August 26, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB or ``the Board'') is publishing final regulations that adopt previously published interim regulations revising 5 CFR part 1207. These final regulations are necessary to reconcile the Board's regulations with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 794, and to clarify the procedures for processing those complaints filed against the Board that allege discrimination on the basis of disability during the Board's adjudication of a related employee appeal.

The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) suspends the liquidation of entries of merchandise subject to antidumping and/or countervailing duties (AD/CVD) until liquidation instructions are received from the Department of Commerce. Due to the extended liquidation cycle of AD/CVD entries, CBP is only now beginning to receive liquidation instructions from the Department of Commerce for many AD/CVD entries from previous years. Unfortunately, AD/CVD entry documents which were maintained by CBP at 6 World Trade Center in New York, New York, were destroyed in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. This notice announces that CBP is providing importers with the option to provide a reconstructed entry summary package to CBP for liquidation of these entries. Failure by the importer to provide a reconstructed entry summary package within the time frame described in this notice may result in liquidation by CBP of the entry, or entries, based upon the information available within the Automated Commercial System (ACS).

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is committed to preventing the onset and reducing the progression of mental illness, substance abuse and substance related problems among all individuals, including youth. As part of this effort, SAMHSA is expanding and refining the agency's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) so that the system serves as a leading national resource for contemporary and reliable information on the scientific basis and practicality of interventions to prevent and/or treat mental illness and substance use and abuse. NREPP represents a major agency activity within SAMHSA's Science to Service initiative. The initiative seeks to accelerate the translation of research into practice by promoting the implementation of effective, evidence-based interventions for preventing and/or treating mental disorders and substance use and abuse. Of equal measure, the initiative emphasizes the essential role of the services community in providing input and feedback to influence and better frame the research questions and activities pursued by researchers in these areas. Through SAMHSA's Science to Service initiative, the agency ultimately seeks to develop a range of tools that will facilitate evidence-based decision-making in substance abuse prevention, mental health promotion, and the treatment of mental and substance use disorders. In addition to NREPP, SAMHSA is developing an informational guide of web-based resources on evidence-based interventions that will be available in 2006. SAMHSA also is exploring the feasibility of supporting a searchable web database of evidence-based information (e.g., systematic reviews, meta-analyses, clinical guidelines) for mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment providers. Such a system could reduce the lag time between the initial development and broader application of research knowledge by serving as a real-time resource to providers for ``keeping current'' in ways that will enhance their delivery of high quality, effective services. In combination, these three toolsNREPP, guide to web-based resources, and database of evidence-based informationwould provide valuable information that can be used in a variety of ways by a range of interested stakeholders. With regard to NREPP, during the past two years, SAMHSA convened a series of scientific/stakeholder panels to inform the agency's expansion of the system to include interventions in all substance abuse and mental health treatment and prevention domains. These panels thoroughly assessed the existing NREPP review process and review criteria and provided comments and suggestions for refining and enhancing NREPP. As part of this expansion effort, SAMHSA also engaged a contractor to assess the NREPP process and review criteria, including how the system and criteria compare to other, similar evidence review and rating systems in the behavioral and social sciences. The cumulative results of these activities have guided efforts to refine the NREPP review process and review criteria, as well as inform the agency's plans for how such a system may be used to promote greater adoption of evidence-based interventions within typical community-based settings. This Federal Register Notice (FRN) provides an opportunity for interested parties to become familiar with and comment on SAMHSA's plans for expansion and use of NREPP.

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Texas. This revision approves the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Voluntary Mobile Emission Reduction Program (VMEP) which is relied upon to achieve the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone in the DFW nonattainment area.

This document announces that on March 22, 2005, the Environmental Appeals Board (``EAB'') of EPA denied review of a petition for review of a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (``PSD'') permit (``Permit'') that the State of Washington's Department of Ecology (``Ecology'') issued to Cardinal FG Company (``Cardinal'') for construction and operation of a flat glass production plant (``Facility'') near Chehalis, Washington. The Permit was issued pursuant to 40 CFR 52.21. Ecology has the authority to issue PSD permits pursuant to the ``Agreement for Partial Delegation of the Federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 to the State of Washington Department of Ecology,'' dated March 28, 2003 (``PSD Delegation Agreement''). The PSD Delegation Agreement was entered into pursuant to 40 CFR 52.21(u).

The Rural Housing Service is amending its regulations to change the threshold for surety requirements guaranteeing payment and performance from a $100,000 contract amount to the maximum Rural Development Single Family Housing area lending limit. This limit will vary by locality. This will liberalize the requirement for surety and take into account the increased construction cost of single family homes in Rural Development's Single Family Housing Program. This will ease the burden on small contractors for whom obtaining surety is difficult and expensive, thereby reducing costs to our single family housing borrowers.

NMFS announces the closure of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area, including the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock Special Access Program (SAP) Pilot Program, to limited access Northeast (NE) multispecies days-at- sea (DAS) vessels for the remainder of the 2005 fishing year (i.e., through April 30, 2006), unless otherwise notified by the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator). This closure is based on a determination by the Regional Administrator that 90 percent of the total allowable catch (TAC) of Georges Bank (GB) cod allocated to be harvested from the Eastern U.S./Canada Area has already been harvested during the 2005 fishing year. This action is being taken to prevent the 2005 TAC for GB cod in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area from being exceeded during the 2005 fishing year in accordance with the regulations implemented under Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes this notice to announce the availability of Notify U.S., a free, web-based e-mail service that offers U.S. citizens, industries, and organizations an opportunity to review and comment on proposed foreign technical regulations that can affect their businesses and their access to international markets. The service is operated by the National Center for Standards and Certification Information (NCSCI) at NIST. NCSCI is the nation's designated Inquiry Point under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). Notify U.S. is the successor to Export Alert!, an e-mail service for proposed technical regulations previously offered by NIST. This new, web-based service offers fast and comprehensive information on proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures from foreign governments that might influence U.S. exports. Notify U.S. provides users with access to notifications and full texts of regulations issued by the WTO members. In addition, users can monitor proposed changes across chosen countries and 41 fields of industrial or technical activities, or they can select a subset of fields.

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), United States Department of Commerce, and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), United States Department of Commerce, are amending the rules that implement the Fastener Quality Act of 1999 to provide that all documents submitted in connection with the recordal of fastener insignia must be mailed to a particular postal box maintained by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

We are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the West Virginia regulatory program (the West Virginia program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). West Virginia proposes revisions to the Code of West Virginia (W. Va. Code) and the Code of State Regulations (CSR) as authorized by several bills passed during the State's 2005 Legislative Session. West Virginia is also proposing an amendment that affects the State's regulations concerning erosion protection zones (EPZ) associated with durable rock fills. The State is revising its program to be consistent with certain corresponding Federal requirements, and to include other amendments at its own initiative. The amendments include, among other things, changes to the State's surface mining and blasting regulations as authorized by Committee Substitute for House Bill 2723; various statutory changes to the State's approved program as a result of the passage of Committee Substitute for House Bill 3033 and House Bills 2333 and 3236; the submission of a draft policy regarding the State's EPZ requirement and requesting that the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) reconsider its previous decision concerning EPZ; State water rights and replacement policy identifying the timing of water supply replacement; the revised Permittee's Request For Release form; and the submission of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), Division of Mining and Reclamation, and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Section that is intended to partially resolve a required program amendment relating to planting arrangements for Homestead post-mining land use.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EMSSAB), Oak Ridge Reservation. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

This notice announces the final Federal share disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments for Federal fiscal years (FFYs) 2003 and 2004, and the preliminary Federal share DSH allotments for FFY 2005. It also announces the final FFYs 2003 and 2004, and the preliminary FFY 2005, limitations on aggregate DSH payments that States may make to institutions for mental disease (IMDs) and other mental health facilities. This notice also includes a background describing the methodology for determining the amounts of States' FFY DSH allotments for FFY 1998 and thereafter.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the animal drug regulations by removing those portions that reflect approval of 16 new animal drug applications (NADAs) and 1 abbreviated NADA (ANADA) because they are no longer manufactured or marketed. In a notice published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, FDA is withdrawing approval of these NADAs.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces that the Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Environmental Assessment (EA) is available for Agassiz NWR, Minnesota. The CCP was prepared pursuant to the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Goals and objectives in the CCP describe how the agency intends to manage the refuge over the next 15 years.