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

Background

The Board is inviting the public to nominate qualified individuals for appointment to its Consumer Advisory Council, whose membership represents interests of consumers, communities, and the financial services industry. New members will be selected for three- year terms that will begin in January 2006. The Board expects to announce the selection of new members by year-end 2005.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the Office of Personnel Management is issuing proposed regulations on the locality pay program for General Schedule employees. The proposed regulations would merge the Kansas City, St. Louis, and Orlando locality pay areas with the Rest of U.S. locality pay area; create new locality pay areas for Buffalo, NY; Phoenix, AZ; and Raleigh, NC; add Fannin County, TX, to the Dallas-Fort Worth locality pay area; and make minor changes in the official description of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside and Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia locality pay areas. The new locality pay area definitions would become effective in January 2006.

The Committee is proposing to add to the Procurement List products and services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities. Comments Must be Received on or Before: July 17, 2005.

The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of continued approval of information collections under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to be submitted: 1. The Title of the Information Collection: Voluntary Reporting of Performance Indicators. 2. Current OMB Approval Number: 3150-0195. 3. How Often the Collection Is Required: Quarterly. 4. Who Is Required or Asked To Report: Power reactor licensees. 5. The Number of Annual Respondents: 104 reactors. 6. The Number of Hours Needed Annually To Complete the Requirement or Request: 84,520 (83,200 hours for reporting plus 1,320 recordkeeping hours for 33 recordkeepers). 7. Abstract: As part of a joint industry-NRC initiative, the NRC receives information submitted voluntarily by power reactor licensees regarding selected performance attributes known as performance indicators (PIs). PIs are objective measures of the performance of licensee systems or programs. The NRC's reactor oversight process uses PI information, along with the results of audits and inspections, as the basis for NRC conclusions regarding plant performance and necessary regulatory response. Licensees transmit PIs electronically to reduce burden on themselves and the NRC. Submit, by August 16, 2005, comments that address the following questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden of the information collection be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: https:// www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions about the information collection requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Brenda Jo. Shelton (T-5 F53), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at (301) 415-7233, or by Internet electronic mail to INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV.

The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission published a document in the Federal Register of June 7, 2005, concerning an open meeting to receive comments from Federal, state and local government representatives and the general public on base realignment and closure actions in South Dakota that have been recommended by the Department of Defense (DoD). The agenda for this meeting has changed. The delay of this change notice resulted from recent requests from representatives of communities in Wyoming to accommodate delegations from those communities and the short time-frame established by statute for the operations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. The Commission requests that the public consult the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission Web site, https:// www.brac.gov, for updates.

In order to develop more consistent and efficient processes, SBA is streamlining the procedures for the submission of 504 loan applications to its Sacramento Loan Processing Center (SLPC) on a Pilot program basis. The Pilot's modifications to the existing procedures fall into two categories: (1) Changes in documentation submitted to SLPC that apply to all CDCs; and (2) Changes in process that apply to CDCs meeting certain requirements. Any existing procedures not addressed in this document are not affected and will continue with no change.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') is requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approve a revision of a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of the information collection is to enable the PBGC to pay benefits to participants and beneficiaries in plans covered by the PBGC insurance program. The PBGC created an electronic facility, My Pension Benefit Account (``MyPBA''), on its Web site at https:// www.pbgc.gov, through which plan participants can conduct electronic transactions with the PBGC. The PBGC is adding additional transactions to MyPBA: applying for benefits, designating a beneficiary, providing payee and general information, and requesting an estimate. This notice informs the public of the PBGC's request to OMB for approval of this revision and solicits public comment on the collection of information.

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA, we, our) issues this final rule changing our regulatory capital standards on recourse obligations, direct credit substitutes, residual interests, asset- and mortgage-backed securities, claims on securities firms, and certain residential loans. We are modifying our risk-based capital requirements to more closely match a Farm Credit System (FCS or System) institution's relative risk of loss on these credit exposures to its capital requirements. In doing so, our rule risk-weights recourse obligations, direct credit substitutes, residual interests, asset- and mortgage-backed securities, and claims on securities firms based on external credit ratings from nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs). In addition, our rule will make our regulatory capital treatment more consistent with that of the other financial regulatory agencies for transactions and assets involving similar risk and address financial structures and transactions developed by the market since our last update. We also make a number of nonsubstantive changes to our regulations to make them easier to use.