Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 17951 

prior to March 28, 2016 and at all times 

thereafter. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06669 Filed 3–28–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 0099–10–D 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

26 CFR Part 1 

Income Taxes 

CFR Correction 

This rule is being published by the 

Office of the Federal Register to correct 

an editorial or technical error that 

appeared in the most recent annual 

revision of the Code of Federal 

Regulations. 

■ In Title 26 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 1 (§§ 1.301 to 1.400), 

revised as of April 1, 2021, in § 1.358– 

6, revise paragraph (f)(1) and revise the 

first sentence of paragraph (f)(3) to read 

as follows: 

§ 1.358–6 Stock basis in certain triangular 

reorganizations. 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(1) General rule. Except as otherwise 

provided in this paragraph (f), this 

section applies to triangular 

reorganizations occurring on or after 

December 23, 1994. 

* * * * * 

(3) Triangular G reorganization and 

special rule for triangular 

reorganizations involving members of a 

consolidated group. Paragraph (e)(1) of 

this section shall apply to triangular 

reorganizations occurring on or after 

September 17, 2008. * * * 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2022–06668 Filed 3–28–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 0099–10–D 

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS 

ADMINISTRATION 

Information Security Oversight Office 

32 CFR Part 2001 

[FDMS No. NARA–22–0002; NARA–2022– 

021] 

RIN 3095–AC06 

Classified National Security 

Information 

AGENCY: Information Security Oversight 

Office (ISOO), National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are revising our Classified 

National Security Information 

regulation to permit digital signatures 

that meet certain requirements on the 

Standard Form (SF) 312, which is the 

non-disclosure agreement required prior 

to accessing classified information. Due 

to agency needs during the COVID–19 

pandemic and remote work situations, 

combined with developments in digital 

signatures since a regulatory prohibition 

on electronic signatures was 

implemented in 2010, it is both urgent 

and appropriate to make this 

administrative change at this time. 

DATES: This rule is effective on May 9, 

2022, unless we receive adverse 

comments by April 28, 2022 that 

warrant revising or rescinding this 

rulemaking. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 3095–AC06, by the 

following method: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. Search for 

RIN 3095–AC06 and follow the site’s 

instructions for submitting comments. 

We may publish any comments we 

receive without changes, including any 

personal information you include. 

During the COVID–19 pandemic and 

remote work situation we cannot accept 

comments my mail or delivery because 

we do not have staff in the office. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kimberly Keravuori, Regulatory and 

External Policy Program Manager, by 

email at regulation_comments@

nara.gov, or by telephone at 

301.837.3151. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These 

regulations were last revised in 2010. At 

that time, these regulations included a 

prohibition against signing the Standard 

Form (SF) 312 electronically, due to 

concerns about integrity and legal 

enforceability of any form of electronic 

signature (e-signature) at the time. In the 

decade-plus since then, encryption and 

other measures for e-signatures have 

advanced and they are now regularly 

encouraged or required and deemed 

legally enforceable. In addition, Federal 

agencies are required to digitize services 

and forms and accelerate the use of esignatures as much as possible (see, e.g., 

2018 21st Century Integrated Digital 

Experience Act (21st Century IDEA), 44 

U.S.C. 3501 note). 

Since the COVID–19 pandemic began 

in March 2020, numerous Federal 

agencies have had to engage in remote 

work to varying degrees and have had 

difficulty bringing new workers onboard 

who require access to classified 

information, due to the requirement for 

handwritten signatures on the SF 312. It 

has been placing employees at risk of 

spreading the virus, as well as creating 

logistical and other difficulties. Multiple 

agencies have been consistently 

requesting the ability to allow esignatures as a result, and the need 

became critical and urgent once the 

COVID–19 pandemic extended much 

longer than originally anticipated. 

The advances in technical ability to 

ensure valid e-signatures, and legal 

acceptance of such signatures, is clearly 

the way of the future and necessary to 

support a modernized classified 

national security information system. 

However, the timing to make this 

change is more urgent now because of 

COVID–19 related health risks. 

Under laws such as the Government 

Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), 44 

U.S.C. 3504 note, the Uniform 

Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), a 

model act since adopted by 47 states 

and the District of Columbia (the 

remaining three states have comparable 

laws), and the Electronic Signatures in 

Global and National Commerce Act 

(ESIGN), 15 U.S.C. 7001, et seq., an esignature has the same legal weight as 

a handwritten signature and cannot be 

considered invalid simply due to being 

electronic. The laws establish criteria 

for valid e-signatures, along the 

following lines: Intent to sign, consent 

to do business electronically, 

association of the signature with the 

record, attribution to the person signing, 

and a record of the digital transactions. 

The United States practices an opentechnology approach, meaning there’s 

no law requiring use of a specific 

signing technology for an e-signature to 

be legally binding, as long as it meets 

the criteria. 

However, for the purpose of esignatures on the SF 312, ISOO has 

established certain requirements 

agencies must meet if they wish to allow 

such signatures. We require that 

agencies use digital signatures (rather 

than other forms of e-signature) on the 

SF 312 because digital signatures 

provide the requisite level of security 

and authenticity appropriate for these 

agreements. Digital signatures are a 

specific signature technology type of esignature that allows users to sign 

documents and authenticate the signer. 

Digital signatures are based on a 

standard, accepted format, called public 

key infrastructure (PKI), to provide the 

highest levels of security and universal 

acceptance through use of a 

mathematical algorithm and other 

features. The mathematical algorithm 

acts like a cipher and encrypts the data 

matching the signed document. The 

resulting encrypted data is the digital 

signature, which is also marked with the 


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17952 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

time the document was signed and is 

invalidated if the document is changed 

after signing. To protect the integrity of 

the signature, PKI also includes other 

requirements, including a reliable 

certificate authority (CA) that can 

ensure key security and provide 

necessary digital certificates. 

The PKI and CA combination used for 

digital signatures ensures authentication 

(i.e., that the digital signature was made 

by the person it claims to have been 

made by); consent (i.e., that the person 

who digitally signed the form meant to 

do so); and integrity (i.e., that the SF 312 

has not changed since the signature was 

made). As a result, we require agencies 

to use digital signatures if they allow esignatures on their SF 312s. Digital 

signatures created using Federal 

Government personal identity 

verification (PIV) cards or common 

access cards (CACs) require the card 

holder to enter their personal 

identification number (PIN), and meet 

the requirements outlined above, so it is 

possible for Federal employees and 

contractors with such cards to digitally 

sign the SF 312 using these cards. 

Agencies may choose to use other 

digital signature providers than the PIV 

or CAC cards, as long as they meet the 

same requirements. 

The existing SF 312 has been 

approved by the General Services 

Administration (GSA) as a standard 

form. In conjunction with this 

rulemaking action, we are working with 

the appropriate agencies to revise the 

form to make it electronically fillable 

and to allow digital signatures. 

Regulatory Analysis 

Administrative Procedure 

Under the Administrative Procedure 

Act, an agency may waive the normal 

notice and comment procedures if the 

action is a rule of agency organization, 

procedure, or practice. See 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(3)(A). Since this rule modifies 

administrative procedures and practice 

regarding how agencies may allow a 

form to be signed and maintained, 

notice and comment are not necessary. 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review, and Executive 

Order 13563, Improving Regulation and 

Regulation Review 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has reviewed this rulemaking 

and determined it is not ‘‘significant’’ 

under section 3(f) of Executive Order 

12866. It is not significant because it is 

a rule of agency procedure and practice, 

describing our procedures for agencies 

to handle and process the Standard 

Form (SF) 312, and we do not anticipate 

it having an economic impact on the 

public. It will help ensure easier 

onboarding and access to classified 

information for employees and 

contractors, safeguard employees and 

others from risks of COVID infection, 

reduce logistical complications and 

difficulties during the pandemic and 

thereafter, and update the form’s 

procedures for easier use with current 

technological developments. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, 

et seq.) 

This review requires an agency to 

prepare an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis and publish it when the agency 

publishes the rule. This requirement 

does not apply if the agency certifies 

that the rulemaking will not, if 

promulgated, have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities (5 U.S.C. 603). 

We certify, after review and analysis, 

that this rulemaking will not have a 

significant adverse economic impact on 

small entities. 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) requires 

that agencies consider the impact of 

paperwork and other information 

collection burdens imposed on the 

public and, under the provisions of PRA 

section 3507(d), obtain approval from 

OMB for each collection of information 

we conduct, sponsor, or require through 

regulations. The existing SF 312 is such 

an information collection and has 

already been approved by OMB/GSA. 

This rulemaking does not impose 

additional information collection 

requirements on the public. 

Executive Order 13132, Federalism 

Executive Order 13132 requires 

agencies to ensure state and local 

officials have the opportunity for 

meaningful and timely input when 

developing regulatory policies that may 

have a substantial, direct effect 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. If the effects of the 

rule on state and local governments are 

sufficiently substantial, the agency must 

prepare a Federal assessment to assist 

senior policy makers. This rulemaking 

will not have any effects on state and 

local governments within the meaning 

of the E.O. Therefore, no federalism 

assessment is required. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (Sec. 

202, Pub. L. 104–4; 2 U.S.C. 1532) 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

requires that agencies determine 

whether any Federal mandate in the 

rulemaking may result in state, local, 

and tribal governments, in the aggregate, 

or the private sector, expending $100 

million in any one year. This rule does 

not contain a Federal mandate that may 

result in such an expenditure. 

List of Subjects in 32 CFR Part 2001 

Archives and records, Records 

disposition, Records management, 

Records schedules, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Scheduling 

records. 

For the reasons stated, NARA amends 

32 CFR part 2001 as follows: 

PART 2001—CLASSIFIED NATIONAL 

SECURITY INFORMATION 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 2001 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sections 5.1(a) and (b), E.O. 

13526, (75 FR 707, January 5, 2010). 

■ 2. Amend § 2001.80 by: 

■ a. Revising paragraph (d)(2)(ii); 

■ b. In paragraph (d)(2)(v), adding a 

sentence to the end of the paragraph; 

and 

■ c. In paragraph (d)(2)(vii), adding the 

parenthetical ‘‘(either in paper form or 

electronic form)’’ to the second 

sentence, in between the words ‘‘The 

original’’ and ‘‘, or a legally enforceable 

facsimile’’. 

The revision and addition read as 

follows: 

§ 2001.80 Prescribed standard forms. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(ii) The SF 312 may be filled out 

electronically or by hand, then must be 

signed. It may be signed by hand and 

scanned, if the implementing agency 

permits and the scanned version is done 

in a way that constitutes a legally 

enforceable facsimile. Alternatively, the 

form may be digitally signed if the 

implementing agency permits, and if the 

digital signature mechanism employs 

public key cryptography in a way that 

meaningfully guarantees authenticity 

(i.e., that the digital signature was made 

by the person it claims to have been 

made by); consent (i.e., that the person 

who digitally signed the form meant to 

do so); and integrity (i.e., that the SF 312 

has not changed since the signature was 

made). Digital signatures created using 

Personal Identity Verification (PIV) 

cards or common access cards (CACs) 

issued by the U.S. Government that are 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 17953 

compliant with Homeland Security 

Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD–12), or 

its successor, meet the requirements of 

this paragraph (d)(2)(ii). They include 

public key infrastructure (PKI), digital 

signature certificates issued by a 

certificate authority (CA), and a PIN the 

signer must enter in order to digitally 

sign. Agencies may choose to use other 

digital signature mechanisms than the 

PIV or CAC cards, as long as they meet 

the requirements of this paragraph 

(d)(2)(ii). The form may not be signed 

using other forms of electronic signature 

(e-signature), such as typing ‘‘/s/[first 

and last name]’’ or attaching an image 

of a handwritten signature. 

* * * * * 

(v) * * * If the SF 312 is digitally 

signed, it does not require a witness to 

observe and verify the digital signature, 

and therefore also does not require an 

official to subsequently accept the 

signature. 

* * * * * 

David S. Ferriero, 

Archivist of the United States. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06548 Filed 3–28–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7515–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 165 

[Docket No. USCG–2022–0157] 

Safety Zone; Recurring Events in 

Captain of the Port Duluth—Bridgefest 

Regatta Fireworks 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of enforcement of 

regulation. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard will enforce 

a safety zone for the Bridgefest Regatta 

Fireworks in Houghton, MI from 9:30 

p.m. through 10:30 p.m. This action is 

necessary to protect participants and 

spectators during the Bridgefest Regatta 

Fireworks. During the enforcement 

period, entry into, transiting, or 

anchoring within the safety zone is 

prohibited unless authorized by the 

Captain of the Port Duluth or their 

designated on-scene representative. 

DATES: The regulations in 33 CFR 

165.943 will be enforced for the location 

identified in Item 1 of Table 1 to 

§ 165.943 from 9:30 p.m. through 10:30 

p.m. on June 18, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions about this notice of 

enforcement, call or email LTJG Joseph 

R. McGinnis, telephone 218–725–3818, 

email DuluthWWM@uscg.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Coast 

Guard will enforce the regulations in 33 

CFR 165.943 for the Bridgefest Regatta 

Fireworks event identified in Item 1 of 

Table 1 to § 165.943 on all waters of the 

Keweenaw Waterway bounded by the 

arc of a circle with a 100-yard radius 

from the fireworks launch site with its 

center in approximate position 

47°07′28′′ N, 088°35′02′′ W from 9:30 

p.m. through 10:30 p.m.on June 18, 

2022. This action is necessary to protect 

participants and spectators during the 

Bridgefest Regatta Fireworks. 

Entry into, transiting, or anchoring 

within the safety zone is prohibited 

unless authorized by the Captain of the 

Port Duluth or their designated on-scene 

representative. The Captain of the Port’s 

designated on-scene representative may 

be contacted via VHF Channel 16. 

This document is issued under 

authority of 33 CFR 165.943 and 5 

U.S.C. 552 (a). In addition to this 

publication in the Federal Register, the 

Coast Guard will provide the maritime 

community with advance notification of 

the enforcement of this safety zone via 

Broadcast Notice to Mariners. 

Dated: March 23, 2022. 

F.M. Smith, 

CDR, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the Port 

Duluth. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06522 Filed 3–28–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 


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