This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

77609

Vol. 69, No. 248

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 60

[No. LS–03–04] 

RIN 0581–AC26

Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling 

of Fish and Shellfish

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule; extension of 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: On October 5, 2004, the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

published an interim final rule (69 FR 

59708) for the mandatory country of 

origin labeling (COOL) program for fish 

and shellfish as mandated by the Farm 

Security and Rural Investment Act of 

2002 (Farm Bill) and the 2002 

Supplemental Appropriations Act 

(Appropriations Act), which amended 

the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 

(Act) to direct the Secretary of 

Agriculture to promulgate regulations 

by September 30, 2004, requiring 

retailers to notify their customers of the 

country of origin of covered 

commodities. The FY 2004 

Consolidated Appropriations Act 

(Public Law 108–199) delayed the 

applicability of mandatory COOL for all 

covered commodities except wild and 

farm-raised fish and shellfish until 

September 30, 2006. AMS is extending 

the comment period to February 2, 

2005, at the request of industry trade 

associations to provide interested 

parties with additional time to file 

comments.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before February 2, 2005, to be assured 

of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: 

Country of Origin Labeling Program, 

Room 2092–S; Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS), USDA; STOP 0249; 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0249, or by 

facsimile to (202) 720–3499, or by email to cool@usda.gov. Comments 

received will be posted to the AMS Web 

site at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/cool/.

Comments sent to the above location 

that specifically pertain to the 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements should also 

be sent to the Desk Officer for 

Agriculture, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), New 

Executive Office Building, 725 17th 

Street, NW., Room 725, Washington, DC 

20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Sessions, Associate Deputy 

Administrator, Livestock and Seed 

Program, AMS, USDA, by telephone on 

(202) 720–5707, or via e-mail to: 

william.sessions@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Farm 

Bill and the Appropriations Act 

amended the Act to direct the Secretary 

of Agriculture to promulgate regulations 

by September 30, 2004, requiring 

retailers to notify their customers of the 

country of origin of covered 

commodities. The FY 2004 

Consolidated Appropriations Act 

(Public Law 108–199) delayed the 

applicability of mandatory COOL for all 

covered commodities except wild and 

farm-raised fish and shellfish until 

September 30, 2006. 

On October 5, 2004, AMS published 

an interim final rule (69 FR 59708) for 

the mandatory country of origin labeling 

program for fish and shellfish. The 

comment period was originally 

scheduled to end on January 3, 2005. 

However, two industry trade 

organizations have requested additional 

time for retailers to examine their 

systems in light of the requirements of 

the interim final rule in order to provide 

more meaningful comments. Further, 

the Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA) recently published the final rule 

to implement the Bioterrorism Act’s 

recordkeeping requirements and more 

time is needed for the industry to 

compare the FDA regulation 

recordkeeping requirements with the 

recordkeeping requirements under the 

COOL interim final rule. Therefore, 

AMS has determined that there is 

sufficient justification for extending the 

comment period 30 days until February 

2, 2005.

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.

Dated: December 22, 2004. 

A.J. Yates, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service.

[FR Doc. 04–28349 Filed 12–27–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Housing Service 

7 CFR Parts 1806, 1822, 1902, 1925, 

1930, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1951, 1955, 

1956, 1965, 3560, and 3565

RIN 0575–AC13

Reinvention of the Sections 514, 515, 

516 and 521 Multi-Family Housing 

Programs

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule; extension of 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: The comment period for the 

interim final rule is being extended an 

additional 30 days from December 27, 

2004, in order to provide opportunities 

for further comment on this rule and its 

criteria. This interim final rule was 

published in the Federal Register on 

November 26, 2004, (69 FR 69032).

DATES: Comments on the interim final 

rule must be received on or before 

January 26, 2005, to be assured of 

consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

to this rule by any of the following 

methods: 

• Agency Web Site: http://

rdinit.usda.gov/regs/. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on the Web site. 

• E-Mail: comments@usda.gov. 

Include the RIN number (0575-AC13) in 

the subject line of the message. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments via 

Federal Express Mail or another mail 

courier service requiring a street address 

to the Branch Chief, Regulations and 

Paperwork Management Branch, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 300 7th 

Street, SW, 7th Floor, Suite 701, 

Washington, DC 20024. 

77610 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

1 69 FR 31913 (June 8, 2004). The Guidelines are 

codified at 12 CFR parts 30, app. B (OCC); 208, app. 

All written comments will be 

available for public inspection during 

regular work hours at the 300 7th Street, 

SW., address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue 

Harris-Green, Deputy Director, MultiFamily Housing Direct Loan Division, 

Rural Housing Service, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Room 1241, South 

Building, Stop 0781, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0781, telephone 

(202) 720–1660.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

Federal Register dated November 26, 

2004, the Rural Housing Service (RHS) 

published an interim final rule which 

had the intent of streamlining and 

reengineering its regulations, as well as 

utilizing several private sector processes 

and techniques in the administration of 

the origination, management, servicing, 

and preservation of its Multi-Family 

Housing programs. These programs 

include the section 515 Rural Rental 

Housing (RRH) loan program, the 

section 514/516 Farm Labor Housing 

loan and grant program, and the section 

521 Rental Assistance (RA) program. 

This interim final rule combines the 

provisions of the Streamlining and 

Consolidation of the sections 514, 515, 

516, and 521 Multi-Family Housing 

(MFH) Programs Proposed Rule 

published on June 2, 2003, and the 

Operating Assistance for Off-Farm 

Migrant Farmworker Projects Proposed 

Rule published on November 2, 2000. 

Due to the complex nature of the 

changes in the regulation, it is in the 

best interest of the public to extend the 

period of time in which comments will 

be accepted. Initially, the comment 

period was to end on December 27, 

2004. The revised ending date for the 

receipt of comments is now January 26, 

2005.

Dated: December 16, 2004. 

Gilbert Gonzalez, 

Acting Under Secretary, Rural Development.

[FR Doc. 04–28240 Filed 12–27–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XV–U

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

12 CFR Parts 30 and 41 

[Docket No. 04–13] 

RIN 1557–AC84 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

12 CFR Parts 208, 211, 222, and 225 

[Docket No. R–1199] 

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE 

CORPORATION 

12 CFR Parts 334 and 364 

RIN 3064–AC77 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

12 CFR Parts 568, 570, and 571 

[No. 2004–56] 

RIN 1550–AB87 

Proper Disposal of Consumer 

Information Under the Fair and 

Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 

2003

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of 

the Currency, Treasury (OCC); Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (Board); Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation (FDIC); and 

Office of Thrift Supervision, Treasury 

(OTS).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The OCC, Board, FDIC, and 

OTS (the Agencies) are adopting a final 

rule to implement section 216 of the 

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions 

Act of 2003 by amending the 

Interagency Guidelines Establishing 

Standards for Safeguarding Customer 

Information. The final rule generally 

requires each financial institution to 

develop, implement, and maintain, as 

part of its existing information security 

program, appropriate measures to 

properly dispose of consumer 

information derived from consumer 

reports to address the risks associated 

with identity theft.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

OCC: Aida Plaza Carter, Director, Bank 

Information Technology, (202) 874–

4740; Amy Friend, Assistant Chief 

Counsel, (202) 874–5200; or Deborah 

Katz, Senior Counsel, Legislative and 

Regulatory Activities Division, (202) 

874–5090. 

Board: Donna L. Parker, Supervisory 

Financial Analyst, Division of 

Supervision & Regulation, (202) 452–

2614; Joshua H. Kaplan, Attorney, Legal 

Division, (202) 452–2249; Minh-Duc T. 

Le or Ky Tran-Trong, Senior Attorneys, 

Division of Consumer and Community 

Affairs, (202) 452–3667. 

FDIC: Jeffrey M. Kopchik, Senior 

Policy Analyst, Division of Supervision 

and Consumer Protection, (202) 898–

3872; Kathryn M. Weatherby, 

Examination Specialist, Division of 

Supervision and Consumer Protection, 

(202) 898–6793; Robert A. Patrick, 

Counsel, Legal Division, (202) 898–

3757; Janet V. Norcom, Counsel, Legal 

Division, (202) 898–8886. 

OTS: Glenn Gimble, Senior Project 

Manager, Thrift Policy, (202) 906–7158; 

Lewis C. Angel, Senior Project Manager, 

Technology Risk Management, (202) 

906–5645; Richard Bennett, Counsel 

(Banking and Finance), Regulations and 

Legislation Division, (202) 906–7409.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

Section 216 of the Fair and Accurate 

Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT 

Act or the Act) adds a new section 628 

to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 

at 15 U.S.C. 1681w, that, in general, is 

designed to protect a consumer against 

the risks associated with unauthorized 

access to information about the 

consumer contained in a consumer 

report, such as fraud and related crimes 

including identity theft. Section 216 of 

the Act requires each of the Agencies to 

adopt a regulation with respect to the 

entities that are subject to its 

enforcement authority ‘‘requiring any 

person that maintains or otherwise 

possesses consumer information, or any 

compilation of consumer information, 

derived from consumer reports for a 

business purpose to properly dispose of 

any such information or compilation.’’

Pub. L. 108–159, 117 Stat. 1985–86. The 

FACT Act mandates that the Agencies 

ensure that their respective regulations 

are consistent with the requirements 

issued pursuant to the Gramm-LeachBliley Act (GLB Act) (Pub. L. 106–102), 

as well as other provisions of Federal 

law.

On June 8, 2004, the Agencies 

published a proposal to amend the 

Interagency Guidelines Establishing 

Standards for Safeguarding Customer 

Information (Guidelines) to require 

financial institutions to implement 

controls designed to ensure the proper 

disposal of ‘‘consumer information’’

within the meaning of section 216.1 A