October 21, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Illinois (FEMA-1800-DR), dated 10/03/ 2008. Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding. Incident Period: 09/13/2008 and continuing through 10/05/2008.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-21), this notice announces that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Department of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of information abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden and includes the actual data collection instrument.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Nevada Test Site. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') is reopening the comment period for interested parties to comment on the Joint Audit Committee Operating agreement which was submitted to the Commission for approval pursuant to Commission Regulation 1.52.

The Coast Guard is withdrawing its notice of proposed rulemaking concerning drawbridge operations for the Spokane Street Bridge across the Duwamish Waterway, mile 0.3, in Seattle, Washington. The proposed rule would have established two daily closed draw periods Monday through Friday to help alleviate road traffic, with the proviso that openings would be provided at any time for vessels of 5000 gross tons or more. The proposed rule is being withdrawn because Spokane Street Bridge draw records along with road traffic counts conducted after the notice of proposed rulemaking was published indicate that the number of draw openings and the amount of traffic using the Spokane Street Bridge are not sufficient to warrant the negative impact that the proposed rule would have on commercial maritime traffic using the waterway under the bridge.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

We (U.S. Geological Survey) have sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2008. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. However, under OMB regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor this information collection while it is pending at OMB.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has issued an incidental take permit (ITP) to the Salt River Project (SRP) for 16 federally listed and candidate species in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona. Authorized take will occur as the result of modified operation of Horseshoe Dam and Reservoir (Horseshoe) and Bartlett Dam and Reservoir (Bartlett). The Record of Decision (ROD) became effective on June 13, 2008. It states that the preferred alternative will be implemented and discusses all factors leading to the decision.

A small number of public comments submitted by commenters in connection with certain proposed Commission rules, proposed rule changes by self-regulatory organizations, and other matters were not received by the Commission through the Federal eRulemaking Portal and through the Commission's Web site due to software issues. A list of those matters and the number of comment letters not received is attached as Appendix A. The Commission is providing an opportunity for commenters whose comments were not received to resubmit their comments with respect to the matters identified in Appendix A.

The FDIC, 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 continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Currently, the FDIC is soliciting comments concerning the following collection of information titled: Notification of Changes of Insured Status (3064-0124).

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(A)]. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the NEA is soliciting comments concerning the proposed collection of information about outdoor arts festivals in the United States. A copy of the current information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the address section of this notice.

Under the provisions of section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on July 31, 2008, pages 44751-44753 and allowed 60 days for public comment. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The National Institutes of Health may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a current valid OMB control number. Proposed Collection: Title: Evaluation of Risk Factors Associated with Viral Infections in Chinese Donors: a. Risk factors associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), b. Risk factors associated with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). This collection will cover two protocols as stated in the title. The first protocol will aim to study risk factors associated with HIV in Chinese donors and the second protocol will study risk factors related to HBV and HCV in Chinese donors. Type of Information Collection Request: NEW. Need and Use of Information Collection: Understanding the risk factors associated with HIV, HBV and HCV infections in donors is essential for developing donor behavioral screening policies. Injection drug use, sexual transmissions, transfusion history, and medical injections are thought to be major routes of transmission in China but their relative importance in blood donors is unknown. In the U.S., risk factors have been better characterized, but questions still remain. Risk factors cannot be identified in 33% and 40% of persons with acute hepatitis B and C respectively, and risk factors may differ between the U.S. and China. This study will improve our understanding of potential transfusion transmitted viral risk factors that cannot be optimally studied in the U.S. because of their low prevalence. For example, we may be able to assess whether treatments commonly used in China, such as acupuncture and medical injections, are important routes of HBV and HCV transmission. The primary objectives of the proposed study are to assess: The primary risk factors associated with HIV, HBV and HCV. The relative importance of injection drug use, heterosexual transmission, family history, transfusion history, history of previous whole blood or plasma donation, male to male sex, medical injections, acupuncture, and tattoos as routes of transmission for HIV, HBV and HCV. Other important routes of transmission for these viruses such as sex with an injection drug user, snorting drugs, living with someone who has HBV and HCV, living with someone who injects drugs, sharing a toothbrush or a razor, having been in jail, occupational history, having surgery, etc. It is proposed to conduct a large, multi blood center case-control study to meet the study objectives. Cases for the HIV protocol will be donors with confirmed anti-HIV antibody reactivity. Blood centers will select a random group of donors with negative infectious disease test results as Controls for this study. Controls will be enrolled with a 2:1 ratio to Cases and will be matched to the Cases by blood center and donation month. Blood centers will contact potential Controls by phone and/or mail, inviting them to come back to participate in this study. Cases and Controls will be consented and interviewed using the same Risk Factor Questionnaire (RFQ) by Chinese-CDC (C-CDC) or blood center staff, either at the local C-CDC or blood center. The second protocol assessing risk factors related to HBV and HCV will have three groups of donors: ``HBV Group'': HBV (HBsAg) positive donors either from prescreening (rapid testing) or routine screening testing. Confirmatory testing for HBV will be done for these donors. ``HCV Group'': HCV (anti-HCV) positive donors from routine screening testing (blood centers do not do prescreening rapid testing for anti- HCV). Confirmatory testing for HCV will be done for these donors. The third group will be a ``Control Group'' including donors with negative results for all prescreening and routine screening tests. No additional testing is done for these donors. On a monthly basis, the blood centers will use the confirmatory testing results for HBV and HCV respectively, to generate a list of cases. For that same month, the blood center will generate a list of controls (randomly selected and matched by blood center and month of donation). The same control group will be used for HBV and HCV cases. Donors in all three groups will be mailed a Risk Factor Survey study packet. The packet will include a study information sheet (discussing the purpose and nature of this study), an informed consent document explaining the voluntary nature, the benefits and risks of this study, a RFQ, a small monetary reward for taking the survey and an envelope with paid postage for the donor to mail their completed questionnaire back to the blood center. Frequency of Response: Once. Affected Public: Individuals. Type of Respondents: Adult Blood Donors. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,920; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1; Average Burden of Hours per Response: 0.33; and Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 1,293.5. The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at: $1,940.25 (based on $1.50 per hour). According to China's National Bureau of Statistics in 2006, the average annual wage in China is 21,001 Chinese Yuan (or $2,958 U.S. dollars based on current exchange rate of 1 U.S. dollar = 7.1). There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adding ``swine contractors'' to the list of regulated entities subject to specific regulations issued under the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&S Act or Act) (7 U.S.C. 181-229). In 2002, Congress added swine contractors as entities regulated under the P&S Act. Specifically, we are amending the regulations to clarify that swine contractors are prohibited from knowingly circulating misleading reports about market conditions or prices; that they are required to provide business information to authorized USDA personnel; and, that they are required to permit authorized USDA personnel to inspect their business records and facilities. We are also amending the regulations to clarify that agents and USDA employees are prohibited from unauthorized disclosure of business information obtained from swine contractors. These changes will assist swine contractors and swine production contract growers with determining which regulations under the P&S Act apply to swine contractors. The inclusion of swine contractors will help us better enforce the provisions of the P&S Act.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4), Department of Commerce (DOC) announce the appointment of persons to serve as members of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Performance Review Board (PRB). The NTIA PRB is responsible for reviewing performance ratings, pay adjustments and bonuses of Senior Executive Service (SES) members, and Presidential Rank Awards. The appointment of these members will be for a period of twenty-four (24) months.