Rules of Practice: Proposed Direct Final Rulemaking Procedures, 59698-59700 [E6-16825]
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59698
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 11, 2006 / Proposed Rules
has forwarded to the Secretary of
Agriculture a draft proposed rule as
required by section 25(a) of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act (FIFRA). As described in the
Agency’s semi-annual Regulatory
Agenda, the draft proposed rule would
add certain plant-incorporated
protectants based on viral coat protein
genes (PVCP-PIPs) to its plantincorporated protectants exemptions at
40 CFR part 174. Substances that plants
produce for protection against pests and
the genetic material necessary to
produce them are pesticides under
FIFRA if humans intend these
substances to ‘‘prevent, repel or mitigate
any pest.’’
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a
docket for this action under docket
identification (ID) number EPA–HQ–
OPP–2006–0642. All documents in the
docket are listed on the regulations.gov
web site. Although listed in the index,
some information is not publicly
available, e.g., Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Certain other material, such as
copyrighted material, is not placed on
the Internet and will be publicly
available only in hard copy form.
Publicly available docket materials are
available either in the electronic docket
at https://www.regulations.gov, or, if only
available in hard copy, at the Office of
Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory
Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One
Potomac Yard (South Building), 2777 S.
Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. The hours
of operation of this Docket Facility are
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The Docket telephone number
is (703) 305-5805.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom
McClintock, Hazard Assessment
Coordination and Policy Division
(7202M), Office of Science Coordination
and Policy, Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington DC 20460-0001; telephone
number: 202-564-8488; e-mail address:
mcclintock.tom@epa.gov.
develop and market plant-incorporated
protectants. Since other entities may
also be interested, the Agency has not
attempted to describe all the specific
entities that may be interested in this
action. If you have any questions
regarding this action, consult the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
B. How Can I Access Electronic Copies
of this Document and Other Related
Information?
In addition to using regulations.gov,
you may access this Federal Register
document electronically through the
EPA Internet under the ‘‘Federal
Register’’ listings at https://
www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.
II. What Action is EPA Taking?
Section 25(a)(2) of FIFRA requires the
Administrator to provide the Secretary
of Agriculture with a copy of any
proposed regulation at least 60 days
before signing it for publication in the
Federal Register. The draft proposed
rule is not available to the public until
after it has been signed by EPA. If the
Secretary comments in writing
regarding the draft proposed rule within
30 days after receiving it, the
Administrator shall include the
comments of the Secretary and the
Administrator’s response to those
comments in the proposed rule when
published in the Federal Register. If the
Secretary does not comment in writing
within 30 days after receiving the draft
proposed rule, the Administrator may
sign the proposed regulation for
publication in the Federal Register
anytime after the 30–day period not
withstanding the foregoing 60–day time
requirement.
III. Do Any Statutory and Executive
Order Reviews Apply to this
Notification?
I. General Information
List of Subjects in Part 174
A. Does this Action Apply to Me?
pwalker on PRODPC60 with PROPOSALS
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
No. This document is not a proposed
rule, it is merely a notification of
submission to the Secretary of
Agriculture. As such, none of the
regulatory assessment requirements
apply to this document.
Environmental protection,
Administrative practice and procedures,
Pesticides and pests.
This action is directed to the public
in general. It simply announces the
submission of a draft proposed rule to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) and does not otherwise affect
any specific entities. This action may,
however, be of particular interest to
people or companies involved with
agricultural biotechnology that may
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:51 Oct 10, 2006
Jkt 211001
Dated: October 2, 2006.
Clifford J. Gabriel
Director, Office of Science Coordination and
Policy.
[FR Doc. E6–16751 Filed 10–10–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–S
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
49 CFR Part 211
[Docket No. 2006–24141, Notice No. 1]
RIN 2130–AB77
Rules of Practice: Proposed Direct
Final Rulemaking Procedures
Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: FRA is proposing direct final
rulemaking procedures to expedite the
processing of noncontroversial
regulatory changes to which no adverse
comment is anticipated. Under the
proposed procedures, FRA could choose
to make routine or otherwise
noncontroversial changes in a direct
final rule which would become effective
a specified number of days after its
publication in the Federal Register,
provided that no written adverse
comment, or no request for a public
hearing, was received before the rule’s
scheduled effective date. FRA would
not use direct final rulemaking for
complex or controversial matters.
DATES: Written comments must be
received by December 11, 2006.
Comments received after that date will
be considered to the extent possible
without incurring additional expense or
delay.
FRA anticipates being able to resolve
this rulemaking without a public, oral
hearing. However, if FRA receives a
specific request for a public, oral
hearing prior to November 13, 2006, one
will be scheduled and FRA will publish
a supplemental notice in the Federal
Register to inform interested parties of
the date, time, and location of any such
hearing.
ADDRESSES: Comments: Comments
related to Docket No. 2006–24141, may
be submitted by any of the following
methods:
• Web site: https://dms.dot.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting
comments on the DOT electronic docket
site.
• Fax: 202–493–2251.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building,
Room PL–401, Washington, DC 20590–
001.
• Hand Delivery: Room PL–401 on
the plaza level of the Nassif Building,
400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington,
DC between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
E:\FR\FM\11OCP1.SGM
11OCP1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 11, 2006 / Proposed Rules
online instructions for submitting
comments.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the agency name and docket
number or Regulatory Identification
Number (RIN) for this rulemaking. Note
that all comments received will be
posted without change to https://
dms.dot.gov including any personal
information. Please see the Privacy Act
heading in the ‘‘SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION’’ section of this document
for Privacy Act information related to
any submitted comments or materials.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments received, go to https://
dms.dot.gov at any time or to PL–401 on
the plaza level of the Nassif Building,
400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington,
DC between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday, except Federal
Holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
pwalker on PRODPC60 with PROPOSALS
Patricia V. Sun, Trial Attorney, Mail
Stop 10, Federal Railroad
Administration, 1120 Vermont Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20005 [telephone:
(202) 493–6038].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 30, 2004, the Office of the
Secretary of Transportation (OST)
published a final rule adopting direct
final rulemaking procedures intended to
expedite the rulemaking process for
noncontroversial rules. The rule
published by OST applies only to
regulations issued by the Office of the
Secretary of Transportation and does
not apply to the various operating
administrations within DOT. By using
direct final rulemaking, OST can reduce
the time necessary to develop, review,
clear and publish a rule to which no
adverse public comment is anticipated
by eliminating the need to publish
separate proposed and final rules (69 FR
4455). In this notice, FRA proposes to
amend its Rules of Practice (49 CFR Part
211) to adopt similar direct final
rulemaking procedures to promulgate
specified categories of rules it does not
expect to be controversial and that are
unlikely to result in adverse comments.
Many agencies have adopted direct
final rulemaking procedures, including
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the
Food and Drug Administration, the
Environmental Protection Agency, and
the Department of Agriculture. For
example, in 2003, the Department of
Energy issued a direct final rule
amending its test procedures for
measuring the energy consumption of
clothes washers (October 31, 2003, 68
FR 62197), and last year, the
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:51 Oct 10, 2006
Jkt 211001
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration issued a direct final rule
to reinstate its original roll-over
protective structures standards for the
construction and agriculture industries
(December 29, 2005, 70 FR 76795).
The Direct Final Rulemaking Process
As stated above, the use of direct final
rulemaking would allow FRA to
eliminate an unnecessary second round
of internal review and clearance, as well
as public review, for noncontroversial
proposed rules. FRA would employ the
direct final rulemaking process for a
particular rule if, for example, similar
rules had been previously proposed and
published without receiving adverse
comment. FRA believes that direct final
rulemaking would be appropriate for
noncontroversial rules, including such
rules that:
(1) Affect internal procedures of the
Federal Railroad Administration, such
as filing requirements and rules
governing inspection and copying of
documents,
(2) are nonsubstantive clarifications or
corrections to existing rules;
(3) update existing forms; and
(4) make minor changes in the
substantive rules regarding statistics and
reporting requirements, such as a
lessening of the reporting frequency (for
example, from monthly to quarterly) or
elimination of a type of data that no
longer needs to be collected by FRA.
After determining that a rule would
be appropriate for direct final
rulemaking, FRA would publish the rule
in the final rule section of the Federal
Register. In each direct final rule
document, the ‘‘action’’ would be
captioned ‘‘direct final rule’’ and would
include language in the summary and
preamble informing interested parties of
their right to comment and their right to
request an oral hearing, if such
opportunity is required. The direct final
rule notice would advise the public that
FRA anticipates no adverse comment to
the rule and that the rule would become
effective a specified number of days
after the date of publication unless FRA
received written adverse comment or a
request for an oral hearing (if such
opportunity is required by statute)
within the specified comment period.
An ‘‘adverse’’ comment would be one
that is critical of the rule, one that
suggests that the rule should not be
adopted, or one that suggests that a
change should be made in the rule. FRA
would not consider a comment
submitted in support of the rule, or a
request for clarification of the rule, to be
adverse.
FRA would provide sufficient
comment time to allow interested
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59699
parties to determine whether they wish
or need to submit adverse comments,
and would answer any requests for
clarification while the comment period
was running. If FRA received no written
adverse comment or request for oral
hearing within the comment period,
FRA would publish another notice in
the Federal Register indicating that no
adverse comment had been received and
confirming that the rule would become
effective on the specified date.
If, however, FRA received the timely
submission of an adverse comment or
notice of intent to submit adverse
comment, FRA would stop the direct
final rulemaking process and withdraw
the direct final rule by publishing a
notice in the final rule section of the
Federal Register. If FRA decided that
the rulemaking remained necessary,
FRA would recommence the rulemaking
under its standard rulemaking
procedures by publishing a notice
proposing the rule in the proposed rules
section of the Federal Register. The
proposed rule would provide for a new
public comment period.
FRA believes that the additional time
and effort required to withdraw the
direct final rule and issue a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking would be an
incentive for FRA to act conservatively
in evaluating whether to use the direct
final rulemaking process for a particular
rule. As stated above, FRA would not
use direct final rulemaking for complex
or potentially controversial matters.
Regulatory Analyses and Notices
FRA has determined that this action
is not a significant regulatory action
under Executive Order 12866 or under
the Department’s Regulatory Policies
and Procedures. There are no costs
associated with the proposed rule.
There would be some cost savings in
Federal Register publication costs and
efficiencies for the public and FRA
personnel in eliminating duplicative
reviews. FRA certifies that this rule, if
adopted, would not have a significant
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. FRA does not believe that there
would be sufficient federalism
implications to warrant the preparation
of a federalism assessment.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The proposed rule contains no
information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520).
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of
1995
FRA has determined that the
requirements of Title II of the Unfunded
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59700
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 11, 2006 / Proposed Rules
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 do not
apply to this rulemaking.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 211
Administrative practice and
procedure, Rules of practice.
In consideration of the foregoing, FRA
proposes to amend 49 CFR part 211 as
follows:
PART 211—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 211
would continue to read as follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 20103, 20107, 20114,
20306, 20502–20504, and 49 CFR 1.49.
2. In part 211, Subpart B—
Rulemaking Procedures, would be
amended by adding a new § 211.33,
Procedures for direct final rulemaking,
as follows:
pwalker on PRODPC60 with PROPOSALS
§ 211.33 Procedures for direct final
rulemaking.
16:51 Oct 10, 2006
Jkt 211001
Issued in Washington, DC, on September
29, 2006.
Joseph H. Boardman,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E6–16825 Filed 10–10–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P
(a) Rules that the Administrator
judges to be noncontroversial and
unlikely to result in adverse public
comment may be published in the final
rule section of the Federal Register as
direct final rules. These include
noncontroversial rules that:
(1) Affect internal procedures of the
Federal Railroad Administration, such
as filing requirements and rules
governing inspection and copying of
documents,
(2) Are nonsubstantive clarifications
or corrections to existing rules,
(3) Update existing forms, and
(4) Make minor changes in the
substantive rules regarding statistics and
reporting requirements.
(b) The Federal Register document
will state that any adverse comment or
notice of intent to submit adverse
comment must be received in writing by
the Federal Railroad Administration
within the specified time after the date
of publication and that, if no written
adverse comment or request for oral
hearing (if such opportunity is required
by statute) is received, the rule will
become effective a specified number of
days after the date of publication.
(c) If no adverse comment or request
for oral hearing is received by the
Federal Railroad Administration within
the specified time of publication in the
Federal Register, the Federal Railroad
Administration will publish a notice in
the Federal Register indicating that no
adverse comment was received and
confirming that the rule will become
effective on the date that was indicated
in the direct final rule.
(d) If the Federal Railroad
Administration receives any written
adverse comment or request for oral
hearing within the specified time of
VerDate Aug<31>2005
publication in the Federal Register, a
notice withdrawing the direct final rule
will be published in the final rule
section of the Federal Register and, if
the Federal Railroad Administration
decides a rulemaking is warranted, a
notice of proposed rulemaking will be
published in the proposed rule section
of the Federal Register.
(e) An ‘‘adverse’’ comment for the
purpose of this subpart means any
comment that the Federal Railroad
Administration determines is critical of
the rule, suggests that the rule should
not be adopted, or suggests a change
that should be made in the rule.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018–AV01
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Withdrawal of the
Proposed Rule To List the Cow Head
Tui Chub (Gila bicolor vaccaceps) as
Endangered
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service), have determined that
the proposed listing of the Cow Head tui
chub (Gila bicolor vaccaceps) as an
endangered species under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (Act), is not warranted, and
we therefore withdraw our March 30,
1998, proposed rule (63 FR 15152–
15158). We have made this
determination because the threats to the
species identified in the March 30,
1998, proposed rule are not significant,
and currently available data do not
indicate that the threats to the species,
as analyzed under the five listing factors
described in section 4(a)(1) of the Act,
are likely to endanger the species in the
foreseeable future throughout all or a
significant portion of its range.
ADDRESSES: Supporting documentation
for this action is available for public
inspection, by appointment, during
normal business hours at the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Klamath Falls Fish
and Wildlife Office, 6610 Washburn
Way, Klamath Falls, OR 97603.
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Curt
Mullis, Field Supervisor, at the above
address (telephone, 541–885–8481, or
facsimile, 541–885–7837).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Background
The Cow Head tui chub, Gila
(Siphateles) bicolor vaccaceps, is a
small fish in the minnow family
Cyprinidae. It was first recognized as a
distinct subspecies in 1939, and was
later named and formally described in
1980 (Bills and Bond 1980, pp. 320–
322). Although it was referred to as the
Cowhead Lake tui chub in the March 30,
1998, proposed listing (63 FR 15152),
we now conform to the accepted
geographical spelling of Cow Head as
two words and use the shorter name,
Cow Head tui chub, for reasons
discussed in Reid (2006b, pp. 1–6). It is
distinguished from other tui chubs
primarily by the number and form of its
gill rakers (bony projections in the gills),
as well as other characteristics, such as
fin and scale counts, and the shape of
its fins and head (Bills and Bond 1980,
pp. 320–322). Like other tui chubs, its
coloration is generally silver, except for
a dark lateral stripe and dark speckles
scattered on the cheek, operculum (area
behind the eye), and lower body.
The known range of the Cow Head tui
chub is limited to the Cow Head Basin
in extreme northeastern California and
northwestern Nevada (Reid 2006a, pp.
15–19). The Cow Head Basin is
relatively small (10,400 hectares (ha);
25,700 acres) and drains north into the
Warner Basin of Oregon through Cow
Head Slough. Historically, the basin
contained a shallow, marshy lake when
sufficient water was available. Cow
Head Lake was altered in the 1930s,
following the extended drought of the
1920–30s, to allow drainage of the lake
in the spring and to facilitate
agricultural uses of the lakebed.
Populations of Cow Head tui chub
occupy all principal low gradient
streams in the basin (Cow Head Slough
and Barrel, West Barrel and Keno
creeks) and a relatively large population
still exists on the lakebed, where it is
restricted to permanent water in
drainage channels when the lake is dry
(Scoppettone and Rissler 2006, pp. 108–
109). Stream populations of Cow Head
tui chub annually expand throughout
most of the low gradient stream habitat
in the basin during wet periods and
contract as the summer progresses and
streams dry up. Connectivity between
stream populations of Cow Head tui
chub is generally unobstructed during
springtime flows, but during summer
and fall, all populations are restricted to
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 11, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59698-59700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16825]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
49 CFR Part 211
[Docket No. 2006-24141, Notice No. 1]
RIN 2130-AB77
Rules of Practice: Proposed Direct Final Rulemaking Procedures
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: FRA is proposing direct final rulemaking procedures to
expedite the processing of noncontroversial regulatory changes to which
no adverse comment is anticipated. Under the proposed procedures, FRA
could choose to make routine or otherwise noncontroversial changes in a
direct final rule which would become effective a specified number of
days after its publication in the Federal Register, provided that no
written adverse comment, or no request for a public hearing, was
received before the rule's scheduled effective date. FRA would not use
direct final rulemaking for complex or controversial matters.
DATES: Written comments must be received by December 11, 2006. Comments
received after that date will be considered to the extent possible
without incurring additional expense or delay.
FRA anticipates being able to resolve this rulemaking without a
public, oral hearing. However, if FRA receives a specific request for a
public, oral hearing prior to November 13, 2006, one will be scheduled
and FRA will publish a supplemental notice in the Federal Register to
inform interested parties of the date, time, and location of any such
hearing.
ADDRESSES: Comments: Comments related to Docket No. 2006-24141, may be
submitted by any of the following methods:
Web site: https://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401,
Washington, DC 20590-001.
Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
[[Page 59699]]
online instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this
rulemaking. Note that all comments received will be posted without
change to https://dms.dot.gov including any personal information. Please
see the Privacy Act heading in the ``SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION''
section of this document for Privacy Act information related to any
submitted comments or materials.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to https://dms.dot.gov at any time or to PL-401 on
the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except
Federal Holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia V. Sun, Trial Attorney, Mail
Stop 10, Federal Railroad Administration, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20005 [telephone: (202) 493-6038].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 30, 2004, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation
(OST) published a final rule adopting direct final rulemaking
procedures intended to expedite the rulemaking process for
noncontroversial rules. The rule published by OST applies only to
regulations issued by the Office of the Secretary of Transportation and
does not apply to the various operating administrations within DOT. By
using direct final rulemaking, OST can reduce the time necessary to
develop, review, clear and publish a rule to which no adverse public
comment is anticipated by eliminating the need to publish separate
proposed and final rules (69 FR 4455). In this notice, FRA proposes to
amend its Rules of Practice (49 CFR Part 211) to adopt similar direct
final rulemaking procedures to promulgate specified categories of rules
it does not expect to be controversial and that are unlikely to result
in adverse comments.
Many agencies have adopted direct final rulemaking procedures,
including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Food and Drug
Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department
of Agriculture. For example, in 2003, the Department of Energy issued a
direct final rule amending its test procedures for measuring the energy
consumption of clothes washers (October 31, 2003, 68 FR 62197), and
last year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a
direct final rule to reinstate its original roll-over protective
structures standards for the construction and agriculture industries
(December 29, 2005, 70 FR 76795).
The Direct Final Rulemaking Process
As stated above, the use of direct final rulemaking would allow FRA
to eliminate an unnecessary second round of internal review and
clearance, as well as public review, for noncontroversial proposed
rules. FRA would employ the direct final rulemaking process for a
particular rule if, for example, similar rules had been previously
proposed and published without receiving adverse comment. FRA believes
that direct final rulemaking would be appropriate for noncontroversial
rules, including such rules that:
(1) Affect internal procedures of the Federal Railroad
Administration, such as filing requirements and rules governing
inspection and copying of documents,
(2) are nonsubstantive clarifications or corrections to existing
rules;
(3) update existing forms; and
(4) make minor changes in the substantive rules regarding
statistics and reporting requirements, such as a lessening of the
reporting frequency (for example, from monthly to quarterly) or
elimination of a type of data that no longer needs to be collected by
FRA.
After determining that a rule would be appropriate for direct final
rulemaking, FRA would publish the rule in the final rule section of the
Federal Register. In each direct final rule document, the ``action''
would be captioned ``direct final rule'' and would include language in
the summary and preamble informing interested parties of their right to
comment and their right to request an oral hearing, if such opportunity
is required. The direct final rule notice would advise the public that
FRA anticipates no adverse comment to the rule and that the rule would
become effective a specified number of days after the date of
publication unless FRA received written adverse comment or a request
for an oral hearing (if such opportunity is required by statute) within
the specified comment period. An ``adverse'' comment would be one that
is critical of the rule, one that suggests that the rule should not be
adopted, or one that suggests that a change should be made in the rule.
FRA would not consider a comment submitted in support of the rule, or a
request for clarification of the rule, to be adverse.
FRA would provide sufficient comment time to allow interested
parties to determine whether they wish or need to submit adverse
comments, and would answer any requests for clarification while the
comment period was running. If FRA received no written adverse comment
or request for oral hearing within the comment period, FRA would
publish another notice in the Federal Register indicating that no
adverse comment had been received and confirming that the rule would
become effective on the specified date.
If, however, FRA received the timely submission of an adverse
comment or notice of intent to submit adverse comment, FRA would stop
the direct final rulemaking process and withdraw the direct final rule
by publishing a notice in the final rule section of the Federal
Register. If FRA decided that the rulemaking remained necessary, FRA
would recommence the rulemaking under its standard rulemaking
procedures by publishing a notice proposing the rule in the proposed
rules section of the Federal Register. The proposed rule would provide
for a new public comment period.
FRA believes that the additional time and effort required to
withdraw the direct final rule and issue a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking would be an incentive for FRA to act conservatively in
evaluating whether to use the direct final rulemaking process for a
particular rule. As stated above, FRA would not use direct final
rulemaking for complex or potentially controversial matters.
Regulatory Analyses and Notices
FRA has determined that this action is not a significant regulatory
action under Executive Order 12866 or under the Department's Regulatory
Policies and Procedures. There are no costs associated with the
proposed rule. There would be some cost savings in Federal Register
publication costs and efficiencies for the public and FRA personnel in
eliminating duplicative reviews. FRA certifies that this rule, if
adopted, would not have a significant impact on a substantial number of
small entities. FRA does not believe that there would be sufficient
federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a federalism
assessment.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The proposed rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
FRA has determined that the requirements of Title II of the
Unfunded
[[Page 59700]]
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 do not apply to this rulemaking.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 211
Administrative practice and procedure, Rules of practice.
In consideration of the foregoing, FRA proposes to amend 49 CFR
part 211 as follows:
PART 211--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 211 would continue to read as
follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 20103, 20107, 20114, 20306, 20502-20504,
and 49 CFR 1.49.
2. In part 211, Subpart B--Rulemaking Procedures, would be amended
by adding a new Sec. 211.33, Procedures for direct final rulemaking,
as follows:
Sec. 211.33 Procedures for direct final rulemaking.
(a) Rules that the Administrator judges to be noncontroversial and
unlikely to result in adverse public comment may be published in the
final rule section of the Federal Register as direct final rules. These
include noncontroversial rules that:
(1) Affect internal procedures of the Federal Railroad
Administration, such as filing requirements and rules governing
inspection and copying of documents,
(2) Are nonsubstantive clarifications or corrections to existing
rules,
(3) Update existing forms, and
(4) Make minor changes in the substantive rules regarding
statistics and reporting requirements.
(b) The Federal Register document will state that any adverse
comment or notice of intent to submit adverse comment must be received
in writing by the Federal Railroad Administration within the specified
time after the date of publication and that, if no written adverse
comment or request for oral hearing (if such opportunity is required by
statute) is received, the rule will become effective a specified number
of days after the date of publication.
(c) If no adverse comment or request for oral hearing is received
by the Federal Railroad Administration within the specified time of
publication in the Federal Register, the Federal Railroad
Administration will publish a notice in the Federal Register indicating
that no adverse comment was received and confirming that the rule will
become effective on the date that was indicated in the direct final
rule.
(d) If the Federal Railroad Administration receives any written
adverse comment or request for oral hearing within the specified time
of publication in the Federal Register, a notice withdrawing the direct
final rule will be published in the final rule section of the Federal
Register and, if the Federal Railroad Administration decides a
rulemaking is warranted, a notice of proposed rulemaking will be
published in the proposed rule section of the Federal Register.
(e) An ``adverse'' comment for the purpose of this subpart means
any comment that the Federal Railroad Administration determines is
critical of the rule, suggests that the rule should not be adopted, or
suggests a change that should be made in the rule.
Issued in Washington, DC, on September 29, 2006.
Joseph H. Boardman,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E6-16825 Filed 10-10-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
