July 26, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved for three years the information collections contained in the Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991, Report and Order and Third Order on Reconsideration (Report and Order). The Report and Order states that the Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of this rule.

As stipulated by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is hereby giving notice that the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability (ACBSA) will hold a meeting. The ACBSA will meet to review progress and solicit additional input regarding numerous recommendations made during the past year, specifically biovigilance of blood components and its derivatives, cells, tissues, and organs. Vigilance is recognized as a necessary step in monitoring outcomes in a quality assurance process toward the goal of providing safe and available biological products (i.e., blood components and derivatives, cells, tissues and organs) and improvement of care of the donor and recipient. Elements necessary for vigilant surveillance are detection, analysis, reporting, utilizations, research, education, and management of outcomes, including emerging or re-emerging infectious and non-infectious events of transfusion and/or transplantation, will be discussed.

The following permits were issued.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of oxirane, methyl-, polymer with oxirane, monobutyl ether; when used as an inert ingredient in a pesticide chemical formulation. BASF Corporation, submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of oxirane, methyl-, polymer with oxirane, monobutyl ether.

In accordance with Executive Order 11625 and 15 U.S.C. Section 1512, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is soliciting competitive applications from organizations to operate a Minority Business Enterprise Center (MBEC) (formerly Minority Business Development Center). This is not a grant program to help start a business. Applications submitted must be to operate a Minority Business Enterprise Center and to provide business consultation to eligible minority clients. Applications that do not meet these requirements will be rejected. The MBEC will provide services in the outlined geographic areas (refer to SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this Notice). The MBEC Program requires MBEC staff to provide standardized business assistance services (as outlined in the Federal Funding Opportunity Announcement) to minority firms with $500,000 or more in annual revenues and/or ``rapid growth-potential'' minority businesses (``Strategic Growth Initiative'' or ``SGI'' firms) directly; to develop a network of strategic partnerships; and to provide strategic business consulting. This is a fee for service program, therefore, the MBEC is required to charge client fees. These requirements will be used to generate increased results with respect to financing and contracts awarded to minority-owned firms and thus, are a key component of this program. The MBEC Program will concentrate on serving SGI firms capable of generating significant employment and long-term economic growth. The MBEC Program shall leverage telecommunications technology, including the Internet, and a variety of online computer-based resources to dramatically increase the level of service that the MBEC can provide to minority-owned firms.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request for a new collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2006. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

We are proposing to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation into the United States of litchi, longan, mango, mangosteen, pineapple, and rambutan from Thailand. As a condition of entry, these fruits would have to be grown in production areas that are registered with and monitored by the national plant protection organization of Thailand, treated with irradiation in Thailand at a dose of 400 gray for plant pests of the class Insecta, except pupae and adults of the order Leipdoptera, and subject to inspection. The fruits would also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the fruit had been treated with irradiation in Thailand. In the case of litchi, the additional declaration would also state that the fruit had been inspected and found to be free of Peronophythora litchii, a fungal pest of litchi. This action would allow for the importation of litchi, longan, mango, mangosteen, pineapple, and rambutan from Thailand into the United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States.

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 and has concluded that this field test will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Based on its finding of no significant impact, APHIS has determined that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared for this field test.

The Department of State has submitted the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Title of Information Collection: Foreign Service Written Examination Registration Form. OMB Control Number: 1405-0008. Type of Request: Extension of a Currently Approved Collection. Originating Office: Human Resources, HR/REE/BEX. Form Number: DS-1998E. Respondents: Registrants for the Foreign Service Written Examination. Estimated Number of Respondents: 32,316. Estimated Number of Responses: 32,316. Average Hours Per Response: 20 minutes (\1/3\ hour). Total Estimated Burden: 10,772 hours. Frequency: Annually. Obligation to Respond: Required to Obtain or Retain a Benefit.

This notice announces a telephonic meeting of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC).

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is amending the current regulations governing its training grants to reflect applicability of the regulations to institutional training grants supporting pediatric research training.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan for the Douglas County Distinct Population Segment of the Columbian White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus leucurus). The monitoring plan describes the methods that are being used to monitor the status of the Douglas County distinct population segment of the Columbian white-tailed deer and its habitat for a 5-year period, from 2003 (at the time of delisting) to 2008. The plan also provides a strategy for identifying and responding to unexpected population declines and habitat alteration, as well as disease outbreaks.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.