Government in the Sunshine Act
| Published date | 30 August 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 48295 |
| Record Number | 2021-18549 |
| Section | Rules and Regulations |
| Court | Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board |
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains regulatory documents having general
applicability and legal effect, most of which
are keyed to and codified in the Code of
Federal Regulations, which is published under
50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by
the Superintendent of Documents.
Rules and Regulations Federal Register
48295
Vol. 86, No. 165
Monday, August 30, 2021
DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES
SAFETY BOARD
10 CFR Part 1704
[Docket No. DNFSB–2021–0001]
Government in the Sunshine Act
AGENCY
: Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board.
ACTION
: Direct final rule.
SUMMARY
: The William M. (Mac)
Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
(NDAA) amended the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954 (AEA) to grant the Defense
Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board
or DNFSB) relief from certain
limitations under the Government in the
Sunshine Act (Sunshine Act). The
Sunshine Act generally requires all
Board meetings to be open to public
observation unless certain exemptions
apply. The NDAA added a provision to
the AEA that permits the Board to hold
nonpublic collaborative discussions
without following the requirements of
the Sunshine Act, so long as certain
requirements are met. The Board is
publishing this direct final rule to revise
the Board’s Sunshine Act regulations
consistent with the new AEA provisions
for nonpublic collaborative discussions.
DATES
: This final rule is effective
November 29, 2021 unless significant
adverse comments are received by
September 29, 2021. If the direct final
rule is withdrawn as a result of such
comments, timely notice of the
withdrawal will be published in the
Federal Register.
ADDRESSES
: You may submit comments
at any time prior to the comment
deadline by the following methods:
•Email: Send an email to comment@
dnfsb.gov. Please include ‘‘Sunshine Act
Comments’’ in the subject line of your
email.
•Mail: Send hard copy comments to
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety
Board, Attn: Office of the General
Counsel, 625 Indiana Avenue NW, Suite
700, Washington, DC 20004–2901.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
: Eric
Fox, Associate General Counsel, Defense
Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625
Indiana Avenue NW, Suite 700,
Washington, DC 20004–2901, (202) 694–
7000.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
I. Background
The NDAA became law on January 1,
2021. The NDAA contained an
amendment to the AEA that granted the
Board relief from certain requirements
of the Sunshine Act. Under the revised
section 313 of the AEA (42 U.S.C.
2286b(k)), a quorum of the Board may
hold meetings to deliberate on official
agency business without public
observation so long as it conducts the
meeting in compliance with the
following requirements: (1) No formal or
informal vote may be taken at the
meeting; (2) each individual present at
the meeting must be a member or an
employee of the Board; (3) at least one
member from each political party
represented on the Board must be
present; and (4) the Board’s General
Counsel or his or her designee must be
present.
In addition to the requirements
governing the conduct of the meeting,
the AEA requires the Board to publish
a summary of the matters discussed,
including key issues, no later than two
business days following the meeting. In
circumstances where the matters
discussed are covered by the
exemptions to the open meetings
requirements of the Sunshine Act, the
Board must publish as much general
information as possible without
disclosing the exempt material. Unlike
closed meetings held under the
Sunshine Act, no transcript or advanced
public notice is required.
II. Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1704.11 Nonpublic
Collaborative Discussions
This new section contains the
requirements for the conduct of
nonpublic collaborative discussions as
well as disclosure after they are held.
These requirements are simply restating
the language of the AEA, and do not
expand or diminish the Board’s
obligations when holding a nonpublic
collaborative discussion.
III. Regulatory Analysis
Regulatory Flexibility Act
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act,
5 U.S.C. 601–612, agencies must
consider the impact of their rulemakings
on ‘‘small entities’’ (small businesses,
small organizations, and local
governments) when publishing
regulations subject to the notice and
comment requirements of the
Administrative Procedure Act. As noted
in section IV Rulemaking Procedure
below, the Board has determined that
notice and the opportunity to comment
are unnecessary because this
rulemaking constitutes a limited,
routine change to implement the recent
amendment to the AEA. Therefore, no
analysis is required by the Regulatory
Flexibility Act.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
This rule will not result in the
expenditure by State, local, and tribal
governments, in aggregate, or by the
private sector, of $100,000,000 or more
in any one year, and it will not
significantly or uniquely affect small
governments. Therefore, no actions are
deemed necessary under the provisions
of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
of 1995.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996
This rule is not a major rule as
defined by section 251 of the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996, as amended, 5
U.S.C. 804. This rule will not result in
an annual effect on the economy of
$100,000,000 or more; a major increase
in costs or prices; or significant adverse
effects on competition, employment,
investment, productivity, innovation, or
on the ability of United States-based
companies to compete with foreign-
based companies in domestic and
export markets.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
establishes certain requirements when
an agency conducts or sponsors a
‘‘collection of information.’’ 44 U.S.C.
3501–3520. This update to the Board’s
Sunshine Act regulations does not
require or request information from
members of the public. Therefore, this
rulemaking is not covered by the
restrictions of the PRA.
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48296
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 165 / Monday, August 30, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Executive Order 12988 and Executive
Order 13132—Federalism
According to Executive Orders 12988
and 13132, agencies must state in clear
language the preemptive effect, if any, of
new regulations. The amendments to
the agency’s Sunshine Act
implementing regulations affect only
how the Board conducts nonpublic
meetings, and therefore, have no effect
on preemption of State, tribal, or local
government laws or otherwise have
federalism implications.
Congressional Review Act
This rule will not result in and is not
likely to result in (A) an annual effect
on the economy of $100,000,000 or
more; (B) a major increase in costs or
prices for consumers, individual
industries, Federal, State, or local
government agencies, or geographic
regions; or (C) significant adverse effects
on competition, employment,
investment, productivity, innovation, or
on the ability of United States-based
enterprises to compete with foreign-
based enterprises in domestic and
export markets. As such, the Office of
Management and Budget has not found
it to be a major rule as defined in the
Congressional Review Act. To comply
with the Congressional Review Act, the
Board will submit the required
information each House of the Congress
and the Comptroller General.
Finding of No Significant
Environmental Impact
The proposed regulations amend the
Board procedures for holding meetings
pursuant to the Government in the
Sunshine Act. The procedural changes
to the Sunshine Act implementing
regulations will not result in significant
impacts affecting the quality of the
human environment, unavoidable
adverse environmental effects, rejection
of reasonable alternatives to the
proposed action, or irreversible or
irretrievable commitments of
environmental resources. The agency
has not consulted with any other
agencies in making this determination.
IV. Rulemaking Procedure
In light of the amendments made to
the AEA at 42 U.S.C. 2286b(k), this
rulemaking makes limited conforming
changes to the Board’s rules
implementing the Sunshine Act (10 CFR
part 1704). The Board is using the
‘‘direct final rule’’ procedure because
this rulemaking represents a limited,
routine change to implement the new
provisions of the AEA. This amendment
will become effective on November 29,
2021. However, if the Board receives a
significant adverse comment by
September 29, 2021, then the Board will
publish a notice in the Federal Register
withdrawing this rule and publishing
the changes as a notice of proposed
rulemaking. The Board will respond to
the significant adverse comment(s) in
that notice of proposed rulemaking and
take an additional 30 days of comments
before publishing any final rule. If no
significant adverse comment is received,
the Board will publish a notice that
confirms the effective date of this direct
final rule.
A significant adverse comment is a
comment where the commenter
explains why the rule would be
inappropriate, including challenges to
the rule’s underlying premise or
approach, or would be ineffective or
unacceptable without a change. A
comment is adverse and significant if:
(1) The comment opposes the rule and
provides a reason sufficient to require a
substantive response in a notice-and-
comment process. For example, a
substantive response is required when:
(a) The comment causes the Board
staff to reevaluate (or reconsider) its
position or conduct additional analysis;
(b) The comment raises an issue
serious enough to warrant a substantive
response to clarify or complete the
record; or
(c) The comment raises a relevant
issue that was not previously addressed
or considered by the Board.
(2) The comment proposes a change
or an addition to the rule, and it is
apparent that the rule would be
ineffective or unacceptable without
incorporation of the change or addition;
or
(3) The comment causes the Board to
make a change (other than editorial) to
the rule.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 1704
Sunshine Act.
For the reasons stated in the
preamble, the Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board amends 10 CFR part 1704
as follows:
PART 1704—RULES IMPLEMENTING
THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE
ACT
■1. The authority citation for part 1704
is revised to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552b; 42 U.S.C. 2286,
2286b(c), (k).
■2. Add § 1704.11 to read as follows:
§ 1704.11 Nonpublic collaborative
discussions.
(a) In general. Notwithstanding the
other requirements of this part, a
quorum of Members may hold a meeting
that is not open to public observation to
discuss official business of the Board
if—
(1) No formal or informal vote or other
official action is taken at the meeting;
(2) Each individual present at the
meeting is a Member or an employee of
the Board;
(3) At least one Member from each
political party is present at the meeting,
unless all Members are of the same
political party at the time of the
meeting; and
(4) The general counsel of the Board,
or a designee of the general counsel, is
present at the meeting.
(b) Disclosure of nonpublic
collaborative discussions. (1) Except as
provided by paragraph (b)(2) of this
section, not later than two business days
after the conclusion of a meeting
described in subsection (a), the Board
shall make available to the public, in a
place easily accessible to the public—
(i) A list of the individuals present at
the meeting; and
(ii) A summary of the matters,
including key issues, discussed at the
meeting, except for any matter the Board
properly determines may be withheld
from the public under § 1704.4.
(2) Information about matters
withheld from the public. If the Board
properly determines under paragraph
(b)(1)(ii) of this section that a matter
may be withheld from the public under
§ 1704.4, the Board shall include in the
summary required by paragraph
(b)(1)(ii) as much general information as
possible with respect to the matter.
Dated: August 24, 2021.
Joyce Connery,
Chair.
[FR Doc. 2021–18549 Filed 8–27–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3670–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA–2021–0719; Project
Identifier MCAI–2021–00858–T; Amendment
39–21709; AD 2021–18–08]
RIN 2120–AA64
Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS
Airplanes
AGENCY
: Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION
: Final rule; request for
comments.
SUMMARY
: The FAA is adopting a new
airworthiness directive (AD) for certain
Airbus SAS Model A319–171N; Model
A320–271N, –272N, and –273N
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