Department of Defense October 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to assess the social, economic and environmental effects of the proposed widening of portions of the Freeport Harbor Entrance and Jetty Channels. The DEIS will assess potential impacts of a range of alternatives, including the No Action and preferred alternatives. The Federal action is consideration of a Department of Army Permit application for work under section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) and section 103 of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuary Act (33 U.S.C. 1413).

Pursuant to Executive Order 12114, Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions, and Section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy (Navy) has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a Draft Overseas Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Statement (Draft OEIS/EIS) to evaluate the construction and operation of a proposed Undersea Warfare Training Range. In accordance with NEPA and its implementing regulations, this notice announces the dates and locations of public hearings. Open information sessions will precede the scheduled public hearing at each of the locations listed below and will allow individuals to review the data presented in the Draft OEIS/EIS. Navy representatives will be available during the information sessions to clarify information related to the Draft OEIS/EIS. The open information sessions are scheduled from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and from 6:30 to 7 p.m., followed by the public hearings from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Notice is given of the names of members of a Performance Review Board for the Department of the Air Force.

The Department of the Army is proposing to exempt those records contained in A0600-20 DCS, G-1, entitled ``Sexual Assault Data Management System (SADMS) Files'' when an exemption has been previously claimed for the records in another Privacy Act system of records. The exemption is intended to preserve the exempt status of the record when the purposes underlying the exemption for the original records are still valid and necessary to protect the contents of the records.

This notice describes the changes made to the TRICARE DRG- based payment system in order to conform to changes made to the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS). It also provides the updated fixed loss cost outlier threshold, cost-to-charge ratios and the Internet address for accessing the updated adjusted standardized amount and DRG relative weights to be used for FY 2006 under the TRICARE DRG- based payment system.

The Corps is proposing to amend the regulations for lockage operations at Bonneville Lock and Dam and amend the regulations which establish the restricted areas at Little Goose Lock and Dam. The Corps is making corrections and adjustments to the lockage control, signals, and permissible dimensions of vessels for Bonneville Lock and Dam. These changes correct language for the new replacement lock. For the Little Goose Lock and Dam the Corps is making adjustments in the upstream channel restricted area boundary to provide a recreational craft corridor along the north shoreline. This will provide better boat ramp access in support of the small craft portage route and reduce interference between fisherman and the boat ramp.

The Department of Defense is publishing the unclassified text of a section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification. This is published to fulfill the requirements of section 155 of Public Law 104-164 dated 21 July 1996.

On Monday, August 22, 2005 (70 FR 48937) the Department of Defense announced open meetings of the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force on Manufacturing Technology. The November 2005 meeting dates have been revised from November 2-3, 2005 to November 2, 2005 only. The task force will meet in closed session. The meeting will be held at Strategic Analysis Inc., 3601 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600, Arlington, VA.

In accordance with 37 CFR 404.6 and 404.7, announcement is made of the availability for licensing of U.S. Patent No. 6,399,332 entitled ``Bacterial Superantigen Vaccines,'' issued June 4, 2002; U.S. Patent No. 6,713,284 entitled ``Bacterial Superantigen Vaccines,'' issued March 30, 2004; U.S. Patent Application No. 10/757,687 entitled ``Bacterial Superantigen Vaccines,'' filed January 29, 2004, which is a divisional of U.S. Patent No. 6,713,284; and U.S. Patent Application No. 10/002,784 entitled ``Bacterial Superantigen Vaccines,'' filed November 26, 2001, which is a continuation in part of U.S. Patent No. 6,713,284. Foreign rights are also available (PCT/US98/16766 and PCT/ US01/46540). The United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Army, has rights in this invention.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) published in the Federal Register dated November 4, 2004 (69 FR 64280) a Notice of Intent (NOI) to initiate preparation of a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIS/SEIR) for additional disposal capacity needed to complete the Port of Los Angeles Channel Deepening Project for Navigation Improvement (Channel Deepening Project), Los Angeles Harbor, Los Angeles, California. Subsequent to the publishing of the NOI, several changes and additional considerations led to the publication of this Supplemental Notice of Intent (SNOI). The major changes and considerations include the designation of beneficial reuse of dredged material within the Port of Los Angeles as a project purpose, and consideration of reasonably foreseeable uses to disposal sites. This public notice also serves as the NOI to issue any Regulatory and other permits as may be required to implement the proposed project. The SEIS/SEIR will consider the potential impacts of the reasonably foreseeable use of proposed disposal sites for future port development. The assessment will entail the use of generalized assumptions in lieu of project-specific conditions that are not available at this time or within the scope of the Channel Deepening Project. It is emphasized that a Record of Decision (ROD) approving this SEIS/SEIR or approval of any landfill disposal option will not authorize any future development at landfill disposal sites. Future State and Federal environmental documents and permits may be required prior to any development of land created as a result of this project. USACE began construction in October 2002 and is currently using disposal areas previously approved as part of the Channel Deepening Project. The Channel Deepening Project will improve the efficient use of Los Angeles Harbor by deepening the Inner Harbor Channels to accommodate the most modern vessels in the commercial container fleet. The current project also includes approved disposal areas that allow for the beneficial use of dredge material for environmental enhancement and potential port development. It has been determined that for reasons related to construction of the currently approved disposal facilities, project and contract modifications, and dredging and disposal operations, additional disposal capacity of approximately 4 million cubic yards (mcy) is needed to complete the Channel Deepening Project. Details regarding the genesis of the volume of material will be provided in the SEIS/SEIR. Disposal options identified to date that will be analyzed in the SEIS/SEIR include creation of new land that could be used for future port development, several environmental enhancement options, removal and capping of contaminated sediments at the Consolidated Slip, disposal at the existing Pier 400 Submerged Material Storage Site, and ocean disposal. Other options resulting from public and agency participation and resulting from further analyses will also be considered in the preparation and documentation of the SEIS/SEIR.

The Department of the Army is publishing a revision to our rule concerning obtaining information from financial institutions. The regulation prescribes policies for the Department of the Army to obtain information on a customer's financial records from financial institutions.

In accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District has prepared a Final General Reevaluation Report (GRR) and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Poplar Island Environmental Restoration Project (PIERP). The GRR/ SEIS evaluated the vertical and/or lateral expansion of the PIERP, design modifications to the existing project, the addition of recreational/educational opportunities to the existing project, and the potential to accept dredged material from additional channels not specified in the 1996 EIS for the existing project. A Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Draft GRR/SEIS was published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Federal Register on June 22, 2005 (70 FR 36129). The preferred alternative includes a northern lateral expansion consisting of approximately 575 acres, which would include wetland and upland habitat, and a protected open water embayment; construction of a 5-ft vertical raising of the existing upland Cells 2 and 6 at the PIERP; amending the existing project authorization and Project Cooperation Agreement to include the placement of dredged material from the southern approach channels to the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal; incorporation of design modifications required for the completion of the existing project, and development of recreational and educational enhancement for the PIERP.

The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), as the Department of Defense (DoD) Traffic Manager for the Personal Property Program published the Defense Personal Property System (DPS) Phase II Business Rules for Industry comment. These rules were posted to the Families First Web Site located at https:// www.sddc.army.mil under Families First. This announcement is being made to provide an overview of the comments received by SDDC from the Federal Register notice published on April 26, 2005 (70 FR 21401). All stakeholders were given 30 days to review these draft business rules and provide SDDC their comments. Responses were returned in several ways, including letters, spreadsheets and the Frequently Asked Question process. SDDC received approximately 1300 comments from the industry. Some of the comments were unique, but there were many duplicates. After the initial review of the comments and identification of duplicates, the comments were assigned to SDDC Subject Matter Experts (SME) in each of the associated Functional Areas related to the development of DPS. These SME's performed a detailed review of these comments to determine if revision to the business rules were appropriate. Our review indicated that there were approximately 800 duplicates and 500 unique comments. Some of industries major concerns were: the new best value traffic distribution methodology, establishment of minimum performance score, claims metrics, issues with CWA/invoicing, prompt payment, hard copy documentation, low response customer survey response rate, lack of statistically valid number of Transportation Service Providers (TSPs), non-availability of interface with TSP systems, 13% cost growth limitation on the new program, access to rate filing instructions, tools required to perform rate filing, inadequate time to test the new system, shipment management, TSP/agent relationship and access to multiple SCACs. Our review indicated that all the comments required clarification to the business rules. SDDC is currently in the process of providing these clarifications in the business rules and will publish the Final Business Rule when incorporation of these changes is completed. In the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section, SDDC has identified Industry's major concerns.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to include the process of validating a Central Contractor Registration (CCR) registrant's taxpayer identification number (TIN) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to improve data accuracy in the Federal procurement system. Additionally, the proposed amendment removes outdated language requiring modifications of contracts prior to December 31, 2003, regarding CCR.

This notice announces the appointment of members to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Performance Review Board. The Performance Review Board provides a fair and impartial review of Senior Executive Service (SES) performance appraisals and makes recommendations to the Director, Defense Information Systems Agency, regarding final performance ratings and performance awards for DISA SES members.

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 progress payments. This OMB clearance currently expires on December 31, 2005. 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.

In accordance with Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), announcement is made of the following committee meeting: Name of Committee: Board of Visitors, United States Military Academy. Date: Monday, November 14, 2005. Place of Meeting: Superintendent's Conference Room, Taylor Hall, 2nd floor, Bldg. 600, West Point, NY. Start Time of Meeting: Approximately 10 a.m.

This notice announces the appointment of members to the Defense Logistics Agency Senior Executive Service (SES) Performance Review Board (PRB). The publication of PRB composition is required by 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4). The PRB provides fair and impartial review of Senior Executive Service performance appraisals and makes recommendations to the Director, Defense Logistics Agency with respect to pay level adjustments and performance awards and other actions related to management of the SES cadre.

In accordance with Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c)), as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) and Department of Veterans Affairs intend to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) and conduct a public scoping meeting for the proposed development and operation of a national veteran's cemetery at MCAS Miramar in San Diego, California. The cemetery will be an annex to the Department of Veterans Affairs Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

On November 5, 2001, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a notice of a Nationwide TRICARE Demonstration Project (66 FR 55928- 55930). On October 1, 2004, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a notice (69 FR 58895) to extend the Demonstration through October 31, 2005. The Demonstration is also referred to as the Operation Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom Reservist and National Guard Benefits Demonstration. This notice is to advise interested parties of the continuation of the Demonstration in which the DoD Military Health System addresses unreasonable impediments to the continuity of healthcare encountered by certain family members of Reservists and National Guardsmen called to active duty in support of a Federal/ contingency operation. The Demonstration scheduled to end on October 31, 2005, is now extended through October 31, 2007.

DoD has issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to improve payment and billing instructions in DoD contracts. This final rule is a result of a transformation initiative undertaken by DoD to dramatically change the purpose and content of the DFARS.

The Ocean Research Advisory Panel (ORAP) will meet to discuss National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) activities. All sessions of the meetings will remain open to the public.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense proposes to add a system of records to its inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.