36132 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 139 / Wednesday, July 22, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

1 Docket No. RM2007–1, Order Establishing 

Ratemaking Regulations for Market Dominant and 

Competitive Products, October 29, 2007 (Order No. 

43). 

program grants a preference for 

subsistence uses of fish and wildlife 

resources on Federal public lands and 

waters in Alaska. The Secretaries first 

published regulations to carry out this 

program in the Federal Register on May 

29, 1992 (57 FR 22940). The Program 

has subsequently amended these 

regulations several times. Because this 

program is a joint effort between Interior 

and Agriculture, these regulations are 

located in two titles of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR): Title 36, 

‘‘Parks, Forests, and Public Property,’’ 

and Title 50, ‘‘Wildlife and Fisheries,’’ 

at 36 CFR 242.1–28 and 50 CFR 100.1– 

28, respectively. The regulations contain 

subparts as follows: Subpart A, General 

Provisions; Subpart B, Program 

Structure; Subpart C, Board 

Determinations; and Subpart D, 

Subsistence Taking of Fish and Wildlife. 

Federal Subsistence Board 

Consistent with subpart B of these 

regulations, the Departments established 

a Federal Subsistence Board to 

administer the Federal Subsistence 

Management Program. The Board is 

made up of: 

• Chair appointed by the Secretary of 

the Interior with concurrence of the 

Secretary of Agriculture; 

• Alaska Regional Director, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service; 

• Alaska Regional Director, U.S. 

National Park Service; 

• Alaska State Director, U.S. Bureau 

of Land Management; 

• Alaska Regional Director, U.S. 

Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 

• Alaska Regional Forester, U.S. 

Forest Service. 

Through the Board, these agencies 

participate in the development of 

regulations for subparts A, B, and C, 

which set forth the basic program, and 

they continue to work together on 

regularly revising the subpart D 

regulations, which, among other things, 

set forth specific harvest seasons and 

limits. 

Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory 

Councils 

In administering the program, the 

Secretaries divided Alaska into 10 

subsistence resource regions, each of 

which is represented by a Regional 

Council. The Regional Councils provide 

a forum for rural residents with personal 

knowledge of local conditions and 

resource requirements to have a 

meaningful role in the subsistence 

management of fish and wildlife on 

Federal public lands in Alaska. The 

Regional Council members represent 

varied geographical, cultural, and user 

diversity within each region. 

Kenai Peninsula 

The Kenai Peninsula in Alaska has 

unique fish and wildlife management 

challenges resulting from intense use of 

the Peninsula’s fish and wildlife by 

local and nonlocal residents and by 

nonresidents and from the Board’s 

actions to provide a meaningful 

subsistence priority for fisheries in 

Federally managed fresh waters on the 

Kenai Peninsula. Kenai Peninsula lands 

primarily under Federal management 

include the Chugach National Forest 

and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. 

The Departments published a proposed 

rule in the Federal Register on August 

14, 2006 (71 FR 46427), to create a 

separate subsistence resource region for 

the Kenai Peninsula and requested 

public comments until September 18, 

2006. On September 27, 2006, we 

published a document to extend the 

comment period on this proposed rule 

until November 9, 2006 (71 FR 56421). 

Withdrawal of Proposed Rule 

During a Southcentral Federal 

Subsistence Regional Advisory Council 

meeting held in Anchorage, Alaska on 

August 24, 2006, we heard significant 

adverse testimony regarding the creation 

of a new Kenai Peninsula Subsistence 

Resource Region. Additionally, the 

Southcentral Regional Council 

unanimously recommended against the 

formation of such a region. Letters from 

the public also strongly opposed the 

formation of such a region. Therefore, 

we are withdrawing the proposed rule. 

For the reasons stated above, the 

Federal Subsistence Board withdraws 

the proposed rule of August 14, 2006 

(71 FR 46427). 

Dated: June 18, 2009. 

Peter J. Probasco, 

Acting Chair, Federal Subsistence Board. 

Dated: June 18, 2009. 

Calvin H. Casipit, 

Acting Subsistence Program Leader, USDA— 

Forest Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–17283 Filed 7–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P, 4310–55–P 

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 

39 CFR Part 3010 

[Docket No. RM2009–8; Order No. 246] 

Postal Rates 

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Commission is proposing 

to revise a rounding convention used in 

the statutory price cap calculation for 

purposes of establishing rates for certain 

postal products. This document invites 

public comment on the proposal. 

DATES: Initial comments due August 21, 

2009; reply comments due September 8, 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

electronically via the Commission’s 

electronic Filing Online system at 

http://www.prc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel, 

at 202–789–6824 and 

stephen.sharfman@prc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulatory History 

72 FR 63662 (November 9, 2007). 

74 FR 27843 (June 11, 2009). 

I. Introduction 

II. Background and Proposed Amendments 

III. Public Representative 

IV. Ordering Paragraphs 

I. Introduction 

This rulemaking is an outgrowth of 

issues raised in Docket No. R2009–4, the 

most recent price adjustment filed by 

the Postal Service and approved by the 

Commission. The Postal Accountability 

and Enhancement Act (PAEA), Public 

Law No. 109–435, 120 Stat. 3198 (2006), 

affords the Postal Service significant 

flexibility in setting prices, provided it 

complies with certain objectives and 

factors and does not raise rates in excess 

of an inflation-based cap. 

In Order No. 43, the Commission 

established ratemaking regulations for 

market dominant and competitive 

products.1 In that order, the 

Commission created a formula to derive 

a ratemaking authority limitation for the 

Postal Service based upon the Consumer 

Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

(CPI–U) as reported by the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics (BLS). Id. at 47–48, 121– 

122. The limitation is calculated as the 

ratio of the most recent 12 month 

average of the CPI–U to the preceding 12 

month average of the CPI–U and 

subtracting 1. Id. As noted in Order No. 

43, the BLS began reporting the CPI–U 

index to three decimal places (when 

previously it was reported to one 

decimal place). Id. at 48. 

II. Background and Proposed 

Amendments 

The Commission elected to round the 

result and express the percentage 

change in the CPI–U using one decimal 

place. Id. This result was driven by 

practical considerations. Precision 

requires both the recent average and the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 139 / Wednesday, July 22, 2009 / Proposed Rules 36133 

2See Docket No. R2009–4, Order Approving Price 

Adjustment for Standard Mail High Density Flats, 

July 1, 2009 (Order No. 236). 

3See Library Reference PRC–RM2009–8–LR–1 for 

a numerical example of this result. 

base average have the same number of 

significant digits; at the conclusion of 

Docket No. RM2007–1, neither the 

recent average nor the base average 

could be calculated to three decimal 

places. Inflation is also commonly 

expressed to one decimal place, and 

when the percentage change is reported 

by BLS, it is reported to one decimal 

place. 

Due to several developments, the 

Commission believes calculating the 

CPI–U cap to three decimal places is 

now appropriate. The Postal Service, in 

utilizing its pricing flexibility under the 

PAEA, has proposed small rate 

adjustments that require more precision 

than a one decimal place cap allows. 

Adding two decimal places to the level 

of precision to the adjustment authority 

allows the Postal Service to fully 

exercise that flexibility. Enough time 

has lapsed since the BLS began 

reporting CPI–U indexes to 3 digits that 

both the recent average and the base 

average (a total of 24 months) may be 

calculated using the 3-digit method. The 

consistent reporting since January of 

2007 (in terms of the number of 

significant digits) in the CPI–U indexes 

allows the Commission to calculate the 

rate adjustment authority to three 

decimal places without sacrificing 

precision. Moreover, the Postal Service’s 

unused rate adjustment authority is 

calculated to three decimal places; 

therefore, calculating the annual or less 

than annual rate adjustment authority 

should use the same number of 

significant digits. 

In Docket No. R2009–4, the Postal 

Service proposed, and the Commission 

approved, a rate decrease for Standard 

Mail High Density flats.2 Intuitively, 

when the Postal Service implements a 

rate decrease for a class of mail, the 

result should be an increase in the 

amount of rate adjustment authority at 

the time of the next rate adjustment. 

However, as the incremental change for 

the Standard Mail class is minus 0.037 

percent, the benefit from decreasing 

prices mid-year, which would be 

included in the amount of rate 

adjustment authority in the next rate 

adjustment, may be lost due to 

rounding.3 Changing the Commission’s 

rules on the calculation of the CPI–U 

cap to use the maximum number of 

significant digits allows the Postal 

Service to make more subtle 

adjustments for each class of mail. 

The Commission, therefore, proposes 

to revise the last sentence of paragraph 

(a) of rule 3010.21 and paragraph (b) of 

rule 3010.22 to read ‘‘The result is 

expressed as a percentage, rounded to 

three decimal places.’’ Though the 

Commission’s proposed changes are 

limited to these two sentences, the rules 

are presented in their entirety to provide 

useful additional context. In addition, 

the Commission is revising the heading 

of 39 CFR part 3010 to read as follows: 

Part 3010—Regulation of Rates for 

Market Dominant Products. This 

revision corrects an inadvertent error in 

the current heading, which reads, 

‘‘Regulation of Rules for Market 

Dominant Products.’’ 

III. Public Representative 

Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Emmett 

Rand Costich is appointed the officer of 

the Commission (Public Representative) 

to represent the interests of the general 

public in the captioned docket. 

IV. Ordering Paragraphs 

It is ordered: 

1. Docket No. RM2009–8 is 

established for the purpose of proposing 

amendments to the Commission’s rules 

governing the price cap calculation in 

the system of ratemaking, 39 CFR part 

3010. 

2. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Emmett 

Rand Costich is appointed to serve as 

officer of the Commission (Public 

Representative) to represent the 

interests of the general public in these 

proceedings. 

3. Interested persons may submit 

initial comments no later than 30 days 

from the date of publication of this 

notice in the Federal Register. 

4. Reply comments may be filed no 

later than 45 days from the date of 

publication of this Notice in the Federal 

Register. 

5. The Secretary shall arrange for 

publication of this Notice in the Federal 

Register. 

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 3010 

Administrative practice and 

procedure; Postal Service. 

Issued: July 10, 2009. 

By the Commission. 

Judith M. Grady, 

Acting Secretary. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Postal Regulatory 

Commission proposes to amend title 39 

chapter III of the U.S. Code as follows: 

PART 3010—REGULATION OF RATES 

FOR MARKET DOMINANT PRODUCTS 

1. The authority citation for 39 CFR 

part 3010 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 39 U.S.C. 503; 3622. 

2. Revise § 3010.21 to read as follows: 

§ 3010.21 Calculation of annual limitation. 

(a) The calculation of an annual 

limitation involves three steps. First, a 

simple average CPI–U index is 

calculated by summing the most 

recently available 12 monthly CPI–U 

values from the date the Postal Service 

files its notice of rate adjustment and 

dividing the sum by 12 (Recent 

Average). Then, a second simple average 

CPI–U index is similarly calculated by 

summing the 12 monthly CPI–U values 

immediately preceding the Recent 

Average and dividing the sum by 12 

(Base Average). Finally, the annual 

limitation is calculated by dividing the 

Recent Average by the Base Average and 

subtracting 1 from the quotient. The 

result is expressed as a percentage, 

rounded to three decimal places. 

(b) The formula for calculating an 

annual limitation is as follows: Annual 

Limitation = (Recent Average/Base 

Average)¥1. 

3. Revise § 3010.22 to read as follows: 

§ 3010.22 Calculation of less than annual 

limitation. 

(a) If a notice of rate adjustment is 

filed less than 1 year after the last Type 

1–A or Type 1–B notice of rate 

adjustment applicable to an affected 

class of mail, then the annual limitation 

will recognize the rate increases that 

have occurred during the preceding 12 

months. When the effects of those 

increases are removed, the remaining 

partial year limitation is the applicable 

restriction on rate increases. 

(b) The applicable partial year 

limitation is calculated in two steps. 

First, a simple average CPI–U index is 

calculated by summing the 12 most 

recently available monthly CPI–U 

values from the date the Postal Service 

files its notice of rate adjustment and 

dividing the sum by 12 (Recent 

Average). The partial year limitation is 

then calculated by dividing the Recent 

Average by the Recent Average from the 

most recent previous notice of rate 

adjustment (Previous Recent Average) 

applicable to each affected class of mail 

and subtracting 1 from the quotient. The 

result is expressed as a percentage, 

rounded to three decimal places. 

(c) The formula for calculating the 

partial year limitation for a notice of rate 

adjustment filed less than 1 year after 

the last notice is as follows: Partial Year 

Limitation = (Recent Average/Previous 

Recent Average)¥1. 

[FR Doc. E9–17322 Filed 7–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P 


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