Department of Treasury January 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is announcing virtual listening sessions to receive input from the public on labeling of wine, distilled spirits, and malt beverages to disclose per-serving alcohol and nutritional information, major food allergens, and/or ingredients. The Department of the Treasury's February 2022 report on ``Competition in the Markets for Beer, Wine, and Spirits'' recommended that TTB revive or initiate rulemaking in these areas. These listening sessions are intended to engage the public, including consumers, public health stakeholders, and industry members of all sizes, and facilitate the public's ability to provide input to inform rulemaking. This notice sets forth the dates and times of the virtual listening sessions and instructions for registration. It also opens a docket for submitting written comments on the issues to be discussed in the listening sessions.

On December 11, 2023, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) published a Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) inviting Applications for Financial Assistance (FA) or Technical Assistance (TA) awards under the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) fiscal year (FY) 2024 Funding Round. The CDFI Fund is issuing this notice to correct the maximum TA award amount cited in the Executive Summary of the NOFA. In the Federal Register/Vol. 88, No. 236/Monday, December 11, 2023/ Notices. On page 85972, in the first column, the following sentence of the Executive Summary: ``(ii) TA awards of up to $250,000 to build Certified and Emerging CDFIs' organizational capacity to serve Eligible Markets and/or their Target Markets'' is corrected to read: ``(ii) TA awards of up to $300,000 to build Certified and Emerging CDFIs' organizational capacity to serve Eligible Markets and/or their Target Markets.'' All other award amount information shall remain in accordance with the NOFA published on December 11, 2023.

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites comment on a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and the 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 concerning the renewal of its information collection titled, ``Examination Survey.''

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department), the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (Labor Department), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) are publishing this Request for Information to develop a public record for purposes of the directive in the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0). Specifically, this Request for Information addresses section 319 of SECURE 2.0, requiring that these agencies review the existing reporting and disclosure requirements for certain retirement plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that are applicable to each agency. Following this review, the agencies are to report to Congress, no later than December 29, 2025, concerning the effectiveness of the reporting and disclosure requirements. The report will include recommendations on consolidating, simplifying, standardizing, and improving such requirements with the dual goals of reducing compliance burdens and ensuring plan participants' and beneficiaries' timely receipt and better understanding of the information they need to monitor their plans, prepare for retirement, and get the benefits they have earned. The report will also consider how participants and beneficiaries are providing preferred contact information, the methods by which plan sponsors and plans are furnishing disclosures, and the rate at which participants and beneficiaries are receiving, accessing, understanding, and retaining disclosures. Consistent with the directive in section 319 of SECURE 2.0, this Request for Information focuses generally on the overall effectiveness of the reporting and disclosure frameworks in ERISA and the Code. Responses to this Request for Information will inform the agencies in preparation of the required report to Congress and in any future action taken by the agencies to enhance the effectiveness of existing requirements.

The United States Mint announces pricing for the Liberty & Britannia 24K High Relief Gold Proof Coin on the 2024 Pricing of Numismatic Gold, Commemorative Gold, Platinum, and Palladium Products Grid. The complete 2024 Pricing of Numismatic Gold, Commemorative Gold, Platinum, and Palladium Products Grid will be available online at https://catalog.usmint.gov/coin-programs/american-eagle-coins . Pricing can vary weekly dependent upon the London Bullion Market Association gold, platinum, and palladium prices weekly average. The pricing for all United States Mint numismatic gold, platinum, and palladium products is evaluated every Wednesday and modified as necessary.

This document sets forth final regulations providing guidance relating to the minimum present value requirements applicable to certain defined benefit pension plans. These regulations provide guidance on changes made by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 to the prescribed interest rate and mortality table and other guidance, including rules regarding the treatment of preretirement mortality discounts and Social Security level income options. These regulations affect participants, beneficiaries, sponsors, and administrators of defined benefit pension plans.

The Department of the Treasury is amending regulations that govern the acceptability and valuation of collateral pledged to secure deposits of public monies and other financial interests of the government under Treasury's Fiscal Service collateral programs. This final rule is a non-substantive, technical amendment that updates a website and removes outdated contact information referenced in those regulations.

This document corrects a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG- 132569-17) published in the Federal Register on November 22, 2023, containing proposed regulations that would amend the regulations relating to the energy credit for the taxable year in which eligible energy property is placed in service.

This document provides a notice of public hearing on proposed regulations that would provide guidance regarding the proposed regulations under sections 25E, 30D, and 6213 with respect to the clean vehicle credits as amended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

This document extends the period to submit comments or to request a public hearing for a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG- 142338-07) that was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. The proposed regulations relate to excise taxes on taxable distributions made by a sponsoring organization from a donor advised fund, and on the agreement of certain fund managers to the making of such distributions.

This document announces changes to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) maximum civil money penalties as adjusted for inflation. The inflation adjustments are required to implement the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposes to establish the 70,437-acre ``Conneaut Creek'' American viticultural area (AVA) in Ashtabula County, Ohio. The proposed AVA is located entirely within the boundaries of the existing Lake Erie AVA. 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. TTB invites comments on these proposals.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposes to rename the established ``Mendocino Ridge'' American viticultural area (AVA) in Mendocino County, California, as ``Mendocino Coast Ridge.'' The proposed name change would not affect the size or boundary description of the AVA. 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. TTB invites comments on this proposal.

This document cancels a public hearing on proposed regulations concerning the statutory disallowance rule enacted by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 to disallow a Federal income tax deduction for a qualified conservation contribution made by a partnership or an S corporation after December 29, 2022, if the amount of the contribution exceeds 2.5 times the sum of each partner's or S corporation shareholder's relevant basis.