Department of the Treasury August 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains final regulations that clarify the definition of real property for purposes of the real estate investment trust provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These final regulations provide guidance to real estate investment trusts and their shareholders.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 8038-B, Information Return for Build America Bonds and Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds.

The Board of Trustees of the Iron Workers Local 17 Pension Fund, a multiemployer pension plan, has submitted a revised application to the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to reduce benefits under the plan in accordance with the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA). This revised application was submitted on July 29, 2016, by the Board of Trustees of the Iron Workers Local 17 Pension Fund following the withdrawal of the application that it submitted on December 23, 2015. The purpose of this notice is to announce that the revised application has been published on the Treasury Web site and to request public comments on the application from interested parties, including participants, beneficiaries, employee organizations, and contributing employers of the Iron Workers Local 17 Pension Fund.

This document proposes to amend the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations regarding the requirement to file a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) certification when importing into the customs territory of the United States chemicals in bulk form or as part of mixtures and articles containing a chemical or mixture. The proposed regulations include an electronic option for filing TSCA certifications, consistent with the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006. This document also proposes to clarify and add certain definitions, and to eliminate the paper-based blanket certification process. The document was prepared in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency with primary responsibility for implementing TSCA.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 1024, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(a).

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning the collection of qualitative feedback on agency service delivery.

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a revised information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC previously received OMB approval for a voluntary information collection in the Final Interagency Policy Statement Establishing Joint Standards for Assessing the Diversity Policies and Practices of Entities Regulated by the Agencies (Policy Statement). The OCC now is soliciting comment on a revised information collection which adds a ``Diversity Self-Assessment Template for Entities Regulated by the OCC'' (Template) to facilitate the self-assessment described in the Policy Statement.

As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comment on a renewal, without change, to information collection requirements finalized on March 15, 2006 (71 FR 13260, RIN 1506-AA64), imposing a special measure against the Commercial Bank of Syria, including its subsidiary Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern. This request for comments is being made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (``PRA''), Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9777) that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, July 18, 2016 (81 FR 46582). The final regulations relate to the arbitrage restrictions under section 148 of the Internal Revenue Code applicable to tax-exempt bonds and other tax-advantaged bonds issued by State and local governments.

This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') regulations to update the provisions relating to the prohibition on importation of jadeite or rubies mined or extracted from Burma, and articles of jewelry containing jadeite or rubies mined or extracted from Burma, following the expiration of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, as amended by the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008. The CBP regulations are amended to reflect the import prohibitions set forth in Executive Order 13651 of August 6, 2013.

In accordance with section 421 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, this rule amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulations to set forth procedures for CBP to investigate claims of evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) establishes the approximately 500-square mile ``Champlain Valley of New York'' viticultural area in Clinton and Essex Counties, New York. The Champlain Valley of New York viticultural area is not located within any other established viticultural area. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). Currently the Bureau of the Fiscal Service within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning the U.S. Treasury Securities State and Local Government Series Early Redemption Request.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently the Bureau of the Fiscal Service within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning the Assignment Form.

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the revision of an information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting comment on a revision to its collection titled ``Uniform Transfer Agency Registration and Amendment Form.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

This document contains proposed amendments to the regulations that provide user fees for installment agreements. The proposed amendments affect taxpayers who wish to pay their liabilities through installment agreements. The proposed effective date for these proposed amendments to the regulations is January 1, 2017. This document also provides a notice of public hearing on these proposed amendments to the regulations.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is removing the name of one individual whose property and interests in property have been blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13288 of March 6, 2003, ``Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Institutions in Zimbabwe,'' as amended by Executive Order 13391, ``Blocking Property of Additional Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe,'' and Executive Order 13469 of July 25, 2008, ``Blocking Property of Additional Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe.''

In accordance with the requirements of the PRA (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (the agencies) may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. On April 18, 2016, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), published a notice in the Federal Register (81 FR 22702) to request public comment on a proposal to extend, with revision, the Regulatory Capital Reporting for Institutions Subject to the Advanced Capital Adequacy Framework (FFIEC 101), which is a currently approved information collection. On April 27, 2016, the agencies published a correction of the April 18 notice in the Federal Register (81 FR 24940). The agencies proposed to collect supplementary leverage ratio (SLR) data in new SLR Tables 1 and 2 of FFIEC 101 Schedule A from all banking organizations subject to the advanced approaches risk-based capital rule (generally, banking organizations with $250 billion or more in total consolidated assets or $10 billion or more in on-balance sheet foreign exposures) (advanced approaches banking organizations), unless the advanced approaches banking organization is (i) a consolidated subsidiary of a bank holding company (BHC), savings and loan holding company (SLHC), or depository institution that is subject to the disclosure requirements in Table 13 of section 173 of the advanced approaches risk-based capital rule (advanced approaches rule), or (ii) a subsidiary of a non-U.S. banking organization that is subject to comparable public disclosure requirements in its home jurisdiction. Advanced approaches banking organizations would begin reporting the proposed SLR data items in FFIEC 101 Schedule A, SLR Tables 1 and 2, effective with the September 30, 2016, reporting date. Separately, the proposed collection of SLR data in SLR Tables 1 and 2 of FFIEC 101 Schedule A would apply to any U.S. intermediate holding companies (IHCs) formed or designated for purposes of compliance with the Board's Regulation YY (12 CFR 252.153) that are advanced approaches banking organizations, effective with the March 31, 2018, reporting date (advanced approaches IHC). Any subsidiary BHC controlled by a foreign banking organization (FBO) that was subject to the SLR requirements prior to the formation of an IHC would complete FFIEC 101 Schedule A, SLR Tables 1 and 2, through the December 31, 2017, reporting date. In addition, the agencies proposed that an advanced approaches banking organization should provide its Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) on the cover page of the report beginning September 30, 2016, only if the organization already has an LEI. The comment period for this proposal expired on June 27, 2016. The agencies did not receive any comments addressing the proposed changes and are now submitting requests to OMB for review and approval of the extension, with revision, of the FFIEC 101. As had been proposed, these reporting changes would take effect as of the September 30, 2016, or the March 31, 2018, report date, as applicable.

This document proposes amendments to the U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations relating to the importation into the United States of certain vehicles and engines subject to federal antipollution emission standards under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Compliance with these emission standards must be demonstrated to CBP by either filing, or retaining and producing upon request, the appropriate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declaration form or by establishing that the subject imports are exempt from this requirement. CBP is proposing to amend its regulations to harmonize the documentation requirements applicable to different classes of vehicles and engines that are subject to the CAA's emission standards. This document also proposes to permit the required EPA emission compliance forms to be filed with CBP electronically. CBP is proposing other non- substantive amendments to update regulatory citations and delete obsolete provisions. The proposed changes set forth in this document support consistency in the administration of CBP's vehicle and engine imports program. In addition, electronic filing of EPA declaration forms will support key modernization initiatives, expedite the entry and clearance process, enhance targeting and enforcement objectives, and connect CBP with partner government agencies and the trade community through a single window access point.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13(44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Publication 1075, Tax Information Security Guidelines for Federal, State, and Local Agencies.