Office of the Secretary March 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (hereafter referred to as the Board of Regents).

In preparation for a possible FY 2009 Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation(s) for Cooperative Agreement Applications (SGAs), the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) within the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), is requesting public comments on past SGAs published for projects to combat exploitive child labor internationally through education, as well as suggestions for improving such SGAs in the future.

Subsection (e)(12) of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, (5 U.S.C. 552a) requires agencies to publish advance notice of any proposed or revised computer matching program by the matching agency for public comment. The DoD, as the matching agency under the Privacy Act is hereby giving notice to the record subjects of a computer matching program between the Social Security Administration (SSA) and DoD that their records are being matched by computer. The purpose of this agreement is to verify applicants for, and recipients of Supplement Security Income (SSI) payments and Special Veterans Benefits (SVB) with respect of determination of eligibility and calculating payment amounts.

Section 703 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (NDAA-08) states with respect to any prescription filled on or after the date of enactment of the NDAA, the TRICARE Retail Pharmacy Program shall be treated as an element of the DoD for purposes of procurement of drugs by Federal agencies under section 8126 of title 38, United States Code (U.S.C.), to the extent necessary to ensure pharmaceuticals paid for by the DoD that are provided by network retail pharmacies under the program to eligible covered beneficiaries are subject to the pricing standards in such section 8126. NDAA-08 was enacted on January 28, 2008. The statute requires implementing regulations. This final rule is to implement section 703 of the NDAA- 08.

The Defense Science Board will meet in closed session on May 13-14, 2009; at the Pentagon, Arlington, VA. 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 this meeting, the Board will discuss interim finding and recommendations resulting from ongoing Task Force activities. The Board will also discuss plans for future consideration of scientific and technical aspects of specific strategies, tactics, and policies as they may affect the U. S. national defense posture and homeland security.

This notice is to advise interested parties of the continuation and expansion of a Military Health System (MHS) demonstration project entitled ``Disease Management Demonstration Project for TRICARE Standard Beneficiaries''. The original demonstration notice was published on June 13, 2007 (72 FR 32628-32629) and described a demonstration project to provide disease management (DM) services to TRICARE Standard beneficiaries in addition to the TRICARE Prime beneficiaries who were already entitled to such services. TRICARE began the demonstration project in March 2007 for Standard beneficiaries and this demonstration project has enabled the MHS to provide uniform policies and practices on disease and chronic care management throughout the TRICARE network. Additionally, the demonstration has helped determine the effectiveness of DM programs in improving the health status of beneficiaries with targeted chronic diseases or conditions, and any associated cost savings. The TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) chose a phased approach to determine the efficacy and cost effectiveness of its disease management demonstration, beginning with beneficiaries identified with the disease states of asthma, congestive heart failure, and diabetes. TMA now intends to expand the disease management services to TRICARE Standard beneficiaries with the additional disease states of cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and anxiety and depression disorders as well as continue the original disease states of asthma, congestive heart failure, and diabetes. This expansion and continuation of the DM demonstration project will be conducted under the authority provided in 10 U.S.C. 1092.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request, abstracted below, is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget for an extension without change of currently approved Advisory Committee Candidate Biographical Information Request Form. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on November 18, 2008 (FR Vol. 73, No. 223, page 68491-68491). The agency did not receive any comments to its previous notice.

Pursuant to Section 10(a), Public Law 92-463, as amended, notice is hereby given of a forthcoming meeting of the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS). The purpose of the Committee meeting is to receive briefings and hear panels on women's roles in deployment, review 2009 topics, and develop protocols. The meeting is open to the public, subject to the availability of space.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of Inspector General (OIG) is proposing a revision to its system of records, by creating the Office of Audit's Research Aggregated Data Analysis Repository (``RADAR''), USDA/OIG-8. RADAR will house USDA data collected by OIG in order to detect fraud, waste, and abuse by utilizing software to match, merge, and analyze the data. USDA invites public comment on this revision of its records system.

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 (U.S.C. 552b, as amended) the Department of Defense announces the following Federal Advisory Committee Meeting of the Uniform Formulary Beneficiary Advisory Panel (hereafter referred to as the Panel).