April 27, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Public Law 109-129 requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to recognize one or more cord blood accreditation entities for the accreditation of cord blood banks participating in the collection and maintenance of umbilical cord blood units for the National Cord Blood Inventory. These cord blood units will be made available for unrelated donor blood stem cell transplants through the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. The HRSA, Healthcare Systems Bureau (HSB), Division of Transplantation (DoT) is in the process of information-gathering to assist in the determination of which cord blood bank accreditation program(s) to recognize on an interim basis for the initial cycle of funding for the National Cord Blood Inventory. The purpose of this solicitation is to receive public input on the following: (1) Approaches to accreditation required to ensure quality cord blood bank operations (including collection sites); (2) Utilization of accreditation programs to ensure product quality and best practices; (3) Degree to which accreditation standards are evidence based and supported by published literature; (4) Extent to which accreditation standards allow for variations in cord blood bank practices; (5) Criteria for the Secretary to consider in recognizing cord blood bank accrediting programs for the National Cord Blood Inventory, C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. The HRSA intends for this interim process to be followed by a formal, more comprehensive recognition process that will include input from both the Advisory Council, once it is established, and the interested public as required in the legislation. The purpose of this Notice is to invite interested parties to register for and participate in either of two conference calls, described below, that HRSA is scheduling to obtain comment on factors relevant to determining which accrediting organization(s) to recognize for the initial cycle of funding under the National Cord Blood Inventory.

The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), a program office in the Office of Public Health and Science, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is seeking nominations of qualified candidates to be considered for appointment as members of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP). SACHRP provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary, HHS, and the Assistant Secretary for Health on matters pertaining to the continuance and improvement of functions within the authority of HHS directed toward protections for human subjects in research. SACHRP was established by the Secretary, HHS, on October 1, 2002. OHRP is seeking nominations of qualified candidates to fill four positions on the Committee membership that will become vacant on January 3, 2007.

This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA and other Federal agencies that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project, U.S. Route 24, from east of the IR469 bypass in New Haven, Indiana, Allen County, Indiana to SR424 west of Defiancé, Ohio. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

The President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) will meet in a partially closed session.

On October 1, 1999, the FAA amended the regulations governing takeoff and landing slots and slot allocation procedures at certain High Density Traffic Airports as a result of the ``Open Transborder'' Agreement between the Government of the United States and the Government of Canada. One element of this final rule established that the deadline for submission of requests for international slots will be published in a Federal Register notice for each scheduling season. The purpose of the amendment is for the FAA deadline for international slots requests to coincide with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) deadline for submission of slot requests. In accordance with this amendment, the FAA announces in this notice that the deadline for submitting requests for international slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) for allocation under 14 CFR 93.217 is May 11, 2006. The FAA will allocate international slots through December 31, 2006 only, as the High Density Rule expires at JFK on December 31, 2006. (See 49 U.S.C. 41715(a)(2).) After that date, slots will no longer be required for operation at JFK. The FAA has designated Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (O'Hare) as a Level 2, Schedules Facilitated Airport under the IATA Guidelines and will review international operations based on runway parameters. The FAA requests carriers intending to conduct international service at O'Hare for the Winter 2006/07 Scheduling Season to submit their intended schedules following the same procedures used for submitting requests for slots at JFK. Carriers are advised that this notice does not alter or change any coordination procedures conducted by the City of Chicago for O'Hare's Terminal 5 facilities. Finally, the U.S. scheduling season is consistent with the changes in daylight savings time. In accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58), daylight savings time will begin on March 11, 2007 and end on November 3, 2007. The IATA Northern Winter Scheduling Season will end on March 24, 2007, and its Summer Scheduling Season will only begin on March 25, 2007. There is a two-week period for which the IATA Winter scheduling season will overlap with the U.S. summer scheduling season. We recognize this transition period will cause some carriers to adjust scheduled times based on their network requirements and other considerations. For O'Hare, the FAA will accept carriers' schedule requests for the entire IATA Northern Winter Scheduling Season (ending on March 24, 2007), even though that will be the first two weeks of the U.S. summer scheduling season. This will facilitate carriers seeking to confirm schedules at other worldwide slot coordinated airports in accordance with the IATA season and coordination process. Carriers should clearly indicate any schedule differences during the March 11 to 24, 2007, period. The FAA intends to provide the maximum practical flexibility to accommodate schedule adjustments during this period and does not anticipate any significant issues regarding historic rights due to the earlier introduction of daylight saving time in the U.S. A deadline for submitting the reamining summer schedules for 2007 will by announced in the Federal Register by September 2006. The Department of Transportation reserves the right to withhold the approval of schedules to any foreign air carrier of a country that does not provide equivalent rights of access to its airports for U.S. air carriers, as determined by the Secretary of Transportation.

This notice rescinds the previous Notice of Intent (issued October 3, 2001Vol. 66, No. 192) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed highway project in Butler County.

We are amending the animal importation regulations by adding Indiana to the lists of States approved to receive certain stallions and mares imported into the United States from regions affected with contagious equine metritis (CEM). We are taking this action because Indiana has entered into an agreement with the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to enforce its State laws and regulations to control CEM and to require inspection, treatment, and testing of horses, as required by Federal regulations, to further ensure the horses' freedom from CEM. This action relieves unnecessary restrictions on the importation of mares and stallions from regions where CEM exists.

We are revising one of our regulations to clarify that we will protect a title II claimant's filing date as of the date the claimant or other proper applicant on the claimant's behalf completes and transmits to the Social Security Administration (SSA) the Personal Information Identification data on the Internet Social Security Benefit Application (ISBA). This revision addresses an aspect of implementing the ISBA to provide certain rights to Internet filers that we afford to other filers. In addition, we are correcting one word in a different title II regulation. The revision is necessary to correctly reflect the circumstances under which a claimant for widow's or widower's benefits as the insured person's surviving divorced spouse would be considered ``unmarried.''

This Notice is provided pursuant to section 2905(b)(7)(B)(ii) of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. It provides a partial list of military installations closing or realigning pursuant to the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Report. It also provides a corresponding listing of the Local Redevelopment Authorities (LRAs) recognized by the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), as well as the points of contact, addresses, and telephone numbers for the LRAs for those installations. Representatives of state and local governments, homeless providers, and other parties interested in the redevelopment of an installation should contact the person or organization listed. The following information will also be published simultaneously in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of each installation. There will be additional Notices providing this same information about LRAs for other closing or realigning installations where surplus government property is available as those LRAs are recognized by the OEA.