Unknown. Final rule
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/register/2025/02/26/2025-03042·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
--- schema: federal-register doc_type: fedreg source_file: FR-2025-02-26.xml --- 90 37 Wednesday, February 26, 2025 Contents Agriculture Agriculture Department NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 10710-10711 2025-03088 2025-03090 Commerce Commerce Department See Economic Development Administration See Foreign-Trade Zones Board Drug Drug Enforcement Administration NOTICES Importer, Manufacturer or Bulk Manufacturer of Controlled Substances;
Application, Registration, etc.: Catalent Pharma Solutions, LLC, 10731-10732 2025-03061 S and B Pharma LLC DBA Norac Pharma, 10732 2025-03062 Sharp Clinical Services, LLC, 10730-10731 2025-03060 Economic Development Economic Development Administration NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Amend an Investment Award and Project Service Maps, 10711-10712 2025-03110 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies, 10712-10713 2025-03113 Property Management Requirements, 10712 2025-03114 Energy Department Energy Department See Federal Energy Regulatory Commission NOTICES Draft Energy Storage Strategy and Roadmap;
Withdrawal, 10713-10714 2025-03106 Environmental Protection Environmental Protection Agency RULES Pesticide Tolerance; Exemptions, Petitions, Revocations, etc.: Cyprodinil, 10697-10702 2025-03001 West Virginia Underground Injection Control Program: Class VI Primacy, 10691-10697 2025-02974 PROPOSED RULES Review of National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Polyether Polyols Production Industry, 10708-10709 2025-03144 Export Import Export-Import Bank NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: EIB 11-05, Exporter's Certificate for Direct Loan, Guarantee and MT Insurance Programs, 10724-10725 2025-03101 EIB 18-02, Itemized Statement of Payments—U.S. Costs for EXIM Credit Guarantee Facility, 10726 2025-03102 EIB 18-04, Itemized Statement of Payments—Long-term Guarantees and Direct Loans—U.S. Costs, 10725 2025-03099 EIB 18-05, Itemized Statement of Payments Long-term Guarantee and Direct Loan—Local Costs, 10726 2025-03107 EIB 21-02, Co-financing Certificate, 10724 2025-03105 Itemized Statement of Payments—Local Costs for EXIM Credit Guarantee Facility, 10725 2025-03098 Federal Aviation Federal Aviation Administration PROPOSED RULES Airworthiness Directives:
Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH Helicopters, 10705-10708 2025-03095 The Boeing Company Airplanes, 10703-10705 2025-03081 NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Commercial Space Transportation Licensing Regulations, 10779-10780 2025-02978 Federal Communications Federal Communications Commission NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 10726-10729 2025-03123 2025-03124 Federal Energy Federal Energy Regulatory Commission NOTICES Combined Filings, 10715-10717, 10721 2025-03108 2025-03109 Environmental Assessments;
Availability, etc.: Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, 10721-10722 2025-03083 City of Columbia, SC, 10722 2025-03128 Florida Gas Transmission Co., LLC, South Central Louisiana Project, 10714 2025-03084 Lake Upchurch Dam Preservation Association, 10722 2025-03127 South Central Louisiana Project; Florida Gas Transmission, LLC, 10723-10724 2025-03129 Hearings, Meetings, Proceedings, etc.: Federal and State Current Issues Collaborative, 10723 2025-03131 Meeting the Challenge of Resource Adequacy in Regional Transmission Organization and Independent System Operator Regions;
Commissioner-Led Technical Conference, 10714-10715 2025-03130 Institution of Section 206 Proceeding and Refund Effective Date: West Deptford Energy, LLC, 10715 2025-03112 Petitions: North American Electric Reliability Corp., 10717-10721 2025-03126 Federal Maritime Federal Maritime Commission NOTICES Agreements Filed, 10729 2025-03119 Federal Reserve Federal Reserve System NOTICES Change in Bank Control: Acquisitions of Shares of a Bank or Bank Holding Company, 10729 2025-03120 Foreign Trade Foreign-Trade Zones Board NOTICES Application for Subzone:
Rincon Power, LLC, Foreign-Trade Zone 205, Carpinteria, CA, 10713 2025-03093 Authorization of Production Activity: Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., U.S.A., Foreign-Trade Zone 59, Lincoln, NE, 10713 2025-03125 Internal Revenue Internal Revenue Service NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 10780 2025-03082 International Trade Com International Trade Commission NOTICES Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.:
Certain Motorized Self-Balancing Vehicles, 10730 2025-03080 Justice Department Justice Department See Drug Enforcement Administration National Science National Science Foundation NOTICES Hearings, Meetings, Proceedings, etc.: Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee; Cancellation, 10732 2025-03097 Postal Regulatory Postal Regulatory Commission RULES Market Dominant Postal Products, 10689-10691 2025-03042 NOTICES New Postal Products, 10732-10733 2025-03111 Presidential Documents Presidential Documents ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS U.S.
Companies and Innovators; Efforts To Defend From Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties (Memorandum of February 21, 2025), 10685-10687 2025-03188 Securities Securities and Exchange Commission NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 10744-10745 2025-03078 2025-03079 Application: HarbourVest Private Investments Fund and HarbourVest Registered Advisers LP, 10739-10740 2025-03121 iDirect Private Markets Fund, et al., 10739 2025-03122 Self-Regulatory Organizations;
Proposed Rule Changes: Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc., 10756 2025-03067 Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., 10744-10745, 10757, 10759-10778 2025-03025 2025-03065 2025-03066 2025-03068 2025-03069 Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc., 10758 2025-03075 Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc., 10733-10734, 10745-10758 2025-03070 2025-03073 2025-03076 Nasdaq ISE, LLC, 10738, 10740-10744 2025-03072 2025-03074 NYSE Arca, Inc., 10738-10739 2025-03077 The Options Clearing Corp., 10734-10738 2025-03071 State Department State Department NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Overseas Schools Grant Status Report, 10779 2025-03092 Individual Removed from the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons, 10778-10779 2025-03096 Transportation Department Transportation Department See Federal Aviation Administration Treasury Treasury Department See Internal Revenue Service Reader Aids Consult the Reader Aids section at the end of this issue for phone numbers, online resources, finding aids, and notice of recently enacted public laws.
To subscribe to the Federal Register Table of Contents electronic mailing list, go to https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USGPOOFR/subscriber/new, enter your e-mail address, then follow the instructions to join, leave, or manage your subscription. 90 37 Wednesday, February 26, 2025 Rules and Regulations POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 39 CFR Part 3030 [Docket No. RM2020-5; Order No. 8708] RIN 3211-AA27 Market Dominant Postal Products AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. ACTION:
Final rule. SUMMARY: The Commission is adopting amendments to its rules concerning rate incentives for Market Dominant products. DATES: *Effective:* March 28, 2025. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at 202-789-6820. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table of Contents I. Background II. Basis for Final Rules III. Final Rules I. Background In its general Market Dominant rate adjustment filings, the Postal Service routinely proposes to offer rate incentives in the form of promotions that reduce rates by providing discounts, rebates, or credits to participating mailers of certain types of mailpieces.
Typically, such promotions are offered for several months during a particular calendar year for certain mailpieces in the First-Class Mail and USPS Marketing Mail classes. If the Commission approves, then the promotion may be offered again, with or without modifications, in the next calendar year. Each rate incentive offered by the Postal Service is either a rate of general applicability or a rate not of general applicability. A rate incentive of general applicability may be eligible for inclusion in the percentage change in rates calculation (provided that it satisfies all the applicable criteria under the Commission's rules), which will allow for the Postal Service to generate price cap authority for the applicable class of mail.
By contrast, a rate incentive not of general applicability has been ineligible for inclusion in the percentage change in rates calculation, unless mail volumes sent under it are included as though they paid the appropriate rates of general applicability. The Commission previously adopted regulations concerning rate incentives for Market Dominant products. 1 However, in connection with an appeal, the Commission stated that it would reconsider Order No. 5510 and that it “does not intend to enforce Order No. 5510 during the reconsideration period.” 2 In Order No. 6325, the Commission proposed modifying its rules and sought comments on its proposal. 3 Subsequently, the Commission sought supplemental comments. 4 Having considered the comments that it received, the Commission proposed further changes to its rules in Order No. 7559. 5 1 Docket No.
RM2020-5, Order Adopting Final Rules Regarding Rate Incentives for Market Dominant Products, May 15, 2020 (Order No. 5510). 2 Docket No. RM2020-5, Notice of Intent to Reconsider, August 26, 2020, at 2 (Order No. 5655); *see U.S. Postal Serv.* v. *Postal Reg. Comm'n,* Joint Motion for Voluntary Dismissal and Vacatur, No. 20-1208 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 11, 2020). 3 Docket No. RM2020-5, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend Rules Regarding Rate Incentives for Market Dominant Products, November 14, 2022 (Order No. 6325). 4 Docket No.
RM2020-5, Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend Rules Regarding Rate Incentives for Market Dominant Products, November 17, 2023 (Order No. 6801). 5 Docket No. RM2020-5, Second Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend Rules Regarding Rate Incentives for Market Dominant Products, September 20, 2024 (Order No. 7559). II. Basis for Rule Change The Commission modifies its rules by revising the criteria that a rate incentive must satisfy to be included in the percentage change in rates calculation; revises the definition of “rate of general applicability;” and revises filing and reporting requirements.
First, the Commission creates a mechanism allowing certain rate incentives that are not rates of general applicability to be included in the percentage change in rates calculation. Second, the Commission removes the not-enforced requirement that a rate incentive must be made available to all mailers equally on the same terms and conditions to be included in the percentage change in rates calculation. Third, the Commission revises the definition of “rate of general applicability” in § 3030.101.
This revision clarifies a potential ambiguity. The Commission also revises the definition of “rate of general applicability” as initially proposed in Order No. 6325 to clarify that to qualify as a rate of general applicability, a rate incentive cannot have eligibility criteria based on historical mail volumes or prior participation in a rate incentive or promotion. Fourth, the Commission revises filing requirements to ensure that the Postal Service provides sufficient information at the outset of a Market Dominant rate adjustment proceeding.
Fifth, the Commission adds a provision authorizing it to require the submission of information to ensure that rate incentives included in the percentage change in rates calculation comply with applicable requirements. The mechanism allowing certain rate incentives that are not rates of general applicability to be included in the percentage change in rates calculation allows a rate incentive for which a mailer's eligibility depends on the mailer's increasing its volumes of a product (or multiple products) to be included in the percentage change in rates calculation.
The Commission creates this mechanism to encourage the Postal Service to develop and offer such rate incentives, with the goal of combatting volume decline. The Commission also removes the not-enforced requirement that a rate incentive must be made available to all mailers equally on the same terms and conditions to be included in the percentage change in rates calculation. The Commission removes this requirement because fairness concerns can be addressed through other means and because this requirement has the potential to cause confusion.
The Commission revises the definition of “rate of general applicability” in § 3030.101 by adding the word “only” to the sentence addressing rates benefiting a single mailer so that the sentence reads as follows: “A rate is not a rate of general applicability if it benefits only a single mailer.” This change removes a potential ambiguity in the sentence and ensures that the sentence reflects the Commission's intent in adding the sentence to the definition. The Commission also adopts the changes to the definition of “rate of general applicability” that it proposed in Order No. 6325. *See* Order No. 6325 at 26-34.
These changes to the definition of “rate of general applicability” in § 3030.101 clarify what rate incentives may qualify for inclusion in the percentage change in rates calculation as rates of general applicability. Under the Commission's existing rules “[a] rate is not a rate of general applicability if eligibility for the rate is dependent on factors other than the characteristics of the mail to which the rate applies[.]” 39 CFR 3030.101(j). As initially proposed in Order No. 6325, the changes add an additional sentence to clarify that a rate incentive is not a rate of general applicability if eligibility for the rate is dependent wholly or partially on the volume of mail sent by a mailer in a past year or years or on the participation by a mailer in a rate incentive or promotion in a past year or years.
The Commission modifies its rules for the technical documentation required to support proposed rate incentives. These changes implement changes conforming to the Commission's changes to its rules for including rate incentives in the percentage change in rates calculation. Thus, under the revision, the Commission's rules require a statement describing the purpose of the rate incentive. Similarly, and to conform with the change to the definition of “rate of general applicability,” under the revision, the rule requires a statement affirming that a rate incentive proposed to be included in the percentage change in rate calculation will not benefit only a single mailer.
In addition, the Commission requires each request to include a rate incentive in the percentage change in rates calculation to include an estimate of the effect of the rate incentive on mailers in the affected class that do not participate in the rate incentive, as well as all information and calculations relied upon to develop such estimate. The Commission makes this change for transparency. This change ensures that the public is provided notice of the estimated effect of the proposed rate incentive on non-participating mailers in the affected class.
The Commission requires the information and calculations relied upon to develop the estimate to ensure that it understands the basis for the estimate and to provide transparency to the public and affected stakeholders. The Commission also adds a provision authorizing it to require the submission of information to ensure that rate incentives included in the percentage change in rates calculation comply with applicable requirements. In the Commission's experience, reporting requirements are important to ensure that the Commission understands how rate incentives operate in practice.
The Commission codifies its authority to impose such reporting requirements. III. Final Rules List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 3030 Administrative practice and procedure, Fees, Postal Service. For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Commission amends 39 CFR part 3030 as follows: PART 3030—REGULATION OF RATES FOR MARKET DOMINANT PRODUCTS 1. The authority citation for part 3030 continues to read as follows: Authority: 39 U.S.C. 503; 3622. 2. Amend § 3030.101 by: a. Redesignating paragraphs
(j)through
(l)as paragraphs
(k)through (m); b. Adding paragraph (j); and c. Revising newly redesignated paragraph (k). The addition and revisions read as follows: § 3030.101 Definitions.
(j)*Rate incentive comparison period* is a period of time in the fiscal year or calendar year immediately before a rate incentive that is not a rate of general applicability is offered. A rate incentive comparison period must be not less than 3 months in length and not more than 12 months in length. Except for a rate incentive that is not a rate of general applicability that has a term of 1 calendar year, the rate incentive comparison period is the same period of months and days in the fiscal year or calendar year immediately before the rate incentive is offered as the term of the rate incentive. For any rate incentive that is not a rate of general applicability that has a term of 1 calendar year, the rate incentive comparison period shall be either: the calendar year that is most recently ended before the rate incentive is offered; or the fiscal year that is most recently ended before the rate incentive is offered.
(k)*Rate of general applicability* means a rate applicable to all mail meeting standards established by the Mail Classification Schedule, the Domestic Mail Manual, and the International Mail Manual. A rate is not a rate of general applicability if eligibility for the rate is dependent on factors other than the characteristics of the mail to which the rate applies. A rate incentive is not a rate of general applicability if eligibility for the rate is wholly or partially dependent on the volume of mail sent by a mailer in a past year or years or on the participation by a mailer in a rate incentive or promotion in a past year or years. A rate is not a rate of general applicability if it benefits only a single mailer. A rate that is only available upon the written agreement of both the Postal Service and a mailer, a group of mailers, or a foreign postal operator is not a rate of general applicability. 3. Amend § 3030.123 by revising paragraph
(j)to read as follows: § 3030.123 Supporting technical documentation.
(j)Whenever the Postal Service includes a rate incentive with its planned rate adjustment, it must include with its filing:
(1)Whether the rate incentive is being treated under § 3030.128(f)(2) or under § 3030.128(f)(1) and (g);
(2)If the Postal Service seeks to include the rate incentive in the calculation of the percentage change in rates under § 3030.128(f)(2):
(i)The terms and conditions of the rate incentive;
(ii)The factors that determine eligibility for the rate incentive;
(iii)A statement that affirms that the rate incentive will not benefit only a single mailer;
(iv)A statement that affirms that the rate incentive is not only available upon the written agreement of both the Postal Service and a mailer, or group of mailers, or a foreign postal operator;
(v)A statement describing the purpose of the rate incentive; and
(vi)An estimate of the effect of the rate incentive on mailers in the affected class that do not participate in the rate incentive and all information and calculations relied upon to develop such estimate. 4. Amend § 3030.128 by: a. Revising paragraph (f)(2); b. Adding new paragraph (f)(3); and c. Revising paragraph (g)(1). The addition and revisions read as follows: § 3030.128 Calculation of percentage change in rates.
(f)* * *
(2)A rate incentive may be included in a percentage change in rates calculation if it meets the following criteria:
(i)The rate incentive is in the form of a discount or can be easily translated into a discount;
(ii)Sufficient billing determinants are available for the rate incentive to be included in the percentage change in rate calculation for the class, which may be adjusted based on known mail characteristics or historical volume data (as opposed to forecasts of mailer behavior); and
(iii)The rate incentive is either:
(A)A rate of general applicability; or
(B)A rate not of general applicability that satisfies the following requirements: ( *1* ) The rate incentive is not only available upon the written agreement of both the Postal Service and a mailer, or group of mailers, or a foreign postal operator; ( *2* ) The rate incentive is applicable to all mail meeting standards established by the Mail Classification Schedule, the Domestic Mail Manual, and the International Mail Manual; ( *3* ) The rate incentive does not benefit only a single mailer; ( *4* ) The rate incentive is designed to increase volume; and ( *5* ) A mailer's eligibility for the rate incentive depends on the mailer's sending, in a specified period of time, a volume of mail of specified products that exceeds a specified threshold volume of mail, provided that such threshold volume of mail is not less than the volume of the specified products that the mailer sent in the rate incentive comparison period.
(3)The Commission may require submission of such information as it deems necessary to ensure that rate incentives included in the percentage change in rates calculation comply with the requirements of this section.
(g)* * *
(1)Mail volumes sent at rates under a negotiated service agreement or a rate incentive that is not a rate of general applicability are to be included in the calculation of the percentage change in rates under this section as though they paid the appropriate rates of general applicability, except as provided in paragraph (f)(2) of this section. Where it is impractical to identify the rates of general applicability ( *e.g.,* because unique rate categories are created for a mailer), the volumes associated with the mail sent under the terms of the negotiated service agreement or the rate incentive that is not a rate of general applicability shall be excluded from the calculation of the percentage change in rates. By the Commission. Erica A. Barker, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2025-03042 Filed 2-25-25; 8:45 am]
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