2912 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

Directive 023–01, which guides the 

Coast Guard in complying with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321–4370f), and have 

determined that this action is one of a 

category of actions that do not 

individually or cumulatively have a 

significant effect on the human 

environment. This rule involves a safety 

zone lasting for 2 hours on 33 separate 

days that would prohibit entry into a 

portion of Oregon Inlet for bridge 

construction. It is categorically excluded 

from further review under paragraph 

L60 (a) of Appendix A, Table 1 of DHS 

Instruction Manual 023–01–001–01, 

Rev. 01. A Record of Environmental 

Consideration supporting this 

determination is available in the docket 

where indicated under ADDRESSES. 

G. Protest Activities 

The Coast Guard respects the First 

Amendment rights of protesters. 

Protesters are asked to contact the 

person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

coordinate protest activities so that your 

message can be received without 

jeopardizing the safety or security of 

people, places or vessels. 

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 165 

Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation 

(water), Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Security measures, 

Waterways. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Coast Guard proposes to 

amend 33 CFR part 165 as follows: 

PART 165—REGULATED NAVIGATION 

AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 165 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1231; 50 U.S.C. 191; 

33 CFR 1.05–1, 6.04–1, 6.04–6, and 160.5; 

Department of Homeland Security Delegation 

No. 0170.1. 

■ 2. Add § 165.T05–0964 to read as 

follows: 

§ 165.T05–0964 Safety Zone; Oregon Inlet, 

Dare County, NC. 

(a) Location. The following area is a 

safety zone: all navigable waters of 

Oregon Inlet, from approximate position 

35°46′23′′ N, 75°32′18′′ W, thence 

southeast to 35°46′18′′ N, 75°32′12′′ W, 

thence southwest to 35°46′16′′ N, 

75°32′16′′ W, thence northwest to 

35°46′20′′ N, 75°32′23′′ W, thence 

northeast back to the point of origin 

(NAD 1983) in Dare County, NC. 

(b) Definitions. As used in this 

section— 

Designated representative means a 

Coast Guard Patrol Commander, 

including a Coast Guard commissioned, 

warrant, or petty officer designated by 

the Captain of the Port North Carolina 

(COTP) for the enforcement of the safety 

zone. 

Captain of the Port means the 

Commander, Sector North Carolina. 

Construction crews means persons 

and vessels involved in support of 

construction. 

(c) Regulations. (1) The general 

regulations governing safety zones in 

§ 165.23 apply to the area described in 

paragraph (a) of this section. 

(2) With the exception of construction 

crews, entry into or remaining in this 

safety zone is prohibited. 

(3) All vessels within this safety zone 

when this section becomes effective 

must depart the zone immediately. 

(4) The Captain of the Port, North 

Carolina can be reached through the 

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina 

Command Duty Officer, Wilmington, 

North Carolina at telephone number 

910–343–3882. 

(5) The Coast Guard and designated 

security vessels enforcing the safety 

zone can be contacted on VHF–FM 

marine band radio channel 13 (165.65 

MHz) and channel 16 (156.8 MHz). 

(d) Enforcement. The U.S. Coast 

Guard may be assisted in the patrol and 

enforcement of the safety zone by 

Federal, State, and local agencies. 

(e) Enforcement period. This 

regulation will be enforced from January 

29, 2018, through March 24, 2018, with 

alternate dates of March 25, 2018, 

through May 6, 2018. 

(f) Public notification. The Coast 

Guard will notify the public of the 

specific two hour closures at least 48 

hours in advance by transmitting 

Broadcast Notice to Mariners via VHF– 

FM marine channel 16. 

Dated: January 8, 2018. 

Bion B. Stewart, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the 

Port North Carolina. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00883 Filed 1–19–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

ARCHITECTURAL AND 

TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS 

COMPLIANCE BOARD 

36 CFR Part 1194 

[Docket No. ATBCB–2015–0002] 

RIN 3014–AA37 

Information and Communication 

Technology (ICT) Standards and 

Guidelines 

AGENCY: Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board. 

ACTION: Direct final rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board (we, Access Board, or Board) is 

issuing this direct final rule to amend its 

regulations addressing accessibility 

requirements for information and 

communication technology to correct 

several inadvertent drafting errors in a 

final rule published in the Federal 

Register on January 18, 2017. 

Specifically, this direct final rule 

corrects two typographical errors and 

the unintentional deletion of 

longstanding requirements for TTY 

compatibility and functionality that 

have been in place for nearly two 

decades. These minor amendments 

neither establish new substantive 

accessibility requirements, nor impose 

any costs on regulated entities. The 

Access Board is issuing these 

amendments directly as a final rule 

because we believe they are 

noncontroversial, unlikely to receive 

adverse comment, and will prevent 

confusion. 

DATES: This direct final rule is effective 

March 23, 2018, without further action, 

unless adverse comment is received by 

February 21, 2018. If timely adverse 

comment is received, the Access Board 

will publish a notification of 

withdrawal of the rule in the Federal 

Register before the effective date. Such 

notification may withdraw the direct 

final rule in whole or in part. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by any 

one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

The identifier for this docket is ATBCB– 

2015–0002. 

• Email: docket@access-board.gov. 

Include ATBCB–2015–0002 in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Facsimile: 202–272–0081. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Office 

of Technical and Information Services, 


ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 2913 

Access Board, 1331 F Street NW, Suite 

1000, Washington, DC 20004–1111. 

All comments, including any personal 

information provided, will be posted 

without change to http://regulations.gov 

and available for public viewing. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Timothy Creagan, Access Board, 1331 F 

Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 

20004–1111. Telephone: (202) 272–0016 

(voice) or (202) 272–0074 (TTY). Or 

Bruce Bailey, Access Board, 1331 F 

Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 

20004–1111. Telephone: (202) 272–0024 

(voice) or (202) 272–0070 (TTY). Email: 

508@access-board.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Legal Authority 

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 

of 1973 (hereafter, ‘‘Section 508’’), as 

amended, mandates that Federal 

agencies ‘‘develop, procure, maintain, or 

use’’ information and communication 

technology (ICT) in a manner that 

ensures Federal employees with 

disabilities have comparable access to, 

and use of, such information and data 

relative to other Federal employees, 

unless doing so would impose an undue 

burden. 29 U.S.C. 794d. Section 508 

also requires Federal agencies to ensure 

that members of the public with 

disabilities have comparable access to 

publicly-available information and data 

unless doing so would impose an undue 

burden on the agency. Id. The Access 

Board is charged with developing and 

maintaining standards that establish 

technical and functional performance 

criteria for ICT accessibility. 29 U.S.C. 

794d(a)(2)(A), (B). 

Section 255 of the Communications 

Act of 1934 (hereafter, ‘‘Section 255’’), 

as amended, requires 

telecommunications equipment and 

services to be accessible to, and usable 

by, individuals with disabilities, where 

readily achievable. 47 U.S.C. 255. 

‘‘Readily achievable’’ is defined in the 

statute as ‘‘easily accomplishable and 

able to be carried out without much 

difficulty or expense.’’ Id. Section 255 

tasks the Access Board, in conjunction 

with the Federal Communications 

Commission (FCC), with the 

development of guidelines for the 

accessibility of telecommunications 

equipment and customer premises 

equipment, as well as their periodic 

review and update. The FCC, however, 

has exclusive authority under Section 

255 to issue implementing regulations 

and carry out their enforcement. Id. 

Section 255(f). 

Purpose of Direct Final Rule 

On January 18, 2017, the Access 

Board published a final rule in the 

Federal Register (82 FR 5790) (hereafter, 

‘‘ICT Final Rule’’), which revised and 

updated—in a single rulemaking—the 

standards for Section 508-covered ICT 

developed, procured, maintained, or 

used by Federal agencies (hereafter, 

‘‘508 Standards’’), as well as the 

guidelines for telecommunications 

equipment and customer premises 

equipment covered by Section 255 

(hereafter, ‘‘255 Guidelines’’). Because 

nearly two decades had passed since the 

original issuance of our then-existing 

508 Standards and 255 Guidelines, the 

ICT Final Rule was aimed at 

‘‘refreshing’’ these regulations by, 

among other things, addressing 

changing technology and harmonizing 

with ICT accessibility standards that 

had been developed worldwide in 

recent years. 

Subsequently, we discovered several 

small drafting errors in the ICT Final 

Rule. These errors included a few 

typographical errors and the inadvertent 

deletion of then-existing provisions that 

require telecommunications products 

and systems with two-way voice 

communication capabilities to also 

provide TTY compatibility and 

functionality. By this rule, the Access 

Board corrects these typographical 

errors and restores mistakenly deleted 

TTY requirements for ICT with two-way 

voice communication, albeit with 

slightly updated organization and 

wording (with no change in substance) 

for consistency with the ICT Final Rule. 

The Access Board is publishing this 

direct final rule without prior notice 

and comment. The Administrative 

Procedure Act permits agencies to 

publish final rules without prior notice 

and comment when, for good cause, 

they determine such procedures are 

unnecessary. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). We 

view the minor, technical corrections in 

this rule as noncontroversial and do not 

anticipate adverse comment. Moreover, 

the public interest is best served by 

having these corrections without delay 

to prevent confusion concerning these 

errors in the ICT Final Rule and ensure 

that there are no gaps in accessibility 

requirements for ICT covered by 

Sections 508 or 255. Accordingly, there 

is good cause for waiver of prior notice 

and comment. 

This direct final rule will take effect 

on the specified effective date, without 

further action, unless the Access Board 

receives adverse comment within the 

comment period. We consider an 

adverse comment to be a comment that 

challenges the propriety of the rule or 

asserts that it would be ineffective or 

unacceptable without material change. 

If the Access Board receives timely 

adverse comment, we will publish a 

notification in the Federal Register 

announcing full or partial withdrawal of 

this rule. If an adverse comment applies 

only to one part of this direct final rule, 

and it is possible to withdraw that part 

without defeating the purpose of the 

remaining parts of the rule, we may 

adopt, as final, those parts of this rule 

that received no adverse comment. 

Should the Access Board withdraw this 

rule due to adverse comment (in whole 

in part), we may subsequently 

incorporate such comment(s) into 

another direct final rule or publish a 

notice of proposed rulemaking. 

Discussion of Changes 

A. Administrative Corrections 

This direct final rule remedies two 

typographical errors on the ICT Final 

Rule. First, the table of contents for 

appendix A to part 1194 (Section 508 of 

the Rehabilitation Act: Application and 

Scoping Requirements) incorrectly lists 

the title of E205 as ‘‘Content.’’ The 

correct title for this section is 

‘‘Electronic Content.’’ In this rule, we 

correct this error by inserting the word 

‘‘Electronic’’ before ‘‘Content’’ in the 

table of contents entry for E205 in 

appendix A. Second, also in appendix A 

to part 1194, there is a mistaken crossreference in E202.6, Undue Burden or 

Fundamental Alteration. E202.6 

currently reads, in pertinent part: 

‘‘Where an agency determines in 

accordance with E202.5 that 

conformance to requirements in the 

Revised 508 Standards would impose an 

undue burden of would result in a 

fundamental alternation in the nature of 

the ICT . . .’’ (emphasis added). This 

text should instead refer to E202.6. This 

direct final rule revises the crossreference in the first sentence of E202.6 

from ‘‘E202.5’’ to ‘‘E202.6.’’ 

B. Restoration of TTY-Related 

Accessibility Requirements 

1. Background 

The second set of corrections in this 

direct final rule restores the TTY-related 

accessibility requirements for ICT with 

two-way voice communication to the 

Access Board’s 508 Standards and 255 

Guidelines. As noted, when the Access 

Board published the ICT Final Rule in 

January 2017, ICT with two-way voice 

communication had long been required 

to ensure TTY compatibility and 

functionality. However, as discussed 

below, a drafting error resulted in these 

TTY-related accessibility requirements 

being mistakenly removed from the ICT 

Final Rule. This direct final rule restores 

these original TTY-related requirements 

to the Board’s 508 Standards and 255 

Guidelines, albeit with minor, nonVerDate Sep<11>2014 15:52 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 244001 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\22JAR1.SGM 22JAR1

ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with RULES
2914 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

substantive changes to better align them 

with the revised organization and 

language in the ICT Final Rule. 

Both the original 508 Standards 

(issued in 2000) and 255 Guidelines 

(issued in 1998) required 

telecommunications products and 

services with two-way voice 

communication to provide certain TTYrelated features, including a connection 

point for TTY (e.g., RJ–11 connector), a 

microphone capable of being turned on 

and off to allow a user to intermix 

speech and TTY use, and support for 

cross-manufacturer, non-proprietary 

standard TTY signal protocols (e.g., 

Baudot). See, e.g., Electronic and 

Information Technology Accessibility 

Standards—Final Rule, 65 FR 80500 

(Dec. 21, 2000); Telecommunications 

Act Accessibility Guidelines—Final 

Rule, 63 FR 5608 (Feb. 3, 1998); see also 

36 CFR part 1194 (2017), appendix D, 

section D1194.23(a)–(e) (reprinting 

original 508 Standards published in 

2000 as appendix to revised 

regulations). TTYs (e.g., 

teletypewriters)—which were developed 

in the 1970s—allow persons with 

hearing- or speech-related disabilities to 

send and receive text communications 

over telephone networks. 

In recent years, however, other textbased means of communication have 

emerged, including simple message 

service (SMS or text messages) and realtime text (RTT) technology. RTT 

technology permits the transmission of 

text in near real-time as each character 

is typed. SMS messages are not 

transmitted until the user issues a send 

function (usually by hitting the ‘‘enter’’ 

key). Like SMS, TTY technology has a 

significant disadvantage as compared to 

RTT—namely, to avoid scrambling 

messages, users must send completed 

messages on a turn-by-turn basis. This 

ability to send text transmissions 

instantly and simultaneously permits 

more conversational, interactive textbased communications that are akin to 

telephone conversations, as well as 

facilitating better communication during 

emergency situations. As a newer 

(digital) technology, RTT is directly 

compatible with wireless and internet 

protocol-based networks, whereas TTY, 

as an analog technology, is not. TTY 

signals have acoustic characteristics that 

cause them to be corrupted and become 

unusable with the typical digitization 

algorithms used for transmitting voice 

over wireless and IP-based networks. 

By early 2015, when the Access Board 

published the notice of proposed 

rulemaking to ‘‘refresh’’ the 508 

Standards and 255 Guidelines, RTT 

technology had matured sufficiently for 

the Board to propose that RTT supplant 

TTY as the form of text-based 

functionality required for ICT with twoway voice communication. See Notice 

of Proposed Rulemaking—Information 

and Communication Technology 

Standards and Guidelines, 80 FR 10880, 

10900–10901, 10909 & 10910 (Feb. 27, 

2015) (hereafter, ‘‘ICT NPRM’’). Most 

comments received in response to the 

ICT NPRM were supportive of the 

Access Board’s RTT proposal, though 

some expressed differing views on the 

appropriate technical standard for RTT 

interoperability with certain systems 

(such as Voice over internet Protocol or 

‘‘VoIP’’ systems). 

In May 2016, about one year after the 

ICT NPRM comment period had closed, 

the FCC initiated a proceeding (at the 

behest of several telecommunications 

companies) to update its accessibility 

rules to allow telecommunications 

providers and manufacturers to support 

RTT in lieu of TTY technology in IPbased telecommunication environments. 

See Transition from TTY to Real-Time 

Text Technology—Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 81 FR 33170 (May 25, 

2016). 

In deference to the FCC’s ongoing 

rulemaking efforts on a regulatory 

transition from TTY to RTT technology, 

the Access Board elected to postpone 

adoption of RTT-related accessibility 

requirements in the ICT Final Rule. See 

82 FR at 5800. Consequently, we 

removed the proposed requirements for 

RTT functionality from Chapter 4 of the 

final rule, and simply reserved section 

412.5 in the final rule for future use 

should the Board subsequently 

promulgate RTT-related requirements. 

See 36 CFR part 1194, appendix C, 

section 412.5. 

By reserving adoption of RTT-related 

requirements, the Access Board did not 

thereby intend to leave a ‘‘gap’’ in 

accessibility requirements to ensure that 

persons with communication 

disabilities can use telephone networks. 

In other words, with the removal and 

reservation of RTT-related requirements, 

the TTY-related requirements in the 

original 508 Standards and 255 

Guidelines should have been 

incorporated into the ICT Final Rule. 

However, due to a drafting oversight, 

these existing TTY requirements did not 

get incorporated into the final rule. As 

a result, the ICT Final Rule is 

presently—and unintentionally—silent 

with respect to TTY functionality 

requirements for ICT with two-way 

voice communication. 

In this direct final rule, the Access 

Board restores the TTY-related 

requirements from the original 508 

Standards and 255 Guidelines to ensure 

that, during the pendency of further 

rulemaking on RTT-related accessibility 

requirements, persons with 

communications disabilities will still be 

able to send and receive text-based 

communications over telephone 

networks. 

Under the ICT Final Rule, Federal 

agencies were afforded one year from 

rule publication (i.e., Jan. 18, 2018) to 

comply with the revised 508 Standards. 

82 FR at 5790, 5792 & 5821. The Access 

Board seeks to restore TTY-related 

requirements to the 508 Standards prior 

to this compliance date. The Board is 

not aware of any Federal agency having 

relied on the mistaken omission of TTYrelated requirements from the ICT Final 

Rule as authorization to reduce or 

eliminate TTY functionality on their 

ICT with two-way voice 

communication. 

2. Amended TTY Requirements 

As discussed in the preamble to the 

ICT Final Rule, the revised 508 

Standards and 255 Guidelines feature 

significantly revamped organizational 

format and wording relative to their 

predecessor standards and guidelines. 

See 82 FR at 5790–91. The TTY-related 

accessibility requirements from the 

original 508 Standards and 255 

Guidelines thus could not simply be 

reinserted into the revised standards 

and guidelines using their original 

wording and section numbering. 

Consequently, in this direct final rule, 

the TTY-related requirements from the 

original 508 Standards and 255 

Guidelines have been modestly 

revised—in minor, non-substantive 

ways—so that they conform to the 

updated formatting and terminology 

used in the ICT Final Rule 

In summary, this direct final rule 

incorporates the original TTY-related 

requirements into the revised 508 

Standards and 255 Guidelines as 

follows. The technical specifications for 

TTY functionality appear as a new 

subsection (412.8) to the section that 

collectively sets forth the technical 

requirements applicable to ICT with 

two-way voice communication. We 

retained the original wording of these 

reinstated TTY-related requirements to 

the greatest extent possible; some minor, 

non-substantive wording changes were 

needed for consistency with updated 

terminology used in the ICT Final Rule. 

Additionally, in the scoping provision 

for hardware covered by the 255 

Guidelines (C204.1), a companion 

exception has been added that exempts 

255-covered hardware from the 

accessibility requirements in new 

412.8.3. This exception mirrors the 

existing scope of coverage under the 

original 255 Guidelines. Unlike the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 2915 

original 508 Standards, the original 255 

Guidelines do not require the features 

addressed in 412.8.3—namely, voice 

mail, auto-attendant, and interactive 

voice response telecommunications 

systems—to provide TTY functionality. 

Compare, e.g., 36 CFR 1193.51(d) (2016) 

(TTY-related compatibility requirements 

in original 255 Guidelines) with 36 CFR 

1194.23(c), (e) (2016) (specifying, in 

original 508 Standards, that 

telecommunications systems for voice 

mail, auto-attendant, interactive voice 

response, and caller identification must 

be compatible with TTYs). Lastly, in 

consideration of technological advances, 

we have clarified that the requirements 

for TTY compatibility (412.8) cover 

software that provides TTY 

functionality, as well as stand-alone 

TTY devices and other hardware. 

In Table 1 below, we provide a ‘‘crosswalk’’ that lists the TTY-related 

provisions added by the direct final rule 

and identifies their corresponding 

provisions in the original 508 Standards 

and 255 Guidelines. 

TABLE 1—CROSSWALK OF TTY PROVISIONS IN THE DIRECT FINAL RULE AND THEIR CORRESPONDING PROVISIONS IN THE

ORIGINAL 508 STANDARDS AND 255 GUIDELINES

Direct final rule 

(new § ) 

Original 508 

standards 

(original § ) 

Original 255 

guidelines 

(original § ) 

412.8 .................................................................................................................................................................. 1194.23(a) 1193.51(d) 

412.8.1 ............................................................................................................................................................... 1194.23(a) 1193.51(d) 

412.8.2 ............................................................................................................................................................... 1194.23(a) 1193.51(d) 

412.8.3 ............................................................................................................................................................... 1194.23(b) 1193.51(e) 

412.8.4 (Section 508-covered hardware) & C204.1, Exception for 412.8.4 (Section 255-covered hardware) 1194.23(c), (e) n/a 

Regulatory Process Matters 

A. Regulatory Planning and Review 

(Executive Orders 12866 and 13563) 

The Access Board has examined the 

impact of this direct final rule under 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563. 

These executive orders direct agencies 

to assess the costs and benefits of 

available regulatory alternatives and, if 

regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety effects, distributive impacts, 

and equity). This rule does not impose 

any incremental costs or benefits 

because it makes minor administrative 

corrections and, on the one substantive 

matter, merely retains (restores) existing 

TTY-related requirements for ICT with 

two-way voice communication that have 

been in place for nearly two decades. As 

such, this direct final rule is not a 

significant regulatory action for 

purposes of section 3(f) of Executive 

Order 12866. 

Additionally, because this direct final 

rule is a non-significant regulatory 

action that imposes no costs, it is also 

exempt from the requirements outlined 

in Executive Order 13771. See Exec. 

Order. 13771, 82 FR 9339 (Feb. 3, 2017); 

OMB, M–17–21, Guidance 

Implementing Executive Order 13771, 

Titled ‘‘Reducing Regulation and 

Controlling Regulatory Costs’’ (April 5, 

2017). 

B. Congressional Review Act 

This direct final rule is not a major 

rule within the meaning of the 

Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 

et seq.). 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

requires Federal agencies to analyze 

regulatory options that may assist in 

minimizing any significant impact of a 

rule on small businesses and small 

governmental jurisdictions. See 5 U.S.C. 

604, 605(b). Because this direct final 

rule merely remedies several 

inadvertent drafting errors in the ICT 

Final Rule, including the unintentional 

deletion of longstanding TTY-related 

accessibility requirements, the Access 

Board certifies that the rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

D. Federalism (Executive Order 13132) 

The Access Board has analyzed this 

direct final rule in accordance with the 

principles and criteria set forth in 

Executive Order 13132. The Board has 

determined that this action will not 

have a substantial direct effect on the 

States, or the relationship between the 

Federal Government and the States, or 

on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government, and, therefore, 

does not have Federalism implications. 

E. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This direct final rule does not contain 

any new collections of information or 

recordkeeping requirements that require 

OMB approval under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (codified at 2 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.) (‘‘UMRA’’) generally requires that 

Federal agencies assess the effects of 

their discretionary regulatory actions 

that may result in the expenditure of 

$100 million (adjusted for inflation) or 

more in any one year by the private 

sector, or by state, local, and tribal 

governments in the aggregate. Because 

this direct final rule is being issued 

under the good cause exception in the 

Administrative Procedure Act section 

553(b)(B), UMRA’s analytical 

requirements are inapplicable. See 2 

U.S.C. 1532(a). 

List of Subjects in 36 CFR Part 1194 

Civil rights, Communications, 

Communications equipment, Computer 

technology, Electronic products, 

Government employees, Government 

procurement, Incorporation by 

reference, Individuals with disabilities, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Telecommunications. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, and under the authority of 47 

U.S.C. 255(e), the Board amends 36 CFR 

part 1194 as follows: 

PART 1194—INFORMATION AND 

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY 

STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1194 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 794d, 47 U.S.C. 255. 

Appendix A to Part 1194—[Amended] 

■ 2. In appendix A to part 1194: 

■ a. In the table of contents, remove 

‘‘E205 Content’’ and add in its place 

‘‘E205 Electronic Content’’. 

■ b. In section E202.6, in the first 

sentence, remove ‘‘E202.5’’ and add in 

its place ‘‘E202.6’’. 

■ 3. In appendix B to part 1194, revise 

the exception paragraph following 

section C204.1 to read as follows: 


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2916 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

Appendix B to Part 1194—Section 255 

of the Communications Act: 

Application and Scoping Requirements 

* * * * * 

C204.1 * * * 

EXCEPTION: Components of 

telecommunications equipment and 

customer premises equipment shall not be 

required to conform to 402, 407.7, 407.8, 408, 

412.8.4, and 415. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. In appendix C to part 1194, add 

sections 412.8, 412.8.1, 412.8.2, 412.8.3, 

and 412.8.4 in numerical order to read 

as follows: 

Appendix C to Part 1194—Functional 

Performance Criteria and Technical 

* * * * * 

412 ICT With Two-Way Voice 

Communication 

* * * * * 

412.8 Legacy TTY Support. ICT 

equipment or systems with two-way voice 

communication that do not themselves 

provide TTY functionality shall conform to 

412.8. 

412.8.1 TTY Connectability. ICT shall 

include a standard non-acoustic connection 

point for TTYs. 

412.8.2 Voice and Hearing Carry Over. 

ICT shall provide a microphone capable of 

being turned on and off to allow the user to 

intermix speech with TTY use. 

412.8.3 Signal Compatibility. ICT shall 

support all commonly used crossmanufacturer non-proprietary standard TTY 

signal protocols where the system 

interoperates with the Public Switched 

Telephone Network (PSTN). 

412.8.4 Voice Mail and Other Messaging 

Systems. Where provided, voice mail, autoattendant, interactive voice response, and 

caller identification systems shall be usable 

with a TTY. 

* * * * * 

Approved by notational vote of the Access 

Board on January 12, 2018. 

David M. Capozzi, 

Executive Director. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00848 Filed 1–19–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8150–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 223 

[Docket No. 160105011–7999–03] 

RIN 0648–XE390 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Final Rule To List the Giant 

Manta Ray as Threatened Under the 

Endangered Species Act 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce a final 

rule to list the giant manta ray (Manta 

birostris) as threatened under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA). We have 

reviewed the status of the giant manta 

ray, including efforts being made to 

protect this species, and considered 

public comments submitted on the 

proposed rule as well as new 

information received since publication 

of the proposed rule. We have made our 

final determinations based on the best 

scientific and commercial data 

available. At this time, we conclude that 

critical habitat is not determinable 

because data sufficient to perform the 

required analyses are lacking; however, 

we solicit information on habitat 

features and areas in U.S. waters that 

may meet the definition of critical 

habitat for the giant manta ray. 

DATES: This final rule is effective 

February 21, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Endangered Species 

Division, NMFS Office of Protected 

Resources (F/PR3), 1315 East West 

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

Copies of the petition, status review 

report, and Federal Register notices are 

available on our website at http://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/ 

manta-ray.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maggie Miller, NMFS, Office of 

Protected Resources, (301) 427–8403. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 10, 2015, we received 

a petition from Defenders of Wildlife to 

list the giant manta ray (M. birostris), 

reef manta ray (M. alfredi) and 

Caribbean manta ray (M. c.f. birostris) as 

threatened or endangered under the 

ESA throughout their respective ranges, 

or, as an alternative, to list any 

identified distinct population segments 

(DPSs) as threatened or endangered. The 

petitioners also requested that critical 

habitat be designated concurrently with 

listing under the ESA. We found that 

the petitioned action may be warranted 

for the giant manta ray and reef manta 

ray and announced the initiation of 

status reviews for these species, but 

found that the Caribbean manta ray is 

not a taxonomically valid species or 

subspecies for listing, and explained the 

basis for that finding (81 FR 8874, 

February 23, 2016). On January 12, 

2017, we published a proposed rule to 

list the giant manta ray as a threatened 

species under the ESA and made a 12- 

month determination that the reef manta 

ray did not warrant listing under the 

ESA (82 FR 3694). We solicited 

information on the proposed listing 

determination, the development of 

proposed protective regulations, and 

designation of critical habitat for the 

giant manta ray, and the comment 

period was open through March 13, 

2017. This final rule provides a 

discussion of the information we 

received during and after the public 

comment period and our final 

determination on the petition to list the 

giant manta ray under the ESA. 

Listing Species Under the Endangered 

Species Act 

We are responsible for determining 

whether species are threatened or 

endangered under the ESA (16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.). To make this 

determination, we first consider 

whether a group of organisms 

constitutes a ‘‘species’’ under section 3 

of the ESA, then whether the status of 

the species qualifies it for listing as 

either threatened or endangered. Section 

3 of the ESA defines species to include 

‘‘any subspecies of fish or wildlife or 

plants, and any distinct population 

segment of any species of vertebrate fish 

or wildlife which interbreeds when 

mature.’’ On February 7, 1996, NMFS 

and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS; together, the Services) adopted 

a policy describing what constitutes a 

DPS of a taxonomic species (61 FR 

4722). The joint DPS policy identified 

two elements that must be considered 

when identifying a DPS: (1) The 

discreteness of the population segment 

in relation to the remainder of the 

species (or subspecies) to which it 

belongs; and (2) the significance of the 

population segment to the species (or 

subspecies) to which it belongs. 

Section 3 of the ESA defines an 

endangered species as ‘‘any species 

which is in danger of extinction 

throughout all or a significant portion of 

its range’’ and a threatened species as 

one ‘‘which is likely to become an 

endangered species within the 

foreseeable future throughout all or a 

significant portion of its range.’’ Thus, 

in the context of the ESA, the Services 

interpret an ‘‘endangered species’’ to be 

one that is presently in danger of 

extinction. A ‘‘threatened species’’ is 

not presently in danger of extinction, 

but is likely to become so in the 

foreseeable future (that is, at a later 

time). In other words, the primary 

statutory difference between a 

threatened and endangered species is 

the timing of when a species is or is 

likely to become in danger of extinction, 

either presently (endangered) or in the 

foreseeable future (threatened). 


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