Office of the Secretary 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule proposes to provide an additional method for documenting customer receipt of DLA supplies and services in support of the contract acceptance and payment process by allowing contractor input of receipt documentation into the Department of Defense Wide Area Workflow system.

The Department of Defense, Missile Defense Advisory Committee announced a closed meeting for May 13 and 14, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the Federal Register on March 24, 2008 (73 FR 15496). This notice is being published to announce a change in the meeting dates and agenda topics. There are no other changes to the original notice.

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, (5 U.S.C. Appendix, as amended), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR 102-3.65, the Department of Defense gives notice that it is renewing the charter for the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (hereafter referred to as the Committee). The Committee is a discretionary federal advisory committee established by the Secretary of Defense to provide the Department of Defense and the Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency independent advice and recommendations on reducing the threat to the United States, its military forces, and its allies and partners posed by nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional and special weapons. The Committee, in accomplishing its mission: (a) Maintains a focus on broad S&T issues affecting DTRA; (b) recommends DoD strategic posture, to include issues and considerations regarding possible resumption of nuclear testing; (c) evaluating DoD's responsive infrastructure for strategic strike and a thorough analysis of mainstreaming of new triad nuclear capabilities into the DoD acquisition process; and (d) made recommendation on the impact of nuclear weapons effects. The Committee shall be composed of not more than 25 members, who are distinguished authorities in the fields of national defense, geopolitical and national security affairs, or weapons of mass destruction. Committee members appointed by the Secretary of Defense, who are not federal officers or employees, shall be appointed as experts and consultants under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 3109 and with the exception of travel and per diem for official travel, shall serve without compensation, unless otherwise authorized by the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of Defense shall renew the appointments of these Special Government Employees on an annual basis. The Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology & Logistics) or designed representative shall select the Committee's Chairperson from the total Committee membership. The Committee shall be authorized to establish subcommittees, as necessary and consistent with its mission, and these subcommittees or working groups shall operate under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976, and other appropriate federal regulations. Such subcommittees or workgroups shall not work independently of the chartered Committee, and shall report all their recommendations and advice to the Committee for full deliberation and discussion. Subcommittees or workgroups have no authority to make decisions on behalf of the chartered Committee nor can they report directly to the Department of Defense or any federal officers or employees who are not Committee members.

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard is updating and re-issuing a legacy system of records, Department of Transportation DOT/CG 642 System of Records Notice known as Joint Maritime Information Element, JMIE, Support System, JSS. This system of records will be replaced by DHS/USCG-061 Maritime Awareness Global Network (MAGNET).

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard is publishing this notice of system of records entitled the Law Enforcement Information Data Base (LEIDB)/Pathfinder. A proposed rulemaking is also published in this issue of the Federal Register in which the Department proposes to exempt portions of this system of records from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements. Due to urgent homeland security and law enforcement mission needs, LEIDB is currently in limited operation. Recognizing that USCG is publishing a notice of system of records for an existing system, USCG will carefully consider public comments, apply appropriate revisions, and republish the LEIDB notice of system of records within 180 days of receipt of comments. Additionally, a Privacy Impact Assessment will be posted on the Department's privacy Web site. (See https://www.dhs.gov/privacy and follow the link to ``Privacy Impact Assessments'').

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 Defense published an announcement of a closed session of the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee on April 23, 2008 (73 FR 21920-21921). The meeting date was incorrect. This notice is being published to provide the correct meeting date of June 26, 2008. All other information in the previous notice remains the same.

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: Lois Bartsch, Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical Center: Based on the report of an investigation conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and additional analysis conducted by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) during its oversight review, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Lois Bartsch, Ph.D., former postdoctoral research trainee, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Anatomy, UNMC, engaged in scientific misconduct in research supported by National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants P30 CA36727 and R01 CA77876 and National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), NIH, grant P20 RR016469. Specifically, PHS found that Dr. Bartsch: Falsified DNA sequence files by deleting a nucleotide and changing nucleotide designations and reported the altered file as the ACI rat p16Cdkn2a sequence with a CpG dinucleotide polymorphism in the upstream region to GenBank, in grant application CA118151, and in the poster presented to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL); Fabricated the claim in grant application CA118151 that GenBank entries for the human p16Cdkn2a gene had a CpG polymorphism near the transcription start site; Falsified the differential methylation of CpG dinucleotides near the transcription start site of p16Cdkn2a DNA and reported that tumor tissue was more methylated than normal tissue in ACI rats treated with estrogen and that the ACI allele was more methylated than the BN allele in tumor tissue from (BN x ACI)F1 animals treated with estrogen in grant application CA118151. Dr. Bartsch has entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement (Agreement) in which she neither admits nor denies ORI's finding of scientific misconduct; the settlement is not an admission of liability on the part of the respondent. In accordance with the terms of the Agreement, she has voluntarily agreed, beginning on April 15, 2008: (1) To exclude herself from 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'' pursuant to HHS' Implementation (2 CFR Part 376 et seq.) of OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Government- wide Debarment and Suspension (2 CFR Part 180) for a period of two (2) years; and (2) To exclude herself permanently 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 or contractor to PHS for a period of three (3) years.

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. paragraph 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR paragraph 102-3.150, the Department of Defense announces a Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the U.S. Nuclear Command and Control System Comprehensive Review Advisory Committee will take place.

Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given of a forthcoming meeting of the National Security Education Board. The purpose of the meeting is to review and make recommendations to the Secretary of Defense concerning requirements established by the David L. Boren National Security Education Act, Title VII of Public Law 102- 183, as amended.

This rule is being published to implement the statutory provision in 10 United States Code (U.S.C.) 1079(j)(2) that TRICARE payment methods for institutional care be determined to the extent practicable in accordance with the same reimbursement rules as those that apply to payments to providers of services of the same type under Medicare. This proposed rule implements a reimbursement methodology similar to that furnished to Medicare beneficiaries for services provided by critical access hospitals (CAHs).

This proposal would amend Department of Transportation regulations on uniform administrative requirements for grants and agreements with institutions of higher education, hospitals and other non-profit organizations. Specifically, the DOT proposes to make requirements for these grants and agreements consistent with the uniform administrative requirements for grants and cooperative agreements to state and local governments. In addition, this proposal would update references to applicable cost principles for grants and cooperative agreements with state and local governments and for grants and other agreements with institutions of higher education, hospitals and other non-profit organizations that appear in current Department of Transportation regulations.

The Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office will host a public workshop, ``Privacy Compliance FundamentalsPTAs, PIAs, and SORNs.''

The Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee is publishing Civilian Personnel Per Diem Bulletin Number 258. This bulletin lists revisions in the per diem rates prescribed for U.S. Government employees for official travel in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and Possessions of the United States. AEA changes announced in Bulletin Number 194 remain in effect. Bulletin Number 258 is being published in the Federal Register to assure that travelers are paid per diem at the most current rates.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), will award up to USD 20.5 million through 5 or more cooperative agreements to one or more qualifying organizations and/or Associations to combat exploitive child labor in the following 5 countries: Guinea (up to USD 3.5 million), Jordan (up to USD 4 million), Madagascar (up to USD 4.5 million), Nicaragua (up to USD 5 million), and Yemen (up to USD 3.5 million). Projects funded under SGA 08-01 will seek to ensure children's long-term withdrawal and prevention from engaging in exploitive child labor through the provision of direct educational services. Projects will also seek to build capacity in target countries to eliminate exploitive child labor and promote educational alternatives for children. Projects will aim to complement and expand upon existing projects and programs aimed at eliminating exploitive child labor, particularly the worst forms of child labor, and improving basic education in the target countries. Application and Submission Information: The full-text version of SGA 08-01 is available on https://www.grants.gov and USDOL/ILAB's Web site at https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/grants/main.htm. All applications for funding under SGA 08-01 must be submitted electronically to USDOL via https://www.grants.gov. Any application sent by mail or other delivery services, e-mail, telegram, or facsimile (FAX) will not be accepted. Key Dates: The deadline for submission of applications is June 24, 2008. All technical questions regarding SGA 08-01 must be sent by May 15, 2008 in order to receive a response. USDOL will publish its responses to these technical questions on SGA 08-01 by May 23, 2008. Any questions regarding the electronic assembly of application packages must be sent by June 17, 2008. USDOL will make all cooperative agreement awards on or before September 30, 2008. Agency Contacts: All technical questions regarding SGA 08-01 should be sent to Ms. Lisa Harvey, Grant Officer, U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Procurement Services, via e-mail (e-mail address: harvey.lisa@dol.gov; telephone: (202) 693-4592please note that this is not a toll-free-number). Background Information: Since 1995, USDOL has supported technical cooperation programming to combat exploitive child labor internationally through the promotion of educational opportunities for children in need. In total, the U.S. Congress has appropriated to USDOL over USD 660 million to support activities to combat exploitive child labor internationally. In turn, ILAB has signed cooperative agreements with various organizations to support international technical assistance projects to combat exploitive child labor in over 75 countries around the world. USDOL international programming to combat exploitive child labor through education seeks to nurture the development, health, safety, and enhanced future employability of children around the world by withdrawing or preventing children from involvement in exploitive labor and providing them with access to basic education, vocational training and other services. Since 2001, USDOL-funded projects have withdrawn or prevented over 1 million children from exploitive labor.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposes to add a system of records to its inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. The system of records being proposed is the APHIS Automated Trust Funds (ATF) database. This notice is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act to publish in the Federal Register notice of the existence and character of record systems maintained by the agency. Although the Privacy Act requires only that the portion of the system that describes the ``routine uses'' of the system be published for comment, we invite comment on all portions of this notice.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposes to add a system of records to its inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. The system of records being proposed is the APHIS Emergency Management Response System. This notice is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act to publish in the Federal Register notice of the existence and character of record systems maintained by the agency. Although the Privacy Act requires only that the portion of the system which describes the ``routine uses'' of the system be published for comment, we invite comment on all portions of this notice.

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

The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposes to add a system of records to its inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. The system of records being proposed is the Wildlife Services Management Information System, USDA-APHIS-9. This notice is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act to publish in the Federal Register notice of the existence and character of record systems maintained by the agency. Although the Privacy Act requires only that the portion of the system that describes the ``routine uses'' of the system be published for comment, we invite comment on all portions of this notice.