July 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the requirement of Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which provides opportunity for public comment on new or revised data collections, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will publish periodic summaries of proposed data collections. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the RRB's estimate of the burden of the collection of the information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden related to the collection of information on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Title and purpose of information collection: Application for Employee Annuity Under the Railroad Retirement Act; OMB 3220-0002. Section 2 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) provides for payments of age and service, disability, and supplemental annuities to qualified employees. An annuity cannot be paid until the employee stops working for a railroad employer. In addition, the age and service employee must relinquish any rights held to such jobs. A disabled employee does not need to relinquish employee rights until attaining Full Retirement Age, or if earlier, their spouse files for a spouse annuity. Benefits become payable after the employee meets certain other requirements, which depend on the type of annuity payable. The requirements for obtaining the annuities are prescribed in 20 CFR 216, and 220. The RRB currently uses the electronic AA-1cert, Application Summary and Certification process and the following forms to collect the information needed for determining entitlement to and the amount of, an employee retirement annuity: Form AA-1, Application for Employee Annuity Under the Railroad Retirement Act, Form AA-1d, Application for Determination of Employee Disability, and Form G-204, Verification of Workers Compensation/Public Disability Benefit Information. The AA-1cert process obtains information from an applicant for either an age and service, or disability annuity by means of an interview with an RRB field-office representative. It obtains information about an applicant's marital history, work history, military service, benefits from other governmental agencies and railroad pensions. During the interview, the field-office representative enters the information obtained into an on-line information system. Upon completion of the interview, the applicant receives Form AA-1cert, Application Summary and Certification, which summarizes the information that was provided by/or verified by the applicant, for review and signature. The RRB also uses a manual version, RRB Form AA-1, in instances where the RRB representative is unable to contact the applicant in-person or by telephone, i.e., the applicant lives in another country. Form AA-1d, Application for Determination of Employee Disability, is completed by an employee who is filing for a disability annuity under the RRA, or a disability freeze under the Social Security Act for early Medicare based on a disability. Form G-204, Verification of Workers Compensation/Public Disability Benefit Information, is used to obtain and verify information concerning worker's compensation or public disability benefits that are or will be paid by a public agency to a disabled railroad employee. The RRB estimates the burden for the collection as follows:

This final rule amends the regulations for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) governing Cooperative Marketing Associations (CMA's). This rule provides that a CMA is no longer required to distribute Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL) and Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP) proceeds directly to members of the CMA within 15 days of receipt of such proceeds from CCC, and makes additional policy clarifications on CMA distributions to members. The intent of this rule is to remove regulatory requirements that are outdated and unnecessary.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) proposes to amend its Fresh Market Sweet Corn Crop Insurance Provisions. The intended effect of this action is to provide policy changes to allow for the expansion of fresh market sweet corn coverage into areas where the crop is produced and when provided in the actuarial documents, and allow coverage for fresh market sweet corn when it is marketed through direct marketing. This change will be applicable for the 2008 and succeeding crop years.

By this order, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) grants clarification and rehearing in part of Order No. 667-A. Order No. 667-A granted rehearing in part and denied rehearing in part of Order No. 667, which amended the Commission's regulations to implement repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 and enactment of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005.

Title XXI of the Social Security Act (the Act) authorizes payment of Federal matching funds to States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories and Commonwealths to initiate and expand health insurance coverage to uninsured, low-income children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This notice sets forth the final allotments of Federal funding available to each State, the District of Columbia, and each U.S. Territory and Commonwealth for fiscal year 2007. States may implement SCHIP through a separate State program under title XXI of the Act, an expansion of a State Medicaid program under title XIX of the Act, or a combination of both.

The Coast Guard is temporarily changing the regulations governing the operation of the N.E. 14th Street Bridge, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway mile 1055.0, Pompano, Florida. This temporary rule provides for solely single-leaf bridge operations twice an hour between July 5, 2006 and September 30, 2006. During this period, the bridge will operate on a single-leaf schedule unless a four hour notice is provided for double-leaf openings.

The USDA Forest Service, Hoosier National Forest intends to prepare a supplement to an environmental impact statement (EIS) that discloses the environmental consequences of a vegetation restoration project. In the supplement to the EIS, the USDA Forest Service will bring the document and the project into compliance with the Forest Plan that has come into effect since the previous documents were prepared and will make improvements to the cumulative effects sections. The EIS addresses potential environmental impacts of replacing pine plantations in the German Ridge area of Perry County, Indiana with native hardwood communities.