February 9, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement (RMP/EIS) for the Little Snake Field Office and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been 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. Project owners are permitted to retain Excess Income for projects under terms and conditions established by HUD. Owners must submit a written request to retain some or all of their Excess Income. The request must be submitted at least 90 days before the beginning of each fiscal year, or 90 days before any other time during a fiscal year that the owner plans to begin retaining excess income for that fiscal year. HUD uses the information to ensure that required excess rents are remitted to the Department and/or retained by the owner.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been 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. The information is used by HUD to determine whether State, local and tribal agencies administering HUD programs are properly performing labor standards responsibilities delegated to the respective agency by HUD.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) is announcing new indirect cost rates on the recovery of indirect costs for its component organizations involved in natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities for fiscal year (FY) 2005. The indirect cost rates for this fiscal year and dates of implementation are provided in this notice. More information on these rates and the DARRP policy can be found at the DARRP Web site at www.darrp.noaa.gov.

This notice announces changes in the interest rates to be paid on debentures issued with respect to a loan or mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration under the provisions of the National Housing Act (the Act). The interest rate for debentures issued under section 221(g)(4) of the Act during the 6-month period beginning January 1, 2007, is 4\7/8\ percent. The interest rate for debentures issued under any other provision of the Act is the rate in effect on the date that the commitment to insure the loan or mortgage was issued, or the date that the loan or mortgage was endorsed (or initially endorsed if there are two or more endorsements) for insurance, whichever rate is higher. The interest rate for debentures issued under these other provisions with respect to a loan or mortgage committed or endorsed during the 6-month period beginning January 1, 2007, is 4\3/4\ percent. However, as a result of an amendment to section 224 of the Act, if an insurance claim relating to a mortgage insured under sections 203 or 234 of the Act and endorsed for insurance after January 23, 2004, is paid in cash, the debenture interest rate for purposes of calculating a claim shall be the monthly average yield, for the month in which the default on the mortgage occurred, on United States Treasury Securities adjusted to a constant maturity of 10 years.

Notice is hereby given that the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29412 [Responsible Party/Principal Investigator: Mark Collins, PhD], has been issued a permit to conduct scientific research on shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum).

Pursuant to section 5003 of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, signed by the President on December 20, 2006 (Public Law 109- 432), the Commission instituted investigation No. TR-5003-1, Textiles and Apparel: Effects of Special Rules for Haiti on Trade Markets and Industries, for the purpose of submitting a report to Congress on the effects of the amendments made by the act on the trade markets and industries, involving textile and apparel articles, of Haiti, the countries described in clauses (ii) and (iii) of section 213A(b)(2)(C) of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (as added by section 5002 of this Act), and the United States.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, this notice announces the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) intention to request approval for a new information collection regarding the medical history and status of certain job applicants.

The Department of State is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the information collection described below. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment in the Federal Register preceding submission to OMB. We are conducting this process in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Title of Information Collection: Application to Determine Returning Resident Status. OMB Control Number: 1405-0091. Type of Request: Extension of a Currently Approved Collection. Originating Office: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State (CA/VO). Form Number: DS-117. Respondents: Aliens applying for special immigrant classification as a returning resident. Estimated Number of Respondents: 875 per year. Estimated Number of Responses: 875. Average Hours Per Response: 30 minutes. Total Estimated Burden: 438 hours per year. Frequency: Once per respondent. Obligation to Respond: Required to Obtain or Retain a Benefit.

The General Services Administration (GSA) announces its intent to distribute a Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 43214347 (NEPA) to assess the potential impacts of the construction of a New Border Station Facility in Madawaska, Maine (the ``Proposed Action''). At the request of Customs and BorderProtection (CBP), the GSA is proposing to construct a new border station facility which meets their needs, and the design requirements of the GSA. The existing facilities are undersized and obsolete, and consequently incapable of providing the level of security now required. The Proposed Action has been defined and includes: (a) Identification of land requirements, including acquisition of adjoining land; (b) demolition of existing government structures at the border station; (c) construction of a main administration building and ancillary support buildings; and (d) consequent potential alterations to secondary roads. Studied alternatives have identified alternative locations for the components of the border station including the main administration and ancillary support buildings, the associated roadway network and parking. A No Action alternative has also been studied and evaluates the consequences of not constructing the new border station facility. This alternative has been included to provide a basis for comparison to the action alternatives described above as required by NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1002.14(d)). Following this thirty (30) day notice in the Federal Register, GSA will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) at which time its availability will be announced in the Federal Register and local media. Contact: David M. Drevinsky P.E., PMP, Regional Environmental Quality Advocate (REQA), U.S. General Services Administration, 10 Causeway Street, Room 975, Boston, MA 02222. Fax: (617) 565-5967. Phone: (617) 565-6596. E-mail: david.drevinsky@gsa.gov.

This action from the Procurement List products and a service previously furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities.

In accordance with Section 122(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement for recovery of past response costs concerning the Plantation Heat Treatment Superfund Site in North Providence, Rhode Island, with the following settling party: Theta Properties, Inc. The settlement requires the settling party to pay $175,000 to the Hazardous Substance Superfund. The settlement includes a covenant not to sue the settling party pursuant to Section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a). For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the settlement. The Agency will consider all comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments received disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. The Agency's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at EPA Records Center, 1 Congress Street, Suite 1100, Boston, Massachusetts.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a request to renew two existing approved Information Collection Requests (ICRs) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These ICRs are scheduled to expire on March 31, 2007. Before submitting these ICRs to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public face-to-face meeting of the chartered SAB to: (1) Discuss EPA's strategic research priorities for the years 2008 to 2012; (2) conduct a quality review of the Draft SAB Report on the Office of Research and Development's (ORD) Sustainability Research Strategy and the Science and Technology for Sustainability Multiyear Plan; and (3) continue planning for upcoming SAB meetings.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a computer matching program that SSA plans to conduct with the IRS.

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) for liquid-immersed and medium-voltage, dry-type distribution transformers under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). In response to this notice, stakeholders commented that DOE's standard may prevent or render impractical the replacement of distribution transformers in certain space-constrained (e.g., vault) installations. Some stakeholders suggested that DOE's analysis of the benefits and burdens of the proposed standard should take into consideration the potential impacts of replacing transformers in space- constrained vaults. In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), DOE factored weight-dependent installation costs in the analysis, but did not specifically address potential costs related to transformers installed in vaults. In today's notice, DOE requests comment on inclusion of potential costs related to size constraints of transformers installed in vaults. DOE also is considering an additional option for the final efficiency levels for liquid-immersed distribution transformers and by this notice invites public comment on this additional option.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is making a technical amendment to the final regulations concerning the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). This technical amendment corrects the final rule issued on November 20, 2006 by re-inserting text that was erroneously removed.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations under section 181 of the Internal Revenue Code relating to deductions for costs of producing qualified film and television productions. These temporary regulations reflect changes to the law made by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 and the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, and affect taxpayers that produce films and television productions within the United States. This action is necessary to provide guidance for the application of section 181. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. This document also provides notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.