Notices. Notice of open meeting
13,822 words·~63 min read·
/register/2006/10/24/06-8831A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Savannah River Site AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Savannah River Site. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the **Federal Register** . DATES: Monday, November 13, 2006, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 14, 2006, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Augusta Towers Hotel, 2651 Perimeter Parkway, Augusta, GA 30909. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerri Flemming, Closure Project Office, Department of Energy Savannah River Operations Office, P.O. Box A, Aiken, SC 29802; Phone:
(803)952-7886. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: *Purpose of the Board:* The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management, and related activities. Tentative Agenda Monday, November 13, 2006 1 p.m.—Combined Committee Session 5:15 p.m.—Adjourn 5:30 p.m.—Executive Committee Meeting 6:30 p.m.—Adjourn Tuesday, November 14, 2006 8:30 a.m.—Approval of Minutes, Agency Updates 9:15 a.m.—Public Comment Session 9:30 a.m.—Chair and Facilitator Update 10 a.m.—Strategic Legacy Management Committee Report 11 a.m.—Waste Management Committee Report 11:45 p.m.—Public Comment Session 12 p.m.—Lunch Break 1 p.m.—Administrative Committee Report 1:30 p.m.—Facility Disposition and Site Remediation Committee Report 2:30 p.m.—Nuclear Materials Committee Report 3:30 p.m.—Public Comment Session 4 p.m.—Adjourn If needed, time will be allotted after public comments for items added to the agenda and administrative details. A final agenda will be available at the meeting Monday, November 13, 2006. *Public Participation:* The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements pertaining to agenda items should contact Gerri Flemming's office at the address or telephone listed above. Requests must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments. *Minutes:* The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying at the U.S. Department of Energy's Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available by writing to Gerri Flemming, Department of Energy Savannah River Operations Office, P.O. Box A, Aiken, SC 29802, or by calling her at
(803)952-7886. Issued at Washington, DC on October 18, 2006. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E6-17760 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Science DOE/Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC). Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the **Federal Register** . DATES: Wednesday, November 8, 2006, 9:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. ADDRESSES: Marriott Washingtonian Center, 751 Washingtonian Blvd., Gaithersburg, MD 20878. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melea Baker, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research; SC-21/Germantown Building; U. S. Department of Energy; 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290; Telephone (301)-903-7486, (E-mail: *Melea.Baker@science.doe.gov* ). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: *Purpose of the Meeting:* The purpose of this meeting is to provide advice and guidance with respect to the advanced scientific computing research program. *Tentative Agenda:* Agenda will include discussions of the following: Wednesday, November 8, 2006 Subpart of Charge 1—PART Rating for Genomes to Life Project Subpart of Charge 1—PART Rating for Multiscale Math Public Comment *Public Participation:* The meeting is open to the public. If you would like to file a written statement with the Committee, you may do so either before or after the meeting. If you would like to make oral statements regarding any of the items on the agenda, you should contact Melea Baker via FAX at 301-903-4846 or via e-mail ( *Melea.Baker@science.doe.gov* ). You must make your request for an oral statement at least 5 business days prior to the meeting. Reasonable provision will be made to include the scheduled oral statements on the agenda. The Chairperson of the Committee will conduct the meeting to facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Public comment will follow the 10-minute rule. *Minutes:* The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying within 30 days at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room; 1E-190, Forrestal Building; 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585; between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Issued in Washington, DC, on October 19, 2006. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee, Management Officer. [FR Doc. E6-17761 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. QF06-121-000; QF06-121-001] Affinity Skilled Living and Rehabilitation Center; Notice of Filing of Notice of Self-Certification of Qualifying Status of a Cogeneration Facility October 17, 2006. Take notice that on March 28, 2006, and supplemented on August 16, 2006, Affinity Skilled Living and Rehabilitation Center (Affinity), located at 306 Locust Avenue, Oakdale, New York, filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a notice of self-certification of a facility as a qualifying cogeneration facility pursuant to 18 CFR 292.207(a) of the Commission's regulations. Affinity will be a topping-cycle cogeneration plant located in Oakdale, New York. The cogeneration system will utilize a 110 kW natural gas fired internal combustion system to produce electricity and hot water for this facility. Affinity is interconnected with Long Island Power Authority which will provide backup power to Affinity. No utility will purchase the useful electric power output. A notice of self-certification does not institute a proceeding regarding qualifying facility status; a notice of self-certification provides notice that the entity making filing has determined Affinity meets the applicable criteria to be a qualifying facility. Any person seeking to challenge such qualifying facility status may do so by filing a motion pursuant to 18 CFR 292.207(d)(iii). This filing is accessible on-line at *http://www.ferc.gov* , using the “eLibrary” link and is available for review in the Commission's Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. There is an “eSubscription” link on the Web site that enables subscribers to receive e-mail notification when a document is added to a subscribed docket(s). For assistance with any FERC Online service, please e-mail *FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov* , or call
(866)208-3676 (toll free). For TTY, call
(202)502-8659. Magalie R. Salas, Secretary. [FR Doc. E6-17785 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket Nos. ER06-1375-000; ER06-1376-000] Lumberton Power, Inc.; Elizabethtown Power, LLC; Notice of Issuance of Order October 17, 2006. Lumberton Power, LLC (Lumberton) and Elizabethtown Power, LLC (Elizabethtown) filed applications for market-based rate authority, with accompanying tariffs. The proposed rate tariffs provide for the sale of energy, capacity and ancillary services at market-based rates. Lumberton and Elizabethtown also requested waivers of various Commission regulations. In particular, Lumberton and Elizabethtown requested that the Commission grant blanket approval under 18 CFR part 34 of all future issuances of securities and assumptions of liability by Lumberton and Elizabethtown. On October 16, 2006, the Commission granted the request for blanket approval under part 34, subject to the following: Any person desiring to be heard or to protest the blanket approval of issuances of securities or assumptions of liability by Lumberton and Elizabethtown should file a motion to intervene or protest with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, in accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure. 18 CFR 385.211, 385.214 (2004). Notice is hereby given that the deadline for filing motions to intervene or protests is November 15, 2006 Absent a request to be heard in opposition by the deadline above, Lumberton and Elizabethtown are authorized to issue securities and assume obligations or liabilities as a guarantor, indorser, surety, or otherwise in respect of any security of another person; provided that such issuance or assumption is for some lawful object within the corporate purposes of Lumberton and Elizabethtown, compatible with the public interest, and is reasonably necessary or appropriate for such purposes. The Commission reserves the right to require a further showing that neither public nor private interests will be adversely affected by continued approval of Lumberton's and Elizabethtown's issuances of securities or assumptions of liability. Copies of the full text of the Commission's Order are available from the Commission's Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. The Order may also be viewed on the Commission's Web site at *http://www.ferc.gov* , using the eLibrary link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number filed to access the document. Comments, protests, and interventions may be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of paper. See, 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web site under the “e-Filing” link. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings. Magalie R. Salas, Secretary. [FR Doc. E6-17786 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. EL06-105-000] NorthWestern Corporation; Notice of Extension of Time October 17, 2006. On October 10, 2006, PPL EnergyPlus, LLC and PPL Montana, LLC (collectively “the PPL Companies”) filed a motion for an extension of time to file comments in response to the Commission's Notice of Filing issued September 21, 2006, in the above-docketed proceeding. The motion states that the PPL Companies require additional time in order to access and review relevant data and also to allow PPL Companies to participate in an upcoming meeting between NorthWestern Corporation (NorthWestern) and the Open Season participants which will facilitate the evaluation of NorthWestern's proposal in this docket. Upon consideration, notice is hereby given that an extension of time for filing comments is granted to and including November 6, 2006. Magalie R. Salas, Secretary. [FR Doc. E6-17787 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Combined Notice of Filings #1 October 17, 2006. Take notice that the Commission received the following electric corporate filings: *Docket Numbers:* EC07-3-000. *Applicants:* Atlantic City Electric Company; RC Cape May Holdings, LLC. *Description:* Atlantic City Electric Company and Cape May Holdings, LLC submit an application for authorization for disposition of an existing generation facility and related jurisdictional assets. *Filed Date:* October 11, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061013-0132. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, November 2, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* EC07-4-000. *Applicants:* Aquila, Inc.; MEP Pleasant Hill, LLC. *Description:* Aquila Inc. and MEP Pleasant Hill, LLC submits an application for approval of the transfer of jurisdictional facilities and existing generation facilities under section 203 of the Federal Power Act. *Filed Date:* October 12, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0141. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 27, 2006. Take notice that the Commission received the following electric rate filings. *Docket Numbers:* ER98-1150-009. *Applicants:* Tucson Electric Power Company. *Description:* Tucson Electric Power Co clarifies certain facts related to the operation of and scheduling of power from the Luna Facility and to provide generation market power screen analyses. *Filed Date:* October 12, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0134. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 2, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER00-3251-012; ER99-754-014; ER01-1919-009; ER01-513-016; ER01-513;017; ER01-513-018; ER01-513-019; ER99-2404-009. *Applicants:* Exelon Generating Company, LLC; AmerGen Energy Company, LLC; Exelon Energy Company; Exelon West Medway, LLC; Exelon Wyman, LLC; Exelon New Boston, LLC; Exelon Framingham, LLC; Exelon New England Power Marketing, L.P. *Description:* Exelon Generation Co et al submit a modification of their market-based tariffs to remove the market behavior rules and delete the Code of Conduct regarding Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006 and October 16, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061017-0030. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER01-313-004. *Applicants:* California Independent System Operator Corporation *Description:* California Independent System Operator Corp submits its compliance filing in accordance with Opinion 463-B of FERC's November 7, 2006 Order. *Filed Date:* October 10, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0068. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, October 31, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER03-742-001. *Applicants:* RMKG, LLC. *Description:* RMKG, LLC submits its First Revised Rate Schedule FERC 1 in order to correct the identification and numbering of the document to its September 5, 2006 filing of the triennial update market power analysis. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0069. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER03-821-001. *Applicants:* One Nation Energy Solutions, LLC. *Description:* One Nation Energy Solutions, LLC submits its Triennial Market Power Update. *Filed Date:* October 12, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061013-0099. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 2, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER05-1050-004. *Applicants:* AmerGen Energy Company LLC. *Description:* AmerGen Energy Company LLC submits its final compliance electric refund report. *Filed Date:* October 4, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061003-5072. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, October 25, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER05-1235-003; ER06-847-002. *Applicants:* MidAmerican Energy Company. *Description:* MidAmerican Energy Co. submits a supplement to its October 2, 2006 compliance filing in accordance with FERC's September 1, 2006 Order. *Filed Date:* October 10, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061013-0056. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, October 31, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER06-20-007. *Applicants:* Louisville Gas & Electric Company. *Description:* Louisville Gas & Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company submit a final Withdrawal Fee Calculation provided by Midwest Independent Transmission Operator, Inc. effective September 1, 2006. *Filed Date:* October 12, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0119. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 2, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER06-1297-001. *Applicants:* Fox Energy Company LLC. *Description:* Fox Energy Company LLC submits First Revised Sheet 1 to its FERC Rate Schedule 2, effective October 11, 2006 under ER06-1297. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0117. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER06-1401-001. *Applicants:* PJM Interconnection, LLC. *Description:* PJM Interconnection, LLC submits a substitute Allegheny Ridge Interim ISA, designated as Substitute Original Service Agreement 1541. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0115. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER06-1434-001. *Applicants:* ISO New England Inc. *Description:* ISO New England Inc submits an Amended Non-Conforming Market Participant Service Agreement with North America Power Partners, LLC. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0118. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER07-23-001. *Applicants:* Arizona Public Service Company. *Description:* Arizona Public Service Company submits corrected Original Sheet 58 to its FERC Tariff, Volume 5. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0116. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER07-32-000. *Applicants:* Mid-Continent Area Power Pool. *Description:* The Mid-Continent Area Power Pool submits revisions to Article 6 of its Restated Agreement, to be effective December 1, 2006. *Filed Date:* October 6, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0107. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, October 27, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER07-34-000. *Applicants:* Plains End II, LLC. *Description:* Plains End III, LLC submits a petition for order accepting market-based rate tariff for filing and granting waivers and blanket approvals and request for expedited action. *Filed Date:* October 12, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061013-0081. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 2, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER07-35-000. *Applicants:* Southern California Edison Company. *Description:* Southern California Edison Co submits revised rate sheets to the Interconnection Facilities Agreement & the Service Agreement for Wholesale Distribution Service between the City of Corona & SCE. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061017-0035. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER06-36-000. *Applicants:* Southern California Edison Company. *Description:* Southern California Edison Co submits Second Service Sheet 19 et al as part of its Service Agreement 128 under its Wholesale Distribution Access Tariff, FERC Electric Tariff, Revised Volume 5. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061017-0034. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER07-37-000. *Applicants:* Carolina Power & Light Company. *Description:* Carolina Power & Light Co dba Progress Energy Carolinas, Inc
(PEC)requests that FERC amend the Western Systems Power Pool Agreement to include PEC as a participant. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061017-0033. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. *Docket Numbers:* ER07-38-000. *Applicants:* Entergy Services Inc. *Description:* Energy Services Inc, on behalf of Entergy Operations Inc requests FERC to review and authorize the cost allocation methods included in services agreements used for the sale of non-power goods and services. *Filed Date:* October 13, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061017-0032. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 3, 2006. Take notice that the Commission received the following foreign utility company status filings: *Docket Numbers:* FC07-3-000. *Applicants:* Tynagh Energy Limited. *Description:* Tynagh Energy Limited submits a Notice of Self-Certification of Foreign Utility Company Status. *Filed Date:* October 10, 2006. *Accession Number:* 20061016-0112. *Comment Date:* 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, October 31, 2006. Any person desiring to intervene or to protest in any of the above proceedings must file in accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 and 385.214) on or before 5 p.m. Eastern time on the specified comment date. It is not necessary to separately intervene again in a subdocket related to a compliance filing if you have previously intervened in the same docket. Protests will be considered by the Commission in determining the appropriate action to be taken, but will not serve to make protestants parties to the proceeding. Anyone filing a motion to intervene or protest must serve a copy of that document on the Applicant. In reference to filings initiating a new proceeding, interventions or protests submitted on or before the comment deadline need not be served on persons other than the Applicant. The Commission encourages electronic submission of protests and interventions in lieu of paper, using the FERC Online links at *http://www.ferc.gov.* To facilitate electronic service, persons with Internet access who will eFile a document and/or be listed as a contact for an intervenor must create and validate an eRegistration account using the eRegistration link. Select the eFiling link to log on and submit the intervention or protests. Persons unable to file electronically should submit an original and 14 copies of the intervention or protest to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE., Washington, DC 20426. The filings in the above proceedings are accessible in the Commission's eLibrary system by clicking on the appropriate link in the above list. They are also available for review in the Commission's Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. There is an eSubscription link on the Web site that enables subscribers to receive e-mail notification when a document is added to a subscribed dockets(s). For assistance with any FERC Online service, please e-mail *FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov.* or call
(866)208-3676 (toll free). For TTY, call
(202)502-8659. Magalie R. Salas, Secretary. [FR Doc. E6-17784 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-8233-6] EPA Science Advisory Board; Notification of a Public Teleconference of the Science Advisory Board AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA)Science Advisory Board
(SAB)Staff Office announces a public teleconference of the Chartered Board to review a draft SAB report, *Advisory on EPA's Assessments of Carcinogenic Effects of Organic and Inorganic Arsenic.* DATES: The SAB will hold the public teleconference on November 27, 2006. The teleconference will begin at 2 p.m. and end at 5 p.m. (Eastern Time). ADDRESSES: Telephone conference call only. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to obtain general information concerning this public teleconference should contact Dr. Angela Nugent, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/voice mail:
(202)343-9981; fax:
(202)233-0643; or e-mail at: *nugent.angela@epa.gov.* General information concerning the EPA Science Advisory Board can be found on the EPA Web site at: *http://www.epa.gov/sab.* SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the EPA SAB will hold a public teleconference to review a draft SAB report. The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide independent scientific and technical advice to the Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and regulations. The SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies. *Background:* The purpose of the public teleconference is to review the SAB Arsenic Review Panel's draft report, *Advisory on EPA's Assessments of Carcinogenic Effects of Organic and Inorganic Arsenic.* In reviewing draft reports from its panels, the SAB considers whether:
(i)The original charge questions to the SAB review panel were adequately addressed in the draft report,
(ii)the draft report is clear and logical; and
(iii)the conclusions drawn, or recommendations made in the draft report, are supported by the body of the report. The draft report to be reviewed at this public teleconference focuses on several issues about the mode of carcinogenic action of various arsenic species and the implications of these issues for EPA's assessment of the cancer hazard and risks of organic and inorganic arsenic. The panel reviewed a science issue paper prepared by EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (with an attachment prepared by EPA's Office of Research and Development) and a revised hazard and dose response assessment/characterization for inclusion in EPA's Integrated Risk Information System
(IRIS)prepared by EPA's Office of Water. Additional information about the SAB Arsenic Assessment Review Panel can be found on the web at: *http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/arsenic_review_panel.htm* . *Availability of Teleconference Materials:* The draft agendas and other materials will be posted on the SAB Web site at: *http://www.epa.gov/sab/* prior to the teleconference. *Procedures for Providing Public Input:* Interested members of the public may submit relevant written or oral information for the SAB to consider during the public teleconference. *Oral Statements:* In general, individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation at a public SAB teleconference will be limited to three minutes per speaker, with no more than a total of one-half hour for all speakers. Interested parties should contact Dr. Angela Nugent, DFO, in writing (preferably via e-mail), by November 16, 2006, at the contact information noted above, to be placed on the public speaker list for this teleconference. *Written Statements:* Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff Office by November 16, 2006, so that the information may be made available to the SAB for their consideration prior to this teleconference. Written statements should be supplied to the DFO in the following formats: One hard copy with original signature, and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format). *Accessibility:* For information on access or services for individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Angela Nugent at
(202)343-9981 or *nugent.angela@epa.gov.* To request accommodation of a disability, please contact Dr. Nugent preferably at least ten days prior to the teleconference, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request. Dated: October 17, 2006. Anthony F. Maciorowski, Associate Director for Science, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office. [FR Doc. E6-17803 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-8233-5] EPA Science Advisory Board; Notification of a Public Telephone Conference of the Homeland Security Advisory Committee AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA)Science Advisory Board
(SAB)Staff Office announces a public telephone conference of the Homeland Security Advisory Committee
(HSAC)to be briefed on the status of the Agency's Standard Analytical Methods
(SAM)and WaterSentinel
(WS)projects and upcoming projects by the National Homeland Security Research Center in the Office of Research and Development. DATES: November 13, 2006, the meeting will begin at 12 p.m. and end by 3 p.m. (Eastern Time). ADDRESSES: Telephone conference call only. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to obtain general information concerning this teleconference should contact Ms. Vivian Turner, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/voice mail
(202)343-9697; fax
(202)233-0643; or e-mail at: *turner.vivian@epa.gov.* General information concerning the EPA Science Advisory Board and the Homeland Security Advisory Committee can be found on the EPA Web site at: *http://www.epa.gov/sab.* SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the EPA SAB HSAC will hold a public teleconference to be briefed on the status of the Agency's Standard Analytical Methods
(SAM)and WaterSentinel
(WS)projects and upcoming projects by the National Homeland Security Research Center in the Office of Research and Development. The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide independent scientific and technical advice to the Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and regulations. The SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App. As a subcommittee of the SAB, the HSAC will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate EPA and SAB Staff Office procedural policies. Background The purpose of the public teleconference is:
(1)To obtain Agency feedback on the HSAC's comments presented to the Agency on its SAM and WS Programs discussed at the consultation held on January 30-31, 2006; and
(2)to be briefed on three upcoming HSAC projects, including Provisional Advisory Levels (PALS), the Emergency Consequence Assessment Tool (ECAT), and Preliminary Microbial Risk Assessment Methodologies. Standard Analytical Methods
(SAM)and WaterSentinel
(WS)On January 30-31, 2006 the HSAC provided a consultation with the Agency on its SAM and WS projects ( **Federal Register** Notice dated December 19, 2005, Volume 70, Number 242, pages 75173-75174). The SAM project standardizes the analytical methods for use by all laboratories when responding to incidents that require rapid analysis. The WS program is being developed by the EPA in partnership with drinking water utilities and other key stakeholders. This initiative involves designing, deploying, and evaluating a model contamination warning system for drinking water security. The Agency will provide updates to the HSAC on WS and SAM. Provisional Advisory Levels
(PALs)Health-based exposure guidelines to identify acceptable re-entry levels following a terrorist attack of natural disaster are not available for most chemical and biological agents. The National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) is developing health-based exposure levels for the general public, including the susceptible and sensitive subpopulations of all age groups. In particular, the developed PALs will address the limitations of other derived exposure values. For example, PALs can fill the critical exposure gap between acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) and short-term RfC/RfD exposure values. The PALs can be applied for national emergency programs, community planning, and public health protection. Specifically, PALs are appropriate for establishing health-based criteria for re-entry into buildings, reuse of drinking water, and cleanup of contaminated facilities. Emergency Consequence Assessment Tool
(ECAT)The NHSRC is developing an interactive online risk assessment software tool designed to provide health advisors and other emergency response officials with rapid access to critical information during an environmental emergency or training exercise. ECAT is designed to
(1)Assess and provide site-specific numeric estimates of health risks (where feasible) for selected chemical, biological, and radiological threat agents,
(2)identify what response actions might be appropriate to mitigate health risks, and
(3)provide guidance on how to effectively communicate key risk messages to the public. Preliminary Microbial Risk Assessment Methodologies The NHSRC conducts research in support of safe buildings, secure water systems and the rapid assessment of risk. The question “How clean is safe?” has confronted several EPA program offices. Recent national homeland security interests have increased demand for answers to this question. Because consensus methodologies for evaluating biological contaminants and establishing cleanup levels are not available, NHSRC is developing a biological risk assessment methodology. NHSRC has compiled a Compendium of Prior and Current Microbial Risk Assessment Methods. This Compendium has been used to develop a Microbial Risk Assessment Framework for Incident Response to Bioagents. The preliminary framework considers inhalation, ingestion, and dermal exposure pathways and is designed as a two-tier process to support risk management decisions for evacuation and site re-entry. A Tier I Site Assessment supports rapid decisions, such as when evacuating populations within hours of an incident is required. Tier II provides an incident-based site assessment approach and requires site-specific data to support re-entry decisions. The Tier II consists of Hazard Identification, Dose-Response Assessment and Exposure Assessment, which are combined to characterize risk to exposed population(s) at a site. Availability of Meeting Materials The draft agenda and other materials will be posted on the SAB Web site at: *http://www.epa.gov/sab/* prior to the meeting. Procedures for Providing Public Input Interested members of the public may submit relevant written or oral information for these SAB committees to consider during the advisory process. *Oral Statements:* In general, individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation at a public SAB teleconference will be limited to three minutes per speaker, with no more than a total of one-half hour for all speakers. Interested parties should contact Ms. Vivian Turner, DFO, in writing (preferably via e-mail), by November 6, 2006, at the contact information noted above, to be placed on the public speaker list for this meeting. *Written Statements:* Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff Office by November 2, 2006, so that the information may be made available to the HSAC for its consideration prior to this meeting. Written statements should be supplied to the DFO in the following formats: One hard copy with original signature, and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format). Accessibility For information on access or services for individuals with disabilities, please contact Ms. Vivian Turner at
(202)343-9697 or *turner.vivian@epa.gov.* To request accommodation of a disability, please contact Ms. Turner preferably at least ten days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request. Dated: October 17, 2006. Anthony F. Maciorowski, Associate Director for Science, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office. [FR Doc. E6-17804 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies The companies listed in this notice have applied to the Board for approval, pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 *et seq.* ) (BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR part 225), and all other applicable statutes and regulations to become a bank holding company and/or to acquire the assets or the ownership of, control of, or the power to vote shares of a bank or bank holding company and all of the banks and nonbanking companies owned by the bank holding company, including the companies listed below. The applications listed below, as well as other related filings required by the Board, are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The application also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing on the standards enumerated in the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the proposal also involves the acquisition of a nonbanking company, the review also includes whether the acquisition of the nonbanking company complies with the standards in section 4 of the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise noted, nonbanking activities will be conducted throughout the United States. Additional information on all bank holding companies may be obtained from the National Information Center Web site at *http://www.ffiec.gov/nic/* . Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding each of these applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than November 17, 2006. **A. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago** (Patrick M. Wilder, Assistant Vice President) 230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60690-1414: *1. Petefish, Skiles Bancshares, Inc.* , Virginia, Illinois; to acquire 100 percent of the voting shares of Chandlerville, Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire voting shares of Peoples State Bank of Chandlerville, both of Chandlerville, Illinois. **B. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis** (Jacqueline G. King, Community Affairs Officer) 90 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55480-0291: *1. Frandsen Financial Corporation* , Forest Lake, Minnesota; to merge with Pine Bankshares, and thereby indirectly acquire voting shares of The First National Bank of Pine City, both of Pine City, Minnesota. **C. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas** (W. Arthur Tribble, Vice President) 2200 North Pearl Street, Dallas, Texas 75201-2272: *1. Patriot Bancshares, Inc.* , Houston, Texas; to merge with Northeast Bancshares, Inc., Mesquite, Texas, and thereby indirectly acquire Northeast Bancshares-Delaware, Inc., Wilmington, Delaware, and Northeast National Bank, Mesquite, Texas. **D. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco** (Tracy Basinger, Director, Regional and Community Bank Group) 101 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94105-1579: *1. First California Financial Group* to become a bank holding company by acquiring 100 percent of the voting shares of National Mercantile Bancorp, both of Los Angeles, California, and thereby indirectly acquire Mercantile National Bank, Los Angeles, California, and South Bay Bank, N.A., Torrance, California. In connection with this application, Applicant also has applied to merge with FCB Bancorp, Camarillo, California, and thereby indirectly acquire First California Bank, Camarillo, California. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, October 18, 2006. Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. E6-17728 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210-01-S FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies The companies listed in this notice have applied to the Board for approval, pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 *et seq.* ) (BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR part 225), and all other applicable statutes and regulations to become a bank holding company and/or to acquire the assets or the ownership of, control of, or the power to vote shares of a bank or bank holding company and all of the banks and nonbanking companies owned by the bank holding company, including the companies listed below. The applications listed below, as well as other related filings required by the Board, are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The application also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing on the standards enumerated in the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the proposal also involves the acquisition of a nonbanking company, the review also includes whether the acquisition of the nonbanking company complies with the standards in section 4 of the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise noted, nonbanking activities will be conducted throughout the United States. Additional information on all bank holding companies may be obtained from the National Information Center Web site at *http://www.ffiec.gov/nic/* . Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding each of these applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than November 17, 2006. **A. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis** (Glenda Wilson, Community Affairs Officer) 411 Locust Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-2034: *1. Cabool State Bank Employee Stock Ownership Plan* , Cabool, Missouri; to become a bank holding company by acquiring 25.45 percent of the voting shares of Cabool Bancshares, Inc., Cabool, Missouri, and thereby indirectly acquire Cabool State Bank, Cabool, Missouri. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, October 19, 2006. Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. E6-17755 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210-01-S FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Federal Open Market Committee; Domestic Policy Directive of September 20, 2006 In accordance with § 271.25 of its rules regarding availability of information (12 CFR part 271), there is set forth below the domestic policy directive issued by the Federal Open Market Committee at its meeting held on August 8, 2006. 1 1 Copies of the Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee Meeting on August 8, 2006, which includes the domestic policy directive issued at the meeting, are available upon request to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551. The minutes are published in the Federal Reserve Bulletin and in the Board's annual report. The Federal Open Market Committee seeks monetary and financial conditions that will foster price stability and promote sustainable growth in output. To further its long-run objectives, the Committee in the immediate future seeks conditions in reserve markets consistent with maintaining the federal funds rate to an average of around 5 1/4 percent. The vote encompassed approval of the paragraph below for inclusion in the statement to be released shortly after the meeting: “Nonetheless, the Committee judges that some inflation risks remain. The extent and timing of any additional firming that may be needed to address these risks will depend on the evolution of the outlook for both inflation and economic growth, as implied by incoming information.” By order of the Federal Open Market Committee, October 13, 2006. Vincent R. Reinhart, Secretary, Federal Open Market Committee. [FR Doc. E6-17771 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210-01-P FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM No FEAR Act AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is publishing this notice in accordance with Section 202 of the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act) and the regulations thereunder issued by the Office of Personnel Management concerning notice and training. EFFECTIVE DATE: October 24, 2006. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joanne D. Kee, Counsel (202/452-2067), Legal Division, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20551. Users of Telecommunication Device for Deaf
(TDD)*only* , call 202/263-4869. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By final rule effective September 18, 2006, and consistent with Section 202 of the No FEAR Act, the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM)issued regulations concerning Federal agencies' obligation to notify employees, former employees, and applicants of their rights under the antidiscrimination laws referenced in Section 201(a) of the No FEAR Act. Specifically, pursuant to 5 CFR 724.202(c) and (e), agencies must provide their initial notice to such persons by publishing the initial notice in the **Federal Register** by November 17, 2006. No FEAR Act Notice On May 15, 2002, Congress enacted the “Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002,” which is now known as the No FEAR Act. One purpose of the Act is to “require that Federal agencies be accountable for violations of antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws.” Pub. L. 107-174, Summary. In support of this purpose, Congress found that “agencies cannot be run effectively if those agencies practice or tolerate discrimination.” Pub. L. 107-174, Title I, General Provisions, section 101(1). The Act also requires the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) to provide this notice to its employees, former employees, and applicants for employment to inform you of the rights and protections available to you under Federal antidiscrimination laws. Antidiscrimination Laws The Board cannot discriminate against an employee or applicant with respect to the terms, conditions or privileges of employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. Discrimination on these bases is prohibited by one or more of the following statutes: 29 U.S.C. 206(d), 29 U.S.C. 631, 29 U.S.C. 633a, 29 U.S.C. 791, and 42 U.S.C. 2000e-16. If you believe that you have been the victim of unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability, you must contact an Equal Employment Opportunity
(EEO)counselor within 45 calendar days of the alleged discriminatory action, or, in the case of a personnel action, within 45 calendar days of the effective date of the action, before you can file a formal complaint of discrimination with the Board. See Rules Regarding Equal Opportunity, 12 CFR part 268. If you believe that you have been the victim of unlawful discrimination on the basis of age, you must either contact an EEO counselor as noted above or give notice of intent to sue to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC)within 180 calendar days of the alleged discriminatory action. Retaliation for Engaging in Protected Activity The Board cannot retaliate against an employee or applicant because that individual exercises his or her rights under any of the Federal antidiscrimination laws listed above. If you believe that you are the victim of retaliation for engaging in protected activity, you must follow, as appropriate, the procedures described in the Antidiscrimination Laws section (above) in order to pursue any legal remedy. Disciplinary Actions Under the existing laws, the Board retains the right, where appropriate, to discipline an employee for conduct that is inconsistent with Federal Antidiscrimination Laws up to and including removal. Nothing in the No FEAR Act alters existing laws or permits an agency to take unfounded disciplinary action against an employee or to violate the procedural rights of an employee who has been accused of discrimination. Additional Information For further information regarding the No FEAR Act regulations, refer to 5 CFR part 724, as well as the appropriate office within the Board (the EEO Programs office). Additional information regarding Federal antidiscrimination and retaliation laws can be found at the EEOC Web site— *http://www.eeoc.gov* , and the EEO Programs Office Web page (accessible by current employees only through Inside the Board). Existing Rights Unchanged Pursuant to section 205 of the No FEAR Act, neither the Act nor this notice creates, expands or reduces any rights otherwise available to any employee, former employee or applicant under the laws of the United States. By order of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, acting through the Board's Administrative Governor under delegated authority, October 18, 2006. Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. E6-17730 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210-01-P FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below are being submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (“PRA”), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. The FTC is seeking public comments on proposed information requests to beverage alcohol advertisers. The FTC proposes to issue compulsory process orders to beverage alcohol advertisers for information concerning, *inter alia,* compliance with voluntary advertising placement provisions, sales and marketing expenditures, and the status of third-party review of complaints regarding compliance with voluntary advertising codes. DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 24, 2006. ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments. Comments should refer to the “Alcohol Reports: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P064505” to facilitate the organization of the comments. A comment filed in paper form should include this reference both in the text and on the envelope and should be mailed or delivered, with two complete copies, to the following address: Federal Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. Because paper mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay, please consider submitting your comments in electronic form, as prescribed below. However, if the comment contains any material for which confidential treatment is requested, it must be filed in paper form, and the first page of the document must be clearly labeled “Confidential.” 1 The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible. 1 Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must be accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment, including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from the public record. The requst will be granted or denied by the Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the public interest. *See* Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted by clicking on the following weblink: *https://secure.commentworks.com/FTC_Alcohol_Reports* and following the instructions on the web-based form. To ensure that the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must file it on the web-based form at the *https://secure.commentworks.com/FTC_Alcohol_Reports* weblink. If this notice appears at *http://www.regulations.gov,* you may also file an electronic comment through that Web site. The Commission will consider all comments that regulations.gov forwards to it. All comments should additionally be submitted to: Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade Commission. Comments should be submitted via facsimile to
(202)395-6974 because U.S. Postal Mail is subject to lengthy delays due to heightened security precautions. The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments, whether filed in paper or electronic form, will be considered by the Commission, and will be available to the public on the FTC Web site, to the extent practicable, at *http://www.ftc.gov.* As a matter of discretion, the FTC makes every effort to remove home contact information for individuals from public comments it receives before placing those comments on the FTC Web site. More information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's privacy policy, at *http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.* FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information should be addressed to Janet Evans or Phyllis H. Marcus, Attorneys, Division of Advertising Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., NJ-3212, Washington, DC 20580; telephone:
(202)326-2125 or
(202)326-2854. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In September 1999 and September 2003, the FTC published reports on voluntary advertising self-regulation by the alcohol industry based on information U.S. beverage alcohol advertisers submitted to the Commission, pursuant to compulsory process. The FTC has authority to compel production of this information from advertisers under Section 6 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46. The Commission believes it is in the public interest to:
(1)Collect updated data from U.S. beverage alcohol advertisers on sales and marketing expenditures, compliance with the industry's self regulatory code provisions concerning advertising placement and the status of third-party review of complaints regarding compliance with the industry's self-regulatory advertising standards; and
(2)publish a report on the data obtained. The Commission intends to address its information requests to the corporate entities responsible for the majority of alcohol advertising in the U.S., including their affiliated and subsidiary companies. Because the number of separately incorporated companies affected by the Commission's requests will exceed ten entities, the Commission seeks OMB clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act (“PRA”). On March 8, 2006, the FTC published a **Federal Register** Notice seeking comments from the public concerning the proposed collection of information from beverage alcohol advertisers. *See* 71 FR 11659 (“March 8 Notice”). Under the OMB regulations that implement the PRA (5 CFR part 1320), the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public comment while requesting that OMB provide clearance for the proposed collection of information. All comments should be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or before November 24, 2006. A. Public Comments/Consultation Outside the Agency The FTC received 1,299 comments in response to the March 8 Notice. 2 While six comments did not specifically address the proposed data collection, 3 1,292 comments expressly favored it. These were submitted by:
(1)Three members of Congress; 4
(2)members of the National Association of Attorneys General's Youth Access to Alcohol Committee (“NAAG Committee”);
(3)48 organizations engaged in advocacy regarding public health, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest (“CSPI”), Consumer Federation of America, Join Together, and the Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free Initiative (hereafter “the 48-organizations comment”);
(4)six comments (five from public health organizations and one from an individual) that were nearly identical to the 48-organizations comment;
(5)the American Medical Association (“AMA”);
(6)Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (“PIRE”);
(7)National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc., Sacramento Region Affiliate (“NCADD/Sacramento”);
(8)Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (“CAMY”);
(9)Prevention Network (referencing and reiterating points made in the CAMY comment);
(10)Marin Institute; and
(11)approximately 1,283 individually submitted form letters (“Form Letters”). The Miller Brewing Company submitted the only comment from the alcohol industry; it did not oppose data collection but requested that it be limited to reduce the burden on the companies. 5 2 The comments are available at *http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/alcoholmanufacadstudy/index.htm.* 3 Among these, one opposed any government action on alcohol advertising. See comment by Stanford Owen (May 2, 2006). The other five either expressed concerns about alcohol advertising or supported a new FTC report about alcohol advertising. *See* Comments by Ziming Xuan (May 9, 2006); Independent State Store Union
(ISSU)(May 5, 2006); Fred Reid (May 4, 2006); William Bailey (May 2, 2006); and Abigail Pederson (April 17, 2006). 4 These are: Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard, Jose E. Serrano, and Frank R. Wolf. 5 On July 13, 2006, CSPI submitted a letter to FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras requesting that the FTC's planned study include examination of alcohol sponsorship at NASCAR racing events. Although the CSPI letter is not characterized as a formal comment on the **Federal Register** Notice, the FTC took CSPI's request into consideration in preparing the proposed Section 6 Orders. 1. General Support for Data Collection The NAAG Committee comment stated that it is in the public interest for the FTC to collect updated data from advertisers. The 48-organizations comment stated that the information previously collected from the alcohol companies and reported on by the FTC has increased understanding of alcohol advertising issues and the role of the industry in regulating its own advertising practices. This comment noted that entities that use this information include Federal and state government legislative and regulatory bodies, law enforcement and legal officials, administrative health agencies, public health organizations, academia, the news media, and the general public. CAMY stated that, given the risks of teen drinking, the proposed information requests are integral to the FTC's consumer protection mission and provide useful information not only to the Commission but to parents, policy makers, and the public health field. 2. Sales Data In its March 8 Notice, the FTC stated that it would seek company data showing alcohol sales. Only one comment appeared to address this request. Miller Brewing Company stated that the FTC should not request brand-specific information, as such collection would greatly increase the company's burden without furthering the FTC's purpose. This background information, however, will enable the FTC, in its report, to better describe the nature of the industry, including the number of brands, volume sold, and the dollar value of those sales. Accordingly, the proposed Section 6 Orders will request such information, asking each company to identify by name each individual alcohol brand or variety that it sold during the calendar year 2005, and for each brand or variety, state total sales in dollars and in number of 9-liter or 2.25 gallon cases sold. As a related matter, PIRE, CAMY, and the Form Letters requested that the FTC also seek any information the companies have collected or received regarding use of their brands by persons below the legal drinking age. The FTC will request that the companies submit any unpublished data they possess showing the brands of alcohol consumed by persons under the legal drinking age in the United States. The request will exclude publicly available data (such as data published by CSPI, the AMA, and others). 3. Expenditure Data In the March 8 Notice, the FTC stated that it would seek information about expenditures to advertise and promote beverage alcohol in both measured and unmeasured media. Many of the comments offered suggestions regarding collection of this expenditure data. The letter from the three Congressional representatives recommended that the report include information on measured media advertising, sponsorships and promotions, broken down by state, race, and ethnicity of the target audience. It also asked for a report on brand-specific expenditures. The NAAG Committee requested that the FTC seek detailed data on the percentage of company advertising budgets expended on each type of media and, specifically, where ads are placed (e.g., which television and radio shows, in which movies, during which events). The 48-organization comment urged the FTC to seek information on: Promotional allowance and retail value-added expenditures; advertising in Spanish-language and other ethnic media; sports-related and college sports-related advertising and marketing (including telecasts, sponsorships, local print and promotional expenditures, and stadium signage); college marketing and promotional activities and expenditures (including spring break promotions in the U.S. and at popular off-shore spring break destinations); marketing, promotions, and brand awareness activity that utilize popular music, celebrities, and/or internet games and sponsorship of community events; and newer avenues of beverage alcohol marketing through “non-traditional” media, such as cell phones, mobile television, podcasts, and brand tie-ins with popular Web sites. The 48-organization comment also asked that the data be broken down state-by-state, company- and brand-specific (subject to relevant trade secret and confidentiality provisions), and by ethnicity of the target audience. Marin Institute joined the 48-organization comment and further requested that the FTC collect data on producer and wholesaler sponsorship of community events and non-profit organizations, and that it measure use of emerging electronic media, such as text messaging, mobile television, and podcasting. The AMA suggested that the data be modeled on information requests the FTC has issued to cigarette companies, which seek information on 26 categories of expenditures. The AMA requested that the FTC collect data on measured and unmeasured media, including sponsorship, retail incentives, point-of-purchase, and product placement fees. PIRE requested that the Section 6 Orders seek: Expenditures by media type regarding Internet advertising, sponsorship, text messaging, other new marketing techniques, price discounting and promotional allowances paid to third parties; data on expenditures for educational campaigns and youth consumption prevention; and grants to third parties to promote prevention and treatment. It also asked that the data break out expenditures for sports-related marketing and college marketing. CAMY requested that the FTC seek two or more years of data for measured media advertising, by media type (including broadcast network, cable network, spot, local/regional cable, interconnects, and Hispanic television); magazine advertising, broken down by full-run and demographic editions; spot and network radio; Internet advertising (including web advertising, email, company Web sites, and IM sponsorships); and “out-of-home” advertising. Regarding unmeasured media, CAMY urged the FTC to seek, at a minimum, data on the kinds of expenditures sought in the 2003 Section 6 Orders to the cigarette companies (including price discounting, promotional allowances, educational campaigns). CAMY suggested that the FTC obtain data on industry spending on “social aspects organizations” such as International Center on Alcohol Policies and the Century Council). It also requested that the agency seek expenditures for “new media,” for example, “pixting” ( *i.e.* , picture, or multimedia, messaging) and “texting” ( *i.e.* , text messaging) on mobile phones, podcasting, and online viral marketing. Finally, CAMY asked that the data break out aggregate spending on sports and college marketing across all categories. Miller Brewing Company asked that the Commission not request expenditures on a brand-specific basis. It stated that such a request would greatly increase the burden in collecting the data and would not further the agency's stated purpose. It noted that the FTC's prior alcohol reports published data on an aggregate basis, and urged that the data be collected that way. Miller Brewing Company also requested that the agency seek expenditure data for *measured* media (television, radio, print, outdoor) only, noting that measured media can be tracked, reported, and compared with reasonable precision. Miller stated that unmeasured media does not have a universally accepted definition, and that certain expenditures in this group may bear no relation to marketing. For example, Miller noted that sports sponsorships include fees for ticket allotments, suites, and use of facilities, and that the expenditures are not broken down as to whether they are marketing-related. Miller stated that collection of unmeasured media data will be burdensome, but did not provide a cost estimate. The FTC's 1999 Report estimated that measured marketing expenditures may account for only one-third of alcohol brand promotional budgets. The proposed Section 6 Orders are designed to enable the FTC to better understand how alcohol industry promotional dollars targeted to consumers are spent and how much current self-regulatory efforts aptly address legitimate public concerns about alcohol promotion. See section B. 1.a of this notice detailing what the Commission will seek on expenditure data through its Section B Orders. 4. Advertisement Placement The voluntary advertising guidelines of the beer, wine, and distilled spirits industries each state that alcohol advertising should be placed in television, radio, and print communications only where at least 70% of the audience is reasonably expected to be above the legal purchase age (the “70% placement standard”). In the March 8 Notice, the FTC stated that it planned to seek data on compliance with this standard. The comment from the three Congressional representatives expressed the hope that the FTC's analysis of alcohol industry placement practices will not be limited to reporting on what percentage of ads comply with the 70% placement standard, and specifically requested information that would allow the Commission to determine whether ads targeted to the Hispanic community comply with the current placement standard. The NAAG Committee comment urged the FTC to collect detailed data showing whether alcohol companies have complied with the 70% placement standard, including data showing where advertisements are placed ( *e.g.* , what shows, movies, or events) and the demographics of the audience, including data showing what percentage of the audience falls within the following age groups: 12-20, 21-24, and 21-34. The NAAG Committee further suggested that the FTC collect data on other efforts made by the companies to ensure compliance, including whether they use “no buy” lists, follow higher-than-required standards, and audit past placements. The 48-organization comment urged the FTC to seek information on magazine and television advertising in publications or programs with youth readership or viewership rates over 15 percent, or 2 million, youth readers. PIRE requested that the FTC obtain data evaluating adherence to the 70% placement standard, by specific brand. In that regard, it asked that the agency seek data used for planning media placement, as well as actual gross advertising impressions, gross ratings points, and audience delivery for each target audience, audience ages 12-20, and total audience age 12 and above. NCADD/Sacramento asked that the FTC seek information that will allow it to compare voluntary advertising compliance among industry members and to identify magazine and television advertising where youth constitute more than 15% of the audience. CAMY asked that the FTC seek data that will allow it to evaluate compliance with the 70% placement standard on a per-brand basis; to collect data on primary and secondary target audiences (age, gender, etc.), gross ad impressions, gross ratings points, and audience delivery (reach and frequency) for audience ages 12-20 and total audience 12 and above. CAMY also requested that: advertisement placement data be provided on a local market basis for local placements; data be reported as planned and as achieved; companies report on what media and channels they have audience composition data and, where data is unavailable, that they specify sources and standards for audience estimates. The scope of the Orders specifically regarding advertisement placement is detailed in Part B.1.b. of this notice. 5. External Review of Code Compliance The trade associations representing the three segments of the beverage alcohol industry—the Distilled Spirits Counsel of the United States (“DISCUS”), Beer Institute (“BI”), and Wine Institute (“WI”)—each have adopted a mechanism for considering whether member ads comply with the association's voluntary advertising code. The FTC's March 8 Notice stated that the proposed Section 6 Orders would seek data regarding those external compliance review mechanisms. No comments opposed this request. The comment from the three Congressional representatives urged the Commission to evaluate the effectiveness of the compliance review process among the various segments of the alcohol industry, including the outcomes of complaints filed with the industry review boards. CAMY requested that the FTC also consider how “independent” such external review programs are, by analyzing their degree of transparency, the breadth of their purview, and their timeliness. The NAAG Committee asked that the FTC also collect data on the percentage of industry members having pre-publication third-party review, the percentage of proposed ads that fail review and why, the number of ads that pass but are later the subject of complaints, and the way companies respond to complaints. The scope of the Orders specifically regarding external review of code compliance is detailed in Part B.1.c. of this notice. 6. Other Requests Contained in Comments Many of the comments filed in response to the March 8 Notice addressed what ongoing action the FTC should take after its initial data collection. Some of the comments suggested that the agency collect information from the alcohol companies and issue annual or bi-annual reports. The FTC plans to complete the current study before considering this proposal. Some comments suggested that the FTC evaluate other issues, such as alcohol product placement in movies and underage access to beverage alcohol websites. The proposed Section 6 Orders will seek information about expenditures for product placements and website advertising but will not seek information on the extent that these media expose minors to promotions. The goal of the current study is to conduct a comprehensive review of: alcohol advertising and marketing expenditures; industry compliance with current placement standards as they pertain to television, radio, magazine, and newspaper advertising over the stated period of time; and third-party review of complaints. The FTC expects that focusing its efforts in this manner will produce a study of the highest possible quality. It is committed to ongoing monitoring of this subject area, however, and anticipates that it will address other issues raised by alcohol advertising and marketing in the future. B. Information Requests to the Beverage Alcohol Industry 1. Description of the Collection of Information and Proposed Use The FTC proposes to send information requests to up to twelve parent companies (“industry members”) responsible for domestic advertising of beer, wine, or distilled spirits The information requests will seek, to the extent industry members possess it, data and information regarding:
(1)Company sales of beverage alcohol on a per brand basis, in both dollars and units sold;
(2)company expenditures to advertise, market, and promote beverage alcohol in the United States;
(3)compliance with the 70% placement standard contained in the industry's self-regulatory codes; and
(4)the status of external mechanisms to review complaints about code compliance. Note: With this publication any destruction, removal, mutilation, alteration, or falsification of documentary evidence that may be responsive to this information collection, within the possession or control of a person, partnership, or corporation subject to the FTC Act, may be subject to criminal prosecution. 15 U.S.C. 50; *see also* 18 U.S.C. 1505. *Confidentiality:* Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), bars the Commission from publicly disclosing trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information it receives from persons pursuant to, among other methods, special orders authorized by section 6(b) of the FTC Act. Such information also would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). Moreover, under section 21(c) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 57b-2(c), a submitter who designates a submission as confidential is entitled to 10 days' advance notice of any anticipated public disclosure by the Commission, assuming that the Commission has determined that the information does not, in fact, constitute 6(f) material. Although materials covered under one or more of these various sections are protected by stringent confidentiality constraints, the FTC Act and the Commission's rules authorize disclosure in limited circumstances ( *e.g.* , official requests by Congress, requests from other agencies for law enforcement purposes, or administrative or judicial proceedings). Even in those limited contexts, however, the Commission's rules may afford protections to the submitter, such as advance notice to seek a protective order in litigation. *See* 15 U.S.C. 57b-2; 16 CFR 4.9-4.11. The information presented in the study will not reveal company-specific data. *See* 15 U.S.C. 57b-2(d)(1)(B). Rather, the Commission anticipates presenting information on an anonymous or aggregated basis, in a manner sufficient to protect individual companies' confidential information. a. Information About Expenditure Data The proposed Section 6 Orders will seek expenditures for advertising, merchandising, or promotion of alcohol during calendar year 2005. The Orders require that the expenditures be broken down into 22 categories. 6 Thus, the proposed Section 6 Orders seek comprehensive information about expenditures to promote alcohol to consumers, including most of the information suggested in the comments. 7 This information will help the agency evaluate how industry members allocate their promotional expenditures, so as to better determine the degree industry self-regulatory codes address the various kinds of promotions employed by the industry. The categories are carefully defined to facilitate compliance with the requests. The Commission agrees with Miller Brewing Company, however, that it is not necessary for the alcohol companies to report such information on a brand-by-brand basis. Given the substantially expanded scope of this request, brand-by-brand reporting may pose an unnecessary additional burden on the companies without meaningfully increasing the FTC's understanding how promotional dollars are directed on an industry-wide basis. 6 These are: Television advertising; radio advertising; magazine advertising; newspaper advertising; transit advertising; other outdoor advertising; direct mail advertising; company-sponsored Internet sites; other Internet site advertising; other digital advertising; specialty item distribution; public entertainment events: not sports-related; sponsorship of sporting events, sports teams or individual athletes; other point-of-sale advertising and promotions; spring break promotions; product placements; retail value-added expenditures; telemarketing; promotional allowances; and total reportable expenditures. In addition, the proposed Section 6 Orders will seek cross-category totals for sports and sporting events and social responsibility programs and messages. 7 Some of the suggested requests are more extensive than needed for the FTC's current purposes. For example, the FTC does not propose to require the companies to allocate magazine advertising expenditures among “full run” and “demographic” editions. The burden of collecting such data is likely to outweigh the benefits to the FTC and the public of obtaining it. The proposed Section 6 Orders do not seek a breakdown of expenditures by race or ethnicity of the target audience. The agency is concerned that reporting specific expenditure data by race or ethnicity might produce potentially misleading results due to the difficulty of separating targeted advertising from general advertising that may have the same or broader reach to a particular racial or ethnic group. The Commission will, however, seek advertisement placement data that will help the FTC to evaluate whether ads targeted to an Hispanic or African-American audience comply with industry placement standards, as further discussed below. 8 8 The proposed orders also will not seek information on expenditures for slotting allowances or price discounts; such information does not enhance the agency's understanding of self-regulation. The requests focus on expenditures for advertising and promotions that may be seen by underage consumers. Payments for shelf space, payments to wholesalers, and price discounts to wholesalers and retailers do not provide such information. Given the expanded nature of this request, seeking data on them would be unnecessarily burdensome. b. Information About Advertising Placement The proposed Section 6 Orders will require the companies to provide, for each instance of advertising dissemination between January 1 and June 30, 2006, on television, on radio in measured markets, in magazines, and in newspapers: the advertisement's name; the brand advertised; the name of the media and location of dissemination; the date and time that the advertisement appeared; the name of the show during or in conjunction with the advertisement appeared; and the demographics of the audience (persons under 21, and persons 21 and over), in absolute numbers and percentages, for that dissemination. 9 The proposed Section 6 Orders also will require the companies to provide a company-wide summary of this data to facilitate analysis. This data will permit the Commission to measure the extent that the youth audience for each ad placement exceeded 30% of the total audience, or whether they complied with existing industry codes. 10 Further, given concerns about whether advertisements targeted primarily to Hispanic or African-American consumers are more likely than others to reach underage consumers, the Commission will require that the companies identify such ads so that the agency can evaluate this concern. 9 Two sets of demographics are relevant to Evaluating compliance with placement standards: the historical demographics used by a company for planning purposes when purchasing ad time, and audience demographics when a placement actually occurred. The proposed Section 6 Orders seek the latter data. To illustrate, for an ad placed on television, the Orders require the companies to provide the average demographic data for the program during which the show ran, over the three-month period (the “quarter”) when the placement appeared. If program-specific data is unavailable (as is often the case with cable), the Orders seek the quarterly average data for the daypart during which the ad appeared. 10 This data also will permit the Commission to evaluate the audience for televised NASCAR events, in connection with CSPI's request that the FTC review the degree that NASCAR promotions reach a youth audience. The Commission's proposed Section 6 Orders also seek a narrative description of: the steps taken when placing ads to reduce the proportion of persons under 21 in the audience, including the demographic databases relied on in making placement decisions; how often post-placement data are reviewed to verify that a placement complied with the placement guidelines and the steps taken if a compliance shortfall is identified; and the additional safeguards in place (e.g., use of “no buy” lists and higher placement standards, media content review) to reduce the likelihood of reaching underage audiences. This will permit the Commission to obtain a clear and detailed picture of the alcohol industry's advertising placement practices during the period at issue. The proposed Section 6 Orders will not require the companies to identify, for each ad, the gross rating points and the breakdown of consumers aged 12-20, 21-24, and 21-34 in the audience. Given the significantly expanded scope of the current requests, such requirements would be unnecessarily burdensome and the information not fully relevant to compliance with the placement standard contained in the industry's voluntary advertising codes. c. Information About External Review of Code Compliance The proposed Section 6 Orders will require the alcohol companies to describe in detail the enforcement mechanism(s) available as of December 31, 2006 for possible violations of the DISCUS, BI, and WI voluntary advertising codes. The response to this aspect of the Section 6 Orders will not be due until January 10, 2007, to allow the FTC time to receive and evaluate whole-year information regarding third-party review. The proposed Orders also will require, for each complaint about the company's advertising, promotion, or marketing forwarded for independent review between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006, that the company provide a copy of the complaint, any document reflecting the reviewer's decision or recommendation, and describe what action, if any, the company took in response to the reviewer's decision or recommendation. These requests will enable the Commission to evaluate the efficacy of current advertising review mechanisms. Currently, the Commission does not plan to ask about pre-publication review of proposed ads by third parties, or the number of ads that pass but are later the subject of complaints, and the way companies respond to complaints. The goal of this section of the proposed Section 6 Orders is to evaluate how the various segments of the industry have responded to the FTC's recommendation that they adopt systems for external, post-publication review of complaints about advertising code compliance. 2. Estimated Hours Burden FTC staff's estimate of the hours burden is based on the time required to respond to each information request. The Commission intends to issue the information requests to the 12 largest beverage alcohol advertisers. Because these companies vary greatly in size, in the number of products that they sell, and in the extent and variety of their advertising and promotion, staff has provided a range of the estimated hours burden. Based upon its knowledge of the industry, the staff estimates that the time required to identify, obtain, organize, and prepare responses to each of the four information categories will range, on average, between 15 and 120 hours for most companies. Staff anticipates, however, that the largest companies may require up to 280 hours for the most time-consuming category, advertising placement information. The total estimated burden per company is based on the following assumptions: Identify, obtain, and organize sales information; prepare response: 15-35 hrs. Identify, obtain, and organize information on advertising and marketing expenditures; prepare response: 40-65 hrs. Identify, obtain, and organize placement information; prepare response: 150-280 hrs. Identify, obtain, and organize information regarding compliance review; prepare response: 15-20 hrs. FTC staff anticipates that the cumulative hours burden to respond to the information requests will be between 220 hours and 400 hours per company. Nonetheless, staff conservatively assumes that the burden per company for each of the twelve
(12)intended recipients will be 400 hours. Accordingly, cumulative estimated burden is 4,800 hours. These estimates include any time spent by separately incorporated subsidiaries and other entities affiliated with the parent company that received the information requests. 3. Estimated Cost Burden It is difficult to calculate precisely labor costs associated with this data production. Labor costs entail varying compensation levels of management and/or support staff among companies of different sizes. Although financial, marketing, legal, and clerical personnel may be involved in the information collection process, FTC staff has assumed that mid-management personnel and outside legal counsel will handle most of the tasks involved in gathering and producing responsive information, and has applied an average rate of $250/hour for their labor. FTC staff anticipates that the labor costs per company will range between $55,000 (220 hours x $250/hour) and $100,000 (400 hours x $250/hour). Nonetheless, as a conservative measure, staff estimates that the total labor costs per company will be $100,000. FTC staff believes that the capital or other non-labor costs associated with the information requests are minimal. Although the information requests may require industry members to maintain the requested information the Commission seeks, they should already have in place the means to compile and maintain it. John D. Graubert, Acting General Counsel. [FR Doc. E6-17790 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750-01-P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections AGENCY: Office of Public Health and Science, Office of the Secretary, HHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, U.S.C. Appendix 2, notice is hereby given that the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP), will hold its eleventh meeting. The meeting will be open to the public. Due to unanticipated issues during preparation for the November meeting of SACHRP, this notice will not meet the 15-day requirement for publication in the **Federal Register.** DATES: The meeting will be held on Thursday, November 2, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Friday, November 3, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. ADDRESSES: The Sheraton National Hotel, 900 South Orme Street, Arlington, VA, 22204. Phone:
(703)521-1900. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernard Schwetz, D.V.M., Ph.D., Director, Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), or Catherine Slatinshek, Executive Director, Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections; Department of Health and Human Services, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 200, Rockville, MD 20852;
(240)453-8139; fax:
(240)453-6909; e-mail address: *sachrp@osophs.dhhs.gov.* SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of 42 U.S.C. 217a, Section 222 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, SACHRP was established to provide expert advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Assistant Secretary for Health on issues and topics pertaining to or associated with the protection of human research subjects. On November 2, 2006, SACHRP will receive and discuss updated information and a report from the Subpart A Subcommittee and issues involving the application of subpart A of 45 CFR part 46 in the current research environment. This subcommittee was established by SACHRP at its October 4-5, 2004 meeting. On November 3, 2006, the Committee will discuss future topics and issues that will be considered by the Subcommittee on Research Involving Individuals with Impaired Decision-Making Capacity. This subcommittee was established by SACHRP at its July 31-August 1, 2006 meeting. In addition, the Committee will hear presentations and invite discussions from several representatives on a panel on issues related to research involving subjects with impaired decision-making capacity. Public attendance at the meeting is limited to space available. Individuals who plan to attend the meeting and need special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should notify the designated contact persons. Members of the public will have the opportunity to provide comments on both days of the meeting. Public comment will be limited to five minutes per speaker. Any members of the public who wish to have printed materials distributed to SACHRP members for this scheduled meeting should submit materials to the Executive Director, SACHRP, prior to the close of business Friday, October 27, 2006. Information about SACHRP and the draft meeting agenda will be posted on the SACHRP Web site at: *http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sachrp/index.html.* Dated: October 18, 2006. Catherine Slatinshek, Executive Director, Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections. [FR Doc. E6-17743 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4150-36-P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Agency Information Collection activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Department of Health and Human Services. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(AHRQ)to request that the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB)allow the proposed information collection project: “Evaluation of the Implementation and Impact of Pay-for-Quality Programs.” In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public to comment on this proposed information collection. DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by December 26, 2006. ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, 540 Gaither Road, Room # 5036, Rockville, MD 20850. Copies of the proposed collection plans, data collection instruments, and specific details on the estimated burden can be obtained from AHRQ's Reports Clearance Officer. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ, Reports Clearance Officer,
(301)427-1477. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposed Project “Evaluation of the Implementation and Impact of Pay-for-Quality
(P4Q)Programs.” The P4Q Evaluation is a multi-method research project designed to evaluate the implementation and impact of P4Q programs on physicians across three programs operating in *health care* safety net settings. The P4Q programs participating in the evaluation are offering their health care providers financial incentives to achieve predefined quality targets. Data collected as part of this evaluation will have direct operational relevance to payers and providers regarding the value and challenges of P4Q programs in safety net settings. The P4Q evaluation is designed to assess whether P4Q programs in such settings appear to improve quality on the measures that are the focus of the programs and also whether the programs lead to unintended consequences. the P4Q evaluation will also seek to identify design and implementation practices that are likely to increase as well as decrease the risks of negative outcomes resulting from the implementation of P4Q programs in safety net settings. Data collection in the P4Q evaluation will be approved by the Boston University's Medical Campus Institutional Review Board. It will be conducted in accordance with the Health Insurance Protection and Portability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule and with the Protection of Human Subjects regulations, 45 CFR part 46. In addition, the identifiable data collected in this study about provider organizations and individuals will only be used for the above-stated purposes and will be protected in accordance with the AHRQ confidentiality statute, section 934(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c)). Methods of Collection The evaluation will use several methods to examine P4Q programs in safety net settings, including a survey and key informant interviews. Survey data will be obtained from physicians participating in P4Q programs using a confidential mailed questionnaire. The key informant interviews will consist of 35-minute semi-structured interviews with physician organization executives, practice leaders, physicians, and other senior managers in each study setting regarding program design, implementation, and impact. The research project investigators will interview up to six informants at each site. Estimated Annual Respondent Burden The table below indicates that total time burden required to obtain all of the data required to meet the study's objectives. It does not include time required to analyze the data and prepare it for reporting and publication. Type of respondent Number of respondents Number of responses per respondent Estimated time per respondent (hours) Estimated total burden (hours) Estimated annual cost to the government Physicians 216 1 0.25 hours (15 minutes) 54 $5,322.12 to cover costs of responding to survey. Practice executives and other senior managers 24 1 0.58 hours (35 minutes) 14 $841.35 to cover costs of participating in in-person interviews. Total 68 $6,163.47 Estimated Costs to the Federal Government The total cost to the government for this activity is estimated to be $193,941. This funding will be used to support survey administration costs, salary and fringe benefits for the research team relating to the design and administration of the survey and informant interviews, and costs for two members of the research team to travel to each site for the informant interviews. The project will attempt to minimize burden to physician survey respondents by distributing surveys at medical staff meetings. Request for Comments In accordance with the above-cited Paperwork Reduction Act legislation, comments on AHRQ's information collection are requested with regard to any of the following:
(a)Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of AHRQ health care research and health care information dissemination functions, including whether the information will have practical utility;
(b)the accuracy of AHRQ's estimate of burden (including hours and costs) of the proposed collection(s) of information;
(c)ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
(d)ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information upon the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and included in the Agency's subsequent request for OMB approval of the proposed information collection. All comments will become a matter of public record. Dated: October 10, 2006. Carolyn M. Clancy, Director. [FR Doc. 06-8831 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45am]
Connectionstraces to 23
Traces to 23 documents
statutes-at-large
CFR
U.S. Code
- Science Advisory Board§ 4365
- Definitions§ 1841
- Acquisition of bank shares or assets§ 1842
- Interests in nonbanking organizations§ 1843
- Minimum wage§ 206
- Age limits§ 631
- Nondiscrimination on account of age in Federal Government employment§ 633a
- Employment of individuals with disabilities§ 791
- Employment by Federal Government§ 2000e–16
- Additional powers of Commission§ 46
- Offenses and penalties§ 50
- Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees§ 1505
- Public information; agency rules, opinions, orders, records, and proceedings§ 552
- Confidentiality§ 57b–2
- Advisory councils or committees§ 217a
- Federal agency responsibilities§ 3506
- Dissemination of information§ 299c–3
13 references not yet in our index
- Pub. L. 92-463
- 18 CFR 34
- 12 CFR 225
- 12 CFR 271
- 5 CFR 724.202(c)
- Pub. L. 107-174
- 12 CFR 268
- 5 CFR 724
- 44 USC 3501-3520
- 5 CFR 1320
- 16 CFR 4.9-4
- 45 CFR 46
- Pub. L. 104-13
Citation graph
cites case law
Notices
Notice of open meeting
Pub. L.Pub. L. 92-463
Cite18 CFR 34
Cite12 CFR 225
Cites 36 · showing 12Cited by 0 across 0 sources