Management and Budget Office – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing to issue a new OMB Circular, Implementing Category Management for Common Goods and Services, to codify category management, a strategic practice where Federal contracting for common goods and services is managed by categories of spending across the Government and supported by teams of experts. The Circular establishes key principles, and strategies and policies, roles and responsibilities, and metrics to measure success.

OMB is issuing the OMB Sequestration Update Report to the President and Congress for Fiscal Year 2017 to report on the status of the discretionary caps and on the compliance of pending discretionary appropriations legislation with those caps. For fiscal year 2016, the report finds enacted appropriations to be within the spending limits. The report also finds that 2016 supplemental funding amounts for Zika virus response included in Divisions B and D of the pending Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 and Zika Response and Preparedness Conference Report would not breach the 2016 limits if enacted. For fiscal year 2017, the report finds that, if the current limits remain unchanged, under OMB's estimates of actions to date by the House of Representatives for the 12 annual appropriations bills would result in a sequestration of approximately $17 million in defense programs and $775 million in non- defense programs, respectively. The report finds that actions by the Senate for both categories are in compliance with the current spending limits. Finally, the report also contains OMB's Preview Estimate of the Disaster Relief Funding Adjustment for FY 2017.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a system for classifying establishments (individual business locations) by type of economic activity. Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Estad[iacute]stica y Geograf[iacute]a (INEGI), Statistics Canada, and the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB), through its Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC), collaborate on NAICS to make the industry statistics produced by the three countries comparable. Under 31 U.S.C. 1104(d) and 44 U.S.C. 3504(e), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is announcing its final decisions for adoption of NAICS revisions for 2017 as recommended by the ECPC in Part IV of OMB's notice for solicitation of comments published in the August 4, 2015, Federal Register (80 FR 46480-46484). More details on these decisions are presented in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

Under 31 U.S.C. 1104(d) and 44 U.S.C. 3504(e), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking public comment on the Standard Occupational Classification Policy Committee's (SOCPC) recommendations presented in this notice for revising the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) for 2018. The review and revision of the 2010 SOC is intended to be completed by the end of 2016 and then released for use beginning in reference year 2018. The SOC is designed to reflect the current occupational structure of the United States; it classifies all occupations in which work is performed for pay or profit. The SOC is intended to cover all such jobs in the national economy, including occupations in the public, private, and military sectors. All Federal agencies that publish occupational data for statistical purposes are required to use the SOC; State and local government agencies are strongly encouraged to use this national system to promote a common language for categorizing and analyzing occupations. In a prior Federal Register notice (79 FR 29620, May 22, 2014), OMB and the SOCPC requested comments on: (1) The proposed revision to the 2010 SOC Classification Principles, (2) the intention to retain the 2010 SOC Coding Guidelines, (3) the intention to retain the 2010 SOC Major Group structure, (4) the correction, change, or combination of 2010 SOC detailed occupations, and (5) proposals for new detailed occupations. The classification principles, coding guidelines, and occupations recommended in this notice reflect consideration of the comments received in response to the May 22, 2014, notice and represent the SOCPC's recommendations to OMB. OMB, in consultation with the SOCPC, plans to consider comments in response to this notice in making its final decisions for the 2018 revision and plans to publish its decisions in the Federal Register. The SOCPC then plans to finish preparing the Standard Occupational Classification Manual 2018 for publication, including finalizing occupational definitions, selecting associated job titles, and developing a crosswalk to the 2010 SOC. Request for Comments: In addition to general comments on the SOCPC's recommendations for the 2018 SOC, OMB welcomes comments specifically addressing: (1) Changes to the 2018 SOC Classification Principles and Coding Guidelines recommended by the SOCPC; (2) the proposed hierarchical structure of the 2018 SOC, including changes to the major, minor, broad, and detailed occupation groups; (3) the titles, placement, and codes of new occupations that the SOCPC is recommending be added in the revised 2018 SOC; and (4) preliminary definitions for revised and proposed 2018 SOC occupations. The proposed hierarchical structure and preliminary definitions for the revised 2018 SOC are available on the SOC Web site at: www.bls.gov/soc. All comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available to the public, including by posting them on relevant Web sites. For this reason, please do not include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. Please include contact information and a phone number or email address with your comments to facilitate follow-up if necessary.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) invites the general public and Federal agencies to comment on a revision of an approved information form (SF-SAC) that is used to report audit results, audit findings, and questioned costs as required by the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 U.S.C. 7501, et seq.) and 2 CFR part 200,''Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.'' The first notice of this information collection request, as required by the Paperwork Reduction act, was published in the Federal Register on December 9, 2015 (80 FR 76581). The proposed changes are to revise some existing data elements in the form and add other data elements that would make it easier for the Federal agencies to identify the types of audit findings reported in the audits performed under the Single Audit Act. The current Form SF-SAC was designed for audit periods ending in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (for FY 2015 for audit periods beginning before December 26, 2014). The proposed revised Form SF-SAC is designed for audit periods ending in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (for FY 2015 audit periods beginning on or after December 26, 2014). The detail proposed changes, the proposed format and discussion of the public comments and responses are described on OMB Web site at: https:// www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_forms/. To help respondents make sure they complete the correct version of the Form SF-SAC and to prevent them from filling out the Form SF-SAC when they are not required to do so, the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) data collection system will ask if the auditee is a state, local government, Indian Tribe, institution of higher education (IHE), or nonprofit organization, the auditee's fiscal period begin and end dates, is the auditee U.S. based, and did the auditee met the expenditure threshold. For fiscal years starting on or after December 26, 2014, the FAC also plans to allow Non-Federal entities who did not meet the threshold requiring submission of a Single Audit report to voluntarily notify the FAC that they did not meet the reporting threshold. This information helps the Federal agencies in the review of applicants that fall below the reporting requirements. The FAC plans to put this information on their Web site. The FAC intends to continue collection of late submissions and revisions from auditees on the two previous versions of the Form SF-SAC. The FAC may suspend the collection of late submissions on previous versions of the Form SF-SAC after five years.

The Office of Management and Budget is publishing the attached memorandum to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies announcing that the ``benchmark compensation amount'' for certain executives and contractor employees in terms of costs allowable under Federal Government covered contracts during the contractor's fiscal years 2013 and 2014 is $980,796 and $1,144,888, respectively. These statutory formula cap determinations are required under Section 39 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act, as amended (41 U.S.C. 1127). These benchmark compensation amounts apply to both defense and civilian agencies for their respective applicable periods, but only for contracts awarded before June 24, 2014.

By virtue of the authority vested in the President by section 2(a) of Public Law 87-603 (76 Stat. 593; 42 U.S.C. 2652), and delegated to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by the President through Executive Order No. 11541 of July 1, 1970, the rates referenced below are hereby established. These rates are for use in connection with the recovery from tortiously liable third persons for the cost of outpatient medical, dental and cosmetic surgery services furnished by military treatment facilities through the Department of Defense. They are the same rates as the outpatient medical, dental and cosmetic surgery services reimbursement rates that were set on July 1, 2015 for billing medical insurers, but require a different approval authority for the purpose of billing for tort liability. The rates were established in accordance with the requirements of OMB Circular A-25, requiring reimbursement of the full cost of all services provided. The CY 2015 outpatient medical, dental and cosmetic surgery rates referenced are effective upon publication of this notice in the Federal Register and will remain in effect until further notice. Previously published inpatient rates remain in effect until further notice. Pharmacy rates are updated periodically. A full disclosure of the rates is posted at Health.mil Web site in the Defense Health Agency Uniform Business Office section (https://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/ Business-Support/Uniform-Business-Office).

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing to collect information from members of the public who request a meeting with OIRA on rules under review at the time pursuant to Executive Order 12866. The information collected would be subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and this notice announces and requests comment on OIRA's proposal for such a collection.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has revised Circular A-119, ``Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities,'' in light of changes that have taken place in the world of regulation, standards, and conformity assessment since the Circular was last revised in 1998. The revised Circular is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ inforeg_infopoltech.

OMB is issuing its Final Sequestration Report to the President and Congress for FY 2016 to report on compliance of enacted 2016 discretionary appropriations legislation with the discretionary caps. The report finds that enacted appropriations are within the current law defense and non-defense discretionary limits for 2016; therefore, a sequestration of discretionary budget authority is not required.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) invites the general public and Federal agencies to comment on a revision of an approved information collection, Form SF-SAC, that is used to report audit results, audit findings, and questioned costs as required by the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.) and 2 CFR part 200, ``Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.'' A draft of the proposed Form SF-SAC can be reviewed at the OMB Grants Management Internet home page at https://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/grants/grants_docs.html. The Form SF-SAC instructions contain a detailed listing of the proposed changes to the Form SF-SAC.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests comments on its Draft 2015 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations, available at: https:// www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_regpol_reports_congress/. The Draft Report is divided into three chapters. Chapter I examines the benefits and costs of major Federal regulations issued in fiscal year 2014 and summarizes the benefits and costs of major regulations issued between October 2004 and September 2014. It also discusses regulatory impacts on State, local, and tribal governments, small business, wages, and economic growth. Chapter II offers recommendations for regulatory reform. Chapter III summarizes agency compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. OMB requests that comments be submitted electronically to OMB by December 21, 2015 through www.regulations.gov.

By virtue of the authority vested in the President by Section 2(a) of Pub. B. 87-603 (76 Stat. 593; 42 U.S.C. 2652), and delegated to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by the President through Executive Order No. 11541 of July 1, 1970, the rates referenced below are hereby established. These rates are for use in connection with the recovery from tortiously liable third persons for the cost of inpatient medical services furnished by military treatment facilities through the Department of Defense. They are the same rates as the Adjusted Standardized Amounts inpatient third party reimbursement rates that became effective October 1, 2014, for billing medical insurers, but require a different approval authority for the purpose of billing for tort liability. The rates have been established in accordance with the requirements of OMB Circular A-25, requiring reimbursement of the full cost of all services provided. The Fiscal Year 2015 Inpatient Medical Rates referenced are effective upon publication of this notice in the Federal Register and will remain in effect until further notice. Previously published outpatient medical and dental, and cosmetic surgery rates remain in effect until further notice. Pharmacy rates are updated periodically. A full disclosure of the rates is posted on Defense Health Agency's Uniform Business Office Web site: https://www.tricare.mil/ocfo/mcfs/ubo/mhs_rates.cfm.

This notice announces the availability of the 2015 OMB Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement (Supplement). The notice also offers interested parties an opportunity to comment on the 2015 Supplement.

OMB's Office of E-Government & Information Technology (E-Gov) is seeking public comment on draft guidance to implement the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA).

This report is being published as required by the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010, 2 U.S.C. 931 et seq. The Act requires that OMB issue (1) an annual report as specified in 2 U.S.C. 934(a) and (2) a sequestration order, if necessary.

This joint interim final rule implements for all Federal award-making agencies the final guidance Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) published by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 26, 2013. This rule is necessary in order to incorporate into regulation and thus bring into effect the Uniform Guidance as required by OMB. Implementation of this guidance will reduce administrative burden and risk of waste, fraud, and abuse for the approximately $600 billion per year awarded in Federal financial assistance. The result will be more Federal dollars reprogrammed to support the mission, new entities able to compete and win awards, and ultimately a stronger framework to provide key services to American citizens and support the basic research that underpins the United States economy.

By virtue of the authority vested in the President by section 2(a) of Public Law 87-603 (76 Stat. 593; 42 U.S.C. 2652), and delegated to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by the President through Executive Order No. 11541 of July 1, 1970, the rates referenced below are hereby established. These rates are for use in connection with the recovery from tortiously liable third persons for the cost of outpatient medical, dental, and cosmetic surgery services furnished by military treatment facilities through the Department of Defense (DoD). The rates were established in accordance with the requirements of OMB Circular A-25, requiring reimbursement of the full cost of all services provided. The CY14 Outpatient Medical, Dental, and Cosmetic Surgery rates referenced are effective upon publication of this notice in the Federal Register and will remain in effect until further notice. Previously published inpatient rates remain in effect until further notice. Pharmacy rates are updated periodically. A full disclosure of the rates is posted at the DoD's Uniform Business Office Web site: https://www.tricare.mil/ocfo/mcfs/ubo/mhs_rates.cfm.

OMB is issuing the OMB Sequestration Update Report to the President and Congress for FY 2015 to report on the status of the discretionary caps and on the compliance of pending discretionary appropriations legislation with those caps. The report finds that if the current limits remain unchanged, under OMB's estimates Senate action to date for the 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal year 2015 would result in a sequestration of approximately $34 million in discretionary programs in the defense category. The report also finds that actions by the House of Representatives for both the defense and non-defense categories and actions by the Senate for the non-defense category are in compliance with the current 2015 spending limits and that present House and Senate action on pending 2014 supplemental appropriations would not breach the current 2014 limits. Finally, the report also contains OMB's Preview Estimate of the Disaster Relief Funding Adjustment for FY 2015.

On June 18, 2010, President Obama issued ``Lobbyists on Agency Boards and Commissions,'' a memorandum directing agencies and departments in the Executive Branch not to appoint or re-appoint federally registered lobbyists to advisory committees and other boards and commissions. The Presidential Memorandum further directed the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ``issue proposed guidance designed to implement this policy to the full extent permitted by law.'' The Presidential Memorandum is available at https:// www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-l obbyists- agency-boards-and-commissions. OMB posted proposed guidance on November 2, 2010, and published final guidance on October 5, 2011. See 76 FR 61756. OMB is now issuing revised guidance regarding the prohibition against appointing or re-appointing federally registered lobbyists to clarify that the ban applies to persons serving on advisory committees, boards, and commissions in their individual capacity and does not apply if they are specifically appointed to represent the interests of a nongovernmental entity, a recognizable group of persons or nongovernmental entities (an industry sector, labor unions, environmental groups, etc.), or state or local governments.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests comments on its Draft 2014 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations, available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_ regpol_reports_congress/. The Draft Report is divided into two parts. Part I contains two chapters. Chapter I examines the benefits and costs of major Federal regulations issued in fiscal year 2013 and summarizes the benefits and costs of major regulations issued between October 2003 and September 2013. It also discusses regulatory impacts on State, local, and tribal governments, small business, wages, and economic growth. Chapter II offers recommendations for regulatory reform. Part II summarizes agency compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. OMB requests that comments be submitted electronically to OMB by September 2, 2014 through www.regulations.gov.

Under the authority of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 1104(d)) and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3504(e)), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), through its Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC), is soliciting proposals from the public for changes to the structure and content of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for inclusion in a potential 2017 revision. There are six parts in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Part I provides background on NAICS. Part II includes a solicitation of proposals for new and emerging industries. Part III solicits public comments on electronic dissemination of the potential revision of NAICS for 2017. Part IV solicits public comments on updating the structure of the oil and gas industries in NAICS 2012. Part V provides an update on the classification of manufacturing units that outsource. Part VI presents notification of a method to publicize corrections for errors and omissions that are identified in NAICS. In soliciting comments about revising NAICS, the ECPC does not intend to open the entire classification for substantial change in 2017. The ECPC will consider public comments and proposals for changes or modifications that advance the goals of NAICS as outlined in Part I of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. The ECPC is also seeking and will consider comments related to consistent classification in an era of greater specialization and globalization.

This notice announces the availability of the 2014 OMB Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement (Supplement). The notice also offers interested parties an opportunity to comment on the 2014 Supplement. The 2014 Supplement adds five new programs, which are added to existing clusters. It deletes 17 programs and has also been updated for program changes and technical corrections. The five added programs are:

The Office of Management and Budget revised Circular A-94 in 1992. The revised Circular specified certain discount rates to be updated annually when the interest rate and inflation assumptions used to prepare the Budget of the United States Government were changed. These discount rates are found in Appendix C of the revised Circular. The updated discount rates are shown below. The discount rates in Appendix C are to be used for cost-effectiveness analysis, including lease-purchase analysis, as specified in the revised Circular. They do not apply to regulatory analysis.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) request comments on proposed revisions to Circular A-119, ``Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities'' (hereinafter, Circular A-119, or, the Circular) in light of changes that have taken place in the world of regulation, standards, and conformity assessment since the Circular was last revised in 1998. These materials are available at https:// www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeginfopoltech. The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113; hereinafter known as the NTTAA) codified pre-existing policies on the development and use of voluntary consensus standards in Circular A-119, established additional reporting requirements for agencies, and authorized the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to coordinate conformity assessment activities. In response, OMB in 1998 issued a revised version of Circular A-119, which remains the current version. In this notice, OMB is seeking public comment on proposed revisions to the Circular. These proposed revisions reflect the experience gained by U. S. agencies in implementing the Circular since 1998; domestic and international developments in regulatory, standards, and conformity assessment policy; concluding and implementing U.S. trade agreements; and comments received in response to OMB's March 2012 Request for Information on whether and how to supplement Circular A-119. The proposed revision to Circular A-119 includes the following elements: Preference for voluntary consensus standards. The revised Circular would maintain a strong preference for using voluntary consensus standards in Federal regulation and procurement. It would also acknowledge, however, that there may be some standards not developed using a consensus-driven process that are in use in the market particularly in the information technology spaceand that may be relevant (and necessary) in meeting agency missions and priorities. Guidance on use of standards and participation in standards development. The revised Circular would provide more detailed guidance on how Federal representatives should participate in standards development activities. It would also strengthen the role of agency Standards Executives, encourage better internal coordination and training on standards, and update the provisions on how the U.S. Government manages and reports on the development and use of standards. The Circular would also provide criteria for agencies to consider when examining whether a standard meets agency needs and should be adopted. Guidance on conformity assessment. The revised Circular would encourage agencies to consider international conformity assessment schemes and private sector conformity assessment activities in lieu of conformity assessment activities or schemes developed or carried out by the government, and set out criteria for agencies to consider when they are selecting or designing an appropriate conformity assessment procedure. Enhanced transparency. The proposed revisions would provide guidance to agencies on how they should discuss implementation of the Circular in their rulemakings and guidance documents; encourage agencies to alert the public when considering whether to participate in standards development activities; and set out factors for agencies to consider when incorporating standards by reference in regulation. Burden reduction. The proposed revisions would require agencies to utilize the retrospective review mechanism set out in Executive Orders 13563 and 13610 to implement the Circular, including ensuring that standards incorporated by reference in regulation are updated on a timely basis. The revisions also encourage agencies to work together to reference the same version of a standard in regulation and procurements and coordinate on conformity assessment requirements, where feasible. International considerations. The proposed revisions incorporate references to trade-related statutory obligations on standards-related measures and direct Federal agencies to consult with USTR on how to comply with international obligations with regard to standards and conformity assessment. They provide guidance on how to identify such obligations, direct agencies to take into account their obligations under Executive Order 13609 when they engage in standards and conformity assessment activities, and encourage greater coordination with respect to the Government's formulation of global strategies on standards, regulation, and international trade.