This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

50213 

Vol. 86, No. 171 

Wednesday, September 8, 2021 

1 12 U.S.C. 461(b)(1)(A) & (b)(12)(A). 

2See 12 U.S.C. 461(b)(1)(A) & (b)(12)(C); see also 

12 CFR 204.2(y). 

3See 12 U.S.C. 461(b)(12)(B). 

4Final Rule, 86 FR 29937 (June 4, 2021). 

5 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq. 

6 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A). 

7 5 U.S.C. 553(d). 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

12 CFR Part 204 

[Docket No. R–1754] 

RIN 7100–AG 18 

Regulation D: Reserve Requirements 

of Depository Institutions 

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System (‘‘Board’’) is 

amending Regulation D, Reserve 

Requirements of Depository Institutions, 

to revise the rate of interest paid on 

balances maintained at Federal Reserve 

Banks by or on behalf of eligible 

institutions (‘‘IORB’’ rate). The final 

amendments specify that the IORB rate 

is 0.15 percent, an 0.05 percentage point 

increase from its prior level. The 

amendment is intended to establish the 

IORB rate at a level consistent with 

maintaining the Federal funds rate in 

the target range established by the 

Federal Open Market Committee 

(‘‘FOMC’’ or ‘‘Committee’’). This 

amendment does not reflect a change in 

the stance of monetary policy. The 

Board is also making certain conforming 

deletions for clarity to the provisions of 

Regulation D governing interest payable 

on balances at Reserve Banks. 

DATES: 

Effective date: The amendments to 

part 204 (Regulation D) are effective 

September 8, 2021. 

Applicability date: The IORB rate 

change was applicable on July 29, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sophia H. Allison, Senior Special 

Counsel (202–452–3565), Legal 

Division, or Laura Lipscomb, Deputy 

Associate Director (202–834–2979), 

Division of Monetary Affairs; for users 

of Telecommunications Device for the 

Deaf (TDD) only, contact 202–263–4869; 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, 20th and C Streets NW, 

Washington, DC 20551. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background 

Section 19 of the Federal Reserve Act 

(‘‘Act’’) provides that balances 

maintained by or on behalf of certain 

institutions in an account at a Federal 

Reserve Bank (‘‘Reserve Bank’’) may 

receive earnings to be paid by the 

Reserve Bank at least once each quarter, 

at a rate or rates not to exceed the 

general level of short-term interest 

rates.1 Institutions that are eligible to 

receive earnings on their balances held 

at Reserve Banks (‘‘eligible 

institutions’’) include depository 

institutions and certain other 

institutions.2 Section 19 also provides 

that the Board may prescribe regulations 

concerning the payment of earnings on 

balances at a Reserve Bank.3

On June 4, 2021, the Board published 

a final rule in the Federal Register 

amending Regulation D, effective July 

29, to eliminate references to ‘‘IORR’’ 

and ‘‘IOER’’ and replace those 

references with references to a single 

‘‘IORB’’ (interest on reserve balances) 

rate and to establish the IORB rate at 

0.10 percent.4

II. Amendments to IORB 

The Board is amending § 204.10(b)(1) 

of Regulation D to establish the IORB 

rate at 0.15 percent. The amendment 

represents a 0.05 percentage point 

increase in the IORB rate. This decision 

was announced on July 28, 2021, with 

an effective date of July 29, 2021, in the 

Federal Reserve Implementation Note 

(‘‘Implementation Note’’) that 

accompanied the FOMC’s statement on 

July 28, 2021 (‘‘FOMC Statement’’). The 

FOMC Statement stated that the 

Committee decided to maintain the 

target range for the Federal funds rate at 

0 to 1⁄4 percent. 

The Federal Reserve Implementation 

Note stated: 

The Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System voted unanimously to 

establish the interest rate paid on reserve 

balances at 0.15 percent, effective July 29, 

2021. 

The Implementation Note further 

stated: 

As announced on June 2, 2021, the Federal 

Reserve Board approved a final rule, effective 

July 29, amending Regulation D to eliminate 

references to an interest on required reserves 

(IORR) rate and to an interest on excess 

reserves (IOER) rate and replace them with a 

single interest on reserve balances (IORB) 

rate. Therefore, the Board voted on one rate, 

the IORB rate, at this meeting and will 

continue to do so going forward. 

As a result, the Board is amending 

§ 204.10(b)(1) of Regulation D to 

establish the IORB rate at 0.15 percent. 

The amendment is intended to establish 

the IORB rate at a level consistent with 

maintaining the Federal funds rate in 

the target range established by the 

Committee. This amendment does not 

reflect a change in the stance of 

monetary policy. 

Finally, the Board is also making 

certain conforming deletions for clarity 

to the provisions of Regulation D 

governing interest payable on balances 

at Reserve Banks. 

III. Administrative Procedure Act 

In general, the Administrative 

Procedure Act (‘‘APA’’) 5 imposes three 

principal requirements when an agency 

promulgates legislative rules (rules 

made pursuant to Congressionallydelegated authority): (1) Publication 

with adequate notice of a proposed rule; 

(2) followed by a meaningful 

opportunity for the public to comment 

on the rule’s content; and (3) 

publication of the final rule not less 

than 30 days before its effective date. 

The APA provides that notice and 

comment procedures do not apply if the 

agency for good cause finds them to be 

‘‘unnecessary, impracticable, or contrary 

to the public interest.’’ 6 Section 553(d) 

of the APA also provides that 

publication at least 30 days prior to a 

rule’s effective date is not required for 

(1) a substantive rule which grants or 

recognizes an exemption or relieves a 

restriction; (2) interpretive rules and 

statements of policy; or (3) a rule for 

which the agency finds good cause for 

shortened notice and publishes its 

reasoning with the rule.7

The Board has determined that good 

cause exists for finding that the notice, 

public comment, and delayed effective 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with RULES
50214 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

8 5 U.S.C. 603, 604. 

9 44 U.S.C. 3506; see 5 CFR part 1320, appendix 

A.1. 

date provisions of the APA are 

unnecessary, impracticable, or contrary 

to the public interest with respect to 

these final amendments to Regulation D. 

The rate change for IORB that is 

reflected in the final amendment to 

Regulation D was made with a view 

towards accommodating commerce and 

business and with regard to their 

bearing upon the general credit situation 

of the country. Notice and public 

comment would prevent the Board’s 

action from being effective as promptly 

as necessary in the public interest and 

would not otherwise serve any useful 

purpose. Notice, public comment, and a 

delayed effective date would create 

uncertainty about the finality and 

effectiveness of the Board’s action and 

undermine the effectiveness of that 

action. Accordingly, the Board has 

determined that good cause exists to 

dispense with the notice, public 

comment, and delayed effective date 

procedures of the APA with respect to 

this final amendment to Regulation D. 

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(‘‘RFA’’) does not apply to a rulemaking 

where a general notice of proposed 

rulemaking is not required.8 As noted 

previously, the Board has determined 

that it is unnecessary and contrary to 

the public interest to publish a general 

notice of proposed rulemaking for this 

final rule. Accordingly, the RFA’s 

requirements relating to an initial and 

final regulatory flexibility analysis do 

not apply. 

V. Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’) of 1995,9 the 

Board reviewed the final rule under the 

authority delegated to the Board by the 

Office of Management and Budget. The 

final rule contains no requirements 

subject to the PRA. 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 204 

Banks, Banking, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Authority and Issuance 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Board amends 12 CFR 

part 204 as follows: 

PART 204—RESERVE 

REQUIREMENTS OF DEPOSITORY 

INSTITUTIONS (REGULATION D) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 204 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 248(a), 248(c), 461, 

601, 611, and 3105. 

■ 2. Section 204.10 is amended by: 

■ a. Revising paragraph (b)(1); 

■ b. Removing paragraphs (b)(4) and (5) 

and (d)(5); and 

■ c. Redesignating paragraph (d)(6) as 

paragraph (d)(5). 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 204.10 Payment of interest on balances. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) For balances maintained in an 

eligible institution’s master account, 

interest is the amount equal to the 

interest on reserve balances rate (‘‘IORB 

rate’’) on a day multiplied by the total 

balances maintained on that day. The 

IORB rate is 0.15 percent. 

* * * * * 

By order of the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System. 

Ann Misback, 

Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19280 Filed 9–7–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

13 CFR Parts 121 and 123 

[Docket Number SBA–2021–0016] 

RIN 3245–AH80 

Disaster Loan Program Changes 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration (SBA). 

ACTION: Interim final rule. 

SUMMARY: This interim final rule 

implements changes to the Disaster 

Loan Program regulations. For 

applications for COVID–19 Economic 

Injury Disaster (COVID EIDL) loans, in 

this rule SBA is changing the definition 

of affiliation, the eligible uses of loan 

proceeds, and application of the size 

standard to certain hard-hit eligible 

entities, and is establishing a maximum 

loan limit for borrowers in a single 

corporate group. In addition, for all 

disaster assistance programs, in this 

rule, SBA is changing which SBA 

official may make the decision on the 

appeal of an application that has been 

declined for a second time. 

DATES: 

Effective date: The provisions of this 

interim final rule are effective 

September 8, 2021. 

Applicability dates: The change to the 

regulation at 13 CFR 123.13 applies to 

applications submitted under all of 

SBA’s Disaster Loan Programs on or 

after September 8, 2021. The changes to 

the regulation at 13 CFR 123.303 apply 

to COVID EIDL loan proceeds available 

on or after September 8, 2021, without 

regard to the date such proceeds were 

received from SBA. The other changes 

in this interim final rule apply to 

applications submitted under the 

COVID EIDL Program on or after 

September 8, 2021, through December 

31, 2021, or until funds available for 

this purpose are exhausted, whichever 

is earlier. Additionally, with the 

exception of the regulation at 123.304, 

this interim final rule applies to original 

applications under the COVID EIDL 

Program that are submitted before but 

approved on or after September 8, 2021. 

Comment date: Comments must be 

received on or before October 8, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by number SBA–2021–0016 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

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

instructions for submitting comments. 

SBA will post all comments on 

www.regulations.gov. If you wish to 

submit confidential business 

information (CBI) as defined in the User 

Notice at www.regulations.gov, please 

send an email to COVIDEIDLHelp@

sba.gov. All other comments must be 

submitted through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal described above. 

Highlight the information that you 

consider to be CBI and explain why you 

believe SBA should hold this 

information as confidential. SBA will 

review the information and make the 

final determination whether it will 

publish the information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: An 

SBA Disaster Customer Service 

Representative at (800) 659–2955 

(individuals who are deaf or hard of 

hearing may call (800) 877–8339), or a 

local SBA Field Office; the list of SBA 

field offices can be found at https://

www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/ 

districtoffices. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background Information 

Section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business 

Act authorizes SBA to make EIDL loans 

to eligible small businesses and 

nonprofit organizations located in a 

disaster area. 15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2). On 

March 6, 2020, Congress deemed 

COVID–19 to be a disaster in Title II of 

the Coronavirus Preparedness and 

Response Supplemental Appropriations 

Act of 2020, Public Law 116–123, 134 

Stat. 146, 147, allowing SBA to declare 

disasters and make EIDL loans available 

to small businesses and nonprofit 

organizations suffering substantial 

economic injury as a result of the 

COVID–19 pandemic. The Coronavirus 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with RULES