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

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rule agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-28. A companion document, the Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.

The latest revision of the Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC (Revision 4) is now available for review. The document can be found under Submittal Instructions at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/ e-submittals.html. There are two significant changes to this document that are of interest to stakeholders. The first change covers the recommended file size for documents submitted to the NRC via the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE). In the past, the NRC suggested that the file size be limited to no more than 50 megabytes (MB). Based on operational experience, the NRC is modifying that recommendation and now suggests that files sent electronically to the NRC be no more than 15 MB. This revised guidance is intended to address issues that have arisen because of file size limitations and time-out problems associated with submitter's internet service providers. The second major change is to provide information regarding a new Meta-System Help Desk, which is being established to handle specific questions about electronic filing and portable document format (PDF) creation associated with general or adjudicatory (E-Filing) submissions, as well as to provide information regarding the various components of the agency's adjudicatory information technology/ information management infrastructure, including the Licensing Support Network, the Electronic Hearing Docket, and the Digital Data Management System. The new Meta-System Help Desk, which will open on November 10, 2008, will operate on weekdays (excluding Federal Holidays) between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern Time. The Meta-System Help Desk can be contacted by telephone at 1-866-672-7640 or by e-mail at MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov. The Public Document Room staff, which previously responded to EIE questions, is still available to answer general questions about accessing agency documents within ADAMS or on the NRC's public Web site.

This notice lists approved candidates who will comprise a standing roster for service on the Agency's SES Performance Review Board. The Agency will use this roster to select SES board members, and an outside member for the convening SES Performance Review Board each year. The standing roster is as follows:

This document requests comments on a petition for rulemaking filed by Henry B. Shaffer, proposing to allot Channel 260A at Williston, South Carolina, as a second local service. Channel 220A can be allotted at Williston, South Carolina, with a site restriction of 3.1 kilometers (1.9 miles) northeast at coordinates 33-23-34 NL and 81- 23-21 WL.

The Audio Division grants a Petition for Rule Making issued at the request of George S. Flinn, Jr., proposing the allotment of Channel 267A at Linden, Tennessee, as its first local service. Channel 267A at Linden can be allotted, consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's Rules, at reference coordinates 35-39- 45 NL and 87-44-25 WL with the imposition of a site restriction of 10.1 kilometers (6.3 miles) northeast of Linden. Due to the fact that Channel 267A at Linden already exists in the FM Table of Allotments, this final rule does not contain any amendatory language. See Supplementary Information, supra.

The Commission will consider a Report and Order, Order on Remand, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing the comprehensive reform of intercarrier compensation and universal service.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection(s) associated with Section 73.624(g) of the rules, and that this revised rule will take effect as of the date of this notice. On January 30, 2008, the Commission published the summary document of the Report and Order, In the Matter of the Third Periodic Review of the Commission's Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital Television, MB Docket No. 07-91, FCC 07-228, at 73 FR 5634. The Ordering Clause of the Report and Order stated that the Commission would publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing when OMB approval for this rule section has been received and when the revised rule will take effect. This notice is consistent with the statement in the Report and Order.

We are considering ways to quickly identify diseases and other serious medical conditions that obviously meet the definition of disability under the Social Security Act (Act) and can be identified with minimal objective medical information. We are calling this method ``Compassionate Allowances.'' In December 2007 and April 2008, we held two Compassionate Allowance public hearings. These hearings concerned rare diseases and cancers, respectively. This hearing is the third in the series. The purpose of this hearing is to obtain your views about the advisability and possible methods of identifying and implementing compassionate allowances for children and adults with brain injuries. We plan to address other medical conditions at subsequent hearings.

We are amending our rules governing how we investigate representative payee applicants. Under these rules, any payee who previously satisfied the payee investigation criteria, including a face-to-face interview, and currently serves as a payee generally need not appear for another face-to-face interview when subsequently applying to become a payee unless we determine within our discretion, that a new face-to-face interview is necessary. The payee applicant would still be required to satisfy the rest of the investigation process as set forth in the regulations. Reducing the number of subsequent face-to-face interviews of payee applicants will streamline our representative payee application process, allowing payee applicants to become qualified more quickly when they already serve as a payee. This rule also will expedite payment of benefits in certain representative payee situations and reduce the burden on our field office employees by eliminating the necessity of interviewing such payee applicants.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to change the annual schedule of nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System wage surveys from a fiscal year cycle to a calendar year cycle. The purpose of this change is to move certain wage surveys to a different time of year and thus optimize the data collection process for those areas. In addition, this change would more evenly distribute the workload for the agency responsible for conducting NAF surveys.

Pursuant to sections 254(a)(11)(A) and 255(b) of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), Public Law 107-252, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) hereby causes to be published in the Federal Register changes to the HAVA State plan previously submitted by Rhode Island.

The Copyright Office is announcing an interim regulation to clarify the scope and application of the Section 115 compulsory license to make and distribute phonorecords of a musical work by means of digital phonorecord deliveries. The Office seeks comments on the interim regulation.

This action adds to the Procurement List services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities.

This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of North Carolina (FEMA-1801-DR), dated 10/08/2008. Incident: Tropical Storm Hanna. Incident Period: 09/04/2008 through 09/15/2008. Effective Date: 10/28/2008. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 12/08/2008. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/08/2009.

This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the U.S. Virgin Islands dated 10/31/2008. Incident: Hurricane Omar. Incident Period: 10/14/2008 through 10/16/2008. Effective Date: 10/31/2008. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 12/30/2008. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/31/2009.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Arkansas (FEMA 1804DR), dated 10/22/2008. Incident: Tropical Storm Ike. Incident Period: 09/13/2008 through 09/23/2008. Effective Date: 10/22/2008. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 12/22/2008. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/22/2009.