Agencies and Commissions March 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commission announces the next meeting date and agenda of its Consumer Advisory Committee (``Committee''). The purpose of the Committee is to make recommendations to the Commission regarding consumer issues within the jurisdiction of the Commission and to facilitate the participation of all consumers in proceedings before the Commission.

We propose to amend our rules to permit disability examiners in the State agencies to make fully favorable determinations in certain claims for disability benefits under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act) without the approval of a medical or psychological consultant. The proposed changes would apply on a temporary basis only to claims we consider under our rules for Quick Disability Determinations (QDD) or under our compassionate allowance initiative.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) proposes to amend its regulations governing small business contracting procedures. This Proposed Rule would amend part 127, that was promulgated in a Final Rule on October 1, 2008, and entitled ``The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures,'' RIN 3245-AF40. This Proposed Rule would implement procedures authorized by the Small Business Act (Act) (Pub. L. 85-536, as amended) to help ensure a level playing field on which Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) can compete for Federal contracting opportunities. SBA proposes changes to part 127 that include eliminating the requirement for an agency-by-agency determination of discrimination, adopting both ``numbers'' and ``dollars'' measures of underrepresentation, and using the Fiscal Year 2006 Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database as the data source for determining eligible industries under the WOSB Program. This Proposed Rule thus identifies the eligible industries under the Program as those industries in which WOSBs are underrepresented or substantially underrepresented using either the numbers or the dollars approach. This Proposed Rule seeks to retain, for the most part, parts 121 and 134 of the Final Rule published on October 1, 2008, titled ``The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures,'' RIN 3245-AF40; these portions of the rule govern various implementation procedures of the Program, as more fully discussed below.

In this document, the Commission adopted a number of procedures, procedural changes, and clarifications of existing rules and procedures, designed to promote ownership and programming diversity, especially by Native American tribes, and to streamline processing of AM and FM auction applications.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement concerning summary subcontract report. A request for public comments published in the Federal Register at 73 FR 21779, on April 22, 2008. No comments were received.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement concerning notification of ownership changes.

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, 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; (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 and (e) ways to further reduce the information burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.

The staff grants a rulemaking petition filed by L. Dean Spencer to allot FM Channel 261A at Irvington, Kentucky, as a first local service. To accommodate this new allotment, the staff modifies the license of Station WFLQ(FM), French Lick, Indiana, to specify operation on Channel 229A in lieu of Channel 261A.