This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

11125

Vol. 66, No. 36

Thursday, February 22, 2001

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION

ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Part 712

Credit Union Service Organizations

(CUSOs)

AGENCY: National Credit Union

Administration (NCUA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: NCUA proposes two changes

to its rule concerning federal credit

union (FCU) investments in and loans to

credit union service organizations

(CUSOs). The first proposed change

clarifies that the list of permissible

activities in the CUSO regulation is

intended to establish broad categories of

permissible activities. The listing of

particular activities under these

categories is meant to be illustrative not

exhaustive of activities that may be

permissible. In conjunction with this

change, the provision for adding new

activities to the regulation is amended

to encourage FCUs to seek an advisory

opinion from the Office of General

Counsel on whether a proposed activity

falls within one of the authorized

categories before requesting a regulatory

amendment. The second proposed

change adds a federally-chartered

corporation to the category of

permissible structures for CUSOs.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before April 23, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

directed to Becky Baker, Secretary of the

Board. Mail or hand-deliver comments

to: National Credit Union

Administration, 1775 Duke Street,

Alexandria, Virginia 22314–3428. Fax

comments to (703) 518–6319. E-mail

comments to regcomments@ncua.gov.

Please send comments by one method

only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary Rupp, Staff Attorney, Office of

General Counsel, at the above address or

telephone (703) 518–6540.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Changes

The NCUA Board proposes revising

§ 712.5, the provision governing

permissible CUSO activities. Currently,

this section lists 17 broad categories of

permissible activities and, within many

of these categories, there are several

subcategories. Questions have arisen

from time to time about whether an

activity that is not specifically listed is

permissible. The Board’s intent is that

the listings under the broad categories

are for illustrative purposes. The Board

proposes revising § 712.5 to state this

plainly. In conjunction with that

change, the Board proposes amending

the provision for adding new activities

to the regulation to advise FCUs to seek

an advisory opinion from the Office of

General Counsel as to whether a

proposed activity fits into one of the

authorized categories before requesting

a regulatory change to add a new

activity.

These amendments will reduce

regulatory burden by allowing the rule

to expand as technology expands. In a

previous rulemaking, the Board took

this same approach with respect to the

permissible activity ‘‘cyber financial

services.’’ 12 CFR 712.5(d)(8). With

respect to that activity, the Board agreed

with the commenters and rejected

listing specific permissible services

because ‘‘it would be too limiting and,

with changing technology, would

rapidly become outdated.’’ 64 FR 33184,

33185 (June 22, 1999).

The second proposed change

concerns the structure of a CUSO

formed as a corporation. The rule limits

a CUSO structured as a corporation to

a ‘‘corporation as established and

maintained under relevant state law.’’

12 CFR 712.3(a). At the time the rule

was drafted, that was the only type of

corporate structure envisioned for a

CUSO falling within one of the

permissible activities. It has since been

brought to the Board’s attention that a

CUSO engaging in permissible trust

activities may wish to be chartered as a

national trust company. The Federal

Credit Union Act does not prohibit this

structure if the trust company is not a

depository institution. Therefore, the

Board is revising the rule to include

federally-chartered corporations. The

Board cautions FCUs that there are

specific prohibitions against using the

CUSO authority to acquire control either

directly or indirectly over other

depository institutions. 12 U.S.C.

1757(7)(I); 12 CFR 712.6.

Request for Comment

The NCUA Board is interested in

receiving comments on the proposed

amendments to part 712.

The NCUA Board is also interested in

receiving comment on whether the

categories listed in § 712.5 are

sufficiently broad to cover all activities

and services that relate to the routine

daily operations of credit unions.

Regulatory Procedures

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act

requires NCUA to prepare an analysis to

describe any significant economic

impact any proposed regulation may

have on a substantial number of small

entities (primarily those under 1 million

in assets). The proposed amendments

will not have a significant economic

impact on a substantial number of small

credit unions and, therefore, a

regulatory flexibility analysis is not

required.

Paperwork Reduction Act

NCUA has determined that the

proposed regulation does not increase

paperwork requirements under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and

regulations of the Office of Management

and Budget.

Executive Order 13132

Executive Order 13132 encourages

independent regulatory agencies to

consider the impact of their actions on

state and local interests. In adherence to

fundamental federalism principles,

NCUA, an independent regulatory

agency as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5),

voluntarily complies with the executive

order. This proposed rule, if adopted,

will apply only to federally-chartered

credit unions. It will not have

substantial direct effects on the states,

on the relationship between the national

government and the states, or on the

distribution of power and

responsibilities among the various

levels of government. NCUA has

determined that this proposal does not

constitute a policy that has federalism

implications for purposes of the

executive order.

11126 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 36 / Thursday, February 22, 2001 / Proposed Rules

The Treasury and General Government

Appropriations Act, 1999—Assessment

of Federal Regulations and Policies on

Families

The NCUA has determined that this

proposed rule will not affect family

well-being within the meaning of

section 654 of the Treasury and General

Government Appropriations Act, 1999,

Pub. L. 105–277, 112 Stat. 2681 (1998).

Agency Regulatory Goal

NCUA’s goal is to promulgate clear

and understandable regulations that

impose minimal regulatory burden. We

request your comments on whether the

proposed rule is understandable and

minimally intrusive if implemented as

proposed.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 712

Administrative practices and

procedure, Credit, Credit unions,

Investments, Reporting and record

keeping requirements.

By the National Credit Union

Administration Board on February 15, 2001.

Becky Baker,

Secretary of the Board.

Proposed Rule

Accordingly, NCUA proposes to

amend 12 CFR part 712 as follows:

PART 712—CREDIT UNION SERVICE

ORGANIZATIONS (CUSOs)

1. The authority citation for part 712

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1756, 1757(5)(D), and

(7)(I), 1766, 1782, 1784, 1785 and 1786.

2. Amend § 712.3 by revising the third

sentence of paragraph (a) to read as

follows:

§ 712.3 What are the characteristics of and

what requirements apply to CUSOs?

(a) Structure. * * * For purposes of

this part, ‘‘corporation’’ means a legally

incorporated corporation as established

and maintained under relevant federal

or state law. * * *

* * * * *

4. Amend § 712.5 by revising the

second sentence and adding a third

sentence to the introductory paragraph

to read as follows:

§ 712.5 What activities and services are

preapproved for CUSOs?

* * * Otherwise, an FCU may invest

in, loan to, and/or contract with only

those CUSOs that are sufficiently

bonded or insured for their specific

operations and engaged in the

preapproved activities and services

related to the routine daily operations of

credit unions. The specific activities

listed within each preapproved category

are provided in this section as

illustrations of activities permissible

under the particular category, not as an

exclusive or exhaustive list.

* * * * *

5. Add a sentence to the end of

§ 712.7 to read as follows:

§ 712.7 What must an FCU do to add

activities or services that are not

preapproved?

* * * Before you engage in the

petition process, you should seek an

advisory opinion from NCUA’s Office of

General Counsel as to whether a

proposed activity is already covered by

one of the authorized categories without

filing a petition to amend the regulation.

[FR Doc. 01–4362 Filed 2–21–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7535–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 2000–NE–41–AD]

RIN 2120–AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Rolls-Royce

Corporation (Formerly Allison Engine

Company) AE 3007A and AE 3007C

Model Engines

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking

(NPRM).

SUMMARY: This document proposes the

adoption of a new airworthiness

directive (AD) that is applicable to

Rolls-Royce (RR) Corporation (formerly

Allison Engine Company) AE 3007A

and AE 3007C model engines with high

pressure turbine (HPT) 1st to 2nd stage

turbine spacer part number (P/N)

23058369 installed. This proposal

would require removal and replacement

of the HPT 1st to 2nd stage turbine

spacer P/N 23058369 before it reaches

its new reduced engine cycle life limit.

This proposal is prompted by the results

of a detailed component analysis that

indicates that the HPT 1st to 2nd stage

turbine spacer stresses are higher than

predicted. The actions specified by the

proposed AD are intended to prevent

HPT 1st to 2nd stage turbine spacer

failure which could result in an

uncontained engine failure and damage

to the airplane.

DATES: Comments must be received by

April 23, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in

triplicate to the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), New England

Region, Office of the Regional Counsel,

Attention: Rules Docket No. 2000–NE–

41–AD, 12 New England Executive Park,

Burlington, MA 01803–5299. Comments

may also be submitted to the Rules

Docket by using the following Internet

address: ‘‘9-ane-adcomment@faa.gov.’’

Comments may be inspected at this

location between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30

p.m., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Downs, Aerospace Engineer,

Chicago Aircraft Certification Office,

FAA, Small Airplane Directorate, 2300

E. Devon Ave., Des Plaines, IL 60018;

telephone (847) 294–7870, fax (847)

294–7834.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

Interested persons are invited to

participate in the making of the

proposed rule by submitting such

written data, views, or arguments, as

they may desire. Communications

should identify the Rules Docket

number and be submitted in triplicate to

the address specified above. All

communications received on or before

the closing date for comments, specified

above, will be considered before taking

action on the proposed rule. The

proposals contained in this action may

be changed in light of the comments

received.

Comments are specifically invited on

the overall regulatory, economic,

environmental, and energy aspects of

the proposed rule. All comments

submitted will be available, both before

and after the closing date for comments,

in the Rules Docket for examination by

interested persons. A report

summarizing each FAA-public contact

concerned with the substance of this

proposal will be filed in the Rules

Docket.

Commenters wishing the FAA to

acknowledge receipt of their comments

submitted in response to this proposal

must submit a self-addressed, stamped

postcard on which the following

statement is made: ‘‘Comments to

Docket Number 2000–NE–41–AD.’’ The

postcard will be date stamped and

returned to the commenter.

Availability of NPRM’s

Any person may obtain a copy of this

NPRM by submitting a request to the

FAA, New England Region, Office of the

Regional Counsel, Attention: Rules

Docket No. 2000–NE–41–AD, 12 New

England Executive Park, Burlington, MA

01803–5299.