Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 29, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 40957 

PART 81—DESIGNATION OF AREAS 

FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING 

PURPOSES 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 81 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

■ 4. In § 81.343, the table entitled 

‘‘Tennessee—1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS [Primary and secondary]’’ is 

amended by revising the entry 

‘‘Knoxville, TN:’’ to read as follows: 

§ 81.343 Tennessee. 

* * * * * 

TENNESSEE—1997 ANNUAL PM2.5 NAAQS 

[Primary and secondary] 

Designated area 

Designation a Classification 

Date 1 Type Date 2 Type 

* * * * * * * 

Knoxville, TN .................................................................................................... 8/29/2017 Attainment.

Anderson County ...................................................................................... ........................ Attainment.

Blount County ........................................................................................... ........................ Attainment.

Knox County ............................................................................................. ........................ Attainment.

Loudon County .......................................................................................... ........................ Attainment.

Roane County (part) ................................................................................. ........................ Attainment.

The area described by U.S. Census 2000 block group identifier 47–145– 

0307–2. 

* * * * * * * 

a Includes Indian Country located in each county or area, except as otherwise specified. 

1This date is 90 days after January 5, 2005, unless otherwise noted. 

2This date is July 2, 2014, unless otherwise noted. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2017–18213 Filed 8–28–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

41 CFR Part 105–70 

[FPMR Case 2016–101–1; Docket No. 2016– 

0009; Sequence No. 1] 

RIN 3090–AJ70 

Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 

1986, Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment 

AGENCY: Office of General Counsel, 

General Services Administration. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by 

the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 

1996 and further amended by the 

Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act Improvement Act of 

2015, this final rule incorporates the 

penalty inflation adjustments for the 

civil monetary penalties set forth in the 

United States Code, as codified in our 

regulations. 

DATES: Effective: September 28, 2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Aaron Pound, Assistant General 

Counsel, General Law Division (LG), 

General Services Administration, 1800 F 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20405. 

Telephone Number 202–501–1460. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. The Debt Collection Improvement Act 

of 1996 

To maintain the remedial impact of 

civil monetary penalties (CMPs) and to 

promote compliance with the law, the 

Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101– 

410) was amended by the Debt 

Collection Improvement Act of 1996 

(Pub. L. 104–134) to require Federal 

agencies to regularly adjust certain 

CMPs for inflation and further amended 

by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act Improvement Act of 

2015 (Sec. 701 of Pub. L. 114–74). As 

amended, the law requires each agency 

to make an initial inflationary 

adjustment for all applicable CMPs, and 

to make further adjustments at least 

once every year thereafter for these 

penalty amounts. The Debt Collection 

Improvement Act of 1996 further 

stipulates that any resulting increases in 

a CMP due to the calculated inflation 

adjustments shall apply only to 

violations which occur after the date the 

increase takes effect, i.e., thirty (30) days 

after date of publication in the Federal 

Register. Pursuant to the 2015 Act, 

agencies are required to adjust the level 

of the CMP with an initial ‘‘catch up’’, 

and make subsequent annual 

adjustments for inflation. Catch up 

adjustments are based on the percent 

change between the Consumer Price 

Index for Urban Consumers (CPI–U) for 

the month of October for the year of the 

previous adjustment, and the October 

2015 CPI–U. Annual inflation 

adjustments will be based on the 

percent change between the October 

CPI–U preceding the date of adjustment 

and the prior year’s October CPI–U. 

II. The Program Fraud Civil Remedies 

Act of 1986 

In 1986, sections 6103 and 6104 of the 

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 

1986 (Pub. L. 99–501) set forth the 

Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 

1986 (PFCRA). Specifically, this statute 

imposes a CMP and an assessment 

against any person who, with 

knowledge or reason to know, makes, 

submits, or presents a false, fictitious, or 

fraudulent claim or statement to the 

Government. The General Services 

Administration’s regulations, published 

in the Federal Register (61 FR 246, 

December 20, 1996) and codified at 41 

CFR part 105–70, set forth a CMP of up 

to $5,500 for each false claim or 

statement made to the agency. Based on 

the penalty amount inflation factor 

calculation, derived from dividing the 

June 2015 CPI by the June 1996 CPI, 

after rounding we are adjusting the 

maximum penalty amount for this CMP 

to $10,781 per violation. 

III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking 

In developing this final rule, we are 

waiving the usual notice of proposed 

rulemaking and public comment 

procedures set forth in the 


jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with RULES
40958 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 29, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

1See 47 U.S.C. 1426(a)–(b)(1). 

2See 47 U.S.C. 1428(b). 

3See 47 U.S.C. 1428(a); 47 U.S.C. 1442(f). 

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

553 (APA). The APA provides an 

exception to the notice and comment 

procedures when an agency finds there 

is good cause for dispensing with such 

procedures on the basis that they are 

impracticable, unnecessary or contrary 

to the public interest. We have 

determined that under 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(3)(B) good cause exists for 

dispensing with the notice of proposed 

rulemaking and public comment 

procedures for this rule. Specifically, 

this rulemaking comports and is 

consistent with the statutory authority 

set forth in the Debt Collection 

Improvement Act of 1996, with no 

issues of policy discretion. Accordingly, 

we believe that opportunity for prior 

comment is unnecessary and contrary to 

the public interest, and we are issuing 

these revised regulations as a final rule 

that will apply to all future cases under 

this authority. 

IV. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 

13563 direct agencies to assess all costs 

and benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the 

importance of quantifying both costs 

and benefits, of reducing costs, of 

harmonizing rules, and of promoting 

flexibility. This is a not significant 

regulatory action and, therefore, was not 

subject to review under Section 6(b) of 

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning and 

Review, dated September 30, 1993. This 

rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 

804. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has reviewed this final rule in 

accordance with the provisions of E.O. 

12866 and has determined that it does 

not meet the criteria for a significant 

regulatory action. As indicated above, 

the provisions contained in this final 

rulemaking set forth the inflation 

adjustments in compliance with the 

Debt Collection Improvement Act of 

1996 for specific applicable CMPs. The 

great majority of individuals, 

organizations and entities addressed 

through these regulations do not engage 

in such prohibited conduct, and as a 

result, we believe that any aggregate 

economic impact of these revised 

regulations will be minimal, affecting 

only those limited few who may engage 

in prohibited conduct in violation of the 

statute. As such, this final rule and the 

inflation adjustment contained therein 

should have no effect on Federal or state 

expenditures. 

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Administrator of General Services 

certifies that this final rule will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small business 

entities. While some penalties may have 

an impact on small business entities, it 

is the nature of the violation and not the 

size of the entity that will result in an 

action by the agency, and the aggregate 

economic impact of this rulemaking on 

small business entities should be 

minimal, affecting only those few who 

have engaged in prohibited conduct in 

violation of statutory intent. 

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final rule imposes no new 

reporting or recordkeeping requirements 

necessitating clearance by OMB. 

List of Subject in 41 CFR Part 105–70 

Administrative hearing, Claims, 

Program fraud. 

Dated: July 18, 2017. 

Timothy Horne, 

Acting Administrator of General Services. 

Accordingly, 41 CFR part 105–70 is 

amended as set forth below: 

PART 105–70—IMPLEMENTATION OF 

THE PROGRAM FRAUD CIVIL 

REMEDIES ACT OF 1986 

■ 1. The authority citation for 41 CFR 

part 105–70 continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 486(c); 31 U.S.C. 

3809. 

§ 105–70.003 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend § 105–70.003 by— 

■ a. Removing from paragraph (a)(1)(iv) 

the amount ‘‘5,500’’ and adding 

‘‘10,781’’ in its place; and 

■ b. Removing from paragraph (b)(1)(ii) 

the amount ‘‘5,500’’ and adding 

‘‘10,781’’ in its place. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18274 Filed 8–28–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–81–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration 

47 CFR Chapter V 

[Docket No. 151209999–7323–02] 

RIN 0660–AA30 

Scope of NTIA’s Authority Regarding 

FirstNet Fees 

AGENCY: National Telecommunications 

and Information Administration, U.S. 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Congress authorized the First 

Responder Network Authority 

(FirstNet), an independent authority 

within the National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration (NTIA), to assess and 

collect, among other funds, three 

specific types of fees. By law, NTIA 

must review and approve these fees on 

an annual basis. This final rule 

describes NTIA’s overarching scope, 

boundaries, and guidelines for its 

FirstNet fee review and approval 

process as mandated by the Middle 

Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 

2012 (the Act). 

DATES: Effective on August 29, 2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patrick Sullivan; Office of Public Safety 

Communications; National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration; U.S. Department of 

Commerce; 1401 Constitution Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20230; 

psullivan@ntia.doc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Act established FirstNet as an 

independent authority within NTIA 

charged with ensuring the building, 

deployment, and operation of an 

interoperable nationwide public safety 

broadband network (Network).1 It also 

requires FirstNet to be self-sustainable.2

The Act authorizes FirstNet to, among 

other actions, assess and collect the 

following specific fees: (1) Network user 

fees, including user fees associated with 

state use of elements of the core 

network; (2) lease fees related to 

network capacity, pursuant to a covered 

leasing agreement; and (3) fees from 

entities seeking to access or use any 

equipment or infrastructure constructed 

or otherwise owned by FirstNet.3 It 

requires the total amount of these fees, 


jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with RULES