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

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (collectively, the ``agencies'') may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. On July 14, 2006, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), published a notice in the Federal Register (71 FR 40119) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the Foreign Branch Report of Condition (FFIEC 030), which is a currently approved information collection for each agency. The comment period for this notice expired on September 12, 2006. No comments were received. The agencies are now submitting requests to OMB for approval of the extension, with revision, of the FFIEC 030.

The Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) is amending its Affordable Housing Program regulation to remove prescriptive requirements, clarify certain operational requirements, provide additional discretionary authority in certain areas, remove certain authorities, and otherwise streamline and reorganize the regulation.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined to review in part the final initial determination (``ID'') issued by the presiding administrative law judge (``ALJ'') on June 30, 2006, in the above-captioned investigation. The Commission has also determined to extend the target date for completion of the investigation until December 5, 2006.

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) submitted a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency clearance and review for a reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved collection for the OPM Form 1300, Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program Online Application and Resume Builder. Approval of this request is necessary to facilitate the timely nomination of PMF applicants to the PMF Program. This also serves as the 60 Day Notice for review for full clearance. As a result of Executive Order 13318 and OPM regulations on the PMF Program issued on May 19, 2005 (70 FR 28775), effective June 20, 2005, eligible graduate students interested in applying to the PMF Program must be nominated by their accredited graduate school's Dean, Chairperson, or Academic Program Director (otherwise referred to as the Nomination Official). In addition, per OMB's approval of the OPM Form 1300 for the PMF Class of 2006 on September 31, 2005, several contingencies were requested. One of those contingencies was for OPM to commit to developing future systems/system changes that would streamline the application process for those seeking Federal jobs. The following significant changes have been made to the application and nomination process: (1) The PMF Program has recently migrated from an in-house online application and resume builder system to a vacancy announcement approach via USAJOBS; and (2) the nomination process was modified to create a PMF Nomination Form (which OPM proposes to become the new OPM Form 1300), which will serve as a fax-back form for the Nomination Official to fill-out and fax to OPM. Applicants will be directed to a vacancy announcement on USAJOBS and asked to upload their resume. Upon submission of their application, a Nomination Form will generate for the applicant to hand-carry to their school's Nomination Official for possible nomination to the PMF Program. If at any stage the applicant is found ineligible or ultimately not selected as a Finalist, he/she would still have the flexibility to apply to other Federal opportunities on USAJOBS. We estimate 2,500 to 3,000 applications will be received and processed in the 2006/2007 open season for PMF applications. During the 2005/2006 open season OPM received approximately 2,982 applications, leading to 2,755 nominations by colleges and universities. Using the new OPM Form 1300 (PMF Nomination Form) we estimate Nomination Officials will need one-half hour to receive, review, and render a decision for nomination. The annual estimated burden for Nomination Officials to select nominees is 1,500 hours. Comments are particularly invited on: Whether this information is necessary for the proper performance of functions on 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 use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey at (202) 606-2150 fax (202) 418-3251, or e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include your complete mailing address with your request.

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Public Law 104-13. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

In this document, the Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') announces decisions on four issues involving the Telemarketing Sales Rule (``TSR''): the denial of a petition submitted by Voice Mail Broadcasting Corporation (``VMBC'') requesting creation of a new safe harbor for the TSR that would permit the use of prerecorded messages in calls to established customers; a new proposal to amend the TSR by expressly prohibiting unsolicited prerecorded telemarketing calls without the consumer's prior written agreement; revocation of the Commission's previously announced policy of forbearance from bringing enforcement actions against sellers and telemarketers who make prerecorded telemarketing calls to established customers effective January 2, 2007; and a new proposal to amend the prescribed method for measuring the maximum allowable call abandonment rate in the TSR's existing safe harbor provision, in response to a petition from the Direct Marketing Association, Inc. (``DMA''). The Commission is requesting public comment on the proposed amendments during a comment period ending November 6, 2006.