Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Proposed Rules 52863 

1See Internet Communication Disclaimers; 

Reopening of Comment Period, 82 FR 46937 (Oct. 

10, 2017); see also Internet Communication 

Disclaimers, 76 FR 63567 (Oct. 13, 2011). 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Part 110 

[Notice 2017–14] 

Internet Communication Disclaimers; 

Extension of Comment Period 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: On October 10, 2017, the 

Federal Election Commission reopened 

the comment period on the Advance 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(‘‘ANPRM’’) seeking comment on 

whether to begin a rulemaking to revise 

its regulations concerning disclaimers 

on certain internet communications 

and, if so, on what changes should be 

made to those rules. The Commission 

has decided to extend the comment 

period for one business day due to 

technological difficulties. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

ANPRM published October 13, 2011 (76 

FR 63567), and reopened on October 10, 

2017 (82 FR 46937), is extended. 

Comments must be received on or 

before November 13, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: All comments must be in 

writing. Commenters are encouraged to 

submit comments electronically via the 

Commission’s Web site at www.fec.gov/ 

netdisclaimers or at http://www.fec.gov/ 

fosers, reference REG 2011–02. 

Alternatively, commenters may submit 

comments in paper form, addressed to 

the Federal Election Commission, Attn.: 

Neven F. Stipanovic, Acting Assistant 

General Counsel, 999 E Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20463. 

Each commenter must provide, at a 

minimum, his or her first name, last 

name, city, state, and zip code. All 

properly submitted comments, 

including attachments, will become part 

of the public record, and the 

Commission will make comments 

available for public viewing on the 

Commission’s Web site and in the 

Commission’s Public Records Office. 

Accordingly, commenters should not 

provide in their comments any 

information that they do not wish to 

make public, such as a home street 

address, personal email address, date of 

birth, phone number, social security 

number, driver’s license number, or any 

information that is restricted from 

disclosure, such as trade secrets or 

commercial or financial information 

that is privileged or confidential. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Neven F. Stipanovic, Acting Assistant 

General Counsel, or Ms. Jessica 

Selinkoff, Attorney, 999 E Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694–1650 

or (800) 424–9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

October 10, 2017, the Commission 

reopened the comment period on an 

ANPRM published in the Federal 

Register seeking comment on whether 

and how to revise the rules at 11 CFR 

110.11 regarding disclaimers on certain 

internet communications.1 The 

comment period was scheduled to close 

at 11:59 p.m. on November 9, 2017, but 

the Commission experienced 

technological difficulties with its online 

comment system on the last day of the 

comment period. The Commission has 

therefore determined to extend the 

comment period for one business day, to 

close at 11:59 p.m. on November 13, 

2017. 

On behalf of the Commission. 

Dated: November 9, 2017. 

Steven T. Walther, 

Chairman, 

Federal Election Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2017–24747 Filed 11–9–17; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Economic Analysis 

15 CFR Part 801 

[170322303–7303–01] 

RIN 0691–AA87 

International Services Surveys: BE– 

120 Benchmark Survey of 

Transactions in Selected Services and 

Intellectual Property With Foreign 

Persons 

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

amend regulations of the Department of 

Commerce’s Bureau of Economic 

Analysis (BEA) to renew reporting 

requirements for the mandatory BE–120 

Benchmark Survey of Transactions in 

Selected Services and Intellectual 

Property with Foreign Persons. This 

survey will apply to the 2017 fiscal 

reporting year. The benchmark survey 

covers the universe of transactions in 

selected services and intellectual 

property and is BEA’s most 

comprehensive survey of such 

transactions. For the 2017 benchmark 

survey, BEA proposes several changes 

in the data items collected, the design 

of the survey form, and the reporting 

requirements for the survey. This 

mandatory survey would be conducted 

under the authority of the International 

Investment and Trade in Services 

Survey Act. 

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule 

will receive consideration if submitted 

in writing on or before 5:00 p.m. January 

16, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You can submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0691–AA87, and 

referencing the agency name (Bureau of 

Economic Analysis), by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

For Keyword or ID, enter ‘‘EAB–2017– 

0002.’’ 

• Email: christopher.stein@bea.gov. 

• Fax: Christopher Stein, Chief, 

Services Surveys Branch, Balance of 

Payments Division, (301) 278–9507. 

• Mail: Christopher Stein, Chief, 

Services Surveys Branch (BE–50), 

Balance of Payments Division, Bureau of 

Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 4600 Silver Hill Rd., 

Washington, DC 20233. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Christopher 

Stein, Chief, Services Surveys Branch 

(BE–50), Balance of Payments Division, 

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, 4600 Silver 

Hill Rd., Suitland, MD 20746. 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in the proposed 

rule should be sent to both BEA through 

any of the methods above and to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), OIRA, Paperwork Reduction 

Project 0608–0058, Attention PRA Desk 

Officer for BEA, via email at jpark@

omb.eop.gov, or by fax at 202–395–7245. 

Public Inspection: All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit confidential business 

information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. BEA will accept 

anonymous comments (enter N/A in 

required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, or Adobe portable 

document file (pdf) formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher Stein, Chief, Services 

Surveys Branch (BE–50), Balance of 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
52864 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

Payments Division, Bureau of Economic 

Analysis, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 4600 Silver Hill Rd., 

Washington, DC 20233; email 

christopher.stein@bea.gov or phone 

(301) 278–9189. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BE– 

120 Benchmark Survey of Transactions 

in Selected Services and Intellectual 

Property with Foreign Persons is a 

mandatory survey and is typically 

conducted once every five years by BEA 

under the authority provided by the 

International Investment and Trade in 

Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101– 

3108), hereinafter, ‘‘the Act.’’ The Act 

provides that data reported to BEA on 

this survey are confidential and may be 

used only for analytical and statistical 

purposes. Without prior written 

permission from the survey respondent, 

the information cannot be presented in 

a manner that allows it to be 

individually identified. An individual 

respondent’s report cannot be used for 

purposes of taxation, investigation, or 

regulation. Copies retained by BEA are 

immune from legal process. Per the 

Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 

2015, a respondent’s data are protected 

from Cybersecurity risks through 

security monitoring of the BEA 

information systems. 

Unlike most other BEA surveys 

conducted pursuant to the Act, a 

response would be required from 

persons subject to the reporting 

requirements of the BE–120, whether or 

not they are contacted by BEA, to ensure 

complete coverage of services and 

intellectual property transactions 

between U.S. persons (any individual or 

organization subject to the jurisdiction 

of the United States) and foreign 

persons. 

In 2012, BEA established regulatory 

guidelines for collecting data on 

international trade in services and direct 

investment (77 FR 24373; April 24, 

2012). This proposed rule, unlike most 

annual or quarterly BEA surveys 

conducted pursuant to the Act, would 

amend those regulations to require a 

response from persons subject to the 

reporting requirements of the BE–120, 

whether or not they are contacted by 

BEA. 

The benchmark survey is intended to 

cover the universe of selected services 

and intellectual property transactions 

with foreign persons and is BEA’s most 

comprehensive survey of such 

transactions. In nonbenchmark years, 

the universe estimates covering these 

transactions are derived from the 

sample data reported on BEA’s BE–125 

Quarterly Survey of Transactions in 

Selected Services and Intellectual 

Property with Foreign Persons. The BE– 

125 collects similar information but at a 

more aggregated level of detail by type 

of service. The data are collected from 

a sample of respondents. BEA uses 

cutoff sampling for the BE–125, 

meaning that respondents must only 

report on the BE–125 if they have 

transactions that surpassed a designated 

reporting threshold; greater than $6 

million for sales and/or greater than $4 

million for purchases. The same 

reporters that file on a quarterly basis 

throughout fiscal year 2017 will also be 

required to report on the 2017 BE–120 

survey. The BE–120 survey is conducted 

to reconcile reported quarterly data at 

an annual level for those respondents 

filing on the BE–125 survey, and also to 

collect data from companies not subject 

to filing on an ongoing quarterly basis. 

The benchmark data, including data 

from respondents not subject to filing on 

an ongoing quarterly basis, will be used, 

in conjunction with quarterly data 

collected on the companion BE–125 

survey, to produce estimates of selected 

services components for BEA’s 

international transactions accounts 

(ITAs), national income and product 

accounts, and industry accounts. If this 

information was not collected on the 

BE–120 survey, BEA would need to 

expand the scope of the BE–125 

quarterly survey by collecting additional 

data items and reducing reporting 

thresholds, resulting in an increased 

number of respondents and a 

measurable impact on the reporting 

burden each quarter. The data are 

needed to monitor U.S. trade in 

services, to analyze the impact on the 

U.S. economy and on foreign 

economies, to compile and improve the 

U.S. economic accounts, to support U.S. 

commercial policy on trade in services, 

to conduct trade promotion, and to 

improve the ability of U.S. businesses to 

identify and evaluate market 

opportunities. 

A full list of the services and 

intellectual property covered by the BE– 

120 survey can be found in the 

regulatory text for new § 801.11 at the 

end of this document. 

This proposed rule would amend 15 

CFR part 801 by adding new § 801.11 to 

set forth the reporting requirements for 

the BE–120 Benchmark Survey of 

Transactions in Selected Services and 

Intellectual Property with Foreign 

Persons. 

Description of Changes 

The proposed changes would amend 

the regulations and the survey form for 

the BE–120 benchmark survey. These 

amendments include changes in data 

items collected, the design of the survey 

form, and the reporting requirements for 

those not subject to reporting on the 

mandatory schedule(s) of the survey. 

BEA proposes to change the reporting 

requirements for reporters with 

transactions in covered services below 

the threshold for mandatory reporting 

on the schedule(s) of the survey ($2 

million in combined sales or $1 million 

in combined purchases for fiscal year 

2017). While responding to benchmark 

surveys is always mandatory, for the 

previous BE–120 survey, reporters with 

transactions below these thresholds 

were required only to provide a figure 

for total sales and/or total purchases for 

all covered transactions. These reporters 

had the option of providing additional 

detail for each covered transaction by 

transaction type, by country, and by 

affiliation; such additional detail was 

voluntary rather than required. For the 

2017 BE–120, however, all reporters, 

regardless of the amount of their 

transactions in covered services will be 

required to provide a total dollar 

amount for their sales and purchases, as 

applicable, by transaction type. This 

information will allow BEA to improve 

the accuracy of the trade statistics. 

This change will impose minimal 

additional burden for reporters because 

the additional information to be 

reported is information that respondents 

would have needed to compile or 

estimate previously in order to apply 

the reporting requirements. Under the 

prior approach, reporters would have 

needed to compile or estimate the dollar 

amount of their sales to and purchases 

from foreigners by transaction type in 

order to determine if their transactions 

met the threshold for mandatory 

reporting on the schedules. Under the 

new approach, BEA is simply requiring 

that respondents report those 

transaction totals. 

BEA proposes to add and modify 

some items on the benchmark survey 

form. Most of the additions are 

proposed in response to suggestions 

from data users and would allow BEA 

to more closely align with international 

guidelines, and publish more 

information on U.S. trade in services. 

Some additions and modifications will 

allow BEA to align the ITAs more 

closely with international economic 

accounting guidelines. 

The following items would be added 

to the benchmark survey: 

(1) Mandatory questions will be 

added to collect information on contract 

manufacturing services. On the 2011 

BE–120 survey, respondents were 

requested to provide information on 

transactions related to contract 

manufacturing services on a voluntary 

basis. The 2017 BE–120 survey will 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Proposed Rules 52865 

collect information on contract 

manufacturing services on a mandatory 

basis. Reporters will be required to 

provide a description of both the 

materials provided or received for 

further processing and the 

manufactured (finished) goods. 

Additionally, the reporter will be 

required to provide: (1) Country-level 

detail on sales and purchases to foreign 

persons, (2) the cost of materials 

received or provided for use in the 

manufacturing process, (3) the primary 

country of origin of the inputs used, (4) 

the final value of the product returned 

after the manufacturing service was 

completed, and (5) the primary country 

of destination of the finished product. 

(2) Mandatory questions will be 

added to collect information on trade in 

services by the location of the U.S. and 

foreign transactors when the services 

were supplied. For transactions in 

selected services, respondents will be 

required to provide information about 

the location of the transactors when the 

services were supplied: (1) Cross-border 

supply, where both the supplier and the 

consumer remain in their respective 

territories; (2) consumption abroad, 

where the consumer consumes the 

service outside his or her home 

territory, and (3) presence of natural 

persons, where an individual (either the 

service supplier himself, if he or she is 

a self-employed person, or his or her 

employee) is present abroad in order to 

supply a service. 

In addition, BEA proposes to make 

the following modifications to the 

survey form: 

(1) Mandatory Schedules A and B will 

be expanded to collect additional detail 

on intellectual property (IP) 

transactions. A U.S. person who engages 

in IP transactions with foreign persons 

will be required to distribute their 

receipts and/or payments according to 

the type of transaction and the type of 

IP. The covered transaction types are: 

(1) transactions for the rights to use IP, 

(2) transactions for the rights to 

reproduce and/or distribute IP, and (3) 

transactions for the outright sales or 

purchases of IP. Reporters will be 

required to identify the foreign 

country(ies) involved in the 

transaction(s) and to distribute the 

amounts reported for each country 

according to whether the foreign person 

is the U.S. person’s foreign affiliate, part 

of the U.S. person’s foreign parent 

group, or an unaffiliated foreign person. 

The BE–125 survey was modified in 

2016 to align with international 

guidelines by collecting receipts and/or 

payments according to the above types 

of transactions and types of IP. 

Therefore, the proposed modification to 

the BE–120 is consistent with the 

change made to the BE–125 survey. 

(2) Research and development 

services will be broken out into two 

categories: (1) Provision of customized 

and non-customized R&D services, and 

(2) other R&D services, including 

testing. This will allow BEA to align the 

ITAs with international guidelines and 

will improve the measurement of 

investment in R&D in the national 

income and product accounts. 

(3) Engineering, architectural, and 

surveying services will be broken out 

into three categories: (1) Architectural 

services; (2) engineering services; (3) 

surveying, cartography, certification, 

testing, and technical inspection 

services. The current category of 

industrial engineering services will be 

dropped and captured within 

engineering services. 

(4) Management, consulting, and 

public relation services will be broken 

out into three categories: (1) Market 

research services; (2) public opinion 

polling services; and (3) other 

management, consulting, and public 

relations services. Trade exhibition and 

sales convention services would be 

collected separately. 

(5) Database and other information 

services would be broken out into two 

components: (1) News agency services, 

and (2) other information services. 

(6) Computer services would be 

expanded into three categories: (1) 

Computer software, including end-user 

licenses and customization services; (2) 

cloud computing and data storage 

services; and (3) other computer 

services. 

(7) Several service categories 

previously collected under ‘‘Other 

selected services’’ will be collected 

separately. These services include 

audiovisual services, artistic-related 

services, health services, heritage and 

recreational services, other personal 

services, disbursements for sales 

promotion and representation, 

photographic services (including 

satellite photography), and space 

transport services. 

(8) Mandatory Schedule C will be 

modified to only collect related goods 

details for construction services. On the 

2011 BE–120 survey, exports (sales) of 

three service types are collected on a 

separate schedule, Schedule C, to allow 

for reporting of information on the gross 

operating revenues and related goods 

exports and foreign expenses. The three 

categories are: (1) Construction services; 

(2) engineering, architectural, and 

surveying services; and (3) mining 

services. On the 2017 BE–120, only 

construction services will be collected 

on Schedule C. Mining services as well 

as the three new categories that will 

replace engineering, architectural, and 

surveying services will be collected on 

Schedule A. 

(9) The identification of transaction 

types and voluntary reporting of 

additional detail will be streamlined. 

On the 2011 BE–120, reporters were 

sent through a series of check boxes to 

identify which of the covered 

transactions (sales or purchases) they 

had with foreign persons, and to 

determine if they had amounts which 

met the thresholds for reporting on the 

mandatory schedules. Based on the 

results of this box-checking, reporters 

were then required to report 

transactions by country and by 

affiliation on the mandatory schedule(s), 

or were given multiple options to 

voluntarily report this information. This 

approach resulted in an inefficient use 

of space on the survey and caused 

confusion among reporters. With the 

2017 BE–120, BEA will streamline the 

process for identifying which 

transactions the reporter had and for 

reporting country and affiliation 

information. All reporters, regardless of 

the amount of their transactions in 

covered services will be required to 

provide a total dollar amount for their 

sales and purchases, as applicable, by 

transaction type. Reporters with 

transactions below the threshold will 

then have the option to voluntarily 

report information on transactions by 

country and by affiliation on the 

standard reporting schedules. 

In addition, BEA proposes to redesign 

the format and wording of the survey. 

The new design would incorporate 

improvements made to other BEA 

surveys as well as enhancements from a 

recent cognitive review conducted with 

selected survey respondents. Survey 

instructions and data item descriptions 

would be changed to improve clarity 

and ensure the benchmark survey form 

is more consistent with other BEA 

surveys. 

Executive Order 12866 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be significant for 

purposes of E.O. 12866. 

Executive Order 13132 

This proposed rule does not contain 

policies with Federalism implications 

sufficient to warrant preparation of a 

Federalism assessment under E.O. 

13132. 

Executive Order 13771 

This rule is not subject to the 

requirements of E.O. 13771 because this 

rule results in no more than de minimis 

costs. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
52866 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule contains a 

collection-of-information requirement 

subject to review and approval by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520 (PRA). 

The requirement will be submitted to 

OMB for approval as a reinstatement, 

with change, of a previously approved 

collection for which approval has 

expired under OMB control number 

0608–0058. Surveys were collected for 

the 2011 BE–120 in calender years 2012 

and 2013. No survey submissions were 

solicited by BEA after the expiration 

and discontinuance of the collection in 

October of 2014. 

Notwithstanding any other provisions 

of law, no person is required to respond 

to, nor shall any person be subject to a 

penalty for failure to comply with, a 

collection of information subject to the 

requirements of the PRA unless that 

collection displays a currently valid 

OMB control number. 

The BE–120 survey, as proposed, is 

expected to result in the filing of reports 

from approximately 15,500 respondents. 

Approximately 11,500 respondents 

would report mandatory data on the 

survey, and approximately 4,000 would 

file exemption claims. The respondent 

burden for this collection of information 

would vary from one respondent to 

another but is estimated to average (1) 

23 hours for the 5,000 respondents that 

file mandatory or voluntary data by 

country and affiliation for relevant 

transaction types on the mandatory 

schedules; (2) 4 hours for the 6,500 

respondents that file mandatory data by 

transaction type but not by country or 

affiliation—including time for reviewing 

instructions, searching existing data 

sources, gathering and maintaining the 

data needed, and completing and 

reviewing the collection of information; 

and (3) 1 hour for other responses. Thus 

the total respondent burden for this 

survey is estimated at 145,000 hours, or 

about 9.5 hours (145,000 hours/15,500 

respondents) per response, compared to 

105,000 hours, or about 7 hours 

(105,000/15,000) for the previous BE– 

120 benchmark survey in 2011. The 

increase in burden hours is due to an 

increase in the size of the respondent 

universe as well as changes to the 

content and reporting requirements of 

the survey. 

As part of its continuing effort to 

reduce paperwork and respondent 

burden, the Department of Commerce 

invites the general public and other 

Federal agencies to comment on 

proposed and/or continuing information 

collections, as required by the PRA. 

Comments are requested concerning: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the burden estimate; 

(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 

and clarity of the information collected; 

and (d) ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on the 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in the proposed 

rule should be sent to both BEA and 

OMB following the instructions given in 

the ADDRESSES section above. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation, 

Department of Commerce, has certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, 

Small Business Administration, under 

the provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b), that this 

proposed rulemaking, if adopted, will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. The changes proposed in this 

rule are discussed in the preamble and 

are not repeated here. 

A BE–120 report would be required of 

any U.S. person that had sales to, or 

purchases from, foreign persons in any 

of the types of selected services or 

intellectual property listed above. While 

the survey would not collect data on 

total sales or other measures of the 

overall size of the respondents to the 

survey, historically the respondents to 

the existing quarterly survey of 

transactions in selected services and 

intellectual property and to the previous 

benchmark surveys have been 

comprised mainly of major U.S. 

corporations. A completed benchmark 

survey, as proposed, would be required 

from U.S. persons who had transactions 

in any of the covered services and 

intellectual property with foreign 

persons. For U.S. persons who have 

transactions that exceeded $2 million in 

combined sales or $1 million in 

combined purchases for fiscal year 

2017, a completed benchmark survey 

would include data on total sales and/ 

or purchases of each of the covered 

types of services and intellectual 

property transactions with totals 

disaggregated by country and by 

relationship to the foreign transactor 

(foreign affiliate, foreign parent group, 

or unaffiliated). For U.S. persons who 

have transactions that fall below $2 

million in sales or $1 million in 

purchases for fiscal year 2017, a 

completed benchmark would include 

total sales and/or purchases for each 

type of transaction in which they 

engaged. This exemption level would 

exclude most small businesses from 

mandatory reporting of detail by 

country and by affiliation. Any small 

businesses that may be required to 

report would likely have engaged in a 

small number of covered transactions, 

and are therefore expected to be below 

the expected average burden of 9.5 

hours per response. Even if the 

responses for small businesses took the 

expected average burden of 9.5 hours 

per response, that would not constitute 

a significant impact on any small 

business or other entity. Because this 

rule would not have a significant impact 

on any small entities, an Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is not 

required and none has been prepared. 

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801 

Economic statistics, Foreign trade, 

International transactions, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated: November 2, 2017. 

Brian C. Moyer, 

Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

For reasons set forth in the preamble, 

BEA proposes to amend 15 CFR part 801 

as follows: 

PART 801—SURVEY OF 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES 

BETWEEN U.S. AND FOREIGN 

PERSONS AND SURVEYS OF DIRECT 

INVESTMENT 

■ 1. The authority citation for 15 CFR 

part 801 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 15 U.S.C. 4908; 

22 U.S.C. 3101–3108; E.O. 11961 (3 CFR, 

1977 Comp., p. 86), as amended by E.O. 

12318 (3 CFR, 1981 Comp. p. 173); and E.O. 

12518 (3 CFR, 1985 Comp. p. 348). 

■ 2. Revise § 801.3 to read as follows: 

§ 801.3 Reporting requirements. 

Except for surveys subject to 

rulemaking in §§ 801.7, 801.8, 801.9, 

801.10, and 801.11, reporting 

requirements for all other surveys 

conducted by the Bureau of Economic 

Analysis shall be as follows: 

(a) Notice of specific reporting 

requirements, including who is required 

to report, the information to be reported, 

the manner of reporting, and the time 

and place of filing reports, will be 

published by the Director of the Bureau 

of Economic Analysis in the Federal 

Register prior to the implementation of 

a survey; 

(b) In accordance with section 

3104(b)(2) of title 22 of the United States 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Proposed Rules 52867 

Code, persons notified of these surveys 

and subject to the jurisdiction of the 

United States shall furnish, under oath, 

any report containing information 

which is determined to be necessary to 

carry out the surveys and studies 

provided for by the Act; and 

(c) Persons not notified in writing of 

their filing obligation by the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis are not required to 

complete the survey. 

■ 3. Add § 801.11 to read as follows: 

§ 801.11 Rules and regulations for the BE– 

120 Benchmark Survey of Transactions in 

Selected Services and Intellectual Property 

with Foreign Persons—2017. 

The BE–120 Benchmark Survey of 

Transactions in Selected Services and 

Intellectual Property with Foreign 

Persons will be conducted covering 

fiscal year 2017. All legal authorities, 

provisions, definitions, and 

requirements contained in §§ 801.1 

through 801.2 and §§ 801.4 through 

801.6 are applicable to this survey. 

Specific additional rules and regulations 

for the BE–120 survey are given in 

paragraphs (a) through (e) of this 

section. More detailed instructions are 

given on the report form and in 

instructions accompanying the report 

form. 

(a) Response required. A response is 

required from persons subject to the 

reporting requirements of the BE–120 

Benchmark Survey of Transactions in 

Selected Services and Intellectual 

Property with Foreign Persons—2017, 

contained herein, whether or not they 

are contacted by BEA. Also, a person, or 

its agent, that is contacted by BEA about 

reporting on this survey, either by 

sending a report form or by written 

inquiry, must respond in writing 

pursuant to this section. This may be 

accomplished by: 

(1) Completing and returning the BE– 

120 by the due date of the survey; or 

(2) If exempt, by completing the 

determination of reporting status section 

of the BE–120 survey and returning it to 

BEA by the due date of the survey. 

(b) Who must report. A BE–120 report 

is required of each U.S. person that had 

sales to foreign persons or purchases 

from foreign persons in the services and 

intellectual property categories covered 

by the survey during its 2017 fiscal year. 

(c) What must be reported. (1) A U.S. 

person that had combined sales to 

foreign persons that exceeded $2 

million or combined purchases from 

foreign persons that exceeded $1 

million in the services and intellectual 

property categories covered by the 

survey during its 2017 fiscal year, on an 

accrual basis, is required to provide data 

on total sales and/or purchases of each 

of the covered types of services and 

intellectual property transactions and 

must disaggregate the totals by country 

and by relationship to the foreign 

transactor (foreign affiliate, foreign 

parent group, or unaffiliated). The $2 

million threshold for sales and the $1 

million threshold for purchases should 

be applied to services and intellectual 

property transactions with foreign 

persons by all parts of the consolidated 

domestic U.S. Reporter. Because the $2 

million threshold for sales and $1 

million threshold for purchases apply 

separately to sales and purchases, the 

mandatory reporting requirement may 

apply only to sales, only to purchases, 

or to both. The determination of 

whether a U.S. company is subject to 

this reporting requirement may be based 

on the judgment of knowledgeable 

persons in a company who can identify 

reportable transactions on a recall basis, 

with a reasonable degree of certainty, 

without conducting a detailed manual 

records search. 

(2) A U.S. person that had combined 

sales to foreign persons that were $2 

million or less or combined purchases 

from foreign persons that were $1 

million or less in the intellectual 

property or services categories covered 

by the survey during its 2017 fiscal year, 

on an accrual basis, is required to 

provide the total sales and/or purchases 

for each type of transaction in which 

they engaged. The $2 million threshold 

for sales and the $1 million threshold 

for purchases should be applied to 

services and intellectual property 

transactions with foreign persons by all 

parts of the consolidated domestic U.S. 

Reporter. Because the $2 million 

threshold for sales and $1 million 

threshold for purchases apply separately 

to sales and purchases, the mandatory 

reporting requirement may apply only 

to sales, only to purchases, or to both. 

(i) Voluntary reporting of sales. If, 

during fiscal year 2017, combined sales 

were $2 million or less, on an accrual 

basis, the U.S. person may, in addition 

to providing the required total for each 

type of transaction, report sales at a 

country and affiliation level of detail on 

the applicable mandatory schedule(s). 

(ii) Voluntary reporting of purchases. 

If, during fiscal year 2017, combined 

purchases were $1 million or less, on an 

accrual basis, the U.S. person may, in 

addition to providing the required total 

for each type of transaction, report 

purchases at a country and affiliation 

level of detail on the applicable 

mandatory schedule(s). Provision of this 

additional detail is voluntary. The 

estimates may be judgmental, that is, 

based on recall, without conducting a 

detailed records search. 

(3) Exemption claims. Any U.S. 

person that receives the BE–120 survey 

form from BEA, but is not subject to the 

reporting requirements, must file an 

exemption claim by completing the 

determination of reporting status section 

of the BE–120 survey and returning it to 

BEA by the due date of the survey. This 

requirement is necessary to ensure 

compliance with reporting requirements 

and efficient administration of the Act 

by eliminating unnecessary follow-up 

contact. 

(d) Covered types of services. Services 

transactions covered by this survey 

consist of sales and purchases related to 

certain intellectual property rights (see 

paragraphs (d)(1) through (18) of this 

section for a list of intellectual propertyrelated transactions covered by this 

survey) and sales and purchases of 

selected services (see paragraphs (d)(19) 

through (59) of this section for a list of 

services covered by this survey). The 

transactions (sales or purchases) 

between U.S. companies and foreign 

persons covered by the BE–120 survey 

are: 

(1) Rights related to the use of a 

patent, process, or trade secret to 

produce and/or distribute a product or 

service; 

(2) Outright sales of proprietary rights 

related to patents, processes, and trade 

secrets; 

(3) Rights to use books, music, etc., 

including end-user rights related to 

digital content; 

(4) Rights to reproduce and/or 

distribute books, music, etc.; 

(5) Outright sales of proprietary rights 

related to books, music, etc.; 

(6) Rights to use trademarks; 

(7) Outright sales of proprietary rights 

related to trademarks; 

(8) Rights to use recorded 

performances and events, including 

end-user rights related to digital 

content; 

(9) Rights to reproduce and/or 

distribute recorded performances and 

events; 

(10) Outright sales of proprietary 

rights related to recorded performances 

and events; 

(11) Rights to broadcast and record 

live performances and events; 

(12) Rights to reproduce and/or 

distribute general use computer 

software; 

(13) Outright sales of proprietary 

rights related to general use computer 

software; 

(14) Fees associated with business 

format franchising; 

(15) Outright sales of proprietary 

rights related to business format 

franchising; 

(16) Rights to use other intellectual 

property; 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
52868 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

(17) Rights to reproduce and/or 

distribute other intellectual property; 

(18) Outright sales of proprietary 

rights related to other intellectual 

property; 

(19) Accounting, auditing, and 

bookkeeping services; 

(20) Advertising services; 

(21) Auxiliary insurance services; 

(22) Computer software, including 

end-user licenses and customization 

services; 

(23) Cloud computing and data 

storage services; 

(24) Other computer services; 

(25) Construction services; 

(26) News agency services (excludes 

production costs related to news 

broadcasters); 

(27) Other information services; 

(28) Education services; 

(29) Architectural services; 

(30) Engineering services; 

(31) Surveying, cartography, 

certification, testing and technical 

inspection services; 

(32) Financial services; 

(33) Maintenance services; 

(34) Installation, alteration, and 

training services; 

(35) Legal services; 

(36) Market research services; 

(37) Public opinion polling services; 

(38) Other management, consulting, 

and public relations services; 

(39) Merchanting services (net 

receipts); 

(40) Mining services; 

(41) Operational leasing; 

(42) Trade-related services, other than 

merchanting services; 

(43) Artistic-related services; 

(44) Premiums paid on primary 

insurance; 

(45) Losses recovered on primary 

insurance; 

(46) Provision of customized and noncustomized research and development 

services; 

(47) Other research and development 

services; 

(48) Telecommunications services; 

(49) Health services; 

(50) Heritage and recreational 

services; 

(51) Audiovisual and production 

services; 

(52) Contract manufacturing services; 

(53) Disbursements for sales 

promotion and representation; 

(54) Photographic services (including 

satellite photography services); 

(55) Space transport services; 

(56) Trade exhibition and sales 

convention services; 

(57) Agricultural services; 

(58) Waste treatment and depollution 

services; and 

(59) Other selected services n.i.e. (not 

included elsewhere). 

(e) Types of transactions excluded 

from the scope of this suvey. (1) Sales 

and purchases of goods. Trade in goods 

involves products that have a physical 

form, and includes payments or receipts 

for electricity. 

(2) Sales and purchases of financial 

instruments, including stocks, bonds, 

financial derivatives, loans, mutual fund 

shares, and negotiable CDs. (However, 

securities brokerage is a service). 

(3) Income on financial instruments 

(interest, dividends, capital gain 

distributions, etc). 

(4) Compensation paid to, or received 

by, employees. 

(5) Penalties and fines and gifts or 

grants in the form of goods and cash 

(sometimes called ‘‘transfers’’). 

(f) Due date. A fully completed and 

certified BE–120 report, or qualifying 

exemption claim with the determination 

of reporting status section completed, is 

due to be filed with BEA not later than 

June 29, 2018 (or by July 30, 2018 for 

respondents that use BEA’s eFile 

system). 

[FR Doc. 2017–24422 Filed 11–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

36 CFR Part 13 

[NPS–AKRO–23925; PPAKAKROZ5, 

PPMPRLE1Y.L00000] 

Alaska; Hunting and Trapping in 

National Preserves 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Regulatory review. 

SUMMARY: The National Park Service 

(NPS) intends to initiate a rulemaking 

process that will consider changes to 

regulations applicable to Alaska that 

were promulgated in October 2015. 

DATES: November 15, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: The final rule that is the 

subject of this announcement may be 

found at www.regulations.gov in Docket 

No. NPS–2014–0004–2632. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andee Sears, Regional Law Enforcement 

Specialist, Alaska Regional Office, 240 

West 5th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501. 

Phone (907) 644–3410. Email: AKR_

Regulations@nps.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

October 23, 2015, the NPS published a 

final rule (Final Rule) to amend its 

regulations for sport hunting and 

trapping in national preserves in Alaska 

(80 FR 65325). The Final Rule provided 

that the NPS does not adopt State of 

Alaska management actions or laws or 

regulations that authorize taking of 

wildlife, which are related to predator 

reduction efforts (as defined in the Final 

Rule). The Final Rule affirmed current 

State prohibitions on harvest practices 

by adopting them as federal regulation. 

The Final Rule also changed procedures 

for closing an area or restricting an 

activity in NPS areas in Alaska; updated 

obsolete subsistence regulations; 

prohibited obstructing persons engaged 

in lawful hunting or trapping; and 

authorized the use of native species as 

bait for fishing. Pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act (CRA), the 

NPS submitted copies of the final rule 

to Congress on October 16, 2015. A joint 

resolution of disapproval was not filed 

by Congress within the time periods 

specified by the CRA. The Final Rule 

became effective on November 23, 2015. 

The NPS intends to initiate a 

rulemaking process that will consider 

changes to the provisions in the Final 

Rule that were codified in 36 CFR part 

13. Throughout this process, the NPS 

will consider the purpose of Secretarial 

Order 3347 (‘‘Conservation Stewardship 

and Outdoor Recreation’’) to advance 

conservation stewardship and increase 

outdoor recreation opportunities, 

including hunting and fishing, for all 

Americans. The NPS will also identify 

ways to improve recreational hunting 

and fishing cooperation, consultation, 

and communication with State of 

Alaska wildlife managers. The NPS will 

comply with all applicable laws 

governing the rulemaking process, 

including the requirement to provide an 

opportunity for public comment on any 

proposed regulatory changes under 5 

U.S.C. 553. The NPS is not accepting 

comments on this announcement. The 

public will have an opportunity to 

comment when a proposed rule is 

published in the Federal Register. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 3124; 54 U.S.C. 

100101, 100751, 320102; Sec. 13.1204 also 

issued under Sec. 1035, Pub. L. 104–333, 110 

Stat. 4240. 

Jason Larrabee, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish 

and Wildlife and Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2017–24444 Filed 11–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–52–P 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS