Management and Budget Office – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is publishing its semiannual agenda of upcoming activities for Federal regulations, OMB Guidance, Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Policy Letters, and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Board Cost Accounting Standards. OMB Guidance and OFPP Policy Letters are published in accordance with OMB's internal procedures for implementing Executive Order 12866 (October 4, 1993, 58 FR 51735). OMB policy guidelines are issued under authority derived from several sources, including: Subtitles I, II, and V of title 31, United States Code; Executive Order 11541; and other specific authority as cited. OMB Guidance and OFPP Policy Letters communicate guidance and instructions of a continuing nature to executive branch agencies. As such, most OMB Guidance and OFPP Policy Letters are not regulations. Nonetheless, because these issuances are typically of interest to the public, they are generally published in the Federal Register at both the proposed (for public comment) and final stages. For this reason, they are presented below in the standard format of ``pre-rule,'' ``proposed rule,'' and ``final rule'' stages. CASB Cost Accounting Standards are issued under authority derived from 41 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. Cost Accounting Standards are rules governing the measurement, assignment, and allocation of costs to contracts entered into with the United States Government. For purposes of this agenda, we have excluded directives that outline procedures to be followed in connection with the President's budget and legislative programs, as well as directives that affect only the internal functions, management, or personnel of Federal agencies.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking public comment on a draft memorandum titled, ``Improving Vulnerability Identification, Management, and Remediation.''

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) publishes the names of the members selected to serve on its Senior Executive Service (SES) Performance Review Board (PRB). This notice supersedes all previous notices of the PRB membership.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) publishes the names of the members selected to serve on its Senior Executive Service (SES) Performance Review Board (PRB). This notice supersedes all previous notices of the PRB membership.

Under the Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (Section 5.a.i), https://www.whitehouse.gov/ presidential-actions/executive-order-maintaining-american-lea dership- artificial-intelligence/, the Office of Management and Budget is inviting the public to identify needs for additional access to, or improvements in the quality of, Federal data and models that would improve the Nation's artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R&D) and testing efforts.

This Notice announces the availability of the 2019 OMB Compliance Supplement (2019 Supplement). This Notice also offers interested parties an opportunity to comment on the 2019 Supplement. The 2019 Supplement adds 12 new programs, deleted 3 expired programs and provides updated on many other programs, where necessary. It reduces the compliance areas for auditor review in Part 2 Matrix from a maximum of twelve to six. It adds guidance in Part 3.I, Procurement and Suspension and Debarment and Appendix VII of the Supplement.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing to revise the information collection 0348-0065 it uses to for members of the public who request a meeting with OIRA on rules under review at the time pursuant to Executive Order 12866. The information collected would be subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and this notice announces and requests comment on OIRA's proposal for such a collection.

Under the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (``the PRA''), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issues a request for comments on the continued relevance of one provision within Statistical Policy Directive No. 3: Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of Principal Federal Economic Indicators (50 FR 38932, Sep. 25, 1985) (``Directive No. 3''). Directive No. 3 remains a robust, comprehensive source of guidance for statistical series produced by Federal statistical agencies and recognized statistical units. The government and private sector widely watch and heavily rely upon those statistical series as indicators of the current condition and direction of the economy. The procedures in Directive No. 3, published in 1985, were designed to ensure equitable, policy-neutral, and timely release and dissemination of Principal Federal Economic Indicators (``PFEIs''). The goals of Directive No. 3 remain sound, and changing those overall goals is not the subject of this notice; however, advances in information dissemination technology lead OMB to seek comment on the continued relevance of the provision that prohibits employees of the Executive Branch from commenting publicly about the release of PFEIs until at least one hour following their release. For example, in addition to more traditional means of dissemination (e.g., newspaper or radio), agencies now disseminate their data releases to the public through the internet, including on their own websites, allowing instantaneous and equitable access to the releases. In particular, OMB seeks comment on whether advances in information dissemination technology since Directive No. 3's issuance in 1985 could provide for meeting the goals of Directive No. 3 to ensure equitable, policy-neutral, and timely release and dissemination of PFEIs under a shorter time delay, including no time delay at all. Additional discussion of the request for public comment may be found in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Electronic Availability: This notice is available on the internet on the OMB website at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/. Federal Register notices are also available electronically at https:// www.federalregister.gov/.

OMB is issuing its Final Sequestration Report to the President and Congress for Fiscal Year 2019 to report on compliance of enacted 2019 discretionary appropriations legislation with the discretionary caps. The report finds that enacted appropriations are within the discretionary caps for 2019. As a result, a sequestration of discretionary budget authority is not required in 2019.

The Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act, Public Law 105-270, requires covered agencies to develop an annual inventory of activities performed by their employees that are not inherently governmental functions. In addition, OMB Circular A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities, requires covered agencies to develop an annual inventory of activities performed by their employees that are inherently governmental functions. These inventories help the agencies gain a better understanding of how labor is being used to carry out their mission. After OMB review, the agencies are required to make their list of activities available to the public. In accordance with the FAIR Act, OMB is publishing this notice to announce the availability of the inventories for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 from the agencies listed below. These inventories include both activities that are not inherently governmental and activities that are inherently governmental. If an agency has not yet posted its inventory on its website, the agency's point of contact should be able to provide assistance. As provided in the FAIR Act, interested parties who disagree with the agency's initial judgment may challenge the inclusion or the omission of an activity on the list of activities that are not inherently governmental within 30 working days of this Notice and, if not satisfied with this review, may appeal to a higher level within the agency.

The Office of Management and Budget revised Circular A-94 in 1992. The revised Circular specified certain discount rates to be updated annually when the interest rate and inflation assumptions used to prepare the Budget of the United States Government were changed. These discount rates are found in Appendix C of the revised Circular. The updated discount rates are shown below. The discount rates in Appendix C are to be used for cost-effectiveness analysis, including lease-purchase analysis, as specified in the revised Circular. They do not apply to regulatory analysis. The revised Circular can be accessed at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Appendi x- C.pdf.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking public comment on a draft memorandum titled ``Update to Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI).''

In March 2018, the Office of Management and Budget launched the President's Management Agenda (PMA). The PMA established a Cross- Agency Priority (CAP) goal titled: ``Results-Oriented Accountability for Grants''. This notice is meant to notify the public of the opportunity to provide input on proposed grants management common data standards that have been created in support of the Results-Oriented Accountability for Grants CAP goal.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking public comment on a draft document titled ``2018 Federal Cloud Computing Strategy.''

The Federal Government is starting the process to develop a new 3-year Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. By committing to common goals, the U.S. Government will more effectively and efficiently promote and protect our intellectual property. In this request for comments, the Executive Office of the President (``EOP''), Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator invites public input and participation in shaping the Administration's intellectual property enforcement strategy. The Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (``IPEC'') is charged with developing, with certain Federal departments and agencies, the Administration's Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement for submission to Congress every three years. The previous 3-year Joint Strategic Plans were issued in 2010, 2013, and 2016. To assist IPEC and Federal agencies in our preparation of the fourth 3-year plan, IPEC requests input and recommendations from the public for improving the U.S. Government's intellectual property enforcement efforts, along the lines of this Administration's four-part strategic approach, described in greater detail below.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seeks public comment on a proposed rule that would revise OMB's regulations found in our regulations implementing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). These revisions are being proposed to implement the FOIA and incorporate the provisions of the OPEN Government Act of 2007 and the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 as well as to streamline OMB's FOIA regulations by structuring the text of the regulation in an order more similar to that of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) FOIA regulation and the DOJ Office of Information Policy's Guidance for Agency FOIA Regulations, thus promoting uniformity of FOIA regulations across agencies. Additionally, the regulations would be updated to reflect developments in the case law.

The Executive Office of the President seeks input from across sectors and disciplines on capabilities that already exist as well as key considerations in pursuing the Government Effectiveness Advanced Research (GEAR) Center initiative through a request for information (RFI) now available on www.Performance.gov/GEARcenter. The Federal Government intends to pursue a Government Effectiveness Advanced Research (GEAR) Center, which would be a public-private partnership focused on applied research that improves mission delivery, citizen services, and stewardship of public resources, as proposed in Delivering Government Solutions for the 21st Century: Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations. This non-governmental, public-private partnership would address operational and strategic challenges facing the Federal Government, both now and into the future, by engaging researchers, academics, non-profits, and private industry across an array of disciplines, such as data science, organizational behavior, and user-centered design. Through applied research and live pilot testing, the GEAR Center would connect cutting-edge thinking with real-world challenges the Federal Government faces in serving Americans in the Digital Age. This means re-imagining possibilities for how citizens interact with the Government; rethinking the delivery of citizen services and data; reforming core processes (e.g., procurement, budget, IT investment and capital allocation); and exploring how the public-sector workforce can be developed, reskilled and redeployed in creative ways.

Pursuant to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, OMB is issuing a monthly cumulative report (for July, 2018) from the Director detailing the status of rescission proposals that were previously transmitted to the Congress on May 8, 2018, and amended by the supplementary message transmitted on June 5, 2018.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget is extending the comment period for its Maritime Deregulatory request for information (RFI), by 45 days until August 30, 2018. Please note, OIRA intends to make all submissions publicly available on www.regulations.gov.

Pursuant to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, OMB is issuing a cumulative report from the Director detailing the status of rescission proposals that were previously transmitted to the Congress on May 8, 2018, and amended by the supplementary message transmitted on June 5, 2018.

As part of implementing the Census Address List Improvement Act of 1994, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests public comment on the Appeals Process whereby tribal, state, and local governments participating in the 2020 Census Local Update of Census Addresses Operation (LUCA) may appeal determinations made by the Census Bureau with respect to their suggested changes to the 2020 Census Address List. For information purposes, this notice also describes the LUCA Feedback materials that the Census Bureau will provide to participating governments and how those governments can use the materials as the basis for an appeal. The 2020 Census LUCA Operation was available to tribal, state, and local governments located in areas for which the Census Bureau develops an address list in advance of the census. The Bureau issued final procedures for participation in the 2020 Census LUCA Operation in a Federal Register Notice Vol. 81. No. 215 on November 7, 2016. Request for Comments: OMB is seeking comments on the proposed procedures for the 2020 Census LUCA Appeals Process. Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available to the public, including by posting them on OMB's website. For this reason, please do not include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If you send an email comment, your email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket. Please note that responses to this public comment request containing any routine notice about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as public comments that may be made available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice. Electronic Availability: This notice is available on the internet from the OMB website at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/. Federal Register notices are also available electronically at https:// www.federalregister.gov/.

Consistent with Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory Right to Know Act, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), within the Office of Management and Budget is seeking public input on how the Federal government may prudently manage regulatory costs imposed on the maritime sector. Multiple Federal agencies regulate the U.S. maritime sector consistent with their statutory authorities. OIRA seeks public comment on how existing agency requirements affecting the maritime sector can be modified or repealed to increase efficiency, reduce or eliminate unnecessary or unjustified regulatory burdens, or simplify regulatory compliance while continuing to meet statutory missions. This RFI is meant to inform agencies' development of regulatory reform proposals. Additionally, OIRA intends to make all submissions publicly available on www.regulations.gov.

OMB is issuing its Final Sequestration Report to the President and Congress for FY 2018 to report on compliance of enacted 2018 discretionary appropriations legislation with the discretionary caps. The report includes adjustments to the 2018 and 2019 caps for changes in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and it finds that enacted appropriations are within those discretionary caps for 2018. As a result, a sequestration of discretionary budget authority is not required in 2018. The report also finds that enacted supplemental appropriations for 2017 are within the 2017 caps.

In accordance with OMB Memorandum M-17-26 ``Reducing Burden for Federal Agencies by Rescinding and Modifying OMB Memoranda,'' the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing to amend OMB Circular A-131, Value Engineering, to reduce the reporting burden on Federal agencies. Value Engineering is an effective technique for cutting waste and inefficiencyhelping Federal agencies reduce acquisition costs, improve performance, enhance quality, and foster innovation. The proposal would eliminate the requirement for agencies to report annually to OMB and instead encourage agencies to share best practices, case studies and other information on the Acquisition Gateway (https:// hallways.cap.gsa.gov/login-information) that can facilitate better understanding and use of this management tool within the Executive Branch.

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Board, is publishing, without change from the proposed rule, a final rule revising the exemption from CAS for firm-fixed-price (FFP) contracts and subcontracts awarded on the basis of adequate price competition without submission of cost or pricing data. This final rule clarifies that the exemption applies to FFP contracts and subcontracts awarded on the basis of adequate price competition without submission of certified cost or pricing data.