Office of the Secretary July 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice is to advise interested parties of an expansion of a Military Health System (MHS) demonstration project entitled TRICARE Provider Reimbursement Demonstration Project for the State of Alaska. The original demonstration notice was published on November 20, 2006 (71 FR 67112-67113) and described a demonstration project to increase reimbursement for individual providers in the State of Alaska. The demonstration project will now also include increased reimbursement for health care services by hospitals that have been designated as Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) in the State of Alaska. TRICARE, under the demonstration project, will reimburse CAHs in a similar manner as they are reimbursed under Medicare. The expansion of the demonstration project will test the effect of this change on CAH provider participation in TRICARE, beneficiary access to care, cost of health care services, military medical readiness, morale and welfare. In particular, the demonstration will test whether the increased costs of provider payments are offset in whole or part by savings in travel costs, lost duty time, and other factors. This demonstration will be conducted under statutory authority provided in 10 U.S.C. 1092.

The Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Industrial Structure for Transformation will meet in closed session on August 14, 2007, at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), 4001 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA. This meeting will characterize the degree of changed needed in industry due to the changing nature of DoD and the industrial Base. It will also examine the effectiveness of existing mitigation measures and make recommendations to ensure future competition and innovation throughout all tiers of the defense industrial base. The briefing will contain proprietary material and ensuing discussions will be at the collateral secret level. The mission of the Defense Science Board is to advise the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics on scientific and technical matters as they affect the perceived needs of the Department of Defense. At the meeting, the Defense Science Board Task Force will: describe the defense industry required to cope with the international security environment in the 21st century. Additionally, the task force will address the implications for the industrial base of increased DoD acquisition of services, as well as the implications for the financial viability of the defense industrial base as the sector adapts to changing DoD needs for defense-related products and services. The task force's findings and recommendations, pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.140 through 102-3.165, will be presented and discussed by the membership of the Defense Science Board prior to being present to the Government's decisionmaker. Pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.120 and 102-3.150, the Designated Federal Officer for the Defense Science Board will determine and announce in the Federal Register when the findings and recommendations of the May 31, 2007 meeting are deliberated by the Defense Science Board. Interested persons may submit a written statement for consideration by the Defense Science Board. Individuals submitting a written statement must submit their statement to the Designated Federal Official at the address detailed below, at any point, however, if a written statement is not received at least 10 calendar days prior to the meeting, which is the subject of this notice, then it may not be provided to or considered by the Defense Science Board. The Designated Federal Official will review all timely submissions with the Defense Science Board Chairperson, and ensure they are provided to members of the Defense Science Board before the meeting that is the subject of this notice.

This notice announces the availability of $5 million in assistance of Local Educational Agencies (LEAs). The Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) is authorized by section 3310 of Pub. L. 110-28, to provide up to $5 million in assistance to LEAs. Awards of up to $1.5 million per Applicant may be provided under this Notice to assist LEAs in the vicinity of a United States Service Academy (Service Academy), primarily where the loss of local revenue base, due to Federal property not being taxable, constrains an applicant's operating expenses and the ability to maintain educational programs. Assistance may be provided to a LEA, or a State or local government on behalf of one or more LEAs, depending on the scope of the proposal. Funds provided under this Notice may not be used to replace or supplant Impact Aid assistance available from the Department of Defense (DoD) or the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

On June 14, 2007, the Department of Labor published a Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Cooperative Agreement Applications. That document, appearing in the Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 114, on pages 32869 to 32914, is hereby amended.

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

The current terms of the members of the Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee (RACNAC) will expire in September 2007. The Secretary invites nominations of persons to serve on this committee for a two year period, to run from September 2007 to September 2009. Nominations should describe and document the proposed member's qualifications for membership.

DOT proposes to relocate the time zone boundary in Indiana to move Knox, Daviess, Martin, Pike, and Dubois Counties from the Central Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone. This action is taken at the request of the Boards of Commissioners of each of the counties. DOT requests comment on whether this change would serve the convenience of commerce, the statutory standard for a time zone change and whether the time zone boundary should be changed for other contiguous counties in southwestern Indiana. Persons supporting or opposing the change should not assume that the change will be made merely because DOT is making the proposal. The final rule will be based on all of the information received during the entire rulemaking proceeding and whether the statutory standard has been met.

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and the Assistant Secretary for Health have taken final action in the following case: Kristin Roovers, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania: Based on an investigation conducted by the University of Pennsylvania (UP) and additional analysis and information obtained by the Office of Research Integrity during its oversight review, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Kristin Roovers, Ph.D., former postdoctoral fellow, Departments of Medicine, Cell and Developmental Biology, and Pharmacology, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and former graduate student, Department of Pharmacology, UP, engaged in misconduct in science in research funded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants R01 HL061567, P50 HL057278, and T32 HL07873, National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), NIH, grants P30 DK52574 and R01 DK066886, National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH, grant R01 CA72639, and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), NIH, grants R01 GM48224, R01 GM58224, R01 GM51878, and R01 GM69064. Dr. Roovers' manipulations and falsification of data were extensive, encompassing 19 panels of Western blot data, appearing in 11 figures in 3 publications from her research as a graduate student and her first postdoctoral position and in 9 panels of immunoblot data in 8 figures of an unpublished manuscript. Specifically, the findings involved falsification by duplication and reuse of immunoblot data to misrepresent the results as data from different experiments that had been reported in the following manuscript and three publications: Figures 2C, 3C, 4D, 4E, 6C, 7B, and supplement Figures 1, 2B, and 3B in a manuscript submitted to the Journal of Clinical Investigation entitled: ``Akt1 promotes physiologic, but antagonizes pathologic, cardiac growth.'' Figures 3A, 3C, and 4A in: Welsh, C.F., Roovers, K., Villanueva, J., Liu, Y., Schwartz, M.A., & Assoian, R.K. ``Timing of cyclin D1 expression within G1 phase is controlled by Rho.'' Nature Cell Biology 3(11):950-957, 2001. Figures 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3C, 4A, 4B, 6C, 6D, and 6E in: Roovers, K., & Assoian, R.K. ``Effects of rho kinase and actin stress fibers on sustained extracellular signal-regulated kinase activity and activation of G(1) phase cyclin-dependent kinases.'' Mol. Cell Biol. 23(12):4283-4294, 2003. Retracted in Mol. Cell Biol. 26(13):5203, July 2006. Figures 1C, 2C, 5B, 5D, 6B and 6D in: Roovers, K., Klein, E.A., Castagnino, P., & Assoian, R.K. ``Nuclear translocation of LIM kinase mediates Rho-Rho kinase regulation of cyclin D1 expression.'' Developmental Cell 5 (2):273-284, 2003. Retracted in Developmental Cell 10(5):681, May 2006. Corrections were recommended by UP for the Nature Cell Biology paper. Dr. Roovers' falsified Western blot data from the publications in Nature Cell Biology and from Developmental Cell were included in NIH grant applications CA 72639-07 and GM 69064-01. ORI has implemented the following administrative actions for a period of five (5) years, beginning on June 7, 2007: (1) Dr. Roovers is debarred from eligibility for any contracting or subcontracting with any agency of the United States Government and from eligibility or involvement in nonprocurement programs of the United States Government referred to as ``covered transactions'' as defined in HHS' implementation of OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension at 2 CFR part 376, et seq.; and (2) Dr. Roovers is prohibited from serving in any advisory capacity to PHS, including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant.

The Department of Homeland Security is issuing a final rule to amend its regulations to exempt portions of a new system of records entitled the Redress and Response Records System from certain provisions of the Privacy Act. Specifically, the Department proposes to exempt portions of the Redress and Response Records System from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements.

As of July 13, 2007, the Secretary of the Treasury gives public notice that all outstanding 10-\3/8\ percent Treasury Bonds of 2007-12 (CUSIP No. 912810 DB 1) dated November 15, 1982, due November 15, 2012, are called for redemption at par on November 15, 2007, on which date interest on such bonds will cease.

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 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 102-3.140 through 160, the Department of Defense announces the cancellation of the public meeting referenced below: Name of Commission: President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors (hereafter referred to as the Commission). Date of Meeting: July 16, 2007. Time of Meeting: 10 a.m. to (To Be Determined). Place of Meeting: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004.

This notice announces an upcoming meeting of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Commission. Notice of this meeting is required under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463).

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.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is amending existing regulations to update obsolete non-substantive or nomenclature references in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This action is intended to improve the accuracy of the agency's regulations and does not impose any new regulatory or technical requirements.

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) announcement of the following meeting: Name of Committee: Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Date of Meeting: August 7, 2007. Location: Board of Regents Conference Room (D3001), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. Times:

This final rule identifies and updates the policies and procedures for the programs that permit U.S. citizens to perform historical research in records created by or in the custody of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Historical Research in the Files of OSD updates the policies and procedures for the programs that permit U.S. citizens to perform historical research in records created by or in the custody of the OSD.

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.