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

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) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review of a revised information collection. RI 20-80, Alternative Annuity Election, is used for individuals who are eligible to elect whether to receive a reduced annuity and a lump-sum payment equal to their retirement contributions (alternative form of annuity) or an unreduced annuity and no lump sum. Approximately 200 annuitants and survivors request reconsideration annually. We estimate it takes approximately 20 minutes to apply. The annual burden is 67 hours. 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.

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 intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for clearance of an expiring information collection. OPM Form 1647, Combined Federal Campaign Eligibility Application, is used to review the eligibility of national, international, and local charitable organizations that wish to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign. We estimate 2,000 Form 1647's will be completed annually. Each form takes approximately three hours to complete. The annual estimated burden is 6,000 hours. Comments are particularly invited on: Whether this information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Office of Personnel Management, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information 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 the appropriate use of technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 418-3251 or e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please be sure to include a mailing address with your request.

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 (OMB) a request for review of a revised information collection. RI 38-117, Rollover Election, is used to collect information from each payee affected by a change in the tax code (Public Law 102-318) so that OPM can make payment in accordance with the wishes of the payee. RI 38-118, Rollover Information, explains the election. RI 37-22, Special Tax Notice Regarding Rollovers, provides more detailed information. Comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Office of Personnel Management, 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 the use of the appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Approximately 1,500 RI 38-117 forms will be completed annually. We estimated it takes approximately 30 minutes to complete the form. The annual burden is 750 hours. 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.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning payments. A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 70 FR 28515 on May 18, 2005. No comments were received. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the FAR, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

This notice provides information about the continuing education requirement that non-attorney representatives must satisfy to participate in the 5-year demonstration project on direct payment of fees to non-attorneys under section 303 of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (SSPA). The notice also announces that we have lowered the liability insurance requirements for participants and determined that applicants will be given an opportunity to correct defects in their applications to participate in the demonstration project, in certain circumstances; to protest a denial of their applications for any reason; and, where warranted, to have their paid application fee refunded or applied to satisfy the fee requirement for a subsequent application. The notice also clarifies the requirement regarding experience in representing claimants before SSA.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning qualification requirements. This OMB clearance currently expires on September 30, 2005. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the FAR, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

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 the Treasury cancelled the following Standard Form:

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 (RRB) 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: Annual Earnings Questionnaire for Annuitants in Last Pre-Retirement Non-Railroad Employment; OMB 3220-0179. Under section 2(e)(3) of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA), an annuity is not payable for any month in which a beneficiary works for a railroad. In addition, an annuity is reduced for any month in which the beneficiary works for an employer other than a railroad employer and earns more than a prescribed amount. Under the 1988 amendments to the RRA, the Tier II portion of the regular annuity and any supplemental annuity must be reduced by one dollar for each two dollars of Last Pre- Retirement Non-Railroad Employment (LPE) earnings for each month of such service. However, the reduction cannot exceed fifty percent of the Tier II and supplemental annuity amount for the month to which such deductions apply. LPE generally refers to an annuitant's last employment with a non-railroad person, company, or institution prior to retirement which was performed whether at the same time of, or after an annuitant stopped railroad employment. The collection obtains earnings information needed by the RRB to determine if possible reductions in annuities because of Last Pre-Retirement Non-Railroad Employment Earnings (LPE) are in order. The RRB utilizes Form G-19L to obtain LPE earnings information from annuitants. Companion Form G-19L.1, which serves as an instruction sheet and contains the Paperwork Reduction/Privacy Act Notice for the collection accompanies each Form G-19L sent to an annuitant. One response is requested of each respondent. Completion is required to retain a benefit. The RRB proposes a minor non-burden impacting editorial change to Form G-19L for clarification purposes. The estimated annual respondent burden is as follows: Estimated number of responses: 300. Estimated completion time per response: 15 minutes. Estimated annual burden hours: 75. Additonal Information or Comments: To request more information or to obtain a copy of the information collection justification, forms, and/or supporting material, please call the RRB Clearance Officer at (312) 751-3363 or send an e-mail request to Charles.Mierzwa@RRB.GOV. Comments regarding the information collection should be addressed to Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092 or send an e-mail to Ronald.Hodapp@RRB.GOV. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Florida ( FEMA-1595-DR), dated 07/10/2005. Incident: Hurricane Dennis. Incident Period: 07/10/2005 and continuing.

This action adds to the Procurement List products and services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities, and deletes from the Procurement List products previously furnished by such agencies.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning U.S.-Flag Air Carriers Certification. A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 70 FR 24772, May 11, 2005. No comments were received. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the FAR, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

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 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing a proposed rule to revise the NUHOMS[reg] -24P, -52B, -61BT, -32PT, - 24PHB, and -24PTH cask system listing within the list of approved spent fuel storage casks to include Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) Number 1004. The NRC is taking this action because the NRC staff has become aware of changes in the Technical Specifications (TS) associated with this CoC. A notice withdrawing the direct final rule is published in the final rule section of this Federal Register.