May 24, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT) will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, June 8, 2005.

The Department of the Treasury, 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 proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13(44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning an existing final regulation, PS-54-94 (TD 8668), Environmental Settlement FundsClassification (Section 301.7701-4).

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 35013521), this notice announces that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs, has submitted 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; it includes the actual data collection instrument.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), this notice announces that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs, has submitted 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; it includes the actual data collection instrument.

NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator) proposes to recommend that an EFP be issued in response to an application submitted by the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County (Cornell). The EFP would allow one commercial fishing vessel to conduct a study examining vent sizes in black sea bass pots from approximately June 1, 2005, through May 31, 2006. The Assistant Regional Administrator has made a preliminary determination that the application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration and that the activities to be authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue an EFP.

The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the following proposal for the collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Extension. 2. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 64, ``Travel Voucher'' (Part 1); NRC Form 64A, ``Travel Voucher'' (Part 2); and NRC Form 64B, ``Optional Travel Voucher'' (Part 2). 3. The form number if applicable: NRC Form 64; NRC Form 64A and NRC Form 64B. 4. How often the collection is required: On occasion. 5. Who will be required or asked to report: Contractors, consultants and invited NRC travelers who travel in the course of conducting business for the NRC. 6. An estimate of the number of responses: 100. 7. The estimated number of annual respondents: 100. 8. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 100 hours (1 hour for each form). 9. An indication of whether Section 3507(d), Pub. L. 104-13 applies: Not applicable. 10. Abstract: As a part of completing the travel process, the traveler must file travel reimbursement vouchers and trip reports. The respondent universe for the above forms include consultants and contractors and those who are invited by the NRC to travel, e.g., prospective employees. Travel expenses that are reimbursed are confined to those expenses essential to the transaction of official business for an approved trip. A copy of the final supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F23, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC Worldwide Web site: https:// www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by June 23, 2005. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date. John A. Asalone, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0192), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments may also be emailed to JohnA.Asalone@omb.eop.gov or submitted by telephone at (202) 395-4650. The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda Jo. Shelton, 301-415-7233.

This notice announces the establishment of the Medicaid Commission and discusses the group's purpose and charter. It also solicits nominations for members.

The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) announce that they have received an application for the licensing of a natural gas deepwater port, and that the application appears to contain the required information. This notice summarizes the applicant's plans and the procedures that will be followed in considering the application.

The FTA, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad (Metro-North) and the Westchester County Department of Transportation (WCDOT), intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on a proposal to improve station access and provide additional parking at the Metro-North North White Plains Station, Westchester County, New York (Proposed Action). The FTA is the lead Federal agency under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The Proposed Action is being developed by Metro-North and WCDOT, the co-sponsors of the Proposed Action. The EIS will be prepared in accordance with NEPA and the applicable regulations for implementing NEPA, as set forth in 23 CFR part 771 and 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. The EIS is being prepared to satisfy the requirements of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Items that will be considered in the Proposed Action are: Expansion of parking capacity through the construction of a multi-level parking structure at Metro-North's North White Plains Station; Improved access to/from the proposed expanded parking facilities from the east side of the railroad tracks; Enhanced customer service facilities for intermodal connections and parking demand management strategies such as: Jitney services, feeder buses supported by park-and-ride lots, carpool and vanpool arrangements, bicycling and walking; Restoration of a portion of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation which is currently used for customer parking back to parkland; and Rerouting a portion of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation bike pathway in the study area. The EIS will evaluate a build alternative, comprising a multi-level parking structure and four possible access alternatives, a No Action Alternative and any additional reasonable alternatives generated by the scoping process. Scoping will be accomplished through meetings and correspondence with interested persons, organizations, and Federal, State, regional, and local agencies.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (hereinafter the ``Corporation''), has submitted the following public information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Copies of the ICR, with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by calling the Corporation for National and Community Service, Dave Bellama, 202-606-5000 ext. 483. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TTY-TDD) may call (202) 565- 2799 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday. Comments should be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: Ms. Katherine Astrich, OMB Desk Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, (202) 395-4718, within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal Register.

The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement announces that, pursuant to legislation passed by Congress, educational institutions receiving Federal funding are required to hold an educational program pertaining to the United States Constitution on September 17 of each year. This notice implements this provision as it applies to educational institutions receiving Federal funding from the Department.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) is considering implementing management measures for the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) fishery off Washington, Oregon and California. This document announces a control date of April 8, 2005, for the spiny dogfish fishery. The control date for the spiny dogfish fishery is intended to discourage increased fishing effort in the limited entry and open access groundfish fisheries targeting spiny dogfish based on economic speculation while the Pacific Council develops and considers management measures for the spiny dogfish fishery. In addition, this document provides supplemental information on a control date for a limited entry groundfish trawl individual quota (IQ) program announced in the Federal Register on January 9, 2004, by clarifying that the control date does not preclude processors from being eligible to own quota as part of the trawl IQ program.

NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring 8,206 lb (3,722 kg) of commercial summer flounder quota to the Commonwealth of Virginia from its 2005 quota. By this action, NMFS adjusts the quotas and announces the revised commercial quota for each state involved.

The Board is amending Regulation DD, which implements the Truth in Savings Act, and the staff commentary to the regulation, to address concerns about the uniformity and adequacy of information provided to consumers when they overdraw their deposit accounts. The amendments, in part, address certain types of servicessometimes referred to as ``bounced-check protection'' orcourtesy overdraft protection''which are offered by many depository institutions to pay consumers' checks, and which allow other overdrafts when there are insufficient funds in the account. These services are typically automated services provided to transaction account consumers as an alternative to a traditional overdraft line of credit. Among other things, the final rule creates a new section to the regulation that requires institutions that promote the payment of overdrafts in an advertisement to disclose on periodic statements, total fees imposed for paying overdrafts and total fees imposed for returning items unpaid on periodic statements, both for the statement period and the calendar year to date, and to include certain other disclosures in advertisements of overdraft services.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2005. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

This document provides notice of the availability of a Class Deviation from EPA's allotment formula for the awarding of Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 106 grants and also sets forth an alternative formula that will apply for the $9.92 million FY 2005 increase in EPA's appropriation for these grants. Currently, monies awarded under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act are allocated through allotment formulae for States, interstate agencies, and tribes. These formulae implement Section 106(b) of the CWA, which directs the EPA Administrator to make allotments for grants from sums appropriated by Congress in each fiscal year ``in accordance with regulations promulgated by him on the basis of the extent of the pollution problem in the respective states.'' Because the President's FY 2005 budget request specifically requested an increase in Section 106 funding for FY 2005 enhanced monitoring activities, EPA determined through a Class Deviation that if it applied the current State allotment formula to that increase only a small number of States would actually receive an increase while the majority of States would not receive a sufficient increase to strengthen their water quality monitoring activities. The Class Deviation and the new allotment formula apply only to the $9.92 million FY 2005 Section 106 increase and not to the remainder of the monies appropriated by Congress for these grants, which will be allocated in accordance with the allocation formulae EPA currently uses.

The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Administration, is issuing this notice in order to comply with the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and 42 U.S.C. 13218(b). The purpose of this notice is to announce the public availability of the Department of State's final Fiscal Year 2004 report at the following Web site: https://www.state.gov/m/a/ c8503.htm.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will meet Tuesday, June 14, 2005, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology is composed of fifteen members appointed by the Director of NIST; who are eminent in such fields as business, research, new product development, engineering, labor, education, management consulting, environment, and international relations. The purpose of this meeting is to review and make recommendations regarding general policy for the Institute, its organization, its budget, and its programs within the framework of applicable national policies as set forth by the President and the Congress. The agenda will include updates on NIST's activities and the U.S. Measurement System Initiative, presentations on Science and Technology Priorities in the Administration and R&D Spending Trends in the Federal Government, a VCAT Panel on Best Practices for Organizational Development, and two laboratory tours. Discussions scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and to end at 9:30 a.m. on June 14, on the NIST budget, planning information and feedback sessions will be closed. Agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the NIST web site. All visitors to the National Institute of Standards and Technology site will have to pre- register to be admitted. Please submit your name, time of arrival, e- mail address and phone number to Carolyn Peters no later than Thursday, June 9, and she will provide you with instructions for admittance. Mrs. Peter's email address is carolyn.peters@nist.gov and her phone number is (301) 975-5607.