Department of Agriculture Regulations for Grants and Agreements; Update of Citations

• Published date: 16 November 2020
• Citation: 85 FR 72912
• Record Number: 2020-24502
• Section: Rules and Regulations
• Court: National Institute Of Food And Agriculture,Rural Utilities Service

72912

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 221 / Monday, November 16, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

Dated: September 25, 2020.

Alex M. Azar II,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 2020–21774 Filed 11–13–20; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4151–17–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary

2 CFR Parts 415 and 416

Rural Utilities Service

7 CFR Part 1780

National Institute of Food and

Agriculture

7 CFR Part 3430

Department of Agriculture Regulations

for Grants and Agreements; Update of

Citations

AGENCY

: Office of the Secretary, Rural

Utilities Service, National Institute of

Food and Agriculture, and Office of the

Chief Financial Officer, Department of

Agriculture.

ACTION

: Final rule.

SUMMARY

: The Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) revised sections of

its Guidance for Grants and Agreements

in August 2020. This final rule amends

the regulations of several United States

Department of Agriculture agencies to

reflect the revised OMB guidance and

make technical corrections to the

Department’s grants and agreements

regulations.

DATES

: Effective November 16, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

:

Tyson Whitney, Office of the Chief

Financial Officer, Director,

Transparency and Accountability

Reporting Division, United States

Department of Agriculture, 1400

Independence Avenue SW, Washington,

DC 20250–9011, 202–720–8978,

tyson.whitney@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

: The

regulations in 2 CFR chapter IV set forth

the United States Department of

Agriculture’s (USDA) regulations for

grants and agreements. In a final rule

published December 19, 2014 (79 FR

75982), USDA’s Office of the Chief

Financial Officer adopted 2 CFR part

200, along with an agency-specific

addendum in a new 2 CFR part 400. The

regulations in 2 CFR parts 415, 416, 418,

and 422 were established. The

regulations in 2 CFR chapter IV updated

and replaced provisions that had

previously been found in 7 CFR parts

3015, 3016, 3018, 3019, 3022, and 3052.

The regulations of several USDA

agencies in title 7 refer to and cite the

grants and agreements regulations.

Following the publication of the various

final rules establishing the regulations

in 2 CFR chapter IV, those agencies

updated their regulations so that they

referred to the new grants and

agreements regulations in title 2 rather

than the predecessor regulations in title

7. As a result of the August 13, 2020,

publication of the Office of Management

and Budget’s ‘‘Guidance for Grants and

Agreements’’ (85 FR 49506), we have

identified a number of instances where

technical corrections are necessary. This

final rule makes those technical

corrections where needed.

Effective Date

This rule relates to internal agency

management and makes various

nonsubstantive changes to the

regulations in titles 2 and 7 of the Code

of Federal Regulations to make technical

corrections to the Department’s grants

and agreements regulations.

Accordingly, notice and other public

procedure on this rule are unnecessary

and contrary to the public interest.

Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553,

notice of proposed rulemaking and

opportunity to comment are not

required and this rule may be made

effective less than 30 days after

publication in the Federal Register.

Further, since this rule relates to

internal agency management, it is

exempt from the provisions of Executive

Orders 12866, 12988, and 13771.

Finally, this action is not a rule as

defined by the Regulatory Flexibility

Act (5 U.S.C. 501) and, thus, is exempt

from the provisions of that Act.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This final rule contains no new

reporting, recordkeeping, or third-party

disclosure requirements under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects

2 CFR Parts 415 and 416

Accounting, Administrative practice

and procedure, Agriculture, Auditing,

Business and industry, Colleges and

universities, Community development,

Cost principles, Economic development,

Government contracts, Grants

administration, Grant programs, Grant

programs—housing and community

development, Hospitals, Indians, Loan

programs—agriculture, Nonprofit

organizations, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Rural

areas, State and local governments.

7 CFR Part 1780

Community development,

Community facilities, Grant programs—

housing and community development,

Loan programs—housing and

community development, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Rural

areas, Waste treatment and disposal,

Water supply, Watersheds.

7 CFR Part 3430

Administrative practice and

procedure, Agriculture research,

Education, Federal assistance.

Accordingly, 2 CFR parts 415 and 416

and 7 CFR parts 1780 and 3430 are

amended as follows:

Title 2—[Amended]

PART 415—GENERAL PROGRAM

ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS

■1. The authority citation for part 415

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 901–

903; 7 CFR 2.28.

■2. In § 415.1, paragraphs (a)(1) and

(b)(10) are revised to read as follows:

§ 415.1 Competition in the awarding of

discretionary grants and cooperative

agreements.

(a) * * *

(1) Potential applicants must be

invited to submit proposals through

publications such as the Federal

Register, OMB-designated

governmentwide website as described in

2 CFR 200.204, professional trade

journals, agency or program handbooks,

the Assistance Listings, or any other

appropriate means of solicitation. In so

doing, awarding agencies should

consider the broadest dissemination of

project solicitations in order to reach the

highest number of potential applicants.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(10) The Assistance Listings number

and title.

* * * * *

PART 416—GENERAL PROGRAM

ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS FOR

GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE

AGREEMENTS TO STATE AND LOCAL

GOVERNMENTS

■3. The authority citation for part 416

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 901–

903; 7 CFR 2.28.

§ 416.1 [Amended]

■4. Section 416.1 is amended as

follows:

■a. In paragraph (a), by removing the

citation ‘‘2 CFR 200.101(e)(4) through

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 221 / Monday, November 16, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

(6)’’ both times it appears and adding

the citation ‘‘2 CFR 200.101(f)(4)

through (6)’’ in its place.

■b. In paragraph (b), by removing the

citations ‘‘2 CFR 200.101(e)(4) through

(6)’’ and ‘‘2 CFR 200.319(b)’’ and adding

the citations ‘‘2 CFR 200.101(f)(4)

through (6)’’ and ‘‘2 CFR 200.319(c)’’ in

their places, respectively.

Title 7—[Amended]

PART 1780—WATER AND WASTE

LOANS AND GRANTS

■6. The authority citation for part 1780

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 7 U.S.C. 1989; 16

U.S.C. 1005.

§ 1780.3 [Amended]

■7. In § 1780.3(a), the definition of

Simplified acquisition threshold is

amended by removing the citation ‘‘2

CFR 200.88’’ and adding the citation ‘‘2

CFR 200.1’’ in its place.

PART 3430—COMPETITIVE AND

NONCOMPETITIVE NON-FORMULA

FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS—

GENERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATIVE

PROVISIONS

■8. The authority citation for part 3430

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 3316; Pub. L. 106–107

(31 U.S.C. 6101 note).

§ 3430.41 [Amended]

■9. In § 3430.41, paragraph (b) is

amended by removing the citation

‘‘section 210 of 2 CFR Part 200’’ and

adding the citation ‘‘2 CFR 200.211’’ in

its place.

Stephen Censky,

Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of

Agriculture.

[FR Doc. 2020–24502 Filed 11–13–20; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–90–P

FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT

INVESTMENT BOARD

5 CFR Parts 1600 and 1605

Simplification of Catch-Up

Contribution Process

AGENCY

: Federal Retirement Thrift

Investment Board.

ACTION

: Final rule.

SUMMARY

: The Federal Retirement Thrift

Investment Board (‘‘FRTIB’’) is reducing

paperwork burdens on participants who

are eligible to make catch-up

contributions by removing the

regulation that requires them to submit

two different contribution election

forms.

DATES

: This rule is effective January 1,

2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

:

Austen Townsend, (202) 864–8647.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

: The

FRTIB administers the Thrift Savings

Plan (TSP), which was established by

the Federal Employees’ Retirement

System Act of 1986 (FERSA), Public

Law 99–335, 100 Stat. 514. The TSP

provisions of FERSA are codified, as

amended, largely at 5 U.S.C. 8351 and

8401–79. The TSP is a tax-deferred

retirement savings plan for federal

civilian employees and members of the

uniformed services. The TSP is similar

to cash or deferred arrangements

established for private-sector employees

under section 401(k) of the Internal

Revenue Code (IRC)(26 U.S.C. 401(k)).

Normally, a TSP participant’s

contributions to his or her account

cannot exceed the statutory limits set

forth in IRC section 402(g) (limiting the

amount of traditional and Roth

contributions to $19,500 for calendar

year 2021) and IRC section 415(c)

(limiting the total amount of traditional,

Roth, tax-exempt, matching, and

automatic 1% contributions to the lesser

of 100% of the participant’s

compensation or $58,000 for calendar

year 2021). However, a TSP participant

who is age 50 or older is permitted to

make catch-up contributions to his or

her TSP account beyond these statutory

limits up to the dollar limit in IRC

section 414(v), which is $6,500 for

calendar year 2021.

On January 23, 2020, the FRTIB

published a proposed rule with request

for comments in the Federal Register

(85 FR 3857) to simplify the catch-up

contribution process by no longer

requiring participants to submit separate

catch-up contribution election forms.

The FRTIB received five comments on

the proposed rule. Three comments

expressed strong support for reducing

the burden on participants by

eliminating the separate catch-up

contribution election forms. Two of the

comments did not address the substance

of the regulations. Therefore the FRTIB,

is publishing the proposed rule as final

without change.

Although the regulatory text is being

published without change, in order to

avoid confusion, the FRTIB wishes to

clarify the effect of the simplified catch-

up contribution process on the rules set

forth at 5 CFR 1605.13 regarding back

pay awards and other retroactive pay

adjustments. If a TSP participant was

age 50 or older during the year(s) to

which a back pay award or other

retroactive pay adjustment is

attributable and the corrective

contributions or make-up contributions

exceed the IRC section 402(g) or 415(c)

limit, then corrective contributions or

make-up contributions will spill over

toward the catch-up limit for those

years, even if the contributions are

attributable to years before 2021.

However, catch-up contributions

attributable to years before 2021 are not

eligible for matching.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that this regulation will not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities.

This regulation will affect federal

employees, members of the uniformed

services who participate in the Thrift

Savings Plan, and their beneficiaries.

The TSP is a federal defined

contribution retirement savings plan

created by FERSA and is administered

by the FRTIB.

Paperwork Reduction Act

I certify that these regulations do not

require additional reporting under the

Paperwork Reduction Act.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of

1995

Pursuant to the Unfunded Mandates

Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 602, 632,

653, 1501–1571, the effects of this

regulation on state, local, and tribal

governments and the private sector have

been assessed. This regulation will not

compel the expenditure in any one year

of $100 million or more by state, local,

and tribal governments, in the aggregate,

or by the private sector. Therefore, a

statement under 1532 is not required.

List of Subjects

5 CFR Part 1600

Taxes, Claims, Government

employees, Pensions, Retirement.

5 CFR Part 1605

Claims, Government employees,

Pensions, Retirement.

Ravindra Deo,

Executive Director, Federal Retirement Thrift

Investment Board.

For the reasons stated in the

preamble, the FRTIB amends 5 CFR

chapter VI as follows:

PART 1600—EMPLOYEE

CONTRIBUTION ELECTIONS,

CONTRIBUTION ALLOCATIONS, AND

AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT

PROGRAM

■1. The authority citation for part 1600

continues to read as follows:

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