June 16, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), has prepared Current and Revised 2006 Power Repayment Studies which show the need for an increase in annual revenues to meet cost recovery criteria. Such increased revenues are needed primarily to cover increased investments and replacements in hydroelectric generating facilities and increased purchased power expenses. The Administrator has developed proposed Integrated System rates, which are supported by a rate design study, to recover the required revenues. The May 2006 Revised Study indicates that the proposed rates would increase annual system revenues approximately 25.9 percent from $136,267,400 to $171,505,848, over a three-year period to meet projected annual expenses and repay the investments in facilities over the required number of years.

This action adds to the Procurement List products to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of South Dakota (FEMA-1647-DR), dated June 5, 2006. Incident: Severe Winter Storm. Incident Period: April 18, 2006 through April 20, 2006. Effective Date: June 5, 2006. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: August 4, 2006.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Minnesota ( FEMA- 1648-DR), dated June 5, 2006. Incident: Flooding. Incident Period: March 30, 2006 through May 3, 2006. Effective Date: June 5, 2006. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: August 4, 2006.

This interim final rule revises regulations at Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, part 223, on noncompetitive disposal of timber and other forest products based on the Secretary of Agriculture's determination that extraordinary conditions exist. The rule will expand upon the 1996 interim final rule currently applicable to certain sales in Washington and Oregon. The 1996 interim final rule defines extraordinary conditions to mean those circumstances where a contract must be changed to prevent environmental degradation or resource damage, or as the result of administrative appeals, litigation, court orders, or catastrophic events and applies throughout the National Forest System. This rule permits, without advertisement, timber or forest products from outside the area specified in the contract to replace material deleted from the contract when such extraordinary conditions exist. Replacement material must come from the same national forest as the subject contract and the decision to replace must be made in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. The value of replacement material may not exceed the value of the material it is replacing by more than 10% or $10,000, whichever is less, as determined by standard Forest Service appraisal methods. The intended effect of this rule is to reduce damage claims by offering replacement material of similar volume, quantity, value, access and topography in lieu of contract cancellations or partial cancellations.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to submit a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OPM is requesting OMB to approve a collection associated with the Scholarship For Service (SFS) Program Internet Web page. Approval of the Web page is necessary to facilitate the timely registration, selection and placement of program-enrolled students in Federal agencies. The SFS Program was established by the National Science Foundation in accordance with the Federal Cyber Service Training and Education Initiative as described in the President's National Plan for Information Systems Protection. This program seeks to increase the number of qualified students entering the fields of information assurance and computer security in an effort to respond to the threat to the Federal Government's information technology infrastructure. The program provides capacity building grants to selected 4-year colleges and universities to develop or improve their capacity to train information assurance professionals. It also provides selected 4-year colleges and universities scholarship grants to attract students to the information assurance field. Participating students who receive scholarships from this program are required to serve a 10-week internship during their studies and complete a post-graduation employment commitment equivalent to the length of the scholarship or one year, whichever is longer. OPM projects that 450 students will graduate from participating institutions over the next three years. These students will need placement in addition to the 180 students needing placement this year. This is a new collection of information. Based on other programs that collect similar information, we estimate the collection of information for registering and creating an online resume to be 45 minutes to 1 hour in length of time to answer questions. We estimate the total number of hours to be 630. Comments are particularly invited on: Whether this information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of OPM, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. For copies of this proposal, contact Kathy Roberson (210) 805-2423, ext. 506; fax (210) 805-2407 or e-mail to kathy.roberson@opm.gov. Please include your mailing address with your request.

Notice is hereby given that the Department of Veterans Affairs intends to conduct a recurring computer matching program. This will match personnel records of the Department of Defense with VA records of benefit recipients under the Montgomery GI Bill. The goal of these matches is to identify the eligibility status of veterans, servicemembers, and reservists who have applied for or who are receiving education benefit payments under the Montgomery GI Bill. The purpose of the match is to enable VA to verify that individuals meet the conditions of military service and eligibility criteria for payment of benefits determined by VA under the Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (MGIB) and the Montgomery GI BillSelected Reserve (MGIB- SR).

The Coast Guard published a document in the Federal Register on June 1, 2006 (71 FR 31088), correcting the coordinates described in the security zone. However, that correction contained an incorrect section number. This document corrects that section number.

These special conditions are issued for the Cessna Aircraft Company, Model 510 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with the use of an electronic engine control system instead of a traditional mechanical control system. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICRs describes the nature of the information collections and their expected burdens. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collections of information was published on April 7, 2006 (71 FR 17945).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) hereby announces that it is seeking renewal of the following currently approved information collection activities. Before submitting these information collection requirements for clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.

This document tells certain pipeline operators how to submit their written public awareness programs for review. Regulations issued in 2005 provide details about the content of the programs and establish completion dates. The 2002 amendment to the pipeline safety law requires pipeline operators to submit these programs for review and PHMSA has a clearinghouse approach for reviewing interstate and many intrastate operators. This document ensures operators know where and when to submit their programs.