17392 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

1Part 40 of the Commission’s regulations, 17 CFR 

part 40, specifies the standards and procedures to 

be followed by regulated entities for listing 

products for trading by certification to the 

Commission; voluntary submission of new products 

for Commission review and approval; amendments 

to terms or conditions of enumerated agricultural 

contracts; voluntary submission of rules for 

Commission review and approval; and self 

certification of rules by DCMs and DCOs. Part 41, 

17 CFR part 41, contains the standards and 

procedures for filing required information with 

respect to security futures products. 

2 72 FR 39764. 

3 In August 2008, subsequent to the Commission’s 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this matter, CME 

and NYMEX completed a merger. As a result, 

NYMEX is currently a wholly-owned indirect 

subsidiary of CME Group, Inc. 

4 73 FR 44939 (Aug. 1, 2008). 

Subpart I, Section 40103. Under that 

section, the FAA is charged with 

prescribing regulations to assign the use 

of airspace necessary to ensure the 

safety of aircraft and the efficient use of 

airspace. This regulation is within the 

scope of that authority as it adds 

additional controlled airspace at Blair 

Municipal Airport, Blair, NE. 

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71 

Airspace, Incorporation by reference, 

Navigation (air). 

Adoption of the Amendment 

■ In consideration of the foregoing, the 

Federal Aviation Administration 

amends 14 CFR part 71 as follows: 

PART 71—DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, 

B, C, D, AND E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR 

TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND 

REPORTING POINTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for 14 CFR 

part 71 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40103, 40113, 

40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959– 

1963 Comp., p. 389. 

§ 71.1 [Amended] 

■ 2. The incorporation by reference in 

14 CFR part 71.1 of the Federal Aviation 

Administration Order 7400.9S, Airspace 

Designations and Reporting Points, 

signed October 3, 2008, and effective 

October 31, 2008, is amended as 

follows: 

Paragraph 6005 Class E airspace areas 

extending upward from 700 feet or more 

above the surface. 

* * * * * 

ACE NE E5 Omaha, NE [Amended] 

Omaha, Eppley Airfield, NE 

(Lat. 41°18′11′′ N., long. 95°53′39′′ W.) 

Omaha, Offutt AFB, NE 

(Lat. 41°07′10′′ N., long. 95°54′31′′ W.) 

Council Bluffs, Council Bluffs Municipal 

Airport, IA 

(Lat. 41°15′36′′ N., long. 95°45′31′′ W.) 

Blair, Blair Municipal Airport, NE 

(Lat. 41°24′53′′ N., long. 96°06′32′′ W.) 

That airspace extending upward from 700 

feet above the surface within a 6.9-mile 

radius of Eppley Airfield and within 3 miles 

each side of the Eppley Airfield Runway 14R 

ILS Localizer course extending from the 6.9- 

mile radius to 12 miles northwest of the 

airport and within a 7-mile radius of Offutt 

AFB and within 4.3 miles each side of the 

Offutt AFB ILS Runway 30 localizer course 

extending from the 7-mile radius to 7.4 miles 

southeast of Offutt AFB and within a 6.4-mile 

radius of the Council Bluffs Municipal 

Airport, and within a 6.4-mile radius of Blair 

Municipal Airport, and within 2 miles each 

side of the 317° bearing from the Blair 

Municipal Airport extending from the 6.4- 

mile radius to 11.6 miles, and within 2 miles 

each side of the 137° bearing from the Blair 

Municipal Airport extending from the 6.4- 

mile radius to 12.2 miles. 

* * * * * 

Issued in Fort Worth, TX, on March 24, 

2009. 

Ronnie L. Uhlenhaker, 

Acting Manager, Operations Support Group, 

Central Service Center. 

[FR Doc. E9–8577 Filed 4–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

17 CFR Parts 40, 41, and 145 

RIN 3038–AC44 

Confidential Information and 

Commission Records and Information 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission is adopting final 

rules to specify the exclusive 

procedures under which designated 

contract markets (DCMs), derivatives 

clearing organizations (DCOs) and 

derivatives transaction execution 

facilities (DTEFs) (collectively, 

‘‘regulated entities’’) may request 

confidential treatment for products and 

rules submitted via certification 

procedures or for Commission review 

and approval under parts 40 and 41 of 

the Commission’s regulations. The 

amendments also revise the 

Commission’s part 145 regulations 

under the Freedom of Information Act 

by providing that the confidential 

treatment procedures specified in 

section 145.9 do not apply to 

information filed by regulated entities 

pursuant to parts 40 and 41. 

DATES: May 15, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Nathan, Senior Special Counsel, 

(202) 418–5133, Division of Market 

Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20581. Electronic mail: 

snathan@cftc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

A. Procedural History 

On July 20, 2007, the Commission 

requested comment from the public 

regarding its proposal to establish in 

part 40 of its regulations the exclusive 

procedure to be followed by regulated 

entities when requesting confidential 

treatment for information they are 

required to submit under parts 40 and 

41 of the Commission’s regulations,1

and to clarify the standards under 

which requests for confidential 

treatment will be considered.2 Three 

commenters responded to this proposal: 

the CME Group (‘‘CME’’), CBOE Futures 

Exchange (‘‘CFE’’) and the New York 

Mercantile Exchange (‘‘NYMEX’’).3

While CFE generally supported the 

proposal, CME and NYMEX questioned 

the merits of the proposed amendments 

and the adequacy of the Commission’s 

explanation for proposing the changes. 

In light of the CME and NYMEX 

comments, the Commission re-proposed 

the rule amendments in order to (1) 

Clarify the procedure for seeking review 

of an adverse determination; (2) amend 

Commission regulation 145.9 to make 

clear that that process for requesting 

confidential treatment under the 

Commission’s Freedom of Information 

Act regulations does not apply to 

submissions filed pursuant to parts 40 

and 41; and (3) address more fully the 

reasons for proposing the amendments. 

The Federal Register release 

announcing the re-proposal fully 

addressed the substantive issues raised 

by the commenters and invited 

additional public comment on one issue 

raised by NYMEX: whether the 

Commission should honor requests for 

confidential treatment of algorithms or 

similar trading tools that are 

mechanisms for executing transactions.4

CME submitted comments on this 

matter. 

B. Confidential Treatment of Trading 

Mechanisms 

1. Comments: Confidential Treatment of 

Information Made Public by Statute or 

Rule 

The Commodity Exchange Act 

(‘‘CEA’’) and regulations promulgated 

thereunder require that substantial 

portions of the material filed pursuant 

to Parts 40 and 41 be made publicly 

available by the submitters. Section 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 17393 

5The CEA does not define the phrase 

‘‘mechanisms for executing transactions,’’ but the 

Commission noted in its proposal and re-proposal 

that this generally includes such information as 

trading algorithms, market maker programs, and 

information from an exchange’s rule book that 

pertains to or impacts trading. 72 FR 39764 (Jul. 20, 

2007); 73 FR 44941 n.17 (Aug. 1, 2008). 

6Letter from NYMEX dated Aug. 23, 2007, at 3. 

7Letter from CME Group dated September 15, 

2008, at 3. 

8 47 FR 18618, 18619 (April 30, 1992) discussing 

contract markets; 66 FR 42256, 42268 (August 10, 

2001), discussing exempt boards of trade, exempt 

commercial markets and derivatives transaction 

execution facilities; 66 FR 45605, 45609 (August 29, 

2001), discussing derivatives clearing organizations. 

5(d)(7) of the CEA—DCM Core Principle 

7—requires that the terms and 

conditions of contracts and the 

‘‘mechanisms for executing transactions 

on or through’’ a DCM be made 

available by the DCM to market 

authorities, market participants and the 

public.5 Similarly, DTEF Core Principle 

5 requires that boards of trade publicly 

disclose specified information, and Core 

Principle L requires that DCOs make 

available to market participants 

information concerning the rules and 

operating systems of clearing and 

settlement systems. Moreover, 

Commission regulations 40.3(a)(7) and 

40.5(a)(8) specify that a product’s terms 

and conditions become publicly 

available at the time of submission to 

the Commission. 

The commenters’ concerns focused on 

the Commission’s proposal to amend 

part 40 by adding new paragraph (d) to 

regulation 40.8 to clarify that staff will 

not consider requests for confidential 

treatment of information that is 

considered publicly available pursuant 

to section 5(d)(7) of the CEA or 

regulations 40.3(a)(7) or 40.5(a)(8). In 

response to CME’s concern that DCMs 

have legitimate commercial and 

competitive interests in maintaining the 

confidentiality of information about the 

contractual obligations of, and 

incentives offered to, their market 

makers, the Commission distinguished 

between the two types of information. 

The Commission noted that both market 

maker and incentive programs are 

considered ‘‘rules’’ under Commission 

regulations and thus are presumptively 

public. Compensation structures are 

properly made public because they may 

affect the quality of price quotations 

provided by market makers as well as 

liquidity in the market; because this 

material is routinely available, no 

exchange is at a competitive 

disadvantage. On the other hand, the 

Commission acknowledged that access 

to particular information related to 

incentive programs could give an unfair 

advantage to potential counterparties of 

market makers or to other markets. 

Incentive programs may, therefore, 

include information for which 

confidential treatment is appropriate. 

Commission staff has, for example, 

withheld information relating to 

participant names, bid-ask spreads and 

minimum size requirements because 

access to this information could unfairly 

advantage potential counterparties of 

market makers and provide other market 

makers with a competitive edge when 

setting up their own market maker 

programs. Thus, while incentive 

programs are presumptively public, 

these programs may include 

commercially valuable information 

which is entitled to protection. For this 

reason, the Commission believes it 

would be inappropriate to summarily 

deny confidential treatment to all 

information submitted in connection 

with incentive programs. 

In its comment letter, NYMEX urged 

that the same reasoning should apply to 

confidential treatment for trading 

mechanisms, which it stated could 

include ‘‘an algorithm or other similar 

proprietary trading tool’’ for which a 

registered entity might seek patent or 

trademark protection.6 Although trading 

mechanisms are required to be made 

publicly available pursuant to section 

7(d)(8) of the CEA, and the Commission 

is unaware of any circumstance in 

which trading mechanisms warrant 

protection from public disclosure, the 

Commission in an abundance of caution 

invited further public comment with 

respect to whether specific types of 

trading tools should be considered for 

confidential treatment. 

2. CME’s September 15, 2008 Comment 

Letter. 

In response to this invitation, CME 

submitted additional comments urging 

the Commission to (1) conclude that 

summary denial of confidential 

treatment to ‘‘mechanisms for executing 

transactions, including trading 

algorithms or similar proprietary trading 

tools’’ could cause competitive harm to 

the submitter, and is, therefore, 

inappropriate and (2) refrain from 

utilizing a rulemaking to determine 

blanket confidential treatment for 

specific types of trading tools. Rather, 

CME proposed that the Commission 

make confidentiality determinations on 

a case-by-case basis at the time of the 

initial request for confidential 

treatment.7

The Commission has carefully 

considered these comments and agrees 

that, to the extent that NYMEX’s and 

CME’s comments refer to specific 

hardware, software or ‘‘code’’ 

underlying a trading tool or algorithm, 

such hardware, software, or code may 

qualify for confidential treatment. The 

Commission does not consider such 

information to be part of the ‘‘trading 

mechanism;’’ it thus is not 

presumptively public and is accordingly 

outside the scope of this rulemaking. 

The Commission wishes to emphasize 

that the purpose of the proposed 

amendments is to improve its ability to 

provide the public with immediate 

access to material filed under Parts 40 

and 41 that does not warrant 

confidential treatment, i.e., that must be 

made publicly available by statute or 

rule. CME’s suggestion of a case-by-case 

determination would preserve the status 

quo that the proposed amendments 

were intended to correct. 

Accordingly, the proposed 

amendments are being adopted in the 

final rules. 

II. Related Matters 

A. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(‘‘RFA’’), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. (2000), 

requires federal agencies, in proposing 

regulations, to consider the impact of 

those regulations on small entities. The 

regulations proposed herein would 

affect derivatives transaction execution 

facilities, designated contract markets, 

and derivatives clearing organizations. 

The Commission previously has 

determined that the foregoing entities 

are not small entities for purposes of the 

RFA.8 Accordingly, the Acting 

Chairman, on behalf of the Commission, 

hereby certifies pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

605(b) that the proposed regulations 

will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act 

As required by the Paperwork 

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

3504(h), the Commission submitted a 

copy of the proposed rule amendments 

to the Office of Management and Budget 

for its review. The Commission did not 

receive any public comments relative to 

its analysis of paperwork burdens 

associated with this rulemaking. 

C. Cost-Benefit Analysis 

Section 15(a) of the Act, as amended 

by section 119 of the CFMA, requires 

the Commission to consider the costs 

and benefits of its action before issuing 

a new regulation under the Act. By its 

terms, section 15(a) as amended does 

not require the Commission to quantify 

the costs and benefits of a new 

regulation or to determine whether the 

benefits of a regulation outweigh its 


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17394 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

9 72 FR 39764 (July 20, 2007); 73 FR 44939 

(August 1, 2008). 

costs. Rather, section 15(a) simply 

requires the Commission to ‘‘consider 

the costs and benefits’’ of its action. 

Section 15(a) further specifies that 

costs and benefits shall be evaluated in 

light of five broad areas of market and 

public concern: Protection of market 

participants and the public; efficiency, 

competitiveness, and financial integrity 

of futures markets; price discovery; 

sound risk management practices; and 

other public interest considerations. 

Accordingly, the Commission could, in 

its discretion, give greater weight to any 

one of the five enumerated areas and 

could, in its discretion, determine that, 

notwithstanding its costs, a particular 

regulation was necessary or appropriate 

to protect the public interest or to 

effectuate any of the provisions to 

accomplish any of the purposes of the 

Act. 

The Commission published its 

analysis of the costs and benefits when 

it proposed and reproposed the rule 

amendments that have now been 

adopted.9 It did not receive any public 

comments pertaining to the analysis. 

List of Subjects 

17 CFR Part 40 

Commodity futures, Contract markets, 

Designation application, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

17 CFR Part 41 

Security futures. 

17 CFR Part 145 

Commission records and information. 

■ For the reasons stated in the preamble, 

the Commission amends 17 CFR parts 

40, 41 and 145 as follows: 

PART 40—PROVISIONS COMMON TO 

CONTRACT MARKETS, DERIVATIVES 

TRANSACTION EXECUTION 

FACILITIES AND DERIVATIVES 

CLEARING ORGANIZATIONS 

■ 1. The authority for part 40 continues 

to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1a, 2, 5, 6, 6c, 7, 7a, 

8 and 12a, as amended by appendix E of 

Public Law 106–554, 114 Stat. 2763A–365. 

■ 2. Section 40.2 is amended by adding 

paragraph (a)(3)(v) to read as follows: 

§ 40.2 Listing products for trading by 

certification. 

(a) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(v) A request for confidential 

treatment as permitted under the 

procedures of 40.8 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Section 40.3 is amended by revising 

paragraph (a)(7) to read as follows: 

§ 40.3 Voluntary submission of new 

products for Commission review and 

approval. 

(a) * * * 

(7) Include a request for confidential 

treatment as permitted under the 

procedures of § 40.8. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Section 40.5 is amended by revising 

paragraph (a)(8) to read as follows: 

§ 40.5 Voluntary submission of rules for 

Commission review and approval. 

(a) * * * 

(8) Include a request for confidential 

treatment as permitted under the 

procedures of § 40.8. 

* * * * * 

■ 5. Section 40.6 is amended by adding 

new paragraph (a)(3)(vi) to read as 

follows: 

§ 40.6 Self-certification of rules. 

(a) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(vi) A request for confidential 

treatment as permitted under the 

procedures of 40.8. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Section 40.8 is amended by adding 

new paragraphs (c) and (d) to read as 

follows: 

§ 40.8 Availability of public information. 

* * * * * 

(c) A registered entity’s filing of new 

products under the self-certification 

procedures, new products for 

Commission review and approval, new 

rules and rule amendments for 

Commission review and approval, and 

new rules and rule amendments 

submitted under the self-certification 

procedures will be treated as public 

information unless covered by a request 

for confidential treatment. If a registered 

entity files a request for confidential 

treatment, the following procedures will 

apply: 

(1) A detailed written justification of 

the confidential treatment request must 

be filed simultaneously with the request 

for confidential treatment. The form and 

content of the detailed written 

justification shall be governed by 

§ 145.9 of this chapter; 

(2) All material for which confidential 

treatment is requested must be 

segregated in an appendix to the 

submission; 

(3) The submission itself must 

indicate that material has been 

segregated and, as appropriate, redacted; 

(4) Commission staff may make an 

initial determination with respect to the 

request for confidential treatment 

without regard to whether a request for 

the information has been sought under 

the Freedom of Information Act; 

(5) A submitter of information under 

this Part may appeal an adverse 

decision by staff to the Commission’s 

Office of General Counsel. The form and 

content of such appeal shall be 

governed by § 145.9(g) of this chapter; 

(6) The grant of any part of a request 

for confidential treatment under this 

section may be reconsidered if a 

subsequent request under the Freedom 

of Information Act is made for the 

information. 

(d) Commission staff will not consider 

requests for confidential treatment of 

information that is required to be made 

public under section 5(d)(7) of the Act 

of Commission regulations § 40.3(a)(7) 

or § 40.5(a)(8). 

7. Appendix D is amended by adding 

a new sentence to the end of the first 

paragraph of section 8, ‘‘Other 

requirements,’’ to read as follows: 

Appendix D to Part 40—Submission 

Cover Sheet and Instructions 

* * * * * 

(8) Other requirements— * * * Checking 

the box marked ‘‘confidential treatment 

requested’’ on the Submission Cover Sheet 

does not obviate the submitter’s 

responsibility to comply with all applicable 

requirements for requesting confidential 

treatment in rule 40.8(c) and, where 

appropriate, rule 145.9, and will not 

substitute for notice or full compliance with 

such requirements. 

* * * * * 

PART 41—SECURITY FUTURES 

PRODUCTS 

■ 8. The authority citation for part 41 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sections 206, 251 and 252, Pub. 

L. 106–554, 114 Stat. 2763, 7 U.S.C. 1a, 2, 6f, 

6j, 7a–2, 12a, 15 U.S.C. 78g(c)(2). 

■ 9. Section 41.23 is amended by adding 

new paragraph (a)(7) to read as follows: 

§ 41.23 Listing of security futures 

products for trading. 

(a) * * * 

(7) Includes a request for confidential 

treatment as permitted under the 

procedures of § 40.8. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. Section 41.24 is amended by 

adding new paragraph (a)(6) to read as 

follows: 

§ 41.24 Rule amendments to security 

futures products. 

(a) * * * 

(6) Includes a request for confidential 

treatment as permitted under the 

procedures of § 40.8. 

* * * * * 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 17395 

PART 145—COMMISSION RECORDS 

AND INFORMATION 

■ 11. The authority citation for part 145 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Public Law 99–570, 100 Stat. 

3207; Public Law 89–554, 80 Stat. 383; Public 

Law 90–23, 81 Stat. 54; Public Law 98–502, 

88 Stat. 1561–1564 (5 U.S.C. 552); Sec. 

101(a), Public Law 93–463, 88 Stat. 1389 (5 

U.S.C. 4a(j)), unless otherwise noted. 

■ 12. Section 145.9 is amended by 

revising paragraph (b) to read as follows: 

§ 145.9 Petition for confidential treatment 

of information submitted to the 

Commission. 

* * * * * 

(b) Scope. The provisions of this 

section shall apply only where the 

Commission has not specified that an 

alternative procedure be utilized in 

connection with a particular study, 

report, investigation, or other matter. 

See 40.8 for procedures to be utilized in 

connection with filing information 

required to be filed pursuant to 17 CFR 

parts 40 and 41. 

* * * * * 

Issued in Washington, DC on April 3, 2009 

by the Commission. 

David Stawick, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. E9–8024 Filed 4–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

29 CFR Part 4022 

Benefits Payable in Terminated SingleEmployer Plans; Interest Assumptions 

for Valuing and Paying Benefits 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation’s regulation on Benefits 

Payable in Terminated Single-Employer 

Plans prescribes interest assumptions 

for valuing and paying certain benefits 

under terminating single-employer 

plans. This final rule amends the benefit 

payments regulation to adopt interest 

assumptions for plans with valuation 

dates in May 2009. Interest assumptions 

are also published on PBGC’s Web site 

(http://www.pbgc.gov). 

DATES: Effective Date: May 1, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Catherine B. Klion, Manager, Regulatory 

and Policy Division, Legislative and 

Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20005, 202–326– 

4024. (TTY/TDD users may call the 

Federal relay service toll-free at 1–800– 

877–8339 and ask to be connected to 

202–326–4024.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PBGC’s 

regulations prescribe actuarial 

assumptions—including interest 

assumptions—for valuing and paying 

plan benefits of terminating singleemployer plans covered by title IV of 

the Employee Retirement Income 

Security Act of 1974. The interest 

assumptions are intended to reflect 

current conditions in the financial and 

annuity markets. 

These interest assumptions are found 

in two PBGC regulations: The regulation 

on Benefits Payable in Terminated 

Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part 

4022) and the regulation on Allocation 

of Assets in Single-Employer Plans (29 

CFR part 4044). Assumptions under the 

asset allocation regulation are updated 

quarterly; assumptions under the benefit 

payments regulation are updated 

monthly. This final rule updates only 

the assumptions under the benefit 

payments regulation. 

Two sets of interest assumptions are 

prescribed under the benefit payments 

regulation: (1) A set for PBGC to use to 

determine whether a benefit is payable 

as a lump sum and to determine lumpsum amounts to be paid by PBGC (found 

in Appendix B to Part 4022), and (2) a 

set for private-sector pension 

practitioners to refer to if they wish to 

use lump-sum interest rates determined 

using PBGC’s historical methodology 

(found in Appendix C to Part 4022). 

This amendment (1) adds to 

Appendix B to Part 4022 the interest 

assumptions for PBGC to use for its own 

lump-sum payments in plans with 

valuation dates during May 2009, and 

(2) adds to Appendix C to Part 4022 the 

interest assumptions for private-sector 

pension practitioners to refer to if they 

wish to use lump-sum interest rates 

determined using PBGC’s historical 

methodology for valuation dates during 

May 2009. 

The interest assumptions that PBGC 

will use for its own lump-sum payments 

(set forth in Appendix B to part 4022) 

will be 3.50 percent for the period 

during which a benefit is in pay status 

and 4.00 percent during any years 

preceding the benefit’s placement in pay 

status. These interest assumptions 

represent an increase (from those in 

effect for April 2009) of 0.25 percent in 

the immediate annuity rate and are 

otherwise unchanged. For private-sector 

payments, the interest assumptions (set 

forth in Appendix C to part 4022) will 

be the same as those used by PBGC for 

determining and paying lump sums (set 

forth in Appendix B to part 4022). 

PBGC has determined that notice and 

public comment on this amendment are 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. This finding is based on the 

need to determine and issue new 

interest assumptions promptly so that 

the assumptions can reflect current 

market conditions as accurately as 

possible. 

Because of the need to provide 

immediate guidance for the valuation 

and payment of benefits in plans with 

valuation dates during May 2009, PBGC 

finds that good cause exists for making 

the assumptions set forth in this 

amendment effective less than 30 days 

after publication. 

PBGC has determined that this action 

is not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

under the criteria set forth in Executive 

Order 12866. 

Because no general notice of proposed 

rulemaking is required for this 

amendment, the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act of 1980 does not apply. See 5 U.S.C. 

601(2). 

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 4022 

Employee benefit plans, Pension 

insurance, Pensions, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

■ In consideration of the foregoing, 29 

CFR part 4022 is amended as follows: 

PART 4022—BENEFITS PAYABLE IN 

TERMINATED SINGLE–EMPLOYER 

PLANS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 4022 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1302, 1322, 1322b, 

1341(c)(3)(D), and 1344. 

■ 2. In appendix B to part 4022, the 

entry for Rate Set 187 is added to the 

table to read as follows: 

Appendix B to Part 4022—Lump Sum 

Interest Rates For PBGC Payments 

* * * * * 


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