59640 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 213 / Tuesday, November 4, 1997 / Proposed Rules

through a request for written comments

to the draft proposal as well as

discussions and exchange of

information at meetings such as are

being announced here. OSM has sent

the draft proposal to State and Tribal

representatives and to industry, local

and national citizen and environmental

groups.

DATES: OSM will hold meetings on:

November 13 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. in

Charleston, WV and from 1:00 to 8:00

p.m. in Denver, CO; November 17 at

6:00 p.m. in Madisonville, KY and at

7:00 p.m. in St. Clairsville, OH;

November 18 at 6:00 p.m. in Hazard,

KY; November 19 from 8:00 to 10:00

p.m. in Johnstown, PA and from 5:30 to

7:30 p.m. in St. Paul, VA; and November

24 at 6:30 p.m. in Crossville, TN.

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at

the Heart o’Town Hotel, 1000

Washington Street East in Charleston,

WV; at the Executive Tower Hotel

(Adams Room), 1405 Curtis Street in

Denver, CO; at the Days Inn, 1900

Lantaff Blvd. in Madisonville, KY; at the

Hampton Inn (Pinto Room), 51130

National Road in St. Clairsville, OH; at

the Hazard City Hall, 700 Main Street in

Hazard, KY; at the Holiday Inn, 250

Market Street in Johnstown, PA; at the

Oxbow Center, 16620 East Riverside

Drive in St. Paul, VA; and at the Ramada

Inn, Highway 27 at I–40 in Crossville,

TN. Any individual who requires

special accommodation to attend a

meeting should contact the person listed

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: D.J.

Growitz, Office of Surface Mining, U.S.

Department of the Interior, 1951

Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington,

D.C. 20240; telephone (202) 208–2634.

E-mail: dgrowitz@osmre.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OSM is

seeking to increase reclamation under

Title IV of SMCRA. In a Federal

Register notice published on October

24, 1997, (62 FR 55365) OSM

announced the availability of the early

draft of a proposal to enhance

reclamation under the abandoned mine

land (AML) program. OSM also

announced in that notice that it would

hold meetings with interested persons

to discuss the draft proposal and

publish a schedule for those meetings in

the Federal Register. When a proposed

rule is developed, it will be published

in the Federal Register for public

comment in accordance with the

requirements of the Administrative

Procedure Act, and public hearings will

be held on request.

The proposal may be obtained from

FAX ON DEMAND by calling 202–219–

1703 and following the instructions on

the recorded message. The October 24

Federal Register notice contains

additional background information.

Dated: October 30, 1997.

Ruth E. Stokes,

Acting Assistant Director, Program Support.

[FR Doc. 97–29133 Filed 11–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

37 CFR Parts 2 and 3

[Docket No. 970428100–7256–02]

RIN 0651–AA87

Miscellaneous Changes to Trademark

Trial and Appeal Board Rules

AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office,

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of hearing

and reopening of comment period.

SUMMARY: The Patent and Trademark

Office (PTO) will hold a public hearing,

and reopen the comment period, on

changes to certain rules and practices of

the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

that were proposed in June of 1997 (62

FR 30802, June 5, 1997). Interested

members of the public are invited to

testify at the public hearing and to

submit written comments on these

proposed changes.

DATES: The public hearing will be held

on Wednesday, December 10, 1997,

beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Those wishing to present oral

testimony at the hearing must request an

opportunity to do so no later than

Friday, December 5, 1997.

Speakers may provide a written copy

of their testimony for inclusion in the

record of the proceedings no later than

Wednesday, December 17, 1997.

Written comments will be accepted by

the PTO until December 10, 1997.

Written comments and transcripts of

the hearing will be available for public

inspection on or about Wednesday,

January 7, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held on

Wednesday, December 10, 1997,

beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the

Commissioner’s Conference Room,

located on the 9th floor of Crystal Park

2, 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington,

Virginia 22202.

Requests to testify should be sent to

Ellen Seeherman by telephone at (703)

308–9300, ext. 206, by facsimile

transmission at (703) 308–9333, or by

mail marked to her attention and

addressed to Assistant Commissioner

for Trademarks, Box TTAB–No Fee,

2900 Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia

22202–3513.

Written comments may be sent by

mail addressed to Assistant

Commissioner for Trademarks, Box

TTAB–No Fee, 2900 Crystal Drive,

Arlington, Virginia 22202–3513, marked

to the attention of Ellen J. Seeherman.

Written comments may also be sent by

facsimile transmission to (703) 308–

9333, marked to the attention of Ellen J.

Seeherman.

Written comments and transcripts of

the hearing will be maintained for

public inspection in Suite 900, on the

9th Floor of the South Tower Building,

2900 Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia

22202–3513.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen J. Seeherman, Administrative

Trademark Judge, Trademark Trial and

Appeal Board, by telephone at (703)

308–9300, ext. 206, or by mail marked

to her attention and addressed to

Assistant Commissioner for Trademarks,

Box TTAB–No Fee, 2900 Crystal Drive,

Arlington, Virginia 22202–3513 or by

facsimile transmission marked to her

attention and sent to (703) 308–9333.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A notice

of proposed rulemaking to amend

certain rules governing practice before

the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

was published in the Federal Register

on June 5, 1997 (62 FR 30802) and in

the Official Gazette on June 24, 1997

(1199 TMOG 88). A number of the

comments made in response to that

notice suggested that a public hearing be

held on the proposed rules changes.

Accordingly, the PTO has decided to

hold a public hearing on the proposed

rules changes on December 10, 1997.

Moreover, some trade organizations

expressed the concern that, because the

comment period occurred during the

summer months, some practitioners and

other interested parties and entities

were not aware of the proposed

amendments. Accordingly, the PTO has

decided to reopen the comment period.

All comments previously submitted will

be considered together with any

additional written comments which are

submitted by December 10, 1997.

It should be noted that, in view of the

comments already received, the PTO

has determined that it will not adopt the

proposed changes to Sections 2.120(d)

and 2.120(h) regarding limiting the

number of requests for production of

documents and the requests for

admission which may be served.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 213 / Tuesday, November 4, 1997 / Proposed Rules 59641

Dated: October 29, 1997.

Bruce A. Lehman,

Assistant Secretary of Commerce and

Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks.

[FR Doc. 97–29161 Filed 11–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

48 CFR Parts 225 and 252

[DFARS Case 97–D028]

Defense Federal Acquisition

Regulation Supplement; Commercial

Ball or Roller Bearings—Components

of Noncommercial Items

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD).

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Director of Defense

Procurement is proposing to amend the

Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation

Supplement (DFARS) to remove

domestic source restrictions on

commercial ball or roller bearings that

are components of noncommercial end

items.

DATES: Comment date: Comments on the

proposed rule should be submitted in

writing to the address shown below on

or before January 5, 1998, to be

considered in the formulation of the

final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties should

submit written comments to: Defense

Acquisition Regulations Council, Attn:

Ms. Amy Williams, PDUSD

(A&T)DP(DAR). IMD 3D139, 3062

Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC

20301–3062. Telefax number (703) 602–

0350.

E-mail comments submitted over the

Internet should be addressed to:

dfars@acq.osd.mil.

Please cite DFARS Case 97–D028 in

all correspondence related to this issue.

E-mail comments should cite DFARS

Case 97–D028 in the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Amy Williams, (703) 602–0131.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

This rule proposes amendments to

DFARS 225.7019–2 and the associated

clause at 252.225–7016, Restriction on

Acquisition of Ball and Roller Bearings,

to remove domestic source restrictions

on commercial ball or roller bearings

that are components of noncommercial

end items. This is consistent with the

existing language at DFARS

212.504(a)(xviii), which provides that

10 U.S.C. 2534, Miscellaneous

Limitations on the Procurement of

Goods Other Than United States Goods,

is not applicable to subcontracts at any

tier for the acquisition of commercial

items or commercial components. The

language at 212.504(a)(xviii) was added

to the DFARS as part of the

implementation of Section 8003 of the

Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of

1994 (41 U.S.C. 430), which provides

that the Federal Acquisition Regulation

shall include a list of provisions of law

that are inapplicable to contracts for

commercial items.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The proposed rule may have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

within the meaning of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq. An

initial regulatory flexibility analysis has

been prepared and is summarized as

follows: The objective of this rule is to

be consistent with the existing

regulations relating to the acquisition of

commercial items and commercial

components. The rule will apply to all

offerors and contractors offering

noncommercial end items that contain

commercial ball or roller bearings as

components, and all suppliers of such

commercial bearings, but will have no

effect if another exception to 10 U.S.C.

2534 already applies. There is no data

available to estimate the number of

small entities involved, because DD

Form 350 data does not provide

information regarding components.

However, the rule will not affect

acquisitions using simplified

acquisition procedures, as an exception

covering such acquisitions already

exists. Furthermore, the restriction has

already been waived for bearings from

qualifying countries. The proposed rule

will remove the requirement for offerors

and contractors to track the origin of

commercial ball or roller bearings used

as components in noncommercial end

items. The proposed rule may increase

competition from naufacturers of

foreign, nonqualifying country

commercial ball or roller bearings in

affected acquisitions.

Comments are invited from small

businesses and other interested parties.

Comments from small entities

concerning the affected DFARS subparts

also will be considered in accordance

with 5 U.S.C. 610. Such comments

should be submitted separately and

should cite DFARS Case 97–D028 in

correspondence.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

The Paperwork Reduction Act does

not apply because the proposed rule

does not impose any information

collection requirements that require the

approval of the Office of Management

and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et

seq.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 225 and

252

Government procurement.

Michele P. Peterson,

Executive Editor, Defense Acquisition

Regulations Council.

Therefore, 48 CFR parts 225 and 252

are proposed to be amended as follows:

1. The authority citation for 48 CFR

parts 225 and 252 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 421 and 48 CFR

Chapter 1.

PART 225—FOREIGN ACQUISITION

2. Section 225.7019–2 is amended by

revising paragraph (a)(2) to read as

follows:

225.7019–2 Exceptions.

(a) * * *

(2) Purchases of commercial items

(end items or components)

incorporating ball or roller bearings or

purchases of ball or roller bearings that

are commercial components of

noncommercial items.

* * * * *

PART 252—SOLICITATION

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT

CLAUSES

3. Section 252.225–7016 is amended

by revising the clause date and

paragraphs (c)(1)(i) and (f) to read as

follows:

252.225–7016 Restriction on acquisition of

ball and roller bearings.

* * * * *

RESTRICTION ON ACQUISITION OF BALL

AND ROLLER BEARINGS (XXX 19XX)

* * * * *

(c)(1) * * *

(i) The end items or components

containing ball or roller bearings are

commercial items or the bearings are

commercial components of noncommercial

items; or

* * * * *

(f) The Contractor agrees to insert this

clause, including this paragraph (f), in every

subcontract and purchase order issued in

performance of this contract, unless items

acquired in the subcontract or purchase order

are—

(1) Commercial items; or

(2) Items that do not contain ball or roller

bearings.

(End of clause)

[FR Doc. 97–29122 Filed 11–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 5000–04–M