June 20, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are extending the public comment period on the proposed special rule for the threatened Pacific Coast distinct population segment of the western snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus). Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted as they have been incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered in the final determination.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed new collection, and allow 60 days for public comment in response to this notice. This notice solicits comments for information needed to develop an actuarial projection of veterans' enrolled in VA's health care system.

NMFS has received a request from the URS Corporation (URS) for an authorization to take small numbers of California sea lions, Pacific harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and gray whales, by harassment, incidental to geographical seismic surveys being conducted by Fugro West, Inc. (Fugro), in south San Francisco Bay. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an authorization to Fugro to incidentally take, by harassment, small numbers of these species of pinnipeds and cetaceans during the next 12 months.

This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (FEMA-1642-DR) , dated 5/25/2006. Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding. Incident Period: 5/12/2006 and continuing through 5/23/2006. Effective Date: 6/12/2006. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 7/24/2006. EIDL Loan Application Deadline Date: 2/26/2007.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Business-Cooperative Service's (RBS) intention to request an extension of a currently approved information collection in support of the Intermediary Relending Program (IRP).

Notice is hereby given that a complaint was filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission on May 16, 2006, under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 1337, on behalf of Zippo Manufacturing Co., Inc. of Bradford, Pennsylvania and ZippMark, Inc. of Wilmington, Delaware. A supplement to the complaint was filed on June 5, 2006. The complaint, as supplemented, alleges violations of section 337 in the importation into the United States, the sale for importation, and the sale within the United States after importation of certain lighters by reason of infringement of U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,606,241. The complaint further alleges that an industry in the United States exists as required by subsection (a)(2) of section 337. The complainants request that the Commission institute an investigation and, after the investigation, issue a general exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

The Federal Transit Administration invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval to renew the following information collections: (1) Bus Testing Program. (2) Transit Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment Projects.

The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed regulation to change the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Program regulations that govern continued coverage for employees who are called or ordered to serve in the uniformed services. These regulations provide extended FEHB coverage for up to 24 months to Federal employees called or ordered to active duty and who meet certain requirements, including serving in support of a contingency operation. Those employees who are called or ordered to active duty in support of a contingency operation are also eligible for premium payments by their employing agency. The purpose of these regulations is to authorize Federal agencies to continue health benefits coverage for up to 24 months for those employees called or ordered to active duty, with certain employees qualifying for agency premium contributions.

On April 3, 2006, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') initiated the sunset review of the antidumping duty order on furfuryl alcohol from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). The Department conducted an expedited (120-day) sunset review for this order. As a result of the sunset review, the Department finds that revocation of the antidumping duty order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping. The dumping margins are identified in the Final Results of Review section of this notice.

We are advising the public that we have supplemented with an addendum the environmental assessment for a proposed field trial of pink bollworm genetically engineered to express green fluorescence as a marker. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposes to use this marked strain to assess the effectiveness of lower doses of radiation to create sterile insects for its pink bollworm sterile insect program. This program, using sterile insect technique, has been conducted by APHIS, with State and grower cooperation, since 1968. Data gained from this field experiment will be used to improve the current program. APHIS has supplemented its environmental assessment in order to evaluate a new location and new conditions for the field test. The addendum is available to the public for review and comment.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary security zone on the waters of the upper Potomac River. This action is necessary to provide for the security of a large number of visitors to the annual July 4th celebration on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The security zone will allow for control of a designated area of the river and safeguard spectators and high-ranking officials.

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92463, EPA gives notice of a public teleconference of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT). NACEPT provides advice to the EPA Administrator on a broad range of environmental policy, technology, and management issues. The Council is a panel of experts who represent diverse interests from academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, and local, state, and tribal governments. The purpose of this teleconference is to discuss and approve comments on EPA's Draft 2006-2011 Strategic Plan from a subset of the Council. A copy of the agenda for the meeting will be posted at https://www.epa.gov/ocem/nacept/cal-nacept.htm.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of the draft guidance entitled ``The Review and Inspection of Premarket Approval Applications under the Bioresearch Monitoring Program.'' One of the performance goals, referenced in a letter to Congress from the Secretary of Health and Human Services that accompanied the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act of 2002 (MDUFMA) legislation, includes a commitment to improve FDA's scheduling and timeliness of preapproval inspections. This draft guidance document is intended to assist applicants in understanding the process involved in the bioresearch monitoring (BIMO) review of the clinical and nonclinical information in their premarket approval application (PMA) and the process involved in any related inspections. Premarket notification (510(k)) submissions are not addressed in this draft guidance because a premarket inspection is not ordinarily conducted for 510(k)s. This draft guidance is not final nor is it in effect at this time.

The Department of the Navy herby gives notice of its intent to grant to Soil and Topography Information, LLC., a revocable, nonassignable, exclusive license in the United States to practice the Government-Owned invention(s) described in U.S. Patent Number 5,316,950 entitled ``Method for quantitative calibration of in situ optical chemical measurements in soils using soil class and characteristics'', issue date May 31, 2002.

On February 4, 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an order to ban immediately the import of all birds (Class: Aves) from specified countries, subject to limited exemptions for returning pet birds of U.S. origin and certain processed bird- derived products. HHS/CDC took this step because birds from these countries potentially can infect humans with avian influenza (influenza A/[H5N1]). The February 4, 2004, order complemented a similar action taken at the same time by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). On March 10, 2004, HHS/CDC lifted the embargo of birds and bird products from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) because of the documented public-health and animal health measures taken by Hong Kong officials to prevent spread of the outbreak within the HKSAR, and the absence of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 cases in Hong Kong's domestic and wild bird populations. USDA/APHIS took a similar action. On September 28, 2004, HHS/CDC extended the embargo on birds and bird products to include Malaysia because of the documented cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 in poultry in Malaysia. On July 20, 2005, USDA/APHIS adopted as a final rule the interim rule that became effective on February 4, 2004, which amended its regulations to prohibit or restrict the importation of birds, poultry, and unprocessed birds and poultry products from regions that have reported the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in poultry. (See 70 FR 41608 [July 20, 2005].) As the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health (OlE) have confirmed additional cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), USDA/APHIS has added additional countries to its ban. Because of the documentation of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in poultry, HHS/CDC added the following countries to its embargo: Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine on December 29, 2005; Nigeria on February 8, 2006; India on February 22, 2006; Egypt on February 27, 2006; Niger on March 2, 2006; Albania, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, and Burma (Myanmar) on March 15, 2006; Israel on March 20, 2006; Afghanistan on March 21, 2006; Jordan on March 29, 2006; Burkina Faso on April 10, 2006; Pakistan on April 10, 2006; Gaza, the West Bank, and the Ivory Coast (C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire) on April 28, 2006; and Sudan on May 16, 2006. On May 27, 2006, OlE reported confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in poultry in Djibouti. At this time, HHS/CDC is adding Djibouti to its current embargo. USDA has also taken a similar action with respect to this region. This action is effective on June 2, 2006, and will remain in effect until further notice.

NARA is giving public notice that the agency has submitted to OMB for approval the information collections described in this notice. The public is invited to comment on the proposed information collections pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Rural Utilities Service, an agency which administers the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Utilities Programs (USDA Rural Development) proposes to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) related to possible financial assistance to East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) for the proposed construction of approximately 15.21 miles of 161 kilovolt (kV) electric transmission line in Warren County, Kentucky. EKPC is requesting the USDA Rural Development to provide financial assistance for the proposed project.

The Office on Women's Health (OWH) is the focal point for women's health within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Under the direction of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women's Health, OWH provides leadership to promote the health equity for women and girls through gender-specific approaches. To that end, OWH has established public/private partnerships to address critical women's health issues nationwide. These include supporting collaborative efforts to provide accurate prevention education and programs for young women at risk for developing type II diabetes because they are overweight or obese. These awards focus on the HHS initiative Emphasize Healthy Living and Prevention of Disease, Illness, and Disability in the ``One Department. One Direction'' Department-wide Objectives. This program is authorized by 42 U.S.C. 300u-2(a).

The Department of Energy (hereafter ``the Department'') announces the extension of the time period for evaluation and decision on the disposition of the California Energy Commission's Petition for Exemption from Federal Preemption of California's Water Conservation Standards for Residential Clothes Washers (hereafter ``California Petition''). In accordance with section 327(d)(2) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (hereafter ``EPCA''), the Department is extending the time period for issuing a decision on the California Petition from June 23, 2006, to December 23, 2006. The Department is extending this time period in order to allow it adequate time to evaluate the California Petition in light of public comments received on the California Petition and the California Energy Commission's (hereafter ``CEC'') rebuttal comments received by the Department on May 15, 2006.

Cinergy Marketing & Trading, LP (CMT) has applied for authority to transmit electric energy from the United States to Canada pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A310-300 airplanes. This proposed AD would require replacing the existing non-return valve (NRV) of the auxiliary center tanks (ACTs) of the fuel system with a new, improved NRV. This proposed AD results from a report that it was not possible to transfer fuel from ACTs 1 and 2 during flight, and no electronic centralized aircraft monitor warnings were triggered. Investigation revealed a faulty static inverter and blown fuse, resulting in failure of certain fueling bus bars and subsequent failure of the automatic ACT fuel transfer. We are proposing this AD to prevent these failures, combined with failure of the NRV to close. If the NRV is open during flight, the fuel supply to the engines may be reduced during cross-feed operation to the extent that fuel starvation could occur and result in engine flameout.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of North Dakota (FEMA-1645-DR), dated June 5, 2006, and related determinations.