1590 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 8 / Tuesday, January 13, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

States may request access to that State’s 

assigned portion of the drawing account 

once that State has obligated at least 90 

percent of its initial allocation for that 

same program. 

(f) Re-allocation of funds. The 

program-specific drawing accounts for 

Regional Equity States will be available 

until April 1st of each fiscal year, after 

which date the remaining funds may be 

re-allocated at the discretion of the 

Chief. 

Dated: January 6, 2009. 

Arlen L. Lancaster, 

Chief, Natural Resources Conservation 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–492 Filed 1–12–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Economic Analysis 

15 CFR Part 806 

[Docket No. 080731960–81629–02] 

RIN 0691–AA66 

Direct Investment Surveys: BE–11, 

Annual Survey of U.S. Direct 

Investment Abroad 

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule amends 

regulations of the Bureau of Economic 

Analysis, Department of Commerce 

(BEA) to change the reporting 

requirements for the BE–11, Annual 

Survey of U.S. Direct Investment 

Abroad. The BE–11 survey is conducted 

annually and is a sample survey that 

obtains financial and operating data 

covering the overall operations of U.S. 

parent companies and their foreign 

affiliates. BEA is making changes in the 

reporting criteria that will raise the 

thresholds for reporting on the survey. 

DATES: This final rule will be effective 

February 12, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David H. Galler, Chief, Direct 

Investment Division (BE–50), Bureau of 

Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; 

phone (202) 606–9835 or e-mail 

(david.galler@bea.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

September 11, 2008, Federal Register, 

73 FR 52802–52804, BEA published a 

notice of proposed rulemaking setting 

forth revised reporting criteria for the 

BE–11, Annual Survey of U.S. Direct 

Investment Abroad. No comments on 

the proposed rule were received. Thus, 

the proposed rule is adopted without 

change. This final rule amends 15 CFR 

806.14 to set forth the reporting 

requirements for the BE–11, Annual 

Survey of U.S. Direct Investment 

Abroad. 

Description of Changes 

The BE–11 survey is a mandatory 

survey and is conducted annually by 

BEA under the International Investment 

and Trade in Services Survey Act (22 

U.S.C. 3101–3108), hereinafter, ‘‘the 

Act.’’ BEA will send the survey to 

potential respondents in March of each 

year; responses will be due by May 31. 

This final rule changes the reporting 

criteria on the BE–11 annual survey as 

follows: (a) The threshold for reporting 

on the BE–11B(SF) short form and BE– 

11C form increases from $40 million to 

$60 million, and (b) the threshold for 

reporting on the BE–11B(LF) long form 

increases from $150 million to $225 

million. Majority-owned nonbank 

affiliates with assets, sales or gross 

operating revenues, or net income (loss) 

over $60 million but less than or equal 

to $225 million will be filed on the BE– 

11B(SF) short form; majority-owned 

nonbank affiliates with assets, sales or 

gross operating revenues, or net income 

(loss) over $225 million will be filed on 

the BE–11B(LF) long form. Minorityowned nonbank affiliates with assets, 

sales or gross operating revenues, or net 

income (loss) over $60 million will be 

filed on the BE–11C form. Two 

reporting thresholds remain 

unchanged—the threshold for reporting 

on Form BE–11B(FN) remains at $250 

million and the threshold for reporting 

only selected items on Form BE–11A 

remains at $150 million. 

Survey Background 

The Bureau of Economic Analysis 

(BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, 

conducts the BE–11 survey under the 

authority of the International 

Investment and Trade in Services 

Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101–3108), 

hereinafter, ‘‘the Act.’’ Section 4(a) of 

the Act requires that the President shall, 

to the extent he deems necessary and 

feasible, conduct a regular data 

collection program to secure current 

information on international financial 

flows and other information related to 

international investment and trade in 

services, including (but not limited to) 

such information as may be necessary 

for computing and analyzing the United 

States balance of payments, the 

employment and taxes of United States 

parents and affiliates, and the 

international investment and trade in 

services position of the United States. 

In Section 3 of Executive Order 

11961, as amended by Executive Orders 

12318 and 12518, the President 

delegated the responsibility for 

performing functions under the Act 

concerning direct investment to the 

Secretary of Commerce, who has 

redelegated it to BEA. The annual 

survey of U.S. direct investment abroad 

is a sample survey that collects 

information on a variety of measures of 

the overall operations of U.S. parent 

companies and their foreign affiliates, 

including total assets, sales, net income, 

employment and employee 

compensation, research and 

development expenditures, and exports 

and imports of goods. The sample data 

are used to derive universe estimates in 

nonbenchmark years from similar data 

reported in the BE–10, Benchmark 

Survey of U.S. Direct Investment 

Abroad, which is taken every five years. 

The data are needed to measure the size 

and economic significance of direct 

investment abroad, measure changes in 

such investment, and assess its impact 

on the U.S. and foreign economies. The 

data are disaggregated by country and 

industry of the foreign affiliate and by 

industry of the U.S. parent. 

Executive Order 12866 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of E.O. 

12866. 

Executive Order 13132 

This final rule does not contain 

policies with Federalism implications 

sufficient to warrant preparation of a 

Federalism assessment under E.O. 

13132. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The collection-of-information in this 

final rule was submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and approval under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). OMB 

approved the information collection 

under control number 0608–0053. 

Notwithstanding any other provisions of 

the law, no person is required to 

respond to, nor shall any person be 

subject to a penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection-of-information subject 

to the requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act unless that collection 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

The BE–11 survey is expected to 

result in the filing of reports from 

approximately 1,550 respondents. The 

respondent burden for this collection of 

information will vary from one 

company to another, but is estimated to 

average 99.3 hours per response, 

including time for reviewing 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 8 / Tuesday, January 13, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 1591 

instructions, searching existing data 

sources, gathering and maintaining the 

data needed, and completing and 

reviewing the collection of information. 

Thus the total respondent burden of the 

survey is estimated at 153,850 hours 

(1,550 respondents times 99.3 hours 

average burden). Although the 

amendments to the reporting rules 

lower respondent burden, the total 

estimated burden hours are higher than 

the currently estimated hours of 122,900 

for this survey in the OMB inventory, 

due to growth in the number and size 

of U.S. parent companies and foreign 

affiliates since the survey was last 

cleared. 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or any other 

aspect of the information-of-collection 

requirements contained in the final rule 

should be sent to (1) the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis via mail to U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Bureau of 

Economic Analysis, Office of the Chief, 

Direct Investment Division, BE–50, 

Washington, DC 20230; via e-mail at 

David.Galler@bea.gov; or by FAX at 

202–606–5311 and (2) the Office of 

Management and Budget, O.I.R.A., 

Paperwork Reduction Project 0608– 

0053, Attention PRA Desk Officer for 

BEA, via e-mail at pbugg@omb.eop.gov, 

or by FAX at 202–395–7245. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation, 

Department of Commerce, has certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, 

Small Business Administration, under 

the provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), that 

this rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The factual 

basis for the certification was published 

in the proposed rule and is not repeated 

here. No comments were received 

regarding the economic impact of the 

rule. As a result, no final regulatory 

flexibility analysis was prepared. 

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 806 

Economic statistics, Multinational 

corporations, Penalties, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, U.S. 

investment abroad. 

Dated: December 16, 2008. 

J. Steven Landefeld, 

Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, BEA amends 15 CFR Part 806 

as follows: 

PART 806—DIRECT INVESTMENT 

SURVEYS 

■ 1. The authority citation for 15 CFR 

Part 806 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 22 U.S.C. 3101– 

3108; E.O. 11961 (3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 86), 

as amended by E.O. 12318 (3 CFR, 1981 

Comp., p. 173) and E.O. 12518 (3 CFR, 1985 

Comp., p. 348). 

■ 2. Section 806.14(f)(3)(ii) introductory 

text, (f)(3)(ii)(A) and (B), (f)(3)(iv), 

(f)(3)(v) introductory text, and 

(f)(3)(v)(A) are revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 806.14 U.S. direct investment abroad. 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(ii) Forms BE–11B(LF), (SF), and (EZ) 

(Report for Majority-owned Nonbank 

Foreign Affiliate of Nonbank U.S. 

Reporter). 

(A) A BE–11B(LF)(Long Form) must 

be filed for each majority-owned 

nonbank foreign affiliate of a nonbank 

U.S. Reporter for which any one of the 

three items—total assets, sales or gross 

operating revenues excluding sales 

taxes, or net income after provision for 

foreign income taxes—was greater than 

$225 million (positive or negative) at the 

end of, or for, the affiliate’s fiscal year, 

unless the nonbank foreign affiliate is 

selected to be reported on Form BE– 

11B(EZ). 

(B) A BE–11B(SF)(Short Form) must 

be filed for each majority-owned 

nonbank foreign affiliate of a nonbank 

U.S. Reporter for which any one of the 

three items listed in paragraph 

(f)(3)(ii)(A) of this section was greater 

than $60 million (positive or negative), 

but for which no one of these items was 

greater than $225 million (positive or 

negative), at the end of, or for, the 

affiliate’s fiscal year, unless the nonbank 

foreign affiliate is selected to be 

reported on Form BE–11B(EZ). 

* * * * * 

(iv) Form BE–11C (Report for 

Minority-owned Nonbank Foreign 

Affiliate of Nonbank U.S. Reporter) 

must be filed for each minority-owned 

nonbank foreign affiliate of a nonbank 

U.S. Reporter that is owned at least 20 

percent, but not more than 50 percent, 

directly and/or indirectly, by all U.S. 

Reporters of the affiliate combined, and 

for which any one of the three items 

listed in paragraph (f)(3)(ii)(A) of this 

section was greater than $60 million 

(positive or negative) at the end of, or 

for, the affiliate’s fiscal year. 

(v) Based on the preceding, an affiliate 

is exempt from being reported if it meets 

any one of the following criteria: 

(A) For nonbank affiliates of nonbank 

U.S. Reporters, none of the three items 

listed in paragraph (f)(3)(ii)(A) of this 

section exceeds $60 million (positive or 

negative). However, affiliates that were 

established or acquired during the year 

and for which at least one of these items 

was greater than $10 million but not 

over $60 million must be listed, and key 

data items reported, on a supplement 

schedule on Form BE–11A. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E9–463 Filed 1–12–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–06–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R10–OAR–2007–0110; FRL–8760–8] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; Washington; 

Interstate Transport of Pollution 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is approving the action 

of the Washington State Department of 

Ecology (Ecology) to address the 

provisions of Clean Air Act (CAA) 

section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) for the 8-hour 

ozone and PM2.5 National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards (NAAQS). CAA 

section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) requires each 

state to submit a State Implementation 

Plan (SIP) revision that prohibits 

emissions that adversely affect another 

state’s air quality through interstate 

transport. EPA received no comments 

on its proposal to approve Ecology’s SIP 

revision addressing these provisions. 

Therefore, EPA is finalizing its proposed 

approval of this revision for the State of 

Washington. Because EPA received 

adverse comments on its proposal to 

approve the SIP revision from the Idaho 

Department of Environmental Quality 

(IDEQ), EPA is not taking final action on 

the proposed approval for the State of 

Idaho at this time and will address those 

comments and take final action on 

IDEQ’s submittal at a later date. 

DATES: This action is effective on 

February 12, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket 

Identification No. EPA–R10–OAR– 

2007–0110. All documents in the docket 

are listed on the http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site. Although 

listed in the index, some information 

may not be publicly available, i.e., 

Confidential Business Information or 

other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the Internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy 

form. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either