August 12, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On June 9, 2008, FRA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (73 FR 32515) proposing amending the eligibility and application form and content criteria of the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) Program to ensure the long-term sustainability of the program, promote competition in the railroad industry, and reduce the risk of default for applicants and the Government. Due to an administrative error, a Preliminary Regulatory Evaluation (Evaluation) was not included in the docket. This notice announces an extension of the comment period until August 26, 2008 to allow for consideration of the Evaluation.

The Secretary waives the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250 and 34 CFR 75.261(c)(2) of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) to enable the funding of continuation grants for certain outlying areas under section 211(e) of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA). This waiver enables the current eligible grantees to continue to receive Federal funding beyond the five-year limitation contained in 34 CFR 75.250.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App., notice is hereby given that the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) will meet Thursday, September 4, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Friday, September 5, 2008 from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. All sessions will be open to the public. The Advisory Board was established by the Computer Security Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100-235) and amended by the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347) to advise the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of NIST on security and privacy issues pertaining to federal computer systems. Details regarding the Board's activities are available at https://csrc.nist.gov/ groups/SMA/ispab//.

The Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES), in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Interoperability and Compatibility (DHS/OIC) and representatives of the public safety community, will hold a public working group on September 9-11, 2008, at Twisted Pair Communications in Seattle, Washington. The purpose of the first two days of the meeting (September 9-10, 2008) is to bring manufacturers together to establish voice over IP (VoIP) connectivity between radio communication system bridging devices. The purpose of the last day of the working group (September 11, 2008) is to bring practitioners and industry together to discuss the development of an enhanced implementation profile for VoIP between radio system bridging solutions. The results of this and subsequent roundtable discussions will be used in the development of specific implementation profiles for VoIP usage in public-safety owned systems. There is no charge for the roundtable; however, because of meeting room restrictions, advance registration is mandatory and limited to three representatives from any one organization. There will be no on- site, same-day registration. The registration deadline is September 2, 2008. Please note registration and admittance instructions and other additional information under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

FMCSA announces receipt of applications from 23 individuals for exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. If granted, the exemptions would enable these individuals to qualify as drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce without meeting the Federal vision standard.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the second external review draft of a document titled, ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen and SulfurEnvironmental Criteria; Second External Review Draft'' (EPA/ 600/R-08/082). EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of seeking public comment and for review by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) (meeting date and location to be specified in a separate Federal Register notice). It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy, viewpoint, or determination. EPA will consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise the shallow-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the third seasonal apportionment of the 2008 Pacific halibut bycatch allowance specified for the shallow-water species fishery in the GOA has been reached.

This final rule implements sections 704 and 705 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005. These provisions apply to eligible family members who become eligible for TRICARE as a result of their Reserve Component (RC) sponsor (including those with delayed effective date orders up to 90 days) being called or ordered to active duty for more than 30 days in support of a federal/contingency operation and choose to participate in TRICARE Standard or Extra, rather than enroll in TRICARE Prime. The first provision gives the Secretary the authority to waive the annual TRICARE Standard (or Extra) deductible, which is set by law (10 U.S.C. 1079(b)) at $150 per individual and $300 per family ($50/$100 for families of members in pay grades E-4 and below). The second provision gives the Secretary the authority to increase TRICARE payments up to 115 percent of the TRICARE maximum allowable charge, less the applicable patient cost share if not previously waived under the first provision, for covered inpatient and outpatient health services received from a provider that does not participate (accept assignment) with TRICARE. These provisions help ensure timely access to health care and maintain clinically appropriate continuity of health care to family members of Reservists and Guardsmen activated in support of a federal/contingency operation; limit the out-of-pocket health care expenses for those family members; and remove potential barriers to health care access by Guard and Reserve families.

The Defense Logistics Agency is amending a system of records notice to its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Department of the Army is amending a system of records notice in its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Department of the Army is amending a system of records notice in its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Department of the Army is proposing to add a system of records to its existing inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern) is re-opening the public comment period on its proposed determination of the Federal and non-Federal hydropower impacts of the White River Minimum Flows project for an additional 45 days. The original notice, issued July 3, 2008, provided a 30-day comment period ending on August 4, 2008 (73 FR 38198). Southwestern is re-opening the comment period until September 18, 2008.

The National Park Service (NPS) intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to develop and implement a plan to manage vehicles along the Denali park road, including carrying capacity (the maximum number of vehicles that can be accommodated on the Denali park road May-September). The goal of the plan is to provide a high quality experience for visitors while protecting wilderness resource values, scenic values, wildlife and other park resources, and maintaining the unique character of the park road. The plan will comprehensively evaluate the existing visitor transportation system to determine its effectiveness in protecting park resources and providing for visitor access and enjoyment. Demand for bus seats exceeds capacity in some cases and trends indicate that visitation will continue to increase. There is also a need to accommodate the changing demographics, interests, and needs of visitors. The EIS will evaluate a no action alternative of maintaining the existing vehicle management system on the Denali park road including current bus schedules, vehicle allocation, and carrying capacity. The effectiveness of the existing transportation system will be assessed and used to guide development of a range of action alternatives. Action alternatives will consider potential changes to transportation system components including carrying capacity, and allocation of vehicle use among shuttle buses, tours, inholders, professional photographers, and administrative vehicles. It will also consider changes to bus scheduling and spacing; the size and type of buses; tour services; educational opportunities and interpretive services; wildlife viewing opportunities; and possibly other factors. Alternatives may also consider operational improvements such as the quality of the buses, space for backpacks and bicycles, communications, accessibility and interpretive services (both on the buses or prior to departure). The NPS may consider utilizing an adaptive management approach based on a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) experimental design to implement any proposed changes. This BACI approach would increase the ability to detect and correct any future negative impacts on visitor experience or park resources and values caused by management actions. The NPS will consider a wide range of information including data collected from the 1930's to the present. Intensive studies conducted over the last three years on wildlife populations and behavior, social science studies on visitor experience, and extensive modeling of traffic patterns on the park road will be considered in the development and analysis of alternatives. This EIS is being prepared in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.), and its implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 1500. Scoping: The planning team requests input from interested federal and state agencies, local governments, groups, organizations, park visitors, and the public. Written and verbal scoping comments are being solicited. Further information on this planning process will be available through public scoping meetings, press releases, and the park Web site. Public scoping meetings will be held in Anchorage, Denali Park, Susitna Valley, and Fairbanks, Alaska in 2008. Additional locations may be added as appropriate. Specific dates, times, and locations of scoping meetings will be announced in local media and posted on the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/DENA. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire commentincluding your personal identifying informationmay be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Minnesota (FEMA-1772-DR), dated 06/25/2008. Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding. Incident Period: 06/06/2008 through 06/12/2008. Effective Date: 08/05/2008. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 08/25/2008.