4464 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 20 / Friday, January 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

Attention Docket ID No. RCRA–2003–

0004. Comments may also be submitted 

electronically, or through hand 

delivery/courier; follow the detailed 

instructions as provided below in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general information on the proposed 

regulation, contact the RCRA Call 

Center at (800) 424–9346 or TDD (800) 

553–7672 (hearing impaired). In the 

Washington, DC, metropolitan area, call 

(703) 412–9810 or TDD (703) 412–3323. 

For more detailed information on 

specific aspects of this rulemaking, 

contact Kathy Blanton at (703) 605–0761 

(blanton.katherine@epa.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed rule that is the subject of this 

notice, and which was published in the 

Federal Register on November 20, 2003 

(68 FR 65586), proposed a conditional 

exclusion from the definition of solid 

waste for industrial wipes that are 

contaminated with solvent and that are 

sent to laundries or dry cleaners for 

cleaning and reuse. It also proposed a 

conditional exclusion from the 

definition of hazardous waste for 

industrial wipes that are contaminated 

with solvent and are sent to disposal. 

The comment period for the proposed 

rule was scheduled to end on February 

18, 2004. However, a public commenter 

(the Utilities Solid Waste Activities 

Group) has requested that EPA extend 

the comment period, noting that it is 

submitting comments on several other 

EPA rulemaking proposals with 

comment periods ending close to that 

date. EPA believes this request is 

reasonable. EPA also notes that this rule 

is not subject to any statutory or judicial 

deadlines. We are therefore extending 

the comment period for this proposal 

until March 19, 2004. 

How and to Whom Do I Submit 

Comments? 

You may submit comments 

electronically, by mail, or through hand 

delivery/courier. To ensure proper 

receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate 

docket identification number in the 

subject line on the first page of your 

comment. Please ensure that your 

comments are submitted within the 

specified comment period. Comments 

received after the close of the comment 

period will be marked ‘‘late.’’ EPA is not 

required to consider these late 

comments. 

Electronically 

If you submit an electronic comment 

as prescribed below, EPA recommends 

that you include your name, mailing 

address, and an e-mail address or other 

contact information in the body of your 

comment. Also include this contact 

information on the outside of any disk 

or CD–ROM you submit, and in any 

cover letter accompanying the disk or 

CD–ROM. This ensures that you can be 

identified as the submitter of the 

comment and allows EPA to contact you 

in case EPA cannot read your comment 

due to technical difficulties or needs 

further information on the substance of 

your comment. EPA’s policy is that EPA 

will not edit your comment, and any 

identifying or contact information 

provided in the body of a comment will 

be included as part of the comment that 

is placed in the official public docket, 

and made available in EPA’s electronic 

public docket. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. 

Your use of EPA’s electronic public 

docket to submit comments to EPA 

electronically is EPA’s preferred method 

for receiving comments. Go directly to 

EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/

edocket, and follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

To access EPA’s electronic public 

docket from the EPA Internet Home 

Page, select ‘‘Information Sources,’’

‘‘Dockets,’’ and ‘‘EPA Dockets.’’ Once in 

the system, select ‘‘search,’’ and then 

key in Docket ID No. RCRA–2003–0004. 

The system is an ‘‘anonymous access’’

system, which means EPA will not 

know your identity, e-mail address, or 

other contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

Comments may be sent by electronic 

mail (e-mail) to rcra-docket@epa.gov, 

Attention Docket ID No. RCRA–2003–

0004. In contrast to EPA’s electronic 

public docket, EPA’s e-mail system is 

not an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system. If 

you send an e-mail comment directly to 

the Docket without going through EPA’s 

electronic public docket, EPA’s e-mail 

system automatically captures your email address. E-mail addresses that are 

automatically captured by EPA’s e-mail 

system are included as part of the 

comment that is placed in the official 

public docket, and made available in 

EPA’s electronic public docket. 

You may submit comments on a disk 

or CD–ROM that you mail to the mailing 

address identified in the following 

paragraph. These electronic submissions 

will be accepted in WordPerfect or 

ASCII file format. Avoid the use of 

special characters and any form of 

encryption. 

By Mail 

Send your comments to: OSWER 

Docket, EPA Docket Center, Mailcode: 

5305T, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW., 20460, Attention Docket ID 

Number RCRA–2003–0004. 

By Hand Delivery or Courier 

Deliver your comments to: OSWER 

Docket, EPA West Building, Room B102, 

1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC., Attention Docket ID 

No. RCRA–2003–0004. Such deliveries 

are only accepted during the Docket’s 

normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays).

Dated: January 22, 2004. 

Robert Springer, 

Director, Office of Solid Waste.

[FR Doc. 04–1972 Filed 1–29–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

42 CFR Parts 412, 413, and 424 

[CMS–1213–N] 

RIN 0938–AL50 

Medicare Program; Prospective 

Payment System for Inpatient 

Psychiatric Facilities; Extension of 

Comment Period

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of extension of comment 

period for proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This document extends the 

comment period for a proposed rule, 

‘‘Medicare Program; Prospective 

Payment System for Inpatient 

Psychiatric Facilities’’ published in the 

Federal Register (68 FR 66920) on 

November 28, 2003. That rule proposes 

a prospective payment system for 

Medicare payment of inpatient hospital 

services furnished in psychiatric 

hospitals and psychiatric units of acute 

care hospitals. The prospective payment 

system described in the proposed rule 

would replace the current reasonable 

cost-based payment system under the 

Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility 

Act of 1992 (TEFRA). The comment 

period that would have closed on 

January 27, 2004 is extended 30 days.

DATES: The comment period is extended 

to 5 p.m. on February 26, 2004.

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 20 / Friday, January 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 4465

ADDRESSES: In commenting, please refer 

to file code CMS–1213–P. Because of 

staff and resource limitations, we cannot 

accept comments by facsimile (FAX) 

transmission. Mail written comments 

(one original and two copies) to the 

following address ONLY: Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Attention: CMS–1213–P, P.O. 

Box 8012, Baltimore, MD 21244–8012. 

Please allow sufficient time for mailed 

comments to be received timely in the 

event of delivery delays. 

If you prefer, you may deliver (by 

hand or courier) your written comments 

(one original and two copies) to one of 

the following addresses:

Room 445–G, Hubert H. Humphrey 

Building, 200 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 

20201, or

Room C5–14–03, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–

1850.

(Because access to the interior of the 

HHH Building is not readily available to 

persons without Federal Government 

identification, commenters are 

encouraged to leave their comments in 

the CMS drop slots located in the main 

lobby of the building. A stamp-in clock 

is available for persons wishing to retain 

a proof of filing by stamping in and 

retaining an extra copy of the comments 

being filed.) Comments mailed to the 

addresses indicated as appropriate for 

hand or courier delivery may be delayed 

and could be considered late. 

For information on viewing public 

comments, see the beginning of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Janet Samen, (410) 786–4533.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Inspection of Public Comments:

Comments received timely will be 

available for public inspection as they 

are received, generally beginning 

approximately 4 weeks after publication 

of a document, at the headquarters of 

the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, 

Baltimore, Maryland 21244, Monday 

through Friday of each week from 8:30 

a.m. to 4 p.m. To schedule an 

appointment to view public comments, 

phone (410) 786–9994. 

Copies: To order copies of the Federal 

Register containing this document, send 

your request to: New Orders, 

Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 

371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250–7954. 

Specify the date of the issue requested 

and enclose a check or money order 

payable to the Superintendent of 

Documents, or enclose your Visa or 

Master Card number and expiration 

date. Credit card orders can also be 

placed by calling the order desk at (202) 

512–1800 (or toll-free at 1–888–293–

6498) or by faxing to (202) 512–2250. 

The cost for each copy is $10. As an 

alternative, you can view and 

photocopy the Federal Register

document at most libraries designated 

as Federal Depository Libraries and at 

many other public and academic 

libraries throughout the country that 

receive the Federal Register. 

This Federal Register document is 

also available from the Federal Register

online database through GPO Access, a 

service of the U.S. Government Printing 

Office. The Web site address is: http://

www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.

On November 28, 2003, we issued a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register

(68 FR 66920) proposing a prospective 

payment system for psychiatric 

hospitals and psychiatric units. The 

proposed rule would implement section 

124 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and 

SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act 

of 1999 (BBRA), which requires the 

implementation of a per diem 

prospective payment system for 

inpatient hospital services of psychiatric 

hospitals and psychiatric units. The 

proposed prospective payment system 

would replace the reasonable cost-based 

payment system currently in effect. We 

announced that the public comment 

period for the proposed rule would 

close at 5 p.m. on January 27, 2004. 

The proposed rule, ‘‘Medicare 

Program; Prospective Payment System 

for Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities,’’ is 

unique in that it proposes, for the first 

time, a completely new payment system 

for the inpatient hospital services of 

psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric 

units of acute care hospitals. Due to the 

complexity and scope of this proposed 

rule and because many people have 

requested additional time to examine 

the proposed rule so that they may 

provide meaningful comments on its 

provisions, we have decided to extend 

the comment period for an additional 30 

days. This document announces the 

extension of the public comment period 

to February 26, 2004.

Authority: Secs. 1102 and 1871 of the 

Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1302 and 

1395hh).

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 93.773, Medicare—Hospital 

Insurance; and Program No. 93.774, 

Medicare—Supplementary Medical 

Insurance Program)

Dated: January 23, 2004. 

Dennis G. Smith, 

Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare 

& Medicaid Services. 

Approved: January 26, 2004. 

Tommy G. Thompson, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–1945 Filed 1–27–04; 11:10 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service 

RIN 1018–AI95 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[Docket No: 021223326–4022–02] 

RIN 0648–AQ69 

50 CFR Part 402 

Joint Counterpart Endangered Species 

Act Section 7 Consultation 

Regulations

AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior; National Marine Fisheries 

Service, National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the 

Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service 

(FWS) and the U.S. Department of 

Commerce, National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, National 

Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA 

Fisheries) (referred to jointly as 

‘‘Services’’ and individually as 

‘‘Service’’), after coordination with the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

and the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA), are proposing joint counterpart 

regulations for consultation under 

section 7 of the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (ESA) for 

regulatory actions under the Federal 

Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide 

Act (FIFRA). Counterpart regulations, 

described in general terms in the same 

part, are intended to provide flexibility 

in the ways that a federal agency may 

meet its obligations under the ESA by 

creating alternative procedures to the 

existing section 7 consultation process 

described in the same part. These 

counterpart regulations would 

complement the existing section 7 

consultation process described in the 

same part and enhance the efficiency 

and effectiveness of the section 7 

consultation process by increasing 

interagency cooperation and providing