Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 173 / Thursday, September 8, 2005 / Proposed Rules 53323 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Securities. 

Federal Reserve System 

12 CFR Chapter II 

Authority and Issuance 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, part 225 of chapter II of title 

12 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 

proposed to be amended as set forth 

below: 

PART 225—BANK HOLDING 

COMPANIES AND CHANGE IN BANK 

CONTROL (REGULATION Y) 

1. The authority citation for part 225 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1817(j)(13), 1818, 

1828(o), 1831i, 1831p–1, 1843( c)(8), 1844(b), 

1972(1), 3106, 3108, 3310, 3331–3351, 3907, 

and 3909; 15 U.S.C. 6801 and 6805. 

2. Appendix A to part 225 is amended 

as follows: 

a. In section I, the fifth undesignated 

paragraph is revised. 

b. In section I, footnote 4 is removed 

and reserved. 

Appendix A to Part 225—Capital 

Adequacy Guidelines for Bank Holding 

Companies: Risk Based Measure 

I. * * * 

* * * * * 

The risk-based guidelines apply on a 

consolidated basis to any bank holding 

company with consolidated assets of $500 

million or more. The risk-based guidelines 

also apply on a consolidated basis to any 

bank holding company with consolidated 

assets of less than $500 million if the holding 

company (i) is engaged in significant 

nonbanking activities either directly or 

through a nonbank subsidiary; (ii) conducts 

significant off-balance sheet activities 

(including securitization and asset 

management or administration) either 

directly or through a nonbank subsidiary; or 

(iii) has a material amount of debt or equity 

securities outstanding (other than trust 

preferred securities) that are registered with 

the Securities and Exchange Commission 

(SEC). The Federal Reserve may apply the 

risk-based guidelines at its discretion to any 

bank holding company, regardless of asset 

size, if such action is warranted for 

supervisory purposes. 

* * * * * 

3. Appendix C to part 225 is amended 

as follows: 

a. In section 1, the first undesignated 

paragraph is revised. 

b. In section 1, footnote 1 is removed 

and reserved. 

c. In section 2.A., a new paragraph is 

added after the first paragraph in 

footnote 3. 

Appendix C to Part 225—Small Bank 

Holding Company Policy Statement 

* * * * * 

1. * * * 

This policy statement applies only to bank 

holding companies with pro forma 

consolidated assets of less than $500 million 

that (i) are not engaged in significant 

nonbanking activities either directly or 

through a nonbank subsidiary; (ii) do not 

conduct significant off-balance sheet 

activities (including securitization and asset 

management or administration) either 

directly or through a nonbank subsidiary; 

and (iii) do not have a material amount of 

debt or equity securities outstanding (other 

than trust preferred securities) that are 

registered with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission. The Board may in its discretion 

exclude any bank holding company, 

regardless of asset size, from the policy 

statement if such action is warranted for 

supervisory purposes. 

* * * * * 

2. * * * 

A. * * * 

3 * * * 

Subordinated debt associated with trust 

preferred securities generally would be 

treated as debt for purposes of paragraphs 2C, 

3A, 4Ai, and 4Bi of this policy statement. A 

bank holding company, however, may 

exclude from debt an amount of subordinated 

debt associated with trust preferred securities 

up to 25 percent of the holding company’s 

equity (as defined below) less goodwill on 

the parent company’s balance sheet in 

determining compliance with the 

requirements of such paragraphs of the 

policy statement. In addition, a bank holding 

company that has not issued subordinated 

debt associated with trust preferred securities 

after September 8, 2005, may exclude from 

debt any subordinated debt associated with 

trust preferred securities until September 8, 

2010. Subordinated debt associated with 

trust preferred securities will not be included 

as debt in determining compliance with any 

other requirements of this policy statement. 

* * * * * 

4. Appendix D to part 225 is amended as 

follows: 

a. In section I., paragraph b. is revised. 

b. In section I.b., footnote 2 is removed and 

reserved. 

Appendix D to Part 225—Capital 

Adequacy Guidelines for Bank Holding 

Companies: Tier 1 Leverage Measure 

I. * * * 

b. The tier 1 leverage guidelines apply on 

a consolidated basis to any bank holding 

company with consolidated assets of $500 

million or more. The tier 1 leverage 

guidelines also apply on a consolidated basis 

to any bank holding company with 

consolidated assets of less than $500 million 

if the holding company (i) is engaged in 

significant nonbanking activities either 

directly or through a nonbank subsidiary; (ii) 

conducts significant off-balance sheet 

activities (including securitization and asset 

management or administration) either 

directly or through a nonbank subsidiary; or 

(iii) has a material amount of debt or equity 

securities outstanding (other than trust 

preferred securities) that are registered with 

the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The Federal Reserve may apply the tier 1 

leverage guidelines at its discretion to any 

bank holding company, regardless of asset 

size, if such action is warranted for 

supervisory purposes. 

* * * * * 

By order of the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System, September 1, 2005. 

Jennifer J. Johnson, 

Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 05–17740 Filed 9–7–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–02–P 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

20 CFR Parts 404 and 416 

[Regulation Nos. 4 and 16] 

RIN 0960–AG28 

Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating 

Growth Impairments 

AGENCY: Social Security Administration. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: We are planning to update 

and revise the rules we use to evaluate 

growth impairments of individuals 

under age 18 who apply for, or receive, 

disability benefits under title II and 

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 

payments based on disability under title 

XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). 

The rules we plan on revising are in 

section 100.00 in the Listing of 

Impairments in appendix 1 to subpart P 

of part 404 of our regulations (the 

listings). We invite you to send us 

comments and suggestions for updating 

and revising these rules. 

After we have considered your 

comments and suggestions, as well as 

information about advances in medical 

knowledge, treatment, and methods of 

evaluating growth impairments, along 

with our program experience, we intend 

to publish for public comment a Notice 

of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that 

will propose specific revisions to the 

rules. 

DATES: To be sure your comments are 

considered, we must receive them by 

November 7, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: You may give us your 

comments by: using our Internet site 

facility (i.e., Social Security Online) at 

http://policy.ssa.gov/erm/ 

rules.nsf.Rules+Open+To+Comment or 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 

http://www.regulations.gov; e-mail to 

regulations@ssa.gov; telefax to (410) 

966–2830, or letter to the Commissioner 

of Social Security, P.O. Box 17703, 

Baltimore, Maryland 21235–7703. You 

may also deliver them to the Office of 

53324 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 173 / Thursday, September 8, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

Regulations, Social Security 

Administration, 100 Altmeyer Building, 

6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, 

Maryland 21235–6401, between 8 a.m. 

and 4:30 p.m. on regular business days. 

Comments are posted on our Internet 

site at http://policy.ssa.gov/erm/ 

rules.nsf/Rules+Open+To+Comment, or 

you may inspect them on regular 

business days by making arrangements 

with the contact person shown in this 

preamble. 

Electronic Version: The electronic file 

of this document is available on the date 

of publication in the Federal Register at 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ 

index.html. It is also available on the 

Internet site for SSA (i.e., Social 

Security Online) at: http:// 

policy.ssa.gov/erm/rules.nsf/ 

Rules+Open+To+Comment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rosemarie A. Greenwald, Social 

Insurance Specialist, Office of 

Regulations, Social Security 

Administration, 100 Altmeyer Building, 

6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, 

Maryland 21235–6401, (410) 966–7813 

or TTY (410) 966–5609. For information 

on eligibility or filing for benefits, call 

our national toll-free number, 1–800–

772–1213 or TTY 1–800–325–0778, or 

visit our Internet Web site, Social 

Security Online, at http:// 

www.socialsecurity.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

What Is the Purpose of This Notice? 

We are planning to update and revise 

the rules that we use to evaluate growth 

impairments of individuals under age 

18 who apply for, or receive, disability 

benefits under title II and SSI payments 

based on disability under title XVI of 

the Act. The purpose of this notice is to 

give you an opportunity to send us 

comments and suggestions for updating 

and revising those rules as we begin the 

rulemaking process. We are also asking 

for your comments and ideas about how 

we can improve our disability programs 

in the future for children with growth 

impairments. 

Who Should Send Us Comments and 

Suggestions? 

We invite comments and suggestions 

from anyone who has an interest in the 

rules we use to evaluate claims for 

benefits filed by individuals under age 

18 with growth impairments. We are 

interested in getting comments and 

suggestions from people who apply for 

or receive benefits from us, members of 

the general public, advocates and 

organizations who advocate for children 

who have growth impairments, experts 

in the evaluation of growth 

impairments, diseases and injuries, 

researchers, people who make disability 

determinations and decisions for us, 

and any other individual who may have 

ideas for us to consider. 

Will We Respond to Your Comments 

From This Notice? 

We will not respond directly to 

comments you send us because of this 

notice. However, after we consider your 

comments in response to this notice, 

along with other information such as the 

results of current medical research and 

our program experience, we will decide 

how to revise the rules we use to 

evaluate growth impairments. When we 

propose specific revisions to the rules, 

we will publish an NPRM in the Federal 

Register. In accordance with the usual 

rulemaking procedures we follow, you 

will have a chance to comment on the 

revisions we propose when we publish 

the NPRM, and we will summarize and 

respond to the significant comments on 

the NPRM in the preamble to any final 

rules. 

Which Rules Are We Considering 

Updating and Revising? 

We are considering the updating and 

revision of section 100.00. This is the 

section for evaluating growth 

impairments in children (Part B, 

100.00). This body system addresses 

linear growth impairments of 

individuals under age 18. 

Where Can You Find These Rules on 

the Internet? 

You can find these rules on our 

Internet site at these locations: 

• Section 100.00 is in the Listing of 

Impairments in appendix 1 to subpart P 

of part 404 of our regulations at http:// 

www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404– 

ap10.htm. 

• You can also look up section 100.00 

of the listings at http://www.ssa.gov/ 

disability/professionals/bluebook/. 

• If you do not have Internet access, 

you can find the Code of Federal 

Regulations in some public libraries, 

Federal depository libraries, and public 

law libraries. 

Why Are We Updating and Revising 

Our Rules for Evaluating Growth 

Impairments? 

We first published the growth 

impairment listings in the Federal 

Register on March 16, 1977 (42 FR 

14705). Except for minor changes we 

made to them on December 6, 1985 (50 

FR 50068) and April 24, 2002 (67 FR 

20018), we have not comprehensively 

updated or revised them since 1977. We 

published an Advanced Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking on June 14, 2000 

(65 FR 37321), in which we asked for 

suggestions on how we could update 

and revise the growth impairment 

listings. We received very few 

comments. Because there may have 

been changes in the evaluation and 

treatment of growth impairments in the 

last five years, we are asking for 

suggestions from the public once again 

before we decide how to revise the rules 

for evaluating growth impairments. 

The current listings for growth 

impairments (100.00) will no longer be 

effective on July 2, 2007, unless we 

extend them or revise and promulgate 

them again. 

What Should You Comment About? 

We are interested in any comments 

and suggestions you have about section 

100.00 of our listings. For example, with 

regard to our listings, we are interested 

in knowing if: 

• You have concerns about any of the 

current growth impairment listing 

provisions, such as whether you think 

we should change any of our criteria or 

whether you think a listing is difficult 

to use or to understand. 

• You would like our growth 

impairment listings to include 

something that they do not include now, 

such as weight-related conditions, or 

you believe new medical criteria, such 

as Body Mass Index (BMI), should be 

added to the listings. 

We will consider your ideas as we 

develop the NPRM we intend to publish 

for public comment, and, where 

applicable, as part of our long-term 

planning for the disability program. 

What Other Information Will We 

Consider? 

We will also be considering 

information from other sources, 

including the following recent 

documents, for relevance to our policy 

for evaluating growth impairments. 

• ‘‘Criteria for Determining Disability 

in Infants and Children: Short Stature.’’

Evidence Report/Technology 

Assessment No. 73. Rockville, MD: 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality (AHRQ Publication No. 03–

E025) March, 2003. This report is 

available at: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/ 

tp/shorttp.htm. 

• ‘‘Criteria for Determining Disability 

in Infants and Children: Low Birth 

Weight.’’ Evidence Report/Technology 

Assessment No. 70. Rockville, MD: 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality (AHRQ Publication No. 03–

E010) December, 2002. This report is 

available at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/ 

tp/lbwdistp.htm. 

• ‘‘Criteria for Determining Disability 

in Infants and Children: Failure to 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 173 / Thursday, September 8, 2005 / Proposed Rules 53325 

Thrive.’’ Evidence Report/Technology 

Assessment No. 72. Rockville, MD: 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality (AHRQ Publication No. 03–

E026) March, 2003. This report is 

available at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/ 

tp/fthrivetp.htm. 

• Behrman, R.E., Kliegman, R.M., and 

Jenson, H.B. (Eds.) (2004). Nelson 

Textbook of Pediatrics. Philadelphia, 

PA: Elsevier Science (USA). 

• McMillan, J.A., DeAngelis, C.D., 

Feigin, R.D., Warshaw, J.B. (Eds.) (1999). 

Oski’s Pediatrics, Principles and 

Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott 

Williams & Wilkins. 

Other Information 

Who Can Get Disability Benefits? 

Under title II of the Act, we provide 

for the payment of disability benefits if 

you are disabled and belong to one of 

the following three groups: 

• Workers insured under the Act, 

• Children of insured workers, and 

• Widows, widowers, and surviving 

divorced spouses (see § 404.336) of 

insured workers. 

Under title XVI of the Act, we provide 

for SSI payments on the basis of 

disability if you are disabled and have 

limited income and resources. 

How Do We Define Disability for 

Individuals Under Age 18? 

Under both the title II and title XVI 

programs, disability must be the result 

of any medically determinable physical 

or mental impairment or combination of 

impairments that is expected to result in 

death or which has lasted or is expected 

to last for a continuous period of at least 

12 months. 

If you are under age 18 and file a 

claim under title II, disability means 

you have a medically determinable 

impairment(s) as described above and 

that results in the inability to do any 

substantial gainful activity. If you are 

under age 18 and file a claim under title 

XVI, disability means you have a 

medically determinable impairment(s) 

as described above and that results in 

marked and severe functional 

limitations. 

How Do We Decide Whether You Are 

Disabled? 

If you are under age 18 and seeking 

benefits under title II of the Act, we use 

a five-step ‘‘sequential evaluation 

process’’ to decide whether you are 

disabled. We describe this five-step 

process in our regulations at 

§§ 404.1520 and 416.920. We follow the 

five steps in order and stop as soon as 

we can make a determination or 

decision. The steps are: 

1. Are you working, and is the work 

you are doing substantial gainful 

activity? If you are working and the 

work you are doing is substantial 

gainful activity, we will find that you 

are not disabled, regardless of your 

medical condition or your age, 

education, and work experience. If you 

are not, we will go on to step 2. 

2. Do you have a ‘‘severe’’

impairment? If you do not have an 

impairment or combination of 

impairments that significantly limits 

your physical or mental ability to do 

basic work activities, we will find that 

you are not disabled. If you do, we will 

go on to step 3. 

3. Do you have an impairment(s) that 

meets or medically equals the severity 

of an impairment in the listings? If you 

do, and the impairment(s) meets the 

duration requirement, we will find that 

you are disabled. If you do not, we will 

go on to step 4. 

4. Do you have the residual functional 

capacity to do your past relevant work? 

If you do, we will find that you are not 

disabled. If you do not, we will go on 

to step 5. 

5. Does your impairment(s) prevent 

you from doing any other work that 

exists in significant numbers in the 

national economy, considering your 

residual functional capacity, age, 

education, and work experience? If it 

does, and it meets the duration 

requirement, we will find that you are 

disabled. If it does not, we will find that 

you are not disabled. 

We use a different sequential 

evaluation process for persons under 

age 18 who apply for payments based on 

disability under title XVI of the Act. We 

describe that sequential evaluation 

process in § 416.924 of our regulations. 

If you are already receiving benefits, we 

also use a different sequential 

evaluation process when we decide 

whether your disability continues. See 

§§ 404.1594, 416.994, and 416.994a of 

our regulations. However, all of these 

processes include steps at which we 

consider whether your impairment(s) 

meets or medically equals one of our 

listings. 

What Are the Listings? 

The listings are examples of 

impairments that we consider severe 

enough to prevent you from doing any 

gainful activity. If you are a child 

seeking SSI payments based on 

disability, the listings describe 

impairments that we consider severe 

enough to result in marked and severe 

functional limitations. Although the 

listings are contained only in appendix 

1 to subpart P of part 404 of our 

regulations, we incorporate them by 

reference in the SSI program in 

§ 416.925 of our regulations, and apply 

them to claims under both title II and 

title XVI of the Act. 

How Do We Use the Listings? 

The listings are in two parts. There 

are listings for adults (part A) and for 

children (part B). If you are a person age 

18 or over, we apply the listings in part 

A when we assess your claim, and we 

never use the listings in part B. 

If you are a person under age 18, we 

first use the criteria in part B of the 

listings. If the listings in part B do not 

apply, and the specific disease 

process(es) has a similar effect on adults 

and children, we then use the criteria in 

part A. (See §§ 404.1525 and 416.925.) 

If your impairment(s) does not meet 

any listing, we will also consider 

whether it medically equals any listing; 

that is, whether it is as medically severe. 

(See §§ 404.1526 and 416.926.) 

What If You Do Not Have an 

Impairment(s) That Meets or Medically 

Equals a Listing? 

We use the listings only to decide that 

you are disabled or that you are still 

disabled. We will never deny your claim 

or decide that you no longer qualify for 

benefits because your impairment(s) 

does not meet or medically equal a 

listing. If you have a severe 

impairment(s) that does not meet or 

medically equal any listing, we may still 

find you disabled based on other rules 

in the ‘‘sequential evaluation process’’

described above. Likewise, we will not 

decide that your disability has ended 

only because your impairment(s) does 

not meet or medically equal a listing. 

List of Subjects 

20 CFR Part 404 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Blind, Disability benefits, 

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability 

Insurance, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Social Security. 

20 CFR Part 416 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Aged, Blind, Disability 

benefits, Public assistance programs, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Supplemental Security 

Income (SSI). 

Dated: August 16, 2005. 

Jo Anne B. Barnhart, 

Commissioner of Social Security. 

[FR Doc. 05–17790 Filed 9–7–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P