Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 73 / Thursday, April 15, 2004 / Notices 20079 

Commission (NRC), the Electric Power 

Research Institute (EPRI), and the State 

of Nevada—to present their research 

and views on the potential for corrosion 

of waste packages during the ‘‘thermal 

pulse,’’ the period of approximately 

1,000 years after closure when 

temperatures would be above boiling 

inside a repository for high-level 

radioactive waste planned for Yucca 

Mountain in Nevada. In a letter and a 

report to the DOE last fall, the Board 

concluded that, based on analyses of 

DOE and other data, all the conditions 

necessary for localized corrosion of 

waste packages will likely be present in 

repository tunnels during the thermal 

pulse. 

The Board meeting will be held at the 

Embassy Suites Hotel; 1250 22nd Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20037. The 

telephone number is 202–857–3388, and 

the fax number is 202–293–3173. The 

meeting is open to the public, and 

opportunities for public comment will 

be provided. The meeting sessions will 

begin at 8 a.m. on both days. 

Tuesday’s session will begin with 

overviews of the status of program 

activities related to the Yucca Mountain 

project and updates on activities related 

to basic science, seismicity, and 

transportation of spent nuclear fuel and 

high-level radioactive waste. On 

Tuesday afternoon, representatives of 

the NRC, EPRI, and the State of Nevada 

will present their views and relevant 

research on the potential for corrosion 

on waste packages during the thermal 

pulse. 

Most of the meeting on Wednesday 

will be devoted to presentations by the 

DOE and to discussion of DOE views, 

research, and analyses related to 

repository tunnel environments and the 

potential for localized corrosion during 

the thermal pulse. Meeting participants 

will have an opportunity to make brief 

wrap-up comments at the end of the day 

on Wednesday. 

The meeting agenda will include time 

for public comment before adjournment 

on both days. Those wanting to speak 

during the public comment periods are 

encouraged to sign the ‘‘Public Comment 

Register’’ at the check-in table. A time 

limit may have to be set on individual 

remarks, but written comments of any 

length may be submitted for the record. 

An agenda will be available 

approximately one week before the 

meeting. Copies of the agenda can be 

requested by telephone or obtained from 

the Board’s Web site: www.nwtrb.gov. 

Beginning on June 21, 2004, transcripts 

of the meeting will be available on the 

Board’s Web site, via e-mail, on 

computer disk, and on a library-loan 

basis in paper format from Davonya 

Barnes of the Board staff. 

A block of rooms has been reserved at 

the Embassy Suites Hotel. A meeting 

rate is available for reservations made 

by April 19, 2004. When making a 

reservation, please state that you are 

attending the Nuclear Waste Technical 

Review Board meeting. For more 

information, contact the NWTRB; Karyn 

Severson, External Affairs; 2300 

Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 1300; 

Arlington, VA 22201–3367; (tel) 703–

235–4473; (fax) 703–235–4495. 

The Board was created by Congress in 

the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments 

Act of 1987. The Board’s purpose is to 

evaluate the technical and scientific 

validity of activities undertaken by the 

Secretary of Energy related to managing 

the disposal of the nation’s spent 

nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive 

waste. In the same legislation, Congress 

directed the DOE to characterize the 

Yucca Mountain site to determine its 

suitability as the location of a potential 

repository for the permanent disposal of 

spent nuclear fuel and high-level 

radioactive waste. 

Dated: April 5, 2004. 

William D. Barnard, 

Executive Director, Nuclear Waste Technical 

Review Board. 

[FR Doc. 04–8532 Filed 4–14–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–AM–M 

COMMISSION ON OCEAN POLICY 

Preliminary Report 

ACTION: Notice of public availability and 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Commission on 

Ocean Policy was established pursuant 

to the Oceans Act of 2000 to make 

recommendations to the President and 

Congress for a coordinated and 

comprehensive national ocean policy. 

The preliminary draft of the final report 

is being made available to the nation’s 

Governors and other interested parties 

for their review and comment. 

DATES: The preliminary report will be 

available for public review on April 20, 

2004. Comments on the report must be 

received in the Commission office no 

later than the close of business on May 

21, 2004, e.t. 

ADDRESSES: Send electronic comments 

(e-mail) to: 

comments@oceancommission.gov. 

Comments may also be mailed to: U.S. 

Commission on Ocean Policy, 1120 20th 

Street, NW., Suite 200 North, 

Washington, DC 20036. Comments may 

be sent by facsimile to: 202–418–3475. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Kearns, U.S. Commission on 

Ocean Policy, 1120 20th Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20036, 202–418–3442, 

kearns@oceancommission.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is being issued pursuant to the 

Oceans Act 2000 (Pub. L. 106–256, sec. 

3(g)(1)(A)). The report and detailed 

instructions for submitting comments 

will be available at the Commission’s 

Web site, www.oceancommission.gov, 

on April 20, 2004, when the report is 

released to the public. The report is also 

available for public review at the 

Commission’s office at 1120 20th Street, 

NW., Suite 200 North, Washington, DC 

20036, from 2 p.m.–5 p.m. e.t. on April 

20th and thereafter from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. 

e.t., Monday through Friday, during the 

remainder of the comment period. 

Comments sent by facsimile should 

include the words ‘‘Public Comment on 

Preliminary Report’’ on the coversheet. 

All public comments must include the 

individual’s name, institutional 

affiliation (optional), address, telephone 

number, and e-mail address. Comments 

should contain no attachments. All 

public comments received will be 

reviewed by the Commission and will 

become part of the official record of its 

work. Only comments received 

electronically will be acknowledged. 

Public comments will not be posted to 

the Web site. Sufficient time will be 

allowed for any needed changes to the 

report as a result of gubernatorial or 

other stakeholder comments. When 

such changes are made and the final 

report is approved by the Commission, 

it will be transmitted to the President 

and Congress. 

Dated: April 9, 2004. 

Thomas R. Kitsos, 

Executive Director. 

[FR Doc. 04–8546 Filed 4–14–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–WM–P 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

Required Interest Rate Assumption for 

Determining Variable-Rate Premium; 

Interest on Late Premium Payments; 

Interest on Underpayments and 

Overpayments of Single-Employer 

Plan Termination Liability and 

Multiemployer Withdrawal Liability; 

Interest Assumptions for 

Multiemployer Plan Valuations 

Following Mass Withdrawal 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

20080 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 73 / Thursday, April 15, 2004 / Notices 

ACTION: Notice of interest rates and 

assumptions. 

SUMMARY: This notice informs the public 

of the interest rates and assumptions to 

be used under certain Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation regulations. These 

rates and assumptions are published 

elsewhere (or can be derived from rates 

published elsewhere), but are collected 

and published in this notice for the 

convenience of the public. Interest rates 

are also published on the PBGC’s Web 

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

The PBGC notes that the provisions of 

the Job Creation and Worker Assistance 

Act of 2002 that temporarily increased 

the required interest rate to be used to 

determine the PBGC’s variable-rate 

premium to 100% (from 85%) of the 

annual yield on 30-year Treasury 

securities expired at the end of 2003. 

The Pension Funding Equity Act of 

2004, which was signed into law by the 

President on April 10, 2004, changes the 

rules for determining the required 

interest rate for plan years beginning in 

2004 or 2005. The PBGC intends shortly 

to publish a Federal Register notice 

reflecting the new required interest rates 

and post the changes on the PBGC’s 

Web site. 

DATES: The interest assumptions for 

performing multiemployer plan 

valuations following mass withdrawal 

under part 4281 apply to valuation dates 

occurring in May 2004. The interest 

rates for late premium payments under 

part 4007 and for underpayments and 

overpayments of single-employer plan 

termination liability under part 4062 

and multiemployer withdrawal liability 

under part 4219 apply to interest 

accruing during the second quarter 

(April through June) of 2004. 

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 PBGC notes that the provisions of 

the Job Creation and Worker Assistance 

Act of 2002 that temporarily increased 

the required interest rate to be used to 

determine the PBGC’s variable-rate 

premium to 100% (from 85%) of the 

annual yield on 30-year Treasury 

securities expired at the end of 2003. 

The Pension Funding Equity Act of 

2004, which was signed into law by the 

President on April 10, 2004, changes the 

rules for determining the required 

interest rate for plan years beginning in 

2004 or 2005. The PBGC intends shortly 

to publish a Federal Register notice 

reflecting the new required interest rates 

and post the changes on the PBGC’s 

Web site. 

Late Premium Payments; 

Underpayments and Overpayments of 

Single-Employer Plan Termination 

Liability 

Section 4007(b) of ERISA and 

§ 4007.7(a) of the PBGC’s regulation on 

Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part 

4007) require the payment of interest on 

late premium payments at the rate 

established under section 6601 of the 

Internal Revenue Code. Similarly, 

§ 4062.7 of the PBGC’s regulation on 

Liability for Termination of SingleEmployer Plans (29 CFR part 4062) 

requires that interest be charged or 

credited at the section 6601 rate on 

underpayments and overpayments of 

employer liability under section 4062 of 

ERISA. The section 6601 rate is 

established periodically (currently 

quarterly) by the Internal Revenue 

Service. The rate applicable to the 

second quarter (April through June) of 

2004, as announced by the IRS, is 5 

percent. 

The following table lists the late 

payment interest rates for premiums and 

employer liability for the specified time 

periods: 

From— Through— Interest rate 

(percent) 

4/1/98 ..... 12/31/98 8 

1/1/99 ..... 3/31/99 7 

4/1/99 ..... 3/31/00 8 

4/1/00 ..... 3/31/01 9 

4/1/01 ..... 6/30/01 8 

7/1/01 ..... 12/31/01 7 

1/1/02 ..... 12/31/02 6 

1/1/03 ..... 9/30/03 5 

10/1/03 ... 3/31/04 4 

4/1/04 ..... 6/30/04 5 

Underpayments and Overpayments of 

Multiemployer Withdrawal Liability 

Section 4219.32(b) of the PBGC’s 

regulation on Notice, Collection, and 

Redetermination of Withdrawal 

Liability (29 CFR part 4219) specifies 

the rate at which a multiemployer plan 

is to charge or credit interest on 

underpayments and overpayments of 

withdrawal liability under section 4219 

of ERISA unless an applicable plan 

provision provides otherwise. For 

interest accruing during any calendar 

quarter, the specified rate is the average 

quoted prime rate on short-term 

commercial loans for the fifteenth day 

(or the next business day if the fifteenth 

day is not a business day) of the month 

preceding the beginning of the quarter, 

as reported by the Board of Governors 

of the Federal Reserve System in 

Statistical Release H.15 (‘‘Selected 

Interest Rates’’). The rate for the second 

quarter (April through June) of 2004 

(i.e., the rate reported for March 15, 

2004) is 4.00 percent. 

The following table lists the 

withdrawal liability underpayment and 

overpayment interest rates for the 

specified time periods: 

From Through Interest rate 

(percent) 

7/1/97 ............ 12/31/98 8.50 

1/1/99 ............ 9/30/99 7.75 

10/1/99 .......... 12/31/99 8.25 

1/1/00 ............ 3/31/00 8.50 

4/1/00 ............ 6/30/00 8.75 

7/1/00 ............ 3/31/01 9.50 

4/1/01 ............ 6/30/01 8.50 

7/1/01 ............ 9/30/01 7.00 

10/1/01 .......... 12/31/01 6.50 

1/1/02 ............ 12/31/02 4.75 

1/1/03 ............ 9/30/03 4.25 

10/1/03 .......... 6/30/04 4.00 

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 May 

2004 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 April 2004. 

Joseph H. Grant, 

Deputy Executive Director and Chief 

Operating Officer, Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 04–8589 Filed 4–14–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P