October 5, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will file the plat of survey of the lands described below in the BLM-Eastern States, Springfield, Virginia, 30 calendar days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

The CNO Executive Panel will form consensus advice for the final report on the findings and recommendations of the Strategic Communications Subcommittee to the CNO. The meeting will consist of discussions of Navy strategic communications and its relationship to other DoD and U.S. Government efforts.

The purpose of the meeting is to elicit the advice of the board on the Naval Service's Postgraduate Education Program and the collaborative exchange and partnership between NPS and the Air Force Institute of Technology. The board examines the effectiveness with which the NPS is accomplishing its mission. To this end, the board will inquire into the curricula; instruction; physical equipment; administration; state of morale of the student body, faculty, and staff; fiscal affairs; and any other matters relating to the operation of the NPS as the board considers pertinent. This meeting will be open to the public.

This proposed rule would clarify and explain the procedures to be followed by requesters seeking a waiver or a reduction of fees under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This proposed rule describes the information that must be included in a FOIA request and the demonstrations that must be made in order for a waiver or reduction in fees to be granted. This proposed rule would also revise the FOIA fee schedule, clarify the time at which HUD will begin processing a FOIA request, and modify HUD's policy on the use of outside contractors to fulfill FOIA requests. HUD is undertaking this effort in order to make the regulations governing fee waivers more informative and helpful in accordance with the President's recently issued Executive Order 13392, ``Improving Agency Disclosure of Information.''

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

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) submitted a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency clearance and review for a reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved collection for the OPM Form 1300, Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program Online Application and Resume Builder. Approval of this request is necessary to facilitate the timely nomination of PMF applicants to the PMF Program. This also serves as the 60 Day Notice for review for full clearance. As a result of Executive Order 13318 and OPM regulations on the PMF Program issued on May 19, 2005 (70 FR 28775), effective June 20, 2005, eligible graduate students interested in applying to the PMF Program must be nominated by their accredited graduate school's Dean, Chairperson, or Academic Program Director (otherwise referred to as the Nomination Official). In addition, per OMB's approval of the OPM Form 1300 for the PMF Class of 2006 on September 31, 2005, several contingencies were requested. One of those contingencies was for OPM to commit to developing future systems/system changes that would streamline the application process for those seeking Federal jobs. The following significant changes have been made to the application and nomination process: (1) The PMF Program has recently migrated from an in-house online application and resume builder system to a vacancy announcement approach via USAJOBS; and (2) the nomination process was modified to create a PMF Nomination Form (which OPM proposes to become the new OPM Form 1300), which will serve as a fax-back form for the Nomination Official to fill-out and fax to OPM. Applicants will be directed to a vacancy announcement on USAJOBS and asked to upload their resume. Upon submission of their application, a Nomination Form will generate for the applicant to hand-carry to their school's Nomination Official for possible nomination to the PMF Program. If at any stage the applicant is found ineligible or ultimately not selected as a Finalist, he/she would still have the flexibility to apply to other Federal opportunities on USAJOBS. We estimate 2,500 to 3,000 applications will be received and processed in the 2006/2007 open season for PMF applications. During the 2005/2006 open season OPM received approximately 2,982 applications, leading to 2,755 nominations by colleges and universities. Using the new OPM Form 1300 (PMF Nomination Form) we estimate Nomination Officials will need one-half hour to receive, review, and render a decision for nomination. The annual estimated burden for Nomination Officials to select nominees is 1,500 hours. Comments are particularly invited on: Whether this information is necessary for the proper performance of functions on the Office of Personnel Management, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey at (202) 606-2150 fax (202) 418-3251, or e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include your complete mailing address with your request.

Pursuant to the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, as amended, and the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Guidance on the statute, HUD is updating its notice of a matching program involving comparisons between income data provided by participants in HUD's assisted housing programs and independent sources of income information. The matching program will be carried out to detect inappropriate (excessive or insufficient) housing assistance under the National Housing Act, the United States Housing Act of 1937, section 101 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1965, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, and the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA) of 1998. The program provides for the verification of the matching results and the initiation of appropriate administrative or legal actions, primarily through public housing agencies (PHAs) and owners and agents (all collectively referred to as POAs). Indian tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs) are not a mandatory component of the computer matching program. Participation by Indian tribes and TDHEs is discretionary; however, they may receive and use social security (SS) and supplemental security income (SSI) matching information provided by HUD. This notice provides an overview of computer matching for HUD's rental assistance programs. Specifically, the notice describes HUD's program for computer matching of its tenant data to SSA's SS and SSI income benefits data.

As authorized by Public Law 105-383 and Public Law 107-295, the Secretary of Transportation, as represented by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), is authorized to grant waivers of the U.S.- build requirement of the coastwise laws under certain circumstances. A request for such a waiver has been received by MARAD. The vessel, and a brief description of the proposed service, is listed below. The complete application is given in DOT docket 2006-25952 at https:// dms.dot.gov. Interested parties may comment on the effect this action may have on U.S. vessel builders or businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.-flag vessels. If MARAD determines, in accordance with Public Law 105-383 and MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR Part 388 (68 FR 23084; April 30, 2003), that the issuance of the waiver will have an unduly adverse effect on a U.S.-vessel builder or a business that uses U.S.-flag vessels in that business, a waiver will not be granted. Comments should refer to the docket number of this notice and the vessel name in order for MARAD to properly consider the comments. Comments should also state the commenter's interest in the waiver application, and address the waiver criteria given in Sec. 388.4 of MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR Part 388.

The Coast Guard has recertified the Cook Inlet Regional Citizen's Advisory Council for the period covering September 1, 2006 through August 31, 2007. Under the Oil Terminal and Oil Tanker Environmental Oversight and Monitoring Act of 1990, the Coast Guard may certify on an annual basis an alternative voluntary advisory group in lieu of a regional citizens' advisory council for Cook Inlet, Alaska. This advisory group monitors the activities of terminal facilities and crude oil tankers under the Cook Inlet Program established by the statute.

The Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Harvey Canal Railroad Bascule Bridge across the Harvey Canal, mile 0.2 (Gulf Intracoastal Canal, mile 0.2 west of Harvey Lock, near Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. This deviation provides for the bridge to remain closed to navigation for 60 consecutive hours to conduct scheduled maintenance to the drawbridge.

As authorized by Public Law 105-383 and Public Law 107-295, the Secretary of Transportation, as represented by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), is authorized to grant waivers of the U.S.- build requirement of the coastwise laws under certain circumstances. A request for such a waiver has been received by MARAD. The vessel, and a brief description of the proposed service, is listed below. The complete application is given in DOT docket 2006-25987 at https:// dms.dot.gov. Interested parties may comment on the effect this action may have on U.S. vessel builders or businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.-flag vessels. If MARAD determines, in accordance with Public Law 105-383 and MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388 (68 FR 23084; April 30, 2003), that the issuance of the waiver will have an unduly adverse effect on a U.S.-vessel builder or a business that uses U.S.-flag vessels in that business, a waiver will not be granted. Comments should refer to the docket number of this notice and the vessel name in order for MARAD to properly consider the comments. Comments should also state the commenter's interest in the waiver application, and address the waiver criteria given in Sec. 388.4 of MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388.

NMFS has received an application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting an acoustic calibration and seismic testing program in the northern Gulf of Mexico in Fall, 2006. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposed IHA for these activities.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (``OFAC'') is revising the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, the Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, and the Foreign Terrorist Organizations Sanctions Regulations to authorize in-kind donations of medical devices and medical services by U.S. nongovernmental organizations to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health.

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will publish North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) State Plane Coordinate (SPC) grid values in both meters and U.S. Survey Feet (1 ft = 1200/3937 m) in Iowa, for all well- defined geodetic survey control monuments maintained by NGS in the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) and computed from various geodetic positioning utilities. The adoption of this standard is implemented in accordance with NGS policy and a request from the Iowa Transportation Department and the Iowa Society of Land Surveyors.