182 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

or local governmental unit (as defined 

in § 1.103–1(a)) or a 501(c)(3) 

organization (as defined in section 

150(a)(4))) apply this section to all 

modifications of the terms of contracts 

that occur before that date. See section 

7805(b)(7). 

■ Par. 6. Section 1.1271–0 is amended 

by adding entries for § 1.1275–2(m) to 

read as follows: 

§ 1.12711–0 Original issue discount; 

effective date; table of contents. 

* * * * * 

§ 1.12751–2 Special rules relating to debt 

instruments. 

* * * * * 

(m) Transition from certain interbank 

offered rates. 

(1) In general. 

(2) Single qualified floating rate. 

(3) Remote contingency. 

(4) Change in circumstances. 

(5) Applicability date. 

* * * * * 

■ Par. 7. Section 1.1275–2 is amended 

by adding paragraph (m) to read as 

follows: 

§ 1.12751 –2 Special rules relating to debt 

instruments. 

* * * * * 

(m) Transition from certain interbank 

offered rates—(1) In general. This 

paragraph (m) applies to a variable rate 

debt instrument (as defined in § 1.1275– 

5(a)) that provides both for a qualified 

floating rate that references a 

discontinued IBOR and for a 

methodology to change that rate 

referencing a discontinued IBOR to a 

different rate in anticipation of the 

discontinued IBOR becoming 

unavailable or unreliable. For purposes 

of this paragraph (m), discontinued 

IBOR has the meaning provided in 

§ 1.1001–6(h)(4). See § 1.1001–6 for 

additional rules that may apply to a debt 

instrument that provides for a rate 

referencing a discontinued IBOR. 

(2) Single qualified floating rate. If a 

debt instrument is described in 

paragraph (m)(1) of this section, the rate 

referencing a discontinued IBOR and 

the different rate are treated as a single 

qualified floating rate for purposes of 

§ 1.1275–5. 

(3) Remote contingency. If a debt 

instrument is described in paragraph 

(m)(1) of this section, the possibility that 

the discontinued IBOR will become 

unavailable or unreliable is treated as a 

remote contingency for purposes of 

paragraph (h) of this section. 

(4) Change in circumstances. If a debt 

instrument is described in paragraph 

(m)(1) of this section, the fact that the 

discontinued IBOR has become 

unavailable or unreliable is not treated 

as a change in circumstances for 

purposes of paragraph (h)(6) of this 

section. 

(5) Applicability date. Paragraph (m) 

of this section applies to debt 

instruments issued on or after March 7, 

2022. A taxpayer may choose to apply 

paragraph (m) of this section to debt 

instruments issued before March 7, 

2022, provided that the taxpayer and all 

related parties (within the meaning of 

section 267(b) or section 707(b)(1) or 

within the meaning of § 1.150–1(b) for a 

taxpayer that is a State or local 

governmental unit (as defined in 

§ 1.103–1(a)) or a 501(c)(3) organization 

(as defined in section 150(a)(4))) apply 

paragraph (m) of this section to all debt 

instruments issued before that date. See 

section 7805(b)(7). 

■ Par. 8. Section 1.7701(l)–3 is amended 

by adding a sentence at the end of 

paragraph (b)(2)(ii) to read as follows: 

§ 1.77011 (l)–3 Recharacterizing financing 

arrangements involving fast-pay stock. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(ii) * * * See § 1.1001–6(e) for 

additional rules that may apply to stock 

that provides for a rate referencing a 

discontinued IBOR, as defined in 

§ 1.1001–6(h)(4). 

* * * * * 

PART 301—PROCEDURE AND 

ADMINISTRATION 

■ Par. 9. The authority citation for part 

301 continues to read in part as follows: 

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * 

■ Par. 10. Section 301.7701–4 is 

amended by adding a sentence at the 

end of paragraph (c)(1) to read as 

follows: 

§ 301.7701301–4 Trusts. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(1) * * * See § 1.1001–6(f) of this 

chapter for additional rules that may 

apply to an investment trust that holds 

one or more contracts that provide for 

a rate referencing a discontinued IBOR, 

as defined in § 1.1001–6(h)(4) of this 

chapter, and for additional rules that 

may apply to an investment trust with 

one or more ownership interests that 

reference a discontinued IBOR. 

* * * * * 

Douglas W. O’Donnell, 

Deputy Commissioner for Services and 

Enforcement. 

Approved: December 19, 2021. 

Lily Batchelder, 

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax 

Policy). 

[FR Doc. 2021–28452 Filed 12–30–21; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 

and Explosives 

27 CFR Part 478 

[Docket No. ATF 24P; AG Order No. 5304– 

2021] 

RIN 1140–AA10 

Secure Gun Storage and Definition of 

‘‘Antique Firearm’’ 

AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms, and Explosives, Department of 

Justice. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Justice is 

amending the regulations of the Bureau 

of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 

Explosives (‘‘ATF’’) to codify into 

regulation certain provisions of the 

Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency 

Supplemental Appropriations Act, 

1999. This rule amends ATF’s 

regulations to account for the existing 

statutory requirement that applicants for 

Federal firearms dealer licenses certify 

that secure gun storage or safety devices 

will be available at any place where 

firearms are sold under the license to 

nonlicensed individuals. This 

certification is already included in the 

Application for Federal Firearms 

License, ATF Form 7/7CR (‘‘Form 7/ 

7CR’’). The regulation also requires 

applicants for manufacturer or importer 

licenses to complete the certification if 

the licensee will have premises where 

firearms are sold to nonlicensees. 

Moreover, the regulation requires that 

the secure gun storage or safety devices 

be compatible with the firearms offered 

for sale by the licensee. Finally, it 

conforms the regulatory definitions of 

certain terms to the statutory language, 

including the definition of ‘‘antique 

firearm,’’ which is amended to include 

certain modern muzzle loading firearms. 

DATES: This rule is effective February 3, 

2022. 


tkelley on DSK125TN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 183 

1The Child Safety Lock Act of 2005 (‘‘CSLA’’), 

enacted as part of the Protection of Lawful 

Commerce in Arms Act, Public Law 109–92 (119 

Stat. 2095), amended the GCA by adding a new 

subsection, 18 U.S.C. 922(z). This subsection 

requires licensed importers, manufacturers, and 

dealers to provide secure gun storage or safety 

devices whenever they sell, deliver, or transfer any 

handgun to a nonlicensed person. See 18 U.S.C. 

922(z)(1). The CSLA was implemented primarily in 

a final rule issued shortly before the NPRM was 

issued for this rule. See Federal Firearms License 

Proceedings—Hearings, 81 FR 32,230 (May 23, 

2016) (amending 27 CFR 478.73, which provides 

that a notice of suspension or revocation of a 

license, or the imposition of a civil penalty, may be 

issued whenever the ATF Director has reason to 

believe that any licensee has violated § 922(z)(1) by 

selling, delivering, or transferring any handgun to 

any person other than a licensee, unless the 

transferee was provided with a secure gun storage 

or safety device for that handgun). Although the 

requirements of the CSLA and the regulation at 

issue in this rulemaking are in some respects 

similar, the two requirements are distinct: The 

CSLA requires that licensed importers, 

manufacturers, and dealers actually provide a 

secure gun storage or safety device to any 

nonlicensee that receives a handgun, whereas the 

regulation at issue in this rulemaking applies more 

broadly to the sale of ‘‘firearms’’ (not just handguns) 

to nonlicensees, but requires only that secure gun 

storage or safety devices be made available (not 

actually provided). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Vivian Chu, Office of Regulatory Affairs, 

Enforcement Programs and Services, 

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 

and Explosives, U.S. Department of 

Justice, 99 New York Avenue NE, 

Washington, DC 20226; telephone: (202) 

648–7070. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On October 21, 1998, Public Law 105– 

277 (112 Stat. 2681), the Omnibus 

Consolidated and Emergency 

Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 

(‘‘the Act’’), was enacted. Among other 

things, the Act amended the Gun 

Control Act of 1968, Public Law 90–618 

(82 Stat. 1213) (‘‘GCA’’) (codified as 

amended at 18 U.S.C. chapter 44). Some 

of the GCA amendments made by the 

Act are as follows: 1

(1) Secure Gun Storage. The Act 

amended section 923(d)(1) of title 18, 

United States Code, to require that, with 

certain exceptions, applicants for 

Federal firearms dealer licenses certify 

the availability of secure gun storage or 

safety devices at any place where 

firearms are sold under the license to 

nonlicensees. 18 U.S.C. 923(d)(1)(G). 

The certification requirement does not 

apply where a secure gun storage or 

safety device is temporarily unavailable 

because of theft, casualty loss, consumer 

sales, backorders from a manufacturer, 

or any other similar reason beyond the 

control of the licensee. Id. 

In addition, the Act amended 18 

U.S.C. 923(e) to provide that the 

Attorney General may revoke, after 

notice and opportunity for hearing, the 

license of any Federal firearms licensee 

that fails to have secure gun storage or 

safety devices available at any place 

where firearms are sold under the 

license to nonlicensees, subject to the 

same exceptions noted above. 

The Act defined the term ‘‘secure gun 

storage or safety device’’ in 18 U.S.C. 

921(a)(34) to mean: (1) A device that, 

when installed on a firearm, is designed 

to prevent the firearm from being 

operated without first deactivating the 

device; (2) a device incorporated into 

the design of the firearm that is 

designed to prevent the operation of the 

firearm by anyone not having access to 

the device; or (3) a safe, gun safe, gun 

case, lock box, or other device that is 

designed to be or can be used to store 

a firearm and that is designed to be 

unlocked only by means of a key, a 

combination, or other similar means. 

The provisions of the Act relating to 

secure gun storage became effective 

April 19, 1999. 

(2) Definition of Antique Firearm. The 

Act amended the definition of ‘‘antique 

firearm’’ in the GCA to include certain 

modern muzzle loading firearms. 

Specifically, section 115 of the Act 

amended the definition of ‘‘antique 

firearm’’ in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16) to 

include a weapon that is a muzzle 

loading rifle, muzzle loading shotgun, or 

muzzle loading pistol; that is designed 

to use black powder or a black powder 

substitute; and that cannot use fixed 

ammunition. The term expressly does 

not include any weapon that 

incorporates a firearm frame or receiver; 

any firearm converted into a muzzle 

loading weapon; or any muzzle loading 

weapon that can be readily converted to 

fire fixed ammunition by replacing the 

barrel, bolt, breechblock, or any 

combination thereof. 18 U.S.C. 

921(a)(16)(C). 

The provisions of the Act relating to 

antique firearms became effective upon 

the date of enactment, October 21, 1998. 

(3) Miscellaneous Amendments. Prior 

to amendment by the Act, the term 

‘‘rifle’’ was defined in the GCA to mean 

‘‘a weapon designed or redesigned, 

made or remade, and intended to be 

fired from the shoulder and designed or 

redesigned and made or remade to use 

the energy of the explosive in a fixed 

metallic cartridge to fire only a single 

projectile through a rifled bore for each 

single pull of the trigger.’’ 18 U.S.C. 

921(a)(7) (1994). The Act amended the 

definition of ‘‘rifle’’ by replacing the 

words ‘‘the explosive in a fixed metallic 

cartridge’’ with ‘‘an explosive.’’ See 18 

U.S.C. 921(a)(7) (2018). 

Additionally, prior to amendment by 

the Act, the term ‘‘shotgun’’ was defined 

in the GCA to mean ‘‘a weapon designed 

or redesigned, made or remade, and 

intended to be fired from the shoulder 

and designed or redesigned and made or 

remade to use the energy of the 

explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire 

through a smooth bore either a number 

of ball shot or a single projectile for each 

single pull of the trigger.’’ 18 U.S.C. 

921(a)(5) (1994). The Act amended the 

definition of ‘‘shotgun’’ by replacing the 

words ‘‘the explosive in a fixed shotgun 

shell’’ with ‘‘an explosive.’’ See 18 

U.S.C. 921(a)(5) (2018). 

The provisions of the Act relating to 

the miscellaneous amendments also 

became effective upon the date of 

enactment, October 21, 1998. 

II. Proposed Rule 

On May 26, 2016, the Department of 

Justice (‘‘the Department’’) published in 

the Federal Register a notice of 

proposed rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’) to 

codify into regulation certain provisions 

of the Act. Commerce in Firearms and 

Explosives; Secure Gun Storage, 

Amended Definition of Antique 

Firearm, and Miscellaneous 

Amendments, 81 FR 33448 (May 26, 

2016). The rule proposed amending 

ATF’s regulations to account for the 

existing statutory requirement that 

applicants for Federal firearms dealer 

licenses certify that secure gun storage 

or safety devices will be available at any 

place where firearms are sold under the 

license to nonlicensed individuals. This 

certification is already included in ATF 

Form 7/7CR. The NPRM also proposed 

requiring applicants for Federal firearms 

manufacturer or importer licenses to 

complete the certification if the licensee 

will have premises where firearms are 

sold to nonlicensees. 

Next, the Department proposed to 

amend 27 CFR 478.11 by adding a 

definition for the term ‘‘secure gun 

storage or safety device’’ that tracks the 

language in the statute, as well as a new 

section 27 CFR 478.104 that specifies 

the terms of the certification 

requirement. Moreover, the proposed 

regulation required that the secure gun 

storage or safety device be compatible 

with the firearms offered for sale by the 

licensee. 81 FR at 33449. Therefore, 

applicants under the proposed rule 

would be required to certify the 

availability of compatible secure gun 

storage or safety devices at any place 

where firearms were sold under the 

license to nonlicensees. 

The NPRM proposed applying the 

certification requirement to applicants 

for Federal firearms importer or 

manufacturer licenses if the licensee has 


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184 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

premises where firearms are sold to 

nonlicensees. Federal regulations 

provide that a licensed importer or a 

licensed manufacturer may engage in 

business on the licensed premises as a 

dealer in the same type of firearms 

authorized by the license to be imported 

or manufactured. 27 CFR 478.41(b). 

Accordingly, under the proposed rule, 

an applicant for a Federal firearms 

importer or manufacturer license that 

engaged in business on the licensed 

premises as a dealer of firearms to 

nonlicensees was required to complete 

the certification. 

One provision of the Act provides 

that, ‘‘[n]otwithstanding any other 

provision of law, evidence regarding 

compliance or noncompliance [with the 

secure gun storage or safety device 

requirement] shall not be admissible as 

evidence in any proceeding of any 

court, agency, board, or other entity.’’ 

Public Law 105–277, sec. 119, reprinted 

in 18 U.S.C. 923 note. In the proposed 

rule, ATF explained that this section 

applies to civil liability actions against 

dealers and other similar actions, and 

not to proceedings associated with 

license denials or revocations (or 

appeals in Federal court from decisions 

in such proceedings) involving 

noncompliance with the secure gun 

storage or safety device requirement of 

the GCA. 81 FR at 33449. The proposed 

rule amended 27 CFR 478.73 to clarify 

that a notice of revocation of a Federal 

firearms license may be issued 

whenever the ATF Director has reason 

to believe that a licensee fails to have 

secure gun storage or safety devices 

available at any place in which firearms 

are sold under the license to persons 

who are not licensees (except in any 

case in which a secure gun storage or 

safety device is temporarily unavailable 

because of theft, casualty loss, consumer 

sales, backorders from a manufacturer, 

or any other similar reason beyond the 

control of the licensee). Id. at 33453. 

Finally, the Department proposed to 

amend 27 CFR 478.11 to reflect the 

definitions of the terms ‘‘antique 

firearm,’’ ‘‘rifle,’’ and ‘‘shotgun’’ set 

forth in the Act. Id. 

Comments on the notice of proposed 

rulemaking were to be submitted to ATF 

on or before August 24, 2016. 

III. Comment Analysis and Department 

Response 

In response to the NPRM, with respect 

to an industry that includes 

approximately 59,909 federally licensed 

firearms dealers (including 

pawnbrokers), 12,673 licensed firearms 

manufacturers, and 1,054 licensed 

firearms importers, ATF received only 

four comments. This small number of 

responses indicates that a broad 

majority of the firearms industry accepts 

codification of behavior that has been 

statutorily required for more than 20 

years. 

A. Comments on Impact on 

Manufacturers and Importers 

1. Comments Received 

One commenter argued that the 

proposed rule imposes the certification 

requirement on all manufacturers and 

importers that sell firearms to the 

public, despite the fact that the statute 

requires only that dealers in firearms 

meet the certification requirement. 

Further, according to the commenter, 

forcing manufacturers and importers to 

have secure gun storage available and 

perhaps even to ‘‘use’’ such secure gun 

storage could create a burdensome and 

expensive requirement. Requiring 

firearms, many of which might not even 

be finished, to be stored under lock and 

key every night would, in the opinion 

of the commenter, be difficult, time 

consuming, and cost-prohibitive. 

Therefore, according to the commenter, 

the proposed rule violated Federal law 

by creating new requirements for 

licensees. 

2. Department Response 

The Department disagrees with the 

comment that ATF does not have the 

statutory authority to require licensed 

manufacturers and importers to certify 

that secure gun storage or safety devices 

will be available at any place in which 

firearms are sold to nonlicensees. Under 

18 U.S.C. 923(a), the license application 

must be in such form and contain the 

information necessary to determine 

eligibility for licensing as the Attorney 

General may prescribe by regulation. 

Similarly, under 18 U.S.C. 926(a), the 

Attorney General has the authority to 

promulgate any rules that are necessary 

to implement the provisions of the GCA. 

‘‘Because § 926 authorizes the [Attorney 

General] to promulgate those regulations 

which are ‘necessary,’ it almost 

inevitably confers some measure of 

discretion to determine what regulations 

are in fact ‘necessary.’ ’’ Nat’l Rifle Ass’n 

v. Brady, 914 F.2d 475, 479 (4th Cir. 

1990). 

Although the language of section 

923(d)(1)(G) refers only to applications 

for license as a dealer, section 923(e), as 

amended by the Act, more broadly 

provides that the Attorney General may, 

after notice and an opportunity for a 

hearing, ‘‘revoke any license issued 

under this section if the holder of such 

license . . . fails to have secure gun 

storage or safety devices available at any 

place in which firearms are sold under 

the license to persons who are not 

licensees.’’ (Emphasis added.) Section 

923(e) thus applies to all licensees that 

sell firearms to nonlicensees—not just 

dealer licensees. Hence, because 

licensed manufacturers and importers 

may sell their firearms directly to 

nonlicensees, see 27 CFR 478.41(b), 

ATF has the authority to revoke the 

licenses of manufacturers or importers if 

they fail to have secure gun storage or 

safety devices available for retail 

transactions. Requiring manufacturers 

and importers to certify that secure gun 

storage or safety devices will be 

available at any place in which firearms 

are sold to nonlicensees helps ensure 

that manufacturers and importers are 

aware of the implicit requirement in 

section 923(e) that these licensees must 

make such storage or devices available. 

This certification has been required of 

all license applicants except collectors 

on ATF Form 7/7CR (5300.12/5310.16) 

for years. 

Finally, neither the NPRM nor the 

final rule requires manufacturers or 

importers to use secure gun storage or 

safety devices on their inventory; rather, 

they need only make such storage or 

devices available. 

B. Comments on Compatibility of 

Devices 

1. Comments Received 

One commenter noted that 18 U.S.C. 

923 does not explicitly require that 

secure gun storage or safety devices 

maintained by Federal firearms dealers 

be compatible or even be used, only that 

they be available; therefore, according to 

the commenter, the proposed rule 

cannot require it. Further, the 

commenter noted that ATF has no 

authority to revoke the license of a 

dealer that does not lock up its firearms. 

2. Department Response 

The commenter misinterpreted the 

proposed rule’s application. The 

proposed rule did not, as the commenter 

suggested, require federally licensed 

dealers to use compatible devices on 

their inventory, nor did the rule require 

them to lock up and store their firearms 

inventory. Rather, the NPRM proposed 

implementing 18 U.S.C. 923(d)(1)(G) by 

requiring applicants for dealer licenses, 

or those licensed manufacturers and 

importers that will also deal firearms to 

nonlicensed individuals as permitted in 

27 CFR 478.41(b), to certify only that 

compatible secure gun storage or safety 

devices are available at any place where 

firearms are sold under the license to 

nonlicensed individuals. 

The Department believes the 

compatibility language in the rule is 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 185 

2S. Rep. No. 105–108, at 108 (1997). 

3 Id. (emphasis added). 

consistent with the text of the statute 

because it clarifies that the secure gun 

storage or safety devices made available 

must be compatible with the firearms 

offered for sale by the licensee. 

Courts have explained that ‘‘the 

administration and enforcement of a 

statute call upon the agency charged 

with its execution to interpret it.’’ 

Continental Airlines, Inc. v. Dep’t of 

Transportation, 843 F.2d 1444, 1449 

(D.C. Cir. 1988). When a court is called 

upon to review an agency’s construction 

of a statute it administers, the court 

looks to the framework set forth in 

Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural 

Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 

U.S. 837 (1984). The first step of 

Chevron review is to ask ‘‘whether 

Congress has directly spoken to the 

precise question at issue.’’ Id. 842. ‘‘If 

the intent of Congress is clear, that is the 

end of the matter; for the court, as well 

as the agency, must give effect to the 

unambiguously expressed intent of 

Congress. If, however, the court 

determines Congress has not directly 

addressed the precise question at issue 

. . . the question for the court is 

whether the agency’s answer is based on 

a permissible construction of the 

statute.’’ Id. at 842–43 (footnote 

omitted). Although the Act defines 

‘‘secure gun storage or safety device,’’ 

that definition does not specify whether 

or with which sorts of firearms the 

secure gun storage and safety devices 

must be compatible. The Department 

believes that this rule comports with the 

best reading of the statute and 

permissibly clarifies that such storage 

and devices must be compatible with 

the firearms sold at the licensed 

premises. This specification in the 

regulation resolves any ambiguity in the 

statute and fulfills its purpose because 

customers purchasing firearms should 

be able to leave the premises with a 

secure gun storage or safety device that 

is compatible with the type of firearm 

they purchased. A contrary rule, under 

which licensees could comply with the 

statute by making available exclusively 

devices that are incompatible with the 

firearms they sell, would unreasonably 

thwart Congress’s evident purpose in 

the Act. See City of Chicago v. U.S. 

Dep’t of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, 

Tobacco & Firearms, 423 F.3d 777, 781 

(7th Cir. 2005) (statutes should not be 

read in a way that ‘‘would thwart 

Congress’ intention’’). 

C. Comments on Noncompliance 

Evidence in License Denial or 

Revocation Procedures 

1. Comments Received 

In the NPRM, ATF referenced a 

provision in the Act that states that 

‘‘evidence regarding compliance or 

noncompliance [with the secure gun 

storage or safety device requirement] 

shall not be admissible as evidence in 

any proceeding of any court, agency, 

board, or other entity.’’ See Public Law 

105–277, sec. 119. ATF explained that, 

based on basic tenets of statutory 

construction, it reads the evidentiary 

limitation as applying only ‘‘to civil 

liability actions against dealers and 

other similar actions, and not to 

proceedings associated with license 

denials or revocations (or appeals in 

Federal court from decisions in such 

proceedings) involving noncompliance 

with the secure gun storage or safety 

device requirement’’ of the Act. 81 FR 

at 33449. 

Three commenters asserted that this 

provision of the Act prohibits the use of 

a dealer’s compliance or noncompliance 

with the secure gun storage or safety 

device requirement in any 

administrative proceedings to deny or 

revoke a Federal firearms license. Two 

commenters also argued that ATF’s 

interpretation substitutes its judgment 

for that of Congress, and, by effectively 

amending legislation, violates the 

‘‘Separation of Powers Doctrine.’’ These 

commenters stated that ATF does not 

have the power to change or ignore 

statutes. They argued that words have 

meaning, and that ATF cannot construe 

statutes to permit something the plain 

text prohibits or create an exception for 

ATF’s administrative hearings where 

one does not exist in the law. 

2. Department Response 

The Department respectfully 

disagrees. There are at least two canons 

of statutory interpretation that inform 

the Department’s reading of the 

evidence provision the commenters 

relied on. The first relevant canon 

provides that, ‘‘[w]henever a power is 

given by statute, everything necessary to 

make it effectual or requisite to attain 

the end is implied.’’ Luis v. United 

States, 136 S. Ct. 1093, 1097 (2016) 

(Thomas, J., concurring) (quoting 1 J. 

Kent, Commentaries on American Law 

464 (13th ed. 1884)). The second 

relevant canon provides that a ‘‘court 

will not merely look to a particular 

clause in which general words may be 

used, but will take in connection with 

it the whole statute . . . and the objects 

and policy of the law.’’ Stafford v. 

Briggs, 444 U.S. 527, 535 (1980) (quoting 

Brown v. Duchesne, 19 How. 183, 194 

(1857)). The evidence provision cannot 

be read in isolation. Rather, it must be 

read within the context of the rest of the 

statute, including the specific grant of 

authority for the Attorney General to 

revoke the license of a licensee that does 

not comply with the Act. Moreover, the 

Act specifically provides that none of its 

amendments ‘‘shall be construed . . . as 

creating a cause of action against any 

firearms dealer or any other person for 

any civil liability.’’ 18 U.S.C. 923 note. 

That prohibition on civil liability 

implies that Congress expected 

compliance with the secure gun storage 

or safety device requirement to be 

enforced not by private individuals in 

civil actions, but by the Attorney 

General in administrative proceedings, 

in accordance with the specific 

authority granted to the Attorney 

General to do so in 18 U.S.C. 923(e). The 

Attorney General could not fulfill this 

role if, as asserted by the commenters, 

evidence of noncompliance could not be 

used in administrative proceedings 

related to that noncompliance, thus 

indicating that the evidence provision 

in the Act does not apply to 

administrative proceedings regarding 

compliance with the secure gun storage 

or safety device requirement. Cf. United 

States v. Tohono O’Odham Nation, 563 

U.S. 307, 315 (2011) (‘‘Courts should not 

render statutes nugatory through 

construction.’’). 

The Department’s interpretation of the 

evidence provision is further supported 

by the legislative history. The secure 

gun storage provisions that were 

enacted were initially sponsored by 

Senator Larry Craig as part of S.10, the 

Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender 

Act of 1997, for which a Senate report 

was produced by the Senate Committee 

on the Judiciary.2 The Committee’s 

report stated that ‘‘[t]he penalty for 

willful violation . . . is revocation of 

the dealer’s license, after notice and 

opportunity for hearing is given 

pursuant to current law.’’ 3 Thus, the 

Committee evidently expected that 

noncompliance with the secure gun 

storage and safety device provisions 

would be enforced through 

administrative proceedings, including a 

hearing. It would accordingly be 

nonsensical to bar the Attorney General 

from using evidence of such 

noncompliance in the same 

proceedings. Congress, in other words, 

would not have written the specific 

amendments giving the Attorney 

General the ability to revoke or deny a 

license based on noncompliance if 


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186 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

4The Attorney General is responsible for 

enforcing the GCA, as amended. This responsibility 

includes the authority to promulgate regulations 

necessary to enforce the provisions of the GCA. See 

18 U.S.C. 926(a). The Attorney General has 

delegated the responsibility for administering and 

enforcing the GCA to the ATF Director, subject to 

the direction of the Attorney General and Deputy 

Attorney General. See 28 CFR 0.130(a)(1)–(2). 

evidence of noncompliance could not be 

considered at the hearing ATF is 

required to conduct under the law. 

Accordingly—in light of the context in 

which the evidence provision appears, 

the legislative history underlying the 

secure gun storage or safety device 

requirement, and the authority granted 

in section 923(e)—the Department’s 

position that the evidence provision 

does not apply to ATF’s enforcement 

hearings or actions is the best 

interpretation of the law, and is 

certainly a permissible interpretation of 

the provision. See Chevron, 467 U.S. at 

843. 

Furthermore, Congress expressly 

authorized the Attorney General to deny 

or revoke a license if the licensee or 

applicant fails to have or certify that it 

has secure gun storage or safety devices 

available at any place in which firearms 

are sold under the license to persons 

who are not licensees (with the same 

exceptions noted above). 18 U.S.C. 

923(d), (e). To exercise this authority, 

the Attorney General is required to 

provide notice to an applicant or 

licensee and, upon request of the 

aggrieved party, is authorized to 

conduct an administrative hearing to 

make a final determination. 18 U.S.C. 

923(e), (f); 27 CFR 771.40–44. The 

agency’s final decision is appealable to 

a Federal court. 18 U.S.C. 923(f)(3). 

ATF 4 can also institute criminal 

proceedings against a licensee for 

violations of the GCA or the regulations. 

18 U.S.C. 923(f)(4). The express 

statutory grant of authority in section 

923 to deny or revoke a license based on 

evidence of noncompliance supersedes 

the general language the commenters 

relied on. See RadLAX Gateway Hotel, 

LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, 566 U.S. 

639, 645 (2012) (citing HCSC-Laundry v. 

United States, 450 U.S. 1, 6 (1981) (per 

curiam), for the proposition that the 

specific governs the general, 

‘‘particularly when the two [statutes] are 

interrelated and closely positioned, both 

in fact being parts of [the same statutory 

scheme]’’); Busic v. United States, 446 

U.S. 398, 406 (1980). 

D. Comments on Definitions of ‘‘Rifle’’ 

and ‘‘Shotgun’’ 

1. Comments Received 

Comments relating to the definitions 

of ‘‘rifle’’ and ‘‘shotgun’’ stated that, to 

prevent confusion between a modern 

rifle or shotgun and a muzzleloader or 

antique firearm, and to preclude future 

Federal ‘‘over reach’’ to classify muzzle 

loading arms as rifles, the definitions 

should specifically exclude muzzle 

loading arms using black powder or 

black powder substitutes. Additionally, 

one commenter stated that ‘‘explosive’’ 

is not the correct word for the 

propellant in a modern firearm and 

suggested amending the term 

‘‘explosive’’ in the definitions of ‘‘rifle’’ 

and ‘‘shotgun’’ to reference smokeless 

solid propellants that deflagrate rather 

than detonate, thereby clarifying that 

metallic cartridge firearms using 

smokeless propellants do not fall under 

the definitions of ‘‘rifle’’ or ‘‘shotgun’’ 

due to their lack of use of an explosive 

that detonates. 

2. Department Response 

The Department respectfully declines 

to revise the definitions of ‘‘rifle’’ and 

‘‘shotgun’’ to refer to smokeless solid 

propellants, rather than an ‘‘explosive,’’ 

because doing so would not be 

consistent with the statutory definitions 

set forth in the Act. The current 

statutory definition for ‘‘antique 

firearm’’ excludes certain muzzle 

loading firearms using black powder or 

black powder substitutes from the 

definition of ‘‘firearm,’’ thus making the 

inclusion of additional language to 

exclude them unnecessary. This final 

rule updates the existing regulations to 

reflect the current language of the 

statute. 

Further, the Department does not 

agree with the suggested clarification of 

the term ‘‘explosive’’ in the definitions 

of ‘‘rifle’’ and ‘‘shotgun.’’ The use of the 

phrase ‘‘by action of an explosive’’ 

within the definitions of ‘‘rifle’’ and 

‘‘shotgun’’ is appropriate, as it is 

descriptive of a process and not a 

classification of the propellant powder. 

The provisions of the Act relating to 

antique firearms and definitions of the 

terms ‘‘rifle’’ and ‘‘shotgun’’ became 

effective on the day of enactment, 

October 21, 1998. This final rule 

updates the existing regulations to 

reflect the current language of the 

statute. 

IV. Final Rule 

This final rule implements the 

amendments to the regulations in 27 

CFR part 478 that were specified in the 

NPRM published on May 26, 2016 (81 

FR 33448) without change. 

V. Statutory and Executive Order 

Review 

A. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory 

Planning and Review) directs agencies 

to assess the costs and benefits of 

available regulatory alternatives and, if 

regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety effects, distributive impacts, 

and equity). Executive Order 13563 

(Improving Regulation and Regulatory 

Review) emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, of 

reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, 

and of maintaining flexibility. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) has determined that, although 

this final rule is not economically 

significant, it is a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ under section 3(f)(4) of 

Executive Order 12866 because this 

final rule raises novel legal or policy 

issues arising out of legal mandates. 

Accordingly, the rule has been reviewed 

by OMB. 

This rule requires that Federal 

firearms licensees (‘‘FFLs’’) make 

available secure gun storage or safety 

devices to non-FFLs that purchase 

firearms. Furthermore, this rule requires 

that all FFLs must certify that they have 

secure gun storage or safety devices 

available if they sell firearms to nonFFLs. This section describes the affected 

population, costs, and benefits for this 

rule. In determining the costs and 

benefits of this rule, ATF has followed 

OMB guidance for conducting 

regulatory analyses. See OMB, 

Memorandum to the Heads of Executive 

Agencies and Establishments, Re: 

Regulatory Analysis, Circular A–4 (Sept. 

17, 2003) (‘‘Circular A–4’’). According to 

that guidance, regulations such as this 

one that largely restate self-enforcing 

statutory requirements should be 

analyzed against a baseline that predates the enactment of the relevant 

statute. Thus, although ATF has 

implemented and enforced the Act in 

the years since its passage even in the 

absence of the regulation at issue in this 

rulemaking, the costs and benefits of 

doing so have been attributed to this 

regulation for the purpose of this 

analysis. 

Table 1 provides the summary of the 

expected effects that this rule will have 

on the public. For more details 

regarding this analysis, please refer to 

the standalone regulatory analysis 

(‘‘RA’’) located on the docket. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 187 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF AFFECTED POPULATION, COSTS, AND BENEFITS

Category Final rule 

Applicability ............................................................................................... • All FFLs. 

• Type 1 FFL—Dealer in firearms other than destructive devices. 

• Type 2 FFL—Pawnbroker in firearms other than destructive devices. 

Affected Population .................................................................................. • 130,525 FFLs. 

• 52,795 Type 1 FFLs. 

• 7,114 Type 2 FFLs. 

Total Costs to Industry, Public, and Government (7% Discount Rate) ... $853,187 at 7% annualized. 

Savings (7% Discount Rate) .................................................................... N/A. 

Benefits (7% Discount Rate) .................................................................... N/A. 

Benefits non-monetized ............................................................................ • Inhibits unauthorized access to privately owned firearms by individuals such as children, who might suffer accidental injuries. 

• Inhibits access to privately owned firearms by criminals, who might 

use them for illicit activities. 

1. Need for Federal Regulation 

Agencies take regulatory action for 

various reasons. One reason is to carry 

out Congress’s policy decisions, as 

expressed in statutes. Here, this 

rulemaking aims to comply with the 

Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency 

Supplemental Appropriations Act of 

1999 relating to secure gun storage. 

Another reason underpinning regulatory 

action is the failure of the market to 

compensate for negative externalities 

caused by commercial activity. A 

negative externality can be the 

byproduct of a transaction between two 

parties that is not accounted for in the 

transaction. This final rule addresses a 

negative externality. The negative 

externality of the sale of firearms is that 

the firearms might not be stored 

properly and could be accessed by 

children who could cause accidents 

with the firearms or accessed by 

criminals who would use them for illicit 

activities. This rule provides 

nonlicensed firearm owners with the 

option to have devices that enable them 

to store their firearms so as to inhibit 

children or criminals from accessing 

their firearms. 

2. Affected Population 

This rulemaking affects two 

populations. The first population is the 

number of FFLs required to certify on 

Form 7/7CR that secure gun storage or 

safety devices will be available at any 

place in which firearms are sold under 

the license to persons who are not 

licensees. The second population is the 

number of FFLs that need to acquire 

secure gun storage or safety devices to 

make available at their place of 

business. 

Entities directly affected by the 

requirement to certify the availability of 

secure gun storage or safety devices are 

all FFLs. Although this rule primarily 

affects FFLs that sell firearms to 

nonlicensed persons, this rule affects all 

FFLs in that all FFL applicants must 

indicate on the Form 7/7CR application 

whether the applicants have gun storage 

or safety devices available for 

nonlicensees or whether this 

requirement is not applicable because 

they are seeking a Type 3 license for 

collectors. 

Because the Act was enacted shortly 

before 1999, and because ATF has 

required certification since 1999, ATF 

estimated the affected population to be 

all FFLs from 1999 to present. However, 

FFLs have to certify the availability of 

secure gun storage or safety devices only 

when they apply as new FFLs or every 

three years when they renew their 

Federal firearms license. Tables 2 and 3 

show the numbers of new applications 

and renewals by FFL type and year. For 

more information on the methodology 

used to determine the numbers of new 

FFLs by Type, please refer to the 

standalone RA. 

TABLE 2—NEW AND RENEWAL APPLICATIONS OF TYPE 1, 2, 3, 6, AND 7 FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEES

Year 01—Dealer 

in firearms 

02—Pawnbroker 

in firearms 

03—Collector of 

curios and relics 

06—Manufacturer 

of ammunition for 

firearms 

07—Manufacturer 

of firearms 

1999 ....................................................... 24,977 3,516 19,919 787 574 

2000 ....................................................... 24,829 3,583 19,919 777 652 

2001 ....................................................... 24,788 3,572 19,919 757 715 

2002 ....................................................... 24,660 3,615 19,919 727 800 

2003 ....................................................... 24,553 3,639 19,919 723 874 

2004 ....................................................... 24,547 3,579 19,919 711 938 

2005 ....................................................... 24,494 3,553 19,919 683 1,034 

2006 ....................................................... 24,406 3,503 19,919 679 1,143 

2007 ....................................................... 24,266 3,434 19,919 690 1,315 

2008 ....................................................... 24,148 3,345 19,919 708 1,482 

2009 ....................................................... 23,763 3,337 19,919 759 1,782 

2010 ....................................................... 23,284 3,368 19,919 859 2,097 

2011 ....................................................... 20,956 3,046 22,338 816 2,343 

2012 ....................................................... 21,259 3,105 21,622 855 3,104 

2013 ....................................................... 22,274 3,221 13,134 966 3,748 

2014 ....................................................... 22,049 3,235 6,767 1,033 3,966 

2015 ....................................................... 20,876 3,029 18,671 967 3,901 

2016 ....................................................... 22,104 3,146 19,322 957 4,317 

2017 ....................................................... 21,896 3,043 18,876 873 4,622 

2018 ....................................................... 20,479 2,799 17,643 776 4,603 

2019 ....................................................... 20,034 2,726 17,478 709 4,848 


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188 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

5See Hearing before the Subcomm. on the 

Constitution of the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 

117th Cong. (2021), 2021 WL 2138600 (discussing 

the success of Project ChildSafe, through which 

‘‘manufacturers have voluntarily included a locking 

device in every box sold since the late 1980’s’’ 

(testimony of Joseph Bartozzi, President and CEO, 

National Shooting Sports Foundation)); S. Rep. No. 

105–108, at 201–02 (‘‘The arguments raised against 

safety locks ring hollow, especially in light of the 

recent announcement by eight[] of the Nation’s 

largest handgun manufacturers that they will 

voluntarily comply with the heart of Senator Kohl’s 

amendment by packaging a child safety lock with 

every handgun they sell.’’). 6See supra note 5. 

TABLE 2—NEW AND RENEWAL APPLICATIONS OF TYPE 1, 2, 3, 6, AND 7 FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEES—Continued 

Year 01—Dealer 

in firearms 

02—Pawnbroker 

in firearms 

03—Collector of 

curios and relics 

06—Manufacturer 

of ammunition for 

firearms 

07—Manufacturer 

of firearms 

2020 ....................................................... 22,710 3,060 20,150 777 6,076 

* Note: Numbers may not add for Type 1 FFLs due to adjustments to ensure the numbers of applications in Tables 2 and 3 match total FFLs

in this table. 

TABLE 3—NEW AND RENEWAL APPLICATIONS OF TYPE 8, 9, 10, AND 11 FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEES

Year 08—Importer of 

firearms 

09—Dealer in 

destructive 

devices 

10—Manufacturer 

of destructive 

devices 

11—Importer of 

destructive 

devices 

Total new 

applications 

and renewals 

1999 ....................................................... 265 4 44 26 50,112 

2000 ....................................................... 275 4 46 26 50,111 

2001 ....................................................... 283 5 45 28 50,112 

2002 ....................................................... 303 7 52 31 50,114 

2003 ....................................................... 307 7 56 35 50,113 

2004 ....................................................... 315 7 60 37 50,113 

2005 ....................................................... 317 7 66 40 50,113 

2006 ....................................................... 327 8 81 47 50,113 

2007 ....................................................... 338 11 86 52 50,111 

2008 ....................................................... 344 15 94 57 50,112 

2009 ....................................................... 365 17 107 64 50,113 

2010 ....................................................... 375 20 119 71 50,112 

2011 ....................................................... 349 18 112 69 50,047 

2012 ....................................................... 355 22 109 71 50,502 

2013 ....................................................... 411 24 113 76 43,967 

2014 ....................................................... 451 26 114 80 37,721 

2015 ....................................................... 428 25 117 82 48,096 

2016 ....................................................... 429 27 130 86 50,518 

2017 ....................................................... 430 30 138 90 49,998 

2018 ....................................................... 413 36 138 88 46,975 

2019 ....................................................... 413 48 146 94 46,496 

2020 ....................................................... 489 55 182 116 53,615 

* Note: Numbers may not add for Type 1 FFLs due to adjustments to ensure the number of applications in Tables 2 and 3 match total FFLs in 

this table. 

The second population directly 

affected by this rule primarily consists 

of Type 1 and 2 FFLs that sell firearms 

to the public. These FFLs must acquire 

secure gun storage or safety devices to 

be made available to firearm purchasers 

in their place of business. Based on the 

year the Act was enacted, ATF assumed 

that all Type 1 and 2 FFLs in 1999 had 

to acquire secure gun storage or safety 

devices to make available to any 

potential nonlicensee customers. From 

2000 onwards, only new FFLs would 

need to acquire some form of gun 

storage or safety devices to make 

available to their customers. Although 

this rule affects all FFLs that sell 

firearms to nonlicensed individuals, no 

cost was attributed to Type 9, 10, and 

11 licensees because they primarily 

deal, manufacture, and import 

destructive devices used by domestic 

and foreign governments rather than 

selling firearms at the retail level to 

nonlicensed individuals. Similarly, 

although Type 7 and 8 licensees are 

manufacturers and importers that may 

sell firearms to nonlicensed persons, 

most of these licensees, even prior to 

enactment of the Act, have voluntarily 

included secure gun storage or safety 

devices for their firearms, and hence 

would not have needed to separately 

acquire such storage or devices to make 

them available to nonlicensees.5 Of 

those Type 7 and 8 FFLs that do not 

provide secure gun storage or safety 

devices, ATF assumed these licensees 

primarily sell firearms wholesale to 

Type 1 FFLs and do not sell to 

nonlicensed persons. 

Based on congressional testimony and 

subject matter experts’ (‘‘SMEs’’) 

experience, most firearm manufacturers 

now include locks with new purchases 

of firearms, and, as noted above, have 

been doing so since before the 

enactment of the Act.6 ATF, however, is 

not certain of the exact date when 

manufacturers and importers began 

voluntarily providing locks and, in the 

interest of not underestimating the costs 

attributable to this rule, ATF assumed 

that all Type 1 FFLs in 1999 would need 

to acquire secure gun storage or safety 

devices to make available to their 

customers. ATF then estimated that, as 

manufacturers and importers continued 

to provide locks with their firearms, and 

as this practice became more common, 

a decreasing number of FFLs needed to 

acquire secure gun storage or safety 

devices each year until year 2003. After 

2003, ATF maintained a constant rate of 

20 percent of FFLs that do not receive 

safety devices with the firearms they 

sell to account for any manufacturers 

and importers that, even today, do not 

provide safety devices with their 

firearms. In addition, Type 2 FFLs are 

pawnshops that acquire previously 

owned firearms. ATF does not know 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 189 

7Bureau of Labor Statistics, Series Report, https:// 

data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/srgate. Data was generated for 

2020 using series CMU2010000000000D, 

CMU2010000000000P and CMU2020000000000D, 

CMU2020000000000P. Average total compensation 

was $35.87. Average cost per hour worked was 

$25.18. Loaded wage rate 1.42 = $35.87/$25.18. 8As explained more fully in the accompanying 

RA, the leisure wage rate was estimated using the 

calculation described in the Department of 

Transportation’s guidance on the valuation of travel 

time. See Dep’t of Transportation, Revised 

Departmental Guidance on Valuation of Travel 

Time in Economic Analysis 19 (Sept. 27, 2016), 

https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/

docs/2016%20Revised%20Value%20of

%20Travel%20Time%20Guidance.pdf. 

whether the firearms acquired by Type 

2 FFLs have secure locks or not. 

Therefore, ATF assumed that all new 

Type 2 FFLs need to acquire secure gun 

storage or safety devices to satisfy the 

requirements of the Act. 

Because Type 2 FFLs primarily deal 

with secondhand firearms and not new 

purchases, ATF assumed that, in 1999, 

all Type 2 FFLs acquired secure gun 

storage or safety devices and, from 2000 

onward, only new Type 2 FFLs needed 

to acquire a means of securing firearms. 

Therefore, ATF assumed that 

pawnbrokers from 2000 to 2020 

consisted only of new Type 2 FFLs. 

Table 4 provides the estimated 

number of Type 1 and 2 FFLs that 

needed to acquire secure gun storage or 

safety devices and make them available 

at their place of business for potential 

nonlicensed customers. For more 

detailed information on obtaining the 

population of FFLs needing to acquire 

secure gun storage or safety devices to 

make available, please refer to the 

standalone RA. 

TABLE 4—FFL TYPES 1 AND 2 THAT NEEDED TO PURCHASE SECURE GUN STORAGE OR SAFETY DEVICES

Year New type 1 FFL 

Rate of FFLs that 

do not receive 

locks from 

manufacturers 

(%) 

Type 1 FFL Type 2 FFL 

needing 

1999 ....................................................................................... 71,290 100 71,290 10,035 

2000 ....................................................................................... 8,677 80 6,942 1,252 

2001 ....................................................................................... 8,663 60 5,198 1,248 

2002 ....................................................................................... 8,618 40 3,447 1,263 

2003 ....................................................................................... 8,581 20 1,716 1,272 

2004 ....................................................................................... 8,579 20 1,716 1,251 

2005 ....................................................................................... 8,560 20 1,712 1,242 

2006 ....................................................................................... 8,529 20 1,706 1,224 

2007 ....................................................................................... 8,481 20 1,696 1,200 

2008 ....................................................................................... 8,439 20 1,688 1,169 

2009 ....................................................................................... 8,305 20 1,661 1,166 

2010 ....................................................................................... 8,137 20 1,627 1,177 

2011 ....................................................................................... 7,768 20 1,554 854 

2012 ....................................................................................... 9,034 20 1,807 971 

2013 ....................................................................................... 10,177 20 2,035 1,063 

2014 ....................................................................................... 7,874 20 1,575 823 

2015 ....................................................................................... 7,088 20 1,418 730 

2016 ....................................................................................... 7,552 20 1,510 762 

2017 ....................................................................................... 6,599 20 1,320 645 

2018 ....................................................................................... 6,314 20 1,263 603 

2019 ....................................................................................... 5,667 20 1,133 532 

2020 ....................................................................................... 8,442 20 1,688 772 

3. Costs 

This analysis considers the rule’s 

direct (or industry) costs, indirect costs, 

and government costs. Industry costs are 

the costs to FFLs that need to certify the 

availability of secure gun storage or 

safety devices and the costs to FFLs that 

need to acquire secure gun storage or 

safety devices to make available to the 

public. Indirect costs are those costs 

associated with organizations and 

manufacturers providing gun locks or 

safety devices. Government costs are 

enforcement costs to ensure that the 

affected FFLs have been and are 

continuing to comply with the statute. 

In determining direct, industry costs, 

ATF used the average wage rate 

associated with certain job titles listed 

on Form 7/7CR by FFL type. ATF used 

a loaded wage rate of 1.42 to include 

fringe benefits such as insurance as part 

of the overall compensation.7 Because 

FFLs are segmented by industry type, 

ATF used a sample from each industry 

type to determine an average wage rate 

by each FFL type. For FFLs completing 

Form 7CR, ATF assigned a leisure wage 

rate of $16.52 because FFLs that 

complete Form 7CR are Type 3 FFLs— 

i.e., collectors who do not apply for a 

license as part of an occupation.8

Although Type 3 FFL collectors are not 

required to make available secure gun 

storage or safety devices, they are still 

required to answer the question about 

availability on Form 7CR by marking 

‘‘N/A.’’ Therefore, costs for that action 

were counted as an industry cost of this 

rule. For more information on the wages 

used for each sample, please refer the 

standalone RA. Table 5 provides the 

average loaded wage rate by FFL type. 

TABLE 5—AVERAGE LOADED WAGE

RATE BY FFL TYPE

Types 1 and 2 ...................... $82.06 

Type 3 ................................... 16.52 

Type 6 ................................... 58.91 

Type 7 ................................... 62.93 

Type 8 ................................... 76.13 

Type 9 ................................... 103.44 

Type 10 ................................. 87.86 

Type 11 ................................. 109.30 


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190 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

The time needed for an FFL to certify 

on Form 7/7CR that it has secure gun 

storage or safety devices (or to mark ‘‘N/ 

A’’) was estimated at 0.1 minute (0.0017 

hours). ATF started with the average 

loaded wage rate by type of license, 

multiplied the wage rate by the 

estimated number of new and renewal 

FFLs per type from Tables 2 and 3, and 

multiplied that result by the hour 

burden to determine the annual cost to 

certify. Tables 6 and 7 provide the 

annual costs to certify by FFL type from 

1999 to the present. 

TABLE 6—COST TO CERTIFY BY FFL TYPES 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, AND 8 

Year Types 1 and 2 Type 3 Type 6 Type 7 Type 8 

1999 ....................................................... $3,897 $548 $77 $60 $34 

2000 ....................................................... 3,886 548 76 68 35 

2001 ....................................................... 3,879 548 74 75 36 

2002 ....................................................... 3,867 548 71 84 38 

2003 ....................................................... 3,856 548 71 92 39 

2004 ....................................................... 3,847 548 70 98 40 

2005 ....................................................... 3,836 548 67 108 40 

2006 ....................................................... 3,817 548 67 120 41 

2007 ....................................................... 3,788 548 68 138 43 

2008 ....................................................... 3,760 548 70 155 44 

2009 ....................................................... 3,706 548 75 187 46 

2010 ....................................................... 3,645 548 84 220 48 

2011 ....................................................... 3,283 615 80 246 44 

2012 ....................................................... 3,332 595 84 326 45 

2013 ....................................................... 3,487 362 95 393 52 

2014 ....................................................... 3,458 186 101 416 57 

2015 ....................................................... 3,269 514 95 409 54 

2016 ....................................................... 3,453 532 94 453 54 

2017 ....................................................... 3,411 520 86 485 55 

2018 ....................................................... 3,184 486 76 483 52 

2019 ....................................................... 3,113 481 70 508 52 

2020 ....................................................... 3,524 555 76 637 62 

TABLE 7—COST TO CERTIFY BY FFL TYPES 9, 10, AND 11 

Year Type 9 Type 10 Type 11 Total 

1999 ......................................................................................... $1 $6 $5 $4,564 

2000 ......................................................................................... 1 7 5 4,562 

2001 ......................................................................................... 1 7 5 4,561 

2002 ......................................................................................... 1 8 6 4,560 

2003 ......................................................................................... 1 8 6 4,558 

2004 ......................................................................................... 1 9 7 4,556 

2005 ......................................................................................... 1 10 7 4,554 

2006 ......................................................................................... 1 12 9 4,551 

2007 ......................................................................................... 2 13 9 4,545 

2008 ......................................................................................... 3 14 10 4,540 

2009 ......................................................................................... 3 16 12 4,529 

2010 ......................................................................................... 3 17 13 4,515 

2011 ......................................................................................... 3 16 13 4,300 

2012 ......................................................................................... 4 16 13 4,415 

2013 ......................................................................................... 4 17 14 4,423 

2014 ......................................................................................... 4 17 15 4,255 

2015 ......................................................................................... 4 17 15 4,378 

2016 ......................................................................................... 5 19 16 4,626 

2017 ......................................................................................... 5 20 16 4,597 

2018 ......................................................................................... 6 20 16 4,323 

2019 ......................................................................................... 8 21 17 4,271 

2020 ......................................................................................... 9 27 21 4,912 

For purposes of this analysis, ATF 

estimated that Type 1 and 2 FFLs that 

must comply with the Act would have 

purchased at least two safety devices at 

an average price of $7.39 per safety 

device and tape ($2.36) to notate the 

owner of the gun. Combined, the 

average price to make available secure 

gun storage or safety devices for 

customers is $17.14 per store. For 

sources of costs to make available secure 

gun storage or safety devices, refer to 

section 3.1.2 of the standalone RA. 

For an annual direct, industry cost of 

certifying and making available secure 

gun storage or safety devices, refer to 

Table 8. That table provides the annual 

cost of certifying and making available 

secure gun storage or safety devices 

from 1999 to 2020. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 191 

9Office of Personnel Management, SALARY 

TABLE 2021–GS (Jan. 2021), https://www.opm.gov/ 

policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/

salary-tables/pdf/2021/GS_h.pdf. 10Federal benefits account for 41 percent of total 

compensation. Congressional Budget Office, 

Comparing the Compensation of Federal and 

Private-Sector Employees, 2011 to 2015, at 14 (Apr. 

2017), https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115thcongress-2017-2018/reports/52637-federal

privatepay.pdf. 

11 $38.86 loaded wage rate = $27.56 hourly wage 

rate * 1.41 load rate. 

12Project ChildSafe, Project ChildSafe by the 

Numbers, https://www.projectchildsafe.org/sites/ 

default/files/NSSF_PCS_Infographic_

PCSByTheNumbers_Jan2019_0.pdf (last accessed 

Dec. 17, 2021). 

13 Id. 

TABLE 8—YEAR BY YEAR DIRECT, INDUSTRY COST

Year Undiscounted 

industry costs 

Discounted cost 

7% 3% 

1999 ........................................................................................................................... $1,398,539 $6,196,088 $2,679,745 

2000 ........................................................................................................................... 147,582 611,072 274,546 

2001 ........................................................................................................................... 117,089 453,096 211,475 

2002 ........................................................................................................................... 86,808 313,942 152,218 

2003 ........................................................................................................................... 56,753 191,821 96,618 

2004 ........................................................................................................................... 56,368 178,057 93,168 

2005 ........................................................................................................................... 56,157 165,784 90,115 

2006 ........................................................................................................................... 55,727 153,753 86,821 

2007 ........................................................................................................................... 55,132 142,161 83,393 

2008 ........................................................................................................................... 54,445 131,204 79,954 

2009 ........................................................................................................................... 53,922 121,442 76,879 

2010 ........................................................................................................................... 53,517 112,645 74,080 

2011 ........................................................................................................................... 45,572 89,646 61,244 

2012 ........................................................................................................................... 52,034 95,663 67,893 

2013 ........................................................................................................................... 57,778 99,274 73,192 

2014 ........................................................................................................................... 45,742 73,451 56,256 

2015 ........................................................................................................................... 41,188 61,813 49,181 

2016 ........................................................................................................................... 43,561 61,097 50,499 

2017 ........................................................................................................................... 38,282 50,179 43,086 

2018 ........................................................................................................................... 36,298 44,466 39,664 

2019 ........................................................................................................................... 32,817 37,572 34,815 

2020 ........................................................................................................................... 47,075 50,370 48,487 

Total .................................................................................................................... 2,632,384 9,434,596 4,523,330 

Annualized .......................................................................................................... .............................. 852,942 283,827 

In addition to direct, industry costs 

for Type 1 and 2 FFLs to make available 

secure gun storage or safety devices, the 

government incurred costs to enforce 

secure gun storage and safety device 

requirements on FFLs. Based on ATF’s 

database, ATF found two violations in 

2019 and six violations in 2020, making 

the average number of violations four. 

Based on input from SMEs, ATF 

determined that Industry Operations 

Investigators (‘‘IOI’’) undertaking 

inspections related to the secure gun 

storage and safety device requirement 

range from a GS–9 to GS–13, making the 

average IOI a GS–10, step 5. The hourly 

wage rate for a GS–10, step 5 is $27.56.9

In order to account for fringe benefits, 

ATF attributed a load rate of 1.41, 

making the loaded, hourly wage rate for 

an IOI $38.86.10 11 The SMEs estimated 

that it would take an average of 20 

minutes (0.33 hours) to have a 

conversation with the FFL in question 

and compile a report or warning 

regarding the violation, making the 

government cost $26 in 2019 and $78 in 

2020. Because ATF does not have any 

information regarding inspections for 

previous years, ATF used the average of 

four violations per year as the 

government cost for enforcement 

between the years 1999 and 2018. The 

average cost of enforcement was 

estimated to be $52. 

ATF accounts for indirect costs of this 

rule although they are not considered 

part of the total cost of the rule. Other 

organizations, such as Project ChildSafe, 

provide gun locks free to the public, 

which ends up being a savings for the 

populations affected by this rule. 

Because these costs are voluntarily 

incurred, they are considered indirect 

costs. Based on information provided by 

Project ChildSafe, which primarily 

obtains its funding through other 

sources, this organization has provided 

approximately 38 million gun locks to 

the public and provides approximately 

1.8 million gun lock kits annually.12

Furthermore, Project ChildSafe 

estimates that manufacturers have 

included approximately 70 million 

locks with a purchase of a firearm, 

which they estimate is valued at $140 

million.13 These are indirect costs that 

ATF does not consider as part of the 

total costs of this final rule. 

Other indirect costs include firearm 

manufacturers who voluntarily include 

safety devices with each purchase of a 

new firearm. While manufacturers are 

not required to provide gun locks with 

their firearms due to this rule, it is 

possible that manufacturers have 

incorporated the cost of these gun locks 

into the final purchasing price of the 

firearm and is therefore already 

accounted for. It is for these reasons that 

ATF does not consider these indirect 

costs as costs attributed to this rule. 

ATF accounted for the direct, 

industry costs of this rule along with the 

government enforcement costs 

attributed to this rule. Table 9 provides 

the total costs for this rule. 


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192 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

TABLE 9—TOTAL DIRECT, INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT COSTS OF THIS RULE

Year Undiscounted total 

costs 

Discounted cost 

7% 3% 

1999 ........................................................................................................................... $1,398,590 $6,196,318 $2,679,844 

2000 ........................................................................................................................... 147,634 611,287 274,642 

2001 ........................................................................................................................... 117,140 453,296 211,569 

2002 ........................................................................................................................... 86,859 314,130 152,309 

2003 ........................................................................................................................... 56,805 191,996 96,706 

2004 ........................................................................................................................... 56,420 178,221 93,254 

2005 ........................................................................................................................... 56,209 165,937 90,198 

2006 ........................................................................................................................... 55,779 153,896 86,902 

2007 ........................................................................................................................... 55,184 142,294 83,471 

2008 ........................................................................................................................... 54,497 131,329 80,030 

2009 ........................................................................................................................... 53,973 121,558 76,953 

2010 ........................................................................................................................... 53,569 112,754 74,152 

2011 ........................................................................................................................... 45,623 89,748 61,314 

2012 ........................................................................................................................... 52,086 95,758 67,960 

2013 ........................................................................................................................... 57,830 99,363 73,257 

2014 ........................................................................................................................... 45,793 73,534 56,320 

2015 ........................................................................................................................... 41,240 61,890 49,243 

2016 ........................................................................................................................... 43,613 61,170 50,559 

2017 ........................................................................................................................... 38,333 50,247 43,145 

2018 ........................................................................................................................... 36,350 44,530 39,720 

2019 ........................................................................................................................... 32,843 37,602 34,843 

2020 ........................................................................................................................... 47,153 50,454 48,567 

Total .................................................................................................................... 2,633,524 9,437,311 4,524,959 

Annualized .......................................................................................................... .............................. 853,187 283,929 

Overall, ATF estimated that, in 

accordance with the standards for 

regulatory analysis described in OMB 

Circular A–4, the total cost attributable 

to this rule from 1999 to 2020 was $2.6 

million undiscounted, or annualized at 

$853,187 and $283,929 at 7 percent and 

3 percent, respectively. 

4. Benefits 

The benefit of this rule is making 

available secure gun storage or safety 

devices for owners of firearms who 

otherwise do not have such storage or 

safety devices available to them. Making 

secure gun storage or safety devices 

available inhibits unauthorized access 

to privately owned firearms for 

individuals such as children, who might 

accidently discharge them, and inhibits 

access by criminals, who might use 

them for illicit activities. 

B. Executive Order 13132 

This rule will not have substantial 

direct effects on the States, on the 

relationship between the Federal 

Government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. Therefore, in 

accordance with section 6 of Executive 

Order 13132 (Federalism), the Attorney 

General has determined that this rule 

does not have sufficient federalism 

implications to warrant the preparation 

of a federalism summary impact 

statement. 

C. Executive Order 12988 

This rule meets the applicable 

standards set forth in sections 3(a) and 

3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988 (Civil 

Justice Reform). 

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 

5 U.S.C. 601–12, the Attorney General 

certifies that this final rule will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The Department has considered whether 

this final rule would have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The term 

‘‘small entities’’ comprises small 

businesses, not-for-profit organizations 

that are independently owned and 

operated and are not dominant in their 

fields, and governmental jurisdictions 

with populations of fewer than 50,000. 

ATF has determined that, in order for 

the costs associated with this rule to 

impact a small entity’s revenue by even 

one percent, the entity would need to 

make $1,728 or less in annual revenue. 

For the costs to have a 10 percent effect 

on revenue, a small entity would need 

to make $173 or less in revenue. ATF 

has determined that it is unlikely that a 

small entity would make such minimal 

amounts in revenue and continue to 

operate. Therefore, the Attorney General 

certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this 

final rule would not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

This rule will not result in the 

aggregate expenditure by State, local, 

and Tribal governments, or by the 

private sector, of $100 million or more 

in any one year, and it will not 

significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments. Therefore, no actions are 

necessary under the provisions of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995. 

F. Paperwork Reduction Act 

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995 (‘‘PRA’’), 44 U.S.C. 3501–21, 

agencies are required to submit for OMB 

review and approval any reporting 

requirements inherent in a rule. The 

collection of information contained in 

this final rule is a collection of 

information that has been reviewed and 

approved by OMB in accordance with 

the requirements of the PRA, and it has 

been assigned an OMB Control Number. 

Title: Application for Federal 

Firearms License—ATF Form 7 

(5310.12)/7CR (5310.16). 

OMB Control Number: 1140–0018. 

Summary of the Collection of 

Information: This collection of 

information is used by the public when 

applying for a Federal firearms license 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 193 

(‘‘FFL’’); this form is used to apply for 

all FFL types. 

Need for Information: The 

information requested on the form is 

used to determine the eligibility of the 

applicant to obtain an FFL, and the 

identity and eligibility of Responsible 

Persons. 

Proposed Use of Information: The 

information contained will be used to 

determine the applicant’s eligibility to 

receive a license. 

Description of the Respondents: All 

Federal firearms licensees. 

Number of Respondents: 47,088. 

Frequency of Response: Once every 3 

years. 

Burden of Response: For this rule, 

0.0017 hours. Total 1 hour. 

Estimate of Total Annual Burden: For 

this rule, 80 hours. Total burden 47,088 

hours. 

G. Congressional Review Act 

Pursuant to the Congressional Review 

Act, 5 U.S.C. 801–08, OMB’s Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

designated this rule as not a ‘‘major 

rule,’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

This rule will not result in an annual 

effect on the economy of $100 million 

or more; a major increase in costs or 

prices; or a significant adverse effect on 

competition, employment, investment, 

productivity, innovation, or on the 

ability of United States-based 

enterprises to compete with foreignbased enterprises in domestic and 

export markets. 

Disclosure 

Copies of this rule and the comments 

received in response to the proposed 

rule will be available for public 

inspection through the Federal 

eRulemaking portal, 

www.regulations.gov (search for RIN 

1140–AA10), or by appointment during 

normal business hours at the ATF 

Reading Room, Room 1E–062, 99 New 

York Avenue NE, Washington, DC 

20226; telephone: (202) 648–8740. 

List of Subjects in 27 CFR Part 478 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Arms and munitions, 

Exports, Freight, Imports, 

Intergovernmental relations, Law 

enforcement officers, Military 

personnel, Penalties, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Research, 

Seizures and forfeitures, Transportation. 

Authority and Issuance 

Accordingly, for the reasons 

discussed in the preamble, 27 CFR part 

478 is amended as follows: 

PART 478—COMMERCE IN FIREARMS 

AND AMMUNITION 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 478 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 18 U.S.C. 847, 

921–931; 44 U.S.C. 3504(h). 

■ 2. Amend § 478.11 as follows: 

■ a. Revise the definition of ‘‘Antique 

firearm’’; 

■ b. Remove the words ‘‘the explosive 

in a fixed metallic cartridge’’ in the 

definition of ‘‘Rifle’’ and add in their 

place ‘‘an explosive’’; 

■ c, Add a definition for ‘‘Secure gun 

storage or safety device’’ in alphabetical 

order; and 

■ d. Remove the words ‘‘the explosive 

in a fixed shotgun shell’’ in the 

definition of ‘‘Shotgun’’ and add in their 

place ‘‘an explosive’’. 

The revision and addition read as 

follows: 

§ 478.11 Meaning of terms. 

* * * * * 

Antique firearm. (1) Any firearm 

(including any firearm with a 

matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or 

similar type of ignition system) 

manufactured in or before 1898; 

(2) Any replica of any firearm 

described in paragraph (a) of this 

definition if such replica: 

(i) Is not designed or redesigned for 

using rimfire or conventional centerfire 

fixed ammunition; or 

(ii) Uses rimfire or conventional 

centerfire fixed ammunition that is no 

longer manufactured in the United 

States and that is not readily available 

in the ordinary channels of commercial 

trade; or 

(3) Any muzzle loading rifle, muzzle 

loading shotgun, or muzzle loading 

pistol that is designed to use black 

powder, or a black powder substitute, 

and that cannot use fixed ammunition. 

For purposes of this paragraph (3), the 

term ‘‘antique firearm’’ does not include 

any weapon that incorporates a firearm 

frame or receiver, any firearm that is 

converted into a muzzle loading 

weapon, or any muzzle loading weapon 

that can be readily converted to fire 

fixed ammunition by replacing the 

barrel, bolt, breechblock, or any 

combination thereof. 

* * * * * 

Secure gun storage or safety device. 

(1) A device that, when installed on a 

firearm, is designed to prevent the 

firearm from being operated without 

first deactivating the device; 

(2) A device incorporated into the 

design of the firearm that is designed to 

prevent the operation of the firearm by 

anyone not having access to the device; 

or 

(3) A safe, gun safe, gun case, lock 

box, or other device that is designed to 

be or can be used to store a firearm and 

that is designed to be unlocked only by 

means of a key, a combination, or other 

similar means. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 478.73 by adding a 

sentence after the first sentence in 

paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

§ 478.73 Notice of revocation, suspension, 

or imposition of civil fine. 

(a) * * * In addition, a notice of 

revocation of the license, on ATF Form 

4500, may be issued whenever the 

Director has reason to believe that a 

licensee fails to have secure gun storage 

or safety devices available at any place 

in which firearms are sold under the 

license to persons who are not licensees 

(except in any case in which a secure 

gun storage or safety device is 

temporarily unavailable because of 

theft, casualty loss, consumer sales, 

backorders from a manufacturer, or any 

other similar reason beyond the control 

of the licensee). * * * 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Add § 478.104 to subpart F to read 

as follows: 

§ 478.104 Secure gun storage or safety 

device. 

(a) Any person who applies to be a 

licensed firearms dealer must certify on 

ATF Form 7 (5310.12), Application for 

Federal Firearms License, that 

compatible secure gun storage or safety 

devices will be available at any place 

where firearms are sold under the 

license to nonlicensed individuals 

(subject to the exception that in any case 

in which a secure gun storage or safety 

device is temporarily unavailable 

because of theft, casualty, loss, 

consumer sales, backorders from a 

manufacturer, or any other similar 

reason beyond the control of the 

licensee, the dealer shall not be 

considered in violation of the 

requirement to make available such a 

device). 

(b) Any person who applies to be a 

licensed firearms importer or a licensed 

manufacturer and will be engaged in 

business on the licensed premises as a 

dealer in the same type of firearms 

authorized by the license to be imported 

or manufactured must make the 

certification required under paragraph 

(a) of this section. 

(c) Each licensee described in this 

section must have compatible secure 

gun storage or safety devices available at 

any place in which firearms are sold 

under the license to persons who are not 

licensees. However, such licensee shall 


tkelley on DSK125TN23PROD with RULES1
194 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

not be considered to be in violation of 

this requirement if a secure gun storage 

or safety device is temporarily 

unavailable because of theft, casualty 

loss, consumer sales, backorders from a 

manufacturer, or any other similar 

reason beyond the control of the 

licensee. 

Dated: December 23, 2021. 

Merrick B. Garland, 

Attorney General. 

[FR Doc. 2021–28398 Filed 1–3–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–FY–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 271 

[EPA–R01–RCRA–2020–0175; FRL 8892– 

01–R1] 

Massachusetts: Final Authorization of 

State Hazardous Waste Management 

Program Revisions 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: Massachusetts has applied to 

the United States Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) for final 

authorization of revisions to its 

hazardous waste program under the 

Resource Conservation and Recovery 

Act (RCRA), as amended. The EPA has 

reviewed Massachusetts’ application, 

and has determined that these revisions 

satisfy all requirements needed to 

qualify for final authorization. 

Therefore, we are taking direct final 

action to authorize the State’s changes. 

In the ‘‘Proposed Rules’’ section of this 

issue of the Federal Register, the EPA 

is also publishing a separate document 

that serves as the proposal to authorize 

these revisions. Unless the EPA receives 

written comments that oppose this 

authorization during the comment 

period, the decision to authorize 

Massachusetts’ revisions to its 

hazardous waste program will take 

effect. 

DATES: This final authorization is 

effective on March 7, 2022, unless the 

EPA receives adverse written comments 

by February 3, 2022. If the EPA receives 

any such comment, the EPA will 

publish a timely withdrawal of this 

direct final rule in the Federal Register 

and inform the public that this 

authorization will not take effect. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R01– 

RCRA–2020–0175, at https://

www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from 

www.regulations.gov. The EPA may 

publish any comment received to its 

public docket. Do not submit 

electronically any information you 

consider to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Multimedia submissions (audio, video, 

etc.) must be accompanied by a written 

comment. The written comment is 

considered the official comment and 

should include discussion of all points 

you wish to make. The EPA will 

generally not consider comments or 

comment contents located outside of the 

primary submission (i.e., on the web, 

cloud, or other file sharing system). For 

additional submission methods, the full 

EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sara 

Kinslow, RCRA Waste Management, 

UST, and Pesticides Section; Land, 

Chemicals, and Redevelopment 

Division; U.S. EPA Region 1, 5 Post 

Office Square, Suite 100 (Mail code 07– 

1), Boston, MA 02109–3912; phone: 

617–918–1648; email: kinslow.sara@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Why are revisions to State programs 

necessary? 

States that have received final 

authorization from the EPA under RCRA 

section 3006(b), 42 U.S.C. 6926(b), must 

maintain a hazardous waste program 

that is equivalent to, consistent with, 

and no less stringent than the Federal 

program. As the Federal program 

changes, states must change their 

programs and ask the EPA to authorize 

the changes. Changes to state programs 

may be necessary when Federal or state 

statutory or regulatory authority is 

modified or when certain other changes 

occur. Most commonly, states must 

change their programs because of 

changes to the EPA’s regulations in 40 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 

124, 260 through 268, 270, 273, and 279. 

New Federal requirements and 

prohibitions imposed by Federal 

regulations that the EPA promulgates 

pursuant to the Hazardous and Solid 

Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) 

take effect in authorized states at the 

same time that they take effect in 

unauthorized states. Thus, the EPA will 

implement those requirements and 

prohibitions in Massachusetts, 

including the issuance of new permits 

implementing those requirements, until 

Massachusetts is granted authorization 

to do so. 

B. What decisions has the EPA made in 

this rule? 

On August 13, 2021, Massachusetts 

submitted a complete program revision 

application seeking authorization of 

revisions to its hazardous waste 

program. The EPA concludes that 

Massachusetts’ application to revise its 

authorized program meets all of the 

statutory and regulatory requirements 

established by RCRA, as set forth in 

RCRA Section 3006(b), 42 U.S.C 

6926(b), and 40 CFR part 271. Therefore, 

the EPA grants final authorization to 

Massachusetts to operate its hazardous 

waste program with the revisions 

described in its authorization 

application, and as listed below in 

Section G of this document. 

The Massachusetts Department of 

Environmental Protection (MassDEP) 

has responsibility for permitting 

treatment, storage, and disposal 

facilities within its borders and for 

carrying out the aspects of the RCRA 

program described in its application, 

subject to the limitations of HSWA, as 

discussed above. 

C. What is the effect of today’s 

authorization decision? 

This decision serves to authorize 

Massachusetts for the revisions to its 

authorized hazardous waste program 

described in its authorization 

application. These changes will become 

part of the authorized State hazardous 

waste program and will therefore be 

Federally enforceable. Massachusetts 

will continue to have primary 

enforcement authority and 

responsibility for its State hazardous 

waste program. The EPA would 

maintain its authorities under RCRA 

sections 3007, 3008, 3013, and 7003, 

including its authority to: 

• Conduct inspections, and require 

monitoring, tests, analyses and reports; 

• Enforce RCRA requirements, 

including authorized State program 

requirements, and suspend or revoke 

permits; and 

• Take enforcement actions regardless 

of whether the State has taken its own 

actions. 

This action will not impose additional 

requirements on the regulated 

community because the regulations for 

which the EPA is authorizing 

Massachusetts are already effective 

under state law and are not changed by 

today’s action. 


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