### 3205 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 12 / Friday, January 17, 2014 / Notices

owned by the bank holding company, including the companies listed below.

The applications listed below, as well as other related filings required by the Board, are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The applications will also be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing on the standards enumerated in the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the proposal also involves the acquisition of a nonbanking company, the review also includes whether the acquisition of the nonbanking company complies with the standards in section 4 of the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise noted, nonbanking activities will be conducted throughout the United States.

Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding each of these applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than February 13,
2014.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Dennis Denney, Assistant Vice President) 1 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, Missouri 64198–0001:

1. Tulsa Valley Bancshares Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma; to acquire 100 percent of the voting shares of Lake Bancshares Corporation, and thereby indirectly acquire Bank of the Lakes, N.A., both in Owasso, Oklahoma.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 14, 2014. Michael J. Lewandowski, Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2014–00843 Filed 1–16–14; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 6210–01–P**

**FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM**

**Notice of Proposals To Engage in or To Acquire Companies Engaged in**  **Permissible Nonbanking Activities**

The companies listed in this notice have given notice under section 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1843) (BHC Act) and Regulation Y, (12 CFR part 225) to engage de novo, or to acquire or control voting securities or assets of a company, including the companies listed below, that engages either directly or through a subsidiary or other company, in a nonbanking activity that is listed in § 225.28 of Regulation Y (12 CFR 225.28) or that the Board has determined by Order to be closely related to banking and permissible for bank holding companies. Unless otherwise noted, these activities will be conducted throughout the United States.

Each notice is available for inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The notice also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing on the question whether the proposal complies with the standards of section 4 of the BHC Act.

Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding the applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than February 3, 2014.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (Nadine Wallman, Vice President) 1455 East Sixth Street, Cleveland, Ohio
44101–2566:

1. TriState Capital Holdings, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; to acquire Chartwell Investment Partners, L.P., Berwyn, Pennsylvania, and thereby engage in financial and investment advisory activities, pursuant to section 225.28(b)(6).

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 14, 2014. Michael J. Lewandowski, Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2014–00844 Filed 1–16–14; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 6210–01–P**

**FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD** 

**Sunshine Act Meeting**

**TIME AND DATE :**  9:00 a.m., January 27,
2014.

**PLACE :**  10th Floor Board Meeting Room, 77 K Street NE., Washington, DC 20002.

**STATUS :**  Parts will be open to the public and parts closed to the public.

**MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED :** 
Parts Closed to the Public at 9:00 a.m.

1. Procurement Parts Open to the Public at 10:00 a.m. 1. Monthly Reports

a. Monthly Participant Activity Report b. Monthly Investment Policy Report c. Legislative Report 2. Audit Status 3. Quarterly Vendor Financials 4. Budget Review 5. Annual Expense Ratio Review

**CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION :**  Kimberly Weaver, Director, Office of External Affairs, (202) 942–1640.

Dated: January 14, 2014. James B. Petrick, Secretary, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. [FR Doc. 2014–00959 Filed 1–14–14; 4:15 pm]

**BILLING CODE 6760–01–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND**  **HUMAN SERVICES**

**Office of the Secretary**

**[CMS–0041–N]**

**Modified Policy on Freedom of Information Act Disclosure of Amounts**  **Paid to Individual Physicians Under the Medicare Program** 

**AGENCY :**  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

**ACTION :**  Notice.

**SUMMARY :**  This notice sets forth a new policy regarding requests made under the Freedom of Information Act for information on amounts paid to individual physicians under the Medicare program in which CMS will make case-by-case determinations as to whether exemption 6 of the Freedom of Information Act applies to a given request for such information.

**DATES :**  This notice is effective on March 18, 2014.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Grace Im (202) 260–6770.

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :**  I. Background

In a previous policy on the disclosure of amounts paid to individual physicians under the Medicare program, which was set forth in the November 28,
1980 Federal Register (45 FR 79172), the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (which later became the Department of Health and Human Services (the Department)) stated that, in considering the two competing interests of public transparency and privacy, the public interest in the Department’s disclosure of the amounts that had been paid to individual physicians under the Medicare program was not sufficient to compel disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The policy change was premised on two courts having found a compelling privacy interest on the part of the physicians. See, Florida Medical Association, Inc., et al. v. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, et al. (M.D. Fla. 1979) and The American Staffs of Private Hospitals, Inc., et al. v. Health Care Financing Administration, et al. (E.D. La. 1980). However, the policy was expressly published in response to the Florida Medical Association district court’s issuance of a permanent injunction, which barred the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from disclosing identifiable annual Medicare reimbursement payments of individual physicians or disclosure of payments in a manner that could identify individual physicians.


### 3206 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 12 / Friday, January 17, 2014 / Notices

1 CMS, ‘‘Request for Public Comments on the Potential Release of Medicare Physician Data’’ (August 6, 2013), available at: http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/StatisticsTrends-and-Reports/Medicare-Provider-ChargeData/Public-Comment.html.

That district court vacated its permanent injunction on May 31, 2013 after determining that such a broad injunction was no longer authorized under the Privacy Act after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Edison v. Department of the Army (11th Cir. 1982), and thus its continued enforcement was no longer equitable. Following the court’s decision, CMS solicited public comment on August 6, 2013 on its proposed policies with respect to disclosure of individual physician payment information. 1

II. Provisions of the Notice

The Secretary has considered the court’s decision and the wide spectrum of public comments received by CMS. In doing so, the Department has decided to replace the prior policy, as set forth in the November 28, 1980 Federal Register (45 FR 79172), with a new policy in which CMS will make case-by-case determinations as to whether exemption 6 of the Freedom of Information Act applies to a given request for information pertaining to the amounts that were paid to individual physicians under Medicare. Exemption 6 requires CMS to weigh the balance between the privacy interest of individual physicians and the public interest in disclosure of such information. As the outcome of the balancing test will depend on the circumstances, the outcomes of these analyses may vary depending on the facts of each case. However, in all cases, we are committed to protecting the privacy of Medicare beneficiaries.

Dated: January 6, 2014. Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Approved: January 6, 2014. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2014–00808 Filed 1–14–14; 11:15 am]

**BILLING CODE 4120–01–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND**  **HUMAN SERVICES**

**Centers for Disease Control and Prevention** 

**[30-Day 14–13AHG]**

**Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review** 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a list of information collection requests under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call (404) 639–7570 or send an email to omb@cdc.gov. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395–5806. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice. Proposed Project

Evaluation of Food Safety Programs— New—National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Background and Brief Description

Local and state food safety programs (FSPs) are on the frontline of foodborne disease prevention in United States (U.S.). Through the EnvironmentalHealth Specialists Network (EHSNet)(OMB No. 0920–0792, Expiration 2/28/2015), CDC currently funds and works with local and state health departments in five states (California, New York, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Tennessee) to: (1) Identify environmental antecedents (underlying factors) to illness and disease outbreaks; (2) translate findings into improved prevention efforts using a systems-based approach; (3) offer training opportunities to current and future environmental health specialists; and (4) strengthen collaboration among epidemiology, laboratory, and environmental health programs. This CDC program offers insights into the current status of FSPs among EHS-Net partners, but information is lacking on a national scale.

The current tight fiscal environment faced by U.S. health departments has led to a significant reduction in funding for public health programs, such as food safety. For example, 57 percent of local health departments reduced or eliminated at least one public health program during 2011. Therefore, the CDC is requesting for a two-year OMB approval to conduct the ‘‘Evaluation of Food Safety Programs’’ survey among a representative sample of local and state health departments implementing FSPs in the U.S.

The purpose of this evaluation of local and state FSPs is to collect descriptive data on their current status and activities, to describe changes in their status and activities from 2007 to 2012, and to determine if there is a relationship between funding status and activities. Data will be collected on food safety activities, workforce capacity and competency, financial resources, community health, and demographics of FSPs. Data collected will help CDC better understand the relationship between different levels of funding and FSP effectiveness in the U.S.

State and local food safety programs are primary respondents for this data collection. There are over 3,000 state and local health departments in the U.S. It is unknown how many state and local health departments will actually participate in the evaluation survey, as participation will be voluntary.

This information collection seeks approval to obtain data using a one-time data collection survey. The survey will take approximately 2 hours to complete. The survey will be completed once by respondents either manually or electronically. The CDC is asking for this data collection burden to allow local and state health departments ample time to request and obtain the information they need from their various departments and units to complete the evaluation survey.

For this project, the anticipated number of respondents is 190 health departments per year, and the total estimated annual burden hours are 380 hours. Only local and state health departments implementing food safety programs in the U.S. will be eligible to participate in the survey. There will be no cost to the respondents other than their time.