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

This action adds to the Procurement List products and a service to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities, and deletes from the Procurement List a product previously furnished by such agencies.

In accordance with the requirement of Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which provides opportunity for public comment on new or revised data collections, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will publish periodic summaries of proposed data collections. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the RRB's estimate of the burden of the collection of the information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden related to the collection of information on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Title and purpose of information collection: Report of Medicaid State Office on Beneficiary's Buy-In Status; OMB 3220-0185. Under Section 7(d) of the Railroad Retirement Act, the RRB administers the Medicare program for persons covered by the railroad retirement system. Under Section 1843 of the Social Security Act, states may enter into ``buy-in agreements'' with the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the purpose of enrolling certain groups of low-income individuals under the Medicare medical insurance (Part B) program and paying the premiums for their insurance coverage. Generally, these individuals are categorically needy under Medicaid and meet the eligibility requirements for Medicare Part B. States can also include in their buy-in agreements, individuals who are eligible for medical assistance only. The RRB uses Form RL-380-F, Report to State Medicaid Office, to obtain information needed to determine if certain railroad beneficiaries are entitled to receive Supplementary Medical Insurance program coverage under a state buy-in agreement in states in which they reside. Completion of Form RL-380-F is voluntary. One response is received from each respondent. At the request of various state Medicaid offices, the RRB proposes revisions to Form RL-380-F to add items requesting a beneficiary's Part A and Part B effective date. The new information will assist them in locating pertinent records of the subject beneficiary. Other minor non- burden impacting editorial changes are proposed. The estimated completion time for Form RL-380-F remains unchanged at 10 minutes per response. The RRB estimates that approximately 600 responses are received annually. Additional Information or Comments: To request more information or to obtain a copy of the information collection justification, forms, and/or supporting material, please call the RRB Clearance Officer at (312) 751-3363 or send an e-mail request to 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 send an e-mail to Ronald.Hodapp@RRB.GOV. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is correcting a document published in the Federal Register of September 27, 2007, that amended Regulation A to reflect a decrease in the primary and secondary credit rates at each Federal Reserve Bank.

The Commission hereby gives notice of the institution of investigations and commencement of preliminary phase antidumping duty investigations Nos. 731-TA-1131-1134 (Preliminary) under section 733(a) (19 U.S.C. 1673b(a)) to determine whether there is a reasonable indication that 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 imports from Brazil, China, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates of polyethylene terephthalate film, sheet, and strip provided for in subheading 3920.62.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, that are alleged to be sold in the United States at less than fair value. Unless the Department of Commerce extends the time for initiation pursuant to section 732(c)(1)(B) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1673a(c)(1)(B)), the Commission must reach preliminary determinations in antidumping duty investigations in 45 days, or in this case by November 13, 2007. The Commission's views are due at Commerce within five business days thereafter, or by November 20, 2007. For further information concerning the conduct of these investigations 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 and B (19 CFR part 207).

In the Third Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Federal Communications Commission finds that Sprint Corporation (Sprint) has not met the December 26, 2006, eighteen-month benchmark for clearing Channel 1-120 incumbents as required by the 800 MHz rebanding process. In that connection, the Commission denies the portion of Sprint's Petition for Reconsideration that sought ``clarification'' of the eighteen-month benchmark. The Commission also establishes additional benchmarks to ensure timely clearing of the Channel 1-120 band by all incumbent licensees, including Sprint itself. The Commission also requires Sprint to provide monthly reports on its channel-clearing efforts. In addition, the Commission clarifies the 30-month rebanding benchmark, which requires all 800 MHz licensees that must reband to have ``commenced'' reconfiguration of their systems by December 26, 2007. Finally, the Commission grants several petitions by NPSPAC licensees to extend their rebanding deadline until after incumbent analog broadcasters operating in their area on TV Channel 69 have vacated the spectrum as part of the DTV transition.

The Postal ServiceTM is revising the standards for mailing lithium and lithium-ion batteries. The new standards identify all small consumer-type lithium batteries as mailable when properly packaged and labeled.

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 environmentally sound products. The clearance curently expires on January 31, 2008.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish notice of permits issued under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. This is the required notice.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is publishing notice of the final rule revising its regulations dealing with the agency's implementation of the Privacy Act, at 5 U.S.C. 552a. The regulation, as revised, provides additional information about access to OSC records under the Privacy Act.

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 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.