Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part II

• Published date: 07 October 2021
• Citation: 86 FR 55756
• Record Number: 2021-21419
• Section: Proposed rules
• Court: Internal Revenue Service

55756

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 192 / Thursday, October 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules

Environmental Review

This proposal will be subject to an

environmental analysis in accordance

with FAA Order 1050.1F,

‘‘Environmental Impacts: Policies and

Procedures’’ prior to any FAA final

regulatory action.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71

Airspace, Incorporation by reference,

Navigation (air).

The Proposed Amendment

In consideration of the foregoing, the

Federal Aviation Administration

proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 as

follows:

PART 71—DESIGNATION OF CLASS A,

B, C, D, AND E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR

TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND

REPORTING POINTS

■1. The authority citation for part 71

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g); 40103,

40113, 40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR,

1959–1963 Comp., p. 389.

§ 71.1 [Amended]

■2. The incorporation by reference in

14 CFR 71.1 of FAA Order JO 7400.11F,

Airspace Designations and Reporting

Points, dated August 10, 2021, and

effective September 15, 2021, is

amended as follows:

Paragraph 6011 United States Area

Navigation Routes.

* * * * *

T–275 ZIKNI, AK to Unalakleet, AK [Amended]

ZIKNI, AK WP (Lat. 58°39′21.69″ N, long. 162°04′25.48″ W)

BETHEL, AK (BET) VORTAC (Lat. 60°47′05.41″ N, long. 161°49′27.59″ W)

DAVBE, AK WP (Lat. 61°50′52.64″ N, long. 161°30′41.89″ W)

UNALAKLEET, AK (UNK) VOR/DME (Lat. 63°53′30.99″ N, long. 160°41′03.39″ W)

* * * * *

Issued in Washington, DC, on September

30, 2021.

Michael R. Beckles,

Acting Manager, Rules and Regulations

Group.

[FR Doc. 2021–21861 Filed 10–6–21; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

26 CFR Part 54

[REG–107707–21]

RIN 1545–BQ02

Requirements Related to Surprise

Billing; Part II

AGENCY

: Internal Revenue Service,

Department of the Treasury.

ACTION

: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY

: The Department of the

Treasury (Treasury Department) and

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are

proposing regulations that provide for a

federal independent dispute resolution

(IDR) process to permit group health

plans and nonparticipating providers,

facilities, and providers of air

ambulance services to determine the

out-of-network rate for items and

services that are emergency services,

nonemergency services furnished by

nonparticipating providers at

participating facilities, and air

ambulance services furnished by

nonparticipating providers of air

ambulance services, under certain

circumstances. Elsewhere in this issue

of the Federal Register, the IRS is

issuing the temporary regulations that

correspond to this proposal at the same

time that the Office of Personnel

Management (OPM), the Employee

Benefits Security Administration of the

Department of Labor (DOL), and the

Center for Medicare & Medicaid

Services of the Department of Health

and Human Services (HHS) are issuing

substantially similar interim final rules

with request for comments. The text of

those temporary regulations also serves

as the text of these proposed

regulations.

DATES

:

Comment date: To be assured

consideration, comments must be

received at one of the addresses

provided below, no later than 5 p.m. on

December 6, 2021.

Applicability date: It is proposed that

these regulations apply for plan years

beginning on or after January 1, 2022.

ADDRESSES

: In commenting, please refer

to file code REG–107707–21. Comments,

including mass comment submissions,

must be submitted in one of the

following two ways (please choose only

one of the ways listed):

1. Electronically. You may submit

electronic comments on this regulation

to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow

the ‘‘Submit a comment’’ instructions.

2. By mail. You may mail written

comments to the following address

ONLY: Office of Health Plan Standards

and Compliance Assistance, Employee

Benefits Security Administration, U.S.

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution

Avenue NW, Room N–5653,

Washington, DC 20210, Attention: RIN

1210–AB00.

Please allow sufficient time for mailed

comments to be received before the

close of the comment period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

: Kari

DiCecco, (202) 317–5500, Internal

Revenue Service, Department of the

Treasury.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

: Inspection

of Public Comments: All comments

received before the close of the

comment period are available for

viewing by the public, including any

personally identifiable or confidential

business information that is included in

a comment. We post all comments

received before the close of the

comment period on the following

website as soon as possible after they

have been received: http://

regulations.gov. Follow the search

instructions on that website to view

public comments.

Background and Regulatory Impact

Analysis

The Treasury Department and the IRS

propose to amend paragraphs (a), (c),

(d), and (g) of § 54.9815–2719 of the

Miscellaneous Excise Tax Regulations to

expand the scope of claims eligible for

external review to include adverse

benefit determinations related to

compliance with the surprise billing

and cost-sharing protections under the

No Surprises Act.

The Treasury Department and the IRS

also propose to add §§ 54.9816–8 and

54.9817–2 to establish a federal IDR

process that nonparticipating providers

or facilities, nonparticipating providers

of air ambulance services, and group

health plans may use following the end

of an unsuccessful open negotiation

period to determine the out-of-network

rate for certain services.

The temporary regulations published

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register add §§ 54.9815–2719T,

54.9816–8T, and 54.9817–2T. The

proposed and temporary regulations are

being published as part of a joint

rulemaking with the OPM, DOL, and

HHS. The text of temporary sections

added elsewhere also serves as the text

of the corresponding sections proposed

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55757

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 192 / Thursday, October 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules

1

See Linda Luther, Cong. Rsch. Serv., RL33152,

The National Environmental Policy Act:

Background and Implementation (2008), https://

crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=

RL33152.

in this document. The preamble to the

temporary regulations contains the

agency’s rationale and provides a

regulatory impact analysis.

Drafting Information

The principal author of this notice of

proposed rulemaking is Kari DiCecco,

Office of Associate Chief Counsel

(Employee Benefits, Exempt

Organizations and Employment Taxes).

The proposed regulations, as well as the

temporary regulations, have been

developed in coordination with

personnel from the OPM, DOL, and

HHS.

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 54

Excise taxes, Pensions, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Proposed Amendments to the

Regulations

Accordingly, 26 CFR part 54 is

proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 54—PENSION EXCISE TAXES

■Paragraph. 1. The general authority

citation for part 54 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805, unless

otherwise noted.

* * * * *

■Par. 2. Section 54.9815–2719 is

amended by revising paragraphs (a), (c),

(d), and (g) to read as follows:

§ 54.9815–2719 Internal claims and

appeals and external review processes.

[The text of proposed § 54.9815–

2719(a), (c), (d), and (g) is the same as

the text of § 54.9815–2719T(a), (c), (d),

and (g) published elsewhere in this

issue of the Federal Register].

■Par. 3. Section 54.9816–1 is added to

read as follows:

[The text of proposed § 54.9816–1 is

the same as the text of § 54.9816–1T

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register].

■Par. 4. Section 54.9816–2(a) and (b) is

added to read as follows:

[The text of proposed § 54.9816–2(a)

and (b) is the same as the text of

§ 54.9816–2T(a) and (b) published

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register].

■Par. 5. Sections 54.9816–8 and

54.9817–2 are added to read as follows:

§ 54.9816–8 Independent dispute

resolution process.

[The text of proposed § 54.9816–8 is

the same as the text of § 54.9816–8T

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register].

§ 54.9817–2 Independent dispute

resolution process for air ambulance

services.

[The text of proposed § 54.9817–2 is

the same as the text of § 54.9817–2T

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register].

Douglas W. O’Donnell,

Deputy Commissioner for Services and

Enforcement.

[FR Doc. 2021–21419 Filed 9–30–21; 4:15 pm]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P

COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL

QUALITY

40 CFR Parts 1502, 1507, and 1508

[CEQ–2021–0002]

RIN 0331–AA05

National Environmental Policy Act

Implementing Regulations Revisions

AGENCY

: Council on Environmental

Quality.

ACTION

: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY

: The Council on

Environmental Quality (CEQ) is

proposing to modify certain aspects of

its regulations for implementing the

procedural provisions of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to

generally restore regulatory provisions

that were in effect for decades before

being modified in 2020. CEQ proposes

these changes in order to better align the

provisions with CEQ’s extensive

experience implementing NEPA, in

particular its perspective on how NEPA

can best inform agency decision making,

as well as longstanding Federal agency

experience and practice, NEPA’s

statutory text and purpose, including

making decisions informed by science,

and case law interpreting NEPA’s

requirements. The proposed rule would

restore provisions addressing the

purpose and need of a proposed action,

agency NEPA procedures for

implementing CEQ’s NEPA regulations,

and the definition of ‘‘effects.’’ CEQ

invites comments on the proposed

revisions.

DATES

:

Comments: CEQ must receive

comments by November 22, 2021.

Public meeting: CEQ will conduct two

online public meetings for the proposed

rule on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, from

1 to 4 p.m. EDT, and Thursday, October

21, 2021 from 5 to 8 p.m. EDT. To

register for the meetings, please visit

CEQ’s website at www.nepa.gov.

ADDRESSES

: You may submit comments,

identified by docket number CEQ–

2021–0002, by any of the following

methods:

DFederal eRulemaking Portal:

https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the

instructions for submitting comments.

DFax: 202–456–6546.

DMail: Council on Environmental

Quality, 730 Jackson Place NW,

Washington, DC 20503.

Instructions: All submissions received

must include the agency name,

‘‘Council on Environmental Quality,’’

and docket number, CEQ–2021–0002,

for this rulemaking. All comments

received will be posted without change

to https://www.regulations.gov,

including any personal information

provided. Do not submit electronically

any information you consider to be

private, Confidential Business

Information (CBI), or other information,

the disclosure of which is restricted by

statute.

Docket: For access to the docket to

read background documents or

comments received, go to https://

www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

:

Amy B. Coyle, Deputy General Counsel,

202–395–5750, Amy.B.Coyle@

ceq.eop.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

:

I. Background

On January 1, 1970, President Nixon

signed into law the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969

(NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. Congress

enacted NEPA by a unanimous vote in

the Senate and a nearly unanimous vote

in the House

1

to declare a national

policy to promote environmental

protection for present and future

generations. NEPA was established to

‘‘encourage productive and enjoyable

harmony’’ between humans and the

environment; to promote efforts that

will prevent or eliminate damage to the

environment and biosphere and

stimulate the health and welfare of

people; and to enrich the understanding

of the ecological systems and natural

resources important to the Nation. 42

U.S.C. 4321.

To achieve these objectives, NEPA

makes it the continuing policy of the

Federal Government to use all

practicable means and measures to

create and maintain conditions under

which humans and nature can exist in

productive harmony and fulfill the

social, economic, and other

requirements of present and future

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