Agencies and Commissions January 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Small Business Administration's intentions to request approval on a new and/or currently approved information collection.

The Commission, at the request of Arkansas Educational Television Commission, substitutes DTV channel *12 for DTV channel *30 at El Dorado, Arkansas. See 69 FR 52220, August 25, 2004. DTV channel *12 can be allotted to El Dorado in compliance with the principle community coverage requirements of Section 73.625(a) at reference coordinates 33-04-41 N. and 92-13-41 W. with a power of 6, HAAT of 541 meters and with a DTV service population of 339 thousand. With this action, this proceeding is terminated.

The Commission, at the request of Thomas Desmond, allots DTV channel 51 to Medical Lake, Washington, as the community's first local television service. See 69 FR 44482, July 26, 2004. DTV channel 51 can be allotted to Medical Lake in compliance with sections 73.623(d) and 73.625(a) at coordinates 47-34-12 N. and 117-41-32 W. Since the community of Medical Lake is located within 400 kilometers of the U.S.- Canadian border, concurrence from the Canadian government was obtained for this allotment. With this action, this proceeding is terminated.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish notice of permits issued under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. This is the required notice.

The subject five-year review was initiated in October 2004 to determine whether revocation of the antidumping duty order on drafting machines from Japan would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping and of material injury to a domestic industry. On December 27, 2004, the Department of Commerce published notice that it was revoking the order effective November 24, 2004 because ``the only domestic interested party withdrew its interest in this sunset review'' (69 FR 77183). Accordingly, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1675(c)), the subject review is terminated.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined not to review the presiding administrative law judge's (``ALJ's'') initial determination (``ID'') terminating the investigation as to certain patent claims.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulations on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans and Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans prescribe interest assumptions for valuing and paying benefits under terminating single-employer plans. This final rule amends the regulations to adopt interest assumptions for plans with valuation dates in February 2005. Interest assumptions are also published on the PBGC's Web site https://www.pbgc.gov.

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 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: Certification of Termination of Service and Relinquishment of Rights: OMB 3220-0016. Under Section 2(e)(2) of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA), an age and service annuity, spouse annuity, or divorced spouse annuity cannot be paid unless the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has evidence that the applicant has ceased railroad employment and relinquished rights to return to the service of a railroad employer. The procedure pertaining to the relinquishment of rights by an annuity applicant is prescribed in 20 CFR 216.24. Under Section 2(f)(6) of the RRA, earnings deductions are required each month an annuitant works in certain nonrailroad employment termed Last Pre-Retirement Non-Railroad Employment. Normally, the employee, spouse, or divorced spouse relinquish rights and certify that employment has ended as part of the annuity application process. However, this is not always the case. In limited circumstances, the RRB utilizes Form G-88, Certification of Termination of Service and Relinquishment of Rights, to obtain an applicant's report of termination of employment and relinquishment of rights. One response is required of each respondent. Responses are required to obtain or retain benefits. The RRB proposes non-burden impacting editorial, and clarification changes to Form G-88. The estimated annual respondent burden is as follows:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for review of a revised information collection. RI 34-1, Financial Resources Questionnaire, collects detailed financial information for use by OPM to determine whether to agree to a waiver, compromise, or adjustment of the collection of erroneous payments from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. RI 34-3, Notice of Amount Due Because of Annuity Overpayment, informs the annuitant about the overpayment and collects information from the annuitant about how repayment will be made. Comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of OPM, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through use of the appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Approximately 520 RI 34-1 and 1,561 RI 34-3 forms are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 60 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 520 hours and 1,561 hours respectively. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 418-3251 or via e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is reproposing a rule addressing the application of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to broker-dealers offering certain types of brokerage programs. Under the reproposed rule, a broker-dealer providing nondiscretionary advice that is solely incidental to its brokerage services is excepted from the Investment Advisers Act regardless of whether it charges an asset-based or fixed fee (rather than commissions, mark-ups, or mark-downs) for its services. The rule would also state that exercising investment discretion is not solely incidental to brokerage business, and thus, a broker-dealer providing discretionary advice would be deemed to be an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act. In addition, under the rule, broker-dealers would not be subject to the Investment Advisers Act solely because they offer full-service brokerage and discount brokerage services, including electronic brokerage, for reduced commission rates. Finally, the Commission is proposing to issue a statement of interpretive position that would clarify when certain broker-dealer advisory services, including financial planning, are solely incidental to brokerage business.

On January 5, 2005, the Commission received a letter from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) stating that the USTR has withdrawn his request for a Commission report, pursuant to section 2104(f) of the Trade Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 3804(f)), assessing the likely impact of a free trade agreement (FTA) with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Central America). Accordingly, the Commission has terminated investigation No. TA-2104- 18, U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economywide and Selected Sectoral Effects, which was instituted pursuant to that request. The public hearing in this investigation, scheduled for January 18, 2005, is canceled. Background: The Commission instituted the investigation following receipt of a request from the USTR on November 17, 2004. The Commission published notice of institution of the investigation in the Federal Register on December 28, 2004 (69 FR 77778). The January 5, 2005, letter from USTR noted that the USTR had requested the report in light of the fact that the Dominican Republic had enacted a tax on beverages sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that the United States regarded as incompatible with the Dominican Republic's obligations under the FTA that the United States had entered into with Central America and the Dominican Republic on August 5, 2004 (and on which the Commission had already provided a report). The letter stated that the Dominican Republic repealed the tax on December 29, 2004.

Section 303 of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (SSPA), Public Law No. 108-203, requires the Commissioner of Social Security (the Commissioner) to develop and implement a five-year nationwide demonstration project that will extend to certain non- attorney representatives of claimants under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act) the option to have approved representatives' fees withheld and paid directly from a beneficiary's past-due benefits. Currently, this option is available only to representatives who are attorneys. Non-attorney representatives who wish to participate in the demonstration project must meet the prerequisites specified in section 303 of the SSPA, and any additional prerequisites that the Commissioner may prescribe. The purpose of this notice is to provide information about the prerequisites that non-attorney representatives will be required to satisfy and about our plans for administering the prerequisites process. We will post further details about the prerequisites process (e.g., when and how to apply) on our Web site at https:// www.socialsecurity.gov when they become available.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') hereby amends its rules relating to the scope of Commission review of National Futures Association (``NFA'') decisions in disciplinary, membership denial, registration and member responsibility actions. First, the Commission makes a technical amendment to add the NFA's Hearing Committee to the list of committees covered by that section. This change conforms Rule 171.1(b)(4) to changes in NFA's committee structure since part 171 was first adopted in October 1990. Secondly, the Commission adds a new provision to exclude from Commission review any appeal concerning NFA suspension of a member for failing to pay settlement or arbitration award (``award suspension cases'') unless there are extraordinary circumstances that would otherwise warrant Commission review.

The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) has established an advisory committee to advise the Board on issues related to the accessibility of courthouses covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968. The Courthouse Access Advisory Committee (Committee) includes organizations with an interest in courthouse accessibility. This notice announces the date, times and location of the next Committee meeting, which will be open to the public.