Extension of Currently Open Comment Periods for Rulemakings in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, 22690-22693 [2020-08109]

Download as PDF 22690 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 79 / Thursday, April 23, 2020 / Proposed Rules that authority because it addresses an unsafe condition that is likely to exist or develop on products identified in this rulemaking action. Regulatory Findings The FAA determined that this proposed AD would not have federalism implications under Executive Order 13132. This proposed AD would not have a substantial direct effect on the States, on the relationship between the national Government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. For the reasons discussed, I certify this proposed regulation: 1. Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under Executive Order 12866, 2. Will not affect intrastate aviation in Alaska, and 3. Will not have a significant economic impact, positive or negative, on a substantial number of small entities under the criteria of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39 Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation safety, Incorporation by reference, Safety. The Proposed Amendment Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the Administrator, the FAA proposes to amend 14 CFR part 39 as follows: PART 39—AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES 1. The authority citation for part 39 continues to read as follows: ■ Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701. § 39.13 [Amended] 2. The FAA amends § 39.13 by adding the following new airworthiness directive (AD): ■ Airbus Helicopters: Docket No. FAA–2020– 0410; Product Identifier 2019–SW–030– AD. lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with PROPOSALS (a) Applicability This AD applies to Airbus Helicopters Model AS–365N2, AS 365N3, EC 155B, EC155B1, and SA–365N1 helicopters, certificated in any category, with modification 0763B64 installed, except those with modification 0763C81. (b) Unsafe Condition This AD defines the unsafe condition as loss of tightening torque of the Shur-Lok nut, VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:46 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 250001 which serves as a retainer of the tail rotor (T/ R) drive flange of the main gearbox. This condition could result in loss of the Shur-Lok nut, possibly resulting in disengagement of the T/R drive flange, reduction of T/R drive control, rear transmission vibrations, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. 14 CFR part 91, subpart K, the FAA suggests that you notify your principal inspector, or lacking a principal inspector, the manager of the local flight standards district office or certificate holding district office before operating any aircraft complying with this AD through an AMOC. (c) Comments Due Date The FAA must receive comments by June 22, 2020. (g) Additional Information The subject of this AD is addressed in European Union Aviation Safety Agency (previously European Aviation Safety Agency) (EASA) AD No. 2019–0046, dated March 11, 2019. You may view the EASA AD on the internet at https:// www.regulations.gov in the AD Docket. (d) Compliance You are responsible for performing each action required by this AD within the specified compliance time unless it has already been accomplished prior to that time. (e) Required Actions Within 600 hours time-in-service: (1) For Model AS–365N2, AS 365N3, and SA–365N1 helicopters: (i) Without removing the tail drive shaft flange (a), remove the sliding flange (b) from the flexible coupling (c) as shown in Detail ‘‘B’’ of Figure 1, PRE MOD, of Airbus Helicopters Alert Service Bulletin (ASB) No. AS365–63.00.19, Revision 1, dated January 31, 2019 (ASB AS365–63.00.19); replace the 3 bolts (d) and remove from service the 3 washers (e). (ii) Install the sliding flange (b) with aft output stop (1) part number (P/N) 365A32– 7836–20 as shown in Detail ‘‘B’’ of Figure 1, POST MOD, of ASB AS365–63.00.19 and by following the Accomplishment Instructions, paragraph 3.B.2.b, of ASB AS365–63.00.19. (2) For Model EC 155B and EC155B1 helicopters: (i) Without removing the Shur-Lok nut (a), remove the sliding flange (b) from the flexible coupling (c) as shown in Detail ‘‘B’’ of Figure 1, PRE MOD, of Airbus Helicopters ASB No. EC155–63A013, Revision 1, dated January 31, 2019 (ASB EC155–63A013); replace the 3 bolts (d) and remove from service the 3 washers (e). (ii) Install the sliding flange (b) with aft output stop (1) P/N 365A32–7836–20 as shown in Detail ‘‘B’’ of Figure 1, POST MOD, of ASB EC155–63A013 and by following the Accomplishment Instructions, paragraph 3.B.2.b, of ASB EC155–63A013. Note 1 to paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this AD: ASB EC155–63A013 refers to the ‘‘aft output stop’’ as ‘‘rear output stop.’’ (f) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs) (1) The Manager, Safety Management Section, Rotorcraft Standards Branch, FAA, may approve AMOCs for this AD. Send your proposal to: Matt Fuller, Senior Aviation Safety Engineer, Safety Management Section, Rotorcraft Standards Branch, FAA, 10101 Hillwood Pkwy., Fort Worth, TX 76177; telephone 817–222–5110; email 9-ASW-FTWAMOC-Requests@faa.gov. (2) For operations conducted under a 14 CFR part 119 operating certificate or under PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 (h) Subject Joint Aircraft Service Component (JASC) Code: 6500, Tail Rotor Drive System. Issued on April 17, 2020. Lance T. Gant, Director, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, Aircraft Certification Service. [FR Doc. 2020–08583 Filed 4–22–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910–13–P COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION 17 CFR Chapter I RIN 3038–AD99, RIN 3038–AE31, RIN 3038– AE32, RIN 3038–AE60, RIN 3038–AE94 Extension of Currently Open Comment Periods for Rulemakings in Response to the COVID–19 Pandemic Commodity Futures Trading Commission. ACTION: Extension of currently open comment periods for rulemakings. AGENCY: The coronavirus disease 2019 (‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic may present challenges to the ability of market participants and other members of the public to submit timely comments on the Commission’s proposed rulemakings. Accordingly, the Commission is extending the comment period for the rulemakings listed herein until the dates specified herein in order to provide market participants and other members of the public an additional period of time to comment on the proposed rulemakings. DATES: For those rulemakings listed in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for which the comment period is being extended, comments must be received on or before the dates specified herein. SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\23APP1.SGM 23APP1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 79 / Thursday, April 23, 2020 / Proposed Rules You may submit comments by any of the following methods: • CFTC Website: comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments through the Comments Online process on the website. • Mail: Send to Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581. • Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as Mail, above. Please submit your comments using only one method. To ensure that your comments are considered to the fullest extent possible by the Commission, you should identify each of the proposed rulemakings to which your comment applies by providing the name and RIN number associated with each rulemaking. All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied by an English translation. Comments will be posted as received to https:// www.cftc.gov. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider information that you believe is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (‘‘FOIA’’), a petition for confidential treatment of the exempt information may be submitted according ADDRESSES: to the procedures established in § 145.9 of the Commission’s regulations.1 The Commission reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to review, pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse or remove any or all of your submission from https://www.cftc.gov that it may deem to be inappropriate for publication, such as obscene language. All submissions that have been redacted or removed that contain comments on the merits of the rulemaking will be retained in the public comment file and will be considered as required under the Administrative Procedure Act and other applicable laws, and may be accessible under the FOIA. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: On this release, Laura B. Badian, Assistant General Counsel, (202) 418–5969, lbadian@cftc.gov; Mark T. Fajfar, Assistant General Counsel, (202) 418– 6636, mfajfar@cftc.gov, in each case at the Office of the General Counsel, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581. On any particular rulemaking, the Commission staff members listed in the associated notice of proposed rulemaking. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Extension of Open Comment Periods on Rulemakings and Request for Comment In response to the COVID–19 pandemic, the Commission has worked Title of rulemaking closely with the industry to identify relief or other assistance that may be needed to help ensure the industry can support orderly and liquid markets in the face of the coronavirus. These efforts include staff no-action relief letters that offer market participants temporary, tailored relief to mitigate market disruptions.2 The Commission, at its discretion, has traditionally considered comments submitted after a comment period closes but before adoption of a final rule or order. Nevertheless, in recognition of the challenges that market participants and other interested members of the public may face in commenting on proposed rulemakings as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic, the Commission is formally extending the comment period for the rulemakings listed herein until the dates specified herein. The Commission is continuing to monitor the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on derivatives markets and their participants and may consider additional comment period extensions and other relief as appropriate. The comment periods for the following proposed rulemakings are being extended until the date specified below: Date proposed Position Limits for Derivatives ......................................................................................... Swap Execution Facility Requirements and Real-Time Reporting Requirements .......... Certain Swap Data Repository and Data Reporting Requirements ................................ Amendments to the Real-Time Public Reporting Requirements .................................... Amendments to the Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements .............. 22691 1/30/2020 1/30/2020 5/13/2019 2/20/2020 2/20/2020 Original closing date for comments 4/29/2020 4/20/2020 * 5/20/2020 5/20/2020 5/20/2020 Extended closing date for comments Friday, Friday, Friday, Friday, Friday, 5/15/2020. 5/22/2020. 5/22/2020. 5/22/2020. 5/22/2020. lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with PROPOSALS * Previously extended from 7/29/2019. Issued in Washington, DC, on April 13, 2020, by the Commission. Robert Sidman, Deputy Secretary of the Commission. the affirmative. Commissioners Behnam and Berkovitz voted in the negative. Appendices to Extension of Currently Open Comment Periods for Rulemakings in Response to the COVID–19 Pandemic—Commission Voting Summary and Commissioners’ Statements On this matter, Chairman Tarbert and Commissioners Quintenz and Stump voted in I strongly support extending all current open comment periods on rule proposals, which will allow commenters to solely focus their efforts on the immediate personal and professional needs of the day, and ensure— after we collectively get through these uncertain times—that commenters are able to provide the CFTC with the most fulsome comments to these important policy proposals. Unfortunately, today’s Commission action does not extend current 1 17 CFR 145.9. Commission regulations referred to herein are found at 17 CFR chapter I. 2 See, e.g., CFTC Letter No. 20–11 (Mar. 20, 2020) (granting temporary relief for commodity pool operators) and CFTC Letter No. 20–12 (Mar. 31, 2020) (granting temporary relief for foreign brokers exempt pursuant to Commission Regulation 30.5 to handle U.S. futures market orders). All CFTC staff Appendix 2—Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Rostin Behnam Appendix 1—Commission Voting Summary VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:46 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 250001 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 open comment periods in any meaningful way, and thus I respectfully must dissent. Five open comment periods are extended by today’s action. However, the comment periods for three of the five rules are extended for a mere two days. That is not an extension at all. Instead, it is essentially an announcement that the Commission will not be extending these deadlines. For two of these rules, the comment period opened on February 20, so the entire comment period has essentially spanned the COVID–19 pandemic. Market participants deserve an opportunity to comment outside of current market conditions, and better rules would result. Importantly, the COVID–19 pandemic itself may impact views on the proposed rules, and the CFTC should adjust comment relief granted in response to COVID–19 is available at https://www.cftc.gov/coronavirus. E:\FR\FM\23APP1.SGM 23APP1 22692 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 79 / Thursday, April 23, 2020 / Proposed Rules periods to allow for consideration of these evolving impacts. Similarly, today’s action extends the comment period for position limits by a mere sixteen days. Prior position limits proposals have garnered hundreds of public comments totaling thousands of pages. Producing these comments presumably takes months of work and careful thought by market participants and other stakeholders. Extending the deadline to May 15 as market and public health uncertainty continues is not sufficient. I commend agency Division Directors and staff, who are themselves adjusting in realtime to the new realities of social distancing and teleworking, for issuing no-action relief aimed at providing market participants and registrants with necessary relief.1 These important actions have enabled market participants and registrants to focus their efforts on business continuity, market stability, and personnel management in these turbulent times. I also applaud the CFTC’s recent actions to issue Customer Advisories notifying the public to be on high alert for fraudsters that are seeking to profit from recent market volatility related to COVID– 19.2 I previously stated that the CFTC should temporarily table all non-critical policy work, shifting all our efforts and resources towards monitoring market and institutional stability and resiliency, prioritizing surveillance and enforcement, working with other regulators, and exhaustively engaging with market participants to consider necessary agency action that will alleviate market disruptions and support stable financial markets.3 Although markets continue to show signs of normalcy and stability since the most volatile days of the last two months, there remains significant uncertainty and a steep road ahead. Consequently, I believe comment periods should be of sufficient length to allow market participants to focus on the current crisis, which the public and country continue to endure. I stand ready to work with the Chairman, my fellow Commissioners, and market participants to reach agreement on meaningful extensions. Appendix 3—Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Dan M. Berkovitz lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with PROPOSALS I dissent from today’s extensions of comment periods for several pending 1 CFTC Provides Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID–19 (March 17, 2020), https:// www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8132-20; CFTC Issues Second Wave of Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID–19 (March 17, 2020), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/ PressReleases/8133-20; CFTC Issues Third Wave of Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID–19 (March 20, 2020), https://www.cftc.gov/ PressRoom/PressReleases/8136-20; CFTC Provides Further Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID–19 (March 31, 2020), https://www.cftc.gov/ PressRoom/PressReleases/8142-20. 2 CFTC Issue Customer Advisory on COVID–19 (March 18, 2020), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/ PressReleases/8134-20; CFTC Issues Customer Advisory on Fee Scams (April 6, 2020). 3 Statement of Commissioner Rostin Behnam Regarding COVID–19 and CFTC Digital Assets Rulemaking (March 24, 2020). https://www.cftc.gov/ PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/ behnamstatement032420. VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:46 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 250001 proposed rulemakings because the extensions are too short. Market participants and the public need more time to be able to provide high-quality comments on pending CFTC rulemakings in light of the disruptions resulting from the novel coronavirus pandemic. Public comments serve a critical role in the Commission’s rulemaking deliberative process on regulations that will impact market participants and safeguard derivatives markets for years to come. Not providing the public sufficient time to obtain additional perspective and develop meaningful comments in these extraordinary times is bad public policy. The Commission should afford market participants and interested members of the public comment periods substantially longer than the standard periods that apply absent these extraordinary circumstances. At a minimum, the Commission should extend all pending comment periods by 60 days. The two-week and two-day extensions granted by the Commission today are inadequate. The pandemic has disrupted—and destroyed—life across the country. To date, the coronavirus has killed more than 12,800 Americans.1 The projected toll is expected to be much larger.2 Nearly 300 million Americans (over 90 percent of the population) are under stay-at-home orders.3 Nearly 10 million workers have filed jobless claims during the past two weeks.4 Schools are closed. Non-essential travel is forbidden. By no means can the current circumstances be described as—or treated as—business-asusual. So far, the financial markets have been resilient and have performed their intended functions of price discovery and risk management. Our market infrastructures— exchanges, clearinghouses, and swap execution facilities—have met the challenges posed by record volatility and volumes. Market participants have continued to provide essential risk management tools to American companies to help them maintain operations through this time of national crisis. I commend the work done by the CFTC staff in monitoring these markets and for taking appropriate action to ensure market participants can continue to access the markets while observing social distancing requirements. I also commend the Chairman and the agency’s executive leadership team for enabling all of us at the CFTC to telework and carry out the mission of the agency from safe locations in accordance with state and federal requirements and guidelines. 1 Worldometer, Coronavirus Cases, as of April 8, 2020, available at https://www.worldometers.info/ coronavirus/country/us/. 2 See generally https://www.healthdata.org/. 3 Philip Bump, Nearly all Americans are under stay-at-home orders. Some may have come too late., Washington Post, Mar. 2, 2020, available at https:// www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/02/ nearly-all-americans-are-under-stay-at-homeorders-some-may-have-come-too-late/. 4 Rebecca Rainey and Norman McCaskill, ‘No words for this’: 10 million workers file jobless claims in just two weeks, Politico, Apr. 2, 2020,available at https://www.politico.com/news/ 2020/04/02/unemployment-claims-coronaviruspandemic-161081. PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 The COVID–19 related regulatory relief granted by the CFTC over the past few weeks is clear recognition that the pandemic has disrupted normal operations of market participants. Many functions cannot be performed in a timely manner due to physical displacements and other extraordinary demands on market participants. Just three weeks ago, on March 17, 2020, in CFTC Letter No. 20–02, CFTC staff observed, ‘‘[d]isruptions in transportation and limited access to facilities and support staff as a result of the COVID– 19 pandemic could hamper efforts of market participants to meet their regulatory obligations.’’ The staff noted that no-action relief has been requested ‘‘where compliance is anticipated to be particularly challenging or impossible because of displacement of firm personnel from their normal business sites due to [social distancing] and closures . . . .’’ 5 Subsequent staff no-action relief letters similarly recognized the difficulties that market participants face in complying with CFTC requirements and requests. To accommodate these extraordinary circumstances, the CFTC has granted relief from a variety of CFTC recordkeeping, reporting, and registration requirements. Specifically, the CFTC has granted relief from requirements to: Time-stamp records; 6 record oral conversations; 7 furnish Chief Compliance Officer Annual Reports to the Commission prior to September 1, 2020; 8 register as an Introducing Broker (IB); 9 submit annual compliance reports and fourth quarter financial reports prior to September 1, 2020; 10 comply with audit trail requirements; 11 file Form CPO–PQR pursuant to regulation 4.27; 12 submit commodity pool annual reports due on or before April 30, 2020; 13 distribute periodic account statements to pool participants due on or before April 30, 2020; 14 register as an IB (for foreign brokers acting under specified circumstances); 15 and register as a Major Swap Participant prior to September 30, 2020.16 The Commission’s refusal to grant meaningful rulemaking comment period extensions stands in contrast to its swift recognition of requests by market 5 CFTC Letter No. 20–02. (members of Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) and swap execution facilities (SEFs)); CFTC Letter No. 20–03 (futures commission merchants and IBs); CFTC Letter No. 20–04 (Floor Brokers); CFTC Letter No. 20–05 (Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers); CFTC Letter No. 20–06 (swap dealers). 7 CFTC Letter No. 20–03; CFTC Letter No. 20–04; CFTC Letter No. 20–05; CFTC Letter No. 20–06; CFTC Letter No. 20–07 (SEFs). 8 CFTC Letter No. 20–03; CFTC Letter No. 20–06. 9 CFTC Letter No. 20–04. 10 CFTC Letter No. 20–08 (SEFs). 11 CFTC Letter No. 20–09 (DCMs, to the extent noncompliance is caused by displacement resulting from the COVID–19 pandemic response). 12 CFTC Letter No. 20–11 (relief permits Small or Mid-Sized CPOs to file the required annual reports, and Large CPOs to file quarterly reports for the first quarter 2020, up to 45 days later than required by regulation). 13 Id. 14 Id. 15 CFTC Letter No. 20–12. 16 CFTC Letter No. 20–10. 6 Id. E:\FR\FM\23APP1.SGM 23APP1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 79 / Thursday, April 23, 2020 / Proposed Rules participants for relief from the Commission’s reporting and registration regulations. It is not clear why the Commission believes that market participants who state that it is difficult to comply with fundamental reporting or registration requirements nonetheless will be able to evaluate proposed rules and prepare comments with minimal delay. Today’s extension of two weeks for the position limits rulemaking—a rule that has been a decade in the making—is insignificant given the scope and magnitude of the proposed changes to the existing position limits rules. Further, the commodity markets have experienced unprecedented price movements and stresses over the past several weeks and commenters and the Commission would be well-served to review and take into account how the markets performed in this environment in fashioning and considering public comments. There is no compelling reason to require public comments on a position limits rule that has been ten years in the making without fully considering how the market has performed in the recent conditions of extreme stress. The two extensions of two days for the swap reporting rulemakings are not meaningful. In fact, they are almost disrespectful to the many industry professionals that are attempting to meet the Commission’s comment deadlines under unprecedented circumstances. Typically, comment periods are measured in days. These extensions can be measured in hours. I doubt any market participant will find these extensions of any benefit. It is unreasonable to require market participants to prepare comments on complex rulemakings at the same time they are struggling to comply with fundamental recordkeeping, reporting, and registration obligations. The Commission should extend these comments periods by at least 60 days. [FR Doc. 2020–08109 Filed 4–22–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6351–01–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Part 52 [EPA–R05–OAR–2019–0031; FRL–10007– 82–Region 5] Air Plan Approval; Illinois; Reasonable Further Progress Plan and Other Plan Elements for the Chicago Nonattainment Area for the 2008 Ozone Standard Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed rule. lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with PROPOSALS AGENCY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a revision to the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP) to meet the base year emissions inventory, reasonable further progress (RFP), RFP contingency measures, and motor SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:46 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 250001 vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/ M) requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the Illinois portion of the Chicago-Naperville, Illinois-IndianaWisconsin area (Chicago area) for the 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS or standard). EPA is also proposing to approve the 2017 transportation conformity motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the Illinois portion of the Chicago area for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. EPA is proposing to approve the state’s submission as a SIP revision pursuant to section 110 and part D of the CAA and EPA’s regulations because it satisfies the emissions inventory, RFP, RFP contingency measures, I/M, and transportation conformity requirements for areas classified as moderate nonattainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. Final approval of the Illinois SIP as meeting the I/M and RFP requirements of the CAA for the 2008 ozone NAAQS will permanently stop the Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) clocks for those specific elements, which were triggered by EPA’s December 11, 2017 finding that Illinois failed to submit certain required SIP elements for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. Comments must be received on or before May 26, 2020. DATES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R05– OAR–2019–0031, at https:// www.regulations.gov, or via email to aburano.douglas@epa.gov. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either manner of submission, EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit ADDRESSES: PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 22693 https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ commenting-epa-dockets. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen D’Agostino, Environmental Engineer, Attainment Planning and Maintenance Section, Air Programs Branch (AR–18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886–1767, dagostino.kathleen@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information section is arranged as follows: I. What is the background for this action? II. What is EPA’s evaluation of the Illinois submittal? III. What action is EPA proposing? IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews I. What is the background for this action? A. Background on the 2008 Ozone Standard On March 27, 2008, EPA promulgated a revised 8-hour ozone NAAQS of 0.075 parts per million (ppm).1 Promulgation of a revised NAAQS triggers a requirement for EPA to designate all areas of the country as nonattainment, attainment, or unclassifiable for the NAAQS. For the ozone NAAQS, this also involves classifying any nonattainment areas at the time of designation.2 Ozone nonattainment areas are classified based on the severity of their ozone levels as determined based on the area’s ‘‘design value,’’ which represents air quality in the area for the most recent 3 years. The classifications for ozone nonattainment areas are marginal, moderate, serious, severe, and extreme.3 Areas that EPA designates nonattainment for the ozone NAAQS are subject to the general nonattainment area planning requirements of CAA section 172 and the ozone-specific planning requirements of CAA section 182. Ozone nonattainment areas in the lower classification levels have fewer and/or less stringent mandatory air quality planning and control requirements than those in higher classifications. For marginal areas, a state is required to submit a baseline emissions inventory, adopt provisions into the SIP requiring emissions statements from stationary sources, and implement a nonattainment New Source Review (NSR) program for the relevant 1 73 FR 16436, codified at 40 CFR 50.15. sections 107(d)(1) and 181(a)(1). 3 CAA section 181(a)(1). 2 CAA E:\FR\FM\23APP1.SGM 23APP1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 79 (Thursday, April 23, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 22690-22693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08109]


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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

17 CFR Chapter I

RIN 3038-AD99, RIN 3038-AE31, RIN 3038-AE32, RIN 3038-AE60, RIN 3038-
AE94


Extension of Currently Open Comment Periods for Rulemakings in 
Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Extension of currently open comment periods for rulemakings.

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

SUMMARY: The coronavirus disease 2019 (``COVID-19'') pandemic may 
present challenges to the ability of market participants and other 
members of the public to submit timely comments on the Commission's 
proposed rulemakings. Accordingly, the Commission is extending the 
comment period for the rulemakings listed herein until the dates 
specified herein in order to provide market participants and other 
members of the public an additional period of time to comment on the 
proposed rulemakings.

DATES: For those rulemakings listed in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for 
which the comment period is being extended, comments must be received 
on or before the dates specified herein.

[[Page 22691]]


ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     CFTC Website: comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments through the Comments Online process on the 
website.
     Mail: Send to Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the 
Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette 
Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as Mail, above.
    Please submit your comments using only one method.
    To ensure that your comments are considered to the fullest extent 
possible by the Commission, you should identify each of the proposed 
rulemakings to which your comment applies by providing the name and RIN 
number associated with each rulemaking.
    All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied 
by an English translation. Comments will be posted as received to 
https://www.cftc.gov. You should submit only information that you wish 
to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider 
information that you believe is exempt from disclosure under the 
Freedom of Information Act (``FOIA''), a petition for confidential 
treatment of the exempt information may be submitted according to the 
procedures established in Sec.  145.9 of the Commission's 
regulations.\1\
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    \1\ 17 CFR 145.9. Commission regulations referred to herein are 
found at 17 CFR chapter I.
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    The Commission reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to 
review, pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse or remove any or all of your 
submission from https://www.cftc.gov that it may deem to be 
inappropriate for publication, such as obscene language. All 
submissions that have been redacted or removed that contain comments on 
the merits of the rulemaking will be retained in the public comment 
file and will be considered as required under the Administrative 
Procedure Act and other applicable laws, and may be accessible under 
the FOIA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: On this release, Laura B. Badian, 
Assistant General Counsel, (202) 418-5969, [email protected]; Mark T. 
Fajfar, Assistant General Counsel, (202) 418-6636, [email protected], in 
each case at the Office of the General Counsel, Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581. On any 
particular rulemaking, the Commission staff members listed in the 
associated notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Extension of Open Comment Periods on Rulemakings and Request for 
Comment

    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has worked 
closely with the industry to identify relief or other assistance that 
may be needed to help ensure the industry can support orderly and 
liquid markets in the face of the coronavirus. These efforts include 
staff no-action relief letters that offer market participants 
temporary, tailored relief to mitigate market disruptions.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See, e.g., CFTC Letter No. 20-11 (Mar. 20, 2020) (granting 
temporary relief for commodity pool operators) and CFTC Letter No. 
20-12 (Mar. 31, 2020) (granting temporary relief for foreign brokers 
exempt pursuant to Commission Regulation 30.5 to handle U.S. futures 
market orders). All CFTC staff relief granted in response to COVID-
19 is available at https://www.cftc.gov/coronavirus.
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    The Commission, at its discretion, has traditionally considered 
comments submitted after a comment period closes but before adoption of 
a final rule or order. Nevertheless, in recognition of the challenges 
that market participants and other interested members of the public may 
face in commenting on proposed rulemakings as a result of the COVID-19 
pandemic, the Commission is formally extending the comment period for 
the rulemakings listed herein until the dates specified herein.
    The Commission is continuing to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 
pandemic on derivatives markets and their participants and may consider 
additional comment period extensions and other relief as appropriate.
    The comment periods for the following proposed rulemakings are 
being extended until the date specified below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Original
           Title of rulemaking             Date proposed   closing date     Extended closing date for comments
                                                           for comments
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Position Limits for Derivatives.........       1/30/2020       4/29/2020  Friday, 5/15/2020.
Swap Execution Facility Requirements and       1/30/2020       4/20/2020  Friday, 5/22/2020.
 Real-Time Reporting Requirements.
Certain Swap Data Repository and Data          5/13/2019     * 5/20/2020  Friday, 5/22/2020.
 Reporting Requirements.
Amendments to the Real-Time Public             2/20/2020       5/20/2020  Friday, 5/22/2020.
 Reporting Requirements.
Amendments to the Swap Data                    2/20/2020       5/20/2020  Friday, 5/22/2020.
 Recordkeeping and Reporting
 Requirements.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Previously extended from 7/29/2019.


    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 13, 2020, by the Commission.
Robert Sidman,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.

Appendices to Extension of Currently Open Comment Periods for 
Rulemakings in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic--Commission Voting 
Summary and Commissioners' Statements

Appendix 1--Commission Voting Summary

    On this matter, Chairman Tarbert and Commissioners Quintenz and 
Stump voted in the affirmative. Commissioners Behnam and Berkovitz 
voted in the negative.

Appendix 2--Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Rostin Behnam

    I strongly support extending all current open comment periods on 
rule proposals, which will allow commenters to solely focus their 
efforts on the immediate personal and professional needs of the day, 
and ensure--after we collectively get through these uncertain 
times--that commenters are able to provide the CFTC with the most 
fulsome comments to these important policy proposals. Unfortunately, 
today's Commission action does not extend current open comment 
periods in any meaningful way, and thus I respectfully must dissent.
    Five open comment periods are extended by today's action. 
However, the comment periods for three of the five rules are 
extended for a mere two days. That is not an extension at all. 
Instead, it is essentially an announcement that the Commission will 
not be extending these deadlines. For two of these rules, the 
comment period opened on February 20, so the entire comment period 
has essentially spanned the COVID-19 pandemic. Market participants 
deserve an opportunity to comment outside of current market 
conditions, and better rules would result. Importantly, the COVID-19 
pandemic itself may impact views on the proposed rules, and the CFTC 
should adjust comment

[[Page 22692]]

periods to allow for consideration of these evolving impacts.
    Similarly, today's action extends the comment period for 
position limits by a mere sixteen days. Prior position limits 
proposals have garnered hundreds of public comments totaling 
thousands of pages. Producing these comments presumably takes months 
of work and careful thought by market participants and other 
stakeholders. Extending the deadline to May 15 as market and public 
health uncertainty continues is not sufficient.
    I commend agency Division Directors and staff, who are 
themselves adjusting in real-time to the new realities of social 
distancing and teleworking, for issuing no-action relief aimed at 
providing market participants and registrants with necessary 
relief.\1\ These important actions have enabled market participants 
and registrants to focus their efforts on business continuity, 
market stability, and personnel management in these turbulent times. 
I also applaud the CFTC's recent actions to issue Customer 
Advisories notifying the public to be on high alert for fraudsters 
that are seeking to profit from recent market volatility related to 
COVID-19.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ CFTC Provides Relief to Market Participants in Response to 
COVID-19 (March 17, 2020), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8132-20; CFTC Issues Second Wave of Relief to Market 
Participants in Response to COVID-19 (March 17, 2020), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8133-20; CFTC Issues Third Wave 
of Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID-19 (March 20, 
2020), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8136-20; CFTC 
Provides Further Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID-
19 (March 31, 2020), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8142-20.
    \2\ CFTC Issue Customer Advisory on COVID-19 (March 18, 2020), 
https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8134-20; CFTC Issues 
Customer Advisory on Fee Scams (April 6, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I previously stated that the CFTC should temporarily table all 
non-critical policy work, shifting all our efforts and resources 
towards monitoring market and institutional stability and 
resiliency, prioritizing surveillance and enforcement, working with 
other regulators, and exhaustively engaging with market participants 
to consider necessary agency action that will alleviate market 
disruptions and support stable financial markets.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Statement of Commissioner Rostin Behnam Regarding COVID-19 
and CFTC Digital Assets Rulemaking (March 24, 2020). https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/behnamstatement032420.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Although markets continue to show signs of normalcy and 
stability since the most volatile days of the last two months, there 
remains significant uncertainty and a steep road ahead. 
Consequently, I believe comment periods should be of sufficient 
length to allow market participants to focus on the current crisis, 
which the public and country continue to endure. I stand ready to 
work with the Chairman, my fellow Commissioners, and market 
participants to reach agreement on meaningful extensions.

Appendix 3--Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Dan M. Berkovitz

    I dissent from today's extensions of comment periods for several 
pending proposed rulemakings because the extensions are too short. 
Market participants and the public need more time to be able to 
provide high-quality comments on pending CFTC rulemakings in light 
of the disruptions resulting from the novel coronavirus pandemic.
    Public comments serve a critical role in the Commission's 
rulemaking deliberative process on regulations that will impact 
market participants and safeguard derivatives markets for years to 
come. Not providing the public sufficient time to obtain additional 
perspective and develop meaningful comments in these extraordinary 
times is bad public policy.
    The Commission should afford market participants and interested 
members of the public comment periods substantially longer than the 
standard periods that apply absent these extraordinary 
circumstances. At a minimum, the Commission should extend all 
pending comment periods by 60 days. The two-week and two-day 
extensions granted by the Commission today are inadequate.
    The pandemic has disrupted--and destroyed--life across the 
country. To date, the coronavirus has killed more than 12,800 
Americans.\1\ The projected toll is expected to be much larger.\2\ 
Nearly 300 million Americans (over 90 percent of the population) are 
under stay-at-home orders.\3\ Nearly 10 million workers have filed 
jobless claims during the past two weeks.\4\ Schools are closed. 
Non-essential travel is forbidden. By no means can the current 
circumstances be described as--or treated as--business-as-usual.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Worldometer, Coronavirus Cases, as of April 8, 2020, 
available at https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/.
    \2\ See generally https://www.healthdata.org/.
    \3\ Philip Bump, Nearly all Americans are under stay-at-home 
orders. Some may have come too late., Washington Post, Mar. 2, 2020, 
available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/02/nearly-all-americans-are-under-stay-at-home-orders-some-may-have-come-too-late/.
    \4\ Rebecca Rainey and Norman McCaskill, `No words for this': 10 
million workers file jobless claims in just two weeks, Politico, 
Apr. 2, 2020,available at https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/unemployment-claims-coronavirus-pandemic-161081.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    So far, the financial markets have been resilient and have 
performed their intended functions of price discovery and risk 
management. Our market infrastructures--exchanges, clearinghouses, 
and swap execution facilities--have met the challenges posed by 
record volatility and volumes. Market participants have continued to 
provide essential risk management tools to American companies to 
help them maintain operations through this time of national crisis.
    I commend the work done by the CFTC staff in monitoring these 
markets and for taking appropriate action to ensure market 
participants can continue to access the markets while observing 
social distancing requirements. I also commend the Chairman and the 
agency's executive leadership team for enabling all of us at the 
CFTC to telework and carry out the mission of the agency from safe 
locations in accordance with state and federal requirements and 
guidelines.
    The COVID-19 related regulatory relief granted by the CFTC over 
the past few weeks is clear recognition that the pandemic has 
disrupted normal operations of market participants. Many functions 
cannot be performed in a timely manner due to physical displacements 
and other extraordinary demands on market participants. Just three 
weeks ago, on March 17, 2020, in CFTC Letter No. 20-02, CFTC staff 
observed, ``[d]isruptions in transportation and limited access to 
facilities and support staff as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic 
could hamper efforts of market participants to meet their regulatory 
obligations.'' The staff noted that no-action relief has been 
requested ``where compliance is anticipated to be particularly 
challenging or impossible because of displacement of firm personnel 
from their normal business sites due to [social distancing] and 
closures . . . .'' \5\ Subsequent staff no-action relief letters 
similarly recognized the difficulties that market participants face 
in complying with CFTC requirements and requests.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ CFTC Letter No. 20-02.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To accommodate these extraordinary circumstances, the CFTC has 
granted relief from a variety of CFTC recordkeeping, reporting, and 
registration requirements. Specifically, the CFTC has granted relief 
from requirements to: Time-stamp records; \6\ record oral 
conversations; \7\ furnish Chief Compliance Officer Annual Reports 
to the Commission prior to September 1, 2020; \8\ register as an 
Introducing Broker (IB); \9\ submit annual compliance reports and 
fourth quarter financial reports prior to September 1, 2020; \10\ 
comply with audit trail requirements; \11\ file Form CPO-PQR 
pursuant to regulation 4.27; \12\ submit commodity pool annual 
reports due on or before April 30, 2020; \13\ distribute periodic 
account statements to pool participants due on or before April 30, 
2020; \14\ register as an IB (for foreign brokers acting under 
specified circumstances); \15\ and register as a Major Swap 
Participant prior to September 30, 2020.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ Id. (members of Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) and swap 
execution facilities (SEFs)); CFTC Letter No. 20-03 (futures 
commission merchants and IBs); CFTC Letter No. 20-04 (Floor 
Brokers); CFTC Letter No. 20-05 (Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers); 
CFTC Letter No. 20-06 (swap dealers).
    \7\ CFTC Letter No. 20-03; CFTC Letter No. 20-04; CFTC Letter 
No. 20-05; CFTC Letter No. 20-06; CFTC Letter No. 20-07 (SEFs).
    \8\ CFTC Letter No. 20-03; CFTC Letter No. 20-06.
    \9\ CFTC Letter No. 20-04.
    \10\ CFTC Letter No. 20-08 (SEFs).
    \11\ CFTC Letter No. 20-09 (DCMs, to the extent noncompliance is 
caused by displacement resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic 
response).
    \12\ CFTC Letter No. 20-11 (relief permits Small or Mid-Sized 
CPOs to file the required annual reports, and Large CPOs to file 
quarterly reports for the first quarter 2020, up to 45 days later 
than required by regulation).
    \13\ Id.
    \14\ Id.
    \15\ CFTC Letter No. 20-12.
    \16\ CFTC Letter No. 20-10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission's refusal to grant meaningful rulemaking comment 
period extensions stands in contrast to its swift recognition of 
requests by market

[[Page 22693]]

participants for relief from the Commission's reporting and 
registration regulations. It is not clear why the Commission 
believes that market participants who state that it is difficult to 
comply with fundamental reporting or registration requirements 
nonetheless will be able to evaluate proposed rules and prepare 
comments with minimal delay.
    Today's extension of two weeks for the position limits 
rulemaking--a rule that has been a decade in the making--is 
insignificant given the scope and magnitude of the proposed changes 
to the existing position limits rules. Further, the commodity 
markets have experienced unprecedented price movements and stresses 
over the past several weeks and commenters and the Commission would 
be well-served to review and take into account how the markets 
performed in this environment in fashioning and considering public 
comments. There is no compelling reason to require public comments 
on a position limits rule that has been ten years in the making 
without fully considering how the market has performed in the recent 
conditions of extreme stress.
    The two extensions of two days for the swap reporting 
rulemakings are not meaningful. In fact, they are almost 
disrespectful to the many industry professionals that are attempting 
to meet the Commission's comment deadlines under unprecedented 
circumstances. Typically, comment periods are measured in days. 
These extensions can be measured in hours. I doubt any market 
participant will find these extensions of any benefit.
    It is unreasonable to require market participants to prepare 
comments on complex rulemakings at the same time they are struggling 
to comply with fundamental recordkeeping, reporting, and 
registration obligations. The Commission should extend these 
comments periods by at least 60 days.

[FR Doc. 2020-08109 Filed 4-22-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6351-01-P
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