This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

2958 

Vol. 83, No. 14 

Monday, January 22, 2018 

ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

Draft Model Adjudication Rules; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Administrative Conference of 

the United States. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the Chairman of 

the Administrative Conference of the 

United States is revising its 1993 Model 

Adjudication Rules and is inviting 

public comment on the draft revised 

Rules. The current draft of the revised 

Rules is available at https://

www.acus.gov/model-rules/modeladjudication-rules. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

later than 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Friday, 

February 23, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Persons who wish to 

comment on the current draft of the 

revised Model Adjudication Rules may 

do so by submitting a written statement 

either online by clicking ‘‘Submit a 

comment’’ near the bottom of the project 

web page found at https://

www.acus.gov/research-projects/officechairman-model-adjudication-rulesworking-group or by U.S. Mail 

addressed to Revised Model 

Adjudication Rules Comments, 

Administrative Conference of the 

United States, Suite 706 South, 1120 

20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Sheffner, Attorney Advisor, 

Administrative Conference of the 

United States, 1120 20th Street NW, 

Suite 706 South, Washington, DC 20036; 

Telephone (202) 480–2080. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Administrative Conference Act, 5 U.S.C. 

591–596, established the Administrative 

Conference of the United States. The 

Conference studies the efficiency, 

adequacy, and fairness of the 

administrative procedures used by 

Federal agencies and makes 

recommendations for improvements to 

agencies, the President, Congress, and 

the Judicial Conference of the United 

States. 

The Office of the Chairman of the 

Administrative Conference of the 

United States has established a working 

group—the Model Adjudication Rules 

Working Group—to review and revise 

the Conference’s Model Adjudication 

Rules. Released in 1993 by a similar 

working group of the Conference, the 

Model Adjudication Rules were 

designed for use by federal agencies to 

amend or develop their procedural rules 

for hearings conducted under the 

Administrative Procedure Act. 

Numerous agencies have relied on the 

Conference’s 1993 Model Rules to 

improve existing adjudicative schemes; 

and newer agencies, like the Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau, have relied 

on them to design new procedures. 

Significant changes in adjudicative 

practices and procedures since 1993— 

including use of electronic case 

management and video hearings— 

necessitate a careful review and revision 

of the Model Adjudication Rules. In 

reviewing and revising the Model Rules, 

the Working Group has relied on the 

Conference’s extensive empirical 

research of adjudicative practices 

reflected in the Federal Administrative 

Adjudication Database, available at 

https://acus.law.stanford.edu/; 

amendments to the Federal Rules of 

Civil Procedure since 1993; and input 

from agency officials, academics, 

practitioners, and other stakeholders. 

Additional information about the 

Administrative Conference’s Model 

Adjudication Rules, including the draft 

Rules, meeting agendas, a listing of the 

working group members tasked with 

revising the Rules, and other related 

information, can be found on the 

Conference’s website at https://

www.acus.gov/research-projects/officechairman-model-adjudication-rulesworking-group. 

Dated: January 17, 2018. 

Shawne McGibbon, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2018–01045 Filed 1–19–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6110–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

January 17, 2018. 

The Department of Agriculture has 

submitted the following information 

collection requirement(s) to Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and clearance under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. Comments are 

requested regarding (1) whether the 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of burden including 

the validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility and clarity of the 

information to be collected; (4) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments regarding this information 

collection received by February 21, 2018 

will be considered. Written comments 

should be addressed to: Desk Officer for 

Agriculture, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), New 

Executive Office Building, 725 17th 

Street NW, Washington, DC 20502. 

Commenters are encouraged to submit 

their comments to OMB via email to: 

OIRA_Submission@OMB.EOP.GOV or 

fax (202) 395–5806 and to Departmental 

Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail 

Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250– 

7602. Copies of the submission(s) may 

be obtained by calling (202) 720–8958. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor a collection of information 

unless the collection of information 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number and the agency informs 

potential persons who are to respond to 

the collection of information that such 

persons are not required to respond to 

the collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

Rural Utilities Service 

Title: RUS Electric Loan Application 

and Related Reporting Burdens. 


ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2018 / Notices 2959 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0032. 

Summary of Collection: The Rural 

Utilities Service (RUS) was established 

in 1994 by the Federal Crop Insurance 

Reform and Department of Agriculture 

Reorganization Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 

103–354, 108 stat. 3178, 7 U.S.C. 6941 

et seq.) as successor to the Rural 

Electrification Administration (REA) 

with respect to certain programs, 

including the electric loan and loan 

guarantee program authorized under the 

Rural Electrification Act (RE Act) of 

1936. The RE Act authorizes and 

empowers the Administrator of RUS to 

make and guarantee loans to furnish and 

improve electric service in rural areas. 

These loans are amortized over a period 

of up to 35 years and secured by the 

borrower’s electric assets and/or 

revenue. RUS will collect information 

including studies and reports to support 

borrower loan applications. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

RUS will collect information to 

determine the eligibility of applicants 

for loans and loan guarantees under the 

RE Act; monitor the compliance of 

borrowers with debt covenants and 

regulatory requirements in order to 

protect loan security; ensure that 

borrowers use loan funds for purposes 

consistent with the statutory goals of the 

RE Act; and obtain information on the 

progress of rural electrification and 

evaluate the success of RUS program 

activities. Without the information RUS 

would be unable to accomplish 

statutory goals. 

Description of Respondents: Not-forprofit institutions; Business or other forprofit. 

Number of Respondents: 625. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion; Annually. 

Total Burden Hours: 52,130. 

Ruth Brown, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–01004 Filed 1–19–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2017–0102] 

Third-Party Inspection Programs 

Under the Animal Welfare Act; Public 

Meetings 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of public meetings. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) will host a 

series of public meetings to solicit data 

and information from the public to aid 

in the development of criteria for 

recognizing the use of third-party 

inspection and certification programs as 

a positive factor when determining 

APHIS inspection frequencies at 

facilities licensed or registered under 

the Animal Welfare Act. 

DATES: The meetings will be held in 

Santa Clara, CA, on January 18, 2018; 

Riverdale, MD, on February 8, 2018; 

Kansas City, MO, on February 22, 2018, 

and Tampa, FL, on March 8, 2018. The 

public meetings will be held from 9 a.m. 

to 1 p.m., local time, except for the 

meeting in Maryland, which will be 

held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., local time. 

A virtual listening session will be held 

on March 14, 2018, from 1 p.m. to 5 

p.m. EST. We will accept written 

statements regarding the use of thirdparty inspection and certification 

programs until March 21, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be 

held at the following locations: 

• January 18: Santa Clara Marriott, 

2700 Mission College Boulevard, Santa 

Clara, CA 95054; 

• February 8: USDA Center at 

Riverside, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, 

MD 20737; 

• February 22: USDA, Beacon 

Building, 6501 Beacon Road, Kansas 

City, MO 64133; and 

• March 8: Renaissance Tampa Hotel 

International Plaza, 4200 Jim Walter 

Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33607. 

You may also submit written 

statements using one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/#!

docketDetail;D=APHIS-2017-0102. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2017–0102, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Mike Tuck, Management Analyst, 

Animal Care, APHIS, USDA 4700 River 

Road Unit 84, Riverdale, MD 20737; 

(301) 851–3747; James.M.Tuck@

aphis.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) is announcing a series 

of meetings to solicit data and 

information from the public to aid in the 

development of criteria for recognizing 

the use of third-party inspection and 

certification programs as a positive 

factor when determining APHIS 

inspection frequencies at facilities 

licensed or registered under the Animal 

Welfare Act (AWA). APHIS already 

recognizes inspections performed by 

other government agencies with animal 

welfare oversight and accreditation by 

the Association of Zoos & Aquariums as 

a positive factor when determining the 

frequency of Federal inspections 

through the use of a risk-based 

inspection system, and APHIS is 

seeking public comment on expanding 

this consideration to include other types 

of third-party inspections and 

certifications. 

The risk-based inspection system, 

initiated in 1998, uses several objective 

criteria, including but not limited to 

past compliance history, to determine 

the minimum inspection frequency at 

each licensed and registered facility. 

With this system, APHIS has been able 

to provide more in-depth inspections 

and improve its interactions with 

licensees and registrants—an approach 

that APHIS firmly believes makes better 

use of its inspection resources. 

The public may submit their 

comments in response to this notice in 

writing and/or at in-person and virtual 

listening sessions. The meetings will be 

held in various locations across the 

country and will include an internetbased virtual meeting to facilitate 

attendance. Participants will have the 

opportunity to offer written and oral 

comments. 

Specifically, APHIS is seeking data 

and information regarding the following 

topics and questions: 

1. APHIS is considering recognizing 

the use of qualified, third-party 

programs when determining APHIS 

inspection frequencies at regulated 

facilities. Would a potential reduction 

in the frequency of APHIS inspections 

be a sufficient incentive for regulated 

facilities to use third-party programs to 

support compliance under the AWA? 

Are there other incentives that could be 

offered to attract participation of 

regulated entities in the program? Please 

explain. 

2. What are the advantages and 

disadvantages of voluntary, third-party 

programs to support compliance under 

the AWA? What potential benefits and 

costs might accrue to regulated facilities 

that elect to use a third-party program? 

What are the risks associated with using 

a third-party program? 

3. Are third-party programs likely to 

be effective in practice? Is there 

potential for a well-functioning market 

for third-party programs to develop? 

Please explain. What existing thirdparty programs are already used by 

regulated facilities to help support their 

AWA compliance? 

4. When assessing whether to 

recognize a third-party program, what 


ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES