Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 26 / Thursday, February 7, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 7205 

1 17 CFR 200.30–1. 

any foreseeable charging or discharging 

condition and during any failure of the 

charging or battery monitoring system 

not shown to be extremely remote. The 

lithium ion battery installation must 

preclude explosion in the event of those 

failures. 

(2) Design of the lithium ion batteries 

must preclude the occurrence of selfsustaining, uncontrolled increases in 

temperature or pressure. 

(3) No explosive or toxic gases 

emitted by any lithium ion battery in 

normal operation or as the result of any 

failure of the battery charging system, 

monitoring system, or battery 

installation which is not shown to be 

extremely remote may accumulate in 

hazardous quantities within the 

airplane. 

(4) Installations of lithium ion 

batteries must meet the requirements of 

14 CFR 25.863(a) through (d). 

(5) No corrosive fluids or gases that 

may escape from any lithium ion battery 

may damage surrounding structure or 

any adjacent systems, equipment, or 

electrical wiring of the airplane in such 

a way as to cause a major or more severe 

failure condition, in accordance with 14 

CFR 25.1309 (b) and applicable 

regulatory guidance. 

(6) Each lithium ion battery 

installation must have provisions to 

prevent any hazardous effect on 

structure or essential systems caused by 

the maximum amount of heat the 

battery can generate during a short 

circuit of the battery or of its individual 

cells. 

(7) Lithium ion battery installations 

must have a system to control the 

charging rate of the battery 

automatically, so as to prevent battery 

overheating or overcharging, and, 

(i) A battery temperature sensing and 

over-temperature warning system with a 

means for automatically disconnecting 

the battery from its charging source in 

the event of an over-temperature 

condition, or 

(ii) A battery failure sensing and 

warning system with a means for 

automatically disconnecting the battery 

from its charging source in the event of 

battery failure. 

(8) Any lithium ion battery 

installation whose function is required 

for safe operation of the airplane must 

incorporate a monitoring and warning 

feature that will provide an indication 

to the appropriate flight crewmembers 

whenever the state-of-charge of the 

batteries has fallen below levels 

considered acceptable for dispatch of 

the airplane. 

(9) The Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness required by 14 CFR 

25.1529 must contain maintenance 

requirements to assure that the lithium 

ion battery is sufficiently charged at 

appropriate intervals specified by the 

battery manufacturer to ensure that 

batteries whose function is required for 

safe operation of the airplane will not 

degrade below specified ampere-hour 

levels sufficient to power the electronic 

flight bag (EFB) applications that are 

required for continued safe flight and 

landing. The Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness must also contain 

procedures for the maintenance of 

lithium ion batteries in spares storage to 

prevent the replacement of batteries 

whose function is required for safe 

operation of the airplane with batteries 

that have experienced degraded charge 

retention ability or other damage due to 

prolonged storage at a low state of 

charge. Precautions should be included 

in the Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness maintenance instructions 

to prevent mishandling of the lithium 

ion battery which could result in shortcircuit or other unintentional damage 

that could result in personal injury or 

property damage. 

Note 1: The term, ‘‘sufficiently charged’’

means the charge that is applied to 

rechargeable lithium ion batteries, which 

diminishes during the life of batteries with 

respect to the retentive capacity of the 

batteries to deliver available power—where 

capacity is the total quantity of electricity of 

a cell or battery, expressed in ampere-hours. 

Battery life is influenced by its internal 

chemical reaction and by other factors, such 

as temperature, shock, the number of 

recharges, etc. 

Note 2: These special conditions are not 

intended to replace 14 CFR 25.1353(c), 

Amendment 25–113 in the certification basis 

of the ABX, Air Inc supplemental type 

certificate. These special conditions apply 

only to lithium ion batteries and their 

installations. The requirements of 14 CFR 

25.1353(c), Amendment 25–113 remain in 

effect for batteries and battery installations 

on the ABX Air supplemental type certificate 

that do not use lithium ion batteries. 

Compliance with the requirements of 

this Special Condition must be shown 

by test or analysis, with the concurrence 

of the Chicago Aircraft Certification 

Office. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on January 

25, 2008. 

Ali Bahrami, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–2224 Filed 2–6–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

17 CFR Part 200 

[Release No. 34–57262] 

Delegation of Authority to the Director 

of the Division of Corporation Finance 

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Securities and Exchange 

Commission is amending its Rules of 

Organization and Program Management 

to delegate its authority to the Director 

of the Division of Corporation Finance 

to grant or deny exemptions pursuant to 

Section 36 of the Securities Exchange 

Act of 1934 from the requirement for 

registrants in connection with an annual 

meeting of security holders to furnish an 

annual report to security holders that 

contains audited financial statements as 

required by rules under the Exchange 

Act under certain limited 

circumstances. The delegation of 

authority is intended to conserve 

Commission resources by permitting the 

staff to review and act on exemptive 

applications under Section 36 when 

appropriate. 

DATES: Effective Date: February 7, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Celeste M. Murphy, Special Counsel, at 

(202) 551–3440, Office of Mergers and 

Acquisitions, Division of Corporation 

Finance, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20549–3628. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Commission today announces an 

amendment to its Organization and 

Program Management Rules governing 

Delegations of Authority to the Director 

of the Division of Corporation Finance.1

The amendment adds to Rule 30–1 a 

new paragraph (e)(18) authorizing the 

Director to grant or deny exemptions 

from the requirements of Rule 14a–3(b) 

and Rule 14c–3(a) under the Exchange 

Act, pursuant to Section 36 of the 

Exchange Act, for audited financial 

statements to be included in the annual 

report to be furnished to security 

holders in connection with an annual 

meeting of security holders. 

A number of companies have faced 

the dilemma of being required to hold 

a meeting of security holders when they 

are unable to deliver current audited 

financial statements. These companies 

may be compelled to hold meetings of 

their security holders pursuant to the 

provisions of certain state corporation 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with RULES
7206 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 26 / Thursday, February 7, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

2 15 U.S.C. 78mm(a). 

3 15 U.S.C. 78d–1(a). 

4For information concerning the filing of 

exemptive relief applications, see Exchange Act 

Release No. 39624 (February 5, 1998), 63 FR 8101 

(February 18, 1998); 17 CFR 240.0–12. 

5 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A). 

laws, despite the inability to comply 

with the requirements of Rule 14a–3(b) 

and Rule 14c–3(a) under the Exchange 

Act. Although these situations are 

infrequent, we recognize the need to 

flexibly address this conflict in limited 

circumstances. 

Section 36(a) provides that ‘‘the 

Commission, by rule, regulation, or 

order, may conditionally or 

unconditionally exempt any person, 

security, or transaction, or any class or 

classes of persons, securities, or 

transactions, from any provision or 

provisions of this title or of any rule or 

regulation thereunder, to the extent that 

such exemption is necessary or 

appropriate in the public interest, and is 

consistent with the protection of 

investors.’’ 2 Section 4A(a) of the 

Exchange Act grants the Commission 

‘‘the authority to delegate, by published 

order or rule, any of its functions to a 

division of the Commission.’’ 3

The delegation of authority to the 

Director is intended to conserve 

Commission resources by permitting the 

staff, pursuant to Section 36(a), to 

review and act on applications for 

exemption from Rule 14a–3(b) and Rule 

14c–3(a) in cases where upon 

examination, the matter does not appear 

to present significant issues that have 

not been addressed previously or to 

raise questions of fact or policy 

indicating that the public interest or the 

interest of investors warrants that the 

Commission consider the matter. 

Nevertheless, the staff may submit 

matters to the Commission for 

consideration as it deems appropriate. 

In addition, under Section 4A(b) of the 

Exchange Act, the Commission retains 

discretionary authority to review upon 

its own initiative or, pursuant to 

Commission Rule 430, upon application 

by a party adversely affected, any 

exemption granted or denied by the 

Director pursuant to delegated 

authority.4

The Commission finds, in accordance 

with Section 553(b)(3)(A) of the 

Administrative Procedure Act,5 that this 

amendment relates solely to agency 

organization, procedure, or practice, and 

does not relate to a substantive rule. 

Accordingly, notice, opportunity for 

public comment, and publication of the 

amendment prior to its effective date are 

unnecessary. 

List of Subjects in 17 CFR Part 200 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Authority delegations 

(Government agencies), Organization 

and functions (Government agencies). 

Text of Amendment 

■ In accordance with the preamble, the 

Commission hereby amends Title 17, 

Chapter II of the Code of Federal 

Regulations as follows: 

PART 200—ORGANIZATION; 

CONDUCT AND ETHICS; AND 

INFORMATION AND REQUESTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 200, 

subpart A, continues to read in part as 

follows: 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 77o, 77s, 77sss, 78d, 

78d–1, 78d–2, 78w, 78ll(d), 78mm, 80a–37, 

80b–11, and 7202, unless otherwise noted. 

* * * * * 

■ 2. Section 200.30–1 is amended by 

adding paragraph (e)(18) to read as 

follows: 

§ 200.30–1 Delegation of authority to 

Director of Division of Corporation Finance. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(18) To review and, either 

unconditionally or upon specified terms 

and conditions, grant or deny 

exemptions from the requirements of 

Rules 14a–3(b) and 14c–3(a) 

(§§ 240.14a–3(b) and 240.14c–3(a) of 

this chapter) under the Act pursuant to 

Section 36 of the Act, in cases where 

upon examination, the matter does not 

appear to the Director to present 

significant issues that have not been 

addressed previously or to raise 

questions of fact or policy indicating 

that the public interest or the interest of 

investors warrants that the Commission 

consider the matter, where an applicant 

demonstrates that it: 

(i) Is required to hold a meeting of 

security holders as a result of an action 

taken by one or more of the applicant’s 

security holders pursuant to state law; 

(ii) Is unable to comply with the 

requirements of Rule 14a–3(b) or Rule 

14c–3(a) under the Act for audited 

financial statements to be included in 

the annual report to security holders to 

be furnished to security holders in 

connection with the security holder 

meeting required to be held as a result 

of the security holder demand under 

state law; 

(iii) Has made a good faith effort to 

furnish the audited financial statements 

before holding the security holder 

meeting; 

(iv) Has made a determination that it 

has disclosed to security holders all 

available material information necessary 

for the security holders to make an 

informed voting decision in accordance 

with Regulation 14A or Regulation 14C 

(§§ 240.14a–1–240.14b–2 or §§ 240.14c–

1–240.14c–101 of this chapter); and 

(v) Absent a grant of exemptive relief, 

it would be forced to violate either state 

law or the rules and regulations 

administered by the Commission. 

* * * * * 

Dated: February 4, 2008. 

By the Commission. 

Nancy M. Morris, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–2246 Filed 2–6–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Mine Safety and Health Administration 

30 CFR Part 100 

RIN 1219–AB57 

Criteria and Procedures for Proposed 

Assessment of Civil Penalties 

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health 

Administration (MSHA), Labor. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Mine Safety and Health 

Administration (MSHA) is revising its 

civil penalty assessment amounts to 

adjust for inflation. The Debt Collection 

Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA) 

requires MSHA to adjust all civil 

penalties for inflation at least once every 

four years according to the formula 

specified in the Federal Civil Penalties 

Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 

(Inflation Adjustment Act). The revised 

penalties apply to citations and orders 

issued on or after the effective date of 

this rule. 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

March 10, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patricia W. Silvey, Director, Office of 

Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 

MSHA, 1100 Wilson Blvd., Room 2350, 

Arlington, Virginia 22209–3939, 

silvey.patricia@dol.gov, 202–693–9440 

(telephone), or 202–693–9441 

(facsimile). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Final Rule 

The Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA) requires that rulemakings be 

published in the Federal Register and 

requires generally that agencies provide 

an opportunity for public comment. 

However, notice and an opportunity for 

public comment are not required when 


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