3950 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 21, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF 

THE FEDERAL REGISTER 

1 CFR Parts 2, 10 and 11 

[A.G. Order No. 3036–2009] 

Availability and Official Status of the 

Compilation of Presidential Documents 

AGENCY: Administrative Committee of 

the Federal Register. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule establishes a 

new official updated daily online-only 

publication entitled the ‘‘Daily 

Compilation of Presidential 

Documents.’’ The paper edition of the 

Weekly Compilation of Presidential 

Documents will no longer be issued. 

The annual edition of the Public Papers 

of the President will be based on the 

text of the Daily Compilation of 

Presidential Documents. The price for 

subscription to the Weekly Compilation 

of Presidential Documents has also been 

removed from the regulations, as this 

publication will no longer exist and the 

online Daily Compilation is available 

free of charge on the Internet. This rule 

also revises the regulatory text to make 

it more readable and consistent with 

plain language principles. 

DATES: This final rule is effective 

January 20, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Docket materials are 

available at the Office of the Federal 

Register, 800 North Capitol Street, NW., 

Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001, 202– 

741–6030 or the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. If at 

all possible, please contact the persons 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section to schedule your 

inspection of docket materials. The 

Office of the Federal Register’s official 

hours of business are Monday through 

Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., excluding 

federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy P. Bunk, Director of Legal Affairs 

and Policy, Office of the Federal 

Register, or Allyson Fenton Christou, 

Attorney-Advisor, Legal Affairs and 

Policy, Office of the Federal Register at 

Fedreg.legal@nara.gov, or 202–741– 

6030. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Purpose 

Under the Federal Register Act (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 15), the Administrative 

Committee of the Federal Register 

(ACFR) is responsible for issuing 

regulations governing Federal Register 

publications. The Administrative 

Committee has general authority under 

44 U.S.C. 1506 to determine the manner 

and form for publishing the Federal 

Register and its special editions. The 

Administrative Committee, with the 

approval of the Acting Archivist and the 

Attorney General, is amending its 

regulations in 1 CFR parts 2, 10, and 11 

to discontinue one of the special edition 

publications, the Weekly Compilation of 

Presidential Documents (Weekly 

Compilation) and to establish a new 

updated daily online-only publication 

called the Daily Compilation of 

Presidential Documents (Daily 

Compilation). 

In 1965 President Johnson, concerned 

that his appointed officials speak with 

a united voice, recommended that a new 

publication be developed to contain the 

statements, messages, and other 

Presidential materials released by the 

White House. In response, the ACFR 

approved, and the Office of the Federal 

Register commenced publication of the 

Weekly Compilation of Presidential 

Documents on August 2, 1965. During 

the Carter Administration the Office 

established a direct link between the 

Weekly Compilation and the Public 

Papers of the Presidents (Public Papers) 

series: The volumes of Public Papers 

became compilations of the weekly 

series. Encompassing approximately a 

six-month time period, each volume of 

the Public Papers contained the material 

in the weekly compilations with 

appropriate emendations and additions, 

rather than a set of selected papers 

edited separately. 

The Weekly Compilation is an official 

serial publication of Presidential 

documents. Office of the Federal 

Register (OFR) editors review all 

material submitted for publication in 

the Weekly Compilation to assure the 

accuracy and integrity of the 

publication. The Weekly Compilation 

contains Presidential statements, 

memoranda, messages to Congress and 

federal agencies, speeches and other 

remarks released by the White House. 

The Weekly Compilation is mailed via 

United States Post Office bulk rate 

postage to approximately 155 

subscribers the week after the events 

occurred. This means that by the time 

the subscribers receive their copy of this 

publication the events discussed 

happened at least two weeks before its 

receipt. These subscribers can obtain 

much of the same information from 

other sources, but without the guaranty 

of accuracy and integrity provided by 

the OFR editors. 

The Government Printing Office 

Electronic Information Access 

Enhancement Act of 1993 (GPO Access), 

44 U.S.C. 4101, provided additional 

authority for the Administrative 

Committee to expand public access to 

Federal Register publications, 

beginning with the inauguration of 

online Federal Register service on June 

8, 1994. 

In 1997, the OFR/GPO partnership 

developed a pilot for an online edition 

of the Weekly Compilation. Like the 

online Code of Federal Regulations, the 

online edition of the Weekly 

Compilation includes text-only files and 

PDF files. The files begin with 

documents from January 1993 through 

the present. The Weekly Compilation of 

Presidential Documents became 

officially recognized in 2000. This rule 

discontinues the print publication of the 

Weekly Compilation of Presidential 

Documents and establishes a new 

official online-only publication, the 

Daily Compilation of Presidential 

Documents. All prior Weekly 

Compilation editions will remain 

permanently available through the GPO 

Web site, and that search and retrieval 

capability will be integrated with Daily 

Compilation items to ensure ease of 

access for the public. 

Budgetary restraints require costcutting measures, including the 

discontinuation of the softbound print 

edition of the Weekly Compilation. The 

new Daily Compilation of Presidential 

Documents will contain the same 

information contained in the Weekly 

Compilation: Presidential statements, 

memoranda, messages to Congress and 

federal agencies, speeches, and other 

remarks released by the White House. 

OFR editors will continue to review all 

material submitted for publication in 

the Weekly Compilation to assure the 

accuracy and integrity of the 

publication. This new publication will 

not expand any regulated community or 

impose any additional regulatory 

burden. Readers will be able to 

download and print the Daily 

Compilation. This new publication will 

be permanently stored online via the 

GPO. The new daily publication will 

increase access to Presidential 

documents and allow for its more 

frequent updating. 

This final rule revises the title of 

Subpart A from ‘‘Weekly Publication’’ to 

‘‘Regular Publication’’ to allow for the 

regular, daily online publication of the 

Daily Compilation of Presidential 

Documents. This rule also changes the 

title of the Compilation from the 

‘‘Weekly Compilation of Presidential 

Documents’’ to the ‘‘Daily Compilation 

of Presidential Documents’’ in section 

10.1. The format of the publication is 

specified in section 10.3, explaining that 

the Daily Compilation of Presidential 

Documents will be published online 

through the Government Printing 

Office’s (GPO’s) online access system. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with RULES6
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 21, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 3951 

The annual publication of the Public 

Papers of the Presidents of the United 

States will continue to be published in 

paper. Section 10.11 specifies that the 

text of the Public Papers will consist of 

the documents included in the Daily 

Compilation of Presidential Documents. 

The provision regarding the price of a 

subscription to the Weekly Compilation 

of Presidential Documents is removed as 

the Weekly Compilation is being 

replaced by the Daily Compilation, 

which can be accessed on the Internet 

free of charge. The title of the 

Compilation is also updated in section 

2.5(c). The affected sections are also 

slightly reorganized to create a structure 

consistent with plain language 

requirements. 

Customers who need assistance or 

wish to submit suggestions for 

improving online Federal Register 

publications are referred to the GPO 

Access User Support Team. GPO 

provides information on free public 

access to the online editions of Federal 

Register publications on the GPO 

Access service via: 

ContactCenter@gpo.gov; Phone: 1–866– 

512–1800 (toll-free); 202–512–1800 (DC 

Area); Fax: 202–512–2104; GPO’s 

Federal Register World Wide Web site at 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wcomp/ 

index.html, or see the National Archives 

and Records Administration’s Federal 

Register Web site at: http:// 

www.federalregister.gov/. Federal 

depository libraries (for the location of 

the nearest depository library, call the 

telephone numbers listed above or 

access the information online at http:// 

www.access.gpo.gov/sudocs/ 

libpro.html). 

Regulatory Analysis 

We developed this rule after 

considering numerous statutes and 

executive orders related to rulemaking. 

Below we summarize our analyses 

based on these statutes and executive 

orders. 

Administrative Procedure Act 

The Administrative Committee has 

determined that the Administrative 

Procedure Act’s (APA) requirements for 

notice and comment and a 30-day delay 

in the effective date are unnecessary 

under the good cause exception of 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3). This rule is 

not a substantive rule that materially 

affects the rights or obligations of any 

person. Moreover, this change would 

not affect documents with legal effect. 

Executive Orders will still publish in 

the Federal Register both online and in 

hard copy. There are no notice and 

comment requirements for any of the 

documents published in the Weekly 

Compilation of Presidential Documents. 

In addition, this rule merely pertains 

to the form that the Federal Register 

uses to publish certain presidential 

documents, not the nature and quantity 

of the documents to be published. As 

mentioned earlier in this preamble, the 

discontinuation of the softbound print 

edition of the Weekly Compilation of 

Presidential Documents is a result of 

budgetary restraints, but changing to an 

online Compilation will not decrease 

the availability of these documents; 

indeed, providing an online version will 

increase availability to the general 

public. The online Compilation will not 

expand any regulated community or 

impose any additional regulatory 

burden. Indeed, the online publication 

of the Compilation will increase access 

to Presidential documents and allow for 

more frequent updating. The onlineonly publication will be permanently 

maintained on the GPO Web site as an 

official publication of the ACFR. 

Currently, there are approximately 155 

subscribers to the Weekly Compilation 

of Presidential Documents. The vast 

majority of subscribers to the Weekly 

Compilation are libraries and other 

public and private institutions with 

Internet access. There are approximately 

twelve individual subscribers to the 

softbound print edition of the Weekly 

Compilation. These individuals and 

other members of the public can access 

the Daily Compilation online through 

free Internet access at federal depository 

libraries and many other public 

libraries. 

Finally, the new form for publishing 

these presidential documents will result 

in more timely publication, to a vastly 

larger audience. Currently, the Weekly 

Compilation of Presidential Documents 

is mailed via United States Post Office 

bulk rate postage to approximately 155 

subscribers the week after the events 

occurred. This means that by the time 

the subscribers receive their copy of this 

publication the events discussed 

happened at least 2 weeks before its 

receipt. Therefore, the conversion to an 

online Daily Compilation actually 

decreases the amount of time between 

paper publication and access by the 

public. 

For these reasons, the Committee also 

believes that good cause exists for 

making this rule effective less than 30 

days after publication in the Federal 

Register under 5 U.S.C. 553 (b)(B) and 

(d)(3). 

Executive Order 12866 

The final rule has been drafted in 

accordance with Executive Order 12866, 

section 1(b), ‘‘Principles of Regulation.’’ 

The ACFR has determined that this final 

rule is not a significant regulatory 

action, as defined under section 3(f) of 

Executive Order 12866. The rule has not 

been submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget under section 

6(a)(3)(E) of Executive Order 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

This rule will not have a significant 

impact on small entities since it 

imposes no requirements. Members of 

the public can access Federal Register 

publications through the free GPO 

Access service over the Internet. 

Federalism 

This rule has no federalism 

implications under Executive Order 

13132. It does not impose compliance 

costs on state or local governments or 

preempt state law. 

Congressional Review 

This rule is not a major rule as 

defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The 

Administrative Committee will submit a 

rule report, including a copy of this 

final rule, to each House of the Congress 

and to the Comptroller General of the 

United States as required under the 

congressional review provisions of the 

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1986. 

List of Subjects 

1 CFR Part 2 

Federal Register publications, 

Government publications, Organization 

and functions (Government agencies). 

1 CFR Part 10 

Government publications, 

Presidential documents, Public Papers 

of the Presidents of the United States, 

Daily Compilation of Presidential 

Documents. 

1 CFR Part 11 

Code of Federal Regulations, Federal 

Register, Government publications, 

Daily Compilation of Presidential 

Documents. 

■ For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Administrative 

Committee of the Federal Register, with 

the approval of the Acting Archivist of 

the United States and the Attorney 

General, amends parts 2, 10, and 11 of 

chapter I of title 1 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations as set forth below: 

PART 2—GENERAL INFORMATION 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 2 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 

10530; 19 FR 2709; 3 CFR 1954–1958 Comp., 

p. 189; 1 U.S.C. 112; 1 U.S.C. 113. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with RULES6
3952 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 21, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

■ 2. Amend § 2.5 by revising paragraph 

(c) to read as follows: 

§ 2.5 Publication of statutes, regulations 

and related documents. 

* * * * * 

(c) Based on source materials that are 

officially related to the acts and 

documents filed under paragraph (a) of 

this section, the Office also publishes 

‘‘The United States Government 

Manual,’’ the ‘‘Public Papers of the 

Presidents of the United States,’’ the 

‘‘Daily Compilation of Presidential 

Documents,’’ the ‘‘Federal Register 

Index,’’ and the ‘‘LSA (List of CFR 

Sections Affected).’’ 

PART 10—PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 10 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 

10530, 19 FR 2709, 3 CFR, 1954–1958 Comp., 

p. 189. 

■ 2. Revise the heading of Subpart A to 

read as follows: 

Subpart A—Regular Publication 

■ 3. Revise § 10.1 to read as follows: 

§ 10.1 Publication required. 

The Director publishes a special 

edition of the Federal Register 

compiling recent presidential 

documents, called ‘‘The Daily 

Compilation of Presidential 

Documents.’’ 

■ 4. Amend § 10.2 by revising paragraph 

(a) introductory text to read as follows: 

§ 10.2 Scope and sources. 

(a) The text of the publication consists 

of oral statements by the President or of 

writing subscribed by the President, and 

selected from transcripts or text issued 

by the Office of the White House Press 

Secretary, including— 

* * * * * 

■ 5. Revise § 10.3 to read as follows: 

§ 10.3 Format. 

The Daily Compilation of Presidential 

Documents is published online on the 

Government Printing Office access 

system. 

■ 6. Revise § 10.11 to read as follows: 

§ 10.11 Scope and sources. 

The basic text of the Public Papers 

consists of the documents compiled 

under subpart A of this part. 

PART 11—SUBSCRIPTIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 11 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 

10530, 19 FR 2709, 3 CFR, 1954–1958 Comp., 

p. 189. 

§ 11.6 [Reserved]. 

■ 2. Remove and reserve § 11.6. 

Dated: January 13, 2009. 

Adrienne Thomas, 

Acting Chairperson, Administrative 

Committee of the Federal Register. 

Dated: January 13, 2009. 

Robert C. Tapella, 

Member, Administrative Committee of the 

Federal Register. 

Dated: January 13, 2009. 

Rosemary Hart, 

Member, Administrative Committee of the 

Federal Register. 

Dated: January 13, 2009. 

Michael B. Mukasey, 

Attorney General. 

Dated: January 13, 2009. 

Adrienne Thomas, 

Acting Archivist of the United States. 

[FR Doc. E9–1334 Filed 1–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1505–02–P 


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