Office of the Secretary August 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Defense has submitted to OMB for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

This final rule removes the Department of Defense (DoD) regulation that relates to the collecting and reporting of foreign indebtedness because it contains DoD's internal guidelines on identifying, billing, collecting, and managing foreign arrearages and indebtedness. These guidelines are internal and provide performance and reporting requirements to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and the DoD Components. Therefore, this CFR part can be removed.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service announces a proposed public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Defense Healthy Agency announces a proposed public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Defense Manpower Data Center announces a proposed public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Section 705(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA for FY17) requires the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement value-based incentive programs for the TRICARE Program. It also outlines recommendations for adapting existing value- based models, to include value-based incentive programs. The Defense Health Agency (DHA) intends to conduct and evaluate value-driven initiatives to move from volume-based reimbursement to value-based reimbursement for health care services. The proposed Accountable Care Organization (ACO) demonstration will help DHA assess whether value- driven incentives can reduce health care spending and improve health care quality for TRICARE beneficiaries.

This final rule removes DoD's regulation concerning the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) Privacy Program. On April 11, 2019, the Department of Defense published a revised DoD-level Privacy Program rule, which contains the necessary information for an agency- wide privacy program regulation under the Privacy Act and now serves as the single Privacy Program rule for the Department. That revised Privacy Program rule also includes all DoD component exemption rules. Therefore, this part is now unnecessary and may be removed from the CFR.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) are proposing to renew an information collection.

This proposed rule proposes revisions to the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and the Medicare ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment system for CY 2020 based on our continuing experience with these systems. In this proposed rule, we describe the proposed changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the payment rates for Medicare services paid under the OPPS and those paid under the ASC payment system. In addition, this proposed rule would update and refine the requirements for the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program and the ASC Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program. In addition, in this proposed rule, we are proposing to establish requirements for all hospitals in the United States for making hospital standard charges available to the public; establish a process and requirements for prior authorization for certain covered outpatient department services; revise the conditions for coverage of organ procurement organizations; and revise the regulations to allow grandfathered children's hospitals-within- hospitals to increase the number of beds without resulting in the loss of grandfathered status. We also solicit comments on potential revisions to the laboratory date of service policy under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule. Finally, we solicit comments on an appropriate remedy in litigation involving our OPPS payment policy for 340B- acquired drugs, which would inform future rulemaking in the event of an adverse decision on appeal in that litigation.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Multiple Worksite Report and the Report of Federal Employment and Wages,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use, without change, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

This final rule removes DoD's regulation addressing the acquisition and use of criminal history record information on potential applicants and recruits for the United States Armed Forces. That regulation articulated the Department's statutory authority to collect criminal background information from other government agencies including state and local governments, and it set forth internal standards for the use and protection of that information. Because that authority and those standards are set forth in current statute and internal policies, this part is not needed. Further, DoD utilizes a standardized form to request this criminal information, and any burden on the public attributable to the information collection is accounted for through the Paperwork Reduction Act process. Therefore, the regulation is unnecessary and can be removed from the CFR.

As the Department of Defense (DoD) seeks to implement the National Defense Strategy by increasing our military capabilities and enhancing the lethality and readiness of our forces, it is in our Nation's best interests for states and communities around the nation to collaborate with our local installation's leadership to: Address instances where civilian activities may impair the utility of local installations; and ensure local civilian development does not negatively impact our missions, test facilities, and training ranges. In addition, local communities have the opportunity through development initiatives to enhance the military value and security of our bases and provide for the quality of life for our troops and their families. The purpose of the program is to enhance the operational utility of installations through a series of installation-community engagements that will identify and carry out civilian actions to improve the readiness and lethality of the force. These engagements allow the Department to utilize the particular civilian expertise that can be found across states and communities to augment our local missions' efforts to improve the combat capability of our forces while leveraging the comparative advantages these civilian partners can provide to support the Department's efforts. This notice announces an opportunity to request funding from the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), a DoD Field Activity, for community planning assistance to assist states and communities to work with their local military installations to promote and guide civilian development and activities which are compatible and support the long- term readiness and operability of military installations, ranges, special use air space, military operation areas, and military training routes. Many installations have recently updated their installation master plans and encroachment management plans. If a community has not completed a Compatible Use Plan or Joint Land Use Study in the last five years, they should consider the benefits of conducting one.