Agencies and Commissions August 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

GSA reviewed its Privacy Act systems to ensure that they are relevant, necessary, accurate, up-to-date, and covered by the appropriate legal or regulatory authority. This notice is a compilation of the revised and cancelled notices. The notice includes thirteen revised GSA-wide system of records notices that update administrative changes, including system managers, office titles, addresses, or locations; and cancellation of eighteen obsolete systems of records.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is issuing interim regulations with a request for comments concerning the procedures used to collect debts that are owed to the NLRB. These interim regulations conform to the legislative changes enacted in the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA) and the amended procedures presented in the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) issued by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). These regulations are intended to improve the NLRB's collection of debts owed to the United States.

The Committee is proposing to add to the Procurement List a product and services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities, and to delete a product and a service previously furnished by such agencies. Comments Must Be Received on or Before: September 17, 2006.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Alaska (FEMA-1657- DR), dated 08/04/2006. Incident: Snow melt and ice jam flooding. Incident Period: 05/13/2006 through 05/30/2006. Effective Date: 08/04/2006. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 10/03/2006.

The Commission hereby gives notice that it will proceed with a full review pursuant to section 751(c)(5) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1675(c)(5)) to determine whether revocation of the antidumping duty order on canned pineapple fruit from Thailand would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time. A schedule for the review will be established and announced at a later date. For further information concerning the conduct of this review and rules of general application, consult the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 201, subparts A through E (19 CFR part 201), and part 207, subparts A, D, E, and F (19 CFR part 207).

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is considering adopting for itself and the distributors of TVA power certain metering and interconnection standards. The standards being considered are the Time- based Metering & Communications (hereinafter called ``Smart Metering''), Interconnection, and Net Metering standards listed in section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-617) as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58). The standards will be considered on the basis of their effect on conservation of energy, efficient use of facilities and resources, equity among electric consumers, and the objectives of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. In addition, the Smart Metering standard will be considered in light of whether the benefits to the electric utility and its consumers are likely to exceed the costs of new metering and communications. Comments are requested from the public on whether TVA should adopt these standards or any variations on them.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) publishes for public comment proposed policy guidance on Title VI's prohibition against national origin discrimination as it affects limited English proficient persons.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing interim regulations concerning pay actions for employees affected by a pandemic health crisis. The interim regulations clarify the rules for determining an employee's official worksite when he or she teleworks from an alternative worksite during an emergency situation, such as a pandemic health crisis. In addition, the interim regulations permit an agency to provide evacuation payments to an employee who is ordered to evacuate from his or her regular worksite and directed to work from home (or an alternative location mutually agreeable to the agency and the employee) during a pandemic health crisis. These regulations are issued as part of OPM's efforts to provide agencies with guidance to ensure they are able to fulfill their critical missions while at the same time protect their employees should a pandemic health crisis occur.

Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The Commission is mandated by Congress to investigate, assess, evaluate and report to Congress annually on the U.S.-China economic and security relationship. The mandate specifically charges the Commission to prepare an annual report to the Congress ``regarding the national security implications and impact of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People's Republic of China * * * [that] shall include a full analysis, along with conclusions and recommendations for legislative and administrative actions * * *'' Purpose of Meeting: Pursuant to this mandate, the Commission will meet in Washington, DC on August 23 and 24, 2006, to consider drafts of material for its 2006 Annual Report that have been prepared for its consideration by the Commission staff, and to make modifications to those drafts that Commission members believe are needed. Topics To Be Discussed: The Commissioners will be considering draft Report sections addressing the following topics: China's Internal Challenges and Their Impact on China's Actions Affecting Other Nations Including the United States. China's Military Modernization. The Effect of U.S. and Multilateral Export Controls on China's Military Modernization. The Impact of China's Industrial Expansion and Industrial Subsidies on U.S. and Other Markets. China's WTO Compliance. China's Impact on the U.S. Auto and Auto Parts Industries. Date and Time: Wednesday and Thursday, August 23-24, 2006, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Place of Meeting: The meetings will occur in Conference Room 381 of the Hall of The States, 444 North Capitol Street, NW., Washington, DC 20001. Public seating is limited, and will be available on a ``first- come, first-served'' basis. Advance reservations are not required. Required Accessibility Statement: The entirety of this Commission meeting will be open to the public. For Further Information About This Meeting Contact: Kathy Michels, Associate Director, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 444 North Capitol Street, NW., Suite 602, Washington, DC 20001; phone 202-624-1409; e-mail kmichels@uscc.gov.

This notice is issued in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2451 (314) (d). The 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge registration is open for teams that wish to compete. The NASA Centennial Challenges Program is a program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in space exploration and ongoing NASA mission areas. The 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge is a prize contest designed to promote the development of glove joint technology, resulting in a highly dexterous and flexible glove that can be used by astronauts over long periods of time for space or planetary surface excursions. The 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge is being administered for NASA by Volanz Aerospace/ Spaceflight America in a format that brings all competitors to a single location for a ``head to head'' competition. Each team will be required to perform a variety of tasks with their gloves and will be scored on the glove performance. The 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge Web site is https://www.astronaut-glove.us. The Centennial Challenges Web site is https://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov.

This notice is issued in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2451 (314)(d). The 2006 Tether Challenge is now scheduled and teams that wish to compete may now register. The NASA Centennial Challenges Program is a program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in space exploration and ongoing NASA mission areas. The 2006 Tether Challenge is a prize contest designed to develop very strong tether material for use in various structural applications. The 2006 Tether Challenge is being administered for NASA by the Spaceward Foundation. Their Web site is: https://www.spaceward.org. The Centennial Challenges Web site is centennialchallenges.nasa.gov.