Office of the Secretary December 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document confirms the effective date of the direct final rule amending the time period for compliance with the full fare and other advertising requirements in 14 CFR 399.84 from January 24, 2012, to January 26, 2012.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Mass Layoff Statistics Program,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Existing Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations specify the conditions that may make a producer ineligible for certain USDA benefits, such as disaster assistance payments from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), in certain cases in which agricultural commodities are planted on highly erodible land or a converted wetland, or the production of agricultural commodities on acreage is made possible by the conversion of a wetland. Those regulations also specify the authorized exemptions, which include an exemption based on a ``good faith'' determination. The ``good faith'' provisions in the USDA regulations allow violators of highly erodible land conservation (HELC) or wetland conservation (WC) provisions to retain eligibility for USDA program benefits if certain conditions are met. This rule revises the ``good faith'' provisions in two ways, first, by requiring higher level concurrence within USDA with the good faith determination and second, by reducing the amount of the benefit to be received in an amount commensurate with the seriousness of a HELC violation. These changes to the regulations are made to implement provisions specified in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill).

The Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA) in the Bureau of International Labor Affairs of the U.S. Department of Labor has determined that an extension of time is required for its review of a public submission concerning Bahrain filed under Chapter Fifteen (the Labor Chapter) of the BahrainUnited States Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The submission was received on April 21, 2011 from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and alleges actions by the Government of Bahrain that, if substantiated, would be inconsistent with Bahrain's commitments under the FTA Labor Chapter. OTLA accepted the submission for review on June 10, 2011, in accordance with its published procedures and standards for acceptance. Acceptance of the submission for review does not imply a finding that the allegations are true. Rather, it triggers a 180-day fact-finding and review period (unless circumstances as determined by OTLA require an extension of time) that results in the issuance of a public report of any findings and recommendations. As part of its ongoing review, OTLA sent a delegation to Bahrain from October 22-26, 2011 to gather information on issues raised by the public submission. The Department of Labor delegation met with representatives from the Government of Bahrain, Bahraini trade unions, employers' organizations, employers, workers, and other groups with information relevant to the submission. Due to the receipt of recent information relevant to the submission and the thorough on-going review process, OTLA has determined that the circumstances require an extension of time. The extension of time is necessary to permit adequate consideration of several recent developments: The Government of Bahrain has recently made commitments to the U.S. government and to the Bahraini public to promptly and favorably resolve the matters at issue in the AFL-CIO submission. It is important for OTLA to assess the progress made in coming weeks towards prompt and favorable resolution; OTLA has recently received a substantial amount of information and a large volume of documents, requiring careful study and analysis. Several hundred pages of documents in Arabic require translation; OTLA's visit to Bahrain for first hand collection of documentary and interview information, the source of much of the most substantive and relevant information, was twice delayed, to accommodate the schedule of elections in Bahrain and at the request of the Government of Bahrain; and There have been other recent developments in response to the issues raised by the AFL-CIO submission, and on matters closely related to them. It is important that there be sufficient opportunity to assess the Government of Bahrain's response to them. These include the issuance of the Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the proposal of the Government of Bahrain to the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to constitute a tripartite committee to address the issue of workplace dismissals and reinstatements, to avail itself of the independent legal advice of the ILO, and to report to the ILO Director General and to the ILO Governing Body. OTLA will continue to give this matter the highest priority and to devote the resources necessary to completing the review as expeditiously as possible.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is abolishing an existing Forest Service Privacy Act system of records. A review of USDA/FS-9 Employee Assistance Program CONCERN has concluded that the system is no longer in effect and is therefore being abolished.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this proposed rule to establish TRICARE coverage under the Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Contribution Operations,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Wage Hour Division (WHD) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``29 CFR Part 825, The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

This Notice is published in accordance with Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463). The topic of the meeting on March 13-14, 2012 is to review new start research and development projects requesting Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) funds in excess of $1M. This meeting is open to the public. Any interested person may attend, appear before, or file statements with the Scientific Advisory Board at the time and in the manner permitted by the Board.

This rule proposes revisions to remove the exclusion of drug abuse maintenance programs and allow as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for an individual with substance dependence, the substitution of a therapeutic drug with addictive potential for a drug of addiction (e.g. the substitution of methadone for heroin). The current regulation prohibits drug maintenance programs where one addictive substance is substituted for another. However, this prohibition of maintenance treatment of substance dependence utilizing a specific category of psychoactive agent is outdated and fails to recognize the accumulated medical evidence supporting certain maintenance programs as one component of the continuum of care necessary for the effective treatment of substance dependence. Current medical evidence shows that this is medically or psychologically necessary and integral to the safe and effective treatment of drug abuse as is generally required for all treatment benefits for inclusion in the TRICARE benefit.

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 102-3.150, the Department of Defense announces the following Federal advisory committee meeting of the Defense Business Board (DBB).

The Department is publishing this final rule to implement section 703 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (NDAA for FY10). Specifically, that legislation amends the transitional health care dental benefits for Reserve Component members on active duty for more than 30 days in support of a contingency operation. The legislation entitles these Reserve Component members to dental care in the same manner as a member of the uniformed services on active duty for more than 30 days, thus providing care to the Reserve member in both military dental treatment facilities and authorized private sector dental care. This final rule does not eliminate any medical or dental care that is currently covered as transitional health care for the member.

This Notice applies to investors interested in investment opportunities in rural infrastructure; these potential investors are encouraged to contact the Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Rural Development Act of 1972 established USDA's authority to make loans and grants to rural communities. Currently, USDA manages a loan portfolio of approximately $150 billion, of which $5.3 billion is for community facilities. USDA seeks to partner with investors willing to create and implement investment structures that would improve rural communities' access to capital by expanding the leveraging of USDA's community facilities loan funds. Given current turbulent market conditions, these investments may be particularly attractive to the private sector as they have historically provided low-risk, steady cash flows. USDA is open to considering a variety of different investment structures.

This part implements policy established in DoD Instruction 5200.01. It assigns responsibilities and provides procedures for members of the public to request a declassification review of information classified under the provisions of Executive Order 13526, or predecessor orders.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs announces the intent to expand implementation of the TRICARE Program in Alaska. The expansion will require the Managed Care Support Contractor to develop and operate a TRICARE civilian preferred provider network under 32 CFR 199.17(p) within the Anchorage Prime Service Area of Alaska. Eligible TRICARE beneficiaries will be permitted to enroll in Prime with assignment to Military Treatment Facility (MTF) Primary Care Managers (PCMs) consistent with established priorities provided in 32 CFR 199.17(c) or assignment to a PCM within the TRICARE civilian preferred provider network. The initial expansion included the Prime Service Areas around Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base. Under 32 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 199.1(b), the Director had previously limited the program in Alaska. Subsequently through the notice of November 3, 2010, https://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/ a101103c.html, the limitation was partially revoked, and now the Director is revoking another part of the prior limitation in Alaska and intends to provide the benefit under 32 CFR 199.17 (p).

This notice is to advise interested parties of a Military Health System (MHS) Demonstration project under the authority of title 10, U.S. Code, section 1092, entitled Department Of Defense TRICARE Prime Urgent Care Demonstration Project. The demonstration project is intended to test whether allowing four visits to an urgent care center without requiring a referral from the Primary Care Manager (PCM) will improve access to urgent care including minor illness or injury for Active Duty Family Members enrolled in TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Prime Remote while reducing the overall costs of such care to the DoD. The Department currently has a demonstration to test this same provision for U.S. Coast Guard personnel. However, this demonstration is being conducted outside of the Coast Guard population in order to be able to evaluate the impact on ADFMs who tend to be a more mobile population than the Coast Guard members and their families. Current data indicates that the ADFMs frequently need urgent care while traveling to new duty stations for permanent orders or training and when traveling to temporary locations while a member is deployed. Under the demonstration, ADFMs who are enrolled in TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Prime Remote would be allowed to self-refer, without an authorization, to a TRICARE network provider such as an Urgent Care Clinic (UCC) or Convenience Center for up to four urgent care visits per year. No referral from their PCM or authorization by a Health Care Finder will be required and no Point of Service (POS) deductibles and cost shares shall apply to these four unmanaged visits. The ADFMs will be required to notify their PCM of any urgent/acute care visits to other than their PCM within 24 hours of the visit and schedule any follow-up treatment that might be indicated with their PCM. If more than the four (4) authorized urgent care visits are used, or if the beneficiary seeks care from a non TRICARE network or non TRICARE authorized provider, POS deductibles and cost shares as required by Title 32, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 199.17 (n)(3) may apply. Referral requirements for specialty care and inpatient authorizations will remain as currently required by MHS policy. At the conclusion of the demonstration, data will be analyzed to determine if use of this ability to seek urgent care without a referral is used more or less frequently by a more mobile population than a stable population in order to determine whether the overall costs to the government have decreased due to a reduced usage of emergency care facilities by this same population.

Pursuant to the Information Security Oversight Office's Classified National Security Information Directive No. 1, this notice provides Department of Defense addresses to which Mandatory Declassification Review requests may be sent. This notice benefits the public in advising them where to send such requests for declassification review.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, HHS/OS/ONC is establishing a new system of records, ``ONC Health IT Dashboard,'' to create datasets that will be used by ONC and its partners (including grantees in the Health IT Extension Center program and ONC program evaluation contractors) to assess, improve, and publicize the effectiveness of ONC health IT grants to States and State-designated entities. The datasets will enable ONC to (1) Evaluate the state of health IT implementation by parties registered to receive (i.e., who have received or could receive) electronic health record implementation assistance from ONC grantees, (2) compare the evaluations to grantees' progress reports in order to validate claims submitted for grant payments, (3) share the evaluations with the grantees to help improve grant performance, and (4) make aggregate data (e.g., national and State-level implementation estimates) publicly available on ONC's Web site at https://www.healthit.hhs.gov. The parties receiving grants and health IT implementation assistance from ONC grantees include health care providers (not only provider-entities such as hospitals, but individual providers such as individual physicians), community colleges, State-designated entities, and other entities. Information about an individual provider (e.g., an individual physician as opposed to a hospital, corporation or other organization) is protected by the Privacy Act. Privacy Act-protected information about each individual provider will consist of the provider's health IT implementation information, demographic information, and contact information, retrieved by his or her National Provider Identifier (NPI). The system will not contain information about patients. The system of records is more thoroughly described in the Supplementary Information section and System of Records Notice (SORN), below.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense is proposing 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 Defense Information Systems Agency is deleting one system of records notices in its existing inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Privacy Office of DHS is making available seven PIAs on various programs and systems in DHS. These assessments were approved and published on the Privacy Office's web site between September 1, 2011 and November 30, 2011.

On November 10, 2011 (76 FR 70117-70118), DoD published a notice titled Notice of Intent to Grant an Exclusive License; Voltage Networking, LLC. In the SUMMARY section, in the fourth line, the word ``non-assignable'' was incorrectly published. This notice corrects that error.

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (Title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.), Appendix, as amended) and the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (Title 5, U.S.C., Section (Sec.) 552b, as amended) the Department of Defense (DoD) announces the following Federal Advisory Committee Meeting: Name of Committee: Uniform Formulary Beneficiary Advisory Panel (hereafter referred to as the Panel).

This direct final rule delays the effective date regarding the time period for compliance with a portion of the full fare and other advertising requirements from January 24, 2012, to January 26, 2012. The intended effect of this delay is to provide regulatory relief to petitioner American Airlines by allowing the carrier and any other similarly situated carriers or ticket agents to avoid having to update full fare information in on-line reservations systems on a day of the week that is the petitioner's, and may be other carriers' and ticket agents', heaviest on-line traffic and revenue day. This action is necessary to minimize the detrimental effects of any difficulties that may arise in the immediate aftermath of on-line implementation of programming necessary to comply with the new requirement that sellers of air transportation advertise the full fare, including all government-imposed taxes and fees. This delay is a minor substantive change, in the public interest, and unlikely to result in adverse comment.