Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 115 / Thursday, June 13, 1996 / Proposed Rules 30013

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, this notice of proposed

rulemaking will be submitted to the

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration for comment

on its impact on small business.

Comments and Requests for a Public

Hearing

Before these proposed regulations are

adopted as final regulations,

consideration will be given to any

written comments that are submitted

timely (preferably a signed original and

eight (8) copies) to the IRS. All

comments will be available for public

inspection and copying. A public

hearing may be scheduled if requested

in writing by a person that timely

submits written comments. If a public

hearing is scheduled, notice of the date,

time, and place for the hearing will be

published in the Federal Register.

Drafting Information: The principal author

of these regulations is Kevin B. Connelly,

Office of Assistant Chief Counsel (General

Litigation) CC:EL:GL, IRS. However, other

personnel from the IRS and Treasury

Department participated in their

development.

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 301

Employment taxes, Estate taxes,

Excise taxes, Gift taxes, Income taxes,

Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Proposed Amendments to the

Regulations

Accordingly, 26 CFR part 301 is

proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 301—PROCEDURE AND

ADMINISTRATION

Paragraph 1. The authority citation

for part 301 continues to read in part as

follows:

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

Par. 2. Section 301.6335–1 is

amended as follows:

1. Paragraph (c)(3) is revised.

2. Paragraphs (c)(4) through (c)(9) are

redesignated as paragraphs (c)(5)

through (c)(10).

3. New paragraph (c)(4) is added.

The additions and revision read as

follows:

§ 301.6335–1 Sale of seized property.

* * * * *

(c) * * *

(3) Determinations relating to

minimum price—(i) Minimum price.

Before the sale of property seized by

levy, the district director shall

determine a minimum price, taking into

account the expenses of levy and sale,

for which the property shall be sold.

The internal revenue officer conducting

the sale may either announce the

minimum price before the sale begins,

or defer announcement of the minimum

price until after the receipt of the

highest bid, in which case, if the highest

bid is greater than the minimum price,

no announcement of the minimum price

shall be made.

(ii) Purchase by the United States.

Before the sale of property seized by

levy, the district director shall

determine whether the purchase of

property by the United States at the

minimum price would be in the best

interest of the United States. In

determining whether the purchase of

property would be in the best interest of

the United States, the district director

may consider all relevant facts and

circumstances including for example—

(a) Marketability of the property;

(b) Cost of maintaining the property;

(c) Cost of repairing or restoring the

property;

(d) Cost of transporting the property;

(e) Cost of safeguarding the property;

(f) Cost of potential toxic waste

cleanup; and

(g) Other factors pertinent to the type

of property.

(iii) Effective date. This paragraph

(c)(3) applies to determinations relating

to minimum price made on or after [date

final regulations are published in the

Federal Register].

(4) Disposition of property at sale—(i)

Sale to highest bidder at or above

minimum price. If one or more persons

offer to buy the property for at least the

amount of the minimum price, the

property shall be sold to the highest

bidder.

(ii) Property deemed sold to United

States at minimum price. If no one

offers at least the amount of the

minimum price for the property and the

Secretary has determined that it would

be in the best interest of the United

States to purchase the property for the

minimum price, the property shall be

declared to be sold to the United States

for the minimum price.

(iii) Release to owner. If the property

is not declared to be sold under

paragraph (c)(4)(i) or (ii) of this section,

the property shall be released to the

owner of the property and the expense

of the levy and sale shall be added to

the amount of tax for the collection of

which the United States made the levy.

Any property released under this

paragraph (c)(4)(iii) shall remain subject

to any lien imposed by subchapter C of

chapter 64 of subtitle F of the Internal

Revenue Code.

(iv) Effective date. This paragraph

(c)(4) applies to dispositions of property

at sale made on or after [date final

regulations are published in the Federal

Register].

* * * * *

Margaret Milner Richardson,

Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

[FR Doc. 96–14123 Filed 6–12–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–U

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms

27 CFR Parts 0 and 70

[Notice No. 824]

RIN 1512–AB54

Recodification of the Statement of

Procedural Rules in Part 70 (96R–007P)

AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco

and Firearms (ATF), Department of the

Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: As part of a regulatory reform

initiative, the Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is

proposing to revise the statement of

procedural rules in subpart E of 27 CFR

Part 70, and recodify this statement as

a new part 0 of 27 CFR. ATF solicits

comments on its proposals and

suggestions for further improvements in

the statement of procedural rules.

DATES: Written comments must be

received by August 12, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to:

Chief, Wine, Beer and Spirits

Regulations Branch, Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco and Firearms, P.O. Box 50221,

Washington, DC 20091–0221, Attn:

Notice No. 824. Copies of written

comments received in response to this

notice of proposed rulemaking will be

available for public inspection during

normal business hours at: ATF

Reference Library, Office of Public

Affairs and Disclosure, Room 6480, 650

Massachusetts Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC 20226.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marjorie D. Ruhf, Wine, Beer and Spirits

Regulations Branch, Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco and Firearms, 650

Massachusetts Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20226 (202–927–8230).
30014 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 115 / Thursday, June 13, 1996 / Proposed Rules

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On February 21, 1995, President

Clinton announced a regulatory reform

initiative. As part of this initiative, each

Federal agency was instructed to

conduct a page by page review of all

agency regulations to identify those

which are obsolete or burdensome and

those whose goals could be better

achieved through the private sector,

self-regulation or state and local

governments. In cases where the

agency’s review disclosed regulations

which should be revised or eliminated,

the agency would propose

administrative changes to its

regulations. In addition, on April 13,

1995, the Bureau published Notice 809

(60 FR 18783) requesting comments

from the public regarding which ATF

regulations could be improved or

eliminated.

No specific comments were received

in response to that notice concerning

the content or arrangement of the

statement of procedural rules in subpart

E of 27 CFR Part 70. The Bureau, in its

own review, determined that the

statement of procedural rules should be

removed from its present location and

placed in a location which reflects its

unique function as a summary statement

of the regulations and the formal and

informal procedures applicable to the

activities conducted under the laws

administered and enforced by ATF. In

addition, the statement of procedural

rules will soon need substantial revision

to reflect ongoing projects consolidating,

eliminating and revising other parts of

the regulations. Finally, ATF wishes to

improve the usefulness of the statement

of procedural rules to the public and

regulated industries as a guide to agency

operations.

Proposed Changes

When the pending regulatory reform

projects are complete, ATF plans to

revise the statement of procedural rules

in order to provide current descriptions

and citations. At the same time, ATF

proposes to move the statement of

procedural rules from its current

location as sections 70.411 to 70.462 of

subpart E of 27 CFR Part 70 to a new

location as 27 CFR Part 0 at the

beginning of 27 CFR for ease of use. We

also plan to restructure the statement.

We believe the statement will be more

helpful and easier to use as a reference

tool if it is divided into more sections,

to allow for better indexing, and

arranged by commodity, so that all

provisions relating to a particular

subject will be together. For example,

instead of having information pertaining

to wine labels mixed in with

discussions of nonindustrial use of

distilled spirits and establishment of

breweries, we will adopt an

arrangement which will place

descriptions of all ATF procedural rules

which affect wine labeling together in

one location.

Public Participation

ATF requests comments from all

interested persons on the proposals

presented in this notice. We particularly

request suggestions for any additional

information which should be placed in

the statement of procedural rules to

make it more useful, and any

suggestions for arrangement or indexing

of the information already contained in

the statement.

After consideration of all comments

and suggestions, ATF may issue a

Treasury decision. The proposals

discussed in this notice may be

modified due to comments and

suggestions received.

Comments received on or before the

closing date will be carefully

considered. Comments received after

the closing date will be given the same

consideration if it is practical to do so,

but assurance of consideration cannot

be given except as to comments received

on or before the closing date. ATF will

not recognize any material or comments

as confidential. All comments submitted

in response to this notice will be

available for public inspection. Any

material that the commenter considers

confidential or inappropriate for

disclosure to the public should not be

included in the comment. The name of

the person submitting the comment is

not exempt from disclosure.

Executive Order 12866

It has been determined that this

document is not a significant regulatory

action as defined in E.O. 12866;

therefore, a regulatory assessment is not

required.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

It is hereby certified that these

proposed regulations will not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility

analysis is not required. The changes

proposed are for the purpose of

clarifying the existing regulations and

making them easier to use. No

substantive changes are proposed.

Pursuant to section 7805(f) of the

Internal Revenue Code, this proposed

regulation has been submitted to the

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration for comment

on its impact on small business.

Paperwork Reduction Act

Although the information collections

described in sections 70.411 through

70.414, 70.431 and 70.433 of subpart E

of Part 70 merely summarize and

reference the parts of Title 27 CFR

where the information collections are

imposed, these sections were reviewed

and approved by the Office of

Management and Budget under control

numbers 1512–0141 and 1512–0472.

These control numbers were in effect on

October 1, 1995, the effective date of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Any

comments on these collections of

information may be sent to the Office of

Management and Budget, Attention:

Desk officer for the Department of the

Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco

and Firearms, Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC

20503, with copies to the Chief,

Document Services Branch, Room 3450,

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms, 650 Massachusetts Avenue,

NW, Washington, DC 20226. No

additional requirement to collect

information is proposed in this

document.

Drafting Information: The principal author

of this document is Marjorie D. Ruhf of the

Wine, Beer and Spirits Regulations Branch,

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

List of Subjects in 27 CFR Part 70

Administrative practice and

procedure, Alcohol and alcoholic

beverages, Authority delegations,

Bankruptcy, Claims, Disaster assistance,

Excise taxes, Firearms and ammunition,

Government employees, Law

enforcement, Law enforcement officers,

Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Seizures and forfeitures,

Surety bonds, Tobacco.

Authority: This notice of proposed

rulemaking is issued under the authority in

18 U.S.C. 847 and 926; 26 U.S.C. 7805; 27

U.S.C. 201–219a.

Signed: May 21, 1996.

John W. Magaw,

Director.

Approved: May 24, 1996.

John P. Simpson,

Deputy Assistant Secretary (Regulatory, Tariff

and Trade Enforcement).

[FR Doc. 96–14851 Filed 6–12–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–31–U