Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 18 /Wednesday, January 28, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 4187

provisions of the Administrative

Procedure Act are inapplicable,

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2).

As no notice of proposed rulemaking

is required, the provisions of the

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

et seq.) do not apply.

There is no new collection of

information contained in this final rule,

and, therefore, the Paperwork Reduction

Act does not apply. The collections of

information of 31 CFR Part 356 have

been previously approved by the Office

of Management and Budget under

section 3507(d) of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35) under control number

1535–0112. Under this Act, an agency

may not conduct or sponsor, and a

person is not required to respond to, a

collection of information unless it

displays a valid OMB control number.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 356

Bonds, Federal Reserve System,

Government securities, Securities.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 31 CFR chapter II, subchapter

B, part 356, is amended as follows:

PART 356—SALE AND ISSUE OF

MARKETABLE BOOK-ENTRY

TREASURY BILLS, NOTES, AND

BONDS (DEPARTMENT OF THE

TREASURY CIRCULAR, PUBLIC DEBT

SERIES NO. 1–93)

1. The authority citation for part 356

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 3102, et

seq.; 12 U.S.C. 391.

2. Section 356.12 is amended by

revising paragraph (b)(2) to read as

follows:

§ 356.12 Noncompetitive and competitive

bidding.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(2) Additional restrictions. Between

the date of the offering announcement

and the time of the official

announcement by the Department of the

auction results, a noncompetitive bidder

may not hold, at any time, a position for

its own account in when-issued trading

or in futures or forward contracts in the

security being auctioned or enter into

any agreement to purchase or sell or

otherwise dispose of the securities it is

acquiring in the auction. For purposes

of this paragraph, futures contracts

include those:

(i) That require delivery of the

specific security being auctioned;

(ii) For which the security being

auctioned is one of several securities

that may be delivered; or

(iii) That are cash-settled.

* * * * *

Dated: January 21, 1998.

Donald V. Hammond,

Acting Fiscal Assistant Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–1958 Filed 1–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–39–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

36 CFR Part 215

Notice, Comment, and Appeal

Procedures for National Forest System

Projects and Activities

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule; request for

comment.

SUMMARY: The Department is amending

the rules governing who can participate

in administrative appeals of decisions

authorizing National Forest System

projects and activities, by removing a

prohibition on appeals by Forest Service

employees. This regulatory change

results from a reassessment of this

provision in response to a recent legal

challenge. Public comment is invited on

this interim rule and will be considered

in promulgating a final rule.

DATES: This interim rule is effective

January 28, 1998. Comments on this

rulemaking must be received by March

30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this

rule must be sent to Susan YontsShepard, Appeals Coordinator, National

Forest Systems Deputy Area, MAIL

STOP 1106, Forest Service, USDA P.O.

Box 96090, Washington, DC 20090–

9060. All comments, including names

and addresses, when provided, will be

placed in the record and are made

available for public inspection and

copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Yonts-Shepard, Forest Service,

telephone, (202) 202–1519.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 322 of the 1993 Interior and

Related Agencies Appropriations Act

directed the Department to establish a

process by which persons or

organizations receive notice and the

opportunity to comment on proposed

actions affecting the National Forest

System. The Act also required the

establishment of procedures by which

persons or organizations may appeal

decisions subsequently made on

proposed actions. Following the

publication of a proposed rule with a

request for public comment (58 FR

19369), the Forest Service received over

9,000 comments on certain aspects of

this rulemaking. However, no comment

was submitted on the proposed

provision prohibiting agency employees

from participating in the appeal process

as appellants or as interested parties at

§ 215.11(c). Having concluded that there

was no concern with this provision, the

Department adopted paragraph (c) in

§ 215.11, without change from the

proposed rule, November 4, 1993 (58 FR

58904).

A recent lawsuit brought by a Forest

Service employee challenging this

regulation (Dalton v. Forest Service,

Civil Act Number 97–0774, U.S.D.C.,

D.D.C.) has led to a reassessment of the

employee appeal limitation in 36 CFR

215.11(c) and has raised issues not

considered at the time of the earlier

rulemaking. Moreover, the rulemaking

record does not speak directly to the

§ 215.11(c) provision. Therefore, the

Deputy Under Secretary, in a

declaration to the court, indicated that

the Department would cease

immediately to enforce the employee

appeal prohibition and would repeal the

employee prohibition provision at

§ 215.11(c). The declaration also

indicated that, at a later date, after

additional consideration of relevant

factors, the Forest Service may decide to

publish a new proposed rule to address

the matter of appeals by employees. If

so, public comment would be requested

at that time.

Employees appealing a National

Forest System project may violate 18

U.S.C. 208 if their appeal is based upon

an imputed financial interest and their

official duties involve the appeal. Also,

representation of others in the appeal

process may be prohibited under 18

U.S.C. 203 and 205. Assuming that an

employee appealing a National Forest

System project would file the appeal as

a private citizen, in accordance with

Office of Government Ethics regulations

at 5 CFR part 2635, subpart G, Misuse

of position, the employee may not be on

official duty or use government property

or equipment in the preparation or

transmittal of an appeal. Also, in

preparing the appeal, the employee

must not use official information not yet

released to the public. A new paragraph

(d) has been added to § 215.11 to

address the standards of ethical conduct

for employees filing an appeal.

Agencies are not required by the

Administrative Procedure Act to give

notice and opportunity to comment

prior to adoption of this interim final

rule because the decision to repeal

§ 215.11(c) involves a matter relating to
4188 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 18 /Wednesday, January 28, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

agency personnel and, thus, is exempt

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2). However,

the Department believes the public

should have an opportunity to comment

on this rescission before it is adopted as

a final rule. Among concerns and

questions that reviewers may wish to

consider are: the appropriateness and

ethical implications of allowing

employees to appeal certain Forest

Service decisions; the potential impact

of employee appeals on the process of

permit administration; and the potential

impact of allowing employee appeals on

the delivery of goods and services from

the National Forest System.

Regulatory Impact

This interim final rule has been

reviewed under USDA procedures and

Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory

Planning and Review. It has been

determined that this is not a significant

rule. This action consists of

administrative changes to regulations

that would allow employee appeals of

agency projects and activities under 36

CFR part 215. This interim final rule

will not have an annual effect of $100

million or more on the economy nor

adversely affect productivity,

competition, jobs, the environment,

public health or safety, nor State or local

governments. Also, this rule will not

interfere with an action taken or

planned by another agency or raise new

legal or policy issues. In short, little or

no effect on the national economy will

result from this interim final rule.

Finally, this action will not alter the

budgetary impact of entitlements,

grants, user fees, or loan programs or the

rights and obligations of recipients of

such programs. Accordingly, this

interim final rule is not subject to OMB

review under Executive Order 12866.

Moreover, this interim final rule has

been considered in light of the

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

et seq.), and it is hereby certified that

this action will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities as defined by

that Act.

Unfunded Mandates Reform

Pursuant to Title II of the Unfunded

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C.

1531–1538), the Department has

assessed the effects of this rule on State,

local, and tribal governments and the

private sector. This rule does not

compel the expenditure of $100 million

or more by any State, local, or tribal

government or anyone in the private

sector. Therefore, a statement under

section 202 of the Act is not required.

Environmental Impact

Section 31.1b of Forest Service

Handbook 1909.15 (57 FR 43180;

September 18, 1992) excludes from

documentation in an environmental

assessment or impact statement ‘‘rules,

regulations, or policies to establish

Service-wide administrative procedures,

program processes, or instructions.’’ The

agency’s assessment is that this rule

falls within this category of actions and

that no extraordinary circumstances

exist which would require preparation

of an environmental assessment or

environmental impact statement.

No Takings Implications

This interim final rule has been

analyzed in accordance with the

principles and criteria contained in

Executive Order 12630, and it has been

determined that the rule does not pose

the risk of a taking of Constitutionallyprotected private property. There are no

Constitutionally-protected private

property rights to be affected, since the

regulation applies only to agency

employees.

Civil Justice Reform Act

This interim final rule has been

reviewed under Executive Order 12988,

Civil Justice Reform. This interim final

rule (1) preempts all State and local

laws and regulations that are in conflict

or which would impede its full

implementation, (2) has no retroactive

effect, and (3) does not require

administrative proceedings before

parties may file suit in court challenging

its provisions.

Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the

Public

This interim final rule does not

contain any recordkeeping or reporting

requirements or other information

collection requirements as defined in 5

CFR 1320 and, therefore, imposes no

paperwork burden on the public.

Accordingly, the review provisions of

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) and

implementing regulations at 5 CFR part

1320 do not apply.

List of Subjects in 36 CFR Part 215

Administrative practice and

procedures, National forests.

Therefore, for the reasons set forth in

the preamble, part 215 of Title 36 of the

Code of Federal Regulations is

amended, as follows:

PART 215—NOTICE, COMMENT, AND

APPEAL PROCEDURES FOR

NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM

PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

1. The authority citation for part 215

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 472, 551; sec. 322,

Pub. L. 102–381, 106 Stat. 1419 (16 U.S.C.

1612 note).

§ 215.11 [Amended]

2. Amend § 215.11 to revise paragraph

(c) and add a new paragraph (d) to read

as follows:

§ 215.11 Who may participate in appeals.

* * * * *

(c) Federal agencies may not

participate as appellants or interested

parties.

(d) Federal employees filing appeals

under this part shall comply with

Federal conflict of interest statutes at 18

U.S.C. 202–209 and with employee

ethics requirements at 5 CFR part 2635.

Specifically, employees shall not be on

official duty or use government property

or equipment in the preparation or

transmittal of an appeal. Employees also

shall not use official information not yet

released to the public.

Dated: January 22, 1998.

Brian Eliot Burke,

Deputy Under Secretary, Natural Resources

and Environment.

[FR Doc. 98–2043 Filed 1–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[OH58–1a; FRL–5954–6]

Approval and Promulgation of State

Implementation Plan; Ohio

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: In this action, EPA is

approving as a revision to the Ohio State

Implementation Plan (SIP) a rate-ofprogress plan for the purpose of

reducing volatile organic compounds

(VOC) emissions in the Ohio portion of

the Cincinnati-Hamilton area by 15

percent by November 15, 1996. The plan

and regulations will help to protect the

public’s health and welfare by reducing

the VOC emissions that contribute to the

formation of ground-level ozone,

commonly known as urban smog.

Elsewhere in this Federal Register, EPA

is proposing approval and soliciting

comment on this action; if written