Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 65515

must submit a representation affirming

that it falls within the definition of that

term provided in § 600.501.

(d) DOE may require submission of

additional information deemed

necessary to make any portion of the

determination required by § 600.502.

§ 600.505 Other information DOE may

consider.

In making the determination under

§ 600.502(b)(2), DOE may—

(a) consider information on the

relevant international and domestic law

obligations of the country of

incorporation of the parent company of

an applicant;

(b) consider information relating to

the policies and practices of the country

of incorporation of the parent company

of an applicant with respect to:

(1) The eligibility criteria for, and the

experience of United States-owned

company participation in, energyrelated research and development

programs;

(2) Local investment opportunities

afforded to United States-owned

companies; and

(3) Protection of intellectual property

rights of United States-owned

companies;

(c) seek and consider advice from

other federal agencies, as appropriate;

and

(d) consider any publicly available

information in addition to the

information provided by the applicant.

[FR Doc. 95–30752 Filed 12–19–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

[Notice 1995–24]

11 CFR Part 110

Communications Disclaimer

Requirements

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of

effective date.

SUMMARY: On Oct. 5, 1995 (60 FR

52069), the Commission published the

text of revised regulations governing

disclaimers on campaign

communications. On Nov. 29, 1995, the

Commission published a correction to

the preamble of the revised regulations.

(60 FR 61199) 11 CFR Part 110. These

regulations implement a provision of

the Federal Election Campaign Act of

1971, as amended. The Commission

announces that these rules are effective

as of December 20, 1995.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 20, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Susan E. Propper, Assistant General

Counsel, or Ms. Rita A. Reimer, 999 E

Street NW., Washington, DC 20463,

(202) 219–3690 or toll free (800) 424–

9530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

438(d) of Title 2, United States Code,

requires that any rule or regulation

prescribed by the Commission to

implement Title 2 of the United States

Code be transmitted to the Speaker of

the House of Representatives and the

President of the Senate thirty legislative

days prior to final promulgation. The

revisions to 11 CFR Part 110 were

transmitted to Congress on Oct. 2, 1995.

Thirty legislative days expired in the

Senate on Nov. 28, 1995, and in the

House of Representatives on Dec. 5,

1995.

The Commission subsequently

published a corrections notice to the

preamble of these rules. The Speaker of

the House of Representatives and the

President of the Senate were notified of

the correction notice on Nov. 27, 1995.

The correction did not affect the text of

the rules.

The rules address the circumstances

under which a disclaimer must be

included on campaign communications,

as well as what information must be

included in the disclaimer. The

correction notice deleted a potentially

misleading reference to phone bank

activity that had inadvertently been

included in the Explanation and

Justification to the revised rules.

Announcement of Effective Date: 11

CFR 110.11, as published at 60 FR

52069, is effective as of December 20,

1995.

Dated: December 15, 1995.

Lee Ann Elliot,

Vice Chairman, Federal Election Commission.

[FR Doc. 95–30940 Filed 12–19–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6715–01–M

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD

12 CFR Part 934

[No. 95–74]

Repeal of the Charitable Contribution

Limitation Regulation

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance

Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance

Board (Finance Board) has determined

that the making of charitable donations

is within the corporate power of the

Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks)

and that issues of safety and soundness

to which excessive donations might give

rise can be adequately addressed

through the Finance Board’s FHLBank

examination process. Therefore, the

Finance Board is repealing the

regulation that requires that FHLBanks

obtain the approval of the Board of

Directors of the Finance Board before

making charitable donations in excess of

$5,000 to one organization, or $25,000

total, during one calendar year. The

repeal of this regulation is intended to

allow the FHLBanks to use their own

discretion in making such donations,

subject only to the Finance Board’s

power to enforce standards of safety and

soundness in FHLBank operations. This

result is in keeping with the Finance

Board’s continuing effort to devolve

corporate governance authority to the

FHLBanks.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 20, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen E. Hancock, Assistant Director,

Office of Policy and Financial

Reporting, (202) 408–2906, or Janice A.

Kaye, Attorney-Advisor, Office of

General Counsel, (202) 408–2505,

Federal Housing Finance Board, 1777 F

Street NW., Washington, D.C. 20006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background

Section 934.11 of the Finance Board’s

regulations requires prior approval of

the Board of Directors of the Finance

Board, or its designee, for charitable

contributions by a FHLBank that exceed

$5,000 to one organization, or $25,000

in total during a calendar year. 12 CFR

934.11. As a result of an ongoing

internal review of its regulations, the

Finance Board, for the reasons set forth

below, has determined that this

regulation is unnecessary. Accordingly,

the Finance Board is repealing section

934.11.

The substance of section 934.11

originally appeared at section 524.11 of

the regulations of the Finance Board’s

predecessor, the Federal Home Loan

Bank Board (FHLBB). In 1959, the

FHLBB promulgated a regulation

prohibiting the FHLBanks from making

charitable donations. See 12 CFR 524.11

(1959) (amended). The FHLBB had

determined that a FHLBank did not

have the legal authority to make

charitable donations and, further,

wanted to prevent FHLBanks from

favoring some communities in their

districts over others.

In 1975, the FHLBB reconsidered its

position and concluded that charitable

donations, within reasonable limits,

would further the corporate interests of

the FHLBanks. See 40 FR 46302 (Oct. 7,

1975). Therefore, the FHLBB amended
65516 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

section 524.11 to permit a FHLBank,

with the approval of its board of

directors, to make charitable donations

not exceeding $1,000 to one

organization, or $5,000 in total in a

calendar year. See 12 CFR 524.11 (1976)

(amended). Exceptions to these annual

limits required prior approval of the

FHLBB’s Office of District Banks. Id.

Recognizing the effects of inflation on

the dollar limits it had set in 1975, the

FHLBB in 1987 raised the annual limit

on individual donations to $5,000 and

on aggregate donations to $25,000. See

52 FR 49381 (Dec. 31, 1987).

With the dissolution of the FHLBB

and the establishment of the Finance

Board in 1989, see Financial Institutions

Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act

of 1989, Public Law 101–73, § 401, 103

Stat. 183 (Aug. 9, 1989) (codified at 12

U.S.C. 1437 note), section 524.11 was

redesignated as section 934.11 of the

Finance Board’s regulations. See 54 FR

36759 (Sept. 5, 1989). In 1990, the

Finance Board amended section 934.11

to require prior approval of the Board of

Directors of the Finance Board, or its

designee, for exceptions to the annual

dollar limitations on FHLBank

charitable donations. See 55 FR 2229

(Jan. 23, 1990). Since that time, the

Finance Board has routinely approved

requests from the FHLBanks for

exceptions to the annual charitable

donations limitation.

II.Analysis of the Proposed Rule

The Finance Board has determined

that the general corporate powers

granted to the FHLBanks pursuant to

section 12(a) of the Federal Home Loan

Bank Act (Bank Act), see 12 U.S.C.

1432(a), include the power to make

charitable donations. Section 12(a)

provides that each FHLBank ‘‘shall have

all such incidental powers, not

inconsistent with the provisions of this

chapter, as are customary and usual in

corporations generally.’’ Id. Under the

statutes and common law of most states,

corporations generally enjoy the power

to make donations for charitable,

scientific, or educational purposes. See

18B Am. Jur. 2d Corporations Section

2902 (1985). Corporations may support

charities important to the welfare of the

communities in which they do business.

Id. Thus, the FHLBanks have statutory

authority to make donations to charities

in the communities they serve as a

‘‘customary and usual’’ corporate

power. See id.; 12 U.S.C. 1432(a). There

is no statutory provision that otherwise

would require Finance Board approval

of such donations.

Because the FHLBanks have authority

under the Bank Act to make charitable

donations and because the Bank Act and

the regulations do not otherwise address

the issue, repeal of section 934.11 of the

Finance Board’s regulations would not

prevent the FHLBanks from making

such donations. In addition, the repeal

of section 934.11 would not affect

Finance Board oversight of FHLBank

charitable donations. The FHLBank’s

statutory authority to make charitable

donations still would be subject to

standards of reasonableness and

financial safety and soundness enforced

by the Finance Board, as well as any

other limitations the Finance Board may

decide to impose. See 12 U.S.C.

1422a(a)(3), 1422b(a)(1), 1432(a).

The Finance Board and the FHLBanks

have been considering ways to transfer

a variety of governance responsibilities

from the Finance Board to the

FHLBanks since the completion of

studies required by the Housing and

Community Development Act of 1992,

Pub. L. No. 102–550, 106 Stat. 3672

(Oct. 28, 1992), which concluded that

the FHLBanks should be allowed broad

discretion to manage their corporate

affairs as long as they comply with the

Bank Act and Finance Board

regulations. Finance Board and

FHLBank staff have identified approval

of all charitable donations as one of the

governance responsibilities that should

be devolved from the Finance Board to

the FHLBanks. Repeal of section 934.11

would effect the devolution of this

authority.

Repeal of section 934.11 of the

Finance Board’s regulations also will be

consistent with the goal of the Vice

President’s National Performance

Review to reduce the total number of

regulations of executive agencies. See

Report of the National Performance

Review 32–33 (Sept. 17, 1993); E.O.

12,861, 58 FR 48255 (Sept. 14, 1993).

For the foregoing reasons, the Finance

Board has determined that section

934.11 of its regulations is no longer

necessary. Accordingly, the Finance

Board has decided to repeal section

934.11 of its regulations, pursuant to its

general rulemaking authority under

section 2B(a)(1) of the Bank Act. See 12

U.S.C. 1422b(a)(1).

III. Administrative Procedure Act

Because this final rule merely repeals

a provision of the Finance Board’s

regulations that is burdensome to the

FHLBanks and will have no adverse

affect on the public, the Finance Board,

for good cause, finds that the notice and

public comment procedure is

unnecessary in this instance. Therefore,

for good cause shown under 5 U.S.C.

553(b)(B), this rule is exempt from the

notice and comment requirements of the

Administrative Procedure Act, as well

as from the 30-day delay in the effective

date under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act

Because this final rule repeals a

restrictive provision of the Board’s

regulations, it will not impose any

regulatory requirements on small

entities. Therefore, in accordance with

the provisions of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., the

Finance Board hereby certifies that this

final rule will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. Id. section

605(b).

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 934

Federal home loan banks, securities,

surety bonds.

Accordingly, the Federal Housing

Finance Board hereby amends Chapter

IX, Title 12, Code of Federal

Regulations, as set forth below.

PART 934–OPERATIONS OF THE

BANKS

1.The authority citation for Part 934 is

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1422b, 1442.

§ 934.11 [Removed]

2.Section 934.11 is removed.

§§ 934.12 through 934.15 [Redesignated as

§§ 934.11 through 934.14]

3.Sections 934.12 through 934.15 are

redesignated as §§ 934.11 through

934.14, respectively.

Dated: December 8, 1995.

By the Board of Directors of the Federal

Housing Finance Board.

Bruce A. Morrison,

Chairman.

[FR Doc. 95–30517 Filed 12–19–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6725–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 95–SW–28–AD; Amendment

39–9467; AD 95–26–09]

Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky

Aircraft-manufactured Model CH–34A,

CH–34C, H–34A, HH–34J, HSS–1, HSS–

1N, HUS–1, SH–34J, UH–34D, UH–34E,

and UH–34J Helicopters

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a

new airworthiness directive (AD) that is