August 12, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

CITA has determined that certain 100 percent cotton carbon- emerized, three or four-thread twill weave fabrics, of the specifications detailed below, classified in subheading 5208.33.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner. The CITA hereby designates woven cotton shirts and blouses, that are both cut and sewn or otherwise assembled in one or more eligible CBTPA beneficiary countries from such fabrics, as eligible for quota-free and duty-free treatment under the textile and apparel commercial availability provisions of the CBTPA and eligible under HTSUS subheadings 9820.11.27, to enter free of quota and duties, provided that all other fabrics in the referenced apparel articles are wholly formed in the United States from yarns wholly formed in the United States, including fabrics not formed from yarns, if such fabrics are classifiable under HTS heading 5602 or 5603 and are wholly formed in the United States.

On June 7, 2005, the Chairman of CITA received a petition from Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., on behalf of their client B*W*A of New York City, alleging that certain 100 percent cotton, yarn dyed in the warp direction, plain weave double warp beam seersucker fabrics, of detailed specifications, classified in subheadings 5208.42.30, 5208.42.40, 5208.42.50, and 5209.41.60 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner. The petition requests that woven shirts, blouses, and sleepwear of such fabrics be eligible for preferential treatment under the CBTPA. CITA has determined that the subject fabrics can be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities and in a timely manner and, therefore, denies the request.

On August 8, 2005, The U.S. Department of Commerce issued an amended Export Trade Certificate of Review to Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America (``WMMA'').

On August 5, 2005, Quimica Amtex, S.A. de C.V. filed a First Request for Panel Review with the United States Section of the NAFTA Secretariat pursuant to Article 1904 of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Panel review was requested of the Final Antidumping Duty Determination and Order made by the International Trade Commission, respecting Purified Carboxymethylcellulose (``CMC'') from Mexico. A second request was filed on August 8, 2005 on behalf of Noviant AB, Noviant OY, Noviant BV, Noviant Inc., and JM Huber Corp. on the International Trade Commission's final determination. The order was published in the Federal Register (70 FR 39734) on July 11, 2005 and the final determination was published in the Federal Register (70 Fed. Reg. 39334) on July 7, 2005 The NAFTA Secretariat has assigned Case Number USA-MEX-2005-1904-05 to this request.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for a field trial of genetically engineered strains of an endophytic fungus of perennial ryegrass, Neotyphodium sp. isolate Lp1. The fungi have been genetically engineered to disrupt the ergovaline synthesis pathway. This environmental assessment is available for public review and comment.

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

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.

The Department is proposing to amend existing regulations set forth at 22 CFR 62.25 to impose new program administration requirements. These amendments would require program sponsors to complete criminal background checks for officers, employees, agents, representatives and volunteers acting on their behalf and would also require monthly contact with host families and students. Amendments are also proposed that would require the vetting of all adult members of a host family household through a sex offender registry maintained by the respective state of residence. A requirement to report any allegation of sexual misconduct to both the Department and local law enforcement authorities is also proposed.

In response to the inherent risks of gaming enterprises and the resulting need for effective internal controls in Tribal gaming operations, the National Indian Gaming Commission (Commission or NIGC) first developed Minimum Internal Control Standards (MICS) for Indian gaming in 1999, and then later revised them in 2002. The Commission recognized from the outset that periodic technical adjustments and revisions would be necessary in order to keep the MICS effective in protecting Tribal gaming assets and the interests of Tribal stakeholders and the gaming public. To that end, the following final rule revisions contain certain corrections and revisions to the Commission's existing MICS, which are necessary to clarify, improve, and update other existing MICS provisions. The purpose of these MICS revisions is to address apparent shortcomings in the MICS and various changes in Tribal gaming technology and methods. Public comment on these final MICS revisions was received by the Commission for a period of 48 days after the date of their publication in the Federal Register as a proposed rule on March 10, 2005. After consideration of all received comments, the Commission has made whatever changes to the proposed revisions that it deemed appropriate and is now promulgating and publishing the final revisions to the Commission's MICS Rule, 25 CFR part 542.

On June 30, 2005, the Director of MMS signed the Final Notice of Sale for Sale 196, and on July 7, 2005, the FNOS was published in the Federal Register at 70 FR 39329. This notice informs potential bidders that the Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed by the President on August 8, 2005, requires that royalty suspension provisions contained in the Energy Policy Act must be used for OCS lease sales occurring during the five-year period beginning on the date of its enactment. Therefore, deepwater royalty suspension volume provisions contained in the FNOS 196 are superseded in part by provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

On August 5, 2005, HUD published competition reopening announcements for the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program NOFA and the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program NOFA. This document makes corrections to these competition reopening announcements to clarify that applicants submitting paper applications for the Section 202 Program NOFA and the Section 811 Program NOFA competition reopening announcements must submit applications to the local HUD office or Program Center office and not to the HUD Multifamily Hub office.