Document ID: FERC-2020-0215-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Rule
Title: Custody and Authentication of Commission Records
Posted Date: 2020-02-20T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 34 (Thursday, February 20, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9661-9663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02359]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 375

[Docket No. RM19-7-000; Order No. 868]

Custody and Authentication of Commission Records

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) amends 
its regulations concerning custody and authentication of Commission 
records. Specifically, this final rule provides clarification that a 
Senior Agency Official for Records will maintain legal custody of all 
Commission records. This final rule also clarifies that authentication 
of records can be performed by staff officials through delegated 
authority.

DATES: This rule will become effective March 23, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher Cook, Office of the Secretary, 888 First Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8102, christopher.cook@ferc.gov
Mark Hershfield, Office of the General Counsel, 888 First Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8597, mark.hershfield@ferc.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    1. This instant final rule revises 18 CFR 375.102(a) to establish a 
Senior Agency Official for Records as the legal custodian of all 
Commission records. This final rule also clarifies that authentication 
of records can be performed by staff officials through delegated 
authority under 18 CFR part

[[Page 9662]]

375, subpart C. The rule imposes no new obligations on the public.

II. Background

    2. The Commission's existing regulations place records in the 
custody of both the Secretary and the Executive Director.\1\ The 
Secretary has custody over: The Commission's seal; the minutes of all 
actions taken by the Commission; the transcripts, electronic 
recordings, or minutes of meetings closed to public observation; the 
Commission's rules and regulations; and the Commission's administrative 
orders.\2\ The Executive Director has custody of all other records not 
in the custody of the Secretary.\3\ The Commission's regulations also 
provide that all orders and other actions of the Commission shall be 
authenticated by the Secretary or the Secretary's designee.\4\
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    \1\ See 18 CFR 375.102.
    \2\ See 18 CFR 375.102(a)(1).
    \3\ See 18 CFR 375.102(a)(2).
    \4\ See 18 CFR 375.102(b).
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III. Discussion

A. Custody of Records

    3. By statute, the head of each federal agency must make and 
preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the 
organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential 
transactions of the agency.\5\ Specifically, federal agencies are 
responsible for both the physical and legal custody of records.\6\
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    \5\ 44 U.S.C. 3101.
    \6\ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) defines 
the term custody to include care and control of records, including 
both physical possession (physical custody) and legal responsibility 
(legal custody), unless one or the other is specified. See NARA, 
Strategic Directions: Custody of Federal Records of Archival Value, 
(Sept. 2003), https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/initiatives/custody.html.
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    4. Physical custody involves the responsibility for the care of 
records and implementing policies governing access to records.\7\ This 
final rule does not change physical custody of Commission records, 
which will continue to remain with the individual office within the 
Commission that maintains the record.\8\
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    \7\ Id.
    \8\ Id. The current regulations provide that the Secretary has 
custody over, for example, the Commission's seal and the minutes of 
all actions taken by the Commission, among other things as described 
above. Although this language has been deleted from the amended 
regulation, the Secretary will continue to have physical custody 
over these items.
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    5. This final rule clarifies the agency official responsible for 
legal custody of the Commission's records. Legal custody involves the 
ownership and the responsibility for creating policies governing access 
to records regardless of their physical location.\9\
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    \9\ See Id.
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    6. NARA requires that each agency designate a Senior Agency 
Official for Records that is responsible for the legal custody of 
agency records.\10\ While the Commission's current regulation, 18 CFR 
375.102(a), provides divided legal custody between the Secretary and 
the Executive Director, we are amending the regulation to place legal 
custody in one individual, the Senior Agency Official for Records. The 
Secretary of the Commission is the current Senior Agency Official for 
Records, and thus legal custody will no longer be divided between the 
Secretary and the Executive Director, and will be designated with the 
Secretary or his/her designee.
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    \10\ 36 CFR 1220.34(a).
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B. Authentication of Records

    7. Additionally, this final rule clarifies that authentication of 
records can be performed by staff officials exercising delegated 
authority under 18 CFR part 375, subpart C.\11\ Specifically, 18 CFR 
part 375, subpart C delegates authority to certain staff officials to 
take certain actions, e.g., issue letter orders addressing certain 
categories of filings.\12\
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    \11\ See, e.g., 18 CFR 375.307.
    \12\ 18 CFR part 375.
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    8. The Commission's existing regulations specify that all orders 
and other actions of the Commission must be authenticated or signed by 
the Secretary or the Secretary's designee.\13\ This final rule revises 
18 CFR 375.102(b) to provide that the Secretary is required to 
authenticate all Commission actions and orders except those actions 
taken pursuant to delegated authority, which will be authenticated by 
the issuing staff official in lieu of the Secretary. Moreover, 
issuances in the Commission's electronic document repository (eLibrary) 
on the Commission's website (http://www.ferc.gov) will be considered 
authenticated.
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    \13\ See 18 CFR 375.102(b).
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IV. Information Collection Statement

    9. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approves certain 
information collection requirements imposed by agency rule.\14\ This 
instant final rule does not contain any information collection 
requirements. Therefore, compliance with OMB regulations is not 
required.
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    \14\ 5 CFR 1320.12.
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V. Environmental Analysis

    10. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental 
Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may 
have a significant adverse effect on the human environment.\15\
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    \15\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, Order No. 486, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 30,783 (1987) 
(cross-referenced at 41 FERC ] 61,284).
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    11. Part 380 of the Commission's regulations lists exemptions to 
the requirement to draft an Environmental Analysis or Environmental 
Impact Statement. Included is an exemption for procedural, ministerial, 
or internal administrative actions.\16\ This rulemaking is, 
accordingly, exempt from the requirement to draft such documents under 
that provision.
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    \16\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(1).
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VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    12. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \17\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of final rules that will have 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
This final rule concerns an interpretation of current Commission 
regulations and practices. The Commission certifies that it will not 
have a significant economic impact upon participants in Commission 
proceedings. An analysis under the RFA is therefore not required.
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    \17\ 5 U.S.C. 601-12.
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VII. Document Availability

    13. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the 
internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and 
in the Commission's Public Reference Room during normal business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE, Room 2A, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    14. From the Commission's Home Page on the internet, this 
information is available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is 
available on eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, 
printing, and/or downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type 
the docket number excluding the last three digits of this document in 
the docket number field.
    15. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
website during normal business hours from FERC Online Support at (202) 
502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at 
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at 
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.

[[Page 9663]]

VIII. Effective Date

    16. The Commission is issuing this rule as a final rule without a 
period for public comment. Under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A), notice and 
comment procedures are unnecessary for ``rules of agency organization, 
procedure, or practice.'' This rule is such a rule, and is directed at 
improving the efficient and effective operations of the Commission, not 
toward a determination of the rights or interests of affected parties. 
The rule will not significantly affect regulated entities or the 
general public.
    17. These regulations are effective March 23, 2020.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 375.102

    Seals and Insignia.

    By the Commission.

    Issued: January 28, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends part 375, 
chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 375--THE COMMISSION

0
1. The authority citation for part 375 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 551-557; 15 U.S.C. 717-717w, 3301-3432; 16 
U.S.C. 791-825r, 2601-2645; 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352.

0
2. Section 375.102 is revised to read as follows:

Sec.  375.102  Custody and authentication of Commission records.

    (a) Custody of official records. The Senior Agency Official for 
Records shall have legal custody of all records of the Commission. The 
individual Commission office that maintains a record shall have 
physical custody of that record.
    (b) Authentication of action. All orders and other actions of the 
Commission shall be authenticated by the Secretary or the Secretary's 
designee, with the exception of actions taken pursuant to delegations 
of authority under 18 CFR part 375, subpart C, which will be 
authenticated by the issuing official. Issuances posted on the 
Commission's electronic filing system on the Commission's website are 
authenticated.

[FR Doc. 2020-02359 Filed 2-19-20; 8:45 am]
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