February 22, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, the Agencies) are issuing a final rule that amends their market risk rules to revise the risk-based capital treatment for cash collateral that is posted in connection with securities borrowing transactions. This final rule will make permanent, and expand the scope of, an interim final rule issued in 2000 (the interim rule) that reduced the capital requirement for certain cash-collateralized securities borrowing transactions of banks and bank holding companies (banking organizations) that have adopted the market risk rule. This action more appropriately aligns the capital requirements for these transactions with the risk involved and provides a capital treatment for U.S. banking organizations that is more in line with the capital treatment to which their domestic and foreign competitors are subject.

This document contains final regulations that incorporate and clarify the phrase ``return information reflected on returns'' in conformance with the terms of section 6103(j)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), which provides for limited disclosures of returns and return information in connection with the census of agriculture. These final regulations also remove certain items of return information that the Department of Agriculture no longer needs for conducting the census of agriculture.

The Federal Communications Commission, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Public Law 104-13, and as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s). An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Audio Division, at the request of Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses, Inc., licensee of Station WZKF(FM), Channel 255B, Salem, Indiana, deletes Channel 255B at Salem, Indiana, from the FM Table of Allotments, allots Channel 255B at Prospect, Kentucky, as the community's first local FM service, and modifies the license of Station WZKF(FM) to specify operation on Channel 255B at Prospect, Kentucky. Channel 255B can be allotted to Prospect, Kentucky, in compliance with the Commission's minimum distance separation requirements with a site restriction of 21.4 km (13.0 miles) northwest of Prospect. The coordinates for Channel 255B at Prospect, Kentucky, are 38-25-59 North Latitude and 85-50-01 West Longitude.

This document dismisses a pending petition for rulemaking filed by 105 Mountain Air, Inc. to allot Channel 265A at Coalinga, California for failure to state a continuing interest in the requested allotment. The document therefore terminates the proceeding. See 69 FR 46474, published August 3, 2004.

The Audio Division, at the request of Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses, Inc., licensee of Station WEGR(FM), Channel 274C1, Memphis, Tennessee, deletes Channel 274C1 at Memphis, Tennessee, from the FM Table of Allotments, allots Channel 274C1 at Arlington, Tennessee, as the community's first local FM service, and modifies the license of Station WEGR(FM) to specify operation on Channel 274C1 at Arlington. Channel 274C1 can be allotted to Arlington, Tennessee, in compliance with the Commission's minimum distance separation requirements with a site restriction of 10.8 km (6.7 miles) west of Arlington. The coordinates for Channel 274C1 at Arlington, Tennessee, are 89-46-38 North Latitude and 89-46-38 West Longitude. In order to accommodate that allotment, the Audio Division also modifies the reference coordinates for vacant Channel 274A at Saint Florian, Alabama. The reference coordinates for vacant Channel 274A at Saint Florian, Alabama, can be changed to comply with the Commission's minimum distance separation requirements with a site restriction of 4.1 km (2.5 miles) west of Arlington. The revised coordinates for Channel 274A at Saint Florian, Alabama, are 34-50-12 NL and 87-37-27 WL.

This document requests comments on a Petition for Rule Making filed by Unity Broadcasting requesting to upgrade Channel 226A, FM Station WGDQ, to Channel 226C3 and to reallot Channel 226C3 to Sumrall, Mississippi, as that community's second local aural transmission service. To accommodate this allotment, Petitioner requested the reclassification of FM Station WUSW, Channel 279C, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to specify operation on Channel 279C0 pursuant to the reclassification procedures adopted by the Commission. See 1998 Biennial Regulatory ReviewStreamlining of Radio Technical Rules in Parts 73 and 74 of the Commission's Rules, 65 FR 79773 (December 20, 2000). The licensee of Station WUSW did not respond to an Order to Show Cause why Station WUSW should not be downgraded from Channel 279C to Channel 279C0. Therefore, the Commission has reclassified Station WUSW to Channel 279C0. Channel 226C3 can be allotted with a site restriction of 19.5 kilometers (12.1 miles) northeast of Sumrall, at reference coordinates of 31-33-15 NL and 89-24-50 WL.

The Department of the Army is revising our rule in support of the Freedom of Information Act as required by public law and updating the provisions for access and release of information from all Army information systems (automated and manual) that further supports the Army's Records Management Program. This rule finalizes the proposed rule that was published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2004.

This document proposes to amend the regulations governing various aspects of the education programs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers, in order to implement some provisions of the Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2000, the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, and the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 that affect those programs. Specifically, these statutory provisions include provisions for payment, under Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance, the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Program, and the Montgomery GI BillActive Duty, for the cost of taking tests for licensure or certification. They also include provisions for payment under the Montgomery GI BillActive Duty of the difference between the portion of tuition and expenses covered by tuition assistance programs administered by the various military departments and the actual charges made by educational institutions. In addition, this document proposes rules regarding the timing and the scope of assistance VA will provide to claimants under the education programs VA administers who file substantially complete applications for benefits, or who attempt to reopen previously denied claims. The proposed rule would make other changes in the education benefits regulations that are nonsubstantive changes for the purpose of clarity, technical changes, or restatements of statutory provisions.