Agencies and Commissions April 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) declines, for now, to establish a schedule for Private Land Mobile Radio (PLMR) systems in the 150-174 MHz and 421-512 MHz bands to transition to 6.25 kHz technology; and revises the implementation date of the 6.25 kHz requirement for equipment certification from January 1, 2005 to January 1, 2011.

Under current Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program regulations, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may waive the eligibility requirements for health benefits coverage as an annuitant for an individual when, in its sole discretion, it determines that it would be against equity and good conscience not to allow a person to be enrolled in the FEHB Program as an annuitant. The regulations state that an individual's failure to satisfy eligibility requirements must be due to exceptional circumstances. They also list specific situations where a waiver will not be granted by OPM such as when an individual's retirement is based on a disability or an involuntary separation, or when an individual was misadvised by his/her employing office. This final regulation eliminates these specific situations from the regulation. This final regulation provides OPM with more flexibility when granting waivers.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of April 17, 2007, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on February 1, 2007 (72 FR 4615). This direct final rule amended the NRC's regulations to revise the Transnuclear, Inc., Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] System listing to include Amendment No. 9 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1004.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing proposed regulations to revise the criteria for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) broadbanding systems. The proposed regulations would provide the Department of the Treasury with the flexibility, in coordination with OPM, to establish broader bands for covered IRS employees. The proposed regulations also would establish a more direct relationship between pay and performance. Finally, the proposed regulations would revise the criteria consistent with the changes in the General Schedule pay administration rules made by the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 and OPM implementing regulations.

This notice is issued in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2451 (314) (d). The Lunar Lander 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 Lunar Lander Challenge is a prize contest designed to accelerate technology developments supporting the commercial creation of a vehicle capable of ferrying cargo or humans back and forth between lunar orbit and the lunar surface. The Lunar Lander Challenge is being administered for NASA by the X PRIZE Foundation. Their Web site is: https://www.xprize.org. The Centennial Challenges Web site is https:// www.centennialchallenges.nasa.gov.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are publishing for comment certain royalty rates, proposed by the parties in the proceeding to determine the rates and terms for the noncommercial educational broadcasting statutory license contained in the Copyright Act.

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 termination settlement proposal forms (Standard Forms 1435 through 1440). A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 69 FR 9813 on March 2, 2004. No comments were received. The clearance currently expires on August 31, 2007. 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.

Pursuant to statute, the Copyright Office is seeking comment on issues related to the operation of, and continued necessity for, the cable and satellite statutory licenses under the Copyright Act.

Background. Notice is hereby given of the final approval of proposed information collections by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public). Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

This document establishes a formal docket to consider extending the provisional Repositionable Notes (RPN) service by one year. Shortly before the expiration date, the Postal Service filed a request seeking to maintain the status quo to allow time to determine how RPNs may be affected by the recent implementation of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA). This document describes the requested change and identifies several initial procedural steps, including authorization of settlement negotiations.

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 subcontracting plans/subcontracting report for individual contracts (Standard Form 294). The clearance currently expires on August 31, 2007. 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 informs the public of the interest rates and assumptions to be used under certain Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation regulations. These rates and assumptions are published elsewhere (or can be derived from rates published elsewhere), but are collected and published in this notice for the convenience of the public. Interest rates are also published on the PBGC's Web site (https://www.pbgc.gov).

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulations on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans and Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans prescribe interest assumptions for valuing and paying benefits under terminating single-employer plans. This final rule amends the regulations to adopt interest assumptions for plans with valuation dates in May 2007. Interest assumptions are also published on the PBGC's Web site (https://www.pbgc.gov).