May 23, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a draft compliance policy guide (CPG) entitled ``Sec. 500.500 Guidance Levels for 3-MCPD (3-chloro-1,2-propanediol) in Acid- Hydrolyzed Protein and Asian-Style Sauces.'' The draft CPG establishes regulatory action guidance for FDA personnel for 3-MCPD in acid- hydrolyzed protein (acid-HP) and Asian-style sauces.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing regulations to implement certain provisions of the Chief Human Capital Officers Act of 2002, which set forth new OPM and agency responsibilities and requirements to enhance and improve the strategic management of the Federal Government's civilian workforce, as well as the planning and evaluation of agency efforts in that regard. Further, we are proposing a plain language rewrite of the subpart titled ``Authority for Personnel Actions in Agencies.''

In the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Public Law No. 109-59, Sec. 4215, 119 Stat. 1144 (2005), Congress directed the Surface Transportation Board (Board) to review the current Federal regulations regarding the level of liability protection provided by motor carriers that provide transportation of household goods (HHG) and revise the regulations, if necessary, to provide enhanced protection in the case of loss or damage. The Board seeks public comment on the issue.

Under the provisions of section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on February 1, 2006, pages 5344-5355 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No comments were received in response to this notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The National Institutes of Health may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a current valid OMB control number. Proposed Collection: Title: The Leukocyte Antibodies Prevalence (LAP) Study. Type of Information Collection Request: NEW. Need and Use of Information Collection: The two current hypotheses for pathogenesis of transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) include the development of acute pulmonary insufficiency from immune and non-immune causes. The immune mediated mechanism postulates that passively transferred anti-leukocyte antibodies from blood donors are responsible for TRALI. The donor antibodies implicated in TRALI include antibodies directed towards HLA class I and class II antigens, and anti-neutrophil antibodies. The LAP Study is a cross-sectional multi-center study to measure the prevalence of HLA and neutrophil antibodies in blood donors with or without a history of blood transfusion or pregnancy, and the development of a repository of blood samples obtained from these donors. Specifically, 7,900 adult blood donors across six blood centers participating in the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study II (REDS-II) will be enrolled in the study. Eligible donors will be asked to complete a short questionnaire on their transfusion history (ever, and date of last transfusion) and, for female donors, questions on pregnancy history (ever, number and outcome of pregnancies, last pregnancy). Each donor will also be asked to provide a sample of blood which will be tested for the presence of HLA class I and Class II antibodies. This data will help us evaluate variations in HLA antibody prevalence based on blood transfusion and pregnancy history and time since the last immunizing event. Further, neutrophil specific antibodies will be measured in those blood donors who have HLA antibodies. Also, donors with neutrophil antibodies will be tested to determine their neutrophil phenotype using routine serologic and DNA methods, since individuals homozygous for certain neutrophil antigens are more prone to develop certain neutrophil antibodies. The results from testing HLA positive donors for neutrophil antibodies in this primary study could be used to develop an optimal testing strategy for large number of donors using the stored repository samples. These dat will provide the basis for calculating donor loss in the event that a TRALI prevention strategy is implemented that includes deferring donors with a history of transfusion or pregnancy or those with HLA or neutrophil antibodies. The second major goal of this study is to develop a repository of blood samples from well characterized blood donors whose detailed transfusion and pregnancy histories are known. Repository samples will be stored indefinitely. Although future research on repository samples is yet to be determined, they may be tested for studies designed to help transfusion safety and transfusion biology. Frequency of Response: Once. Affected Public: Individuals. Type of Respondents: Adult Blood Donors. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,900; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1; Average Burden of Hours per Response: 0.17; and Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 1343. The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at: $24,174 (based on $18 per hour). There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

The EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Indiana particulate matter (PM10) State Implementation Plan (SIP). On December 15, 2005, Indiana requested revisions for sources at the ASF Keystone, Inc. (Keystone) coil spring manufacturing facility in Lake County, Indiana. The requested revisions will increase the PM10 emission limit for one unit and reduce the limits for two units. The changes result in a net decrease in the allowable emissions. The emission limits for a fourth unit that has shut down are also being removed. Indiana also requested removing the process weight rate limits and using pounds of PM10 per hour (lb/hr) as the short-term emission limit. The maximum permissible PM10 emissions will not increase after removing the process weight rate limits because of the net decrease in short-term emission limits.

The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement on a proposal to use multiple vegetation treatments focused on creating a landscape condition more adapted to fire and that reduces potential for high severity wildfire near at-risk communities and in the wildland-urban interface. The proposal is being planned for the 25,200 acre Mitchell Project Area that includes about 18,300 acres of National Forest System land and about 6,900 acres of interspersed private land. The project area generally extends from west of Hill City, South Dakota to Keystone, South Dakota (just north of Mount Rushmore National Memorial). This project will be conducted as an authorized project under Section 102 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA). Actions proposed for the Mitchell Project Area include the following: Restoring natural fuel breaks by removing conifers from hardwood stands such as aspen, bur oak, birch and by expanding and/or creating meadows (est. 1,400 acres). Reducing the amount of existing and created forest fuels by use of various treatment methods (e.g., chipping, burning); creating fuel breaks (est. 40 miles); and prescribed burning (est. 9,000 acres). Thinning the ponderosa pine forest by using commercial timber harvest to thin commercial size trees and other methods to thin smaller trees of non-commercial size (est. 9,400 acres).

The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of timber harvest and watershed restoration activities in the Long Ridge project area on the Lochsa Ranger District of the Clearwater National Forest. The Long Ridge project area is located in the Musselshell Creek drainage, a tributary to Lolo Creek, approximately 8 air-miles southeast of the town of Pierce, Idaho.

This Notice designates the following forms as eligible for Premium Processing Service: Form I-140 ``Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker,'' Form I-539 ``Application to Extend/Change Status,'' and Form I-765 ``Application for Employment Authorization.'' Under Premium Processing Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guarantees that it will process designated petitions and applications, and classifications within these petitions and applications that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services makes available for the service, within 15 calendar days for an additional processing fee of $1,000.

These special conditions are issued to Avidyne Corporation, 55 Old Bedford Road, Lincoln, MA 01773, for a Supplemental Type Certificate for the models listed under the heading ``Type Certification Basis.'' This special condition includes various airplane models to streamline the certification process needed to improve the safety of the airplane fleet by fostering the incorporation of new technologies that can be certificated affordably under 14 CFR part 23. The airplanes listed under this multi-model approval 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 the Entegra II Avionics System, consisting of: (2) Model 700-0003-( ) Integrated Flight Displays (IFD), (2) Model 700-00011-( ) Magnetometer/ OAT sensors, and (1) Model 700-00085-000 Keyboard/Controller. These components are all manufactured by Avidyne Corporation, Inc. 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.

Pursuant to Public Law 106-148, the NCGMP Advisory Committee will meet in Room 7000A of the Main Interior Building, 1849 C. Street, NW., Washington, DC. The Advisory Committee, composed of scientists from Federal Agencies, State Agencies, academic institutions, and private companies, will advise the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey on planning and implementation of the geologic mapping program. Topics to be reviewed and discussed by the Advisory Committee include the: Progress of the NCGMP towards fulfilling the purposes of the National Geological Mapping Act of 1992. Updates on the Federal, State, and educational components of the NCGMP. Report from the Subcommittee on a implementation plan for the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program.

This rule establishes final volume regulation percentages for 2005-06 crop Natural (sun-dried) Seedless (NS) raisins covered under the Federal marketing order for California raisins (order). The order regulates the handling of raisins produced from grapes grown in California and is locally administered by the Raisin Administrative Committee (Committee). The volume regulation percentages are 82.50 percent free and 17.50 percent reserve. The percentages are intended to help stabilize raisin supplies and prices, and strengthen market conditions.