30 Day Federal Register Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 17 / Thursday, January 25, 2018 / Notices

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records must be maintained in
accordance with state law.
Rule 3a–8 contains an additional
requirement that is also a collection of
information within the meaning of the
PRA. The board of directors of a
company that relies on the safe harbor
under rule 3a–8 must adopt a written
policy with respect to the company’s
capital preservation investments. We
expect that the board of directors will
base its decision to adopt the resolution
discussed above, in part, on investment
guidelines that the company will follow
to ensure its investment portfolio is in
compliance with the rule’s
requirements.
The collection of information
imposed by rule 3a–8 is voluntary
because the rule is an exemptive safe
harbor, and therefore, R&D companies
may choose whether or not to rely on it.
The purposes of the information
collection requirements in rule 3a–8 are
to ensure that: (i) The board of directors
of an R&D company is involved in
determining whether the company
should be considered an investment
company and subject to regulation
under the Act, and (ii) adequate records
are available for Commission review, if
necessary. Rule 3a–8 would not require
the reporting of any information or the
filing of any documents with the
Commission.
Commission staff estimates that there
is no annual recordkeeping burden
associated with the rule’s requirements.
Nevertheless, the Commission requests
authorization to maintain an inventory
of one burden hour for administrative
purposes.
Commission staff estimates that
approximately 65,139 R&D companies
may take advantage of rule 3a–8.2 Given
that the board resolutions and
investment guidelines will generally
need to be adopted only once (unless
relevant circumstances change),3 the
Commission believes that all the R&D
companies that existed prior to the
adoption of rule 3a–8 adopted their
board resolutions and established
written investment guidelines in 2003
when the rule was adopted. We expect
that R&D companies formed subsequent
to the adoption of rule 3a–8 would
adopt the board resolution and
investment guidelines simultaneously
with their formation documents in the
2 See National Science Foundation/Division of
Science Resources Statistics, Business Research and
Development and Innovation Survey: 2013 (results
published August 2, 2016).
3 In the event of changed circumstances, the
Commission believes that the board resolution and
investment guidelines will be amended and
recorded in the ordinary course of business and
would not create additional time burdens.

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ordinary course of business.4 Therefore,
we estimate that rule 3a–8 does not
impose additional burdens.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid
control number.
The public may view the background
documentation for this information
collection at the following website,
www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be
directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the
Securities and Exchange Commission,
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Room 10102, New Executive
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503,
or by sending an email to: Shagufta_
[email protected]; and (ii) Pamela
Dyson, Director/Chief Information
Officer, Securities and Exchange
Commission, c/o Remi Pavlik-Simon,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549
or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@
sec.gov. Comments must be submitted to
OMB within 30 days of this notice.
Dated: January 19, 2018.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
Sunshine Act Meetings; Unified Carrier
Registration Plan Board of Directors
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Unified Carrier
Registration Plan Board of Directors
Meeting.
AGENCY:

The meeting will be held
on January 30, 2018, from 1:00 p.m. to
5:00 p.m., Central Standard Time.
PLACE: The meeting will be open to the
public at the; Royal Sonesta New
Orleans, 300 Bourbon Street, New
Orleans, LA 70130, and via conference
call. Those not attending the meeting in
person may call toll-free; 1–877–422–
1931, passcode 2855443940, to listen
and participate in the meeting.
STATUS: Open to the public.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The Unified
Carrier Registration Plan Board of
TIME AND DATE:

4 In order for these companies to raise sufficient
capital to fund their product development stage,
Commission staff believes that they will need to
present potential investors with investment
guidelines. Investors generally want to be assured
that the company’s funds are invested consistent
with the goals of capital preservation and liquidity.

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Directors (the Board) will continue its
work in developing and implementing
the Unified Carrier Registration Plan
and Agreement and to that end, may
consider matters properly before the
Board. An agenda for this meeting is
available at: https://ucrplan.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Avelino Gutierrez, Chair, Unified
Carrier Registration Board of Directors at
(505) 827–4565.
Issued on: January 22, 2018.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator, Office of Policy,
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2018–01454 Filed 1–23–18; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA–2017–0082]

Pipeline Safety: Information Collection
Activities
Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:

[FR Doc. 2018–01340 Filed 1–24–18; 8:45 am]

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On October 18, 2017, in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) published a
notice in the Federal Register to invite
comments on an information collection
under Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Control No. 2137–0629 to revise
Form PHMSA F 7100.1–1 Annual
Report—Gas Distribution System, and
the instructions associated with this
Form.
During the 60-day comment period,
PHMSA received five comments in
response to this information collection
from the stakeholders. PHMSA is
publishing this notice to respond to the
comments received and to announce
that the information collection will be
submitted to OMB for approval.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before February 26, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding
the burden estimate, including
suggestions for reducing the burden, to
OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the
Office of the Secretary of
Transportation, 725 17th Street NW,
Washington, DC 20503. You may also
send comments by email to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Angela Dow by telephone at 202–366–
SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 17 / Thursday, January 25, 2018 / Notices

1246, by fax at 202–366–4566, or by
mail at U.S. Department of
Transportation, PHMSA, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE, PHP–30, Washington,
DC 20590–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
Section 1320.8(d), Title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations, requires PHMSA to
provide interested members of the
public and affected entities an
opportunity to comment on information
collection and recordkeeping requests.
This notice identifies the proposed
changes to the information collection
that PHMSA will submit to OMB for
approval. In order to improve the data
collection processes, PHMSA is revising
the Gas Distribution Annual Report
Form PHMSA F 7100.1–1, and the
instructions associated with this Form.
PHMSA will remove ‘‘Other’’ as a
selection for Operator Type in Part A7
and add guidance for the proper
selection to the instructions. By
eliminating ‘‘Other’’ as a selection,
PHMSA will obtain more accurate data
about the types of gas distribution
operators.
PHMSA is also changing the
instructions for PHMSA Form 7100.1–1,
Gas Distribution System Annual Report,
related to calculating the percent of lost
and unaccounted for (LAUF) gas and
negative percent values. PHMSA will
calculate the percent of LAUF gas by
dividing the LAUF volume by the gas
consumption volume. PHMSA will
allow a negative value to be reported for
the percent of LAUF gas. These changes
will harmonize the PHMSA and Energy
Information Administration (EIA)
methodologies for calculating the
percent of LAUF gas.
PHMSA received five comments in
response to the revision of this
information collection. Four comments
came from anonymous sources and one
comment came from The American
Public Gas Association (APGA).

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES

A. Summary of Comment
PHMSA has proposed changing the
denominator from ‘‘volume of input’’ to
‘‘volume consumed’’ when calculating
the percent of lost and unaccounted for
gas. This change would match the
methodology used by the EIA. APGA
recommends no change to the
methodology for calculating the percent
of lost and unaccounted for gas since a
percent is not reported to the EIA. Also,
changing the denominator for
calculating percent would make
analysis of multi-year trends more
difficult.

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B. PHMSA Response
Each year, EIA publishes volume data
in a document titled: Natural Gas
Annual. In Table A1 of the calendar
year 2016 Natural Gas Annual, the EIA
calculates ‘‘Losses and Unaccounted as
a percent of Total Consumption.’’
PHMSA’s proposal aligns with the EIA
methodology in the Natural Gas
Annual. Regarding the impact of the
methodology change on the analysis of
multi-year trends, the impact would be
minimal. For example, using calendar
year 2016 EIA data for Massachusetts,
the percent using the current PHMSA
methodology yields a value of 3.2
percent. When using the EIA
methodology, the value is 3.3 percent.
II. Summary of Impacted Collection
Section 1320.8(d), Title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations, requires PHMSA to
provide interested members of the
public and affected agencies an
opportunity to comment on information
collection and recordkeeping requests.
This notice identifies an information
collection request that PHMSA will
submit to OMB for revision. The
changes proposed by PHMSA would
have no effect on the calendar year 2017
data collection now in progress. The
changes would be implemented when
operators submit calendar year 2018
data early in calendar year 2019.
The following information is provided
for this information collection: (1) Title
of the information collection; (2) OMB
control number; (3) Current expiration
date; (4) Type of request; (5) Abstract of
the information collection activity; (6)
Description of affected public; (7)
Estimate of total annual reporting and
recordkeeping burden; and (8)
Frequency of collection. PHMSA will
request a three-year term of approval for
this information collection activity.
PHMSA requests comments on the
following information collection:
1. Title: Annual Report for Gas
Distribution Pipeline Operators.
OMB Control Number: 2137–0629.
Current Expiration Date: 1/31/2018.
Type of Request: Revision.
Abstract: PHMSA intends to revise
the form and instructions for the gas
distribution annual report PHMSA F
7100.1–1.
Affected Public: Gas distribution
pipeline operators.
Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping
Burden:
Total Annual Responses: 1,446.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 24,582.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
Comments are invited on:
(a) The need for the renewal and
revision of these collections of

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information for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
(b) The accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(c) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(d) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including the use
of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended;
and 49 CFR 1.48.
Issued in Washington, DC, on January 18,
2018, under authority delegated in 49 CFR
1.97.
Alan K. Mayberry,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2018–01324 Filed 1–24–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Senior Executive Service;
Departmental Performance Review
Board
Treasury Department.
Notice of members of the
Departmental Performance Review
Board (PRB).

AGENCY:
ACTION:

This notice announces the
appointment of members of the
Departmental PRB. The purpose of this
PRB is to review and make
recommendations concerning proposed
performance appraisals, ratings, bonuses
and other appropriate personnel actions
for incumbents of SES positions for
which the Secretary or Deputy Secretary
is the appointing authority. These
positions include SES bureau heads,
deputy bureau heads and certain other
positions. The Board will perform PRB
functions for other key bureau positions
if requested.
DATES: Membership is effective on the
date of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia
J. Markham, Director, Office of
Executive Resources, 1500 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW, ATTN: 1722 Eye Street,
9th Floor, Washington, DC 20220,
Telephone: (202) 927–4370.
Composition of Departmental PRB:
The Board shall consist of at least three
members. In the case of an appraisal of
a career appointee, more than half the
SUMMARY:

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