Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 225 / Tuesday, November 21, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 69857

tribal governments or communities.

This rule will not create any serious

inconsistencies or otherwise interfere

with any actions taken or planned by

another agency. It will not materially

alter the budgetary impact of

entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan

programs, or the rights and obligations

of recipients thereof.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

USDA certifies that this rule will not

have a significant impact on a

substantial number of small entities as

defined in the Regulatory Flexibility act,

5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., for the reason that

this regulation imposes no new

requirements on small entities.

C. Paperwork Reduction

The forms necessary to implement

these procedures have been cleared by

the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) in accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.

2500, et seq.

III. Electronic Access Addresses

You may send electronic mail (E-mail)

to kathy.fay@usda.gov or contact us via

fax at (202) 720–3339.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 2812

Government property management,

excess Government property.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 2812 would be

amended as set forth below:

PART 2812—DEPARTMENT OF

AGRICULTURE GUIDELINES FOR THE

DONATION OF EXCESS RESEARCH

EQUIPMENT UNDER 15 U.S.C. 3710(i)

1. The authority citation for part 2812

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; E.O. 12999, 61 FR

17227, 3 CFR, 1997 Comp., p. 180.

2. Amend § 2812.3 by removing

paragraph (b), redesignate paragraphs

(c), (d), and (e) as (e), (h), and (i),

respectively, and add new paragraphs

(b), (c), (d), (f) and (g) to read as follows:

§ 2812.3 Definitions.

* * * * *

(b) Community-based educational

organization means nonprofit

organizations that are engaged in

collaborative projects with prekindergarten through twelfth grade

educational institutions or that have

education as their primary focus. Such

organizations shall qualify as nonprofit

educational institutions for purposes of

section 203(j) of the Federal Property

and Administrative Services Act of 1949

(40 U.S.C. 484(j)).

(c) Educational institution means a

public or private, non-profit educational

institution, encompassing prekindergarten through twelfth grade and

two- and four-year institutions of higher

education, as well as public school

districts.

(d) Educationally useful Federal

equipment means computers and

related peripheral tools (e.g., printers,

modems, routers, and servers),

including telecommunications and

research equipment, that are appropriate

for use in pre-kindergarten, elementary,

middle, or secondary school education.

It shall also include computer software,

where the transfer of licenses is

permitted.

(f) Federal empowerment zone or

enterprise community (EZ/EC) means a

rural area designated by the Secretary of

Agriculture under 7 CFR part 25.

(g) Non-profit organization means any

corporation, trust association,

cooperative, or other organization

which:

(1) Is operated primarily for scientific,

educational, service, charitable, or

similar purposes in the public interest;

(2) Is not organized primarily for

profit; and

(3) Uses its net proceeds to maintain,

improve, or expand its operations. For

the purposes of this part, ‘‘non-profit

organizations’’ may include utilities

affiliated with institutions of higher

education, or with state and local

governments and federally recognized

Indian tribes.

* * * * *

3–4. Amend § 2812.4 by removing and

reserving paragraph (a), and revise

paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) to read as

follows:

§ 2812.4 Procedures.

(a) [Reserved]

* * * * *

(c) After USDA screening has been

accomplished, excess personal property

targeted for donation under this part

will be made available on a first-come,

first-served basis. If there are competing

requests, donations will be made to

eligible recipients in the following

priority order:

(1) Educationally useful Federal

equipment for pre-kindergarten through

twelfth grade educational institutions

and community-based educational

organizations in rural EZ/EC

communities;

(2) Educationally useful Federal

equipment for pre-kindergarten through

twelfth grade educational institutions

and community-based educational

organizations not in rural EZ/EC areas;

(3) All other eligible organizations.

(d) Upon reporting property for excess

screening, if the pertinent USDA agency

has an eligible organization in mind for

donation under this part, it shall enter

‘‘P.L. 102–245’’ in the note field. The

property will remain in the excess

system approximately 30 days, and if no

USDA agency or cooperator requests it

during the excess cycle, the

Departmental Excess Personal Property

Coordinator will send the agency a copy

of the excess report stamped,

‘‘DONATION AUTHORITY TO THE

HOLDING AGENCY IN ACCORDANCE

WITH P.L. 102–245.’’ The holding

USDA agency may then donate the

excess property to the eligible

organization.

(e) Donations under this Part will be

accomplished by preparing a Standard

Form (SF) 122, ‘‘Transfer Order-Excess

Personal Property’’.

* * * * *

5. Remove Appendix A to part 2812.

Done at Washington, D.C., this 30th day of

October, 2000.

W.R. Ashworth,

Director, Office of Procurement and Property

Management.

[FR Doc. 00–29783 Filed 11–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–TX–M

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 204

[Regulation D; Docket No. R–1088]

Reserve Requirements of Depository

Institutions

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Board is amending

Regulation D, Reserve Requirements of

Depository Institutions, to reflect the

annual indexing of the low reserve

tranche and the reserve requirement

exemption for 2001, and announces the

annual indexing of the deposit reporting

cutoff level that will be effective

beginning in September 2001. The

amendments decrease the amount of net

transaction accounts subject to a reserve

requirement ratio of three percent in

2001, as required by section 19(b)(2)(C)

of the Federal Reserve Act, from $44.3

million to $42.8 million of transaction

accounts. This adjustment is known as

the low reserve tranche adjustment. The

Board is increasing from $5.0 million to

$5.5 million the amount of reservable

liabilities of each depository institution

that is subject to a reserve requirement

of zero percent in 2001. This action is

required by section 19(b)(11)(B) of the

69858 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 225 / Tuesday, November 21, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

1Reservable liabilities include transaction

accounts, nonpersonal time deposits, and

Eurocurrency liabilities as defined in section

19(b)(5) of the Federal Reserve Act. The reserve

ratio on nonpersonal time deposits and

Eurocurrency liabilities is zero percent.

2Consistent with Board practice, the tranche and

exemption amounts have been rounded to the

nearest $0.1 million.

Federal Reserve Act, and the adjustment

is known as the reservable liabilities

exemption adjustment. The Board is

also increasing the deposit cutoff level

that is used in conjunction with the

reservable liabilities exemption to

determine the frequency of deposit

reporting from $95.0 million to $101.0

million for nonexempt depository

institutions. (Nonexempt institutions

are those with total reservable liabilities

exceeding the amount exempted from

reserve requirements.) Thus, beginning

in September 2001, nonexempt

institutions with total deposits of $101.0

million or more will be required to

report weekly while nonexempt

institutions with total deposits less than

$101.0 million may report quarterly, in

both cases on form FR 2900. In July

2000, the Board eliminated the exempt

deposit cutoff and discontinued the

quarterly report associated with that

cutoff (form FR 2910q). Exempt

institutions with at least $5.5 million in

total deposits may report annually on

form FR 2910a.

DATES: Effective date: December 21,

2000.

Compliance dates: For depository

institutions that report weekly, the low

reserve tranche adjustment and the

reservable liabilities exemption

adjustment will apply to the reserve

computation period that begins

Tuesday, November 28, 2000, and the

corresponding reserve maintenance

period that begins Thursday, December

28, 2000. For institutions that report

quarterly, the low reserve tranche

adjustment and the reservable liabilities

exemption adjustment will apply to the

reserve computation period that begins

Tuesday, December 19, 2000, and the

corresponding reserve maintenance

period that begins Thursday, January 18,

2001. For all depository institutions, the

deposit cutoff levels will be used to

screen institutions in the second quarter

of 2001 to determine the reporting

frequency for the twelve month period

that begins in September 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Heatherun Allison, Counsel (202/452–

3565), Legal Division, or June O’Brien,

Economist (202/452–3790), Division of

Monetary Affairs; for the hearing

impaired only, contact Janice Simms,

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf

(TDD) (202/872–4984); Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, 20th and C Streets, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

19(b)(2) of the Federal Reserve Act (12

U.S.C. 461(b)(2)) requires each

depository institution to maintain

reserves against its reservable

liabilities,1 as prescribed by Board

regulations. The required reserve ratio

applicable to transaction account

balances exceeding the low reserve

tranche is 10 percent. Section 19(b)(2)

also provides that, before December 31

of each year, the Board shall issue a

regulation adjusting the low reserve

tranche for the next calendar year. The

percentage change in the tranche is

required by law to equal 80 percent of

the percentage change (increase or

decrease) in net transaction accounts at

all depository institutions over the oneyear period ending on the most recent

June 30.

Net transaction accounts of all

depository institutions decreased by 4.2

percent (from $645.7 billion to $618.4

billion) from June 30, 1999, to June 30,

2000. In accordance with section

19(b)(2), the Board is amending

Regulation D (12 CFR part 204) to

decrease the low reserve tranche for

transaction accounts for 2001 by $1.5

million, that is, from $44.3 million to

$42.8 million.

Section 19(b)(11)(A) of the Federal

Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 461 (b)(11)(B))

provides that $2 million of reservable

liabilities of each depository institution

shall be subject to a zero percent reserve

requirement. Each depository institution

may, in accordance with the rules and

regulations of the Board, designate the

reservable liabilities to which this

reserve requirement exemption is to

apply. However, if net transaction

accounts are designated, only those that

would otherwise be subject to a three

percent reserve requirement (i.e., net

transaction accounts within the low

reserve requirement tranche) may be so

designated.

Section 19(b)(11)(B) of the Federal

Reserve Act provides that, before

December 31 of each year, the Board

shall issue a regulation adjusting for the

next calendar year the dollar amount of

reservable liabilities exempt from

reserve requirements. The exemption

amount changes only if the total

reservable liabilities held at all

depository institutions increase from

one year to the next. In that case, the

exemption amount increases by 80

percent of the increase in total

reservable liabilities of all depository

institutions as of the year ending June

30. Total reservable liabilities of all

depository institutions increased by

12.3 percent (from $1,961.1 billion to

$2,202.9 billion) from June 30, 1999, to

June 30, 2000. Consequently, the

reservable liabilities exemption amount

for 2001 under section 19(b)(11)(B) will

be increased by $0.5 million from $5.0

million to $5.5 million.2

For institutions that report weekly,

the tranche adjustment and the

reservable liabilities exemption

adjustment will be effective for the

reserve computation period beginning

Tuesday, November 28, 2000, and for

the corresponding reserve maintenance

period beginning Thursday, December

28, 2000. For institutions that report

quarterly, the tranche adjustment and

the reservable liabilities exemption

adjustment will be effective for the

computation period beginning Tuesday,

December 19, 2000, and for the

corresponding reserve maintenance

period beginning Thursday, January 18,

2001. In addition, all institutions

currently submitting form FR 2900 must

continue to submit reports to the

Federal Reserve under current reporting

procedures.

In order to reduce the reporting

burden for small institutions, the Board

has established deposit reporting cutoff

levels to determine deposit reporting

frequency. Institutions are screened

during the second quarter of each year

to determine reporting frequency

beginning the following September. The

cutoff level for nonexempt institutions

determines whether they report (on

form FR 2900) quarterly or weekly, and

the deposit cutoff level for exempt

institutions determines whether they

report annually (on form FR 2910a) or

quarterly (on form FR 2910q). During

the July 2000 review of deposit reports,

however, the Board eliminated the

exempt deposit cutoff and discontinued

the quarterly report associated with that

cutoff, the form FR 2910q. In addition,

the Board raised the nonexempt deposit

cutoff to $95.0 million from the 2000

indexed level of $84.5 million, effective

for the 2000 deposit report screening

process.

From June 30, 1999, to June 30, 2000,

total deposits increased 7.9 percent,

from $4,836.8 billion to $5,219.8 billion.

Accordingly, the nonexempt deposit

cutoff level will increase by $6.0 million

from $95.0 million in 2000 to $101.0

million in 2001. Based on the

indexation of the reservable liabilities

exemption, the cutoff level for total

deposits above which reports of

deposits must be filed will rise from

$5.0 million to $5.5 million.

Under the deposit reporting system,

institutions are screened during each

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 225 / Tuesday, November 21, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 69859

year to determine their reporting

category beginning in the September of

that year. Thus, effective in September

2001, all U.S. branches and agencies of

foreign banks and Edge and agreement

corporations, regardless of size, and

other institutions with total reservable

liabilities exceeding $5.5 million

(nonexempt institutions) and with total

deposits at or above $101.0 million

would be required to file weekly the

Report of Transaction Accounts, Other

Deposits and Vault Cash (form FR 2900).

Nonexempt institutions with total

deposits below $101.0 million could file

the form FR 2900 quarterly. Institutions

that obtain funds from non-U.S. sources

or that have foreign branches or IBFs

would continue to be required to file the

Report of Certain Eurocurrency

Transactions (forms FR 2950/FR 2951)

at the same frequency as they file the

form FR 2900. Institutions with

reservable liabilities at or below the

exemption amount of $5.5 million

(exempt institutions and with at least

$5.5 million in total deposits would be

required to file the Annual Report of

Total Deposits and Reservable

Liabilities (form FR 2910a). Institutions

with total deposits below the exemption

level of $5.5 million would be excused

from reporting if their deposits can be

estimated from other data sources.

Finally, the Board may require a

depository institution to report on a

weekly basis, regardless of the cutoff

level, if the institution manipulates its

total deposits and other reservable

liabilities in order to qualify for

quarterly reporting. Similarly, any

depository institution that reports

quarterly may be required to report

weekly and to maintain appropriate

reserve balances with its Reserve Bank

if, during its computation period, it

understates its usual reservable

liabilities or overstates the deductions

allowed in computing required reserve

balances.

Notice and public participation. The

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) relating to

notice and public participation have not

been followed in connection with the

adoption of these amendments because

the amendments involve expected,

ministerial adjustments prescribed by

statute and by an interpretative

statement reaffirming the Board’s policy

concerning reporting practices. In

addition, the reservable liabilities

exemption adjustment and the increases

for reporting purposes in the deposit

cutoff levels reduce regulatory burdens

on depository institutions, and the low

reserve tranche adjustment will have a

de minimis effect on depository

institutions with net transaction

accounts exceeding $42.8 million.

Accordingly, the Board finds good cause

for determining, and so determines, that

notice and public participation is

unnecessary, impracticable, or contrary

to the public interest.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

The Board certifies that these

amendments will not have a substantial

economic impact on small depository

institutions. See ‘‘Notice and Public

Participation’’ above.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 204

Banks, banking, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, the Board is amending 12

CFR part 204 as follows:

PART 204—RESERVE

REQUIREMENTS OF DEPOSITORY

INSTITUTIONS (REGULATION D)

1. The authority citation for part 204

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 248(a), 248(c), 371a,

461, 601, 611, and 3105.

2. Section 204.9 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 204.9 Reserve requirement ratios.

(a) Reserve percentages. The following

reserve ratios are prescribed for all

depository institutions, Edge and

Agreement corporations, and United

States branches and agencies of foreign

banks:

Category Reserve

requirement 1

Net transaction accounts:

$0 to $42.8 million.3 percent of amount.

Over $42.8 million.$1,284,000 plus 10

percent of amount

over $42.8 million.

Nonpersonal time

deposits.

0 percent.

Eurocurrency liabilities.0 percent.

1Before deducting the adjustment to be

made by the paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) Exemption from reserve

requirements. Each depository

institution, Edge or agreement

corporation, and U.S. branch or agency

of a foreign bank is subject to a zero

percent reserve requirement on an

amount of its transaction accounts

subject to the low reserve tranche in

paragraph (a) of this section not in

excess of $5.5 million determined in

accordance with § 204.3(a)(3).

By order of the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, November 16, 2000.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–29723 Filed 11–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 99–NM–373–AD; Amendment

39–11993; AD 2000–23–20]

RIN 2120–AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Boeing

Model 777–200 Series Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a

new airworthiness directive (AD),

applicable to certain Boeing Model 777–

200 series airplanes, that requires

replacement of certain components. The

actions specified by this AD are

intended to prevent corrosion of the

axle of the main landing gear, which

could result in cracking and failure of

one or more axles, loss of the wheels on

the axle, and loss of controllability of

the airplane on the ground. This action

is intended to address the identified

unsafe condition.

DATES: Effective December 26, 2000.

The incorporation by reference of

certain publications listed in the

regulations is approved by the Director

of the Federal Register as of December

26, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The service information

referenced in this AD may be obtained

from Boeing Commercial Airplane

Group, P.O. Box 3707, Seattle,

Washington 98124–2207. This

information may be examined at the

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),

Transport Airplane Directorate, Rules

Docket, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW.,

Renton, Washington; or at the Office of

the Federal Register, 800 North Capitol

Street, NW., suite 700, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stan

Wood, Aerospace Engineer, Airframe

Branch, ANM–120S, FAA, Seattle

Aircraft Certification Office, 1601 Lind

Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington

98055–4056; telephone (425) 227–2772;

fax (425) 227–1181.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A

proposal to amend part 39 of the Federal

Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 39) to

include an airworthiness directive (AD)