21670 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 84 / Tuesday, May 1, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

§ 250.173 Claims for drawback.

(a) General. Persons bringing eligible

articles into the United States from

Puerto Rico must file claim for

drawback on ATF Form 2635 (5620.8).

Upon finding that the claimant has

satisfied the requirements of this

subpart, the appropriate ATF officer

must allow the drawback of taxes at a

rate of $1 less than the lesser of $10.50

a proof gallon or the rate specified in 26

U.S.C. 5001(a).

* * * * *

§ 250.193 [Amended]

Par. 21. The last sentence of

§ 250.193(b) is amended by removing

the phrase ‘‘regional director

(compliance) of the consignee’s region’’

and adding, in substitution, the words

‘‘appropriate ATF officer’’.

§ 250.197 [Amended]

Par. 22. Section 250.197 is amended

by removing the phrase ‘‘regional

director (compliance) of each region in

which a consignee’s distilled spirits

plant is located’’ and adding, in

substitution, the words ‘‘appropriate

ATF officer’’.

Par. 23. Section 250.199f(c) is revised

to read as follows:

§ 250.199f Consignee premises.

* * * * *

(c) Distribution of forms. The

proprietor shall keep and send copies

according the instructions on the form.

* * * * *

Par. 24. Section 250.224 is revised to

read as follows:

§ 250.224 Filing and disposition of

formulas.

Formulas required by this subpart

must be submitted, and disposed of, in

accordance with the instructions on the

prescribed ATF form. The applicant

shall maintain copies of approved

formulas available for examination by

insular agents.

Par. 25. Section 250.275(a) is revised

to read as follows:

§ 250.275 Filing.

(a) All records and reports required by

this part will be maintained separately,

by transaction or reporting date, at the

importer’s place of business. The

appropriate ATF officer may, pursuant

to an application, authorize files, or an

individual file, to be maintained at

another business location under the

control of the importer, if the alternative

location does not cause undue

inconvenience to appropriate ATF or

Customs officers desiring to examine the

files or delay in the timely submission

of documents.

* * * * *

Par. 26. The first sentence of

§ 250.276 is revised to read as follows:

§ 250.276 Retention.

All records required by this part,

documents or copies of documents

supporting these records, and file copies

of reports required by this part shall be

retained for not less than three years,

and during this period shall be

available, during business hours, for

inspection and copying by appropriate

ATF or customs officers. * * *

Par. 27. The undesignated heading

preceding § 250.277 is removed.

§ 250.277 [Removed]

Par. 28. Section 250.277 is removed

and reserved.

Par. 29. Section 250.308 is amended:

a. By removing in paragraph (a) the

preceding comma and the words ‘‘, but

references therein to a regional director

(compliance) shall apply, for purposes

of this part to the Chief, Puerto Rico

Operations’’; and

b. By revising paragraph (b) to read as

follows:

§ 250.308 Bonds.

* * * * *

(b) Approval required. No person

bringing eligible articles into the United

States from the Virgin Islands may file

monthly claims for drawback under the

provisions of this subpart until a bond

on ATF Form 5154.3 has been

approved.

Par. 30. Section 250.309 is amended

by:

a. Revising paragraph (a) to read as set

forth below; and

b. Removing the phrase ‘‘with the

Chief, Puerto Rico Operations,’’ from the

first sentence of paragraph (d).

§ 250.309 Claims for drawback.

(a) General. Persons bringing eligible

articles into the United States from the

Virgin Islands must file claim for

drawback on ATF Form 2635 (5620.8).

Upon finding that the claimant has

satisfied the requirements of this

subpart, the appropriate ATF officer

must allow the drawback of taxes at a

rate of $1 less than the lesser of $10.50

a proof gallon or the rate specified in 26

U.S.C. 5001(a).

* * * * *

§ 250.314 [Amended]

Par. 31. Section 250.314 is amended

by:

a. Removing the phrase ‘‘to the

Director’’ in the second sentence in

paragraph (a).

b. Removing the phrase ‘‘from the

Director’’ in the third sentence in

paragraph (a).

c. Removing the word ‘‘Director’s’’

and adding, in substitution, the words

‘‘appropriate ATF officer’s’’ in the third

sentence in paragraph (b).

Par. 32. Section 250.318 is revised to

read as follows:

§ 250.318 Liquor bottles denied entry.

Filled liquor bottles not conforming to

the provisions of this subpart shall be

denied entry into the United States:

Provided, That, upon letterhead

application, in triplicate, the

appropriate ATF officer may, in

nonrecurring cases, authorize the

release from customs custody of

distilled spirits in bottles, except those

coming under the provisions of

§ 250.316, which, through unintentional

error, do not conform to the provisions

of this subpart, if such officer finds that

such release will not afford jeopardy to

the revenue.

§ 250.331 [Amended]

Par. 33. Section 250.331 is further

amended by:

a. Removing from the first sentence of

paragraph (a) the words ‘‘regional

director (compliance) of the region in

which his place of business is located’’

and adding, in substitution, the words

‘‘appropriate ATF officer’’.

b. Removing the second sentence of

paragraph (b).

Signed: March 14, 2001.

Bradley A. Buckles,

Director.

Approved: March 28, 2001.

Timothy E. Skud,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary

(Regulatory, Tariff and Trade Enforcement).

[FR Doc. 01–10673 Filed 4–30–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–31–P

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND

HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

29 CFR Part 2202

Rules of Ethics and Conduct of Review

Commission Employees

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health

Review Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Commission hereby

eliminates its rules for the ethics and

conduct of Commission employees. The

ethics and conduct of Commission

employees are now governed by rules

issued by the Office of Government

Ethics (OGE) subsequent to the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 84 / Tuesday, May 1, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 21671

Commission’s adoption of its rules.

Eliminating the Commission’s separate

rules will prevent confusion in the

administration of the Commission’s

program for ensuring that its employees

comply with the accepted standards for

ethical conduct.

DATES: Effective May 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Earl

R. Ohman, Jr., General Counsel, One

Lafayette Center, 1120 20th St., N.W.

9th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036–

3457, phone 202–606–5410.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Rules for

the ethical conduct of employees

including Commission employees have

been promulgated by the OGE at 5 CFR

Part 2635, Standards of Ethical Conduct

for Employees of the Executive Branch.

The OGE has advised the Commission

that these rules supersede 29 CFR Part

2202.

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 2202

Conflict of interests.

For the reasons stated, the

Occupational Safety and Health Review

Commission under the authority of 29

U.S.C. 661(g) amends Title 29, Chapter

XX of the Code of Federal Regulations

as follows:

PART 2202—[REMOVED AND

RESERVED]

1. Part 2202 is removed and reserved.

Dated: April 25, 2001.

Earl R. Ohman, Jr.,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 01–10767 Filed 4–30–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7600–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 173

[USCG–1999–6094]

RIN 2115–AF87

Raising the Threshold of Property

Damage for Reports of Accidents

Involving Recreational Vessels

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Final Rule.

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard raises the

threshold of property damage for reports

of accidents involving recreational

vessels when damage to vessels and

other property totals $2,000 or more in

any one accident or—this represents a

change from the Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking—when a collision occurs

involving two or more vessels,

regardless of the amount of damage to

property. The higher threshold better

accounts for the rising cost of repairs to

recreational vessels. This Final Rule

will reduce the number of reports of

accidents for minor or cosmetic damage,

help us maintain statistics for future

years comparable to those for past ones,

and reduce the burden of paperwork on

the public to report such incidents.

DATES: This final rule is effective July 2,

2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments and materials

received from the public, as well as

documents mentioned in this preamble

as being available in the docket, are part

of docket USCG–1999–6094 and are

available for inspection or copying at

the Docket Management Facility, U. S.

Department of Transportation, room PL–

401, 400 Seventh Street SW.,

Washington, DC, between 10 a.m. and 5

p.m., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays. The telephone number

is 202–366–9329. You may also find this

docket on the Internet at http://

dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If

you have questions on this rule, contact

Bruce Schmidt, Project Manager, Office

of Boating Safety, Program Management

Division, Coast Guard, by e-mail at

bschmidt@comdt.uscg.mil or by

telephone at 202–267–0955.

If you have questions on viewing the

docket, call Dorothy Beard, Chief,

Dockets, Department of Transportation,

telephone 202–366–9329.

You may obtain a copy of this rule by

calling the U. S. Coast Guard Infoline at

1–800–368–5647 or by accessing either

the Web Site for the Office of Boating

Safety, at http://www.uscgboating.org,

or the Internet Site for the Docket

Management Facility, at http://

dms.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

On June 20, 2000, we published a

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)

entitled Raising the Threshold of

Property Damage for Reports of

Accidents Involving Recreational

Vessels (65 FR 38229). We received 17

letters commenting on the proposed

rule. No public hearing was requested

and none was held.

Regulatory Authority and History

46 U.S.C. 6101 requires the Secretary

(who has delegated the authority to the

Commandant) to prescribe rules on the

reporting of ‘‘marine casualties.’’ We use

that authority to describe different types

of marine casualties, including those

involving certain amounts of property

damage, that various parties must

report. 33 CFR Part 173, Subpart C,

contains the rules applicable to

recreational vessels.

In 1972, the threshold of property

damage for reports of accidents

involving recreational vessels was $100.

(This was the original threshold.) In

1979, the effects of inflation on the

original threshold dictated that we raise

the threshold to $200. The purpose of

this adjustment was to reduce the

number of reports filed for minor

incidents.

Even the threshold of $200, however,

eventually resulted in the submission of

an excessive number of reports of

accidents on minor incidents. This

trend increased the reporting burden on

the boating public, and the

administrative burden on both the

States and the Coast Guard. On February

6, 1989, to reduce these burdens, we

published a Final Rule (54 FR 5608)

raising the threshold to $500. As it had

been in 1979, the effect of inflation on

repair costs was the basis for this

change.

The formula described in the

preamble of the Final Rule of 1989

rested on a methodology allowing us to

adjust the threshold annually by

applying a deflator based on the Gross

National Product (GNP) to account for

inflation. In that preamble, we also

stated our intent to review the threshold

annually and, if necessary, adjust the

threshold in law each time it rose by

another $100.

How We Developed the New

Methodology for Adjusting the

Threshold

After analyzing the formula described

in the preamble of the Final Rule of

1989, we determined that further

adjustments both in the threshold and

in the methodology used to determine it

were necessary. Non-safety-related

accident reports continued even after

the threshold rose to $500 in 1989. We

now believe both that the threshold was

too low and that the methodology itself

was amiss. An inflation index based on

the GNP and applied to a base-year

value of $500 yields a threshold for

2001 still low enough for the reporting

of too many damages that are merely

cosmetic. We decided that it is

necessary to adjust the base-year value

of the threshold to reach the level only

where damage due to accidents

implicates safety.

The National Association of State

Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)

is a professional association consisting

of officials of States, commonwealths,

and provinces responsible for

administering or enforcing the boating

laws of those bodies. Within NASBLA,