1074 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 1997 / Proposed Rules

and, if there are such policy questions,

how and why they should be resolved

in a particular manner.

Commenters are encouraged to submit

their comments electronically and, in

particular, are encouraged to participate

in the Commission’s pilot project using

the Internet for filing comments.

Comments can be submitted on

computer diskette in WordPerfect 6.1

or lower format or in ASCII format, with

the name of the filer and Docket No.

RM96–1–003 on the outside of the

diskette. Internet comments should be

submitted through Internet E-Mail to

‘‘comment.rm@ferc.fed.us’’ in the

following format: on the subject line,

specify Docket No. RM96–1–003; in the

body of the E-Mail message, specify the

name of the filing entity and the name,

telephone number and E-Mail address of

a contact person; and attach the

comment in WordPerfect 6.1 or lower

format or in ASCII format as an

attachment to the E-Mail message.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–378 Filed 1–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 902

[AK–005, Amendment No. V]

Alaska Regulatory Program

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment

period and opportunity for public

hearing on proposed amendment.

SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is

announcing receipt of a proposed

amendment to the Alaska regulatory

program (hereinafter, the ‘‘Alaska

program’’) under the Surface Mining

Control and Reclamation Act of 1977

(SMCRA). The proposed amendment

consists of revisions to and additions of

rules pertaining to self-bonding. The

amendment is intended to revise the

Alaska program to be consistent with

the corresponding Federal regulations.

DATES: Written comments must be

received by 4:00 p.m., m.s.t., February 7,

1997. If requested a public hearing on

the proposed amendment will be held

on February 3, 1997. Requests to present

oral testimony at the hearing must be

received by 4:00 p.m., m.s.t., January 22,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be mailed or hand delivered to James F.

Fulton at the address listed below.

Copies of the Alaska program, the

proposed amendment, and all written

comments received in response to this

document will be available for public

review at the addresses listed below

during normal business hours, Monday

through Friday, excluding holidays.

Each requester may receive one free

copy of the proposed amendment by

contacting OSM’s Denver Field

Division.

James F. Fulton, Chief, Denver Field

Division, Western Regional

Coordinating Center, Office of Surface

Mining Reclamation and

Enforcement, 1999 Broadway, Suite

3320, Denver, Colorado 80202.

Bob Loeffler, Project Manager, Division

of Mining and Water Management,

Department of Natural Resources,

3601 C Street, Suite 800, Anchorage,

Alaska 99503–5935.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James F. Fulton, Telephone: (303) 844–

1424.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Alaska Program

On March 23, 1983, the Secretary of

the Interior conditionally approved the

Alaska program. General background

information on the Alaska program,

including the Secretary’s findings, the

disposition of comments, and

conditions of approval of the Alaska

program can be found in the March 23,

1983, Federal Register (48 FR 12274).

Subsequent actions concerning Alaska’s

program and program amendments can

be found at 30 CFR 902.15 and 902.16.

II. Proposed Amendment

By letter dated December 12, 1996,

Alaska submitted a proposed

amendment to its program pursuant to

SMCRA (Amendment number V,

administrative record No. AK–F–1, 30

U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). Alaska submitted

the proposed amendment in response to

required program amendments at 30

CFR 902.16(b)(1). The provisions of the

Alaska Administrative Code (AAC) that

Alaska proposes to revise and add are

11 AAC 90.207(f)(3), concerning

requirements for self-bonds and 11 AAC

90.207(f)(8), concerning definitions of

specific terms used for self-bonding.

Specifically, Alaska is proposing to

revise 11 AAC 90.207(f)(3) to provide, in

pertinent part, that the Commissioner

[of Natural Resources] will, in the

Commissioner’s discretion, accept a

written guarantee from a corporate

guarantor if the applicant for a self-bond

meets certain conditions, including

designating and maintaining its own

agent for service of process in Alaska.

Alaska proposes the addition of new

language at 11 AAC 90.207((f)(8) (A)

through (H) to provide definitions for

the terms ‘‘self-bond,’’ ‘‘current assets,’’

‘‘current liabilities,’’ ‘‘fixed assets,’’

‘‘liabilities,’’ ‘‘net worth,’’ ‘‘parent

corporation,’’ and ‘‘tangible net worth’’

as follows:

(A) ‘‘self-bond’’ means an indemnity

agreement in a sum certain executed by the

applicant or by the applicant and any

corporate guarantor and made payable to the

regulatory authority with or without a

separate surety;

(B) ‘‘current assets’’ means cash or other

assets or resources which are reasonable

expected to be converted to cash or sold or

consumed within one year or within the

normal operating cycle of the business;

(C) ‘‘current liabilities’’ means obligations

which are reasonably expected to be paid or

liquidated within one year or within the

normal operating cycle of the business;

(D) ‘‘fixed assets’’ means plants and

equipment, but does not include land or coal

in place;

(E) ‘‘liabilities’’ means obligations to

transfer assets or provide services to other

entities to the future as a result of past

transactions;

(F) ‘‘net worth’’ means total assets minus

total liabilities and is equivalent to owners’

equity;

(G) ‘‘parent corporation’’ means a

corporation which owns or controls the

applicant; and

(H) ‘‘tangible net worth’’ means net worth

minus intangibles such as good will and

rights to patents or royalties.

III. Public Comment Procedures

In accordance with the provisions of

30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM is seeking

comments on whether the proposed

amendment satisfies the applicable

program approval criteria of 30 CFR

732.15. If the amendment is deemed

adequate, it will become part of the

Alaska program.

1. Written Comments

Written comments should be specific,

pertain only to the issues proposed in

this rulemaking, and include

explanations in support of the

commenter’s recommendations.

Comments received after the time

indicated under DATES or at locations

other than the Denver Field Division,

Western Regional Coordinating Center,

will not necessarily be considered in the

final rulemaking or included in the

administrative record.

2. Public Hearing

Persons wishing to testify at the

public hearing should contact the

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m.,

m.s.t., January 23, 1997. Any disabled
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 1997 / Proposed Rules 1075

individual who has need for a special

accommodation to attend a public

hearing should contact the individual

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. The location and time of the

hearing will be arranged with those

persons requesting the hearing. If no one

requests an opportunity to testify at the

public hearing, the hearing will not be

held. Filing of a written statement at the

time of the hearing is requested as it

will greatly assist the transcriber.

Submission of written statements in

advance of the hearing will allow OSM

officials to prepare adequate responses

and appropriate questions.

The public hearing will continue on

the specified date until all persons

scheduled to testify have been heard.

Persons in the audience who have not

been scheduled to testify, and who wish

to do so, will be heard following those

who have been scheduled. The hearing

will end after all persons scheduled to

testify and persons present in the

audience who wish to testify have been

heard.

3. Public Meeting

If only one person requests an

opportunity to testify at a hearing, a

public meeting, rather than a public

hearing, may be held. Persons wishing

to meet with OSM representatives to

discuss the proposed amendment may

request a meeting by contacting the

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. All such meetings

will be open to the public and, if

possible, notices of meetings will be

posted at the locations listed under

ADDRESSES. A written summary of each

meeting will be made a part of the

administrative record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

1. Executive Order 12866

This rule is exempted from review by

the Office of Management and budget

(OMB) under Executive Order 12866

(regulatory Planning and Review).

2. Executive Order 12988

The Department of the Interior has

conducted the reviews required by

section 3 of Executive Order 12988

(Civil Justice Reform) and has

determined that this rule meets the

applicable standards of subsections (a)

and (b) of that section. However, these

standards are not applicable to the

actual language of State regulatory

programs and program amendments

since each such program is drafted and

promulgated by a specific State, not by

OSM. Under sections 503 and 505 of

SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1253 and 1255) and

the Federal regulations at 30 CFR

730.11, 732.15, and 732.17(h)(10),

decisions on proposed State regulatory

programs and program amendments

submitted by States must be based

solely on a determination of whether the

submittal is consistent with SMCRA and

its implementing Federal regulations

and whether the other requirements of

30 CFR Parts 730, 731, and 732 have

been met.

3. National Environmental Policy Act

No environmental impact statement is

required for this rule since section

702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d))

provides that agency decisions on

proposed State regulatory program

provisions do not constitute major

Federal actions within the meaning of

section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C.

4332(2)(C)).

4. Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not contain

information collection requirements that

require approval by OMB under the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3507 et seq.).

5. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Department of the Interior has

determined that this rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601 et seq.). The State submittal

that is the subject of this rule is based

upon counterpart Federal regulations for

which an economic analysis was

prepared and certification made that

such regulations would not have a

significant economic effect upon a

substantial number of small entities.

Accordingly, this rule will ensure that

existing requirements previously

promulgated by OSM will be

implemented by the State. In making the

determination as to whether this rule

would have a significant economic

impact, the Department relied upon the

data and assumptions for the

counterpart Federal regulations.

6. Unfunded Mandates

This rule will not impose a cost of

$100 million or more in any given year

on any governmental entity or private

sector.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 902

Intergovernmental relations, Surface

mining, Underground mining.

Dated: December 23, 1996.

James F. Fulton,

Acting Regional Director, Western Regional

Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 97–302 Filed 1–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 21

RIN 2900–AH97

Veterans Education: Submission of

School Catalogs to State Approving

Agencies

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This document proposes to

amend the educational assistance and

educational benefits regulations of the

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The current regulations provide that

schools must submit a catalog or

bulletin to the State Approving Agency

(SAA) when seeking approval for

courses for training under VAadministered education programs.

Public Law 102–568 removed this

requirement for elementary and

secondary schools. Accordingly, VA

intends to amend the regulations to state

that accredited schools, other than

elementary and secondary schools, as

part of the approval process must

submit catalogs to the State agencies

that approve courses for training under

VA-administered education programs.

The purpose of this document is to

request Paperwork Reduction Act

comments concerning requirements that

accredited schools, other than

elementary and secondary schools,

submit a catalog or bulletin to SAAs.

DATES: Comments on this collection of

information should be submitted must

be received on or before March 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver written

comments to: Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Ave., NW, Room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420. Comments

should indicate that they are submitted

in response to ‘‘RIN 2900–AH97’’. All

written comments will be available for

public inspection in the Office of

Regulations Management, Room 1158,

between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30

p.m., Monday through Friday (except

holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June

C. Schaeffer, Assistant Director for

Policy and Program Administration,

Education Service (225), Veterans

Benefits Administration, Department of

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue,

NW, Washington, DC 20420, 202–273–

7187.