65238 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 243 / Tuesday, December 19, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

estimated tax payments. For others, it will

reduce the likelihood that they will face

penalties for underpayment of tax at the time

of tax filing.

H.R. Rep. No. 826, 103d Cong., 2d Sess.,

pt.1, at 170–171 (1994).

5. Proposed regulations. The proposed

regulations implement the withholding

method prescribed by section 3402(r).

They also permit additional

withholding by agreement between the

tribal member and the tribe.

6. Comments and final regulations.

The IRS received only two written

comments on the proposed regulations.

After consideration of both comments,

the proposed regulations are adopted

with no substantive changes.

No comments were received from the

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration.

Special Analyses

It has been determined that this

Treasury decision is not a significant

regulatory action as defined in EO

12866. Therefore, a regulatory

assessment is not required. It also has

been determined that section 553(b) of

the Administrative Procedure Act (5

U.S.C. chapter 5) and the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) do

not apply to these regulations, and,

therefore, a Regulatory Flexibility

Analysis is not required. Pursuant to

section 7805(f) of the Internal Revenue

Code, the notice of proposed rulemaking

preceding these regulations was

submitted to the Small Business

Administration for comment on its

impact on small business.

Drafting Information. The principal author

of the regulations is Rebecca Wilson, Office

of the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee

Benefits and Exempt Organizations), IRS.

However, other personnel from the IRS and

Treasury Department participated in their

development.

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 31

Employment taxes, Income taxes,

Penalties, Pensions, Railroad retirement,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Social security,

Unemployment compensation.

Adoption of Amendments to the

Regulations

Accordingly, 26 CFR part 31 is

amended as follows:

PART 31—EMPLOYMENT TAXES AND

COLLECTION OF INCOME TAX AT

SOURCE

Paragraph 1. The authority citation

for part 31 is amended by removing the

entry for section 31.3402(r)–1T and

adding an entry in numerical order to

read as follows:

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *

Section 31.3402(r)–1 also issued under 26

U.S.C. 3402(p) and (r), * * *

Par. 2. Section 31.3402(r)–1 is added

to read as follows:

§ 31.3402(r)–1 Withholding on

distributions of Indian gaming profits to

tribal members.

(a) (1) General rule. Section 3402(r)(1)

requires every person, including an

Indian tribe, making a payment to a

member of an Indian tribe from the net

revenues of any class II or class III

gaming activity, as defined in 25 U.S.C.

2703, conducted or licensed by such

tribe to deduct and withhold from such

payment a tax in an amount equal to

such payment’s proportionate share of

the annualized tax, as that term is

defined in section 3402(r)(3).

(2) Withholding tables. Except as

provided in paragraph (a)(4) of this

section, the amount of a payment’s

proportionate share of the annualized

tax shall be determined under the

applicable table provided by the

Commissioner.

(3) Annualized amount of payment.

Section 3402(r)(5) provides that

payments shall be placed on an

annualized basis under regulations

prescribed by the Secretary. A payment

may be placed on an annualized basis

by multiplying the amount of the

payment by the total number of

payments to be made in a calendar year.

For example, a monthly payment may

be annualized by multiplying the

amount of the payment by 12. Similarly,

a quarterly payment may be annualized

by multiplying the amount of the

payment by 4.

(4) Alternate withholding

procedures—(i) In general. Any

procedure for determining the amount

to be deducted and withheld under

section 3402(r) may be used, provided

that the amount of tax deducted and

withheld is substantially the same as it

would be using the tables provided by

the Commissioner under paragraph

(a)(2) of this section. At the election of

an Indian tribe, the amount to be

deducted and withheld under section

3402(r) shall be determined in

accordance with this alternate

procedure.

(ii) Method of election. It is sufficient

for purposes of making an election

under this paragraph (a)(4) that an

Indian tribe evidence the election in any

reasonable way, including use of a

particular method. Thus, no written

election is required.

(5) Additional withholding permitted.

Consistent with the provisions of

section 3402(p), a tribal member and a

tribe may enter into an agreement to

provide for the deduction and

withholding of additional amounts from

payments in order to satisfy the

anticipated tax liability of the tribal

member. The agreement may be made in

a manner similar to that described in

§ 31.3402(p)–1 (with respect to

voluntary withholding agreements

between employees and employers).

(b) Effective date. This section applies

to payments made after December 31,

1994.

§ 31.3402(r)–1T [Removed]

Par. 3. Section 31.3402(r)-1T is

removed.

Margaret Milner Richardson,

Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Approved: November 28, 1995.

Leslie Samuels,

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

[FR Doc. 95–30683 Filed 12–18–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–U

POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Part 20

Interim Rule Amending International

Mail Manual Subchapter 790, Items

Mailed Abroad by or on Behalf of

Senders in the U.S. and Certain Other

Countries

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Interim rule.

SUMMARY: On March 10, 1994, the Postal

Service published in the Federal

Register (59 FR 11188–11193)

amendments to certain rules in

International Mail Manual (IMM)

subchapter 790 to clarify when a

mailing in a foreign country is by or on

behalf of a resident of the United States

for the purposes of collecting U.S.

domestic postage; and to authorize the

collection of U.S. domestic postage on

certain mail posted in a foreign country

by or on behalf of a person who is not

a resident of that foreign country. This

document amends IMM subchapter 790

to remove the threshold of 1,000 pieces

mailed abroad in a 30-day period by a

U.S. resident and to remove the

standards relative to the collection of

U.S. domestic postage on ‘‘A-B-C

remail’’.The basis for the amended rules

is contained in article 25, Posting

Abroad of Letter-Post Items, of the

Universal Postal Convention

(Washington, 1989).

DATES: The interim rule is effective

January 1, 1996. Comments must be

received on or before January 18, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be mailed or delivered to the Manager,
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 243 / Tuesday, December 19, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 65239

International Pricing, U.S. Postal

Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW RM

4400–EB, Washington, DC 20260–6500.

Copies of all written comments will be

available at the above address for public

inspection and photocopying between 9

a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through

Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

F. Alepa, (202) 268–4071.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1994,

the Universal Postal Union (UPU) met

in Congress in Seoul, Korea, to amend

and adopt the Acts of the Universal

Postal Union. The Acts come into force

on January 1, 1996. The United States is

a member of the UPU. By virtue of that

membership, the U.S. Postal Service

must adhere to the Agreements of the

UPU to which it is a signatory.

The UPU adopted revisions to the

Acts of the Universal Postal Union,

including article 25 of the Universal

Postal Convention. Article 25 no longer

contains a provision permitting the

Postal Service to collect U.S. domestic

postage from a resident of the United

States when mailings made abroad for

that resident exceed 1,000 pieces in a

30-day period without regard to whether

the postage paid in the foreign country

is less than the applicable U.S. domestic

postage. In addition, article 25 no longer

grants authority to the Postal Service to

collect U.S. domestic postage for items

for delivery in the United States from a

mailer who posts, or causes to be

posted, such items in a country other

than the country of that mailer’s

residence. Rather, any charge will be

due from the dispatching postal

administration.

As a result of the revisions to article

25, the Postal Service is amending IMM

subchapter 790 to remove the threshold

of 1,000 pieces mailed abroad in a 30-

day period by a U.S. resident and to

remove the standards relative to the

collection of U.S. domestic postage on

‘‘A–B–C remail’’ (that is, a method of

mailing in which a person or firm mails

from a country other than the one of

which it is a resident to a third country

in order to benefit from lower

international postage rates in the

country of mailing).

Specifically, the 1994 Congress

amended article 25, Posting Abroad of

Letter-Post Items, which contains four

paragraphs. Paragraphs 1 through 3

relate to items mailed from abroad back

into the country of residence of the

sender. Paragraph 4 relates to items

mailed by residents of one country from

a second country for delivery in a third

country. This method of mailing (as

discussed above) is commonly referred

to as ‘‘A–B–C remail.’’

Paragraph 1 was amended to remove

the provision that permitted postal

administrations to invoke action against

a person or firm mailing to that person’s

or firm’s country of residence from

another country solely on the basis of

the number of items mailed. Article 25,

paragraph 1, requires that the mailing be

made ‘‘with the object of profiting by

more favorable rate conditions there.’’

To comply with this revision, the Postal

Service is removing from IMM

subchapter 790 the provision that

provides that applicable U.S. domestic

postage is due when ‘‘1,000 or more

such items are mailed in a 30-day

period regardless of whether the foreign

postage is lower than the comparable

U.S. postage.’’

Paragraph 4 regulates ‘‘A–B–C

remail.’’ This method of mailing occurs

when a resident of country A mails from

country B mail destinating in country C.

This method is generally economically

feasible because of differences in the

terminal dues system provided by the

Universal Postal Convention. Most

developing countries (which generally

originate small volumes of outgoing

international mail) are assigned a lower

terminal dues rate than developed

countries (which generally originate

large volumes of outgoing international

mail).

Under the current terminal dues

system, for example, two countries each

annually exchanging more than 150 tons

of mail would pay terminal dues

equivalent to 25 cents for a 1⁄2-ounce

item. By contrast, two countries each

annually exchanging 150 tons or less of

mail would pay terminal dues

equivalent to only 6 cents for the same

1⁄2-ounce item.

When ‘‘A–B–C remail’’ is used, that

mailing method harms both country A

(because it loses revenue and mail

volume) and country C (because it

receives less in terminal dues from

country B than it would receive from

country A). This lower rate of terminal

dues generally does not compensate the

delivering country for the actual cost of

handling such mail.

To correct this situation, the 1994

Universal Postal Congress adopted a

new terminal dues system and

introduced a separate rate for ‘‘bulk

mail,’’ regardless of where that mail

originates. The delivering country will

be able to collect the same rate in

terminal dues without regard to the

country originating the mail. This

revised system should reduce

considerably the volume of mail

migrating from developed countries to

developing countries solely to take

advantage of lower international rates

made possible from different terminal

dues rates.

In some cases, the 1994 Congress

recognized that even this ‘‘bulk mail’’

rate of terminal dues would not provide

full compensation to the delivering

postal administration and that migration

of mail might continue. Accordingly,

article 25, paragraph 4, allows the

delivering postal administration to

collect the equivalent of ‘‘bulk mail’’

terminal dues from the dispatching

postal administration if the delivering

administration is not receiving

appropriate remuneration. However, the

delivering administration will no longer

be able to collect extra compensation

from the sender of the items.

Remuneration is strictly between the

dispatching and delivering postal

administrations. Therefore, the Postal

Service is eliminating its rules in IMM

subchapter 790 concerning the

collection of U.S. domestic postage from

the sender of so-called ‘‘A–B–C remail.’’

Although 39 U.S.C. 407 does not

require advance notice and opportunity

for submission of comments, and the

Postal Service is exempted by 39 U.S.C.

410(a) from the advance notice

requirements of the Administrative

Procedure Act regarding rulemaking (5

U.S.C. 553), the Postal Service invites

public comment.

The Postal Service adopts on an

interim basis, pending receipt and

consideration of public comment, the

following amendments to subchapter

790 of the International Mail Manual,

which is incorporated by reference in

the Code of Federal Regulations. See 39

CFR 20.1.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 20

Foreign relations, Incorporation by

reference, International postal services.

PART 20—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for 39 CFR

part 20 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 401,

404, 407, 408.

2. The International Mail Manual is

amended by revising subchapter 790,

Items Mailed Abroad by or on Behalf of

Senders in the U.S. and Certain Other

Countries, to read as follows:

790 Items Mailed Abroad by or on

Behalf of Senders in the United States

791 Postage Payment Required

Payment of U.S. postage is required to

secure delivery of mail when the

mailing is by or on behalf of a person

or firm that is a resident of the United

States and the foreign postage rate

applied to such items is lower than the

comparable U.S. domestic postage rate.
65240 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 243 / Tuesday, December 19, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

792 Definition of Terms

792.1 Resident

A resident of the United States

includes any firm that has a place of

business in the United States or is

incorporated or otherwise organized in

the United States, its territories, or its

possessions.

792.2 By or on Behalf

A mailing is made by or on behalf of

a person or firm that is a resident of the

United States if such a resident seeks or

expects to derive economic benefit or

advantage from that mailing.

792.3 Place of Business

A place of business in the United

States is any location in the United

States, its territories, or its possessions

where a firm’s employees or agents

regularly have personal contact with

other individuals for conducting the

firm’s business. For the purposes of this

section, a firm whose employees or

agents have personal contact with others

for conducting the firm’s business in

different places in the United States for

short periods (for example, at hotels in

different cities for 1 or 2 days at a time)

is considered to have a place of business

in the United States if the aggregate

amount of time spent in the United

States is 180 days or more within 12

consecutive months.

792.4 Agent

The use of a nonexclusive agent in the

United States for the sole purpose of

accepting orders and remissions for

transmission to a firm in another

country or for the sole purpose of

distributing merchandise manufactured

in another country and shipped to the

United States in bulk does not by itself

establish a place of business in the

United States.

793 Advance Payment Required

793.1 Sample Mailpiece

A sender affected by the provisions in

791 must submit a sample mailpiece

(envelope and contents) from the

proposed mailing; a statement about the

number of items to be mailed, the date

of mailing, and the place of mailing; and

a check, made payable to the U.S. Postal

Service, to cover the amount of the

applicable U.S. postage. The sample

mailpiece, statement, and check must be

sent to: Manager, International Pricing,

U.S. Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant Plz.

SW., Washington, DC 20260–6500.

793.2 Headquarters Notification

Headquarters provides notification of

postage acceptance and approval of the

mailing to the sender and to the

receiving U.S. exchange office. This

notification permits the items in the

mailing to go forward to the addressees

without delay when the items reach the

United States.

794 Advance Payment Not Made

794.1 Return or Disposal of Items

Items may be returned to origin or

disposed of in accordance with postal

regulations if U.S. postage is not paid.

794.2 Mailings Without Advance

Payment

A mailing subject to the provisions in

791 received without advance payment

of U.S. domestic postage is held at the

receiving U.S. exchange office. The

exchange office reports the mailing to

the manager of International Pricing,

USPS Headquarters. (The exchange

office is advised to release the mail

when the applicable postage is paid.)

The report must contain the following

information:

a. Title and/or nature of the items.

b. Identity of the sender.

c. Number of items detained.

d. Weight of a single item.

e. Foreign postage paid per item.

f. Country of mailing.

795 Report of Mailings

The receiving U.S. exchange office

must report any mail appearing to be

subject to the provisions of this

subchapter to the manager of

International Pricing, USPS

Headquarters.

Stanley F. Mires,

Chief Counsel, Legislative.

[FR Doc. 95–30668 Filed 12–18–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7710–12–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[MA44–1–7167a; A–1–FRL–5314–6]

Approval and Promulgation of Air

Quality Implementation Plans;

Massachusetts; Best Available

Controls for Consumer and

Commercial Products (Including

Architectural and Industrial

Maintenance Coatings)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is approving a State

Implementation Plan (SIP) revision

submitted by the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts. This revision establishes

and requires VOC emission standards

for architectural and industrial

maintenance coatings and 10 categories

of consumer products. The intended

effect of this action is to approve a

revision to Massachusetts SIP which

reduces VOC emissions from

architectural and industrial

maintenance coatings and 10 categories

of consumer products. This action is

being taken in accordance with Section

183(e) of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This action is effective February

20, 1996, unless notice is received by

January 18, 1996, that adverse or critical

comments will be submitted. If the

effective date is delayed, timely notice

will be published in the Federal

Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Susan Studlien, Acting Director, Air,

Pesticides and Toxics Management

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Region I, JFK Federal Building,

Boston, MA 02203. Copies of the

documents relevant to this action are

available for public inspection during

normal business hours, by appointment

at the Air, Pesticides and Toxics

Management Division, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region I, One Congress Street, 10th

floor, Boston, MA; Air and Radiation

Docket and Information Center, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 401

M Street, S.W., (LE–131), Washington,

D.C. 20460; and the Division of Air

Quality Control, Department of

Environmental Protection, One Winter

Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02108.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jeanne Cosgrove, (617) 565–3246.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the

Clean Air Act, EPA is required to (1)

study emissions of VOCs from consumer

and commercial products; (2) list those

categories of products that account for at

least 80 percent of the total VOC

emissions from consumer and

commercial products in areas of the

country that fail to meet the national air

quality standards set for ground-level

ozone; and (3) divide the list into four

groups, and regulate one group every

two years using best available controls,

as defined by the Clean Air Act.

In March 1995, EPA issued a report to

Congress, Study of Volatile Organic

Compound Emissions from Consumer

and Commercial Products, which

evaluated the contribution of VOC

emissions from consumer and

commercial products on ground-level

ozone levels, and established criteria

and a schedule for regulating these

products under the Clean Air Act.

Architectural coatings and consumer

and commercial products (24 categories

of household products) are in the first