November 9, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In section 847 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-163, Congress established the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) within GSA to hear and decide contract disputes involving executive agencies (other than the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Air Force, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, and the Tennessee Valley Authority) under the provisions of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 and regulations and rules issued thereunder. Boards of contract appeals currently exist at the General Services Administration and the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs. Effective January 6, 2007, all of those boards in existence on that date will terminate, and their cases, Board judges, and other personnel will transfer to the new Civilian Board.

On September 29, 2006 (71 FR 57584), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published, for public comment, a Notice of Availability of Draft Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) document HLWRS-ISG- 02, ``Preclosure Safety AnalysisLevel of Information and Reliability Estimation.'' On October 26, 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy requested a 30-day extension to the public comment period for HLWRS- ISG-02, from November 13, 2006, to December 13, 2006. In response to this request, NRC is granting a 30-day extension to the public comment period for HLWRS-ISG-02, to December 13, 2006.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The permit application includes a proposed Safe Harbor Agreement (Agreement) between TNC and the Service. The proposed term of the permit and Agreement is 35 years. The requested permit would authorize TNC and private landowners to carry out habitat management measures that would benefit the federally-listed as threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta). The covered area or geographic scope of this Agreement includes all non- Federal properties on the central coast of Oregon located in whole or in part within the approximately 7-mile corridor along the central coast between Bray Point and Big Creek in Lane County, Oregon. We request comments from the public on the permit application, proposed Agreement, and related documents, all of which are available for review.

We announce the receipt of an application to conduct certain activities pertaining to enhancement of survival of endangered species.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is forwarding an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to request an extension of the following collection of information: 3220- 0193, Job Information Report, consisting of RRB Form(s) G-251a, Employer Job Information (job description) and G-251b, Employer Job Information (general). Our ICR describes the information we seek to collect from the public. Review and approval by OIRA ensures that we impose appropriate paperwork burdens. The RRB invites comments on the proposed collection of information to determine (1) The practical utility of the collection; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden of the collection; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information that is the subject of collection; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of collections on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments to RRB or OIRA must contain the OMB control number of the ICR. For proper consideration of your comments, it is best if RRB and OIRA receive them within 30 days of publication date. Previous Requests for Comments: The RRB has already published the initial 60-day notice (71 FR 44054 and 44055 on August 3, 2006) required by 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2). That request elicited no comments.

Pursuant to section 8(c)(2) and section 12(r)(3) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (Act) (45 U.S.C. 358(c)(2) and 45 U.S.C. 362(r)(3), respectively), the Board gives notice of the following: 1. The balance to the credit of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance (RUI) Account, as of June 30, 2006, is $114,826,602.43; 2. The September 30, 2006, balance of any new loans to the RUI Account, including accrued interest, is zero; 3. The system compensation base is $3,338,677,272.65 as of June 30, 2006; 4. The cumulative system unallocated charge balance is ($279,893,399.81) as of June 30, 2006; 5. The pooled credit ratio for calendar year 2007 is zero; 6. The pooled charged ratio for calendar year 2007 is zero; 7. The surcharge rate for calendar year 2007 is 1.5 percent; 8. The monthly compensation base under section 1(i) of the Act is $1,230 for months in calendar year 2007; 9. The amount described in section 1(k) of the Act as ``2.5 times the monthly compensation base'' is $3,075 for base year (calendar year) 2007; 10. The amount described in section 2(c) of the Act as ``an amount that bears the same ratio to $775 as the monthly compensation base for that year as computed under section 1(i) of this Act bears to $600'' is $1,589 for months in calendar year 2007; 11. The amount described in section 3 of the Act as ``2.5 times the monthly compensation base'' is $3,075 for base year (calendar year) 2007; 12. The amount described in section 4(a-2)(i)(A) of the Act as ``2.5 times the monthly compensation base'' is $3,075 with respect to disqualifications ending in calendar year 2007; 13. The maximum daily benefit rate under section 2(a)(3) of the Act is $59 with respect to days of unemployment and days of sickness in registration periods beginning after June 30, 2007.

This final rule revises the requirements for authority to manufacture and distribute postage evidencing systems. This final rule includes updating the regulations, removing obsolete text, and incorporating pertinent portions of the rules for postage meters (Postage Evidencing Systems) formerly contained in section P030 of the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) (Issue 58). This rule integrates the requirements that apply to the distribution and manufacture of PC Postage[supreg] products, a type of Postage Evidencing System. In addition, obsolete references to requirements for manually reset and mechanical meters are eliminated.