11722 Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 51 / Friday, March 15, 2002 / Notices

walkdown inspections are conducted.

Further, less restrictive P–T limit curves

based on the application of ASME Code

Case N–640 will enhance overall plant

safety by minimizing challenges to

operators during pressure testing,

heatup, cooldown, and normal power

operation. Thus, pursuant to 10 CFR

50.12(a)(2)(ii), the underlying purpose

of the regulations will continue to be

served.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed

Action

The NRC staff has completed its

evaluation of the proposed action and

concludes, as set forth below, that there

are no significant environmental

impacts associated with the use of the

alternative analysis methods to support

the revision of the RPV P–T limits for

the Browns Ferry Plant, Units 2 and 3.

The proposed action will not

significantly increase the probability or

consequences of accidents, no changes

are being made in the types of effluents

that may be released off site, and there

is no significant increase in

occupational or public radiation

exposure. Therefore, there are no

significant radiological environmental

impacts associated with the proposed

action.

With regard to potential

nonradiological impacts, the proposed

action does not have a potential to affect

any historic sites. It does not affect

nonradiological plant effluents and has

no other environmental impact.

Therefore, there are no significant

nonradiological environmental impacts

associated with the proposed action.

Accordingly, the NRC concludes that

there are no significant environmental

impacts associated with the proposed

action.

Environmental Impacts of the

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

As an alternative to the proposed

action, the staff considered denial of the

proposed action (i.e., the ‘‘no-action’’

alternative). Denial of the application

would result in no change in current

environmental impacts. The

environmental impacts of the proposed

action and the alternative action are

similar.

Alternative Use of Resources

The action does not involve the use of

any different resource than those

previously considered in the Final

Environmental Statement for the

Browns Ferry Plant, Units 2 and 3,

dated April 1975.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

On February 28, 2002, the staff

consulted with the Alabama State

official, Kirk Whatley, of the Office of

Radiation Control, regarding the

environmental impact of the proposed

action. The State official had no

comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

On the basis of the environmental

assessment, the NRC concludes that the

proposed action will not have a

significant effect on the quality of the

human environment. Accordingly, the

NRC has determined not to prepare an

environmental impact statement for the

proposed action.

For further details with respect to the

proposed action, see the licensee’s letter

dated August 17, 2001, as supplemented

by letters dated December 14, 2001, and

February 6, 2002. Documents may be

examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the

NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR),

located at One White Flint North, 11555

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,

Maryland. Publicly available records

will be accessible electronically from

the Agencywide Documents Access and

Management System (ADAMS) Public

Electronic Reading Room on the internet

at the NRC Web site, http://

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html.

Persons who do not have access to

ADAMS or who encounter problems in

accessing the documents located in

ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR

Reference staff by telephone at 1–800–

397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or by e-mail

to pdr@nrc.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day

of March 2002.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Richard P. Correia,

Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate II,

Division of Licensing Project Management,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 02–6229 Filed 3–14–02; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION

Required Interest Rate Assumption for

Determining Variable-Rate Premium;

Interest Assumptions for

Multiemployer Plan Valuations

Following Mass Withdrawal

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of interest rates and

assumptions.

SUMMARY: This notice informs the public

of the interest assumptions for

multiemployer plan valuations

following mass withdrawal under the

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s

regulation on Duties of Plan Sponsor

Following Mass Withdrawal (part 4281).

These assumptions are published

elsewhere but are referenced in this

notice for the convenience of the public.

This notice also informs the public that

announcement of the required interest

rate for determining the variable-rate

premium under the PBGC’s regulation

on Premium Rates is being deferred. The

PBGC plans to announce the required

interest rate well before the variable-rate

premium is due. Interest rates are

published on the PBGC’s Web site

(http://www.pbgc.gov).

DATES: The interest assumptions for

performing multiemployer plan

valuations following mass withdrawal

under part 4281 apply to valuation dates

occurring in April 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of the General Counsel,

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,

1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC

20005, 202–326–4024. (TTY/TDD users

may call the Federal relay service tollfree at 1–800–877–8339 and ask to be

connected to 202–326–4024.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Variable-Rate Premiums

Section 4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of the

Employee Retirement Income Security

Act of 1974 (ERISA) and § 4006.4(b)(1)

of the PBGC’s regulation on Premium

Rates (29 CFR part 4006) prescribe use

of an assumed interest rate (the

‘‘required interest rate’’) in determining

a single-employer plan’s variable-rate

premium. The required interest rate is

the ‘‘applicable percentage’’ (currently

85 percent) of the annual yield on 30-

year Treasury securities for the month

preceding the beginning of the plan year

for which premiums are being paid (the

‘‘premium payment year’’). Until

recently, that yield figure was reported

in Federal Reserve Statistical Release

H.15.

The Treasury Department has

suspended issuance of 30-year Treasury

securities and, effective February 18,

2002, ceased supplying the Federal

Reserve board with an estimate of the

annual yield on 30-year Treasury

securities for publication in Statistical

Release H.15. As a result of these

changes, the PBGC is consulting with

the Treasury Department on how best to

determine the required interest rate. As

soon as the PBGC determines the

required interest rate to be used in

determining variable-rate premiums for

premium payment years beginning in

Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 51 / Friday, March 15, 2002 / Notices 11723

March 2002, it will inform the public of

the rate. This will be well before the

variable-rate premium for premium

payment years beginning in March 2002

is due.

Multiemployer Plan Valuations

Following Mass Withdrawal

The PBGC’s regulation on Duties of

Plan Sponsor Following Mass

Withdrawal (29 CFR part 4281)

prescribes the use of interest

assumptions under the PBGC’s

regulation on Allocation of Assets in

Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part

4044). The interest assumptions

applicable to valuation dates in April

2002 under part 4044 are contained in

an amendment to part 4044 published

elsewhere in today’s Federal Register.

Tables showing the assumptions

applicable to prior periods are codified

in appendix B to 29 CFR part 4044.

Issued in Washington, DC, on this 12th day

of March 2002.

Steven A. Kandarian,

Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 02–6428 Filed 3–14–02; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

Submission for OMB Review;

Comment Request for Reinstatement

of a Revised Information Collection:

Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living

Allowance; Price and Background

Surveys

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

has submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) a

request for reinstatement of two

previously-approved information

collections for which approval has

expired. OPM uses the two information

collections—a price survey and a

background survey—to gather data to be

used in determining cost-of-living

allowances (COLAs) for certain Federal

employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and

the Commonwealth of the Northern

Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the

U.S. Virgin Islands. The price surveys

will be conducted in each COLA area on

a rotating basis once every 3 years and

annually in the Washington, DC, area.

The background surveys will be

conducted in these same areas and

according to the same schedule, but on

a more limited basis.

The price survey is necessary for

collecting living-cost data used to

determine cost-of-living allowances

(COLAs) paid to General Schedule, U.S.

Postal Service, and certain other Federal

employees in the allowance areas.

COLAs are based on differences in

living costs in the allowance areas

compared with living costs in the

Washington, DC, area. The background

survey is used to improve the COLA

methodology and to plan the price

surveys and determine such things as

the appropriateness of items, services,

and businesses selected for survey.

OPM will survey selected retail,

service, realty, and other businesses and

local governments in the allowance

areas and in the Washington, DC, area.

Approximately 2,200 establishments

will be contacted in the price survey,

and approximately 30 establishments

will be contacted in the background

survey. Participation in the surveys is

voluntary.

OPM estimates that the average price

survey interview will take

approximately 7 minutes, for a total

burden of 257 hours. The average

background survey interview will take

approximately 10 minutes, for a total

burden of 5 hours.

For copies of this proposal, please

contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey at

(202) 606–8358; fax: (202) 418–3251; or

e-mail: mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please

include a mailing address with your

request.

DATES: Submit comments on or before

April 15, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments

to:

Donald J. Winstead, Assistant Director

for Compensation Administration,

Workforce Compensation and

Performance Service, Office of

Personnel Management, Room 7H31,

1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC

20415–8200, fax: (202) 606–4264, or

e-mail: cola@opm.gov.

and

Joseph Lackey, OPM Desk Officer,

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget, New Executive Office

Building NW., Room 10235,

Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt

M. Springmann, (202) 606–2838.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OPM

published notice of its intention to

request a reinstatement of the price and

background surveys in the Federal

Register on October 17, 2001 (66 FR

52813). OPM received one comment in

response to the notice. The commenter

noted that a sentence in the Summary

section of the notice could be

interpreted to mean that OPM will

conduct surveys annually in selected

COLA areas. We agree that the sentence

could be misinterpreted, and wish to

clarify that OPM will not conduct price

surveys annually in any COLA area. As

stated in the Supplementary

Information section of the notice, OPM

will conduct the price surveys in each

COLA area on a rotating basis once

every 3 years and annually in the

Washington, DC, area.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Kay Coles James,

Director.

[FR Doc. 02–6200 Filed 3–14–02; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

Notice of Federal Long Term Care

Insurance Program Early Enrollment

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Notice of Federal Long Term

Care Insurance Early Enrollment.

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel

Management, in conjunction with LTC

Partners, is announcing an early

enrollment for eligible persons to

submit applications for enrollment in

the Federal Long Term Care Insurance

Program. LTC Partners is an

organization formed by the John

Hancock and Metropolitan Life

Insurance Companies to provide long

term care insurance to eligible persons

under this Program.

DATES: Early enrollment will run from

March 25 through May 15, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You

may call 1–800–LTC–FEDS (1–800–

582–3337) or visit www.ltcfeds.com for

information on applying during early

enrollment.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Federal Long Term Care Insurance

Program early enrollment is an

opportunity for eligible persons to

submit applications for enrollment

before the open season begins on July 1,

2002. Early enrollment is designed for

persons who are already knowledgeable

about long term care insurance and do

not need the extensive educational

campaign that LTC Partners will

undertake before and during the open

season.

In our contacts with potential

applicants ever since the Program was

announced, we realized that there were