have been in effect since April 3, 

2006. At that time, SBA determined that 

the program’s revolving fund was 

insufficient to cover projected, 

unfunded liabilities. See 71 FR 9632 

(February 24, 2006). SBA increased the 

guarantee fees to address the projected 

deficiency. Over the past 12 years, with 

the increased fee amounts, the revolving 

fund has accumulated sufficient funds 

to support the program. 

SBA’s rules provide that the amount 

of the fees to be paid by the Surety and 

the Principal ‘‘will be determined by 

SBA and published in Notices in the 

Federal Register from time to time.’’ See 

13 CFR 115.32(b) and (c) and 115.66. 

The purpose of this document is to 

announce that, for the one year period 

beginning October 1, 2018, the Surety 

fee will decrease from 26% of the bond 

premium to 20% of the bond premium 

and the Principal fee will decrease from 

$7.29 per thousand dollars of the 

contract amount to $6 per thousand 

dollars of the contract amount. 

As indicated above, the decreases in 

the fees are temporary and will be in 

effect for guaranteed bonds approved 

during the one year period beginning 

October 1, 2018, and ending September 

30, 2019. During the year, SBA will 

evaluate whether the lower fees will 

result in an increase in the bond activity 

level of the SBG Program and, if so, 

whether any such increased level of 

activity will generate sufficient revenues 

to offset the reduced fee amounts. After 

carefully reviewing program 

performance during the year, SBA will 

determine whether the guarantee fees 

should remain at these new amounts or 

if they should revert to the higher 

amounts or otherwise be changed. 

SBA invites public comments on the 

above stated fee decreases. Please 

clearly identify paper and electronic 

comments as ‘‘Public Comments on Fee 

Decreases under the SBG Program 

Docket No. SBA–2018–0007’’ and 

submit them by one of the methods 

identified in the ADDRESSES section of 

this document. SBA will consider the 

comments and determine whether any 

revisions are necessary. 

Authority: 13 CFR 115.32(b) and (c) and 

115.66. 

Dated: July 23, 2018. 

William Manger, 

Associate Administrator, Office of Capital 

Access. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16202 Filed 7–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[License No. 03/03–0263] 

Argosy Investment Partners V, L.P.; 

Notice Seeking Exemption Under the 

Small Business Investment Act, 

Conflicts of Interest 

Notice is hereby given that Argosy 

Investment Partners V, L.P., 950 West 

Valley Road, Suite 2900, Wayne, PA 

19087, a Federal Licensee under the 

Small Business Investment Act of 1958, 

as amended (‘‘the Act’’), in connection 

with the financing of a small concern, 

has sought an exemption under Section 

312 of the Act and Section 107.730, 

Financings which Constitute Conflicts 

of Interest of the Small Business 

Administration (‘‘SBA’’) Rules and 

Regulations (13 CFR 107.730). Argosy 

Investment Partners V, L.P. is seeking 

post-financing approval from SBA for 

loan and equity financings it made to 

POSC Holdings LLC, formerly known as 

Panhandle Oilfield Service Companies, 

Inc., 14000 Quail Springs Parkway, 

Suite 300, Oklahoma City, OK 73134. 

The financing is brought within the 

purview of § 107.730(a)(1) of the 

Regulations because Argosy Investment 

Partners IV, L.P., an Associate of Argosy 

Investment Partners V, L.P., owns more 

than ten percent of POSC Holdings LLC, 

and therefore this transaction is 

considered Financing an Associate 

requiring prior SBA approval. Argosy 

Investment Partners V, L.P. has already 

made its investments in POSC Holdings 

LLC and is seeking post-financing SBA 

approval. 

Notice is hereby given that any 

interested person may submit written 

comments on this transaction within 

fifteen days of the date of this 

publication to the Associate 

Administrator, Office of Investment and 

Innovation, U.S. Small Business 

Administration, 409 Third Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20416. 

A. Joseph Shepard, 

Associate Administrator for Office of 

Investment and Innovation. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16205 Filed 7–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice: 10479] 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Environmental Assessment for the 

Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline 

Mainline Alternative Route in Nebraska 

ACTION: Notice of availability; 

solicitation of comments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of State 

(Department) announces the availability 

of the Draft Environmental Assessment 

(Draft EA) for the Proposed Keystone XL 

Pipeline Mainline Alternative Route in 

Nebraska for public review and 

comment. The Draft EA evaluates the 

potential environmental impacts of the 

proposed Keystone XL Mainline 

Alternative Route —consistent with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969— in support of the Bureau of Land 

Management’s (BLM) review of 

TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P.’s 

(TransCanada) application for a right-ofway. 

DATES: The public comment period ends 

on August 29, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted at https://

www.regulations.gov by entering the 

title of this Notice or Docket Number: 

DOS–2018–0031 into the search field, 

and then following the prompts. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

Draft EA, along with detailed records on 

the proposed project and general 

information about the Presidential 

permit process, are available at: https:// 

keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov. 

Marko Velikonja, Office of 

Environmental Quality and 

Transboundary Issues, (202) 647–4828, 

VelikonjaMG@state.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 26, 2017, TransCanada 

resubmitted its Presidential permit 

application for the proposed Keystone 

XL pipeline. On March 23, 2017, the 

Under Secretary of State for Political 

Affairs determined that issuance of a 

Presidential permit to TransCanada to 

construct, connect, operate, and 

maintain at the border of the United 

States pipeline facilities to transport 

crude oil from Canada to the United 

States would serve the national interest. 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES