44304 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 161 / Wednesday, August 20, 1997 / Notices

agreement. The Administration expects

that the Agreement will be a treaty,

which will be submitted to the Senate

for advice and consent necessary for

ratification, and that certain changes

would need to be made to Section 12 of

the Toxic Substances Control Act and

Section 17 of the Federal Insecticide,

Fungicide and Rodenticide Act to meet

an obligation to ensure that exports of

PIC-listed chemicals do not occur

contrary to decisions regarding those

chemicals by importing countries.

In the negotiations, other countries

have made proposals which would

make eligible a somewhat broader range

of chemicals than under the voluntary

guidelines, and which would include

information exchange provisions which,

if accepted, could require other changes

to TSCA and FIFRA, as well as the

Federal Hazardous Substances Act. In

particular, there are proposals to

include provisions requiring

notifications for exports of chemicals

which are banned or severely restricted

under national law (Article 11 of the

proposed text), as well as certain

proposals regarding labeling and

material safety data sheets for chemicals

(Article 12 of the proposed text).

The Department of State is issuing

this notice to help ensure that

potentially affected parties are aware of

and knowledgeable about the

parameters of these negotiations. In the

future, we will be contacting interested

organizations about planned briefings

by mail or fax. Those organizations

which cannot attend the meeting, but

wish to remain informed, should

provide Mr. Trigg Talley of the

Department of State with their address,

telephone and fax numbers.

Dated: August 14, 1997.

Trigg Talley,

Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of

Environmental Policy.

[FR Doc. 97–22025 Filed 8–19–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–09–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request for Form 8554

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS),

Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort

to reduce paperwork and respondent

burden, invites the general public and

other Federal agencies to take this

opportunity to comment on proposed

and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.

3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is

soliciting comments concerning Form

8554, Application for Renewal of

Enrollment to Practice Before the

Internal Revenue Service.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before October 20, 1997

to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Garrick R. Shear, Internal Revenue

Service, room 5571, 1111 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the information collection

should be directed to Carol Savage,

(202) 622–3945, Internal Revenue

Service, room 5569, 1111 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Application for Renewal of

Enrollment to Practice Before the

Internal Revenue Service.

OMB Number: 1545–0946.

Form Number: Form 8554.

Abstract: The information obtained

from Form 8554 relates to the approval

of continuing professional education

programs and the renewal of the

enrollment status for those individuals

admitted (enrolled) to practice before

the Internal Revenue Service. The

information will be used by the Director

of Practice to determine the

qualifications of individuals who apply

for renewal of enrollment.

Current Actions: Changes to Form

8554.

Line 5a was rewritten to clarify the

circumstances for earning continuing

professional education credits by

passing the Special Enrollment

Examination. Also, Item D was deleted

because the information is no longer

needed.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

39,500.

Estimated Time Per Respondent: 1

hour, 12 minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 47,400.

The following paragraph applies to all

of the collections of information covered

by this notice:

An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless the collection of information

displays a valid OMB control number.

Books or records relating to a

collection of information must be

retained as long as their contents may

become material in the administration

of any internal revenue law. Generally,

tax returns and tax return information

are confidential, as required by 26

U.S.C. 6103.

REQUEST FOR COMMENTS: Comments

submitted in response to this notice will

be summarized and/or included in the

request for OMB approval. All

comments will become a matter of

public record. Comments are invited on:

(a) whether the collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

collection of information; (c) ways to

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity

of the information to be collected; (d)

ways to minimize the burden of the

collection of information on

respondents, including through the use

of automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology;

and (e) estimates of capital or start-up

costs and costs of operation,

maintenance, and purchase of services

to provide information.

Approved: August 13, 1997.

Garrick R. Shear,

IRS Reports Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–22018 Filed 8–19–97; 8:45am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

Privacy Act of 1974; Computer

Matching Program Between the

Department of Veterans Affairs and the

United States Postal Service

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice of computer matching

program.

Notice is hereby given that the

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and

the United States Postal Service (USPS)

propose to conduct a computer

matching program. The purpose of the

program is to identify and locate USPS

employees who owe delinquent debts to

the Federal Government as a result of

their participation in benefit programs
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 161 / Wednesday, August 20, 1997 / Notices 44305

administered by VA. Once identified

and located, VA will pursue collection

of debts through voluntary payments. If

such payments are not forthcoming, VA

may request USPS to offset up to 15

percent of the employees’ disposable

pay as authorized under the provisions

of the Debt Collection Act of 1982.

The legal authority for undertaking

this matching program is contained in

the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L.

97–365), 31 U.S.C. Chapter 37,

Subchapter I (General) and Subchapter

II (Claims of the United States

Government), 31 U.S.C. 3711 (Collection

and Compromise) and 5 U.S.C. 5514

(Installment Deduction for

Indebtedness). These statutes authorize

Federal agencies to offset a Federal

employee’s salary as a means of

satisfying delinquent debts owed the

United States. VA and USPS have

concluded an agreement to conduct the

matching program pursuant to

provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as

amended (15 U.S.C. 552a(o)). USPS will

act as recipient (i.e., matching) agency.

VA will provide a tape extract to USPS

that contains the name and social

security number (SSN) of each record

subject. USPS will compare the tape

extract against its database of employee

records, establishing ‘‘hits’’ (i.e.,

individuals common to both tapes) on

the basis of matched SSN’s. For each

hit, USPS will disclose to VA the

following information: name, SSN,

home address and employee type

(permanent or temporary).

Records To Be Matched: The systems

of records maintained by the respective

agencies from which records will be

disclosed for the purpose of this

computer match are as follows:

USPS: Finance Records—Payroll

System (USPS 050.020) containing

records of approximately 800,000

employees. Disclosure will be made

under routine use of 24 of that system,

a full description of which was last

published at 57 FR 57515 (December 4,

1992).

VA: Accounts Receivable Records—

VA (88VA20A6) containing records of

approximately 300,000 debtors.

Disclosure will be made under routine

use No. 7 of that system, a full

description of which was last published

in 61 FR 60148 on November 26, 1996.

The matching program is expected to

begin on or about September 19, 1997,

and continue in effect for 18 months.

The agreement governing the matching

program and, thus, the matching

program, may be extended an additional

12 months with the respective approval

of VA’s and USPS’ Data Integrity

Boards. Such extension must occur

within three months prior to expiration

of the 18-month period set forth above

and under the terms set forth in 5 U.S.C.

552a(o)(2)(D).

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments,

suggestions, or objections regarding the

proposal to conduct the matching

program to the Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Avenue, NW, room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420. All relevant

material received before September 19,

1997, will be considered. All written

comments received will be available for

public inspection in the Office of

Regulations Management, Room 1158,

810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington,

DC 20420, between 8 a.m. and 4:30

p.m., Monday through Fridays, except

holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Gottsacker, Debt Management

Center (389/00A), Department of

Veterans Affairs, Bishop Henry Whipple

Federal Building, 1 Federal Drive, Ft.

Snelling, Minnesota 55111, (612) 725–

1844.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

information is required by the Privacy

Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C.

552a(e)(12)). A copy of this notice has

been provided to both Houses of

Congress and OMB.

Approved: August 5, 1997.

Hershel Gober,

Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97–22007 Filed 8–19–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–M