August 25, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption part 11 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of 14 CFR. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of any petition or its final disposition.

We are amending the foreign quarantine and user fee regulations by removing the exemptions from inspection for imported fruits and vegetables grown in Canada and the exemptions from user fees for commercial vessels, commercial trucks, commercial railroad cars, commercial aircraft, and international air passengers entering the United States from Canada. As a result of this action, all agricultural products imported from Canada will be subject to inspection, and commercial conveyances, as well as airline passengers arriving on flights from Canada, will be subject to inspection and user fees. We are taking this action in part because we are not recovering the costs of our current inspection activities at the U.S./Canada border. In addition, our data show an increasing number of interceptions on the U.S./Canada border of prohibited material that originated in regions other than Canada that presents a high risk of introducing plant pests or animal diseases into the United States. These findings, combined with additional Canadian airport preclearance data on interceptions of ineligible agricultural products approaching the U.S. border from Canada, strongly indicate that we need to expand and strengthen our pest exclusion and smuggling interdiction efforts at that border. In order to do this and to recover the costs of our existing inspection activity, we need to collect user fees for inspection of commercial conveyances and international air passengers entering the United States from Canada.

This rule would decrease the assessment rate established for the Administrative Committee for Pistachios (committee) for the 2006-07 and subsequent production years from $0.0014 per pound of assessed- weight pistachios to $0.0007 per pound of assessed-weight pistachios. The committee, which locally administers the marketing order regulating the handling of pistachios grown in California, made this recommendation for the purpose of lowering the monetary reserve to ensure that the reserve is maintained at a level consistent with order requirements. Assessments upon commodity handlers are used by the committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The production year begins September 1 and ends August 31. The assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory entities will hold public meetings.

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

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) has submitted a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for reinstatement of an expired information collection with change. The Optional Form (OF) 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, is completed by applicants who are under consideration for Federal or Federal contract employment. The OF 306 requests that the applicant provide personal identifying data, including, for example, general background information, information on Selective Service registration, military service and information concerning retirement pay received or requested. The change is to make needed administrative updates and delete life insurance questions. It is estimated that 474,000 individuals will respond annually. Each form takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 118,500 hours. No comments were received on this proposal. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 418-3251 or via E-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

The Bureau of Land Management has examined and found suitable for classification for lease/conveyance under the provisions of the Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP) Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.) 1.65 acres of public land in La Plata County, Colorado. The Upper Pine Fire Protection District proposes to use the land for a fire station along U.S. Highway 160, approximately six miles west of Bayfield, Colorado.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has examined and found suitable for classification for lease or conveyance to the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation under the provisions of the Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP) Act, as amended, (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.) 9.4 acres of public land in Baker County, Oregon. The Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation proposes to use the land as part of the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area.

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision approving lands for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act will be issued to Azachorok Incorporated. The lands are in the vicinity of the Native village of Mountain Village, Alaska, and are located in: U.S. Survey No. 4055, Alaska.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13(44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning an existing final regulation, REG-141402-02, Limitation on Use of the Nonaccrual-Experience Method Under Section 448(d)(5).

In accordance with section 102 (a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of past funding decisions made by the Department in a competition for funding under the 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) for the Youthbuild program. This announcement contains the names of the awardees and the amounts of the awards made available by HUD in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. Federal Register notices on these actions were not published at the time, however the public was advised of these grant selections since they were posted on HUD's Web site. The postings contained listings of the selected applicants including descriptions of the projects.

This notice amends the notice of an emergency declaration for the State of Missouri (FEMA-3267-EM), dated July 21, 2006, and related determinations.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announces the following committee meeting: Name: Board of Visitors (BOV) for the National Fire Academy. Dates of Meeting: October 5-7, 2006 Place: Building H, Room 300, National Emergency Training Center, Emmitsburg, Maryland. Time: October 5, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; October 6, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; October 7, 8:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Proposed Agenda: Review National Fire Academy Program Activities.