Department of Defense August 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Defense Information Systems Agency proposes to amend a system of records notice in its existing inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Department of the Army is amending a system of records notice in its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Department of the Army is proposing to alter a system of records in its existing inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Department of the Army is amending a system of records notice in its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Department of the Army is deleting a system of records in its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

DoD has issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to reflect the redesignation of the ``Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization'' to the ``Office of Small Business Programs'' within DoD. The redesignation resulted from Section 904 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006.

DoD has issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to update text addressing contractor standards of conduct and the handling of extraordinary contractual actions. The DFARS changes are consistent with changes made to the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

DoD has adopted as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate increased dollar thresholds for application of the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements, as determined by the United States Trade Representative.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix as amended), the Sunshine in the Government Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR 102-3.150, and in accordance with section 10(a)(2) of Public Law, the following meeting of the Defense Health Board (DHB) is announced:

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.

Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 1500-1508 the U.S. Department of the Navy (Navy) has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Developing Homeport Facilities for Three Nimitz-Class (CVN) Aircraft Carriers in Support of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on August 8, 2008. The Draft SEIS has been prepared to update the analyses contained in the 1999 Final Environmental Impact Statement (the 1999 FEIS) for Developing Homeport Facilities for Three Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carriers in Support of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The SEIS analyzes information that was not available at the time the 1999 FEIS was completed, and focuses on potentially significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental conditions that have emerged since the 2000 Record of Decision (2000 ROD) for the 1999 FEIS. Information or circumstances that have not changed significantly since the 2000 ROD are not re-examined in the SEIS. A public hearing will be held to provide information and receive oral and written comments on the Draft SEIS. Federal, state, and local agencies and interested individuals are invited to be present or represented at the hearing.

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended) and the Sunshine in the Government Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended) the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announce the following advisory board meeting of the Veterans' Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction (VBDR).

U.S. SteelMinnesota Ore Operations (U.S. Steel) has applied to the St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) for a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit to discharge fill material into jurisdictional wetlands to facilitate the expansion of an operating open pit taconite mine and expansion of an operating taconite ore processing facility near Keewatin in Itasca County and St. Louis County, MN. Tailings would be discharged into an existing, operating tailings basin. The proposed project is known as the Keetac Expansion Project. Iron ore mining and taconite pellet production have been on-going at the Keetac site since 1967, when the original Phase I taconite processing plant began operation. In 1977, the Phase II expansion added a second grate-kiln pellet line. The Phase I facility was idled in December 1980, leaving the Phase II facility as the only operating pellet production line. U.S. Steel now proposes to increase the capacity at the Keetac facility by restarting the Phase I line and upgrading the mining, concentrating, and agglomerating processes. The restart would involve the installation of energy-efficient technologies in addition to new emission controls. The expansion would increase the project impact area by approximately 1,272 acres to a total of approximately 12,864 acres. The project would continue to operate 24 hours per day; 365 days per year. Taconite pellet production output would increase by 3.6 million tons to a total output of 9.6 million tons per year. The mining process would require the construction of overburden, waste rock, and lean ore stockpiles adjacent to the open pit mine. There is currently adequate ore crushing capacity for the proposed expansion. The existing tailings basin would be expanded slightly in order to reinforce the dikes so that the height of the tailings can be increased. The currently permitted mine could also be used to provide ore for the proposed expanded operation, but this would reduce the life of the mine and therefore an expansion of the mine is proposed to maintain twenty-five years of permitted capacity. The project would require the discharge of fill material into approximately 620 acres of wetlands. While some of the wetlands may be isolated, the majority of the wetlands are abutting or adjacent to an unnamed tributary to Welcome Creek, which is a tributary to O'Brien Creek, which is a tributary to the Swan River, which is a tributary to the Mississippi River, which is a navigable water of the United States. U.S. Steel proposes to utilize approximately 395 acres of wetlands that have been restored and are being monitored adjacent to the existing tailings basin to compensate for the first five years of lost wetland functions and values that would be caused by the proposed project. Those restored wetlands have been identified as being suitable for wetland banking. In addition, U.S. Steel will submit a compensatory wetland mitigation plan to identify compensation for the remainder of the proposed wetland impacts. The discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States requires a permit issued by the Corps under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) will be used as a basis for the permit decision and to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The purpose of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is to address alternatives and environmental impacts associated with the conveyance of approximately 900 acres of Federal land at Lake Texoma, Oklahoma and Texas, to the city of Denison, TX.

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 past performance information. The clearance currently expires on November 30, 2008. 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.

The Department of the Army is amending a system of records notice in its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Defense Science Board Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Surety will meet in closed session.

The Department of the Army is deleting a system of records in its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.