Agencies and Commissions August 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the State of California dated 08/04/2008. Incident: Severe Thunderstorms causing Flash Flooding and Landslides. Incident Period: 07/12/2008 through 07/20/2008.

It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of 16 CFR 1118.20(e). Published below is a provisionally accepted Settlement Agreement with Liberty Apparel Co., Inc., containing a civil penalty of $35,000.00.

It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of 16 CFR 1118.20(e). Published below is a provisionally-accepted Settlement Agreement with Vacation Clothing Exchange, Inc., d/b/a Basix USA, containing a civil penalty of $25,000.00.

It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of 16 CFR Sec. 1118.20(e). Published below is a provisionally accepted Settlement Agreement with Scope Imports, Inc., containing a civil penalty of $70,000.00.

It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of 16 CFR 1118.20(e). Published below is a provisionally accepted Settlement Agreement with Rebelette International Trading Corporation, containing a civil penalty of $40,000.00.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for clearance of a revised information collection. OPM Online Form 1417, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Information System form, collects information from the 247 local CFC campaigns to verify campaign results and collect contact information. Revisions to the form include clarifying edits to items numbered 2-6, 9 and 10 of the Campaign Results Total Page, the elimination of questions numbered 13-15 of the Campaign Results Total Page and the return of one question edited to collect pledge amounts designated specifically for federal emergency or disaster relief, if any, on the Campaign Results Total Page. We estimate 247 online OPM Forms 1417 are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 82.3 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Margaret A. Miller at (202) 606-2699 or FAX (202) 418-3251 or e-mail mamiller@opm.gov. Please be sure to include a mailing address with your request.

In June 2008, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its findings on the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Program. One of GAO's findings is that the SBA does not assess the Program's economic impact. The GAO noted the importance of this given that the HUBZone Program is primarily defined by economic factors (household income, unemployment rate, and poverty rate). On June 6, 2008, the SBA responded to GAO's findings, and provided several steps to address them. One of these steps is to develop a methodology for assessing the Program's economic impact. This paper outlines the anticipated methodology for this assessment. The paper will provide a brief description of the different methodological options currently available for undertaking an impact assessment. It will then provide a basic description of the HUBZone Program. Finally, it will detail the specific methodology chosen for measuring the Program's economic impact. The complexity of assessing the Program's economic impact lies in that there are multiple government agencies using three relevant procurement mechanisms, and five classes of HUBZones. In addition, the required data for this assessment will be derived from four different databases. This multiple database feature, as well as other documented data issues of the HUBZone Program, increases the difficulty of correctly identifying the assessment's relevant data elements. This methodology assumes that these data issues will be addressed. This methodology will trace Federal contract dollars as they flow to the various HUBZone areas. It will then estimate the impact of these contract dollars on the HUBZone areas' employment and household income. To isolate the impact of the HUBZone Program, the methodology differentiates Federal contract dollar-flows in three ways: (1) Via the HUBZone Direct Mechanism, where Federal contract dollar-flows are directly attributable to the HUBZone Program; (2) Via the Non-HUBZone SBA Contract Mechanisms, where Federal contract dollar-flows are directly attributable to SBA programs, but exclude the HUBZone Program; (3) Via the Non-SBA Federal Contract Mechanisms, where Federal contract dollar-flows are not associated with any SBA program. This differentiation addresses GAO's recommendation to develop measures that take into account factors such as (1) the economic characteristics of the HUBZone areas and (2) Federal contracts being counted under multiple socioeconomic subcategories.