11102 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 49 / Monday, March 16, 2009 / Notices 

method is required. Contact: Shanaz 

Bacchus, (703) 308–8097, 

bacchus.shanaz@epa.gov. 

List of Subjects 

Environmental protection, 

Agricultural commodities, Feed 

additives, Food additives, Pesticides 

and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated: February 26, 2009. 

Janet L. Andersen, 

Director, Biopesticides and Pollution 

Prevention Division, Office of Pesticide 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. E9–5636 Filed 3–13–09; 8:45 am] 

Billing Code 6560–50–S 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[MB Docket 07–269; FCC 09–10] 

Annual Assessment of the Status of 

Competition in the Market for the 

Delivery of Video Programming 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Commission is required 

to report annually to Congress on the 

status of competition in markets for the 

delivery of video programming. This 

document extends the deadlines for 

filing comments and reply comments in 

response to the notice of inquiry for the 

14th Annual Report to Congress, which 

requested data as of June 2007. The 

Commission needs to bring its reporting 

up to date and plans to issue a single 

report for 2007, 2008, and 2009. The 

Commission will issue a supplemental 

notice of inquiry to request information 

for 2008 and 2009. The supplemental 

notice will establish a single deadline 

for the filing of information for 2007 and 

2008, consistent with this extension of 

time, and a slightly later deadline for 

the filing of 2009 information. A single 

set of deadlines for 2007 and 2008 will 

avoid duplication of effort by 

commenters and streamline 

Commission review of the submitted 

information. 

DATES: Interested parties may file 

comments on or before April 28, 2009, 

and reply comments on or before May 

28, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by MB 07–269, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Federal Communications 

Commission’s Web site: http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/efcs/. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• People with Disabilities: Contact the 

FCC to request reasonable 

accommodations (accessible format 

documents, sign language interpreters, 

CART, etc.) by e-mail: FCC504@fcc.gov 

or phone: (202) 418–0530 or TTY: (202) 

418–0432. 

For detailed instructions for submitting 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dana Scherer, Media Bureau at (202) 

418–2330. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

synopsis of the Commission’s Order in 

MB Docket No. 07–269, FCC 09–10, 

adopted February 20, 2009, and released 

February 23, 2009. The complete text of 

the Order is available for inspection and 

copying during regular business hours 

in the FCC’s Reference Information 

Center, Room CY-A257, Portals II, 445 

Twelfth Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20554. The complete text is also 

available on the Commission’s Internet 

Site at http://www.fcc.gov. Alternative 

formats are available to persons with 

disabilities by contacting the Consumer 

& Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 

418–0530 (voice), (202) 418–0432 

(TTY). The complete text of the Order 

may also be purchased from the 

Commission’s duplicating contractor, 

Best Company and Printing, Inc., Portals 

II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY–B402, 

Washington, DC 20554, telephone (202) 

863–2893, facsimile (202) 863–2898, or 

by e-mail fcc@bcpiweb.com, or via its 

Web site http://www.bcpiweb.com. 

Synopsis of Order 

1. On January 16, 2009, the 

Commission released its 13th Annual 

Report to Congress on the status of 

competition in the market for the 

delivery of video programming. See 

Annual Assessment of the Status of 

Competition in the Market for the 

Delivery of Video Programming, 13th 

Annual Report, MB Docket No. 06–189, 

FCC 07–206. The Report provided 

information as of 2006. On the same 

date, the Commission released a Notice 

of Inquiry (‘‘NOI’’) soliciting 2007 data 

for the 14th Annual Report. See Annual 

Assessment of the Status of Competition 

in the Market for the Delivery of Video 

Programming, Notice of Inquiry, MB 

Docket No. 07–269, FCC 07–207. See 

also 74 FR 6875, Feb. 11, 2009. To fulfill 

its obligation to report annually on the 

state of competition in the video 

marketplace, pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 

548(g), the Commission needs to bring 

its reporting up to date. Accordingly, 

the Commission will issue a single 

report covering 2007, 2008, and 2009. 

To provide a record for the development 

of this combined report, the 

Commission will issue a supplemental 

notice of inquiry in this proceeding, as 

soon as possible, to request information 

for 2008 and 2009. The supplemental 

notice will establish a single deadline 

for the filing of information for 2007 and 

2008 and a slightly later deadline for the 

filing of information for 2009. The 

establishment of a single set of filing 

deadlines for 2007 and 2008 will avoid 

duplication of effort by commenters and 

will streamline Commission review of 

the submitted information, thereby 

conserving commenters’ and 

Commission resources. 

2. Comments in response to the 

pending NOI seeking information as of 

June 30, 2007, are due on February 27, 

2009, and reply comments are due on 

March 27, 2009. To provide time for the 

Commission to solicit additional data 

and comment pertaining to 2008 and 

2009, and to afford commenters the 

opportunity to file their 2007 and 2008 

information concurrently, we are hereby 

extending the comment periods 

announced in the NOI to coincide with 

the filing deadlines we expect to 

establish for the additional information 

for 2008. Accordingly, the deadlines for 

responding to the NOI are extended, sua 

sponte until April 28, 2009, for initial 

comments and until May 28, 2009, for 

reply comments. Comment deadlines for 

2009 will be announced when the 

Commission issues its Supplemental 

NOI. 

Procedural Matters 

3. Authority. This Order is issued 

pursuant to Sections 4(i), 4(j), 403 and 

628(g) of the Communications Act of 

1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 

154(j), 403, and 548(g), and Sections 

0.061, 0.204, 0.283, and 1.46 of the 

rules, 47 CFR 0.061, 0.204, 0.283, and 

1.46. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–5634 Filed 3–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Announcement of Board 

Approval Under Delegated Authority 

and Submission to OMB 

SUMMARY: Background. Notice is hereby 

given of the final approval of the 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 49 / Monday, March 16, 2009 / Notices 11103 

1On bank that is a member of this bankers’ 

organization referred to the organization’s comment 

letter and appeared to concur with the 

organization’s comments, but also addressed one 

aspect of the proposal on which the bankers’ 

organization did not specifically comment. 

proposed information collection by the 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System (Board) under OMB 

delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 

1320.16 (OMB Regulations on 

Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the 

Public). Board-approved collections of 

information are incorporated into the 

official OMB inventory of currently 

approved collections of information. 

Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act 

Submission, supporting statements and 

approved collection of information 

instrument(s) are placed into OMB’s 

public docket files. The Federal Reserve 

may not conduct or sponsor, and the 

respondent is not required to respond 

to, an information collection that has 

been extended, revised, or implemented 

on or after October 1, 1995, unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Federal Reserve Board Clearance 

Officer—Michelle Shore—Division of 

Research and Statistics, Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, Washington, DC 20551 (202– 

452–3829). 

OMB Desk Officer—Shagufta 

Ahmed—Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, New 

Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 

Washington, DC 20503. 

Final Approval Under OMB Delegated 

Authority of the Revision, Without 

Extension of the Following Report 

1. Report Title: Consolidated 

Financial Statements for Bank Holding 

Companies, Parent Company Only 

Financial Statements for Small Bank 

Holding Companies. 

Agency Form Number: FR Y–9C, FR 

Y–9SP. 

OMB Control Number: 7100–0128. 

Frequency: FR Y–9C, quarterly; FR Y– 

9SP, semi-annually. 

Reporters: Bank holding companies 

(BHCs). 

Annual Reporting Hours: FR Y–9C, 

162,602 hours; FR Y–9SP, 48,254 hours. 

Estimated Average Hours per 

Response: FR Y–9C, 41.65 hours; FR Y– 

9SP, 5.40 hours. 

Number of Respondents: FR Y–9C, 

976; FR Y–9SP, 4,468. 

General Description of Report: This 

information collection is mandatory (12 

U.S.C. 1844(c)). Confidential treatment 

is not routinely given to the data in 

these reports. However, confidential 

treatment for the reporting information, 

in whole or in part, can be requested in 

accordance with the instructions to the 

form, pursuant to sections (b)(4), (b)(6) 

and (b)(8) of the Freedom of Information 

Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), (b)(6) and (b)(8)). 

Abstract: The FR Y–9C and FR Y–9SP 

are standardized financial statements for 

the consolidated BHC and its parent. 

The FR Y–9 family of reports 

historically has been, and continues to 

be, the primary source of financial 

information on BHCs between on-site 

inspections. Financial information from 

these reports is used to detect emerging 

financial problems, to review 

performance and conduct preinspection analysis, to monitor and 

evaluate capital adequacy, to evaluate 

BHC mergers and acquisitions, and to 

analyze a BHC’s overall financial 

condition to ensure safe and sound 

operations. 

The FR Y–9C consists of standardized 

financial statements similar to the 

Federal Financial Institutions 

Examination Council (FFIEC) 

Consolidated Reports of Condition and 

Income (Call Reports) (FFIEC 031 & 041; 

OMB No. 7100–0036) filed by 

commercial banks. The FR Y–9C 

collects consolidated data from BHCs. 

The FR Y–9C is filed by top-tier BHCs 

with total consolidated assets of $500 

million or more. (Under certain 

circumstances defined in the General 

Instructions, BHCs under $500 million 

may be required to file the FR Y–9C.) 

The FR Y–9SP is a parent company 

only financial statement filed by smaller 

BHCs. Respondents include BHCs with 

total consolidated assets of less than 

$500 million. This form is a simplified 

or abbreviated version of the more 

extensive parent company only 

financial statement for large BHCs (FR 

Y–9LP). This report is designed to 

obtain basic balance sheet and income 

information for the parent company, 

information on intangible assets, and 

information on intercompany 

transactions. 

Current Actions: On November 13, 

2008, the Federal Reserve published a 

notice in the Federal Register (73 FR 

67159) requesting public comment for 

60 days on the revision, without 

extension, of the FR Y–9C and FR Y–9 

SP reports. The comment period for this 

notice expired on January 12, 2009. The 

Federal Reserve received two comment 

letters on this proposal addressing only 

changes proposed to the FR Y–9C 

report. In addition, six comment letters 

were received by the Federal Reserve, 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 

and Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency (the banking agencies) on 

proposed revisions to the Call Reports 

that parallel the proposed revisions to 

the FR Y–9C and are taken into 

consideration for this proposal. No 

comments were received on proposed 

changes to the FR Y–9SP. 

The Federal Reserve received two 

comment letters on proposed revisions 

to the FR Y–9C: One from a bankers’ 

organization (which also submitted 

comparable comments on proposed 

changes to the Call Report) and one 

from a bank consulting firm. In 

addition, the banking agencies received 

comment letters from six organizations: 

Two banks, one bank holding company, 

two bankers’ organizations, and a bank 

insurance consultant on proposed 

changes to the Call Report that parallel 

proposed changes to the FR Y–9C, and 

are taken into consideration for this 

proposal. No comments were received 

on proposed changes to the FR Y–9SP. 

None of the commenters addressed all 

of the aspects of the proposed changes 

to the FR Y–9C. Rather, individual 

comments addressed certain specific 

proposed changes. In two cases, 

commenters raised reporting matters 

that were not addressed in the Federal 

Reserve’s proposal. The following is a 

summary of the general comments 

received on the proposed FR Y–9C 

revisions and on proposed changes to 

the Call Report that parallel proposed 

changes to the FR Y–9C. 

One bankers’ organization stated that 

it believed that the proposed revisions 

would provide additional information 

that would be useful for the assessment 

of risk. This organization expressed 

general agreement, on balance, with the 

proposed revisions, but also offered 

several suggested changes for 

consideration.1 Another bankers’ 

organization indicated its understanding 

of the need for more information on 

certain types of loans currently under 

stress, but noted that the proposed 

revisions would require many 

community banking institutions to 

submit significantly more data in their 

regulatory reports. This organization 

hoped that the increased staff time that 

would be needed to provide the 

proposed data would be offset by a 

reduction in on-site examination time 

through examiners’ use of these data to 

better focus their examination priorities. 

In this regard, the intent in proposing 

the revisions to the FR Y–9C was to 

enhance risk-focused supervision, both 

from an off-site and an on-site 

perspective. The third bankers’ 

organization commented on the amount 

of lead time necessary for institutions to 

implement systems changes to enable 

them to provide the requested 

additional data, recommending a 

11104 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 49 / Monday, March 16, 2009 / Notices 

2See 12 U.S.C. 1831n(a). 

3See section I.C of this notice on unused 

commitments, section II.B on past due and 

nonaccrual trading assets, and the portion of section 

II.C addressing the present value of unpaid 

premiums on sold credit protection. 

4The Federal Reserve will also implement these 

new data items as proposed for the FR Y–9SP 

report, effective as of June 30, 2009. 

5This change in accounting treatment does not 

apply to acquired held-for-investment loans within 

the scope of American Institute of Certified Public 

Accountants Statement of Position 03–3, 

Accounting for Certain Loans or Debt Securities 

Acquired in a Transfer (SOP 03–3). 

minimum of three months between the 

publication of final revisions in the 

Federal Register and the effective date 

of the reporting changes. 

Two commenters submitted 

comments on issues that were not 

addressed in the FR Y–9C proposal. One 

bank holding company sent a copy of 

separate correspondence that it had 

previously sent to three organizations 

suggesting a suspension of the 

accounting rules for other-thantemporary impairments on investment 

securities. By law, the accounting 

principles applicable to the FR Y–9C 

must be consistent with or, if certain 

conditions are met, no less stringent 

than generally accepted accounting 

principles (GAAP).2 Therefore, the 

suggested suspension of accounting 

rules cannot be implemented for FR Y– 

9C reporting purposes. 

One bank consulting firm 

recommended revising the FR Y–9C to 

require fee income to be reported 

separately from interest income, and to 

add a new data item for the fair value 

changes to interest revenue. As stated in 

the FR Y–9C instructions (and noted by 

the commenter), FASB Statement No. 

91, ‘‘Accounting for Nonrefundable Fees 

and Costs Associated with Originating 

or Acquiring Loans and Initial Direct 

Costs of Leases,’’ generally prescribes 

that fees associated with lending 

activities should be deferred and 

recognized over the life of the related 

loan as an adjustment of yield (interest 

income). Thus, GAAP guidance does not 

require separate disclosure of fee 

income. Regarding the request for a new 

data item for fair value changes to 

interest income, the commenter 

mistakenly concluded that fair value 

option revaluations (net change in the 

fair values of interest-bearing financial 

assets) is included with interest and fee 

income on loans, and thus wanted this 

amount reported separately from 

interest and fee income. However, such 

fair value option revaluations are 

included in other noninterest income on 

the income statement, not as part of 

interest income and fees on loans. 

Accordingly, the Federal Reserve will 

not implement either of the 

commenter’s suggested revisions. 

After considering the comments 

received on the proposal, the Federal 

Reserve will move forward with the 

majority of the proposed revisions, with 

limited modifications in response to 

certain comments, on the phased-in 

basis as proposed. The Federal Reserve 

is continuing to evaluate certain other 

proposed revisions in light of the 

comments received thereon, and 

therefore will not implement these 

revisions until after it has fully 

reviewed the comments.3

The Federal Reserve recognizes 

institutions’ need for lead time to 

prepare for reporting changes, which 

was the rationale for proposing the 

phased-in implementation schedule for 

2009. The data items that will be new 

or revised effective March 31, 2009, are 

limited in number and most are linked 

to changes in GAAP or changes in 

regulation. For the March 31, 2009, 

report date, bank holding companies 

may provide reasonable estimates for 

any new or revised data item initially 

required to be reported as of that date 

for which the requested information is 

not readily available. This same policy 

on the use of reasonable estimates will 

apply to the reporting of other new or 

revised data items when they are first 

implemented effective June 30 or later. 

Sections I and II of this memo identify 

the changes proposed to take effect 

March 31 and June 30, respectively; 

discuss the Federal Reserve’s evaluation 

of the comments received on the 

proposed changes that the Federal 

Reserve will implement, as modified; 

and describe the proposed FR Y–9C 

revisions that will remain under review. 

I. FR Y–9C Report Revisions Proposed 

for March 2009 

The Federal Reserve and the other 

banking agencies received either 

supportive comments or no comments 

on the following revisions that were 

proposed to take effect as of March 31, 

2009, and therefore the Federal Reserve 

will implement these revisions as 

proposed: 

• New data items and revisions to 

existing data items on trading assets and 

liabilities, 

• New data items associated with the 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

(Treasury) Capital Purchase Program 

(CPP) 4, 

• New data items and revisions to 

existing data items on regulatory capital 

requirements, 

• Revisions to several FR Y–9C 

schedules in response to accounting 

changes applicable to noncontrolling 

(minority) interests in consolidated 

subsidiaries, and 

• Instructional guidance on 

quantifying misstatements. 

The Federal Reserve and other 

banking agencies received one or more 

substantive comments addressing each 

of the following proposed March 31, 

2009, revisions: 

• The addition of new data items in 

response to a revised accounting 

standard that will provide information 

on held-for-investment loans and leases 

acquired in business combinations, 

• Clarifications of the definition of 

the term loan secured by real estate and 

of the instructions for reporting unused 

commitments, and 

• Exemptions from reporting certain 

existing data items for bank holding 

companies with less than $1 billion in 

total assets. 

The comments and the Federal 

Reserve’s responses related to these 

proposed revisions are discussed below. 

A. Loans and Leases Acquired in 

Business Combinations 

Banking institutions must apply 

Statement of Financial Accounting 

Standards No. 141 (Revised), Business 

Combinations (FAS 141(R)), which was 

issued in December 2007, prospectively 

to business combinations for which the 

acquisition date is on or after the 

beginning of their first annual reporting 

period beginning on or after December 

15, 2008. Thus, for banking institutions 

with calendar year fiscal years, FAS 

141(R) will apply to business 

combinations with acquisition dates on 

or after January 1, 2009. Compared to 

current accounting practice, FAS 141(R) 

significantly changes the accounting for 

those loans and leases acquired in 

business combinations that will be held 

for investment.5 In response to this 

accounting change, the Federal Reserve 

proposed to add new data items to the 

FR Y–9C loan and lease schedule 

(Schedule HC–C) that would mirror the 

acquisition-date disclosures required by 

FAS 141(R). These new data items 

would disclose the following 

information for four categories of loans 

(not subject to SOP 03–3) and leases that 

were acquired in each business 

combination that occurred during the 

year-to-date reporting period: 

• The fair value of the loans and 

leases, 

• The gross contractual amounts 

receivable, and 

• The best estimate at the acquisition 

date of the contractual cash flows not 

expected to be collected. 

The four categories of acquired heldfor-investment loans (not subject to SOP 

03–3) and leases are: 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 49 / Monday, March 16, 2009 / Notices 11105 

• Loans secured by real estate; 

• Commercial and industrial loans; 

• Loans to individuals for household, 

family, and other personal expenditures; 

and 

• All other loans and all leases. 

These new data items would be 

completed by banking institutions that 

have engaged in business combinations 

that must be accounted for in 

accordance with FAS 141(R) for 

transactions for which the acquisition 

date is on or after January 1, 2009. A 

banking institution that has completed 

one or more business combinations 

during the current calendar year would 

report these acquisition date data (as 

aggregate totals if multiple business 

combinations have occurred) in each FR 

Y–9C submission after the acquisition 

date during that year. The acquisition 

date data would not be reported in years 

after the year in which the acquisition 

occurs. 

One bankers’ organization stated that 

it concurred with the proposal to 

require these additional disclosures for 

loans (not subject to SOP 03–3) and 

leases acquired in business 

combinations that occurred during the 

reporting period. No other commenter 

addressed these proposed additional 

disclosures. Accordingly, the Federal 

Reserve will implement these data items 

in the March 31, 2009, FR Y–9C, as 

proposed. 

In the FR Y–9C proposal, the Federal 

Reserve stated that it was considering 

whether banking institutions that have 

engaged in FAS 141(R) business 

combinations should provide additional 

information in the FR Y–9C (beyond the 

disclosures described above) about 

acquired held-for-investment loans (not 

subject to SOP 03–3) and leases and the 

loss allowances established for them in 

periods after their acquisition. The 

proposal stated that the additional data 

items under consideration included the 

outstanding balance of these acquired 

loans and leases, their carrying amount, 

and the amount of allowances for postacquisition credit losses on these loans 

and leases. The Federal Reserve 

indicated that this information would 

help the Federal Reserve as well as 

other report users to track management’s 

judgments regarding the collectability of 

the acquired loans and leases in periods 

after the acquisition date and evaluate 

fluctuations in the level of the overall 

Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses 

(ALLL) as a percentage of the held-forinvestment loan and lease portfolio in 

periods after a business combination. 

The Federal Reserve requested comment 

on the merits and availability of these 

post-acquisition loan and lease data and 

the period of time after a business 

combination that this information 

should be reported. 

Two bankers’ organizations 

commented on these additional loan 

and lease disclosures. One organization 

did not specifically address the merits 

of this information, stating only that if 

banking institutions were required to 

report these additional data, they should 

report it only through the end of the 

calendar year of the business 

combination. The second organization 

agreed with the first organization 

concerning the reporting period for 

these additional data. However, this 

organization also stated its belief that 

the post-acquisition data on acquired 

loans and leases would often not be 

available because acquired performing 

loans and leases would tend to be 

combined with, rather than segregated 

from, a banking institution’s other 

performing loans and leases. 

After considering these comments, the 

Federal Reserve will not add data items 

to the FR Y–9C for the outstanding 

balance of held-for-investment loans 

(not subject to SOP 03–3) and leases 

acquired in FAS 141(R) business 

combinations, their carrying amount, 

and the amount of allowances for postacquisition credit losses on these loans 

and leases. The Federal Reserve will 

continue to monitor accounting and 

disclosure practices with respect to 

these acquired loans and leases and 

their post-acquisition allowances and 

assess their data needs in this area. Any 

future revisions to the FR Y–9C to 

collect data on acquired loans and 

leases and post-acquisition allowances 

will be subject to notice and comment. 

B. Clarification of the Definition of Loan 

Secured by Real Estate 

The Federal Reserve has found that 

the definition of a loan secured by real 

estate in the Glossary section of the FR 

Y–9C instructions has been interpreted 

differently by report preparers and 

users. This has led to inconsistent 

reporting of loans collateralized by real 

estate in the loan schedule (Schedule 

HC–C) and other schedules of the FR Y– 

9C that collect loan data. As a result, the 

Federal Reserve proposed to clarify the 

definition by explaining that the 

estimated value of the real estate 

collateral must be greater than 50 

percent of the principal amount of the 

loan at origination in order for the loan 

to be considered secured by real estate. 

Banking institutions would apply this 

clarified definition prospectively and 

they need not reevaluate and 

recategorize loans that they currently 

report as loans secured by real estate 

into other loan categories on the FR Y– 

9C loan schedules. 

One bankers’ organization stated that 

it believes that the proposed definition 

of a loan secured by real estate is 

workable and provides additional 

clarity. One bank submitted examples 

involving loans with real estate as 

collateral and asked how they would be 

reported based on the revised definition. 

The Federal Reserve will implement the 

clarified definition of loan secured by 

real estate as proposed but, in response 

to this latter comment, also add 

examples to the definition to assist 

banking institutions in understanding 

how it should be applied. 

C. Clarification of Instructions for 

Unused Commitments 

Banking institutions report unused 

commitments in Schedule HC–L, data 

item 1. The instructions for this data 

item identify various arrangements that 

should be reported as unused 

commitments, including but not limited 

to commitments for which the banking 

institution has charged a commitment 

fee or other consideration, commitments 

that are legally binding, loan proceeds 

that the banking institution is obligated 

to advance, commitments to issue a 

commitment, and revolving 

underwriting facilities. However, some 

banking institutions have not reported 

commitments that they have entered 

into until they have signed the loan 

agreement for the financing that they 

have committed to provide. Although 

these arrangements are considered to be 

within the scope of the existing 

instructions for reporting commitments 

in Schedule HC–L, the instructions may 

not be sufficiently clear. Therefore, the 

Federal Reserve proposed to revise the 

instructions for Schedule HC–L, data 

item 1, Unused commitments, to more 

clearly and completely explain the 

arrangements that should be reported in 

this data item. 

All three bankers’ organizations 

submitting comments on the proposed 

FR Y–9C revisions specifically 

addressed the proposed instructional 

clarification pertaining to unused 

commitments. One organization agreed 

that clarification is needed, but 

recommended that commitments to 

issue a commitment in the future, 

including those entered into even 

though the related loan agreement has 

not yet been signed, should be removed 

from the list of types of arrangements 

that the instructions would direct 

banking institutions to report as unused 

commitments. The other two bankers’ 

organizations also commented on the 

inclusion of this type of arrangement as 

an unused commitment. One 

organization expressed concern about 

reporting ‘‘commitments that contain a 

11106 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 49 / Monday, March 16, 2009 / Notices 

relatively high level of uncertainty until 

a loan agreement has been signed or the 

loan has been funded with a first 

advance’’ and the reliability of data on 

such commitments. The other 

organization stated that because some 

banking institutions do not have 

systems for tracking such arrangements, 

the instructions should in effect permit 

banking institutions to exclude 

commitment letters with an expiration 

date of 90 days or less. Finally, the first 

bankers’ organization also 

recommended that the instructions for 

reporting unused commitments should 

state that amounts conveyed or 

participated to others that the conveying 

or participating banking institution is 

not obligated to fund should not be 

reported as unused commitments by the 

conveying or participating banking 

institution. 

The Federal Reserve is continuing to 

evaluate these recommendations. As a 

consequence, the Federal Reserve will 

not revise the instructions for Schedule 

HC–L, data item 1, Unused 

commitments, effective March 31, 2009, 

as proposed, leaving the existing 

instructions for this Schedule HC–L 

data item to remain in effect. Once 

deliberations on these recommendations 

are concluded and a determination is 

made on whether and how to revise the 

instructions for reporting Unused 

commitments in Schedule HC–L, data 

item 1, these conclusions will be 

published in a separate Federal Register 

notice. If the instructions to Schedule 

HC–L, data item 1, are subsequently 

revised, the clarifications to these 

instructions would take effect no earlier 

than December 31, 2009. 

D. Exemptions From Reporting for 

Certain Existing FR Y–9C 

The Federal Reserve has identified 

certain data items for which the 

reported data are of lesser usefulness for 

banking institutions with less than $1 

billion in total assets. Accordingly, the 

Federal Reserve proposed to exempt 

such banking institutions from 

completing the following data items 

effective March 31, 2009: 

• Schedule HI, Memorandum item 

12, Income from the sale and servicing 

of mutual funds and annuities (in 

domestic offices), 

• Schedule HC–L, data item 2.a, 

Amount of financial standby letters of 

credit conveyed to others, and 

• Schedule HC–L, data item 3.a, 

Amount of performance standby letters 

of credit conveyed to others. 

One commenter, a bank insurance 

consultant, objected to the proposal to 

exempt banking institutions with less 

than $1 billion in total assets from 

reporting the data item, Income from the 

sale and servicing of mutual funds and 

annuities (in domestic offices), stating 

that this data item should be preserved 

in the regulatory reports. This 

commenter also stated that the proposal 

did not explain how the determination 

was made that the collection of this data 

item from banking institutions in this 

size range is of lesser usefulness. This 

commenter added that by eliminating 

the reporting of this income information 

for these banking institutions, ‘‘we will 

lose our sole window into community 

banks’ mutual fund and annuity 

activities.’’ 

Memorandum item 12 was added to 

Schedule HI of the FR Y–9C in 1995. At 

that time, the Federal Reserve collected 

limited information on banking 

institutions’ noninterest income. 

However, since 2001, the Federal 

Reserve has significantly expanded the 

amount of detailed information 

collected on noninterest income in 

recognition of the increasing importance 

of such income to banking institutions’ 

earnings. As a result, all respondents, 

regardless of size, currently report the 

amount of Fees and commissions from 

securities brokerage and Fees and 

commissions from annuity sales in 

Schedule HI, data items 5.d.(1) and 

5.d.(3), each quarter. Data item 5.d.(1) 

specifically includes income from the 

sale and servicing of mutual funds. 

Thus, in general, the income that a 

banking institution reports in Schedule 

HI, Memorandum item 12, will have 

been included in these two noninterest 

income data items in the body of 

Schedule HI. However, although the 

bank insurance consultant stated that as 

of ‘‘June 30, 2008, more banks with less 

than $1 billion in assets reported mutual 

fund and annuity income’’ than 

reported eight other types of noninterest 

income in the body of the income 

statement, the consultant did not 

provide comparative data for the 

number of such banks reporting ‘‘Fees 

and commissions from securities 

brokerage’’ or ‘‘Fees and commissions 

from annuity sales.’’ 

In addition, the Federal Reserve will 

continue to use the FR Y–9C to identify 

banking institutions that sell private 

label or third party mutual funds and 

annuities (Schedule HC-M, data item 

15) as well as banking institutions 

managing assets held in proprietary 

mutual funds and annuities (Schedule 

HC-M, data item 16). Furthermore, FR 

Y–9C users have indicated that 

Schedule HI, Memorandum item 12, 

Income from the sale and servicing of 

mutual funds and annuities is regarded 

as being of lesser usefulness than the 

noninterest income data items with 

which it overlaps (data items 5.d.(1) and 

5.d.(3) of Schedule HI). Accordingly, 

after considering the views expressed by 

the bank insurance consultant, the 

Federal Reserve believes that the 

existing income statement data items for 

Fees and commissions from securities 

brokerage and Fees and commissions 

from annuity sales are sufficient to meet 

ongoing needs for income data on these 

types of activities from banking 

institutions with less than $1 billion in 

total assets and recommends that such 

banking institutions should be exempt 

from separately reporting Income from 

the sale and servicing of mutual funds 

and annuities beginning March 31, 

2009, as proposed. 

The Federal Reserve received no 

comments specifically addressing the 

other data items for which banking 

institutions with less than $1 billion in 

assets would be exempt from continued 

reporting and the Federal Reserve will 

implement these exemptions as of 

March 31, 2009, as proposed. 

II. FR Y–9C Revisions Proposed for 

June 2009 

The Federal Reserve and other 

banking agencies received either 

supportive comments or no comments 

on the following revisions to the FR Y– 

9C that were proposed to take effect as 

of June 30, 2009, and therefore the 

Federal Reserve will implement these 

revisions as proposed: 

• Holdings of collateralized debt 

obligations and other structured 

financial products by type of product 

and underlying collateral, 

• Holdings of commercial mortgagebacked securities, 

• Unused commitments with an 

original maturity of one year or less to 

asset-backed commercial paper 

conduits, 

• Pledged loans and pledged trading 

assets, 

• Collateral held against over-thecounter (OTC) derivative exposures by 

type of collateral and type of 

counterparty as well as the current 

credit exposure on OTC derivatives by 

type of counterparty (for banking 

institutions with $10 billion or more in 

total assets), 

• Fair value measurements by level 

for asset and liability categories reported 

at fair value on a recurring basis 

(banking institutions that apply a fair 

value option, or are required to 

complete the FR Y–9C trading 

schedule), and 

• Investments in real estate ventures. 

The agencies received one or more 

substantive comments addressing each 

of the following proposed June 30, 2009, 

revisions: 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 49 / Monday, March 16, 2009 / Notices 11107 

6 71 FR 74580, December 12, 2006. 

• Real estate construction and 

development loans outstanding with 

capitalized interest and the amount of 

such interest included in income for the 

quarter (for banking institutions with 

construction and development loan 

concentrations), 

• Past due and nonaccrual trading 

assets, and 

• Credit derivatives by credit quality 

and remaining maturity and by 

regulatory capital treatment. 

The comments and the Federal 

Reserve’s responses related to these 

proposed revisions are discussed below. 

A. Construction and Development Loans 

With Interest Reserves 

In December 2006, the agencies issued 

final guidance on commercial real estate 

(CRE) loans, including construction, 

land development, and other land (C&D) 

loans, entitled Concentrations in 

Commercial Real Estate Lending, Sound 

Risk Management Practices (CRE 

Guidance).6 This guidance was 

developed to reinforce sound risk 

management practices for institutions 

with high and increasing concentrations 

of commercial real estate loans on their 

balance sheets. It provides a framework 

for assessing CRE concentrations; risk 

management, including board and 

management oversight, portfolio 

management, management information 

systems, market analysis and stress 

testing, underwriting and credit risk 

review; and supervisory oversight, 

including CRE concentration 

management and an assessment of 

capital adequacy. 

In issuing the CRE Guidance, the 

agencies noted that CRE concentrations 

had been rising over the past several 

years and had reached levels that could 

create safety and soundness concerns in 

the event of a significant economic 

downturn. As a consequence, the CRE 

Guidance explains that, as part of their 

ongoing supervisory monitoring 

processes, the agencies would use 

certain criteria to identify institutions 

that are potentially exposed to 

significant CRE concentration risk. 

Thus, the CRE Guidance states in part 

that an institution whose total reported 

C&D loans is approaching or exceeds 

100 percent or more of the institution’s 

total risk-based capital may be 

identified for further supervisory 

analysis of the level and nature of its 

CRE concentration risk. As of March 31, 

2008, approximately 51 percent of all 

FR Y–9C respondents held C&D loans in 

excess of 100 percent of their total riskbased capital. 

A practice that is common in C&D 

lending is the establishment of an 

interest reserve as part of the original 

underwriting of a C&D loan. The interest 

reserve account allows the lender to 

periodically advance loan funds to pay 

interest charges on the outstanding 

balance of the loan. The interest is 

capitalized and added to the loan 

balance. Frequently, C&D loan budgets 

will include an interest reserve to carry 

the project from origination to 

completion and may cover the project’s 

anticipated sell-out or lease-up period. 

Although potentially beneficial to the 

lender and the borrower, the use of 

interest reserves carries certain risks. Of 

particular concern is the possibility that 

an interest reserve could disguise 

problems with a borrower’s willingness 

and ability to repay the debt consistent 

with the terms and conditions of the 

loan agreement. For example, a C&D 

loan for a project on which construction 

ceases before it has been completed or 

is not completed in a timely manner 

may appear to be performing if the 

continued capitalization of interest 

through the use of an interest reserve 

keeps the troubled loan current. This 

practice can erode collateral protection 

and mask loans that should otherwise 

be reported as delinquent or in 

nonaccrual status. 

Since the CRE Guidance was issued, 

market conditions have weakened, most 

notably in the C&D sector. As this 

weakening has occurred, examiners 

have been encountering C&D loans on 

projects that are troubled, but where 

interest has been capitalized 

inappropriately, resulting in overstated 

income and understated volumes of past 

due and nonaccrual C&D loans. 

Therefore, to assist in the monitoring of 

C&D lending activities at those banking 

institutions with a concentration of such 

loans, i.e., C&D loans (in domestic 

offices) that exceeded 100 percent of 

total risk-based capital as of the 

previous calendar year-end, the Federal 

Reserve proposed to add two new data 

items. First, banking institutions with 

such a concentration would report the 

amount of C&D loans (in domestic 

offices) included in the FR Y–9C loan 

schedule (Schedule HC–C) on which the 

use of interest reserves is provided for 

in the loan agreement. Second, these 

banking institutions would report the 

amount of capitalized interest included 

in the interest and fee income on loans 

during the quarter. These data, together 

with information that banking 

institutions currently report on the 

amount of past due and nonaccrual C&D 

loans, would assist in identifying 

respondents with C&D loan 

concentrations that may be engaging in 

questionable interest capitalization 

practices for supervisory follow-up. 

One bank expressed agreement with 

concerns about the disguising of 

problems with a borrower’s willingness 

and ability to repay the debt consistent 

with the terms and conditions of the 

loan agreement through the improper 

use of interest reserves on C&D loans. 

The bank also acknowledged that real 

estate market conditions have weakened 

in its market area since the agencies 

issued the CRE Guidance in December 

2006. Although the bank stated that it 

has a concentration of C&D loans, as 

defined above, it reported that a recent 

review of its portfolio revealed that only 

a modest number of its C&D loan 

agreements included interest reserves. 

The bank also described its lending 

policies and controls over the approval 

of interest reserves in the original 

underwriting of a C&D loan and in the 

limited cases when the original loan had 

matured or was otherwise recast. It then 

stated that both the bank lender and its 

supervisory agency should focus their 

attention—and any regulatory reporting 

requirements—on situations when 

interest reserves are added to a loan 

after a development project is 

completed or ‘‘when a project goes over 

budget or otherwise has completion 

issues.’’ With respect to the two 

proposed data items pertaining to C&D 

loans with interest reserves, the bank 

noted that its loan system does not 

currently capture the required data and 

adding this capability to the loan system 

by the proposed June 30, 2009, effective 

date would likely be difficult, which 

would mean that the data would have 

to be compiled manually until system 

changes are in place. 

After further review, the Federal 

Reserve has decided it will not collect 

the two proposed items related to the 

use of interest reserves at this time. 

B. Trading Assets That Are Past Due or 

in Nonaccrual Status 

Currently, the FR Y–9C does not 

distinguish past due and nonaccrual 

trading assets from other assets on 

Schedule HC–N, Past Due and 

Nonaccrual Loans, Leases, and Other 

Assets. The Federal Reserve proposed to 

replace Schedule HC–N, data item 9, 

Debt securities and other assets, that are 

past due 30 days or more or in 

nonaccrual status with two separate 

data items: Data item 9.a, Trading assets, 

and data item 9.b, All other assets 

(including available-for-sale and heldto-maturity securities). These data items 

would follow the existing three column 

breakdown on Schedule HC–N that 

respondents utilize to report assets past 

11108 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 49 / Monday, March 16, 2009 / Notices 

due 30 through 89 days and still 

accruing, past due 90 days or more and 

still accruing, and in nonaccrual status. 

Data item 9.a would include all assets 

held for trading purposes, including 

loans held for trading. Collection of this 

information would allow the Federal 

Reserve to better assess the quality of 

assets held for trading purposes, and 

generally enhance surveillance and 

examination planning efforts. 

The Federal Reserve also proposed to 

expand the scope of Schedule HC–D, 

Trading Assets, Memorandum item 3, 

Loans measured at fair value that are 

past due 90 days or more, to include 

loans held for trading and measured at 

fair value that are in nonaccrual status. 

This change was intended to provide for 

more consistent treatment with the 

information that would be collected on 

Schedule HC–N and with the disclosure 

requirements in FASB Statement No. 

159, The Fair Value Option for 

Financial Assets and Financial 

Liabilities. 

One bankers’ organization stated that 

it believed that disclosure requirements 

regarding the delinquency and 

nonaccrual status of trading securities is 

not particularly meaningful given that 

these securities are marked to market 

through earnings. As a consequence, 

credit risk is already incorporated into 

the market price of each trading 

security. The organization further stated 

that the nonaccrual concept 

traditionally has not been applied to 

trading securities, which makes the 

proposed reporting of such data costly 

and difficult to implement. Accordingly, 

this commenter recommended against 

adding the proposed disclosure 

requirements regarding the delinquency 

and nonaccrual status of trading 

securities. 

The Federal Reserve is continuing to 

evaluate this commenter’s 

recommendation. Therefore, the Federal 

Reserve will not implement the 

revisions to Schedule HC–N, data item 

9, and Schedule HC–D, Memorandum 

item 3, effective June 30, 2009, as 

proposed. The Federal Reserve will 

retain the current data items while it 

considers the proposed reporting 

changes in light of this comment. Once 

deliberations on these proposed 

disclosure requirements are concluded 

and a determination is made on whether 

and how to proceed with them, these 

conclusions will be published in a 

separate Federal Register notice. If 

Schedule HC–N, data item 9, and 

Schedule HC–D, Memorandum item 3, 

are subsequently revised, these 

reporting changes would take effect no 

earlier than December 31, 2009. 

C. Enhanced Information on Credit 

Derivatives 

Effective for the March 2006 FR Y–9C, 

the Federal Reserve revised the 

information collected on credit 

derivatives in Schedules HC–L, 

Derivatives and Off-Balance Sheet 

Items, and HC–R, Regulatory Capital, to 

gain a better understanding of the nature 

and trends of banking institutions’ 

credit derivative activities. Since that 

time, the volume of credit derivative 

activity in the banking industry, as 

measured by the notional amount of 

these contracts, increased steadily 

through March 31, 2008, rising to an 

aggregate notional amount of over $16 

trillion as of that date. The aggregate 

notional amount has since declined 

slightly. Reported data further indicate 

that the credit derivative activity in the 

industry is highly concentrated in 

banking institutions with total assets in 

excess of $10 billion. For these banking 

institutions, credit derivatives function 

as a risk mitigation tool for credit 

exposures in their operations as well as 

a financial product that is sold to third 

parties for risk management and other 

purposes. 

The Federal Reserve’s safety and 

soundness efforts continue to place 

emphasis on understanding and 

assessing the role of credit derivatives in 

bank risk management practices. In 

addition, the Federal Reserve’s 

monitoring of credit derivative activities 

at certain banking institutions has 

identified differences in interpretation 

as to how credit derivatives are treated 

under the Federal Reserve’s risk-based 

capital standards. To further the Federal 

Reserve’s safety and soundness efforts 

concerning credit derivatives and to 

improve transparency in the treatment 

of credit derivatives for regulatory 

capital purposes, the Federal Reserve 

proposed to revise the information 

pertaining to credit derivatives that is 

collected on Schedules HC–L, HC–N 

(Past Due and Nonaccrual Loans, 

Leases, and Other Assets), and HC–R. 

In Schedule HC–L, data item 7, Credit 

derivatives, the Federal Reserve 

proposed to change the column A 

caption, Guarantor, to Sold Protection 

and the column B caption, Beneficiary, 

to Purchased Protection to eliminate 

confusion surrounding the meaning of 

Guarantor and Beneficiary that 

commonly occurs between the users and 

preparers of these data. The Federal 

Reserve also proposed to add a new data 

item 7.c to Schedule HC–L to collect 

information on the notional amount of 

credit derivatives by regulatory capital 

treatment. For credit derivatives that are 

subject to the Federal Reserve’s market 

risk capital standards, the Federal 

Reserve proposed to collect the notional 

amount of sold protection and the 

amount of purchased protection. For all 

other credit derivatives, the Federal 

Reserve proposed to collect the notional 

amount of sold protection, the notional 

amount of purchased protection that is 

recognized as a guarantee under the 

risk-based capital guidelines, and the 

notional amount of purchased 

protection that is not recognized as a 

guarantee under the risk-based capital 

standards. 

The Federal Reserve also proposed to 

add a new data item 7.d to Schedule 

HC–L to collect information on the 

notional amount of credit derivatives by 

credit rating and remaining maturity. 

The data item would collect the 

notional amount of sold protection 

broken down by credit ratings of 

investment grade and subinvestment 

grade for the underlying reference asset 

and by remaining maturities of one year 

or less, over one year through five years, 

and over five years. The same 

information would be collected for 

purchased protection. 

In Schedule HC–N, the Federal 

Reserve proposed to change the scope of 

Memorandum item 6, Past due interest 

rate, foreign exchange rate, and other 

commodity and equity contracts, to 

include credit derivatives. The fair 

value of credit derivatives where the 

banking institution has purchased 

protection increased significantly to 

over $500 billion at March 31, 2008, as 

compared to below negative $10 billion 

at March 31, 2007. Thus, the 

performance of credit derivative 

counterparties has increased in 

importance. The expanded scope of 

Memorandum item 6 on Schedule HC– 

N would include the fair value of credit 

derivatives carried as assets that are past 

due 30 through 89 days and past due 90 

days or more. 

In Schedule HC–R the Federal 

Reserve proposed to change the scope of 

the information collected in 

Memorandum items 2.g.(1) and (2) on 

the notional principal amounts of Credit 

derivative contracts that are subject to 

risk-based capital requirements to 

include only (a) the notional principal 

amount of purchased protection that is 

defined as a covered position under the 

market risk capital guidelines and (b) 

the notional principal amount of 

purchased protection that is not a 

covered position under the market risk 

capital guidelines and is not recognized 

as a guarantee for risk-based capital 

purposes. The scope of Memorandum 

item 1, Current credit exposure across 

all derivative contracts covered by the 

risk-based capital standards, would be 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 49 / Monday, March 16, 2009 / Notices 11109 

similarly revised to include the current 

credit exposure arising from credit 

derivative contracts that represent (a) 

purchased protection that is defined as 

a covered position under the market risk 

capital guidelines and (b) purchased 

protection that is not a covered position 

under the market risk capital guidelines 

and is not recognized as a guarantee for 

risk-based capital purposes. The Federal 

Reserve also proposed to add new 

Memorandum items 3.a and 3.b to 

Schedule HC–R to collect the present 

value of unpaid premiums on sold 

credit protection that is defined as a 

covered position under the market risk 

capital guidelines. Consistent with the 

information currently reported in 

Memorandum item 2.g, the Federal 

Reserve proposed to collect this present 

value information with a breakdown 

between investment grade and 

subinvestment grade for the rating of the 

underlying reference asset and with the 

same three remaining maturity 

breakouts. 

No comments were received on any of 

the proposed reporting revisions 

pertaining to credit derivatives 

described above, except for a comment 

from a bankers’ organization on the 

proposal to collect data on Schedule 

HC–R relating to the present value of 

unpaid premiums on sold credit 

protection that is defined as a covered 

position under the market risk capital 

guidelines. Accordingly, the Federal 

Reserve will implement all of the 

proposed credit derivative reporting 

changes—other than the proposed new 

Schedule HC–R data items for present 

value data—as of June 30, 2009, as 

proposed. With respect to the present 

value data, the bankers’ organization 

requested clarification of the impact of 

this proposed reporting requirement on 

a banking institution’s risk-based capital 

calculations. The Federal Reserve is 

continuing to consider this comment 

and the proposed collection of present 

value data for certain credit derivatives. 

Therefore, the Federal Reserve will not 

add Memorandum items 3.a and 3.b to 

Schedule HC–R to collect this present 

value information effective June 30, 

2009, as proposed. Once deliberations 

on the comment and the proposed 

present value data items have been 

concluded, conclusions will be 

published in a separate Federal Register 

notice. If Memorandum items 3.a and 

3.b are subsequently added to Schedule 

HC–R, this new reporting requirement 

would take effect no earlier than 

December 31, 2009. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, March 11, 2009. 

Jennifer J. Johnson, 

Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. E9–5584 Filed 3–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

intention of the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) approve the proposed 

information collection project: 

‘‘Improving Patient Flow and Reducing 

Emergency Department Crowding.’’ In 

accordance with the Paperwork 

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

3506(c)(2)(A), AHRQ invites the public 

to comment on this proposed 

information collection. 

This proposed information collection 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on January 15th, 2009 and 

allowed 60 days for public comment. 

One comment was received. The 

purpose of this notice is to allow an 

additional 30 days for public comment. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by April 15, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: AHRQ’s OMB Desk 

Officer by fax at (202) 395–6974 

(attention: AHRQ’s desk officer) or by email at OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov 

(attention: AHRQ’s desk officer). 

Copies of the proposed collection 

plans, data collection instruments, and 

specific details on the estimated burden 

can be obtained from the AHRQ Reports 

Clearance Officer. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports 

Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477, or by 

e-mail at doris.lefkowitz@ahrq.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

‘‘Improving Patient Flow and 

Reducing Emergency Department 

Crowding’’ AHRQ proposes to study 

implementation of strategies from the 

Urgent Matters (UM) Toolkit for 

improving patient flow in emergency 

departments (ED). UM, a Robert Wood 

Johnson Foundation (RWJF) funded 

initiative, began as a collaborative of 10 

urban, safety net hospitals that 

experimented with a variety of strategies 

(now included in the ‘‘UM Toolkit’’) 

designed to relieve ED crowding. The 

first phase of this initiative 

demonstrated that reductions in ED 

crowding were achievable without 

investment of significant financial 

resources. However, implementation of 

these strategies has not been 

widespread, and questions remain about 

how readily the strategies could be 

implemented in a more diverse group of 

hospitals, and the associated costs and 

outcomes of implementation. This study 

is funded by a grant from RWJF to 

AHRQ. 

Six diverse hospitals have been 

selected for this study of the 

implementation of strategies from the 

UM Toolkit for improving ED patient 

flow. This study poses a common 

outcome goal across all six sites of 

improving patient flow and reducing ED 

crowding, but requires each hospital to 

select strategies that fit its own needs 

and context. This approach rests on 

innovation research showing that 

organizational innovations are more 

successful when they are aligned with 

features of the adopting hospital. 

Participating hospitals will select 

strategies from the UM Toolkit that they 

believe will work best to address the 

particular problems they face. The six 

hospitals have agreed to participate in a 

collaborative run by the UM National 

Program Office (NPO) over the course of 

this study to facilitate the sharing of 

data and experiences while the project 

is underway. 

This study will document the 

experiences of a diverse set of hospital 

EDs as they identify and implement ED 

patient flow improvement strategies. 

The six case study hospitals were 

selected to reflect diversity of size, 

ownership, teaching status, safety net 

status, and types of challenges with ED 

crowding. 

Research methods will include 

observational site visits, in-person and 

telephone interviews, and the analysis 

of cost data. AHRQ’s contractor for this 

study, Health Research & Educational 

Trust (HRET), will perform analysis of 

secondary data on ED performance 

measures; this secondary data will be 

provided to HRET by the Urgent Matters 

NPO. These qualitative and quantitative 

methods will be used to: 

• Study the processes through which 

hospitals decide upon and adopt patient 

flow improvement strategies;