November 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all British Aerospace Model HS 748 airplanes. This AD requires repetitive inspections for fatigue cracking, corrosion, and other related discrepancies of the rear pressure bulkhead and associated areas, and the fin attachment fittings, particularly the fin link beam; and related investigative and corrective actions. This AD results from a structural integrity audit of the airplane that showed the importance of inspecting for fatigue cracking and corrosion of these areas. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracking, corrosion, and other related discrepancies of the rear pressure bulkhead and associated areas, and the fin attachment fittings, particularly the fin link beam, which could result in damage to the airplane structure or injury to airplane occupants.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-462, a renewal charter has been filed for the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT). The renewal charter was filed on Aug. 5, 2005, with the Committee on Finance of the United States Senate, the Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Library of Congress. The renewal charter and copies of these filing letters are attached.

This rule addresses Medicare Part B payment policy, including the physician fee schedule that are applicable for calendar year (CY) 2006; and finalizes certain provisions of the interim final rule to implement the Competitive Acquisition Program (CAP) for Part B Drugs. It also revises Medicare Part B payment and related policies regarding: Physician work; practice expense (PE) and malpractice relative value units (RVUs); Medicare telehealth services; multiple diagnostic imaging procedures; covered outpatient drugs and biologicals; supplemental payments to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs); renal dialysis services; coverage for glaucoma screening services; National Coverage Decision (NCD) timeframes; and physician referrals for nuclear medicine services and supplies to health care entities with which they have financial relationships. In addition, the rule finalizes the interim RVUs for CY 2005 and issues interim RVUs for new and revised procedure codes for CY 2006. This rule also updates the codes subject to the physician self-referral prohibition and discusses payment policies relating to teaching anesthesia services, therapy caps, private contracts and opt-out, and chiropractic and oncology demonstrations. As required by the statute, it also announces that the physician fee schedule update for CY 2006 is -4.4 percent, the initial estimate for the sustainable growth rate for CY 2006 is 1.7 percent and the conversion factor for CY 2006 is $36.1770.

In response to requests from interested parties, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The period of review (``POR'') for this administrative review is November 1, 2003, through October 31, 2004. The Department is also conducting new shipper reviews for two exporters/producers. The POR for the new shipper reviews is also November 1, 2003, through October 31, 2004. One company named in the initiation of this review made no exports or sales of the subject merchandise during the POR and, consequently, we are preliminarily rescinding the review for this company. In addition, we are preliminarily rescinding the review for four companies because the requesting party withdrew its request for reviews of those companies. Therefore, this review covers nineteen producers/exporters of the subject merchandise. We preliminarily determine that thirteen of these companies have made sales in the United States at prices below normal value. Further, we preliminarily determine that the remaining six companies are not entitled to separate rates and have assigned them the rate for the PRC- wide entity. If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results of this review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on entries of subject merchandise during the POR for which the importer-specific assessment rates are above de minimis. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results. Parties who submit comments are requested to submit with each argument a statement of the issue and a brief summary of the argument. We will issue the final results no later than 120 days from the date of publication of this notice.

The Committee is proposing to add to the Procurement List products and services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities, and to delete a product previously furnished by such agencies. Comments Must be Received on or Before: December 18, 2005.

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

The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intention to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) and to conduct public scoping meetings on an application for a Presidential permit to construct a new international transmission line that crosses the U.S.-Canada international border in northwest Montana. The EA will be prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and applicable regulations, including DOE NEPA implementing regulations at 10 CFR part 1021. Montana Alberta Tie, Ltd., (MATL) has applied to DOE's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) for a Presidential permit to construct a 230,000-volt (230-kV) electric transmission line across the U.S. border with Canada, and to the State of Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for a Linear Facilities construction permit. The proposed transmission line would originate at a new substation to be constructed northeast of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, cross the U.S.-Canada international border, and terminate north of Great Falls, Montana, at an existing 230-kV substation owned by NorthWestern Energy (NWE). The total length of the proposed transmission line would be 203 miles, with approximately 126 miles constructed inside the U.S. DOE and the State of Montana have decided to cooperate on the preparation of an EA that would be used for their respective planning and decisionmaking processes. With this Notice of Intent, DOE and the Montana DEQ invite public participation in the EA scoping process and solicit pubic comments for consideration in establishing the scope and content of the EA. Because the proposed project may involve an action in a floodplain or wetland, the EA will include a floodplain and wetlands assessment and floodplain statement of findings in accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain and wetlands environmental review requirements (10 CFR part 1022). The Montana DEQ must issue a certification pursuant to section 401 of the Federal Clean Water Act that any project-related activities will comply with water quality standards and issue permits for any discharges of pollutants to State waters.

The Youth Programs Division, Office of Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, announces an open competition for projects to provide Arabic or Chinese language instruction overseas for American high school students in Summer 2006. Public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) may submit proposals to implement six-to eight-week summer institutes in an Arabic-speaking country and/or a Chinese-speaking country (hereafter referred to as China and understood to include mainland China and Taiwan as training sites) for U.S. students aged 15 to 18 to have both formal and informal Arabic or Chinese language instruction through a comprehensive exchange experience. ECA plans to award one or two grants for either an Arabic Institute or a Chinese Institute, or both. Applicants may apply to implement institutes in one or both languages.

These special conditions are issued to Garmin AT, Inc., 2345 Turner Rd. SE, Salem, OR 97302, for a Supplemental Type Certificate for the Raytheon A36. The airplane will have novel and unusual design features when compared to the state of technology envisaged in the applicable airworthiness standards. These novel and unusual design features include the installation of an electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) display, Model G-1000, manufactured by Garmin International Inc., for which the applicable regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate airworthiness standards for the protection of these systems from the effects of high intensity radiated fields (HIRF). These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to the airworthiness standards applicable to these airplanes.

This document confirms the effective date of the direct final rule which revises Class E airspace at Sheldon Municipal Airport, IA.

As authorized by Public Law 105-383 and Public Law 107-295, the Secretary of Transportation, as represented by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), is authorized to grant waivers of the U.S.- build requirement of the coastwise laws under certain circumstances. A request for such a waiver has been received by MARAD. The vessel, and a brief description of the proposed service, is listed below. The complete application is given in DOT docket 20005-22993 at https:// dms.dot.gov. Interested parties may comment on the effect this action may have on U.S. vessel builders or businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.-flag vessels. If MARAD determines, in accordance with Public Law 105-383 and MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388 (68 FR 23084; April 30, 2003), that the issuance of the waiver will have an unduly adverse effect on a U.S.-vessel builder or a business that uses U.S.-flag vessels in that business, a waiver will not be granted. Comments should refer to the docket number of this notice and the vessel name in order for MARAD to properly consider the comments. Comments should also state the commenter's interest in the waiver application, and address the waiver criteria given in Sec. 388.4 of MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388.

The Forest Service is revising the Land and Resource Management Plan (hereafter referred to as Forest Plan) for the Uwharrie National Forest (UNF). This notice provides: 1. A summary of the need to change the Forest Plan; 2. Information on how the public can comment on the need to change, when those comments are due, and how comments can be submitted; 3. A list of documents available for review and how to get them; 4. How the public can participate in the planning process; 5. Who to contact for more information.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has submitted the following proposal(s) for the collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget for review and approval.