October 2, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 Form 2063, U.S. Departing Alien Income Tax Statement.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, we are proposing to establish a new system titled, ``Rural Hospice Demonstration (RHD), System No. 09-70-0563.'' The program is mandated by Sec. 409 of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) (Public Law (Pub. L.) 108-173), which was enacted into law on December 8, 2003, and amended Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (the Act). Section 409 authorizes the Secretary of HHS (the Secretary) to conduct a demonstration project for the delivery of hospice care to Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas. Under the demonstration, Medicare beneficiaries who are unable to receive hospice care at home for lack of an appropriate caregiver are provided such care in a facility of 20 or fewer beds that offers, within its walls, the full range of services provided by hospice programs. In order for a hospice organization or agency to participate in this demonstration, it must be Medicare certified and meet all of the Medicare Conditions of Participation as described in subparts C (General Provisions), D (Core Services), and E (Other Services) of 42 CFR 418, except it shall not be required to offer services outside the facility or meet the 20 percent inpatient cap requirements of section 1861(dd)(2) (A) (iii) of the Act. The purpose of this system is to collect and maintain a person- level view of identifiable data of Medicare beneficiaries who participate in the rural hospice demonstrations. Information retrieved from this system may be disclosed to: (1) Support regulatory, reimbursement, and policy functions performed within the agency or by a contractor, consultant, or grantee; (2) assist another Federal or State agency with information to contribute to the accuracy of CMS's proper payment of Medicare benefits, enable such agency to administer a Federal health benefits program, or to enable such agency to fulfill a requirement of Federal statute or regulation that implements a health benefits program funded in whole or in part with Federal funds; (3) support an individual or organization for a research project or in support of an evaluation project related to the prevention of disease or disability, the restoration or maintenance of health, or payment related projects; (4) support litigation involving the agency; and (5) combat fraud, waste, and abuse in certain Federally-funded health benefits programs. We have provided background information about this system in the ``Supplementary Information'' section below. Although the Privacy Act requires only that CMS provide an opportunity for interested persons to comment on the proposed routine uses, CMS invites comments on all portions of this notice. See ``Effective Dates'' section for comment period.

We are issuing this notice to advise attorneys and non- attorneys who represent claimants before SSA, and attorneys who represent Social Security or Supplemental Security Income claimants before the Federal courts, that the requirements a representative must meet for SSA to pay the approved fee, or a part of the approved fee, directly to the representative from a claimant's past-due benefits will change effective January 1, 2007. Currently, SSA pays all or part of the fee we approve to the claimant's representative from his or her past-due benefits if the representative is an attorney or a non- attorney participant in SSA's direct fee payment demonstration project. SSA also pays all or part of the fee a Federal court approves directly to an attorney from a claimant's past-due benefits. SSA must expand the information a representative is required to submit to SSA in order for SSA to pay a fee directly because sections 6041(a) and 6045(f) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), as implemented by 26 CFR 1.6041-1, require SSA to issue a Form 1099-MISC to each representative who receives, by direct payment from SSA, aggregate fees of $600 or more in a calendar year. To meet this requirement, a person whom a claimant appoints to represent him or her before SSA after December 31, 2006, who is otherwise eligible for direct fee payment, and an attorney for whom a Federal court approves a fee on or after January 1, 2007, must provide SSA with his or her Social Security Number (SSN) as a prerequisite for SSA to pay a fee directly to the representative.

In response to public requests, the Coast Guard will hold two public meetings to receive comments on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to modify the existing Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) in the Providence River, Narragansett Bay, and Mount Hope Bay. Additionally, the Coast Guard is re-opening the period to receive comments on that NPRM. Holding two public meetings and re-opening the comment period will provide the public additional opportunities and more time to submit comments and recommendations.

In accordance with the Grants Policy Directive Part 1.03, the Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT) has been granted a class deviation from the competition requirements contained in the Grants Policy Directive Part 2.04 to provide an additional year of funding without competition for Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) Initiatives funded under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined the regulatory review period for BYETTA and is publishing this notice of that determination as required by law. FDA has made the determination because of the submission of an application to the Director of Patents and Trademarks, Department of Commerce, for the extension of a patent that claims that human drug product.

The Commission hereby gives notice that it has instituted a review pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1675(c)) (the Act) to determine whether revocation of the antidumping duty order on clad steel plate from Japan would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury. Pursuant to section 751(c)(2) of the Act, interested parties are requested to respond to this notice by submitting the information specified below to the Commission; \1\ to be assured of consideration, the deadline for responses is November 21, 2006. Comments on the adequacy of responses may be filed with the Commission by December 15, 2006. For further information concerning the conduct of this review and rules of general application, consult the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 201, subparts A through E (19 CFR part 201), and part 207, subparts A, D, E, and F (19 CFR part 207).

This amendment rescinds airworthiness directive (AD) 97-06-13 for Rolls-Royce plc (RR) models RB211 Trent 892, 884, 877, 875, and 892B series turbofan engines. That AD requires inspecting and replacing certain angle gearbox and intermediate gearbox hardware, and on-going repetitive inspections of the magnetic chip detectors. That AD resulted from reports of loss of oil from the angle drive upper shroud tube, the intermediate gearbox housing, the external gearbox lower bevel box housing, and by reports of bearing failures. We intended the requirements of that AD to prevent loss of oil, which could cause an engine fire, and to prevent in-flight engine shutdowns and airplane diversions caused by oil loss and from bearing failures. Since we issued that AD, we determined that the inspections and replacements required by that AD are no longer required to correct an unsafe condition.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is announcing a rulemaking process for mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System and specifically, its inclusion of certain Reliability Standards proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) in the Commission's upcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which will be issued in Docket No. RM06-16-000. The Commission will also open a new proceeding in Docket No. RM06-22-000, which will process additional Reliability Standards proposed by NERC.

In the Federal Register of September 15, 2006 (71 FR 54480) (FRL-8093-2), EPA announced a public meeting of the National Pollution Prevention and Toxics Advisory Committee (NPPTAC). The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the NPPTAC public meeting has been canceled. Meetings of the Committee Work Groups have also been canceled. This includes the Pollution Prevention (P2) Work Group, the Information Integration and Data Use Work Group, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports Interim Work Group meetings.

HUD issued a notice on June 28, 2006, announcing for public comment, proposed changes in the mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily mortgage insurance programs whose commitments will be issued or reissued in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007. The notice allowed 30 days for public comment. Approximately 359 comments were received by the comment due date, and the comments, including a letter signed by 121 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 26 United States Senators, were overwhelmingly opposed to the MIP increases proposed for a number of HUD's multifamily housing mortgage insurance programs. Based on consideration of the concerns raised in the comments, HUD has decided not to proceed with implementation of the MIP increases for FY 2007. Instead, the FY 2006 MIPs, issued on August 30, 2005, will remain in effect for FY 2007. However, FHA will continue to evaluate alternative pricing strategies to maintain the integrity of the fund and achieve policy goals.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 630 of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the C season allowance of the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock for Statistical Area 630 of the GOA.

The Defense Science Board Task Force on VTOL/STOL will meet in closed session on October 11-12, 2006; at Strategic Analysis Inc., 3601 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA. This meeting continues the task force's work and will consist of a classified executive session on current technologies and programs. The mission of the Defense Science Board is to advise the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics on scientific and technical matters as they affect the perceived needs of the Department of Defense. At these meetings, the Defense Science Board Task Force will: assess the features and capabilities VTOL/STOL aircraft should have in order to support the nation's defense needs through at least the first half of the 21st century. In accordance with Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Pub. L. 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. II), it has been determined that these Defense Science Board Task Force meetings concern matters listed in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(1) and that, accordingly, the meetings will be closed to the public.

The Defense Science Board Task Force on Software Assurance will meet in closed session on October 17, 2006; at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), 4001 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA. This meeting is to continue charting the direction of the study and assessing the current capabilities and vulnerabilities of DoD software. The mission of the Defense Science Board is to advise the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics on scientific and technical matters as they affect the perceived needs of the Department of Defense. At these meetings, the Defense Science Board Task Force will: Assess the risk that DoD runs as a result of foreign influence on its software and to suggest technology and other measures to mitigate the risk. In accordance with Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Pub. L. 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. II), it has been determined that these Defense Science Board Task Force meetings concern matters listed in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(1) and that, accordingly, the meetings will be closed to the public.