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

The National Environmental Conflict Resolution (ECR) Advisory Committee, of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, will be meeting by teleconference on Wednesday, April 27, 2005. The call will occur from 2 p.m. to approximately 4 p.m. eastern daylight time. Members of the public may participate in the call by dialing 1- 800-930-9002 and entering a passcode: 8072291. During this teleconference, the Committee will discuss: the Committee's final report of recommendations and strategy for distribution and next steps for a future Committee. The final report by the Committee can be viewed at https://www.ecr.gov/necrac/reports.htm. Members of the public may make oral comments during the teleconference or may submit written comments. In general, each individual or group making an oral presentation will be limited to five minutes, and total oral comment time will be limited to one-half hour at the end of the call. Written comments may be submitted by mail or by e-mail to gargus@ecr.gov. Written comments received in the U.S. Institute office far enough in advance of a meeting may be provided to the Committee prior to the meeting; comments received too near the meeting date to allow for distribution will normally be provided to the Committee at the meeting. Comments submitted during or after the meeting will be accepted but may not be provided to the Committee until after that meeting.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement earned value management system (EVMS) policy. FAR coverage is essential to help standardize the use of EVMS across the Government. The proposed rule specifically impacts contracting officers, program managers, and contractors with earned value management systems.

The NRC needs to establish the basis for categorizing NRC inspection results during new reactor construction under 10 CFR part 52. In order to meet that goal, the NRC is holding a workshop to explore stakeholder views on what types of NRC inspection results could call into question the completion of the ITAAC for a particular certified reactor design.

The GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004 changed the name of the General Accounting Office to the Government Accountability Office. Accordingly, this technical amendment changes the name of the agency in the heading of the chapter in which the Government Accountability Office's regulations appear, chapter I of title 4 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This document also redesignates all references in chapter I of the Government Accountability Office's regulations. This rulemaking is technical in nature, and merely implements a statutory mandate.

This direct final rule implements the administrative wage garnishment provisions contained in the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA) in accordance with the regulations issued by the Secretary of the Treasury. By implementing these provisions, SBA will be able to garnish the disposable wages of a person who is indebted to the United States for nontax debts, without first obtaining a court order. This rule also amends SBA's regulations on hearings and appeals in order to expand the scope of those regulations to hearings in administrative wage garnishment cases.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed regulation to designate two sections of the Alternative Ranking and Selection Procedures from the Chief Human Capital Officers Act of 2002 (Title XIII of the Homeland Security Act) as veterans' preference requirements for purposes of a prohibited personnel practice violation, thereby aligning these sections with other statutory provisions covering veterans' preference.

The Technical Guidelines Development Committee (the ``Development Committee'') has scheduled a plenary meeting for April 20-21, 2005. The Committee was established to act in the public interest to assist the Executive Director of the Election Assistance Commission in the development of the voluntary voting system guidelines. The Development Committee held previous meetings on July 9, 2004; January 18 and 19, 2005; and March 9, 2005. The purpose of the fourth meeting of the Development Committee will be to review and approve a draft of the recommendations for voluntary voting system guidelines. The draft document will respond to tasks defined in resolutions passed at previous Technical Guideline Development Committee meetings.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) publishes notice at least once monthly of certain Federal agency requests for records disposition authority (records schedules). Once approved by NARA, records schedules provide mandatory instructions on what happens to records when no longer needed for current Government business. They authorize the preservation of records of continuing value in the National Archives of the United States and the destruction, after a specified period, of records lacking administrative, legal, research, or other value. Notice is published for records schedules in which agencies propose to destroy records not previously authorized for disposal or reduce the retention period of records already authorized for disposal. NARA invites public comments on such records schedules, as required by 44 U.S.C. 3303a(a).