July 1, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The notice of an open meeting scheduled for July 15, 2005 published in the Federal Register on June 10, 2005 (70 FR 33884) has a new meeting place. The meeting will now be held at the Kimsey Athletic Center, West Conference Room, 4th Floor, West Point, NY.

PolyMet Mining, Inc., has applied to the St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) for a permit to discharge fill material into wetlands to facilitate the construction and operation of an open pit copper/ nickel/cobalt/precious metals mine in the low grade polymetallic disseminated magmatic sulfide NorthMet deposit in northeastern Minnesota, approximately 6 miles south of the town of Babbitt. The mining process would require the construction of waste and product stockpiles near the open pit. Ore processing would be conducted at a currently inactive taconite processing plant (modifications would be necessary), and ore tailings would be disposed of in a currently inactive taconite tailings basin adjacent to the processing plant. The processing plant and tailings basin are located about 8 miles west of the NorthMet deposit and about 5 miles north of the town of Hoyt Lakes. Ore would be transported from the mine to the processing plant via an existing railroad line. Construction of a railroad spur to the mine and a connecting railroad line to the plant site would be required. Project plans call for the mining of up to 32,000 tons of ore per day after overburden and waste rock stripping and stockpiling. Mining operations would be conducted 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, over the 20- year life of the project. Processing the ore would involve crushing, grinding, flotation, and hydrometallurgical processing. Cathode copper (high purity metal) would be produced on-site by solvent extraction and electrowinning. The processing would produce other metals (nickel, cobalt, palladium, platinum, and gold) as precipitates rather than as finished metal. The precipitates would be shipped offsite for further refining. The project would require dredging or discharging fill material into an estimated 1,257 acres of wetlands. While some of the wetlands may be isolated, the majority of the wetlands are adjacent to the Partridge River, which is a tributary to the St. Louis River, which is a navigable water of the United States. A specific compensatory wetland mitigation plan has not yet been developed for the project. PolyMet Mining, Inc., has expressed interest in working with various interested federal and state agencies to develop an acceptable plan that would meet federal and state compensatory mitigation requirements. The discharge of fill material into waters of the United States requires a permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The final environmental impact statement will be used as a basis for the permit decision and to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

HIV/AIDS surveillance data have been used for describing the epidemic, planning prevention and treatment activities, developing treatment guidelines, advocating for resources, and allocating and prioritizing available resources within communities. The Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) uses HIV/AIDS surveillance data from states to estimate severity of need to allocate nearly two billion in funding for HIV-related ambulatory care and support services available annually through the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. A committee from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently reviewed, at the request of Congress, the status of HIV/AIDS surveillance. In the resulting report, three populations of interest were outlined; Persons infected with HIV, who do not have a diagnosis of HIV and are not receiving care. Persons infected with HIV, who have a diagnosis of HIV but are not receiving care. Persons infected with HIV, who have a diagnosis of HIV and are receiving care. Understanding how many and which persons in a community have a diagnosis of HIV but are not receiving care is critically important for estimating the community's resource needs. Of the estimated 850,000- 950,000 HIV-infected persons in the United States, an estimated 75 percent know they are infected. Of these, an estimated 50 percent do not have evidence of having received any medical care for their HIV infection. One of the goals of CDC's Advancing HIV Prevention initiative is to provide HIV testing outside of traditional medical settings, and to increase linkage to HIV care for those whose HIV test results are positive. Because of treatment advances, more people with HIV infection are living longer and healthier lives. Persons who know they are infected can benefit from prophylaxis for opportunistic infections, monitoring of their immune status, and, when recommended, treatment with antiretroviral drugs. Additionally, new HIV therapies may reduce the degree of infectiousness by lowering viral load and thereby reducing HIV transmission. Therefore, to determine the extent of medical services and resources that will be needed for persons who are infected with HIV, but who have not received medical care, it is critically important to quantify and describe the number in this population. In addition, determining factors related to not receiving care will be important in designing effective interventions for linking persons to care. A supplemental surveillance system designed to produce population- based estimates of persons who have a diagnosis of HIV and are receiving care has been developed. Federal awards were made to 26 health departments to collect clinical and behavioral data among persons who have a diagnosis of HIV and are receiving care. Supplemental surveillance systems that collect data about those persons infected with HIV who are and are not receiving care will provide critically needed information on the quality of care and severity of need for care; barriers to receiving care; prevention; and support services at the local level. This information will assist local planning groups (i.e., community planning groups and local planning councils) in determining local allocation of CDC and Ryan White CARE Act funds. Additionally, this type of supplemental surveillance data will provide a means of evaluating new prevention initiatives (e.g., Advancing HIV Prevention) that focus on the provision of prevention services and linkage to care for persons living with HIV (PLWHA) infection. I. Funding Opportunity Description

This notice lists the newspapers that will be used by all Ranger Districts, Forests, Grasslands, and the Regional Office of the Northern Region to publish legal notices for public comment and decisions subject to appeal and predecisional administrative review under 36 CFR 215, 217, and 218. The intended effect of this action is to inform interested members of the public which newspapers will be used to publish legal notices for public comment or decisions; thereby allowing them to receive constructive notice of a decision, to provide clear evidence of timely notice, and to achieve consistency in administering the appeals process.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) is proposing revised rates for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) firm point-to-point transmission service, nonfirm point-to-point transmission service, and Network Integration Transmission Service (NITS) on the CAP 115 kilovolt (kV) and 230-kV transmission lines. Current rates, under Rate Schedules CAP-FT1, CAP-NFT1 and CAP-NITS1, extend through December 31, 2005. Proposed rates will provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs, including interest expense, and repay required investment within the allowable period. Western will prepare a brochure that provides detailed information on the rates to all interested parties. Proposed rates, under Rate Schedules CAP-FT2, CAP-NFT2, and CAP-NITS2, are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2006, and will remain in effect through December 31, 2010. Publication of this Federal Register notice begins the formal process for the proposed rates.

The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on a proposed collection of information that DOE is developing for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The Office of Science reports annually in the President's Budget Request the numbers of researchers, post docs, graduate students and technicians supported through Research Grants and Field Work Proposals (FWPs). However, these data are based on forecasts by the principal investigator (i.e., PIs) at the time the grants and FWPs were initially funded. These estimates are unreliable because they are based on the best guess of the PIs at the time of funding. While the PI's initial estimate could be accurate at the time of the request, the reliability of the initial estimate decreases as the project matures. Further, the forecasts by the PIs are subjective. Therefore, it is not possible to quantify the inaccuracies with any confidence. To better plan for future investments, the Office of Science must better understand the actual impact of its budget on the technical manpower supported. A short (approximately 17 minutes) web- based survey has been developed to collect actual workforce data from a small sample of researchers currently supported by the Office of Science. The result will be compared to proposal data to estimate the average and range of variation and to derive a statistically valid methodology for approximating budgetary impacts on the technical manpower supported. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

The actions that will take place are the approval of the minutes from the Board of Regents meetings on May 19-20, 2005; departmental reports; and degrees from the USU School of Medicine. The President, USU; Dean, USU School of Medicine; and Dean, USU Graduate School of Nursing will also present reports. These actions are necessary in order to remain an accredited medical school and to pursue our mission, which is to provide trained medical personnel to our uniformed services. This meeting is in Harrisburg, PA to allow observation of a medical field exercise.

The Department of Defense is publishing the unclassified text of a section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification. This is published to fulfill the requirements of section 155 of Public Law 104-164 dated 21 July 1996.

The Defense Security Service (DSS) is adding an exemption rule for the system of records V5-05, entitled `Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS)'. The system of records is being transferred from the Department of the Air Force's inventory (F031 DoD A, entitled `Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS)') to the DSS inventory of records. The exemption rule (32 CFR part 806b) for the Air Force system is being transferred and published as an exemption rule (32 CFR part 321.13) for the DSS system. The rule was published as a final rule on May 9, 2003 at 68 FR 24881.

This rule identifies communities, where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation that the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice of this will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an environmental impact statement will be prepared for a proposed transportation project in Dallas County, Texas.

In January 2005, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a notice specifying the results of the preliminary review of petitions it received in September 2004 in connection with the annual ATPA review and modifying the schedule for consideration of the remaining petitions. The January 2005 notice also specified the status of the petitions filed in 2003 that have remained under review. The Trade Policy Staff Committee has decided to continue the review of pending petitions.

For the period beginning July 1, 2005 and ending on December 31, 2005, the prompt payment interest rate is 4.500 per centum per annum.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or the Commission) is seeking comments on proposed revisions to its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) fee schedule. The updated schedule of fees reflects increases in the direct costs incurred by the Commission in responding to requests for records.

Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given of a meeting of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Board of Scientific Counselors. Please be advised that the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors meeting originally scheduled for June 23, 2005, as published in the Federal Register (Vol. 80, No. 93 pp. 25830-25831) on May 16, 2005 is postponed to August 18, 2005. The tentative agenda published in the May 16 notice and the guidelines for submitting public comments or making an oral presentation at the meeting still apply. Any updates to the agenda or additional information and background materials will be posted on the NTP Web site (https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ select ``Advisory Boards and Committees'') and provided upon request from the NTP (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT below).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service is publishing this notice pursuant to a June 9, 2005, consent final judgment and order issued by the United States District Court, District of Maine, in the case Harvey v. Johanns. The court issued a declaratory judgment that 7 CFR 205.606 shall be interpreted to permit the use of a nonorganically produced agricultural product only when the product has been listed in section 205.606 pursuant to National List procedures, and when an accredited certifying agent has determined that the organic form of the agricultural product is not commercially available. The court's order limits an accredited certifying agent's commercially available determinations for nonorganic agricultural products used in or on processed organic products to the 5 substances contained in 7 CFR 205.606. The products are native cornstarch, water extracted gums, kelp when used as a thickener and dietary supplement, unbleached lecithin, and high methoxy pectin.

On June 23, 2005, the Federal Register published a notice from the National Science Foundation (NSF) regarding availability of a Finding of No Significant Impact for proposed activities in the Arctic. The html link for the notice incorrectly identified the Web links as https://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/arctic/arcenvir/healyea.pdf and https:// www.nsf.gov/od/opp/arctic/arcenvir/healyfonsi.pdf, rather than the actual web links, https://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/arctic/arcenvir/healy ea.pdf and https://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/arctic/arcenvir/healyfonsi.pdf