Agencies and Commissions 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Patent applications on the inventions listed below assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, have been filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and are available for licensing.

Patent applications on the inventions listed below assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, have been filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and are available for licensing.

Following receipt of a request on October 6, 2009, from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) under section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1332(g)), the Commission instituted investigation No. 332-510, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Characteristics and Performance, to prepare the third in a series of three reports requested by the USTR relating to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The inventions listed below assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, have been filed in the United States Patent and Trademark office, and are available for licensing.

The Committee is proposing to add to the Procurement List products and services to be provided by the nonprofit agency employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities.

On November 12, 2009 (74 FR 58241) the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced a business meeting to be held on Friday, November 20, 2009 at the Commission's headquarters. On Friday, November 20, 2009 the Commission's General Counsel, David Blackwood, certified that portions of the meeting were appropriate to be closed pursuant to exemptions 2, 6, 9, and 10 of 45 CFR 702.53. A majority of the Commissioners present voted to close portions of the meeting pursuant to this certification. The Presiding Officer, Chairman Gerald Reynolds, issued a statement setting forth the time and location of the closed meeting and the persons present in closed session. A complete verbatim transcript and/or electronic recording of the closed proceedings will be maintained by the Commission.

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.

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, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. 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.

The Commission is adding Priority Mail Contract 22 to the Competitive Product List. This action is consistent with changes in a recent law governing postal operations. Republication of the lists of market dominant and competitive products is also consistent with new requirements in the law.

This document makes amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation in order to make editorial changes.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to permit the contractor to measure accrued PRB costs using either the criteria in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 419 or the criteria in Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) 106.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) compliant products be included in all new information technology (IT) acquisitions using Internet Protocol (IP). IP is one of the primary mechanisms that define how and where information moves across networks. The widely-used IP industry standard is IP Version 4 (IPv4). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-05-22, dated August 2, 2005, requires all new IT procurements, to the maximum extent practicable, to include IPv6 capable products and standards.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to delete FAR Subpart 22.16 and the corresponding clause at FAR 52.222-39, Notification of Employee Rights Concerning Payment of Union Dues or Fees, which implemented Executive Order (E.O.) 13201 of February 17, 2001, of the same title. E.O. 13201 required contractors to post a notice informing employees of their rights concerning payment of union dues or fees and detailed that employees could not be required to join unions or maintain membership in unions to retain their jobs. E.O. 13201 was revoked by E.O. 13496 of January 30, 2009, Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) publishes notice at least once monthly of certain Federal agency requests for records disposition authority (records schedules). Once approved by NARA, records schedules provide mandatory instructions on what happens to records when no longer needed for current Government business. They authorize the preservation of records of continuing value in the National Archives of the United States and the destruction, after a specified period, of records lacking administrative, legal, research, or other value. Notice is published for records schedules in which agencies propose to destroy records not previously authorized for disposal or reduce the retention period of records already authorized for disposal. NARA invites public comments on such records schedules, as required by 44 U.S.C. 3303a(a).

This notice announces the opening of additional Nixon Presidential Historical Materials by the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, a division of the National Archives and Records Administration. Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with section 104 of Title I of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act (PRMPA, 44 U.S.C. 2111 note) and 1275.42(b) of the PRMPA Regulations implementing the Act (36 CFR Part 1275), the Agency has identified, inventoried, and prepared for public access additional textual materials and sound recordings from among the Nixon Presidential Historical Materials.

The United States Postal Service[supreg] (Postal Service) plans to conduct an ongoing data comparison program to identify any current Postal Service employees who are required by law to register on a public registry of sex offenders. These registries contain information about individuals who are statutorily required to register, having committed offenses of sexual violence against adults or children, certain other crimes against victims who are minors, or other comparable offenses. Under the guidelines created by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Walsh Act), the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Web site (NSOPW) was created and coordinated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as a cooperative effort between the agencies hosting public sexual offender registries and the Federal government. The NSOPW is a search tool allowing a user to submit a single national query to obtain information about sex offenders through a number of search options. The Postal Service has procured software that enables it to conduct multiple simultaneous queries of the NSOPW via a secure line to the DOJ NSOPW. The software queries the public registries for each employee and returns a match, if found, to a secured database. No Postal Service employee information is ever shared with the DOJ or stored outside of the Postal Service's control. The Postal Service will compare its payroll database of current employees against public records using the NSOPW search tool. The Postal Service is undertaking this initiative to ascertain the suitability of individuals for certain positions or employment and to protect the integrity of its brand.

The Federal Maritime Commission repeals the marine terminal agreements exemption, which exempted such agreements from the Shipping Act's 45-day statutory waiting period, and amends the Commission's regulations to transfer an existing definition of the marine terminal conference agreement to another section. This rule also corrects a typographical error.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is announcing an extension of the limited Special Decision Period for current enrollees in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) who have the automatic compound inflation option. The initial deadline for changes under the Special Decision Period was December 14, 2009. It has been extended through February 15, 2010 for some enrollees with automatic compound inflation and through March 15, 2010 for other enrollees who are being individually notified by mail of the extension of their Special Decision Period. Both sets of enrollees are subject to premium increases if they retain their current coverage. Abbreviated underwriting requirements have also been extended. The effective date of premium increases for automatic compound inflation option enrollees has been extended from January 1, 2010 to March 1, 2010.