October 22, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to Public Law 106-148, the NCGMP Advisory Committee will meet in Room 1787 of Building 25 at the Federal Center, Denver, CO. The advisory Committee, composed of scientists from Federal Agencies, State Agencies, academic institutions, and private companies, will advise the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey on planning and implementation of the geologic mapping program. Topics to be reviewed and discussed by the Advisory Committee include the: Progress of the NCGMP towards fulfilling the purposes of the National Geological Mapping Act of 1993 Updates on the Federal, State, and educational components of the NCGMP Report from the Subcommittee on an implementation plan for the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program

The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution invites comments on its draft convening report regarding Department of the Interior's (DOI) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)-funded school facilities construction as identified in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB Act). The draft report was prepared at the request of the DOI, BIA, and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). Such a convening report is described generally in the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-320, section 563(b). As a neutral, independent federal program, the U.S. Institute and its impartial contractor team, Consensus Building Institute (CBI) conducted two-hundred (200) interviews of people with an interest in BIA-funded school facilities construction. The purpose of the interviews was to explore the opportunities for, and barriers to, using negotiated rulemaking to develop regulations implementing the requirements of the NCLB Act related to BIA-funded school facilities. The draft report covers school facility topics identified from the NCLB Act: Methods to catalog school facilities; Determining formulas for priority and funding for school replacement construction and new construction Determining formulas for priority and funding for school renovation and repair; Facilities standards for home living (dormitory) situations. In the draft report, CBI identified several key themes from its interviews: There is a strong willingness to go forward with a negotiated rulemaking, as it is required by statute. Interviewees were supportive of negotiating to improve the fairness, efficiency and transparency of the funding formulas for all aspects of school facilities funding There is a need to integrate the formal negotiation with less formal methods of consulting with the tribes who will not have seats at the table. CBI suggests a national workshop for all tribes with school facilities as part of the preparation for the negotiation process. This workshop could help identify options for the negotiating committee to work with. Representation of the tribes on the negotiating committee is required by the NCLB Act to be roughly proportional to the percent of students each tribe has in the system. For the majority of tribes (i.e. beyond the top eleven for student population), there will need to be a process for sharing seats or otherwise developing representation structures. The draft convening report may be accessed at https:// www.cbuilding.org. and at https://www.ecr.gov. This notice invites interested individuals, organizations and governments to review and offer comments that focus on the findings and recommendations presented draft convening report.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected costs and burden; it includes the actual data collection instruments [if any].

The Department of Energy (DOE) is amending its test procedure for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps. This final rule implements test procedure changes for small-duct, high-velocity systems, two-capacity units, and updates references to the current American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards. Today's rule also clarifies issues associated with sampling tested systems and rating untested split- system combinations.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is delaying the effective date of a final rule that established qualification requirements for flight simulation training devices (FSTD). In addition, because the new rule set forth specific dates for compliance, to ensure that individuals affected by the rule have adequate time to comply with the rule, the FAA will also delay the compliance date of the rule. The new rule consolidates and updates FSTD requirements that currently exist in different parts of the FAA's regulations and in advisory circulars. The extension of the effective date is necessary because the FAA has initiated a subsequent rulemaking that would provide greater harmonization with the international standards document for simulation. Delaying the effective date of the final rule will allow the agency to complete this subsequent rulemaking and amend the final rule that established qualification requirements for FSTD before the October 30, 2007, effective date.