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

The Commission hereby gives notice of the scheduling of the final phase of antidumping investigation No. 731-TA-1091 (Final) under section 735(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1673d(b)) (the Act) to determine whether an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an industry in the United States is materially retarded, by reason of less-than-fair-value imports from China of artists' canvas, provided for in subheadings 5901.90.20.00 and 5901.90.40.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.\1\

The Federal Election Commission is eliminating from its regulations an exemption allowing State, district, and local committees and organizations of a political party to use only Levin funds to pay for certain types of Federal election activity aggregating $5,000 or less in a calendar year. In Shays v. FEC, the District Court invalidated the exemption and remanded the regulation to the Commission for further action consistent with the court's opinion. The Commission appealed this ruling, and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed the District Court's decision. The repeal of this rule means that State, district, and local political party committees and organizations must pay for these specific types of Federal election activity either entirely with Federal funds, or with a mix of Federal funds and Levin funds. Further information is provided in the supplementary information that follows.

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA, Agency, us, or we) is proposing to amend regulations governing the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac or the Corporation). Analysis of the Farmer Mac risk-based capital stress test (RBCST or the model) in the 3 years since its first official submission as of June 30, 2002, has identified several opportunities to update the model in response to changing financial markets, new business practices and the evolution of the loan portfolio at Farmer Mac, as well as continued development of best-industry practices among leading financial institutions. The proposed rule focuses on improvements to the RBSCT by modifying regulations found at 12 CFR part 652, subpart B. The effect of the proposed rule is intended to be a more accurate reflection of risk in the model in order to improve the model's outputFarmer Mac's regulatory minimum capital level. The proposed rule also makes one clarification relating to Farmer Mac's reporting requirements at 12 CFR 655.50(c).

On November 9, 2005 the Chairman of CITA received a petition from Shibani Inwear alleging that certain 100 percent nylon flat filament yarn, classified in subheading 5402.41.9040 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner. The petition requests that certain knit apparel articles made of such yarn be eligible for preferential treatment under the AGOA. CITA hereby solicits public comments on this request, in particular with regard to whether such fabrics can be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner. Comments must be submitted by December 1, 2005 to the Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, Room 3001, United States Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20230.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for review of an expiring information collection form. OPM-1386B, Applicant Race and National Origin Questionnaire, is used to gather information concerning the race and national origin of applicants for employment under the Outstanding Scholar provision of the Luevano Consent Decree, 93 F.R.D. 68 (1981). New standards for collecting race and ethnicity are defined in the Federal Register notice, ``Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity,'' 62 FR 58782 (1997). The standards change the classification of Federal data on race and ethnicity contained in OMB Directive 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting. This classification provides a minimum standard for maintaining, collecting, and presenting data on race and ethnicity. The standards have five categories for race and two categories for ethnicity. They also allow individuals to select more than one race, based on self-identification. Approximately 100,000 OPM-1386B forms are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 8,333 hours. 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 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 respondents, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey by telephone (202) 606-8358, or by e-mail MaryBeth.Smith-Toomey@opm.gov.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Indiana (FEMA-1612-DR ), dated 11/8/2005. Incident: Tornado and Severe Storms. Incident Period: 11/6/2005. Effective Date: 11/8/2005. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 1/9/2006. EIDL Loan Application Deadline Date: 8/8/2006.

The following persons are members of the 2005 Senior Executive Service Performance Review Board:

The Antitrust Modernization Commission will hold public hearings on December 1 and 5, 2005. The topics of the hearings are Government Civil Remedies, Statutory Immunities and Exemptions, and Antitrust in Regulated Industries.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

Pursuant to sections 254(a)(11)(A) and 255(b) of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), Public Law 107-252, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) hereby causes to be published in the Federal Register material changes to the HAVA State plan previously submitted by Michigan.

By letter dated July 6, 2004, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) enter into an Agreement with the State as authorized by section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (Act). Under the proposed Agreement, the Commission would discontinue, and Minnesota would assume, portions of the Commission's regulatory authority exercised within the State. As required by the Act, NRC is publishing the proposed Agreement for public comment. NRC is also publishing the summary of a Draft Staff Assessment of the Minnesota Program. Comments are requested on the proposed Agreement and the NRC Draft Staff Assessment which finds the Program adequate to protect public health and safety and compatible with NRC's program for regulation of agreement material. The proposed Agreement would release (exempt) persons who possess or use certain radioactive materials in Minnesota from portions of the Commission's regulatory authority. The Act requires that NRC publish those exemptions. Notice is hereby given that the pertinent exemptions have been previously published in the Federal Register and are codified in the Commission's regulations as 10 CFR part 150.

This document corrects a notice appearing in the Federal Register on October 25, 2005 (70 FR 61667), that incorrectly issued Amendment No. 120 for Units 1 and 2. The correct amendment No. is 122. This action is necessary to correct the incorrect amendment numbers.