2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (the Committee) has deliberated and voted to change the name of the JWOD Program to the AbilityOne Program. The name of the program is being changed to AbilityOne to give a stronger, more unified identity to the program and to show a connection between the program name and the abilities of those who are blind or have other severe disabilities.

This notice amends the notice of a major disaster declaration for the State of Louisiana (FEMA-1668-DR), dated November 2, 2006, and related determinations.

In accordance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which provides opportunity for public comment on new or revised data collections, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will publish periodic summaries of proposed data collections. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the RRB's estimate of the burden of the collection of the information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden related to the collection of information on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Title and purpose of information collection: Application to Act as Representative Payee; OMB 3220-0052. Under Section 12 of the Railroad Retirement Act, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) may pay benefits to a representative payee when an employee, spouse or survivor annuitant is incompetent or is a minor. A representative payee may be a court- appointed guardian, a statutory conservator or an individual selected by the RRB. The procedures pertaining to the appointment and responsibilities of a representative payee are prescribed in 20 CFR Part 266. The forms furnished by the RRB to apply for representative payee status, and for securing the information needed to support the application follow. RRB Form AA-5, Application for Substitution of Payee, obtains information needed to determine the selection of a representative payee who will serve in the best interest of the beneficiary. RRB Form G-478, Statement Regarding Patient's Capability to Manage Payments, obtains information about an annuitant's capability to manage payments. The form is completed by the annuitant's personal physician or by a medical officer, if the annuitant is in an institution. It is not required when a court has appointed an individual or institution to manage the annuitant's funds or, in the absence of such appointment, when the annuitant is a minor. The RRB also provides representative payees with a booklet at the time of their appointment. The booklet, RRB Form RB-5, Your Duties as Representative Payee-Representative Payee's Record, advises representative payees of their responsibilities under 20 CFR 266.9 and provides a means for the representative payee to maintain records pertaining to the receipt and use of RRB benefits. The booklet is provided for the representative payee's convenience. The RRB also accepts records that were kept by representative payee's as part of a common business practice. Completion is voluntary. One response is requested of each respondent. The RRB is proposing non-burden impacting editorial changes to Forms AA-5 and G-478. No changes are proposed for the Booklet RB-5. The estimated completion time(s) is estimated at 17 minutes for Form AA-5, 6 minutes for Form G-478 and 60 minutes for Booklet RB-5. The RRB estimates that approximately 3,000 Form AA-5's, 2,000 Form G-478's and 15,300 RB-5's are completed annually. Additional Information or Comments: To request more information or to obtain a copy of the information collection justification, forms, and/or supporting material, please call the RRB Clearance Officer at (312) 751-3363 or send an e-mail request to Charles.Mierzwa@RRB.GOV. Comments regarding the information collection should be addressed to Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092 or send an e-mail to Ronald.Hodapp@RRB.GOV. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is reopening the comment period for 90 days for the interim final rule for mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for fish and shellfish covered commodities that was published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2004 (69 FR 59708). The interim final rule for fish and shellfish became effective on April 4, 2005. The interim final rule imposes requirements on certain retailers and their suppliers to notify their customers of the country of origin and the method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) of specified fish and shellfish products. The interim final rule also specifies recordkeeping responsibilities for affected retailers and their suppliers. AMS requests general comment on the costs and benefits of the interim final rule as well as the specific questions that are listed in this document. All affected persons are hereby given notice of the opportunity to submit written data and views concerning the economic impacts of the interim final rule. AMS will review the submitted comments and information as it promulgates a final rule for mandatory COOL for fish and shellfish. Comments received on issues that are outside the scope of the costs and benefits of the interim final rule will not be considered.

This proposed rule would modify Medicare regulations to implement a provision of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 pertaining to the use of repayment plans (also known as extended repayment schedules or ``ERS''). Under this provision, we propose to grant a provider or a supplier an extended repayment schedule under certain terms and conditions as defined in the statute. The proposed rule would establish criteria and procedures to apply this requirement and to define the concepts of ``hardship'' and ``extreme hardship.''

The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) will hold a public workshop on December 8, 2006, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) headquarters in Gaithersburg, MD. The purpose of the workshop is the exchange of information among NVLAP, the NIST Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES), the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ) National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), laboratories interested in seeking accreditation for the testing of personal body armor, and other interested parties. The results of the workshop discussions will be used in the development of the NVLAP Personal Body Armor Program. There is no charge for the workshop; however, because of security regulations, advance registration is mandatory. There will be no on- site, same-day registration. The registration deadline is Wednesday, December 6, 2006. Please note admittance instructions under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.