This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

33734 

Vol. 75, No. 114 

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 

ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF 

THE FEDERAL REGISTER 

1 CFR Parts 9, 11, and 12 

Regulations Affecting Publication of 

the United States Government Manual 

AGENCY: Administrative Committee of 

the Federal Register. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Administrative 

Committee of the Federal Register 

proposes to update its regulations for 

the Federal Register system to remove 

from its regulations the requirement that 

the United States Government Manual 

(Manual) be published and distributed 

in a soft bound edition. This proposal 

would also eliminate the requirement to 

make soft bound print copies available 

to officials of the United States 

government without charge. The general 

public and United States government 

officials will have access to a redesigned 

online version of the Manual. Soft 

bound printed copies of the Manual 

may still be issued and would be 

available from the U.S. Government 

Bookstore. This action does not 

represent an increase in the burdens on 

agencies or the public. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before July 15, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Docket materials are 

available at the Office of the Federal 

Register, 800 North Capitol Street, NW., 

Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001, 202– 

741–6030. Please contact the persons 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section to schedule your 

inspection of docket materials. The 

Office of the Federal Register’s official 

hours of business are Monday through 

Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., excluding 

Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy P. Bunk, Director of Legal Affairs 

and Policy, Office of the Federal 

Register, at Fedreg.legal@nara.gov, or 

202–741–6030. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Purpose 

Under the Federal Register Act (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 15), the Administrative 

Committee of the Federal Register 

(Administrative Committee) is 

responsible for issuing regulations 

governing Federal Register publications. 

The Administrative Committee has 

general authority under 44 U.S.C. 1506 

to determine the manner and form for 

publishing the Federal Register and its 

special editions, including the United 

States Government Manual (Manual). 

Title 1 part 9 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations regulates the publication of 

the United States Government Manual. 

This publication has been issued as a 

special edition of the Federal Register 

since the publication was transferred to 

the Office of the Federal Register from 

the Office of Government Reports 

within the Bureau of Budget when that 

Office was abolished on June 30, 1948. 

The first manual, the United States 

Government Organization Manual, 

produced under the authority of 

regulations of the Administrative 

Committee, was issued on August 4, 

1949, and sold for $1.00 per copy. Now 

known as the United States Government 

Manual (Manual), it continued to be one 

of the Government Printing Office’s 

(GPO) ‘‘best sellers’’ until public demand 

for printed editions began to decline in 

favor of more current information found 

on the Internet. 

Under the Government Printing Office 

Electronic Information Access 

Enhancement Act of 1993 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 41), the OFR/GPO partnership 

developed an online edition of the 

Manual in both text-only files and PDF 

files. At present, the online version is a 

direct output of the printed edition. The 

files begin with documents from the 

1995–1996 edition of the Manual and 

continue through the present. In its 

present form, as an annual-only 

publication, some agency information 

published in the Manual may be out of 

date as soon as purchasers receive their 

copy. This proposed rule addresses the 

declining demand for the printed 

version and the timeliness of 

publication by establishing a new 

electronic format for the publication. 

The proposed rule addresses the rising 

costs of print production by 

discontinuing the requirement that 

OFR/GPO print and make official 

distribution of the annual edition of the 

Manual. Under this proposal, the 

Manual would be published and 

officially distributed as a currently 

updated online database. The new 

online version of the Manual would 

contain the same information as has 

appeared in the printed edition. OFR 

editors would continue to review all 

material submitted for publication in 

the Manual to assure the accuracy and 

integrity of the Manual. The database 

structure of the new electronic version 

of the Manual would enable Federal 

agencies to submit updated information 

on an ongoing basis, as new officials 

take office, and agency programs 

undergo changes. 

OFR/GPO would still have the 

flexibility to produce a printed product 

based on the strength of customer 

demand. In the near term, OFR/GPO 

expect that there will be sufficient 

demand from individuals and 

organizations to produce a printed 

edition of the Manual, which will 

continue to be available to individual 

patrons and institutions through the 

U.S. Government Bookstore, and to 

libraries through the Federal Depository 

Library Program. However, government 

agencies would no longer receive free 

copies of the printed edition. GPO will 

provide agencies an opportunity to 

order copies before printing at the rider 

rate. (A rider rate is available before the 

start of printing production and 

represents the minimal cost of 

producing additional copies as a 

continuation of the initial printing run.) 

In the long term, the annual printed 

edition of the Manual may be 

discontinued entirely if customer 

demand significantly decreases. The 

proposed changes to this publication 

would not expand any regulated 

community or impose any additional 

regulatory burden. 

With the advent of the Internet, the 

printed soft bound copies of the Manual 

became outdated in many cases before 

the official copies were mailed to 

Federal officials. In addition, the soft 

bound print publication has lost a 

majority of its sales making the cost of 

publishing the soft bound editions of 

the Manual cost prohibitive. Currently, 

the Manual has the same publication 

dilemma faced by the Weekly 

Compilation of Presidential Documents 

before the Administrative Committee 

issued its January 2009 rule to 

discontinue printing that publication. 

The Manual is presently mailed 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2010 / Proposed Rules 33735 

annually via United States Post Office 

bulk rate postage to Federal officials for 

official use. As mentioned above, by the 

time these officials receive their copy of 

the Manual, the information published 

in it is, or may be, out of date. These 

officials can obtain much of the same 

information from other sources, but 

without the guaranty of accuracy and 

integrity provided by the OFR editors. 

The new online version of the Manual 

will increase access to the information 

regarding the Federal government and 

allow for more frequent updating. 

In this proposal, the Administrative 

Committee proposes non-substantive 

formatting changes to § 11.4 and 

substantive changes to part 12 to remove 

§ 12.3. Under the FRA, the 

Administrative Committee is 

responsible for setting the number of 

official use copies of Federal Register 

publications distributed free of charge to 

various offices within the Federal 

government. See, 44 U.S.C. 1506(4). To 

fulfill the requirements of the FRA, the 

1 CFR part 12, entitled ‘‘Official 

Distribution within Federal 

Government’’ sets out the number of 

official copies of Federal Register 

publications that various Federal 

government entities are entitled to 

receive. Specifically, § 12.3 addresses 

the number of printed copies of the 

Manual available to Federal entities 

without charge. Because the Manual has 

been published in a soft bound edition 

that may not adequately serve the needs 

of Federal officials, the Administrative 

Committee believes that distributing the 

Manual in an electronic-only format to 

Federal officials for their official use 

would meet the intent of the FRA to 

distribute Federal Register publications 

for official use without charge. Thus, the 

Administrative Committee would 

remove this section. 

Regulatory Analysis 

We developed this proposed rule after 

considering numerous statutes and 

executive orders related to rulemaking. 

Below we summarize our analyses 

based on these statutes and executive 

orders. 

Executive Order 12866 

The proposed rule has been drafted in 

accordance with Executive Order 12866, 

section 1(b), ‘‘Principles of Regulation.’’ 

The Administrative Committee has 

determined that this proposed rule is 

not a significant regulatory action as 

defined under section 3(f) of Executive 

Order 12866. The proposed rule has not 

been submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget under section 

6(a)(3)(E) of Executive Order 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

This proposed rule will not have a 

significant impact on small entities 

since it imposes no requirements. 

Members of the public can access 

Federal Register publications free 

through GPO’s Web site. 

Federalism 

This proposed rule has no federalism 

implications under Executive Order 

13132. It does not impose compliance 

costs on state or local governments or 

preempt state law. 

Congressional Review 

This proposed rule is not a major rule 

as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The 

Administrative Committee will submit a 

rule report, including a copy of this 

proposed rule, to each House of the 

Congress and to the Comptroller General 

of the United States as required under 

the congressional review provisions of 

the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1986. 

List of Subjects 

1 CFR Part 9 

Government publications, United 

States Government Manual. 

1 CFR Part 11 

Code of Federal Regulations, Federal 

Register, Government publications, 

Public Papers of Presidents of United 

States, United States Government 

Manual, Daily Compilation of. 

1 CFR Part 12 

Code of Federal Regulations, Federal 

Register, Government publications, 

Public Papers of Presidents of United 

States, United States Government 

Manual, Daily Compilation of. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, under the authority at 44 

U.S.C. 1506 and 1510, the 

Administrative Committee of the 

Federal Register, proposes to amend 

parts 9, 11, and 12 of chapter I of title 

1 of the Code of Federal Regulations as 

set forth below: 

1. Revise part 9 to read as follows: 

PART 9—THE UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT MANUAL 

Sec. 

9.1 Publication required. 

9.2 Scope. 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 

10530, 19 FR 2709; 3 CFR, 1954–1958 Comp., 

p. 189. 

§ 9.1 Publication required. 

(a) The Director publishes a special 

edition of the Federal Register called 

‘‘The United States Government 

Manual’’ as authorized by the 

Administrative Committee. 

(b) The Director may update the 

Manual when such supplementation is 

considered to be in the public interest. 

§ 9.2 Scope. 

(a) The Manual will contain 

appropriate information about the 

Executive, Legislative, and Judicial 

branches of the Federal Government, 

which for the major Executive agencies 

will include— 

(1) Descriptions of the agency’s legal 

authorities, public purposes, programs 

and functions; 

(2) Established places and methods 

whereby the public may obtain 

information and make submittals or 

requests; and 

(3) Lists of officials heading major 

operating units. 

(b) Brief information about quasiofficial agencies and supplemental 

information that in the opinion of the 

Director is of enough public interest to 

warrant inclusion will also be included 

in the Manual. 

PART 11—[AMENDED] 

2. The authority citation for part 11 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 

10530, 19 FR 2709, 3 CFR, 1954–1958 Comp., 

p. 189. 

3. Revise § 11.4 as follows: 

§ 11.4 The United States Government 

Manual. 

(a) Copies of a bound, paper edition 

of the Manual may be sold at a price 

determined by the Superintendent of 

Documents under the general direction 

of the Administrative Committee. 

(b) The online edition of the Manual, 

issued under the authority of the 

Administrative Committee, is available 

through the Government Printing 

Office’s Web site. 

PART 12—[AMENDED] 

4. The authority citation for part 12 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 

10530, 19 FR 2709; 3 CFR, 1954–1958 Comp., 

p. 189. 

§ 12.3 [Removed] 

5. Remove § 12.3. 

By order of the Committee. 

Raymond A. Mosley, 

Secretary, Administrative Committee of the 

Federal Register. 

[FR Doc. 2010–14465 Filed 6–14–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1505–02–P 


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