22054 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2001 / Notices

Chapter III: Recommendations for

Reform

Section 628(a)(3) of the FY2000

Treasury and General Government

Appropriations Act (the Act) requires

OMB to submit ‘‘recommendations for

reform’’ with its report on the costs and

benefits of Federal regulations. As we

have pointed out in our previous

reports, much of OMB’s job in reviewing

regulations and regulatory impact

analyses submitted by the agencies is to

suggest regulatory reforms and

improvements.

Last year we issued guidelines for the

agencies to use in preparing the

regulatory impact analyses that

accompany major regulatory actions. We

hoped that The Guidelines to

Standardize Measures of Costs and

Benefits and the Format of Accounting

Statements, issued in final form as

Memorandum M–00–08 on March 22,

2000, would improve the quality of the

data and analyses underlying major

regulations, thereby leading to

improvements in Federal regulation. In

order to improve transparency and

understanding of regulatory impacts by

the public, we asked the agencies last

year to use the format of the accounting

statements to summarize regulatory

impacts in the preambles to the Federal

Register notices announcing their rules.

We believe these guidelines and the

accounting statement provide a sound

foundation for estimating and

presenting the benefits and costs of

Federal regulation. OMB expects

agencies to use the guidelines and the

format of the accounting statements as

they prepare regulatory impact analyses

in the coming months. We are interested

in suggestions on further actions we

should take to improve the overall

performance of the agencies in their

responsibility to provide transparent

and understandable regulatory analyses

to the public.

In addition, in our previous reports to

Congress, we highlighted some of the

individual and incremental reforms that

were underway by drawing from the key

entries in the Regulatory Plan that is

published in the Federal Register each

Fall. With the change in

Administrations, we are now in the

process of reviewing a variety of

existing regulations and regulatory

programs in an effort to identify areas

where sensible changes will yield

greater benefits for the public at lower

costs. At this point in the process, we

do not have enough information to

present a set of recommendations for the

reform of specific regulations or

regulatory programs. To help us in this

effort, we are asking for

recommendations and comments on

regulations and regulatory programs that

may be of concern to the public.

Specifically, we would like to receive

suggestions on specific regulations that

could be rescinded or changed that

would increase net benefits to the

public by either reducing costs and/or

increasing benefits. We would

appreciate if commenters identified

regulations that are obsolete or

outmoded, and could be rescinded or

updated. If possible we would

appreciate commenters being as specific

as possible in their suggested reforms

including whether the reform could be

accomplished by agencies through

rulemaking or would require statutory

changes. In addition to supplying

whatever documentation and

supporting materials (including

citations to published studies) you feel

is appropriate, we would appreciate it if

you used the following suggested format

to summarize the recommendations.

Format for Suggested Regulatory

Reform Improvements

Name of Regulation:

Agency Regulating: (Include any

subagency).

Citation: (Code of Federal

Regulations).

Authority: (Statute).

Description of Problem: (Harmful

impact and on whom).

Proposed Solution: (Both the fix and

the procedure to fix it).

Estimate of Economic Impacts

(Quantified benefits and costs if

possible).

Finally, we also invite commenters to

suggest any other reforms to the

regulatory development and oversight

processes that would improve

regulatory outcomes.

[FR Doc. 01–11006 Filed 5–1–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3110–01–P

OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT

CORPORATION

Submission for OMB review; Comment

Request

AGENCY: Overseas Private Investment

Corporation.

ACTION: Request for Comments.

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35), agencies are required to

publish a Notice in the Federal Register

notifying the public that the Agency is

preparing an information collection

request for OMB review and approval

and to request public review and

comment on the submission. Comments

are being solicited on the need for the

information, its practical utility, the

accuracy of the Agency’s burden

estimate, and on ways to minimize the

reporting burden, including automated

collection techniques and uses of other

forms of technology. The proposed form

under review is summarized below.

DATES: Comments msut be received on

or before July 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the subject form

and the request for review prepared for

submission to OMB may be obtained

from the Agency Submitting Officer.

Comments on the form should be

submitted to the Agency Submitting

Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

OPIC Agency Submitting Officer: Carol

Brock, Records Manager, Overseas

Private Investment Corporation, 1100

New York Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC 20527; 202/336–8563.

Summary of Form Under Review

Type of Request: Form Renewal.

Title: Request for Registration for

Political Risk Investment Insurance.

Form Number: OPIC–50.

Frequency of USE: Once per investor,

per project.

Type of Respondents: Business or

other institutions.

Standard Industrial Classification

Codes: All.

Description of Affected Public: U.S.

companies investing overseas.

Reporting Hours: 1⁄2 hour per project.

Number of Responses: 850 per year.

Federal Cost: $1,600 per year.

Authority for Information Collection:

Sections 231 and 234(a) of the Foreign

Assistance Act of 1961, as amended.

Abstract (Needs and Uses): The OPIC

50 form is submitted by eligible

investors to register their intent to make

international investments, and

ultimately, to seek OPIC insurance. By

submitting Form 50 to OPIC prior to

making an irrevocable commitment, the

incentive effect of OPIC is

demonstrated.

Dated: April 27, 2001.

Rumu Sarkar,

Assistant General Counsel, Administrative

Affairs, Department of Legal Affairs.

[FR Doc. 01–10956 Filed 5–1–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3210–-1–M