December 16, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 552a, the Department of Education (Department) publishes this notice of a new system of records entitled ``Follow Up Evaluation of the Gear Up Program (18-17-02).'' This system will contain information about middle school students who participated in the GEAR UP program in 2000-01 and a matched comparison of middle school students who did not participate in the program. The students' expected high school completion year is 2006 and the follow- up information will be collected in spring of 2006. This system consists of the name, address, and social security number of the study participants as well as demographic information such race/ethnicity and age; educational background, transcript information, service participation information, high school graduation, and preliminary postsecondary enrollment information; and financial aid application and award. The information will be collected from students and their parents. The Department seeks comment on this new system of records described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act.

This proposed rule would adopt new procedures to be used by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) in the evaluation of bids in connection with the procurement of commodities for donation overseas. In general, CCC proposes to amend the existing regulations to provide for the simultaneous review of commodity and ocean freight offers when evaluating lowest-landed cost options in connection with the procurement of commodities. This proposed rule would enhance bidding opportunities for potential vendors while allowing CCC to more efficiently acquire commodities.

NMFS is required by the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended to develop plans for the conservation and survival of Federally listed species, i.e., recovery plans. NMFS is announcing its' intent to prepare a recovery plan for the Central California Coast coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Evolutionarily Significant Unit (CCC coho salmon ESU) and requests information from the public.

Under Section 122(h)(1) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to enter into a settlement for the partial reimbursement of past response costs concerning the Sadler Drum Superfund Site in Mulberry, Polk County, Florida, with Settling Parties, Hilton Sadler and Diane Sadler.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing draft interim guidance on concentration averaging for public comment. The NRC is currently in the process of preparing a Standard Review Plan (SRP) to provide guidance to NRC staff regarding reviews of waste determinations submitted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The NRC staff held a public scoping meeting on the draft SRP on November 10, 2005, to obtain stakeholder input on the contents of the SRP. The draft SRP is expected to be released for public comment in 2006 and will include, among other things, guidance on evaluating concentration averaging in those cases that are specific to the types of waste and situations typically evaluated in waste determinations. Because several stakeholders are interested in obtaining NRC guidance on concentration averaging as soon as practicable, the NRC is issuing this draft interim guidance prior to completion and public release of the entire draft SRP. This draft interim guidance is applicable only to waste determinations at DOE sites. This guidance will eventually be incorporated into the draft SRP and any comments received on this guidance will be evaluated at the same time as other public comments that are received following the release of the draft SRP.

In response to requests from interested parties, the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting the third administrative review of the antidumping duty order on honey from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The period of review (POR) is December 1, 2003, through November 30, 2004. One named respondent company had no exports or sales of the subject merchandise during the POR; therefore, we are preliminarily rescinding our review of this company. We preliminarily determine that two companies have failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of their ability to comply with our requests for information and, as a result, should be assigned a rate based on adverse facts available. Finally, we have preliminarily determined that five respondents made sales to the United States of the subject merchandise at prices below normal value. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results. Parties that submit comments are requested to submit with each argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument(s).

EPA expressed environmental concerns and requested additional information to be included in the FEIS in the areas of air quality impacts, sediment analysis, dredged material placement for beneficial uses, habitat restoration and mitigation.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal power marketing agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), announces the Parker-Davis Project (P-DP) Post-2008 Resource Pool Allocation Procedures, developed under the requirements of the Energy Planning and Management Program (EPAMP). EPAMP provides for the establishment of project-specific resource pools and power allocations from these pools to new preference customers. Western, under EPAMP, is finalizing procedures for use in allocating power from the P-DP Post-2008 Resource Pool that will become available October 1, 2008. Western originally proposed allocation procedures in the October 1, 2004, Federal Register. Responses to public comments received on the proposed procedures are included in this notice. In accordance with this notice, Western plans to announce proposed allocations in the Federal Register after April 1, 2006.

We (Fish and Wildlife Service, Service) have sent a request to OMB to renew approval for the collection of information associated with our Policy for Evaluation of Conservation Efforts When Making Listing Decisions (PECE). We use the information that we collect as part of the basis for identifying conservation efforts that can contribute to a decision not to list a species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) or to list a species as threatened rather than endangered.

The Forestry Research Advisory Council will meet in Arlington, Virginia, January 12-13, 2006. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss emerging issues in forestry research.

For more than a quarter century, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) testing program has provided extensive and useful scientific information for predicting human health hazards and protecting public health. The NTP periodically conducts reviews of animal models used in its bioassays to critically analyze their predictive power and determine whether the protocols for these studies should be altered. As part of this effort, the NTP is convening a workshop titled ``Hormonally-Induced Reproductive Tumors: Relevance of Rodent Bioassays.'' The 2\1/2\ day workshop will be held on May 22-24, 2006, at the Marriott Raleigh Crabtree Valley, 4500 Marriott Drive, Raleigh, NC 27612. The workshop's overall goal is to determine the adequacy and relevance to human disease outcome of rodent models for four types of hormonally-induced reproductive tumors (ovary, mammary gland, prostate, and testis). Other topics for discussion include proposed modes of action (for each tumor type and for hormonal tumors in general), dose response for tumor induction, predictiveness of rodent pre-neoplastic events for humans, the importance of the inclusion of an in utero exposure in the etiology of specific tumors, and the concept of ``additivity to background'' when normal hormones are present with homeostatic control mechanisms. The program will include plenary sessions as well as four breakout group sessions for in-depth discussions. This meeting is open to the public with time set aside for public comments. Attendance is limited by the space available to approximately 100 public attendees. Individuals may register to attend the workshop on a first-come, first-served basis per the procedures outlined below. A copy of the agenda and any additional information about the workshop, including background materials, public comments, and invited participants, will be posted on the NTP Web site when available (see NTP Web site https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov select ``Meetings and Workshops'').

The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR) announces availability of the two draft expert panel reports on genistein and soy formula on January 16, 2006, from the CERHR Web site (https://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov) or in printed text from CERHR (see ADDRESSES below). CERHR invites public comments on sections 1-4 of both draft expert panel reports (see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below). An expert panel will meet on March 15-17, 2006, at the Radisson Hotel Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia to review and revise each draft expert panel report and reach conclusions regarding whether exposure to genistein or soy formula is a hazard to human development or reproduction. The expert panel will also identify data gaps and research needs. CERHR expert panel meetings are open to the public with time scheduled for oral public comment. Attendance is limited only by the available space in the meeting room. Following the expert panel meeting and completion of the expert panel reports, CERHR will post the final reports on its website and solicit public comment on them through a Federal Register notice.