Public Access to Materials Underlying Impact Analyses; Statement of Policy, 75893-75894 [2020-25957]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 229 / Friday, November 27, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
45 CFR Subtitle A
Office of the Secretary
Policy on Redundant, Overlapping, or
Inconsistent Regulations
45 CFR Subtitle A
Immediate Office of the
Secretary, Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS).
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Policy statement.
The Immediate Office of the
Secretary (IOS) is issuing this policy
regarding redundant, overlapping, or
inconsistent regulations.
SUMMARY:
DATES:
November 27, 2020.
The
Department believes that its decisionmaking ought to be transparent, rational,
and well-honed to achieve legitimate
government objectives with minimum
transaction costs to the affected sector.
This policy furthers those objectives and
the objectives of the Richardson Waiver
(see 36 FR 2532 (Feb. 5, 1971)), and
various Executive Orders by requiring
that all regulations issued by this
Department are necessary,
understandable, and provide clear
guidance to the public and regulated
entities regarding the standards to be
met and procedures to be followed.
Redundant, overlapping, or inconsistent
regulations undermine these goals by
injecting uncertainty, creating
potentially conflicting regulatory
regimes, and increasing transactions
costs with no discernible benefit to the
public.
Effective immediately, all agencies
and offices of the Department that
prepare regulations must ensure that
any rule is not inconsistent with, and
does not overlap with, any regulation
that has already been issued through an
agency within the Department. In the
event an agency proposing that the
Secretary issue a rule discovers that
such rule is inconsistent or overlaps
with another Department rule, the
proposing agency shall not recommend
issuance until it also recommends to the
Secretary the steps to be taken to avoid
duplicative or overlapping regulations.
Collection of information
requirements: This document does not
impose information collection
requirements.
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Brian Harrison,
Chief of Staff, Department of Health and
Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2020–26023 Filed 11–24–20; 8:45 am]
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Public Access to Materials Underlying
Impact Analyses; Statement of Policy
The Department believes that its
decision-making ought to be as
transparent as appropriate to better
enable the citizenry to comment on its
proposed rules and demonstration
projects. This document furthers that
objective and the objectives of the
Richardson Waiver (see 36 FR 2532
(Feb. 5, 1971)) by requiring that all
assumptions, working papers, models,
and other information used as part of
any impact analysis (e.g., economic,
actuarial) associated with a rule
(including ratemakings) or
demonstration project (hereinafter,
‘‘analyses’’) are posted on the
Department’s website at the time the
results of the analysis are publicly
disclosed, subject to the limitations set
forth below. This document also applies
to rules issued or demonstration
projects approved by this Department
jointly with one or more other
Departments, but only after consultation
with such other Departments and only
with respect to the analyses performed
by this Department.
The Department’s regulations and
demonstration projects involving federal
healthcare programs, the Affordable
Care Act, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act, or the Public Health Service Act are
amongst the most economically
significant actions undertaken by any
Federal agency. The Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation, the Office of Economics and
Analysis within the Office of Policy,
Legislation, and International Affairs at
the Food and Drug Administration, the
Office of the Actuary at the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services, and
other applicable agencies and offices all
undertake impact analyses that assess or
seek to predict the wide range of
economic and other impacts and
burdens associated with each rule or
demonstration project.
The Office of Management and Budget
(‘‘OMB’’) Circular A–4 requires agencies
to make their impact analyses
reproducible by third-party evaluators.
Disclosing the information underlying
such analyses, to the extent permitted
by law and consistent with robust
privacy protections, will promote an
informed public comment process that
in turn advances both the quality and
accountability of the Department’s
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75893
important programs. Implementing this
policy will allow the public to review
and evaluate the methodologies and
assumptions that underlie the impact
analysis. This transparency should
enable a more accurate calculation of
anticipated effects because the public
will be better positioned to analyze and
provide formal comment upon the
models and data to identify and correct
faulty assumptions or other errors.
Effective for any rulemaking or
demonstration project proposed after
November 30, 2020, all agencies and
offices of the Department which issue
analyses, whether economic, actuarial
or otherwise, as part of a proposed or
final rulemaking or demonstration
project must post for public viewing on
the Department’s website all data and
assumptions underlying any such
analysis, including all working papers,
all calculations, all references, and all
other information necessary to allow a
third-party to replicate the agency’s
analytic work. For purposes of this
Notice, a rulemaking or demonstration
project is deemed to have started with
the publication in the Federal Register
of a notice of proposed rulemaking or
proposed demonstration projection,
advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking or final rule (whether
interim or otherwise) or demonstration
project, whichever occurs first.
The disclosure must occur no later
than 3 days after the date when the
results of such analyses are publicly
released and are to be posted in-full on
the Department’s website
notwithstanding Exemption 5 of the
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.
552(b)(5)), except as noted below. This
Notice does not contemplate the release
of information that would otherwise be
exempt from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act, other than
Exemption 5 as noted in the preceding
sentence, or the Privacy Act of 1974.
The disclosure requirements in this
Notice do not apply to analyses
undertaken for settlement or litigation
purposes or to communications with the
Executive Office of the President, OMB,
or other departments or agencies that
are not part of a published analysis for
a rulemaking or demonstration project,
or to information that is deemed to fall
within the attorney-client privilege, or
to privileges that inure to officials
outside this Department. Whether an
exception contained in this paragraph
applies shall be determined by the
Office of the General Counsel in
consultation with the relevant division
within the Department.
Nothing in this policy shall be
construed to impair or otherwise affect
the functions of the Director of OMB
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75894
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 229 / Friday, November 27, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
relating to budgetary or administrative
proposals. The effect of regulations on
estimates of budget baseline spending
will continue to be developed separately
using the budget’s economic and
technical assumptions according to
OMB Circular A–11.
Alex M. Azar II,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–25957 Filed 11–24–20; 8:45 am]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 51
[WC Docket No. 18–156; FCC 20–143; FR
ID 17154]
8YY Charge Reform
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
In this document, the
Commission takes definitive steps to
address the arbitrage and fraud that
have increasingly undermined the
system of intercarrier compensation that
currently underpins toll free calling.
Those steps include transitioning 8YY
end office originating charges to billand-keep over approximately three
years and creating a single charge for
8YY tandem switching and transport
services and capping it at a lower,
uniform rate. The order caps rates for
the database queries necessary to route
toll free calls, reduces them to a national
uniform rate over approximately three
years, and limits such database query
charges to one per call. Finally, the
Commission allows carriers to use
existing mechanisms to recover lost
revenue. The measures will reduce the
incentives for carriers to engage in 8YY
access arbitrage and lower the costs of
8YY services overall.
DATES: The amendments in this
document shall be effective December
28, 2020, except for §§ 51.907(i) through
(k) (instruction 4), 51.909(l) through (o)
(instruction 5), and 51.911(e)
(instruction 6.b.), which are delayed.
The FCC will publish a document in the
Federal Register announcing the
effective date for those sections.
ADDRESSES: Federal Communications
Commission, 445 12th Street, SW,
Washington, DC 20554.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Peter Bean, Wireline Competition
Bureau’s Pricing Policy Division at 202–
418–1520 or via email at Peter.Bean@
fcc.gov.
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SUMMARY:
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This a
final rule summary for the
Commission’s report and order released
October 9, 2020. A full text copy of this
document can be accessed at the
following internet address: https://
www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-modernizesrules-toll-free-calls.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
1. 8YY services have long been a
prominent fixture of the
telecommunications landscape. Calls to
8YY numbers differ from other calls
carried over the public switched
telephone network in that the party
receiving the call—not the party placing
the call—pays the toll charges. When
long-distance calls were expensive,
allowing consumers to call businesses
and other institutions without worrying
about the cost of toll service was a
benefit to consumers and to the
companies receiving their calls.
Reductions in toll rates and the rise of
unlimited, all-distance calling plans
have largely eliminated separate toll
charges for consumers, yet 8YY services
continue to have significant value, as
evidenced by the persistently high
demand for toll free numbers.
Businesses and other institutions
increasingly use 8YY numbers to
support branding efforts, and to
facilitate and evaluate marketing
efforts—by, for example, assigning
specific numbers to individual
advertising campaigns to track the
effectiveness of those campaigns.
2. The record indicates that the
percentage of originating traffic
attributable to 8YY has grown
significantly over the years and
currently accounts for the vast majority
of originating access traffic. According
to AT&T, for example, in 2008, 8YY
originating minutes accounted for 64%
of all AT&T originating access minutes
(including minutes from AT&T
affiliates) and by 2019, they accounted
for 83% of all originating access
minutes. Increased demand for toll free
numbers has led the Commission to
authorize a half a dozen additional toll
free codes beyond the original 800 code,
including the 888, 877, 866, 855, 844,
and 833 codes.
A. 8YY Routing and Intercarrier
Compensation
3. To understand intercarrier
compensation for 8YY calls, it is first
necessary to understand how toll free
calls are routed and how that differs
from the routing of non-toll free calls.
When a caller dials an 8YY number, the
originating carrier does not simply pass
the call to the customer’s pre-subscribed
interexchange carrier, as it would for a
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non-toll free call. Instead, to determine
how to route a toll free call, the
originating carrier typically queries an
industrywide database operated by the
Toll Free Number Administrator (the
8YY Database) to determine the 8YY
provider for the dialed number.
Typically, for calls routed over timedivision multiplexing (TDM) based
networks, to query the 8YY Database a
carrier must route the 8YY call through
a switch, equipped with a ‘‘service
switching point.’’ The service switching
point ‘‘suspends’’ routing of the call
and, during this suspension, sends a
query over the signaling system 7 (SS7)
channel to a service control point.
Service control points are ‘‘regional
databases that contain routing
instructions for the toll free numbers
located in . . . particular geographic
regions.’’ 8YY calls from customers
served by local exchange carrier end
offices that are not connected to a
service control point can be routed to
one of the local exchange carrier’s
tandem switches that is equipped with
a service control point, and the call is
processed from there. Local exchange
carriers that do not own a service
control point can purchase database
query services from carriers that do.
4. A database query produces a carrier
identification code, which tells the local
exchange carrier to route the call to the
8YY provider, typically an
interexchange carrier, associated with
that carrier identification code. The
originating carrier then uses its own or
an intermediate carrier’s transport and
switching facilities to route the call to
the designated 8YY provider.
5. Carriers assess intercarrier
compensation somewhat differently for
8YY calls than for other calls. When a
caller places a regular long-distance call
from a landline telephone, the caller’s
local exchange carrier routes that call to
the long-distance carrier (interexchange
carrier) used by the caller through prearranged direct connections with the
interexchange carrier or through a
nearby tandem switch and the
interexchange carrier pays the local
exchange carrier for originating the call.
The interexchange carrier is then
responsible for routing the call to its
final destination and for paying any
charges associated with its decisions
about how to route the call. For its part,
the interexchange carrier is paid by the
customer that placed the call.
6. By contrast, when a caller makes a
toll free call from a landline telephone,
the 8YY provider pays the caller’s local
exchange carrier for originating the call
and for performing the 8YY Database
query. The 8YY provider also pays
tandem switching and transport charges
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 229 (Friday, November 27, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 75893-75894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25957]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
45 CFR Subtitle A
Public Access to Materials Underlying Impact Analyses; Statement
of Policy
The Department believes that its decision-making ought to be as
transparent as appropriate to better enable the citizenry to comment on
its proposed rules and demonstration projects. This document furthers
that objective and the objectives of the Richardson Waiver (see 36 FR
2532 (Feb. 5, 1971)) by requiring that all assumptions, working papers,
models, and other information used as part of any impact analysis
(e.g., economic, actuarial) associated with a rule (including
ratemakings) or demonstration project (hereinafter, ``analyses'') are
posted on the Department's website at the time the results of the
analysis are publicly disclosed, subject to the limitations set forth
below. This document also applies to rules issued or demonstration
projects approved by this Department jointly with one or more other
Departments, but only after consultation with such other Departments
and only with respect to the analyses performed by this Department.
The Department's regulations and demonstration projects involving
federal healthcare programs, the Affordable Care Act, the Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act, or the Public Health Service Act are amongst the most
economically significant actions undertaken by any Federal agency. The
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the
Office of Economics and Analysis within the Office of Policy,
Legislation, and International Affairs at the Food and Drug
Administration, the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, and other applicable agencies and offices all
undertake impact analyses that assess or seek to predict the wide range
of economic and other impacts and burdens associated with each rule or
demonstration project.
The Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') Circular A-4 requires
agencies to make their impact analyses reproducible by third-party
evaluators. Disclosing the information underlying such analyses, to the
extent permitted by law and consistent with robust privacy protections,
will promote an informed public comment process that in turn advances
both the quality and accountability of the Department's important
programs. Implementing this policy will allow the public to review and
evaluate the methodologies and assumptions that underlie the impact
analysis. This transparency should enable a more accurate calculation
of anticipated effects because the public will be better positioned to
analyze and provide formal comment upon the models and data to identify
and correct faulty assumptions or other errors.
Effective for any rulemaking or demonstration project proposed
after November 30, 2020, all agencies and offices of the Department
which issue analyses, whether economic, actuarial or otherwise, as part
of a proposed or final rulemaking or demonstration project must post
for public viewing on the Department's website all data and assumptions
underlying any such analysis, including all working papers, all
calculations, all references, and all other information necessary to
allow a third-party to replicate the agency's analytic work. For
purposes of this Notice, a rulemaking or demonstration project is
deemed to have started with the publication in the Federal Register of
a notice of proposed rulemaking or proposed demonstration projection,
advanced notice of proposed rulemaking or final rule (whether interim
or otherwise) or demonstration project, whichever occurs first.
The disclosure must occur no later than 3 days after the date when
the results of such analyses are publicly released and are to be posted
in-full on the Department's website notwithstanding Exemption 5 of the
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5)), except as noted below.
This Notice does not contemplate the release of information that would
otherwise be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act, other than Exemption 5 as noted in the preceding sentence, or the
Privacy Act of 1974.
The disclosure requirements in this Notice do not apply to analyses
undertaken for settlement or litigation purposes or to communications
with the Executive Office of the President, OMB, or other departments
or agencies that are not part of a published analysis for a rulemaking
or demonstration project, or to information that is deemed to fall
within the attorney-client privilege, or to privileges that inure to
officials outside this Department. Whether an exception contained in
this paragraph applies shall be determined by the Office of the General
Counsel in consultation with the relevant division within the
Department.
Nothing in this policy shall be construed to impair or otherwise
affect the functions of the Director of OMB
[[Page 75894]]
relating to budgetary or administrative proposals. The effect of
regulations on estimates of budget baseline spending will continue to
be developed separately using the budget's economic and technical
assumptions according to OMB Circular A-11.
Alex M. Azar II,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-25957 Filed 11-24-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
