Agencies and Commissions March 13, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We propose to modify our regulations dealing with the recovery of benefit overpayments under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act), as well as recovery of administrative debts owed to us. Specifically, we propose to modify our regulations to implement statutory authority for the use of Federal Salary Offset (FSO). FSO is a process whereby the salary-paying agency withholds and pays to us up to 15 percent of the debtor's disposable pay until the debt has been repaid. In the case of title II program overpayment debts, we would apply FSO to collect only overpayments made to a person after he or she attained age 18, and we would pursue FSO after that person ceases to be a beneficiary and we determine that the overpayment is otherwise unrecoverable under section 204 of the Act. In the case of title XVI program overpayment debts, these same restrictions apply, but we must determine the overpayment to be otherwise unrecoverable under section 1631(b) of the Act, rather than section 204 of the Act. FSO is only applicable if the debtor is a Federal employee.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has submitted the following proposal(s) for the collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget for review and approval. Summary of Proposal(s): (1) Collection title: Pension Plan Reports. (2) Form(s) submitted: G-88p, G-88r and G-88r.1. (3) OMB Number: 3220-0089. (4) Expiration date of current OMB clearance: 05/31/2006. (5) Type of request: Revision of a currently approved collection. (6) Respondents: Business or other for-profit. (7) Estimated annual number of respondents: 500. (8) Total annual responses: 765. (9) Total annual reporting hours: 103. (10) Collection description: The Railroad Retirement Act provides for payment of a supplemental annuity to a qualified railroad retirement annuitant. The collection obtains information from the annuitant's employer to determine (a) the existence of a railroad employer pension plans and whether such plans, if they exist, require a reduction to supplemental annuities paid to the employer's former employees and the (b) the amount of supplemental annuities due railroad employees. Additional Information or Comments: Copies of the forms and supporting documents can be obtained from Charles Mierzwa, the agency clearance officer at (312-751-3363) or 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 Ronald.Hodapp@rrb.gov and to the OMB Desk Officer for the RRB, at the Office of Management and Budget, Room 10230, New Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20503.

The NRC is proposing to issue a regulatory issue summary (RIS) to endorse the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) guidance entitled ``Enhancements to Emergency Preparedness Programs for Hostile Action'' (revised in November 2005) as an acceptable implementation methodology that licensees may use when adopting the program enhancements discussed in NRC Bulletin 2005-02, ``Emergency Preparedness and Response Actions for Security-Based Events.'' The NEI document attached to this RIS may be found in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML053290326. This document may also be found on the NRC's generic communications Web page at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc- collections/gen-comm/docs4comment.html. This Federal Register notice (FRN) is available through the NRC's ADAMS Accession No. ML060610032.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to establish clearance of this collection. In accordance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paper Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing opportunity for public comment on this action. After obtaining and considering public comment, NSF will prepare the submission requesting OMB clearance of this collection for no longer than 3 years. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

In accordance with Section 610(b)(2) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (Pub. L. 108-199, Division D), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is publishing a summary and the complete text of the Millennium Challenge Compact between the United States of America, acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Government of the Republic of Benin. Representatives of the United States Government and the Government of the Republic of Benin executed the Compact documents on February 22, 2006.