January 13, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement (RMP/EIS) for the Coeur d'Alene Field Office.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and associated regulations, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that evaluates, analyzes, and discloses to the public direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of a proposal to further develop the Jonah natural gas field through infill drilling in Sublette County, Wyoming.

In an interim rule published in the Federal Register on December 21, 1998, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) amended the General Administrative Regulations by adding a new subpart X to implement the statutory mandates of section 533 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (1998 Research Act). The rule provided procedures for responding to requests for final agency determinations regarding any provision of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (Act) or any regulation promulgated thereunder. The interim rule was made final on September 16, 1999. This correction is needed to correct the facsimile number and electronic mail address provided for requester submissions for final agency determinations.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, notice is hereby given that the Forest Service, Lolo National Forest will prepare an Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) through a third-party contractor to evaluate and disclose the environmental consequences of the proposed expansion of the Montana Snowbowl Ski Area (MSB) in Missoula County, Montana. The proposed expansion would increase the area of ski runs from approximately 240 to 406 acres, all of which would be on the National Forest. New infrastructure would include five lifts and three skier services buildings totaling about 7,000 square feet. The new permit would also allow summer mountain biking and hiking on the new expansion area of TV Mountain. The expansion may require a Forest Plan amendment since it would include portions of Management Areas 16 and 25 which do not specifically include developed recreation.

We propose to revise the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Acquisition Regulation (VAAR). We have rewritten much of the VAAR to conform to plain language principles. We are changing many delegations of authority for the purpose of becoming more efficient. We are removing non-regulatory material. We are making changes in format, arrangement, and numbering to make the VAAR parallel to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as required by the FAR. We are removing provisions that simply restate FAR provisions that are already applicable. This document also proposes to set forth or revise procedures for providing notice and hearing to resolve issues regarding possible violations of the Gratuities clause, establishing qualified products lists, suspending or debarring a contractor, for expediting payments to small businesses, and for reducing or suspending payments upon a finding of contract fraud. We propose to expand the coverage of the VAAR clause on Organizational Conflicts of Interest to cover a broader range of services that may be subject to organizational conflicts of interest. We propose to clarify the scope of certain regulations and to allow use of additional VAAR clauses in commercial item solicitations and contracts, to remove requirements for setting aside construction and architect-engineer solicitations for small businesses that are in conflict with current statute, to remove a requirement to conduct an audit of section 8(a) price proposals that is contrary to current FAR requirements, and to remove a VAAR provision that requested data from offerors on veteran-owned small businesses that has been replaced by a FAR provision. The rule would provide guidance to contracting officers on the types of data that should be requested from a contractor when evaluating the contractor's financial condition. The rule would require the use of the clause on Assignment of Claims in purchase orders, would provide guidance to contracting officers on the criteria for revising the payment due dates for invoices, and would require the use of Alternate I to the clause on Disputes.

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving cardiovascular impairments. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating cardiovascular impairments.