November 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The EPA (also, ``the Agency'' or ``we'' in this preamble) is taking direct final action in granting a petition to exclude (or ``delist'') up to 3,000 cubic yards of wastewater treatment sludges generated annually from the chemical conversion coating of aluminum generated by the General Motors Corporation (GM) Janesville Truck Assembly Plant (JTAP) in Janesville, Wisconsin from the list of hazardous wastes. Today's action conditionally excludes the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) when disposed of in a Subtitle D landfill which is permitted, licensed, or registered by a State to manage industrial solid waste. The rule also imposes testing conditions for waste generated in the future to ensure that this waste continues to qualify for delisting.

This notice announces an updated Ambulance Inflation Factor (AIF) for payment of ambulance services during calendar year (CY) 2006. The statute requires that this inflation factor be applied in determining the fee schedule amounts and payment limits for ambulance services. The updated AIF for 2006 applies to ambulance services furnished during the period January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006.

This final rule adopts as final, and makes amendments to, the interim final rule published on August 15, 2003. That interim final rule implemented the statutory requirement that claims for reimbursement under the Medicare Program be submitted electronically as of October 16, 2003, except where waived. These regulations identify those circumstances for which mandatory submission of electronic claims to the Medicare Program is waived.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Seminoe Road Gas Development Project DEIS that analyzes the environmental consequences of a proposed coalbed natural gas development and production operation in south central Wyoming.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) and its Administrative Committee will hold meetings.

On November 23, 2005, the Board served a decision announcing the 2004 revenue adequacy determinations for the Nation's Class I railroads. One carrier, Norfolk Southern Railway Company, is found to be revenue adequate.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, we are proposing a new SOR titled, ``National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Claims Processing System (CPS), No. 09-70-0572.'' CMS is responsible for establishing and administering a payment mechanism for definitive medical care provided under the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in accordance with section 2811 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 United States Code (U.S.C.) 300hh-11, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) entered into by the NDMS Partnersthe Departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veteran's Affairs, and an Inter-Agency Agreement between CMS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Reimbursement to NDMS-participating hospitals (and practitioners furnishing medical services to NDMS- authorized patients during inpatient stays in those hospitals) for definitive medical care will be administered through the NDMS-CPS. The new system will collect data relating to individuals who receive NDMS- authorized medical treatment or services in NDMS hospitals for illness or injury resulting from a specified public health emergency or non- deferrable medical treatment or services to maintain health when such are temporarily not available as a result of the public health emergency. Data on individuals will be submitted by the Departments of Defense and Veteran's Affairs, staffed Federal Coordinating Centers activated by the NDMS, NDMS hospitals, and practitioners within NDMS hospitals that furnish medical treatment or services to NDMS patients. The primary purpose of the system is to justify and document payments for inpatient hospital and related practitioner services provided in connection to the NDMS. Information in this system will also be disclosed to: (1) Support regulatory, reimbursement, and policy functions performed by CMS and the NDMS Partners, contractors (including the NDMS claims contractor), and consultants contracted by the Agency; (2) support another Federal (including the NDMS Partners) agency of a state government, an agency established by state law, or its fiscal agent; (3) assist NDMS-participating hospitals (and practitioners within those hospitals) who have furnished services to individuals evacuated and placed by the NDMS; (4) assist third party contacts in situations where the party to be contacted has, or is expected to have information relating to the individual's capacity to manage his or her affairs; (5) facilitate research on the quality and effectiveness of care provided, as well as payment-related projects; (6) support constituent requests made to a congressional representative; (7) support litigation involving the Agency, and (8) combat fraud and abuse in certain Federal health benefits programs. We have provided background information about the new system in the Supplementary Information section below. Although the Privacy Act requires only that CMS provide an opportunity for interested persons to comment on the proposed routine uses, CMS invites comments on all portions of this notice. See Effective Dates section for comment period.

The Coast Guard is extending the effective period of the safety zone in the Bering Sea, Unalaska Island, Alaska. The zone is needed to facilitate safe salvage operations related to the grounding of the merchant vessel (M/V) SELENDANG AYU. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port, Western Alaska, or their on-scene representative. The intended effect of the proposed safety zone is to mitigate safety risks to salvage personnel.

The Coast Guard announces that it intends to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) as part of the environmental planning process for the Nationwide Automatic Identification System (NAIS) project. The NAIS project, a USCG and DHS Level 1 investment and major systems acquisition, was initiated as a component of implementing the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. Implementation of the NAIS, in part, involves installing Automatic Identification System (AIS) equipment and related support systems on and around communications towers or other structures along 95,000 miles of coastline and inland rivers. The NAIS project is being conducted to provide the USCG with the capability to receive and distribute information from shipboard Automatic Identification System (AIS) equipment in order to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). The project will provide detection and identification of vessels carrying AIS equipment approaching or operating in the maritime domain where little or no vessel tracking currently exists. AIS is an international standard, approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), for ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore and shore- to-ship communication of information, including vessel position, speed, course, destination, and other data of critical interest for maritime safety and security. The information provided by this system will support national maritime interestsfrom the safety of ports through collision avoidance, to the safety of the nation through detection and classification of vessels when they are still thousands of miles offshore. Publication of this notice begins a scoping process that identifies and determines the scope of environmental issues to be addressed in the PEIS. This notice requests public participation in the scoping process and provides information on how to participate.

This notice announces the availability of data and information concerning dossiers (or proposals) for the addition of hexachlorobutadiene, octabromo diphenyl ether (octaBDE), pentachlorobenzene, polychlorinated napthalenes, short-chain chlorinated parrafins (SCCPs), dicofol, pentabromodiphenyl ether (PeDBE), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) submitted to the Secretariat of the 1998 Aarhus POPs Protocol Under the Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) Convention of the UNECE. We are issuing this NODA to alert interested and potentially affected parties of these proposals; to announce the substances proposed for inclusion in the Protocol; to provide the Web site where these proposals may be reviewed; to provide the addresses where comments or information may be submitted; and to provide the deadline for submitting comments and information. We are also issuing the NODA to solicit names and contact information for those parties who would like to be notified when proposals under the Aarhus POPs Protocol occur.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 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 November 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.