8578 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 27 / Thursday, February 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

§ 402.5 Incorrect statement, or omission. 

(a) No person may make or cause to 

be made a material incorrect statement, 

or omit or cause to be omitted a material 

fact, in: 

(1) Any document in any format, 

submitted under any provision 

referenced in § 402.1, consisting of or 

related to any acceptance, application, 

approval, authorization, permit, license, 

waiver, record, report, or similar; or 

(2) Any document in any format that 

is kept, made, or used to show 

compliance with any requirement under 

the provisions referenced in § 402.1. 

(b) A material incorrect statement, or 

omission of a material fact, in a 

document described in § 402.5(a)(1) and 

(2) may serve as a basis for denying, 

suspending, modifying, revoking, 

rescinding, removing, or withdrawing 

any acceptance, application, approval, 

authorization, permit, license, waiver, 

or similar, issued or granted by the 

Administrator and held by that person. 

PART 413—LICENSE APPLICATION 

PROCEDURES 

■ 41. The authority citation for part 413 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 51 U.S.C. 50901–50923. 

■ 42. Remove and reserve § 413.17(c). 

Issued under authority provided by 49 

U.S.C. 106(f), 44701(a), and 44703 in 

Washington, DC. 

Marc A. Nichols, 

Chief Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00872 Filed 2–7–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

16 CFR Part 1 

RIN 3084–AB79 

Horseracing Integrity and Safety 

Authority Oversight 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rule; request 

for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade 

Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) 

announces proposed rules regarding 

oversight of the Horseracing Integrity 

and Safety Authority (‘‘Authority’’). The 

proposed rules include new oversight 

provisions to ensure that the Authority 

remains publicly accountable and 

operates in a fiscally prudent, safe, and 

effective manner. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

April 8, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a 

comment online or on paper by 

following the instructions in the 

Request for Comment part of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below. Write ‘‘HISA Oversight 

Rulemaking, Matter No. P222100’’ on 

your comment and file your comment 

online at https://www.regulations.gov by 

following the instructions on the webbased form. If you prefer to file your 

comment on paper, mail your comment 

to the following address: Federal Trade 

Commission, Office of the Secretary, 

600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail 

Stop H–144 (Annex H), Washington, DC 

20580. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Botha (202–326–2036, sbotha@

ftc.gov), Office of the Executive Director, 

Federal Trade Commission. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety 

Act of 2020 (‘‘HISA’’ or ‘‘the Act’’), 

Public Law 116–260, Title XII, 134 Stat 

1182, 3252 (2020) (codified as amended 

at 15 U.S.C. 3051–3060), recognizes the 

Authority as a self-regulatory nonprofit 

organization charged with developing 

and enforcing rules relating to racetrack 

safety, anti-doping, and medication 

control. See 15 U.S.C. 3052. The Act 

expressly provides for Commission 

oversight of several aspects of the 

Authority’s operations. For example, the 

Commission must approve any 

proposed rule or rule modification by 

the Authority relating to the Authority’s 

bylaws, racetrack safety standards, antidoping and medication control, and the 

formula or methodology for determining 

assessments. See id. In December 2022, 

Congress amended HISA to expand the 

Commission’s oversight role over the 

Authority. See Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 

117–328, Sec. 701, 136 Stat. 4459, 5231 

(2022). As amended, the Act gives the 

Commission the power to issue rules 

under the procedures set forth in the 

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

553, ‘‘as the Commission finds 

necessary or appropriate to ensure the 

fair administration of the Authority . . . 

or otherwise in furtherance of the 

purposes of this Act.’’ 15 U.S.C. 3053(e). 

In light of the Commission’s 

experience in overseeing the Authority’s 

operations to date, the Commission is 

exercising its rulemaking authority to 

propose several new rule provisions to 

ensure effective Commission oversight 

over the Authority. The proposed new 

provisions are designed to ensure that 

the Authority is promoting transparency 

and integrity in its operations. For 

example, new rule sections would 

require the Authority to submit and 

publish annual and midyear reports 

about its performance and financial 

position. The proposed rules would also 

require the Authority to develop, 

maintain, and publish a multi-year 

strategic plan, after taking public 

comments on the draft plan. The 

proposed rules would require the 

Authority to effectively manage risk and 

take steps to prevent conflicts of 

interest, waste, fraud, embezzlement, 

and abuse. The proposed rules would 

also mandate other operational 

requirements and identify best practices 

for the Authority to follow, as explained 

in the section-by-section analysis below. 

The Commission would add the 

proposed new rules as 16 CFR 1.153 

through 1.156 in Subpart U of part 1 of 

its Rules of Practice. Subpart U would 

be renamed ‘‘Oversight of the 

Horseracing Integrity and Safety 

Authority’’ to reflect more accurately 

the content of the amended subpart. 

Section by Section Analysis 

§ 1.153 Submission of the 

Authority’s annual reports, midyear 

reports, and strategic plans. This 

proposed new section imposes certain 

requirements on the Authority to report 

on its finances for the preceding 

calendar year by May 15. This includes 

a complete accounting of the 

Authority’s budget (as audited by a 

qualified, independent, registered 

public accounting firm and in 

accordance with Generally Accepted 

Accounting Principles), a discussion of 

budgetary line items, a summary of 

travel expenses, and a summary of any 

new or continuing risks or issues raised 

by audits or other reviews. The 

proposed section also imposes certain 

requirements on the Authority to report 

by March 31 on its performance for the 

prior calendar year, with such report to 

include efforts made to carry out the 

requirements of the Act, a description of 

the cooperation with the states as set 

forth in 15 U.S.C. 3060(b), a summary of 

final civil sanctions, an assessment of 

the Authority’s progress in meeting or 

not meeting its performance measures 

contained in its strategic plan per 

§ 1.153(d), a summary of Board of 

Directors committee recommendations 

and activities, information about any 

changes in the composition of the 

Authority’s Board of Directors or 

standing committees, information about 

the relationship between the Authority 

and the anti-doping and medication 

control enforcement agency, a summary 

of all litigation to which the Authority 

is a party (including actions commenced 

by the Authority under 15 U.S.C. 

3054(j)), a summary of all subpoenas 

issued by the Authority under 15 U.S.C. 


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3054(c), a description of any areas in 

which the Authority believes 

improvements to its operations are 

warranted, and the Authority’s plans to 

achieve those improvements. The 

proposed section also requires the 

Authority to submit to the FTC by 

August 15 a same year midyear report 

covering January to June that describes 

spending and staffing levels and 

budgetary information. This midyear 

report would provide operational 

insight about the Authority’s budget 

execution and risk management 

activities. Under the proposed section, 

the Authority also must develop and 

publish for public comment a multi-year 

strategic plan by June 30, 2024. The 

Authority must re-evaluate its strategic 

plan no less frequently than every five 

years. The strategic plan must align with 

the Authority’s annual budget, discuss 

its priority initiatives, and set forth a set 

of performance measures. The Authority 

must publish its annual financial 

reports, annual performance reports, 

and strategic plans on its website. 

§ 1.154 Enterprise risk management. 

This proposed new section imposes 

certain requirements on the Authority to 

ensure that it effectively manages risk to 

prevent conflicts of interest, waste, 

fraud, embezzlement, or abuse. 

Paragraph (a) sets forth guiding 

principles around separation of duties 

and corrective action plans, and notes 

that risk management activities must 

ensure compliance, the avoidance of 

conflicts of interest or the appearance 

thereof, and the appropriate handling of 

funds received and expended by the 

Authority. Given the confidential nature 

of much of the Authority’s work and the 

data that it collects, paragraph (b) would 

require the Authority to ensure the 

privacy and security of its data in its 

systems, including those operated by 

third-party contractors, and require a 

complete annual evaluation of the status 

of its overall information technology 

program and practices as audited by a 

qualified, independent, third-party 

auditor. Given that the Authority 

leverages contractor resources in its 

operations, paragraph (c) would require 

the Authority to document its market 

research for any action estimated at over 

$10,000 to ensure the lowest cost or best 

value for goods and services to be 

provided, and to develop policies and 

procedures covering procurement 

activities. Given the FTC’s need for 

regular communication and awareness 

of the Authority’s activities, paragraph 

(d) would require the Authority to 

provide advance notice to Commission 

staff of all significant Authority-planned 

events (e.g., press conferences, media 

events, summits, etc.) via a calendar, 

list, email, or other reasonable means, to 

summarize key aspects of all such 

events on its website, and to give 

Commission staff prompt notice after 

significant adverse events in the 

horseracing industry that might 

reasonably lead to sanctions or track 

closures. 

§ 1.155 Other best practices. This 

proposed new section includes a set of 

best practices that the Authority is 

encouraged to adopt to promote 

accountability, transparency of 

operations, and effective resource 

stewardship. These proposals include 

holding regular monitoring meetings 

with the FTC; recommendations for how 

the Authority may maintain its records 

and information; recommendations for 

how the Authority should treat 

confidential information; a standing 

data request from the FTC for the 

Authority’s Board of Directors minutes; 

recommendations about the Authority’s 

personnel and compensation policies 

and practices; recommendations about 

the Authority’s customer service 

program (and the development of 

associated metrics); and 

recommendations regarding the 

Authority’s travel policies. 

§ 1.156 Severability. This proposed 

new section notes that provisions of this 

subpart are separate and severable from 

one another. If any provision is stayed 

or determined to be invalid, it is the 

Commission’s intention that the 

remaining provisions shall continue in 

effect. 

Request for Comment 

You can file a comment online or on 

paper. For the Commission to consider 

your comment, we must receive it on or 

before April 8, 2024. Write ‘‘HISA 

Oversight Rulemaking, Matter No. 

P222100’’ on your comment. Your 

comment—including your name and 

your state—will be placed on the public 

record of this proceeding, including the 

https://www.regulations.gov website. 

Postal mail addressed to the 

Commission is subject to delay due to 

heightened security screening. As a 

result, we strongly encourage you to 

submit your comments online. To make 

sure the Commission considers your 

online comment, you must file it at 

https://www.regulations.gov, by 

following the instructions on the webbased form. 

If you file your comment on paper, 

write ‘‘HISA Oversight Rulemaking, 

Matter No. P222100’’ on your comment 

and on the envelope, and mail your 

comment to the following address: 

Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 

Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW, Mail Stop H–144 (Annex H), 

Washington, DC 20580. If possible, 

submit your paper comment to the 

Commission by overnight service. 

Because your comment will be placed 

on the publicly accessible website at 

https://www.regulations.gov, you are 

solely responsible for making sure your 

comment does not include any sensitive 

or confidential information. In 

particular, your comment should not 

include any sensitive personal 

information, such as your or anyone 

else’s Social Security number; date of 

birth; driver’s license number or other 

state identification number, or foreign 

country equivalent; passport number; 

financial account number; or credit or 

debit card number. You are also solely 

responsible for making sure your 

comment does not include any sensitive 

health information, such as medical 

records or other individually 

identifiable health information. In 

addition, your comment should not 

include any ‘‘any trade secret or any 

commercial or financial information 

. . . which is privileged or 

confidential.’’ 15 U.S.C. 46(f); see FTC 

Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In 

particular, your comment should not 

include competitively sensitive 

information such as costs, sales 

statistics, inventories, formulas, 

patterns, devices, manufacturing 

processes, or customer names. 

Comments containing material for 

which confidential treatment is 

requested must be filed in paper form, 

must be clearly labeled ‘‘Confidential,’’ 

and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c), 

16 CFR 4.9(c). In particular, the written 

request for confidential treatment that 

accompanies the comment must include 

the factual and legal basis for the 

request and must identify the specific 

portions of the comment to be withheld 

from the public record. See FTC Rule 

4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). Your comment 

will be kept confidential only if the 

General Counsel grants your request in 

accordance with the law and the public 

interest. Once your comment has been 

posted publicly at https://

www.regulations.gov, as legally required 

by FTC Rule 4.9(b), 16 CFR 4.9(b), we 

cannot redact or remove your comment, 

unless you submit a confidentiality 

request that meets the requirements for 

such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), 

16 CFR 4.9(c), and the General Counsel 

grants that request. 

Visit the FTC website to read this 

document and the news release 

describing it and visit https://

www.regulations.gov/docket/FTC-2024- 

0012 to read a plain-language summary 

of the proposed rule. The FTC Act and 

other laws that the Commission 


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8580 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 27 / Thursday, February 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

1 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)(A). 

2 5 U.S.C. 603–605. 

administers permit the collection of 

public comments to consider and use in 

this proceeding as appropriate. The 

Commission will consider all timely 

and responsive public comments that it 

receives on or before April 8, 2024. For 

information on the Commission’s 

privacy policy, including routine uses 

permitted by the Privacy Act, see 

https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/ 

privacy-policy. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act 

(‘‘PRA’’), 44 U.S.C. chapter 35, requires 

federal agencies to seek and obtain 

Office of Management and Budget 

approval before undertaking a collection 

of information directed to ten or more 

persons. Under the PRA, a rule creates 

a ‘‘collection of information’’ when ten 

or more persons are asked to report, 

provide, disclose, or record information 

in response to ‘‘identical questions.’’ 1

The Commission concludes that the 

PRA does not apply to the proposed 

amendments because they only apply to 

one ‘‘person,’’ the Authority. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(‘‘RFA’’), as amended by the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996, requires an agency 

to either provide an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis with a proposed 

rule, or certify that the proposed rule 

will not have a significant impact on a 

substantial number of small entities.2

The RFA defines a ‘‘small entity’’ as a 

small business, a small governmental 

jurisdiction, or a small not-for-profit 

organization. See 5 U.S.C. 601(6). 

The proposed amendments would 

apply only to the Authority, and the 

Authority is not a small business or a 

small governmental jurisdiction. While 

the Authority is a nonprofit entity, it is 

not a small not-for-profit organization, 

defined in the RFA as ‘‘any not-forprofit enterprise which is independently 

owned and operated and is not 

dominant in its field.’’ Id. 601(5). The 

authority is not ‘‘independently owned 

and operated,’’ and it is dominant in its 

field. The Commission therefore 

certifies under the RFA that the 

proposed rule will not have a significant 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities, and hereby provides notice of 

that certification to the Small Business 

Administration. 

Communications by Outside Parties to 

Commissioners or Their Advisors 

Written communications and 

summaries or transcripts of oral 

communications respecting the merits 

of this proceeding, from any outside 

party to any Commissioner or a 

Commissioner’s advisor, will be placed 

on the public record. See 16 CFR 

1.26(b)(5). 

List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 1 

Administrative practice and 

procedure; Animal welfare; Animal 

drugs. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Federal Trade 

Commission proposes to amend title 16, 

chapter I, subchapter A of the Code of 

Federal Regulations as follows: 

PART 1—GENERAL PROCEDURES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 46; 15 U.S.C. 57a; 5 

U.S.C. 552; 5 U.S.C. 601 note. 

■ 2. Add §§ 1.153 through 1.156 to 

subpart U to read as follows: 

Subpart U—Oversight of the 

Horseracing Integrity and Safety 

Authority 

Sec. 

* * * * * 

153 Submission of the Authority’s annual 

reports, midyear reports, and strategic 

plans. 

1.154 Enterprise risk management. 

1.155 Other best practices. 

1.156 Severability. 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3053(e). 

§ 1.153 Submission of the Authority’s 

annual reports, midyear reports, and 

strategic plans. 

(a) Annual financial report. Every 

year, by May 15, the Authority must 

follow the procedures in § 1.143 to 

submit an annual financial report to the 

Commission, detailing the items listed 

below for the previous calendar year. 

The Authority must also publish this 

report on its website. The report must 

contain: 

(1) A complete accounting of the 

Authority’s budget, as audited by a 

qualified, independent, registered 

public accounting firm and in 

accordance with Generally Accepted 

Accounting Principles (including a 

statement from the auditor attesting to 

the auditor’s independence and its 

opinion regarding the financial 

statements presented in the annual 

financial report); 

(2) Line-item comparisons between 

the approved budget’s revenues and 

expenditures for the previous year and 

the actual revenues and expenditures 

for the previous year; 

(3) An explanation of how the 

Authority has considered the relative 

costs and benefits in formulating the 

programs, projects, and activities 

described in the budget; 

(4) A description and accounting of 

the Authority’s insurance coverage; 

(5) A description and accounting of 

any budgetary reserves; 

(6) Summaries of contracts or other 

liabilities that the Authority has entered 

into or may potentially incur; 

(7) A summary of travel expenses, 

including an itemized list of any firstclass travel (defined as the highest and 

most expensive class of service); 

(8) Any new or continuing material or 

significant risks or issues raised by the 

audit, internal quality or control 

reviews, other inspections or peer 

reviews of the Authority, or any inquiry 

or investigation by governmental or 

professional authorities, along with any 

steps taken (e.g., corrective actions) to 

deal with any such issues, consistent 

with § 1.154; and 

(9) Any other information requested 

by Commission staff. 

(b) Annual performance report. Every 

year, by March 31, the Authority must 

follow the procedures in § 1.143 to 

submit an annual performance report to 

the Commission, detailing the items 

listed below for the previous calendar 

year. The Authority must also publish 

this report on its website. The report 

must contain: 

(1) Narrative summaries of all the 

major efforts by the Authority to carry 

out the requirements of the Act, 

including the status or results of any 

publicly announced investigations 

conducted by the Authority; 

(2) Information about the Authority’s 

cooperation with the States as set forth 

in 15 U.S.C. 3060(b), including whether 

each State has covered horseraces, elects 

to remit fees, or has entered into an 

agreement under 15 U.S.C. 3060(a)(1) to 

implement a component of the programs 

on racetrack safety or anti-doping and 

medication control; 

(3) A summary of all final civil 

sanctions imposed by the Authority in 

the previous year, in a tabular format; at 

a minimum, the summary should be 

broken down by violation category (e.g., 

racetrack safety program, anti-doping 

and controlled medication protocol 

rules, etc.) and should include the total 

number of alleged violations by 

category, the number of times the 

violations were admitted and resolved 

without adjudication, the number of 

times any violations were contested and 

adjudicated, the number of times any 


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sanctions were imposed, the number of 

times that no sanctions were imposed, 

the number of civil sanction notices that 

needed to be reissued or corrected, the 

total fines imposed, the total amount of 

purses forfeited, and the number of 

times the sanctions were appealed to the 

Commission’s Administrative Law 

Judge; 

(4) An assessment of the Authority’s 

progress in meeting or not meeting its 

performance measures contained in its 

Strategic plan per § 1.153(d); 

(5) A statement from each Board of 

Directors committee summarizing its 

work in the previous year and all 

recommendations each such committee 

has made to the Board; 

(6) Information about any changes in 

the composition of the Authority’s 

Board of Directors or standing 

committees; 

(7) Information about the relationship 

between the Authority and the antidoping and medication control 

enforcement agency, including how the 

enforcement agency is performing under 

its contract with the Authority and how 

many years remain under the contract; 

(8) A summary of all litigation to 

which the Authority is a party, 

including actions commenced by the 

Authority under 15 U.S.C. 3054(j); 

(9) A summary of all subpoenas 

issued by the Authority under 15 U.S.C. 

3054(c); 

(10) Descriptions of any areas in 

which the Authority believes that 

improvements to its operations are 

warranted, together with the Authority’s 

plans to achieve those improvements. 

Forward-looking information should 

reflect known and anticipated risks, 

uncertainties, future events or 

conditions, and trends that could 

significantly affect the Authority’s 

future financial position, condition, or 

operating performance, as well as 

Authority actions that have been 

planned or taken to address those 

challenges; and 

(11) Any other information requested 

by Commission staff. 

(c) Midyear reporting. By August 15, 

the Authority must furnish to the 

Commission a same-year midyear report 

covering January through June, to 

include: 

(1) Spending and staffing levels for 

the quarter ending June 30, compared to 

the levels in the Commission-approved 

budget; 

(2) A summary of travel expenses, 

including an itemized list of any firstclass travel (defined as the highest and 

most expensive class of service); 

(3) The status of outstanding and 

completed corrective actions; and 

(4) Any other information requested 

by Commission staff. 

(d) Strategic plan. The Authority must 

develop and maintain a multiyear 

strategic plan. The Authority must 

submit its first strategic plan to the 

Commission on or before June 30, 2024. 

The Authority must reevaluate the 

strategic plan no less frequently than 

every five years. The Authority’s annual 

budget must align with, and link 

spending to, the strategic goals. The 

strategic plan must include items such 

as a description of its State-by-State 

relationships and a discussion of 

planned rulemaking activities. The 

Authority must: 

(1) Post its draft strategic plan on its 

website for a public comment period of 

at least 14 days; 

(2) Present its final strategic plan to 

the Commission, along with a summary 

of its responses to public comments; 

and 

(3) Publish its final strategic plan on 

its website. 

(e) Further guidance on strategic plan. 

The Authority’s strategic plan should 

include forecasts of the Authority’s 

industry environment and its priority 

initiatives for the current and 

subsequent years. The strategic plan 

should also consider the impact that 

program levels and changes in methods 

of program delivery, including advances 

in technology, could have on program 

operations and administration. The 

Strategic Plan should identify several 

strategic goals aligned with the 

Authority’s mission statement. Each 

strategic goal should have 

accompanying objectives, strategies, and 

performance measures. As guiding 

principles, performance measures 

should: 

(1) Be limited to the vital few and 

demonstrate results; 

(2) Cover multiple priorities; and 

(3) Provide useful information for 

decision-making. 

(4) Be clear, measurable, objective, 

and reliable; and 

(5) Focus on core program activities 

and priorities. 

§ 1.154 Enterprise risk management. 

(a) Guiding principles. The Authority 

must effectively manage risk to prevent 

conflicts of interest, waste, fraud, 

embezzlement, and abuse. To manage 

risk, the Authority must align the 

enterprise risk-management process to 

the goals and objectives noted in the 

Authority’s strategic plan. The 

Authority must assess risks, select risk 

responses, monitor whether responses 

are successful, and communicate and 

report on risks, consistent with § 1.153. 

The Authority must ensure that all 

internal controls have appropriate 

separation of duties (e.g., requester, 

approver, recorder). In addition, the 

Authority must develop corrective 

action plans no later than 90 days after 

receiving a notice of finding from its 

auditors or other internal assessments. 

The Board of Directors (or one of the 

standing committees) must review and 

evaluate identified risks and proposed 

corrective action plans. The Authority 

must review regularly its corrective 

actions identified from all audits and 

internal assessments and should 

develop criteria by which to prioritize 

its response activities. The Authority 

must ensure that its risk management 

activities encompass: 

(1) Compliance with applicable laws, 

rules, and regulations; 

(2) The avoidance of conflicts of 

interest, or the appearance thereof, in all 

aspects of the Authority’s operations, 

including investigation and 

enforcement, vendor selection, 

personnel assignments and 

responsibilities, and actions by the 

Board of Directors or management; and 

(3) Handling funds received and 

expended by the Authority, including 

revenue/expense policies, fundraising 

practices, contracting policies, travel 

policies, and real and personal property 

agreements and expenses. 

(b) Data security and privacy. The 

Authority must ensure the privacy and 

security of data, including all reasonable 

measures to protect the confidentiality 

of any sensitive health information 

(SHI), personally identifiable 

Information (PII), and sensitive PII (SPII) 

stored in its systems, including those 

operated by the anti-doping and 

medication control program, the 

Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, 

and the Authority’s third-party 

contractors. The Authority must ensure 

a complete annual evaluation of the 

status of its overall information 

technology security program and 

practices, as audited by a qualified, 

independent, third-party auditor. The 

Authority must also ensure that it has 

policies, programs, and practices in 

place to protect SHI, PII, and SPII. The 

Authority must send a copy of the 

annual evaluation to Commission staff. 

(c) Vendor selection. Procurement 

actions estimated at over $10,000 must 

be accompanied by documented market 

research (e.g., comparing the prices and 

other terms offered by the selected 

vendor against the prices and other 

terms offered by at least two other 

vendors) to ensure lowest cost or best 

value for goods or services to be 

provided. The Authority should also 

develop policies and procedures 

covering procurement activities. 


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8582 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 27 / Thursday, February 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

(d) Notice. The Authority must 

provide advance notice to Commission 

staff of all significant Authority-planned 

events (e.g., press conferences, media 

events, summits, etc.) via a calendar, a 

list, email, or some other reasonable 

means. The Authority must also 

summarize key aspects of all such 

events on its website within a 

reasonable timeframe. The Authority 

must also give Commission staff prompt 

notice after it has been alerted to 

significant, adverse events in the 

horseracing industry (e.g., adverse safety 

or medical events that might reasonably 

lead to sanctions, track closures, etc.). 

§ 1.155 Other best practices. 

(a) Regular monitoring meetings. The 

Commission recommends that the 

Authority hold regular meetings with 

Commission staff to discuss upcoming 

or potential risks, challenges, and 

opportunities for improvement. 

(b) Records and information 

management. The Commission 

recommends that the Authority 

maintain records and information in 

sufficient detail to support the 

Authority’s programs and operations, as 

well as any records relating to its 

information management policies or 

procedures. The Commission expects 

that the Authority will make any of 

these records available to Commission 

staff upon request, to allow the 

Commission to carry out its statutorily 

mandated oversight. 

(c) Treatment of confidential 

information. The Commission 

recommends that the Authority’s 

submissions to the Commission not 

include any SHI, PII, or SPII, such as a 

Social Security number; date of birth; 

driver’s license number or other state 

identification number, or foreign 

country equivalent; passport number; 

financial account number; or credit or 

debit card number. If the Authority 

submits documents to the Commission 

containing confidential commercial or 

financial information, it should so 

designate that material and request 

confidential treatment pursuant to 

§ 4.10(g). 

(d) Standing data requests. The 

Commission recommends that the 

Authority submit Board of Directors 

minutes to the Commission’s Office of 

the Secretary within 15 days following 

each Board meeting. 

(e) Personnel and compensation. The 

Commission recommends that the 

Authority develop compensation 

policies and practices with the primary 

objective of attracting, developing, and 

retaining high-performing individuals 

capable of achieving the Authority’s 

mission. The Authority should strive to 

recruit a diverse team of industry 

leaders whose unique backgrounds, 

education, cultures, and perspectives 

help position the Authority as an 

effective and innovative self-regulatory 

organization. The Commission also 

recommends that the Authority conduct 

periodic salary benchmarks to ensure 

that employee compensation is in line 

with other like organizations. 

(f) Customer service. The Commission 

recommends that the Authority 

maintain publicly accessible points of 

contact (e.g., email addresses, phone 

numbers) and monitor the timeliness 

with which it responds to inquiries. In 

this regard, the Commission urges the 

Authority to develop a policy and 

associated metrics covering its customer 

service activities, to be incorporated 

into its strategic plan and its regular 

reporting to the Commission. 

(g) Travel. The Commission 

recommends that the Authority use 

standard, GSA-established, published 

per diem rates when determining how 

much a person may spend on lodging, 

meals, and incidental expenses. 

Nevertheless, actual subsistence 

expenses may be authorized under 

unusual circumstances with 

justification and prior approval from the 

appropriate approving official. The 

Commission urges the Authority to 

prohibit the use of first-class travel 

(defined as the highest and most 

expensive class of service) by 

employees, except when no other option 

is available or when a disability or 

exceptional security conditions require 

it. The Commission also recommends 

that the Authority not reimburse its 

contractors for first-class travel unless 

exceptional circumstances warrant. 

§ 1.156 Severability. 

The provisions of this Subpart are 

separate and severable from one 

another. If any provision is stayed or 

determined to be invalid, it is the 

Commission’s intention that the 

remaining provisions shall continue in 

effect. 

By direction of the Commission, 

Joel Christie, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02291 Filed 2–7–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

16 CFR Part 1264 

[Docket No. CPSC–2011–0074] 

Safety Standard Addressing BladeContact Injuries on Table Saws; Notice 

of Opportunity for Oral Presentations 

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

ACTION: Supplemental notice of 

proposed rulemaking; opportunity for 

oral presentations. 

SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety 

Commission (Commission or CPSC) will 

be providing an opportunity for 

interested parties to make oral 

presentations on the supplemental 

notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPR) 

the Commission issued regarding a 

safety standard addressing blade-contact 

injuries on table saws. Presentations 

will be part of the rulemaking record. 

DATES: A hybrid hearing will be held in 

person at CPSC’s headquarters and 

remotely via webinar and will begin at 

10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 

February 28, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: This hearing will be held as 

a hybrid hearing—in person at CPSC’s 

headquarters and remotely via webinar. 

For individuals attending in person, the 

meeting will be held at CPSC’s 

headquarters, located at 4330 East West 

Highway, 4th Floor—Hearing Room, 

Bethesda, MD 20814. Individuals who 

plan to attend the meeting remotely 

should pre-register for the webinar at 

https://cpsc.webex.com/cpsc/j.php?

MTID=mdfe71b8646e635

c40558465d1e662089. Attendance is 

free of charge. After registering, you will 

receive a confirmation email containing 

information about joining the webinar. 

In person attendees do not need to 

register for the hearing. Requests to 

make oral presentations (in person or 

remotely) and the text of oral 

presentations and written comments 

should be sent by email to: cpsc-os@

cpsc.gov, with the subject line, ‘‘Table 

Saws SNPR; Oral Presentation.’’ 

Requests to make oral presentations—in 

person or remotely—and the written 

text of any oral presentations must be 

received by the Office of the Secretary 

not later than 5 p.m. EST on February 

21, 2024. The Commission will accept 

written comments as well. These also 

must be received by the Office of the 

Secretary not later than 5 p.m. EST on 

February 21, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information about the subject matter of 

this hearing, contact Caroleene Paul, 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1