9780 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 22, 2022 / Notices 

103See Susquehanna Int’l Group, LLP v. 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 866 F.3d 

442, 446–47 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (rejecting the 

Commission’s reliance on an SRO’s own 

determinations without sufficient evidence of the 

basis for such determinations). 

104 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). Section 19(b)(2) of the Act 

grants the Commission flexibility to determine what 

type of proceeding—either oral or notice and 

opportunity for written comments—is appropriate 

for consideration of a particular proposal by an 

SRO. See Securities Acts Amendments of 1975, 

Report of the Senate Committee on Banking, 

Housing and Urban Affairs to Accompany S. 249, 

S. Rep. No. 75, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. 30 (1975). 

105 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(C). 

106 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12), (57), and (58). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

representations in a proposed rule 

change would not be sufficient to justify 

Commission approval of a proposed rule 

change.103

The Commission believes it is 

appropriate to institute proceedings to 

allow for additional consideration and 

comment on the issues raised herein, 

including as to whether the proposal is 

consistent with the Act, any potential 

comments or supplemental information 

provided by the Exchange, and any 

additional independent analysis by the 

Commission. 

V. Request for Written Comments 

The Commission requests written 

views, data, and arguments with respect 

to the concerns identified above, as well 

as any other relevant concerns. In 

particular, the Commission invites the 

written views of interested persons 

concerning whether the proposal is 

consistent with Sections 6(b)(4), 6(b)(5), 

and 6(b)(8), or any other provision of the 

Act, or the rules and regulations 

thereunder. The Commission asks that 

commenters address the sufficiency and 

merit of the Exchange’s statements in 

support of the proposal, in addition to 

any other comments they may wish to 

submit about the proposed rule change. 

Although there do not appear to be any 

issues relevant to approval or 

disapproval that would be facilitated by 

an oral presentation of views, data, and 

arguments, the Commission will 

consider, pursuant to Rule 19b–4, any 

request for an opportunity to make an 

oral presentation.104

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the proposed rule 

change, including whether the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s internet 

comment form (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– 

EMERALD–2022–06 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–EMERALD–2022–06. This 

file number should be included on the 

subject line if email is used. To help the 

Commission process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

internet website (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the 

submission, all subsequent 

amendments, all written statements 

with respect to the proposed rule 

change that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed rule change between the 

Commission and any person, other than 

those that may be withheld from the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be 

available for website viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549 on official 

business days between the hours of 

10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the Exchange. All comments 

received will be posted without change. 

Persons submitting comments are 

cautioned that we do not redact or edit 

personal identifying information from 

comment submissions. You should 

submit only information that you wish 

to make available publicly. All 

submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–EMERALD–2022–06 and 

should be submitted on or before March 

15, 2022. Rebuttal comments should be 

submitted by March 29, 2022. 

VI. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(3)(C) of the Act,105 that 

File Number SR–EMERALD–2022–06 be 

and hereby is, temporarily suspended. 

In addition, the Commission is 

instituting proceedings to determine 

whether the proposed rule change 

should be approved or disapproved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.106

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03657 Filed 2–18–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–94252; File No. SR– 

CboeBZX–2022–008] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe 

BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing 

and Immediate Effectiveness of a 

Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its 

Fee Schedule 

February 15, 2022. 

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on February 

7, 2022, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BZX’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I, II, and 

III below, which Items have been 

prepared by the Exchange. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BZX’’ or ‘‘BZX 

Equities’’) proposes to amend its Fee 

Schedule. The text of the proposed rule 

change is provided in Exhibit 5. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is also available on the Exchange’s 

website (http://markets.cboe.com/us/ 

equities/regulation/rule_filings/bzx/), at 

the Exchange’s Office of the Secretary, 

and at the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, the 

Exchange included statements 

concerning the purpose of and basis for 

the proposed rule change and discussed 

any comments it received on the 

proposed rule change. The text of these 

statements may be examined at the 

places specified in Item IV below. The 

Exchange has prepared summaries, set 

forth in sections A, B, and C below, of 

the most significant aspects of such 

statements. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 22, 2022 / Notices 9781 

3The Exchange initially filed the proposed fee 

changes on February 1, 2022 (SR–BZX–2022–007). 

On February 7, 2022, the Exchange withdrew that 

filing and submitted this proposal. 

4See Cboe Global Markets, U.S. Equities Market 

Volume Summary, Month-to-Date (January 23, 

2022), available at https://markets.cboe.com/us/ 

equities/market_statistics/. 

5Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘B’’ are displayed 

orders adding liquidity to BZX (Tape B). 

6Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘V’’ are displayed 

orders adding liquidity to BZX (Tape A). 

7Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘Y’’ are displayed 

orders adding liquidity to BZX (Tape C). 

8E.g., the Nasdaq base rebate ranges from $0.0015 

to $0.00305 for liquidity adding orders in securities 

priced at or above $1.00. See http://

nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=

PriceListTrading2. 

9 ‘‘Step-Up ADAV’’ means ADAV in the relevant 

baseline month subtracted from current ADAV. 

10 ‘‘TCV’’ means total consolidated volume 

calculated as the volume reported by all exchanges 

and trade reporting facilities to a consolidated 

transaction reporting plan for the month for which 

the fees apply. 

11See Securities Exchange Release No. 92013 

(May 25, 2021) 86 FR 29312 (June 1, 2021) (SR– 

CboeBZX–2021–040). 

12See Securities Exchange Release No. 34–93829 

(December 20, 2021) 86 FR 73402 (December 20, 

2021) [sic] (SRCboeBZX–2021–084). 

13 15 U.S.C. 78f. 

14 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5). 

15Supra note 7 [sic]. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange proposes to amend its 

fee schedule to decrease the standard 

liquidity adding rebate for orders in 

securities at or above $1.00 and to 

eliminate Tier 3 of the Single MPID 

Investor Tiers. The Exchange proposes 

to implement the proposed change to its 

fee schedule on February 1, 2022.3

The Exchange first notes that it 

operates in a highly competitive market 

in which market participants can 

readily direct order flow to competing 

venues if they deem fee levels at a 

particular venue to be excessive or 

incentives to be insufficient. More 

specifically, the Exchange is only one of 

16 registered equities exchanges, as well 

as a number of alternative trading 

systems and other off-exchange venues 

that do not have similar self-regulatory 

responsibilities under the Securities 

Exchange Act of 1934 (the ‘‘Act’’), to 

which market participants may direct 

their order flow. Based on publicly 

available information,4 no single 

registered equities exchange has more 

than 18% of the market share. Thus, in 

such a low-concentrated and highly 

competitive market, no single equities 

exchange possesses significant pricing 

power in the execution of order flow. 

The Exchange in particular operates a 

‘‘Maker-Taker’’ model whereby it pays 

credits to Members that add liquidity 

and assesses fees to those that remove 

liquidity. The Exchange’s fee schedule 

sets forth the standard rebates and rates 

applied per share for orders that provide 

and remove liquidity, respectively. 

Particularly, for securities at or above 

$1.00, the Exchange provides a standard 

rebate of $0.0018 per share for orders 

that add liquidity and assesses a fee of 

$0.0030 per share for orders that remove 

liquidity. Additionally, in response to 

the competitive environment, the 

Exchange also offers tiered pricing 

which provides Members opportunities 

to qualify for higher rebates or reduced 

fees where certain volume criteria and 

thresholds are met. Tiered pricing 

provides an incremental incentive for 

Members to strive for higher tier levels, 

which provides increasingly higher 

benefits or discounts for satisfying 

increasingly more stringent criteria. 

Standard Liquidity Rebate 

As stated above, the Exchange 

currently provides a standard rebate of 

$0.0018 per share for liquidity adding 

orders (i.e., those yielding fee codes B,5

V,6 and Y 7) in securities priced at or 

above $1.00. Orders in securities priced 

below $1.00 that add liquidity are free. 

The Exchange now proposes to decrease 

the current standard rebate of $0.0018 

per share to $0.0016 per share for orders 

that add liquidity for securities priced at 

or above $1.00. Orders that add liquidity 

in securities priced below $1.00 would 

continue to be free. Although this 

proposed standard rebate for liquidity 

adding orders is lower than the current 

base rate for such orders, the proposed 

rebate is in line with similar rebates for 

liquidity adding orders in place on other 

exchanges.8

Single MPID Investor Tiers 

The Exchange also proposes to 

eliminate the Single MPID Investor Tier 

3, which is currently described under 

footnote 4 of the fee schedule. 

Particularly, this tier applies to orders 

yielding fee code B, V, or Y and 

provides a $0.0034 per share rebate to 

MPIDs that have a Step-Up ADAV 9 as 

a percentage of TCV 10 greater than or 

equal to 0.20% from September 2021 or 

MPIDs that have a Step-Up ADAV from 

September 2021 greater than or equal to 

20 million shares. No Member has 

reached this tier in several months and 

the Exchange therefore no longer wishes 

to, nor is it required to, maintain such 

a tier. 

Fee Schedule Clean Up 

The Exchange proposes to update 

Footnote 19 of the Fee Schedule, which 

is appended to fee codes B, V, and Y, 

to reflect that orders that add liquidity 

to BZX for securities priced below $1.00 

are free instead of a rebate of $0.00009 

per share. The Exchange notes that it 

amended this rebate in May 2021 and 

that the ‘‘Free’’ rate is accurately 

reflected in the Standard Rates table.11

However, the Exchange inadvertently at 

that time omitted updating 

corresponding Footnote 19 of the Fees 

Schedule and seeks to do so now. 

Additionally, the Exchange notes that 

it removed the Total Volume tier from 

its Fee Code Schedule in December 

2021,12 but did not eliminate references 

to footnote 3 from fee codes B, V, and 

Y in Fee Code table. Accordingly, the 

Exchange now proposes to remove 

references to Footnote 3 from fee codes 

B, V, and Y, of the Fee Schedule. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,13

in general, and furthers the objectives of 

Section 6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5),14 in 

particular, as it is designed to provide 

for the equitable allocation of reasonable 

dues, fees and other charges among its 

Members, issuers and other persons 

using its facilities. The Exchange 

operates in a highly competitive market 

in which market participants can 

readily direct order flow to competing 

venues if they deem fee levels at a 

particular venue to be excessive or 

incentives to be insufficient. The 

proposed rule changes reflect a 

competitive pricing structure designed 

to incentivize market participants to 

direct their order flow to the Exchange, 

which the Exchange believes would 

enhance market quality to the benefit of 

all Members, and thus is in the public 

interest. 

In particular, the Exchange believes 

that the proposed amendment to reduce 

the standard liquidity adding rebate is 

reasonable because the proposed change 

represents a modest rebate decrease and 

Members will continue to receive a 

rebate on liquidity adding orders, albeit 

at a lower amount. The Exchange 

believes the proposed amendment is 

also equitable and not unfairly 

discriminatory because the proposed 

change is equally applicable to all 

Members of the Exchange. Additionally, 

the proposed rebate for liquidity adding 

orders is in-line with rebates offered at 

other exchanges for similar 

transactions.15

The Exchange believes the proposed 

amendment to remove Single MPID 


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9782 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 22, 2022 / Notices 

16Supra note 3 [sic]. 

17See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 

(June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005). 

18NetCoalition v. SEC, 615 F.3d 525, 539 (D.C. 

Cir. 2010) (quoting Securities Exchange Act Release 

No. 59039 (December 2, 2008), 73 FR 74770, 74782– 

83 (December 9, 2008) (SR–NYSEArca–2006–21)). 

19 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

20 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f). 

Investor Tier 3 is reasonable because no 

Member has achieved this tier in several 

months. Moreover, the Exchange is not 

required to maintain this tier and 

Members still have a number of other 

opportunities and a variety of ways to 

receive enhanced rebates for displayed 

liquidity, including the enhanced 

rebates under the Single MPID Investor 

Tiers 1 and 2. The Exchange believes 

the proposal to eliminate this tier is also 

equitable and not unfairly 

discriminatory because it applies to all 

Members. 

Lastly, the Exchange believes that the 

proposed change to update Footnote 19 

is reasonable, equitable and not unfairly 

discriminatory as it does not change the 

fees or rebates assessed by the 

Exchange, but rather updates the rate 

applicable to liquidity adding orders in 

securities priced below $1.00 to 

accurately reflect the rate it adopted in 

the rule filing submitted in May 2021. 

As such, the proposed rule change is 

merely a clarification in the Fees 

Schedule which increases transparency 

in the Fees Schedule and reduces 

potential confusion regarding the 

appropriate rates for such orders. 

Similarly, the proposal to remove 

references to footnote three from fee 

codes B, V, and Y is reasonable, 

equitable and not unfairly 

discriminatory as it merely eliminates a 

reference to a reserved footnote. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposed rule change will impose 

any burden on intramarket or 

intermarket competition that is not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purposes of the Act. Particularly, 

the proposed changes apply to all 

liquidity adding orders equally, and 

thus applies to all Members equally. 

Additionally, the Exchange believes the 

proposed rule change does not impose 

any burden on intermarket competition 

that is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purpose of the Act. 

As previously discussed, the 

Exchange operates in a highly 

competitive market. Members have 

numerous alternative venues that they 

may participate on and direct their 

order flow, including other equities 

exchanges, off-exchange venues, and 

alternative trading systems. 

Additionally, the Exchange represents a 

small percentage of the overall market. 

Based on publicly available information, 

no single equities exchange has more 

than 18% of the market share.16

Therefore, no exchange possesses 

significant pricing power in the 

execution of order flow. Indeed, 

participants can readily choose to send 

their orders to other exchange and offexchange venues if they deem fee levels 

at those other venues to be more 

favorable. Moreover, the Commission 

has repeatedly expressed its preference 

for competition over regulatory 

intervention in determining prices, 

products, and services in the securities 

markets. Specifically, in Regulation 

NMS, the Commission highlighted the 

importance of market forces in 

determining prices and SRO revenues 

and, also, recognized that current 

regulation of the market system ‘‘has 

been remarkably successful in 

promoting market competition in its 

broader forms that are most important to 

investors and listed companies.’’ 17 The 

fact that this market is competitive has 

also long been recognized by the courts. 

In NetCoalition v. Securities and 

Exchange Commission, the D.C. Circuit 

stated as follows: ‘‘[n]o one disputes 

that competition for order flow is 

‘fierce.’ . . . As the SEC explained, ‘[i]n 

the U.S. national market system, buyers 

and sellers of securities, and the brokerdealers that act as their order-routing 

agents, have a wide range of choices of 

where to route orders for execution’; 

[and] ‘no exchange can afford to take its 

market share percentages for granted’ 

because ‘no exchange possesses a 

monopoly, regulatory or otherwise, in 

the execution of order flow from broker 

dealers’ . . . .’’.18 Accordingly, the 

Exchange does not believe its proposed 

fee changes imposes any burden on 

competition that is not necessary or 

appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

The Exchange neither solicited nor 

received comments on the proposed 

rule change. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The foregoing rule change has become 

effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) 

of the Act 19 and paragraph (f) of Rule 

19b–4 20 thereunder. At any time within 

60 days of the filing of the proposed rule 

change, the Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend such rule change if 

it appears to the Commission that such 

action is necessary or appropriate in the 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission will institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

change should be approved or 

disapproved. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s internet 

comment form (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– 

CboeBZX–2022–008 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–CboeBZX–2022–008. This 

file number should be included on the 

subject line if email is used. To help the 

Commission process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

internet website (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the 

submission, all subsequent 

amendments, all written statements 

with respect to the proposed rule 

change that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed rule change between the 

Commission and any person, other than 

those that may be withheld from the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be 

available for website viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 

10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the Exchange. All comments 

received will be posted without change. 

Persons submitting comments are 

cautioned that we do not redact or edit 

personal identifying information from 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 22, 2022 / Notices 9783 

21 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

comment submissions. You should 

submit only information that you wish 

to make available publicly. All 

submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–CboeBZX–2022–008 and 

should be submitted on or before March 

15, 2022. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.21

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03649 Filed 2–18–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

Meeting of the Interagency Task Force 

on Veterans Small Business 

Development 

AGENCY: Small Business Administration 

(SBA). 

ACTION: Notice of open federal advisory 

committee meeting. 

SUMMARY: The SBA is issuing this notice 

to announce the date, time, and agenda 

for the next meeting of the Interagency 

Task Force on Veterans Small Business 

Development (IATF). 

DATES: Wednesday, March 2, 2022, from 

1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST. 

ADDRESSES: Due to the coronavirus 

pandemic, the meeting will be held via 

Microsoft Teams. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

meeting is open to the public; however 

advance notice of attendance is strongly 

encouraged. To RSVP and confirm 

attendance, the general public should 

email veteransbusiness@sba.gov with 

subject line—‘‘RSVP for March 2, 2022, 

IATF Public Meeting.’’ To submit a 

written comment, individuals should 

email veteransbusiness@sba.gov with 

subject line—‘‘Response for March 2, 

2022, IATF Public Meeting’’ no later 

than February 22, 2022, or contact 

Timothy Green, Deputy Associate 

Administrator, Office of Veterans 

Business Development (OVBD) at (202) 

205–6773. Comments received in 

advanced will be addressed as time 

allows during the public comment 

period. All other submitted comments 

will be included in the meeting record. 

During the live meeting, those who wish 

to comment will be able to do so during 

the public comment period. 

Participants can join the meeting via 

computer https://bit.ly/MarIATF or 

phone. Call in (audio only): Dial: 202– 

765–1264: Phone Conference ID: 329 

057 681#. 

Special accommodation requests 

should be directed to OVBD at (202) 

205–6773 or veteransbusiness@sba.gov. 

Applicable documents will be posted on 

the IATF website prior to the meeting: 

https://www.sba.gov/page/interagencytask-force-veterans-small-businessdevelopment. For more information on 

veteran-owned small business programs, 

please visit www.sba.gov/ovbd. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C., 

appendix 2), SBA announces the 

meeting of the Interagency Task Force 

on Veterans Small Business 

Development (IAFT). The IATF is 

established pursuant to Executive Order 

13540 to coordinate the efforts of 

Federal agencies to improve capital, 

business development opportunities, 

and pre-established federal contracting 

goals for small business concerns owned 

and controlled by veterans and servicedisabled veterans. 

The purpose of this meeting is to 

discuss efforts that support veteranowned small businesses, updates on 

past and current events, and the IATF’s 

objectives for fiscal year 2022. 

Dated: February 15, 2022. 

Andrienne Johnson, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03596 Filed 2–18–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8026–03–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice: 11661] 

Notice of Public Meeting in Preparation 

for the International Maritime 

Organization PPR 9 Meeting 

The Department of State will conduct 

a public meeting at 1:00 p.m. on 

Tuesday, March 22, 2022, by way of 

teleconference. The primary purpose of 

the meeting is to prepare for the ninth 

session of the International Maritime 

Organization’s (IMO) Sub-Committee on 

Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 

9) to be held remotely from Monday, 

April 4, 2022 to Friday, April 8, 2022. 

Members of the public may 

participate up to the capacity of the 

teleconference phone line, which can 

handle 500 participants. To RSVP, 

participants should contact the meeting 

coordinator, LCDR Bryan Watts, by 

email at Bryan.Watts@uscg.mil. To 

access the teleconference line, 

participants should call (202) 475–4000 

and use Participant Code: 877 239 87#. 

The agenda items to be considered at 

the public meeting mirror those to be 

considered at PPR 9 and include: 

—Adoption of the agenda 

—Decisions of other IMO bodies 

—Safety and pollution hazards of 

chemicals and preparation of 

consequential amendments to the IBC 

Code 

—Development of an operational guide 

on the response to spills of hazardous 

and noxious substances (HNS) 

—Revised guidance on methodologies 

that may be used for enumerating 

viable organisms 

—Revision of guidelines associated with 

the AFS Convention as a consequence 

of the introduction of controls on 

cybutryne 

—Review of the 2011 Guidelines for the 

control and management of ships’ 

biofouling to minimize the transfer of 

invasive aquatic species (resolution 

MEPC.207(62)) 

—Reduction of the impact on the Arctic 

of Black Carbon emissions from 

international shipping 

—Standards for shipboard gasification 

of waste systems and associated 

amendments to regulation 16 of 

MARPOL Annex VI 

—Evaluation and harmonization of rules 

and guidance on the discharge of 

discharge water from exhaust gas 

cleaning systems (EGCS) into the 

aquatic environment, including 

conditions and areas 

—Development of amendments to 

MARPOL Annex VI and the NOX

Technical Code on the use of multiple 

engine operational profiles for a 

marine diesel engine 

—Development of measures to reduce 

risks of use and carriage of heavy fuel 

oil as fuel by ships in Arctic waters 

—Development of necessary 

amendments to MARPOL Annexes I, 

II, IV, V, and VI to allow States with 

ports in the Arctic region to enter into 

regional arrangements for port 

reception facilities (PRFs) 

—Revision of MARPOL Annex IV and 

associated guidelines to introduce 

provisions for record-keeping and 

measures to confirm the lifetime 

performance of sewage treatment 

plants 

—Follow-up work emanating from the 

Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic 

Litter from Ships 

—Unified Interpretation to provisions of 

IMP environment-related conventions 

—Biennial status report and provisional 

agenda for PPR 10 

—Election of Chair and Vice-Chair for 

2023 

—Any other business 

—Consideration of the report of the SubCommittee 

Please note: The IMO may, on short 

notice, adjust the PPR 9 agenda to 


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