Analytical Methods Used in Periodic Reporting, 41336-41337 [2012-16570]

Download as PDF 41336 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 135 / Friday, July 13, 2012 / Proposed Rules companies’’ 3 may be a desired characteristic for certain legitimate business activity, but it is also a vulnerability that allows these companies to disguise their ownership and purpose. FinCEN seeks detailed information as to whether and how financial institutions identify whether legal entity customers are ‘‘shell companies.’’ Conclusion With this public hearing, FinCEN is seeking clarification on the issues raised by commenters regarding the CDD ANPRM set forth above. Dated: July 9, 2012. Nicholas Colucci, Acting Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. [FR Doc. 2012–17065 Filed 7–12–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4810–02–P POSTAL SERVICE 39 CFR Part 501 Authorization to Manufacture and Distribute Postage Evidencing Systems; Discontinued Indicia Postal ServiceTM. ACTION: Proposed rule. AGENCY: The Postal Service proposes to amend the rules concerning the manufacture and distribution of postage evidencing systems to clarify that effective January 1, 2016, all postage evidencing systems (postage meters and PC Postage® products) will be required to produce Information-Based Indicia (IBI) or Intelligent Mail® Indicia (IMI) for evidence of pre-paid postage, and that indicia from noncompliant systems will not be recognized as valid postage. DATES: Submit all comments on or before September 11, 2012. ADDRESSES: Mail or deliver written comments to the Manager, Payment Technology, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW., Room 3660, Washington, DC 20260–4200. Copies of all written comments will be available for inspection and photocopying between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Payment Technology office. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marlo Ivey, Business Programs mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS SUMMARY: 3 The term ‘‘shell company,’’ as used herein, refers to non-publicly traded corporations and limited liability companies that typically have no physical presence (other than a mailing address) and generate little to no independent economic value. See FinCEN Guidance, FIN–2006–G014, ‘‘Potential Money Laundering Risks Related to Shell Companies’’ (November 9, 2006). VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:46 Jul 12, 2012 Jkt 226001 Specialist, Payment Technology, U.S. Postal Service, (202) 268–7613. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1999, the Postal Service introduced the Information Based Indicia Program (IBIP). Under IBIP, postage evidencing systems submitted for Postal Service test and evaluation were required to produce IBI—digital indicia that use a two-dimensional (2–D) barcode. In 2012, the next generation of postage evidencing was introduced through the publication of the IMI performance criteria. Both IBI and IMI contain a 2– D barcode that includes revenue security–related data elements and product and service information. Effective January 1, 2016, all postage evidencing systems (postage meters and PC Postage products) will be required to produce IBI or IMI for evidence of prepaid postage. Indicia from postage evidencing systems that are not IBIcompliant or IMI-compliant will not be recognized as valid after December 31, 2015. The following proposed amendment to 39 CFR part 501 is intended to clarify that noncompliant indicia will be decertified, and will not be recognized as valid after that date. Although exempt from the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), the Postal Service invites public comment on the following proposed revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations. List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 501 Postal Service. Accordingly, the Postal Service proposes to amend 39 CFR part 501 as follows: PART 501—AUTHORIZATION TO MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE POSTAGE EVIDENCING SYSTEMS 1. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 501 continues to read as follows: Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 101, 401, 403, 404, 410, 2601, 2605, Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (Pub. L. 95– 452, as amended); 5 U.S.C. App. 3. 2. Add section 501.20 to read as follows: § 501.20 Indicia. Discontinued Postage Evidencing (a) Decertified indicia (evidence of pre-paid postage) are indicia that have been withdrawn by the Postal Service as valid forms of postage evidence through publication by the Postal Service in the Federal Register, or by voluntary withdrawal undertaken by the provider. (b) Effective January 1, 2016, all Postage Evidencing Systems (postage meters and PC Postage products) will be PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 required to produce Information-Based Indicia (IBI) or Intelligent Mail Indicia (IMI) for evidence of pre-paid postage. Non-IBI and non-IMI indicia will be decertified effective January 1, 2016, and may not be used as a valid form of postage evidence. These decertified indicia will not be recognized as valid postage after December 31, 2015. Stanley F. Mires, Attorney, Legal Policy & Legislative Advice. [FR Doc. 2012–17067 Filed 7–12–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7710–12–P POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 39 CFR Part 3050 [Docket No. RM2012–5; Order No. 1388] Analytical Methods Used in Periodic Reporting Postal Regulatory Commission. Notice of filing. AGENCY: ACTION: The Commission is noticing a recently-filed Postal Service request to initiate an informal rulemaking proceeding to consider changes in analytical methods used in periodic reporting. This notice addresses procedural steps associated with the filing. DATES: Comments are due July 31, 2012. ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically via the Commission’s Filing Online system at https:// www.prc.gov. Commenters who cannot submit their views electronically should contact the person identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by telephone for advice on alternatives to electronic filing. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel at 202–789–6820. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 26, 2012, the Postal Service filed a petition pursuant to 39 CFR 3050.11 requesting that the Commission initiate an informal rulemaking proceeding to consider changes in the analytical methods approved for use in periodic reporting.1 Proposal One. Elimination of Separate Delivery Costs for Carrier Route Letters, Flats, and Parcels. The Postal Service proposes to eliminate the separate, shape-based reporting of unit costs within Standard Mail Carrier Route. The Postal Service states that ‘‘Carrier Route flats represent over 99 SUMMARY: 1 Petition of the United States Postal Service for the Initiation of a Proceeding to Consider Proposed Changes in Analytical Principles (Proposals One through Five), June 26, 2012 (Petition). E:\FR\FM\13JYP1.SGM 13JYP1 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 135 / Friday, July 13, 2012 / Proposed Rules percent of Carrier Route volume,’’ and that Carrier Route letter costs are unreliable. Petition at 2–3. The Commission discussed the reliability issue in the 2011 Annual Compliance Determination Report. FY2011 ACD at 120–121. In the ACD, the Commission recognized the possibility of merging unit cost data for Carrier Route letters and flats, but did not discuss unit costs of Carrier Route parcels. Id. at 121. Proposal Two. Calculation of City Carrier Scanning Costs for All NonAccountable Delivery Scans. Last year, the Postal Service introduced the USPS Tracking Barcode to better track parcels. However, the Postal Service states that the costs of USPS Tracking Barcode delivery scans performed by city carriers during street activities are not calculated. The Postal Service proposes to extend the established methodology for calculating the city carrier street scanning costs to all non-accountable delivery scans performed by city carriers during street activities (Cost Segment 7). The methodology would also apply to other non-accountable delivery scans that the Postal Service may introduce in the future. Petition at 4. According to the Postal Service, Proposal Two would increase the attributable costs of domestic market dominant parcels by between 1.7 and 3.2 percent, increase the attributable costs of domestic competitive products by 1.9 percent, reduce the attributable costs of domestic market dominant ancillary services by between 0.3 and 0.6 percent, and reduce the attributable costs of International Mail by 0.2 percent. Id. at 5–6. Proposal Three. Changes in IOCS Encirclement Rules. Currently, all Registered mail, both domestic and International, is encircled in all operations.2 According to the Postal Service, this is consistent with operations for domestic Registered and outbound International Registered, because such pieces receive hand-tohand transfers. However, in 2009, the Postal Service says that it changed the operating procedures for inbound Registered mail such that those pieces now travel in the regular letters and flats mailstreams rather than in the Registered mailstream. The Postal Service proposes to update the encirclement rules for inbound Registered mail and for certain other Extra Services to reflect changes in operations and to correct 2 Encirclement is the process of allocating the cost of handling a mailpiece with an Extra Service to the Extra Service rather than to the host mailpiece. Encirclement is appropriate when an Extra Service is the main reason that an employee handles a mailpiece. Id. at 7. VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:46 Jul 12, 2012 Jkt 226001 inconsistencies. For the C.O.D., Certified, Insured, and Signature Confirmation Extra Services, encirclement would be added for certain mail processing and window operations. Petition at 7–8. Proposal Three would affect attributable costs in Cost Segment 3. Inbound Registered mail attributable costs would decline by 38.3 percent. Attributable costs of competitive products would decline by 0.1 percent. Attributable costs of First-Class mail would decline by 0.7 percent. Attributable costs of Parcel Post would decline by 0.4 percent. Attributable costs of Inbound LC/AO would increase by between 6.5 and 13.8 percent. Attributable costs of certain Extra Services would increase by between 1.7 and 64.8 percent. Id. at 9. Proposal Four. Changes in IOCS Reporting Codes. The Postal Service proposes to make changes to In-Office Cost System activity codes and operation codes. These changes are: 1. Streamline activity codes by eliminating codes that are no longer used for costing; 2. Combine the operation codes for Outgoing Primary Distribution and Outgoing Secondary Distribution into one code; 3. Add a code for Managed Mail Distribution; and 4. Add or change codes to account for the recent transfers of Parcel Select Lightweight and First-Class Package Service to the competitive product list. Id. at 10–12. The Postal Service asserts that Proposal Four will have no impact on product costs. Id. at 13. Proposal Five. Changes to Methodology of Distributing Costs Incurred by Vehicle Service Drivers. The Postal Service proposes a new distribution key for allocating the attributable costs of Vehicle Service Drivers (Cost Segment 8). The new distribution key is derived from a new subsystem of the Transportation Cost System (TRACS) called TRACS–VSD. The current distribution key relies on the costs of intra-sectional center facility purchased highway transportation in Cost Segment 14. The Postal Service believes that it has developed a sampling frame that enables the development of a statistical system similar to the four TRACS subsystems representing purchased highway transportation. Id. at 14–15. For most classes of mail, the Postal Service shows a change in unit attributable cost in mills (tenths of a cent). However, the unit attributable cost of Media and Library Mail declines by 4.5 cents and the unit attributable PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 41337 cost of International Mail rises by 1.7 cents. Id. at 16. The Petition, and an accompanying Appendix, are available for review on the Commission’s Web site, https:// www.prc.gov. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, James Callow is designated as Public Representative to represent the interests of the general public in this proceeding. Comments are due no later than July 31, 2012. It is ordered: 1. The Petition of the United States Postal Service Requesting Initiation of a Proceeding To Consider Proposed Changes in Analytical Principles (Proposals One through Five), filed June 26, 2012, is granted. 2. The Commission establishes Docket No. RM2012–5 to consider the matters raised by the Postal Service’s Petition. 3. Interested persons may submit comments on Proposals One through Five no later than July 31, 2012. Reply comments are due no later than August 10, 2012. 4. James Callow is appointed to serve as the Public Representative to represent the interests of the general public in this proceeding. 5. The Secretary shall arrange for publication of this notice in the Federal Register. By the Commission. Ruth Ann Abrams, Acting Secretary. [FR Doc. 2012–16570 Filed 7–12–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Part 52 [EPA–R03–OAR–2010–0847; FRL–9697–8] Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Delaware; Control Technique Guidelines for Plastic Parts, Metal Furniture, Large Appliances, and Miscellaneous Metal Parts Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed rule. AGENCY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Delaware State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) on April 1, 2010 and March 9, 2012. These SIP revisions consist of amendments to Delaware’s regulation for the Control of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and meet the SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\13JYP1.SGM 13JYP1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 135 (Friday, July 13, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41336-41337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16570]


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POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION

39 CFR Part 3050

[Docket No. RM2012-5; Order No. 1388]


Analytical Methods Used in Periodic Reporting

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of filing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Commission is noticing a recently-filed Postal Service 
request to initiate an informal rulemaking proceeding to consider 
changes in analytical methods used in periodic reporting. This notice 
addresses procedural steps associated with the filing.

DATES: Comments are due July 31, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically via the Commission's Filing 
Online system at https://www.prc.gov. Commenters who cannot submit their 
views electronically should contact the person identified in FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by telephone for advice on alternatives to 
electronic filing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel 
at 202-789-6820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 26, 2012, the Postal Service filed a 
petition pursuant to 39 CFR 3050.11 requesting that the Commission 
initiate an informal rulemaking proceeding to consider changes in the 
analytical methods approved for use in periodic reporting.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Petition of the United States Postal Service for the 
Initiation of a Proceeding to Consider Proposed Changes in 
Analytical Principles (Proposals One through Five), June 26, 2012 
(Petition).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Proposal One. Elimination of Separate Delivery Costs for Carrier 
Route Letters, Flats, and Parcels. The Postal Service proposes to 
eliminate the separate, shape-based reporting of unit costs within 
Standard Mail Carrier Route. The Postal Service states that ``Carrier 
Route flats represent over 99

[[Page 41337]]

percent of Carrier Route volume,'' and that Carrier Route letter costs 
are unreliable. Petition at 2-3. The Commission discussed the 
reliability issue in the 2011 Annual Compliance Determination Report. 
FY2011 ACD at 120-121. In the ACD, the Commission recognized the 
possibility of merging unit cost data for Carrier Route letters and 
flats, but did not discuss unit costs of Carrier Route parcels. Id. at 
121.
    Proposal Two. Calculation of City Carrier Scanning Costs for All 
Non-Accountable Delivery Scans. Last year, the Postal Service 
introduced the USPS Tracking Barcode to better track parcels. However, 
the Postal Service states that the costs of USPS Tracking Barcode 
delivery scans performed by city carriers during street activities are 
not calculated. The Postal Service proposes to extend the established 
methodology for calculating the city carrier street scanning costs to 
all non-accountable delivery scans performed by city carriers during 
street activities (Cost Segment 7). The methodology would also apply to 
other non-accountable delivery scans that the Postal Service may 
introduce in the future. Petition at 4. According to the Postal 
Service, Proposal Two would increase the attributable costs of domestic 
market dominant parcels by between 1.7 and 3.2 percent, increase the 
attributable costs of domestic competitive products by 1.9 percent, 
reduce the attributable costs of domestic market dominant ancillary 
services by between 0.3 and 0.6 percent, and reduce the attributable 
costs of International Mail by 0.2 percent. Id. at 5-6.
    Proposal Three. Changes in IOCS Encirclement Rules. Currently, all 
Registered mail, both domestic and International, is encircled in all 
operations.\2\ According to the Postal Service, this is consistent with 
operations for domestic Registered and outbound International 
Registered, because such pieces receive hand-to-hand transfers. 
However, in 2009, the Postal Service says that it changed the operating 
procedures for inbound Registered mail such that those pieces now 
travel in the regular letters and flats mailstreams rather than in the 
Registered mailstream. The Postal Service proposes to update the 
encirclement rules for inbound Registered mail and for certain other 
Extra Services to reflect changes in operations and to correct 
inconsistencies. For the C.O.D., Certified, Insured, and Signature 
Confirmation Extra Services, encirclement would be added for certain 
mail processing and window operations. Petition at 7-8.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Encirclement is the process of allocating the cost of 
handling a mailpiece with an Extra Service to the Extra Service 
rather than to the host mailpiece. Encirclement is appropriate when 
an Extra Service is the main reason that an employee handles a 
mailpiece. Id. at 7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Proposal Three would affect attributable costs in Cost Segment 3. 
Inbound Registered mail attributable costs would decline by 38.3 
percent. Attributable costs of competitive products would decline by 
0.1 percent. Attributable costs of First-Class mail would decline by 
0.7 percent. Attributable costs of Parcel Post would decline by 0.4 
percent. Attributable costs of Inbound LC/AO would increase by between 
6.5 and 13.8 percent. Attributable costs of certain Extra Services 
would increase by between 1.7 and 64.8 percent. Id. at 9.
    Proposal Four. Changes in IOCS Reporting Codes. The Postal Service 
proposes to make changes to In-Office Cost System activity codes and 
operation codes. These changes are:
    1. Streamline activity codes by eliminating codes that are no 
longer used for costing;
    2. Combine the operation codes for Outgoing Primary Distribution 
and Outgoing Secondary Distribution into one code;
    3. Add a code for Managed Mail Distribution; and
    4. Add or change codes to account for the recent transfers of 
Parcel Select Lightweight and First-Class Package Service to the 
competitive product list. Id. at 10-12. The Postal Service asserts that 
Proposal Four will have no impact on product costs. Id. at 13.
    Proposal Five. Changes to Methodology of Distributing Costs 
Incurred by Vehicle Service Drivers. The Postal Service proposes a new 
distribution key for allocating the attributable costs of Vehicle 
Service Drivers (Cost Segment 8). The new distribution key is derived 
from a new subsystem of the Transportation Cost System (TRACS) called 
TRACS-VSD. The current distribution key relies on the costs of intra-
sectional center facility purchased highway transportation in Cost 
Segment 14. The Postal Service believes that it has developed a 
sampling frame that enables the development of a statistical system 
similar to the four TRACS subsystems representing purchased highway 
transportation. Id. at 14-15.
    For most classes of mail, the Postal Service shows a change in unit 
attributable cost in mills (tenths of a cent). However, the unit 
attributable cost of Media and Library Mail declines by 4.5 cents and 
the unit attributable cost of International Mail rises by 1.7 cents. 
Id. at 16.
    The Petition, and an accompanying Appendix, are available for 
review on the Commission's Web site, https://www.prc.gov.
    Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, James Callow is designated as Public 
Representative to represent the interests of the general public in this 
proceeding. Comments are due no later than July 31, 2012.
    It is ordered:
    1. The Petition of the United States Postal Service Requesting 
Initiation of a Proceeding To Consider Proposed Changes in Analytical 
Principles (Proposals One through Five), filed June 26, 2012, is 
granted.
    2. The Commission establishes Docket No. RM2012-5 to consider the 
matters raised by the Postal Service's Petition.
    3. Interested persons may submit comments on Proposals One through 
Five no later than July 31, 2012. Reply comments are due no later than 
August 10, 2012.
    4. James Callow is appointed to serve as the Public Representative 
to represent the interests of the general public in this proceeding.
    5. The Secretary shall arrange for publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register.

    By the Commission.
Ruth Ann Abrams,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-16570 Filed 7-12-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-FW-P
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