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

49589

Vol. 62, No. 184

Tuesday, September 23, 1997

MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION

BOARD

5 CFR Part 1200

Board Organization

AGENCY: Merit Systems Protection

Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Merit Systems Protection

Board is amending its organization and

functions statement to reflect changes in

the Board’s headquarters organization

and assignment of functions. These

changes have been made to further

streamline the Board’s headquarters

operations, enabling the agency to

continue performing its functions

effectively at the reduced budget and

staffing levels expected through fiscal

year 2000.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 23, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert E. Taylor, Clerk of the Board,

(202) 653–7200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

response to the second phase of the

Administration’s Reinventing

Government initiative (REGO II), the

Chairman of the Merit Systems

Protection Board appointed a REGO II

Task Force to review all Board

operations and to make

recommendations for changes in

organization, functions, and procedures

that would enable the agency to

continue performing its functions

effectively at the reduced budget and

staffing levels expected through fiscal

year 2000. In response to the

recommendations of the Task Force,

certain organizational and functional

changes have been effected. This

amendment to 5 CFR part 1200 reflects

the following changes:

The Office of the Administrative Law

Judge and Regional Operations has been

separated into two offices, the Office of

the Administrative Law Judge and the

Office of Regional Operations.

The Administrative Law Judge will

continue to hear all Special Counsel

complaints for disciplinary action,

including Hatch Act cases, and

proposed actions against administrative

law judges. The Administrative Law

Judge will also hear other assigned

cases.

The Office of Regional Operations

will manage the adjudicatory and

administrative functions of the MSPB

regional and field offices. References to

the number of such offices have been

removed.

The responsibility for preparing

proposed decisions for the Board in

original jurisdiction cases has been

reassigned from the Office of the

General Counsel to the Office of

Appeals Counsel. As a result, most

processing of cases that are decided by

the 3-member Board is now centralized

in the Office of Appeals Counsel. The

Office of the General Counsel remains

responsible for preparing proposed

decisions for the Board in cases that the

Board assigns.

Most of the Board’s information

services have been consolidated in the

Office of the Clerk of the Board.

Requests for non-case related

information from the White House,

Congress, and the media will continue

to be handled by the Office of the

General Counsel, and requests for

information concerning the Board’s

studies will continue to be handled by

the Office of Policy and Evaluation.

The Office of Planning and Resource

Management Services has been

abolished, and its three divisions now

report to the Chairman through the

Chief of Staff.

The Board is publishing this rule as

a final rule pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 1204(h).

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 1200

Organization and functions

(Government agencies).

Accordingly, the Board amends 5 CFR

part 1200 as follows:

PART 1200—[AMENDED]

Subpart B—Offices of the Board,

consisting of § 1200.10, is revised to

read as follows:

Subpart B—Offices of the Board

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1204 (h) and (j).

§ 1200.10 Staff organization and functions.

(a) The Board’s headquarters staff is

organized into the following offices and

divisions:

(1) Office of Regional Operations.

(2) Office of the Administrative Law

Judge.

(3) Office of Appeals Counsel.

(4) Office of the Clerk of the Board.

(5) Office of the General Counsel.

(6) Office of Policy and Evaluation.

(7) Office of Equal Employment

Opportunity.

(8) Financial and Administrative

Management Division.

(9) Human Resources Management

Division.

(10) Information Resources

Management Division.

(b) The principal functions of the

Board’s headquarters offices are as

follows:

(1) Office of Regional Operations. The

Director, Office of Regional Operations,

manages the adjudicatory and

administrative functions of the MSPB

regional and field offices.

(2) Office of the Administrative Law

Judge. The Administrative Law Judge

hears Hatch Act cases, disciplinary

action complaints brought by the

Special Counsel, actions against

administrative law judges, appeals of

actions taken against MSPB employees,

and other cases that the Board assigns.

(3) Office of Appeals Counsel. The

Director, Office of Appeals Counsel,

prepares proposed decisions that

recommend appropriate action by the

Board in petition for review cases,

original jurisdiction cases, and other

cases assigned by the Board.

(4) Office of the Clerk of the Board.

The Clerk of the Board enters petitions

for review and other headquarters cases

onto the Board’s docket and monitors

their processing. The Clerk of the Board

also does the following:

(i) Serves as the Board’s public

information center, including providing

information on the status of cases,

distributing copies of Board decisions

and publications, and operating the

Board’s Library and on-line information

services;

(ii) Manages the Board’s records,

reports, legal research, and

correspondence control programs; and

(iii) Answers requests under the

Freedom of Information and Privacy

Acts at the Board’s headquarters, and

answers other requests for information
49590 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 184 / Tuesday, September 23, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

except those for which the Office of the

General Counsel or the Office of Policy

and Evaluation is responsible.

(5) Office of the General Counsel. The

General Counsel provides legal advice

to the Board and its headquarters and

regional offices; represents the Board in

court proceedings; prepares proposed

decisions for the Board in cases that the

Board assigns; coordinates legislative

policy and performs legislative liaison;

responds to requests for non-case

related information from the White

House, Congress, and the media; and

plans and directs audits and

investigations.

(6) Office of Policy and Evaluation.

The Director, Policy and Evaluation,

carries out the Board’s statutory

responsibility to conduct special

reviews and studies of the civil service

and other merit systems in the

Executive Branch, as well as oversight

reviews of the significant actions of the

Office of Personnel Management. The

office prepares the Board’s reports of

these reviews and studies, submits them

to the President and the Congress, and

makes them available to other interested

individuals and organizations. The

office is responsible for distributing the

Board’s reports and for responding to

requests for information or briefings

concerning them.

(7) Office of Equal Employment

Opportunity. The Director, Office of

Equal Employment Opportunity,

manages the Board’s equal employment

programs.

(8) Financial and Administrative

Management Division. The Financial

and Administrative Management

Division administers the budget,

accounting, procurement, property

management, physical security, and

general services functions of the Board.

It also develops and coordinates internal

management programs and projects,

including review of internal controls

agencywide.

(9) Human Resources Management

Division. The Human Resources

Management Division develops policies

and manages the Board’s human

resources programs, including staffing,

classification, employee relations,

performance management, payroll,

personnel security, and training and

development functions.

(10) Information Resources

Management Division. The Information

Resources Management Division

develops, implements, and maintains

the Board’s automated information

systems.

(c) Regional and Field Offices. The

Board has regional and field offices

located throughout the country (See

Appendix II to 5 CFR part 1201 for a list

of the regional and field offices). Judges

in the regional and field offices hear and

decide initial appeals and other

assigned cases as provided for in the

Board’s regulations.

Dated: September 18, 1997.

Robert E. Taylor,

Clerk of the Board.

[FR Doc. 97–25301 Filed 9–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7400–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

9 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. 97–061–1]

Expenses Associated With

Transporting and Disposing of

Tuberculosis-Exposed Animals

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: We are amending the

regulations concerning animals

destroyed because of tuberculosis to

allow the U.S. Department of

Agriculture to pay herd owners some of

their expenses for transporting

tuberculosis-exposed cattle, bison, and

cervids to slaughter or to the point of

disposal, and for disposing of the

animals. Prior to this interim rule, herd

owners could only receive help with

these costs for affected animals.

Consequently, herd owners in some

cases elected to keep exposed animals

in a herd until testing revealed them to

be either free of tuberculosis or affected

with tuberculosis, or elected not to

depopulate an affected herd, providing

opportunity for further spread of the

disease. This interim rule also makes

minor changes to the provisions for

paying some of the expenses for

transporting tuberculosis-affected

animals to the point of disposal and

disposing of them. This interim rule is

necessary to ensure continued progress

toward eradicating tuberculosis in the

U.S. livestock population.

DATES: Interim rule effective September

17, 1997. Consideration will be given

only to comments received on or before

November 24, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and

three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 97–061–1, Regulatory

Analysis and Development, PPD,

APHIS, suite 3C03, 4700 River Road

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Please state that your comments refer to

Docket No. 97–061–1. Comments

received may be inspected at USDA,

room 1141, South Building, 14th Street

and Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,

except holidays. Persons wishing to

inspect comments are requested to call

ahead on (202) 690–2817 to facilitate

entry into the comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Mitchell A. Essey, Senior Staff

Veterinarian, National Animal Health

Programs, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road

Unit 36, Riverdale, MD 20737–1231,

(301) 734–7727.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Bovine tuberculosis (referred to below

as tuberculosis) is a serious

communicable disease of cattle, bison,

and other species, including humans,

caused by Mycobacterium bovis.

Tuberculosis causes weight loss, general

debilitation, and sometimes death. The

regulations at 9 CFR part 50, ‘‘Animals

Destroyed Because of Tuberculosis’’ (the

regulations), administered by the

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department

of Agriculture (the Department), provide

for payment of Federal indemnity to

owners of certain cattle, bison, cervids,

and swine destroyed because of

tuberculosis.

As part of the program to control and

eradicate tuberculosis in livestock, the

payment of indemnity is intended to

provide owners with an incentive for

promptly destroying cattle, bison, and

cervids that are affected with or exposed

to tuberculosis and, in limited cases,

swine that are exposed to tuberculosis.

Because the continued presence of

tuberculosis in a herd seriously

threatens the health of other animals in

that herd and possibly other herds, the

prompt destruction of tuberculosisaffected and -exposed animals is critical

if tuberculosis eradication efforts in the

United States are to succeed.

As set forth in § 50.4 of the

regulations, cattle, bison, and cervids

are classified as affected with

tuberculosis on the basis of an

intradermal tuberculin test applied by a

Federal, State, or an accredited

veterinarian, or by other diagnostic

procedure approved in advance by the

Administrator of APHIS. Cattle, bison,

and cervids are classified as exposed to

tuberculosis when such cattle, bison,

and cervids (1) are part of a known

affected herd, or (2) are found to have

moved from an affected herd before the

time infection was disclosed in the herd

and after the time the herd had