Executive Office of the President 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice of a revision in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Tariff-Rate Quota (TRQ) allocation for imported refined sugar for the period August 13 through December 31, 2008. The USTR is re-allocating the portion of the increase in the refined sugar TRQ initially allocated to Mexico on August 13, 2008 to the global portion of the refined sugar TRQ, subject to certain conditions.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) invites the general public and Federal agencies to comment on the renewal without change of four (4) standard forms: SF-269, Financial Status Report (Long Form); SF-269A, Financial Status Report (Short Form); SF-272, Federal Cash Transactions Report; and SF-272A, Federal Cash Transactions Report. OMB anticipates that this will be the last renewal of these forms. By no later than October 1, 2009, each federal agency must transition from the SF-269, SF-269A, SF-272, and SF-272A to the Federal Financial Report (FFR), by requiring recipients to use the FFR for all financial reports submitted after the date it makes the transition. In making the transition, an agency would incorporate the requirement to use the FFR into terms and conditions of new and ongoing grant and cooperative agreement awards, State plans, and/or program regulations that specify financial reporting requirements.

This notice announces the President's proposed action to suspend Bolivia's designation as a beneficiary country under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), as amended, and the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act of 2002 (ATPDEA), based on the Bolivian government's failure to meet the programs' counternarcotics cooperation criteria. The President has directed the U.S. Trade Representative to publish this notice and, in accordance with the statute, the U.S. Trade Representative seeks public comment and will hold a public hearing on the proposed action. Comments must be submitted in accordance with the requirements set forth below.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing guidance on drug-free workplace requirements for financial assistance. The guidance conforms with the common rule that 31 Federal agencies published on November 26, 2003 and therefore makes no substantive change to Federal policies and procedures in this area. The agencies issued that common rule after resolving public comments received in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. OMB is proposing to issue this guidance as an administrative simplification that will streamline the policy framework for drug-free workplace requirements in two ways. First, the guidance is in a form suitable for Federal agency adoption, which will reduce the volume of Federal regulations on drug-free workplace, make it easier for the affected public to use them, and make it easier and less expensive for the Federal Government to maintain them. Second, the guidance is located in the recently established Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR). Locating the OMB guidance in 2 CFR will make it easier to find. It also is the first step toward co-locating in the same CFR title the agencies' regulations that implement the guidance, a further simplification for the public. This notice also proposes a minor change to the previously issued 2 CFR part 1, to conform that part with the guidance published today.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests comments on its Draft 2008 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulation. The full Draft Report is available at https:// www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/regpol-reports_congress.html, and is divided into four chapters. Chapter I examines the benefits and costs of major Federal regulations issued in fiscal year 2007 and summarizes the benefits and costs of major regulations issued between September 1997 and 2007. It also discusses regulatory impacts on State, local, and tribal governments, small business, wages, and economic growth. Chapter II examines trends in regulation since OMB began to compile benefit and cost estimates records in 1981. Chapter III provides an update on implementation of the Information Quality Act, and Chapter IV summarizes agency compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.