Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 19, 2018 / Proposed Rules 65117 

section of this issue of the Federal 

Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Moye Lin at (303) 312–6667, lin.moye@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

‘‘Rules and Regulations’’ section of this 

issue of the Federal Register, the EPA 

is authorizing changes to the North 

Dakota program as a direct final rule. 

The EPA did not make a proposal prior 

to the direct final rule because we 

believe this action is not controversial 

and do not expect comments that 

oppose it. We have explained the 

reasons for this authorization in the 

preamble to the direct final rule. 

Unless the EPA receives written 

comments that raise concerns with the 

authorization during the comment 

period, the direct final rule will become 

effective on March 15, 2019, and we 

will not take further action on this 

proposal. If we get comments that raise 

concerns with the authorization, we will 

withdraw the direct final rule and it will 

not take immediate effect. We will then 

respond to public comments in a later 

final rule based on this proposal. You 

may not have another opportunity for 

comment. If you want to comment on 

this action, you must do so at this time. 

Dated: December 13, 2018. 

Douglas Benevento, 

Regional Administrator, Region 8. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27423 Filed 12–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 281 

[EPA–R08–UST–2018–0728; FRL–9986–99— 

Region 8] 

North Dakota: Authorization of State 

Underground Storage Tank Program 

Revisions 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA 

or Act), the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve 

revisions to the State of North Dakota’s 

Underground Storage Tank (UST) 

program submitted by the State. This 

action is based on the EPA’s 

determination that the State’s revisions 

satisfy all requirements for UST 

program approval. The State’s federallyauthorized UST program, as revised 

pursuant to this action, will remain 

subject to the EPA’s inspection and 

enforcement authorities under sections 

9005 and 9006 of RCRA subtitle I and 

other applicable statutory and 

regulatory provisions. All revisions to 

the State of North Dakota’s UST 

program would be federally approved as 

of the effective date of this action. 

DATES: Send written comments by 

January 18, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments by 

one of the following methods: 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www/regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

2. Email: bents.benjamin@epa.gov. 

3. Mail: Benjamin Bents, Project 

Officer, UST, Solid Waste and PCB Unit, 

Resource Conservation and Recovery 

Program, Office of Partnerships and 

Regulatory Assistance (8P–R), EPA 

Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, 

Colorado 80202–1129. 

4. Hand delivery or courier: Deliver 

your comments to Benjamin Bents, 

Region 8, Project Officer, UST, Solid 

Waste and PCB Unit, Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Program, 

Office of Partnerships and Regulatory 

Assistance (8P–R), EPA Region 8, 1595 

Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 

80202–1129. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R08–UST–2018– 

0728. The EPA’s policy us that all 

comments received will be included in 

the public docket without change and 

may be available online at http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through http://

www.regulations.gov, or email. The 

federal http://www.regulations.gov 

website is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ 

system, which means the EPA will not 

know your identity or contact 

information unless you provide it in the 

body of your comment. If you send an 

email comment directly to the EPA 

without going through http://

www.regulations.gov, your email 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, the EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If the EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties, and cannot 

contact you for clarification, the EPA 

may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. 

You can view and copy the 

documents that form the basis for this 

action and associated publicly available 

materials from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., 

Monday through Friday at the following 

location: EPA Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop 

Street, Denver, Colorado 80202–1129, 

phone number (303) 312–6435. 

Interested persons wanting to examine 

these documents should make an 

appointment with the office at least 2 

days in advance. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Benjamin Bents, Project Officer, UST, 

Solid Waste and PCB Unit, Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Program, 

Office of Partnerships and Regulatory 

Assistance (8P–R), EPA Region 8, 1595 

Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 

80202–1129, phone number (303) 312– 

6435, email address: Bents.Benjamin@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The State 

of North Dakota adopted state Senate 

Bill No. 2327 (S.L. 2017, ch. 199, § 75) 

which separated the Environmental 

Health Section from the North Dakota 

Department of Health (NDDOH) to 

create a stand-alone North Dakota 

Department of Environmental Quality 

(NDDEQ). Per S.L. 2017, ch. 199, 

Section 75, the transfer of authority, 

power, and duties related to 

environmental quality from NDDOH to 

NDDEQ will become effective upon the 

North Dakota Legislative Council’s 

receipt of the certification by the Chief 

of the Environmental Health Section of 

the State Department of Health attesting 

that all necessary federal approvals have 

been obtained and all necessary federal 

and other agreements have been 

amended to ensure the State will 

continue to meet the authorization 

requirements it currently satisfies after 

the transfer of authority, powers, and 

duties from the NDDOH to the NDDEQ. 

This rule constitutes the EPA approval 

of the transfer of all duties and 

responsibilities of the State relating to 

the existing federal UST program in 

North Dakota from the NDDOH to the 

NDDEQ. 

The State plans to rely on the date 

when the EPA signs the final rule for 

purposes of notifying the state 

legislature that the EPA has approved 

these revisions, which will provide for 

the transfer of authority to implement 

the federal UST program from the 

NDDOH to NDDEQ to be effective under 

state law. The EPA understands that the 

State intends to take the necessary 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with PROPOSALS1
65118 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 19, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

additional steps as specified in S.L. 

2017, ch. 199, Section 75, to ensure that 

NDDEQ comes into existence and that 

the NDDEQ rules are effective as a 

matter of state law prior to the effective 

date of the EPA’s approval of these 

revisions. Unless and until the NDDEQ 

rules and agency become fully effective 

under federal law, for purposes of 

federal law the EPA recognizes the 

State’s program as currently approved. 

For additional information, see the 

direct final rule published in the ‘‘Rules 

and Regulations’’ section of this issue of 

the Federal Register. 

Authority: This rule is issued under the 

authority of Sections 2002(a), 7004(b), and 

9004 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as 

amended, 42 U.S.C. 6912(a), 6991c, 6991d, 

and 6991e. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 281 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Hazardous substances, State program 

approval, and Underground storage 

tanks. 

Dated: December 13, 2018. 

Douglas Benevento, 

Regional Administrator, Region 8. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27421 Filed 12–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the Secretary 

45 CFR Part 162 

[CMS–0054–P] 

RIN 0938–AT42 

Administrative Simplification: 

Rescinding the Adoption of the 

Standard Unique Health Plan Identifier 

and Other Entity Identifier 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

rescind the adopted standard unique 

health plan identifier (HPID) and the 

implementation specifications and 

requirements for its use and the other 

entity identifier (OEID) and 

implementation specifications for its 

use. The decision to propose to rescind 

the adopted standards was made 

following a careful assessment of 

industry input, as well as HHS’s 

intention to explore options for a more 

effective standard unique health plan 

identifier in the future. 

DATES: To be assured consideration, 

comments must be received at one of 

the addresses provided below, no later 

than 5 p.m. on February 19, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: In commenting, please refer 

to file code CMS–0054–P. Because of 

staff and resource limitations, we cannot 

accept comments by facsimile (FAX) 

transmission. 

Comments, including mass comment 

submissions, must be submitted in one 

of the following three ways (please 

choose only one of the ways listed): 

1. Electronically. You may submit 

electronic comments on this regulation 

to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the ‘‘Submit a comment’’ instructions. 

2. By regular mail. You may mail 

written comments to the following 

address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Department of 

Health and Human Services, Attention: 

CMS–0054–P, P.O. Box 8013, Baltimore, 

MD 21244–8013. 

Please allow sufficient time for mailed 

comments to be received before the 

close of the comment period. 

3. By express or overnight mail. You 

may send written comments to the 

following address ONLY: Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Attention: CMS–0054–P, Mail 

Stop C4–26–05, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. 

For information on viewing public 

comments, see the beginning of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lorraine Doo, (410) 786–6597, for all 

policy questions. 

Rosali Topper, (410) 786–7260, for 

information about website content and 

frequently asked questions. 

Gladys Wheeler, (410) 786–0273, for 

information about the Health Plan and 

Other Entity Enumeration System 

(HPOES). 

Heinz Stokes-Murray, (410) 786–0383, 

and LaKisha Brown, (410) 786–1798, for 

general information. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Inspection of Public Comments: All 

comments received before the close of 

the comment period are available for 

viewing by the public, including any 

personally identifiable or confidential 

business information that is included in 

a comment. We post all comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period on the following 

website as soon as possible after they 

have been received: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the search 

instructions on that website to view 

public comments. 

I. Background 

A. Statutory and Regulatory History 

Section 262 of the Health Insurance 

Portability and Accountability Act of 

1996 (HIPAA) (Pub. L. 104–191) added 

section 1173 to the Social Security Act 

(the Act) and required, among other 

things, that the Secretary of the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS or the Secretary) adopt a 

standard unique health plan identifier. 

The stated purpose of section 261 of 

HIPAA is to improve the effectiveness 

and efficiency of the health care system 

by encouraging the development of a 

health information system through the 

establishment of standards and 

requirements for the electronic 

transmission of certain health 

information and reducing the clerical 

burden on patients, health care 

providers, and health plans. 

Section 1173(b)(1) of the Act specifies 

that, in adopting a standard unique 

identifier for health plans, the Secretary 

must take into account multiple uses for 

the identifier, and section 1173(b)(2) of 

the Act provides that, in adopting a 

standard health plan identifier, the 

purposes for which the identifier may 

be used must be specified. Congress 

renewed the requirement for the 

Secretary to adopt a standard unique 

health plan identifier in section 

1104(c)(1) of the Patient Protection and 

Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111–148) 

((as amended by the Health Care and 

Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 

(Pub. L. 111–152) and collectively 

known as the Affordable Care Act) by 

requiring the Secretary to promulgate a 

final rule to establish a unique health 

plan identifier, as described in section 

1173(b) of the Act and based on the 

input of the National Committee on 

Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS). 

To implement these statutory 

provisions, we adopted the HPID and 

OEID via a final rule published on 

September 5, 2012 (77 FR 54664) 

entitled Administrative Simplification: 

Adoption of a Standard for a Unique 

Health Plan Identifier; Addition to the 

National Provider Identifier 

Requirements; and a Change to the 

Compliance Date for the International 

Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition 

(ICD–10–CM and ICD–10–PCS) Medical 

Data Code Sets (hereafter, referred to as 

the September 2012 final rule). The 

September 2012 final rule did the 

following: 

• Adopted the HPID as the standard 

unique identifier for health plans. 

• Defined the terms ‘‘Controlling 

health plan’’ (CHP) and ‘‘Subhealth 

plan’’ (SHP). The definitions of these 

two terms differentiate health plan 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with PROPOSALS1