13980 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

■ 2. Amend § 1150.15 by revising 

paragraphs (a)(4) and (d) to read as 

follows: 

§ 1150.15 Disputes. 

(a) * * * 

(4) Sent to the address found on our 

website (https://www.fda.gov/tobaccoproducts/manufacturing/tobacco-userfees). 

* * * * * 

(d) A request for further Agency 

review under § 10.75 of this chapter 

may be submitted. Such a request must 

be submitted in writing by the domestic 

manufacturer or importer and received 

by FDA within 30 days from the date on 

FDA’s response. The request for further 

Agency review must be legible, in 

English, and submitted to the address 

found on our website (https://

www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/ 

manufacturing/tobacco-user-fees). 

Dated: February 20, 2024. 

Lauren K. Roth, 

Associate Commissioner for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03777 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4164–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 501 

Authorization To Manufacture and 

Distribute Postage Evidencing 

Systems 

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Postal Service is 

amending its Postage Evidencing 

Systems (PES) regulations to ensure 

compliance for Automated 

Clearinghouse or ACH payment 

transactions and to clarify obligations 

related to all payments. These changes 

require the applicable resetting 

company (RC) and PC Postage provider 

to comply with the latest NACHA rules 

published by the North American 

Clearing House Association for ACH 

transactions. These changes also require 

the applicable RC and PC Postage 

provider to obtain and store an 

agreement with each customer utilizing 

ACH debit as a payment method. 

Failure to comply may result in 

revocation of access to applicable Postal 

Service ACH programs. 

DATES: Effective March 27, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Douglas Graham, Banking Manager, 

United States Postal Service, 475 

L’Enfant Plaza SW, RM 8134, 

Washington, DC 20260. Phone: (202) 

268–2188. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Postal 

Service issued proposed revisions to 39 

CFR part 501, set forth in the Federal 

Register on November 20, 2023 (Vol. 88, 

No. 222). It proposed amending the 

Postage Evidencing Systems regulations 

to ensure compliance for Automated 

Clearinghouse or ACH payment 

transactions and to clarify obligations 

related to all payments. Two sets of 

comments were received in response to 

the Federal Register Notice from 

industry participants. 

NACHA Rules Compliance 

Industry Comments 

The proposal that PES providers must 

comply with NACHA rules received 

comments highlighting the need for 

clarification on which version of the 

NACHA rules will apply, as the rules 

are regularly updated. The commentors 

suggest including a provision for a grace 

period for PES providers to adopt and 

comply with future updates, which 

could either be fixed, or flexible and 

proportionate to the scope and 

complexity of future changes. 

Postal Service Response 

The rule will be re-worded to specify 

‘‘must comply with the most recently 

published edition of NACHA Operating 

Rules & Guidelines, published by 

NACHA annually.’’ It is not the 

intention through this rulemaking to 

alter or supersede NACHA rules, but to 

follow existing NACHA rules and 

compliance that industry should 

reasonably understand and expect. 

Under this approach, the Postal Service 

cannot provide NACHA compliance 

exemptions as any entity involved in 

ACH related activity must already 

comply with NACHA rules, therefore 

the Postal Service will also not specify 

‘‘sections to comply with’’ nor ‘‘grace 

periods’’. Changes to the NACHA 

Operating Rules and Guidelines 

typically provide for future dated 

requirements and therefore an 

implementation period is normally 

provided within the NACHA rules. 

NACHA Attestation of Compliance 

Industry Comments 

Commentors expressed opposition to 

the proposal’s requirement for an 

annual written attestation of compliance 

for PES providers. One commentor 

opined that the requirement is 

unnecessary, since PES providers are 

already required to provide the Postal 

Service with System and Organizational 

Controls Reports (SOC 1 and SOC 2) 

that incorporate NACHA compliance. 

The proposed rule’s requirement of a 

written plan to address any 

noncompliance of NACHA rules is 

duplicative of the existing requirement 

for a remediation plan as a part of the 

SOC process. If the requirement is 

retained, one commentor recommends 

that the Postal Service should provide 

the text of the attestation or clarify what 

the attestation must contain. 

Postal Service Response 

The requirement to provide an annual 

written attestation of compliance will be 

removed. 

ACH Debit Agreement 

Industry Comments 

Commentors expressed concerns 

about the proposed rule’s new recordkeeping requirements for ACH 

agreements for PES providers. One 

commenter suggested revising the 

requirements to minimize 

administrative burden and focus only 

on essential information. This 

commenter proposes accommodating 

customer agreements predating the rule 

by either grandfathering them for a 

specified period or providing an 

extended grace period, such as 12 to 18 

months, for historic account 

information. The comment also argues 

against duplicative elements, such as 

the need for bank address information 

for every customer agreement. Another 

commenter also supports the idea of a 

grace period for providers to obtain and 

document the required contracts and 

suggest making a bank address an 

optional requirement, since it can be 

derived from the Routing/ABA number. 

Postal Service Response 

1. Regarding supplying the bank 

address information, it is agreed, and 

that data element requirement will be 

removed. 

2. Regarding requiring signature 

evidence of termination, it is agreed, 

and that data element requirement will 

be removed. 

3. To comply with NACHA rules, the 

ability to provide a copy of the ACH 

Debit upon request must already be in 

place, therefore ‘‘grandfathering’’ an 

exemption to this requirement is not an 

option. All customers of the providers 

must have an ACH Debit Agreement on 

file with the provider. All terminated 

ACH Debit Agreements must have a 

termination date noted on the agreement 

and the agreement must be kept on file 

for at least 2 years after the termination 

date. 

4. It is agreed that an ACH Debit 

Agreement ‘‘form (hard copy or 

electronic)’’ revision period will be 

provided to update agreement ‘‘forms’’ 

to include the minimum data elements 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 13981 

listed until August 31, 2024. After the 

revision period all newly accepted ACH 

Debit Agreements must include the 

minimum data elements listed. During 

the revision period existing ACH Debit 

Agreement ‘‘forms’’ may continue to be 

used per item (3) above. 

Reimbursement of Returned Payments 

Industry Comments 

One commenter expressed the view 

that the proposed rule’s specific 

timelines for reimbursement of the 

Postal Service by PES providers for ACH 

returned payments do not provide 

sufficient time for PES providers to 

work with customers on returned 

payments. The commenter recommends 

modifying the proposed sections to 

extend the reimbursement timeframe. 

Postal Service Response 

This is a comment based on 

§§ 501.15(g)(1) and 501.16(d)(1). While 

the text of these rules is included in the 

rulemaking, changes are not being made 

to these existing provisions of the rule 

that have been in effect prior to the 

proposed rulemaking. No changes to 

these existing provisions were intended 

to be included in this proposal, and 

none will be made in the final rule. 

Additional Change 

We also added one further conforming 

change to § 501.16 to aid in the 

implementation of these changes. 

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 501 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Postal Service. 

PART 501—AUTHORIZATION TO 

MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE 

POSTAGE EVIDENCING SYSTEMS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 501 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 101, 

401, 403, 404, 410, 2601, 2605; Inspector 

General Act of 1978, as amended (Pub. L. 95– 

452, as amended); 5 U.S.C. App. 3. 

■ 2. Amend § 501.15 by revising 

paragraph (g) to read as follows: 

§ 501.15 Computerized Meter Resetting 

System. 

* * * * * 

(g) The RC must reimburse the Postal 

Service for returned payments 

promptly, comply with NACHA rules, 

and maintain customer ACH debit 

agreements. 

(1) Financial responsibility for 

returned payments. The RC is required 

to reimburse the Postal Service upon 

request for any returned payments. The 

RC must, upon first becoming aware of 

a returned payment, immediately lock 

the customer’s CMRS account to prevent 

a meter reset until the RC receives 

confirmation of payment for the 

returned payment. If a fee, penalty or 

fine is assessed against the Postal 

Service for returned payments from an 

RC’s customer, the Postal Service may 

request reimbursement for such fee, 

penalty or fine from the RC. The RC is 

required to remit the amount of the 

returned payment to the Postal Service 

plus the reimbursement request, to the 

extent applicable, within ten (10) 

banking days. Invoices will be created 

monthly for returns and/or applicable 

penalties or fines incurred for the 

previous month. The ten (10) banking 

days will start once the invoice is 

mailed. The RC has discretion to decide 

whether to charge its customer for any 

such reimbursement costs (of fees, 

penalties, or fines) the RC pays to the 

Postal Service in connection with the 

customer’s returned payment. 

(2) Responsibility to comply with 

NACHA rules. The RC is required to 

comply with the most recent edition of 

the NACHA rules, published annually 

by the North American Clearing House 

Association. Failure to comply may 

result in revocation of access to 

applicable Postal Service ACH 

programs. 

(3) Responsibility to maintain 

customer ACH agreements. The RC 

must obtain and store an agreement 

with each and every customer utilizing 

ACH debit as a payment method. The 

customer agreement must authorize the 

RC to debit the designated bank account 

identified to pay for postage through the 

Postal Service account of its choice. The 

agreement must have at least the 

following elements: Company Name (if 

applicable), Name and Title and 

Address of the person entering into the 

agreement, Contact Information (Phone 

Number, Fax Number and eMail 

Address as applicable), Date and 

Signature (or appropriate electronic 

signature evidence) of Agreement, 

Customer’s Bank Name, Bank Routing 

Number, Account Number and Account 

Type (Checking or Savings, Business or 

Personal) being agreed to transact upon, 

an Attestation that the person 

submitting the form is authorized to act 

on behalf of the account, and 

Termination Date of the Agreement (if 

applicable). A revision period until 

August 31, 2024, will be provided to 

update agreement forms to include the 

minimum data elements listed. The 

agreement must be stored for at least 

two years after termination of the 

agreement, must be easily reproducible, 

and must be provided electronically to 

the Postal Service within three business 

days of electronic written request by the 

Postal Service in a format that can be 

easily and readily used for all NACHA 

and ACH related purposes including, 

without limitation, audit and defense of 

claims. The Postal Service will provide 

specific written guidance separately if 

requested. Failure to comply may result 

in revocation of access to applicable 

Postal Service ACH programs. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 501.16 by revising 

paragraphs (d) and (i)(5)(ii)(C) to read as 

follows: 

§ 501.16 PC postage payment 

methodology. 

* * * * * 

(d) The provider must reimburse the 

Postal Service for returned payments 

promptly, comply with NACHA rules, 

and maintain customer ACH 

agreements. 

(1) Financial responsibility for 

returned payments. The provider must 

reimburse the Postal Service upon 

request for any returned payments. The 

provider must, upon first becoming 

aware of a returned payment, 

immediately lock the customer account 

to prevent resetting the account until 

the provider receives confirmation of 

payment for the returned payment. If a 

fee, penalty or fine is assessed against 

the Postal Service for returned payments 

from a provider’s customer, the Postal 

Service may request reimbursement for 

such fee, penalty or fine from the 

provider. The provider is required to 

remit the amount of the returned 

payment plus the amount of the 

reimbursement request, to the extent 

applicable, to the Postal Service within 

ten (10) banking days. Invoices will be 

created monthly for returns and/or 

applicable penalties or fines incurred 

for the previous month. The ten (10) 

banking days will start once the invoice 

is mailed. The provider has discretion to 

decide whether to charge its customer 

for any such reimbursement costs (of 

fees, penalties or fines) the provider 

pays to the Postal Service in connection 

with the customer’s returned payment. 

(2) Responsibility to comply with 

NACHA rules. The provider is required 

to comply with the most recent edition 

of the NACHA rules, published 

annually by the North American 

Clearing House Association. Failure to 

comply may result in revocation of 

access to applicable Postal Service ACH 

programs. 

(3) Responsibility to maintain 

customer ACH agreements. The 

provider must obtain and store an 

agreement with each and every 

customer utilizing ACH debit as a 

payment method. The customer 

agreement must authorize the provider 


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13982 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

to debit the designated bank account 

identified to pay for postage through the 

Postal Service account of its choice. The 

agreement must have at least the 

following elements: Company Name (if 

applicable), Name and Title and 

Address of the person entering into the 

agreement, Contact Information (Phone 

Number, Fax Number and eMail 

Address as applicable), Date and 

Signature (or appropriate electronic 

signature evidence) of Agreement, 

Customer’s Bank Name, Bank Routing 

Number, Account Number and Account 

Type (Checking or Savings, Business or 

Personal) being agreed to transact upon, 

an Attestation that the person 

submitting the form is authorized to act 

on behalf of the account, and 

Termination Date of the Agreement (if 

applicable). A revision period until 

August 31, 2024, will be provided to 

update agreement forms to include the 

minimum data elements listed. The 

agreement must be stored for at least 

two years after termination of the 

agreement, must be easily reproducible, 

and must be provided electronically to 

the Postal Service within three business 

days of electronic written request by the 

Postal Service in a format that can be 

easily and readily used for all NACHA 

and ACH related purposes including, 

without limitation, audit and defense of 

claims. The Postal Service will provide 

specific written guidance separately if 

requested. Failure to comply may result 

in revocation of access to applicable 

Postal Service ACH programs. 

(4) Credit cards. Unless otherwise 

established in a written agreement 

between the Postal Service and the 

provider, the provider is fully 

responsible for its own credit card 

compliance. 

* * * * * 

(i) * * * 

(5) * * * 

(ii) * * * 

(C) Authorizes the PC Postage 

provider to disclose the customer’s 

personal information to the Postal 

Service, and such other information 

retained by the PC Postage provider that 

may enable the Postal Service to collect 

debts owed to it, and has the proper 

authority to disclose such information; 

* * * * * 

Sarah Sullivan, 

Attorney, Ethics & Legal Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03079 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

43 CFR Parts 3160 and 9230 

[BLM_HQ_FRN_MO4500177329] 

RIN 1004–AE94 

Onshore Oil and Gas Operations and 

Coal Trespass—Annual Civil Penalties 

Inflation Adjustments 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule adjusts the 

amounts of civil monetary penalties 

contained in the Bureau of Land 

Management’s (BLM) regulations 

governing onshore oil and gas 

operations and coal trespass. This final 

rule is required by the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 

Improvements Act of 2015 and 

consistent with applicable Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

guidance. The adjustments made by this 

final rule constitute the 2024 annual 

inflation adjustments and account for 

one year of inflation spanning the 

period from October 2022 through 

October 2023. 

DATES: This rule is effective on February 

26, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information regarding the BLM’s Fluid 

Minerals Program, please contact Yvette 

Fields, Division Chief, Fluid Minerals 

Division, telephone: 204–712–8358; 

email: yfields@blm.gov. For information 

regarding the BLM’s Solid Minerals 

Program, please contact Rebecca Good, 

Acting Division Chief, Solid Minerals 

Division, telephone: 307–251–3487; 

email: rgood@blm.gov. 

For questions relating to regulatory 

process issues, please contact Stephen 

Pollard, Division of Regulatory Affairs, 

email: spollard@blm.gov. 

Individuals in the United States who 

are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or 

have a speech disability may dial 711 

(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

II. Calculation of 2024 Adjustments 

III. Procedural Requirements 

A. Administrative Procedure Act 

B. Regulatory Planning and Review 

(Executive Orders 12866 and 13563) 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

D. Congressional Review Act 

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

F. Takings (E.O. 12630) 

G. Federalism (E.O. 13132) 

H. Civil Justice Reform (E.O. 12988) 

I. Consultation With Indian Tribes (E.O. 

13175 and Departmental Policy) 

J. Paperwork Reduction Act 

K. National Environmental Policy Act 

L. Effects on the Energy Supply (E.O. 

13211) 

I. Background 

On November 2, 2015, the Federal 

Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 

Improvements Act of 2015 (Sec. 701, 

Pub. L. 114–74) (the 2015 Act) became 

law, amending the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 

1990 (Pub. L. 101–410). 

On an annual basis, the 2015 Act 

requires agencies to: 

1. Adjust the level of civil monetary 

penalties for inflation; and 

2. Report inflation adjustments in the 

Agency Financial Reports as directed by 

OMB Circular A–136, or any successor 

thereto. 

The purpose of these adjustments is to 

maintain the deterrent effect of civil 

monetary penalties and promote 

compliance with the law (see Sec 1, 

Pub. L. 101–410). 

As required by the 2015 Act, on June 

28, 2016, the BLM issued an interim 

final rule that adjusted the level of civil 

monetary penalties in BLM regulations 

with the initial ‘‘catch-up’’ adjustment 

(RIN 1004–AE46, 81 FR 41860). In 

subsequent years, the BLM has issued 

final rules, adjusting the level of civil 

monetary penalties for inflation, as 

appropriate for 2017 to 2023. 

OMB issued Memorandum M–24–07 

on December 19, 2023, entitled, 

Implementation of Penalty Inflation 

Adjustments for 2024, Pursuant to the 

Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 

2015, which explains agency 

responsibilities for identifying 

applicable penalties and calculating the 

annual adjustment for 2024 in 

accordance with the 2015 Act. 

II. Calculation of 2024 Adjustments 

In accordance with the 2015 Act and 

OMB Memorandum M–24–07, the BLM 

has identified applicable civil monetary 

penalties in its regulations and 

calculated the annual adjustments. A 

civil monetary penalty is any 

assessment with a dollar amount that is 

levied for a violation of a Federal civil 

statute or regulation and is assessed or 

enforceable through a civil action in 

Federal court or an administrative 

proceeding. A civil monetary penalty 

does not include a penalty levied for 

violation of a criminal statute, nor does 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES