Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 217 / Monday, November 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 60465

Education Service, Veterans Benefits

Administration, 202–273–7187.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

document proposes to amend 38 CFR

Part 21, Subpart F–3. It proposes to

place two-year deadlines for submitting

the certifications required for both

periodic payments and lump-sum

deferred-incentive payments under the

Service Members Occupational

Conversion and Training Act

(SMOCTA), 10 U.S.C. 1143, note.

Under SMOCTA, VA has made

periodic payments to employers while

they trained veterans who were forced

or induced to leave military service by

reason of the drawdown of the Armed

Forces. SMOCTA provides that the

maximum period of training for which

assistance may be provided on behalf of

a veteran is 18 months. Under SMOCTA

VA also provides for lump-sum

deferred-incentive payments to

employers if the veterans remained

employed in the occupation for which

they were trained for at least four

continuous months after they completed

training. Although the National Defense

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994

(Pub. L. 103–160) extended the date by

which a veteran could enter a SMOCTA

training program to March 31, 1997,

Pub. L. 103–335 only extended the

availability of SMOCTA funds for

obligation until September 30, 1995.

The effect of these provisions is that the

last period of training for which VA may

provide assistance will end on

September 30, 1997, and the last period

of continuous employment for which

lump-sum deferred-incentive payments

are due will end on January 31, 1998.

VA has provided by regulation (38

CFR 21.4832(a)(3)) that periodic

payments will be made only after the

employer certifies that the veteran’s

progress during the period was

satisfactory and further certifies the

number of hours the veteran worked

during the period. VA also has provided

by regulation (38 CFR 21.4832(b)(1))

that lump-sum deferred-incentive

payments will be made only after the

employer and the veteran certify that

the veteran has been employed in the

occupation for which the veteran

trained for at least four continuous

months after the last date of training.

This document proposes to amend the

regulations to state that the periodic

payments will be made only if the

employer certifies training on or before

September 30, 1999. This document also

proposes to amend the regulations to

state that the lump-sum deferredincentive payments will be made only if

the employee’s certification (there are

provisions for waiver of the employee’s

certification; 38 CFR 21.4382) and the

employer’s certification required for that

payment are submitted on or before

January 31, 2000. These provisions

appear to be warranted. They provide

more than a reasonable amount of time

for submission of claims after the

programs have ended and also will

eliminate the need for the VA to provide

administrative personnel available to

service such claims.

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs

hereby certifies that this proposed rule,

if promulgated, would not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities as

they are defined in the Regulatory

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601–612. The

adoption of the proposed rule would

affect some small entities. However, the

effect of the proposed rule, requiring

employers to submit certifications

within two years of the end of SMOCTA

training, would not impose any

additional costs on the employer.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), this

proposed rule, therefore, is exempt from

the initial and final regulatory flexibility

analyses requirements of §§ 603 and

604.

No Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number has been assigned to

the program affected by this proposed

rule.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 21

Administrative practice and

procedure, Armed forces, Civil rights,

Claims, Colleges and universities,

Conflict of interests, Defense

Department, Education, Educational

institutions, Employment, Grant

programs—education, Grant programs—

veterans, Health care, Loan programs—

education, Loan programs—veterans,

Manpower training programs, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements, Travel

and transportation expenses, Veterans,

Vocational education, Vocational

rehabilitation.

Approved: October 27, 1997.

Hershel W. Gober,

Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 38 CFR part 21 (subpart F–3)

is proposed to be amended as set forth

below.

PART 21—VOCATIONAL

REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION

Subpart D—Administration of

Educational Assistance Programs

1. The authority for part 21, subpart

F–3 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 10 U.S.C. 1143 note; sec. 4481–

4487, Pub. L. 102–484, 106 Stat. 2757–2769;

sec. 610, Pub. L. 103–446, 108 Stat. 4673–

4674, unless otherwise noted.

2. In § 21.4832, paragraphs (e)(3) and

(e)(4) are added to read as follows:

§ 21.4832 Payments to employers.

* * * * *

(e) Restrictions on payments. * * *

(3) VA will not release any periodic

payments for training provided by an

employer if VA receives the employer’s

certification for that training after

September 30, 1999.

(4) VA will not release any lump sum

deferred incentive payment if VA

receives either the veteran’s or

employer’s certification required for that

payment after January 31, 2000.

(Authority: 106 Stat. 2762, Pub. L. 102–484,

sec. 4487(b); 10 U.S.C. 1143, note)

[FR Doc. 97–29633 Filed 11–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 268

[FRL–5919–9]

RIN 2050 AEO5

Land Disposal Restrictions Phase IV:

Second Supplemental Proposal on

Treatment Standards for Metal Wastes

and Mineral Processing Wastes,

Mineral Processing and Bevill

Exclusion Issues, and the Use of

Hazardous Waste as Fill; Notice of

Data Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Data Availability.

SUMMARY: Since publication of the Land

Disposal Restrictions (LDR) Phase IV

Second Supplemental Proposal (62 FR

26041; May 12, 1997), EPA has received

additional capacity information which

will be considered in determining the

need for national capacity variances for

the final Phase IV rule. National

capacity variances extend the effective

date of the LDR treatment standards for

a period of time not to exceed two years

for hazardous wastes for which there are

insufficient treatment capacity on a

nationwide basis. The Agency is making

available to the public this new data

concerning a two-year national capacity

variance for three wastes generated by

FMC Corporation at its facility located

in Pocatello, Idaho. Comments are

requested on the data and the public has

15 days from publication of this notice

to comment on the additional

information.
60466 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 217 / Monday, November 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

Readers should note that only

comments about the new information

discussed in this notice will be

considered during the comment period.

Issues related to the Phase IV proposed

rule (60 FR 43654; August 22, 1995), the

Phase IV Supplemental Proposal on

mineral processing wastes (61 FR 2337;

January 25, 1996), the first Phase IV

Notice of Data Availability (61 FR

26041; May 10, 1996), the Phase IV final

rule (the ‘‘Minirule;’’ 62 FR 25998; May

12, 1997), and the Phase IV Second

Supplemental Proposed Rule (62 FR

26041; May 12, 1997), that are not

discussed in this Notice of Data

Availability, are not open for further

comment.

DATES: Comments are due by November

25, 1997.

ADDRESSES: To submit comments, the

public must send an original and two

copies to Docket Number F–97–2P4A–

FFFFF, RCRA Information Center (RIC),

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(5305W), 401 M Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20460. The RIC is

located at 1235 Jefferson Davis

Highway, First Floor, Arlington,

Virginia. Comments may also be

submitted electronically by sending

electronic mail through the Internet to:

rcra-docket@epamail.epa.gov.

Comments in electronic format should

also be identified by the docket number

F–97–2P4A–FFFFF. All electronic

comments must be submitted as an

ASCII file avoiding the use of special

characters and any form of encryption.

Commenters should not submit

electronically any confidential business

information (CBI). An original and two

copies of CBI must be submitted under

separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document

Control Officer, Office of Solid Waste

(5305W), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20460.

Public comments and supporting

materials are available for viewing in

the RIC. The RIC is open for public

inspection and copying of supporting

information for RCRA rules from 9:00

am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday,

except for Federal holidays. The public

must make an appointment to review

docket materials by calling (703) 603–

9230. The public may copy a maximum

of 100 pages from any regulatory

document at no cost. Additional copies

cost $0.15 per page. For information on

accessing paper and/or electronic copies

of the document, see the Supplementary

Information section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general information or to order paper

copies of this Federal Register

document, call the RCRA Hotline.

Callers within the Washington,

Metropolitan Area must dial 703–412–

9810 or TDD 703–412–3323 (hearing

impaired). Long-distance callers may

call 1–800–424–9346 or TDD 1–800–

553–7672. The RCRA Hotline is open

Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.,

Eastern Standard Time. For other

information on this notice, contact Bill

Kline (5302W), Office of Solid Waste,

401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC

20460, phone 703–308–8440.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The data is also available in electronic

format on the Internet. Follow the

instructions below to access the data.

Files are located in /pub/epaoswer.

WWW: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/

hazwaste/ldr

FTP: ftp.epa.gov

Login: anonymous

Password: your Internet address

The official record for this action will

be kept in paper form. Accordingly, EPA

will transfer all comments received

electronically into paper form and place

them in the official record, which will

also include all comments submitted

directly in writing. The official record is

the paper record maintained at the

address in ADDRESSES at the beginning

of this document.

EPA responses to comments, whether

the comments are written or electronic,

will be in a notice in the Federal

Register or in a response to comments

document placed in the official record

for this rulemaking. EPA will not

immediately reply to commenters

electronically other than to seek

clarification of electronic comments that

may be garbled in transmission or

during conversion to paper form, as

discussed above.

Notice of Data Availability

EPA proposed the Phase IV rule in

three parts (the original Proposed Rule,

60 FR 43654, August 22, 1995; the First

Supplemental Proposed Rule, 61 FR

2338, January 25, 1996; and the Second

Supplemental Proposed Rule, 62 FR

26041, May 12, 1997), and issued a

Notice of Data Availability (61 FR

21418, May 10, 1996).

In the May 10, 1996 Notice of Data

Availability, EPA discussed the

possibility of a two-year national

capacity variance for three large volume

toxicity characteristic (TC) hazardous

metal wastewater streams (Medusa

Scrubber Blowdown, Anderson Filter

Media Rinsate, and Furnace Building

Washdown) generated by FMC

Corporation at its Pocatello, Idaho

facility. At the time of the notice, FMC

argued that these three wastewaters

pose unique treatability problems

because of elemental phosphorous

contamination and naturally occurring

radioactive material (NORM). FMC

maintained that no treatment, storage, or

disposal facility (TSDF) could handle

the waste streams. FMC requested a

two-year national capacity variance to

develop and construct on-site treatment

capacity for these three wastewater

streams to comply with Phase IV when

it is promulgated.

In response to the Second

Supplemental Proposed Rule (62 FR

26041, May 12, 1997), FMC submitted

another comment to EPA, with new

information identifying three other

waste streams (NOSAP Slurry,

Precipitator Slurry, and Phossy Water)

at its Pocatello, Idaho facility that FMC

believes would be subject to Phase IV

LDR requirements should the Phase IV

rule be promulgated as proposed. FMC

requested that a two-year national

capacity variance also be granted for

these three additional waste streams as

well. Like the original waste streams,

the three streams mentioned in the

comment are generated in the elemental

phosphorous production process and

contain varying amounts of both NORM

and elemental phosphorous. According

to the first FMC comment, there is no

current treatment capacity for this

composition of materials. However, the

three additional waste streams are

different than the original waste streams

in that they are defined as

nonwastewaters under the LDR program

(see 40 CFR 268.2(f)).

According to the FMC comment, the

three new waste streams are currently

managed as D001 and D003 hazardous

wastes. In addition, the new waste

streams could exhibit the TC in the

event of process upsets, due to the

presence of heavy metals. FMC argues

that based on its survey of off-site

treatment facilities for the original three

waste streams, it likewise will not be

able to identify sufficient treatment

capacity to handle the three additional

waste streams. As such, FMC believes it

will need a two-year national capacity

variance to develop and construct onsite treatment capacity for these three

new waste streams to comply with

Phase IV.

EPA is considering the

appropriateness of a capacity variance

for the three additional wastes, i.e.,

NOSAP Slurry, Precipitator Slurry, and

Phossy Water, generated at FMC’s

facility in Pocatello, Idaho. EPA

specifically requests comment on

whether other facilities generate these

wastes as described by FMC Corporation

in their comment, and whether or not

adequate treatment, recovery, or

disposal capacity exists for these wastes.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 217 / Monday, November 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 60467

FMC’s documentation, supporting its

request for a capacity variance, is

available to the public and located in

the RCRA Information Center under

Docket Number F–97–2P4P–FFFFF.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 268

Environmental Protection, Hazardous

waste, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Dated: November 4, 1997.

David Bussard,

Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.

[FR Doc. 97–29621 Filed 11–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

43 CFR Part 4700

[NV 960–1060–00–24–1A]

RIN 1004–AD28

Wild Horse and Burro Adoptions;

Power of Attorney

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) proposes to amend

its regulations to disallow the use of a

power of attorney for the adoption of

wild horses and burros. BLM is

amending the regulations because it is

possible that some adopters have

misused the power of attorney to obtain

large numbers of horses and burros,

selling them for profit after receiving the

appropriate titles.

DATES:

Comments:

Send your comments to BLM at the

address below on or before January 9,

1998. BLM will not necessarily consider

any comments received after the above

date during its decision on the proposed

rule.

ADDRESSES:

Comments:

If you wish to comment, you may

submit your comments by any one of

several methods. You may mail

comments to Bureau of Land

Management, Administrative Record,

Room 401 LS, 1849 C Street, NW,

Washington, D.C. 20240. You may also

comment via the Internet to

WOComment@wo.blm.gov. Please

submit comments as an ASCII file

avoiding the use of special characters

and any form of encryption. Please also

include ‘‘attn: AD28’’ and your name

and return address in your Internet

message. If you do not receive a

confirmation from the system that we

have received your Internet message,

contact us directly at (202) 452–5030.

Finally, you may hand-deliver

comments to BLM at 1620 L Street,

N.W., Room 401, Washington, D.C.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bud

Cribley, Telephone (202) 452–5073; or

Lili Thomas, Telephone (702) 785–6457

(Commercial or FTS).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Comment Procedures

II. Background

III. Discussion of Proposed Rule

IV. Procedural Matters

I. Public Comment Procedures

Written Comments

Written comments on the proposed

rule should be specific, should be

confined to issues pertinent to the

proposed rule, and should explain the

reason for any recommended change.

Where possible, comments should

reference the specific section or

paragraph of the proposal which the

commenter is addressing. BLM may not

necessarily consider or include in the

Administrative Record for the final rule

comments which BLM receives after the

close of the comment period (see DATES)

or comments delivered to an address

other than those listed above (see

ADDRESSES).

Comments, including names and

street addresses of respondents, will be

available for public review at this

address during regular business hours

(7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), Monday

through Friday, except holidays.

Individual respondents may request

confidentiality, which BLM will

consider on a case-by-case basis. If you

wish to request that BLM consider

withholding your name or street address

from public review or from disclosure

under the Freedom of Information Act,

you must state this prominently at the

beginning of your comment. All

submissions from organizations or

businesses, and from individuals

identifying themselves as

representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, will be

made available for public inspection in

their entirety.

II. Background

BLM’s current regulations allow for

adoptions of wild horses and burros by

the use of a power of attorney. A power

of attorney is a written document that

authorizes an agent to do something on

behalf of another. One agent could get

powers of attorney from several people,

and adopt more horses and burros than

any one single person is allowed.

Several investigations have focused

on the misuse of powers of attorney to

adopt wild horses. It was alleged that

certain people abused BLM’s Adopt-AHorse and Burro program by obtaining

large numbers of horses in order to sell

them for profit after receiving the

appropriate titles. Because of these

investigations, several Assistant U.S.

Attorneys have suggested that BLM

eliminate this practice. The elimination

of power of attorney adoptions would

also decrease the time and money BLM

spends on inspections to ensure that the

adopters are in compliance with the

regulations.

It is rare that someone who wants to

adopt a wild horse or burro is unable to

select the animal and sign the Private

Maintenance and Care Agreement (BLM

estimates that this practice occurred

only 12 times in 1997). For this reason,

BLM feels that the benefits of preventing

abuses of the program outweigh any

inconvenience to persons that may want

to adopt an animal with a power of

attorney.

III. Discussion of Proposed Rule

In order to remove the provisions for

power of attorney adoptions, BLM

proposes to replace current sections

4750.3–3(b) and (c) with a short

statement that reads:

‘‘The Bureau of Land Management

will not allow the use of a power of

attorney for the adoption of wild horses

and burros.’’

IV. Procedural Matters

National Environmental Policy Act

BLM has determined that this

proposed rule would make a procedural

change related to the regulations on

adopting wild horse and burros. This

rule, which would disallow adoptions

by power of attorney, would make only

a minor change in existing practices.

The rule would not affect decisions that

BLM makes about numbers of horses on

the range or range conditions. It is

unlikely that environmental impacts

will occur as a result of the elimination

of the use of the power of attorney.

Therefore, this action is categorically

excluded from environmental review

under section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act, pursuant to

516 Departmental Manual (DM),

Chapter 2, Appendix 1, Item 1.10. In

addition, the proposed rule does not

meet any of the 10 criteria for

exceptions to categorical exclusions

listed in 516 DM, Chapter 2, Appendix

2. Pursuant to Council on

Environmental Quality regulations (40