23618 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 77 / Friday, April 20, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

reimbursement no later than 1 year after 

May 21, 2012. 

* * * * * 

(The Office of Management and Budget has 

approved the information collection 

requirements in this section under control 

number 2900–0620.) 

■ 5. Amend § 17.1005 by adding 

paragraphs (e) and (f), to read as follows: 

§ 17.1005 Payment limitations. 

* * * * * 

(e) If an eligible veteran under 

§ 17.1002 has contractual or legal 

recourse against a third party that would 

only partially extinguish the veteran’s 

liability to the provider of emergency 

treatment, then: 

(1) VA will be the secondary payer; 

(2) Subject to the limitations of this 

section, VA will pay the difference 

between the amount VA would have 

paid under this section for the cost of 

the emergency treatment and the 

amount paid (or payable) by the third 

party; and 

(3) The provider will consider the 

combined payment under paragraph 

(c)(2) of this section as payment in full 

and extinguish the veteran’s liability to 

the provider. 

(f) VA will not reimburse a claimant 

under this section for any deductible, 

copayment or similar payment that the 

veteran owes the third party. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2012–9265 Filed 4–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 501 

Authority To Manufacture and 

Distribute Postage Evidencing 

Systems 

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Postal Service is adopting 

an editorial revision of the rules 

concerning inventory controls for 

Postage Evidencing Systems (PES). 

These changes are intended to clarify 

the rules, and reflect a change in the 

name of the office responsible for 

enforcing them. 

DATES: This rule is effective May 21, 

2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marlo Kay Ivey, Business Programs 

Specialist, Payment Technology, U.S. 

Postal Service, at 202–268–7613. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

December 1, 2011, the Postal Service 

proposed an editorial revision of the 

rules governing the inventory control 

processes of PES provided to customers 

by manufacturers or distributors. The 

office formerly known as Postage 

Technology Management (PTM) is now 

known as Payment Technology, making 

it necessary to modify the numerous 

references to PTM in 39 CFR 501.14 to 

reflect the new name. In addition, the 

Postal Service believed it was 

appropriate to take this opportunity to 

make a number of minor editorial 

changes throughout § 501.14 to improve 

its clarity. None of these changes was 

intended to modify the substantive 

requirements of the section. No 

comments were received concerning 

this proposal. Accordingly, the 

proposed revision to § 501.14 is adopted 

without further changes. 

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 501 

Administrative practice and 

procedure. 

Accordingly, 39 CFR part 501 is 

amended as follows: 

PART 501—AUTHORIZATION TO 

MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE 

POSTAGE EVIDENCING SYSTEMS 

1. The authority citation for 39 CFR 

part 501 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 101, 

401, 403, 404, 410, 2601, 2605, Inspector 

General Act of 1978, as amended (Pub. L. 95– 

452, as amended); 5 U.S.C. App. 3. 

■ 2. Section 501.14 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 501.14 Postage Evidencing System 

inventory control processes. 

(a) Each authorized provider of 

Postage Evidencing Systems must 

permanently hold title to all Postage 

Evidencing Systems that it 

manufactures or distributes, except 

those purchased by the Postal Service or 

distributed outside the United States. 

(b) An authorized provider must 

maintain sufficient facilities for and 

records of the business relationship, 

distribution, control, storage, 

maintenance, repair, replacement, and 

destruction or disposal of all Postage 

Evidencing Systems and their 

components to enable accurate 

accounting and location thereof 

throughout the entire life cycle of each 

Postage Evidencing System. A complete 

record shall entail a list by serial 

number of all Postage Evidencing 

Systems manufactured or distributed 

showing all movements of each system 

from the time that it is produced until 

it is scrapped, and the reading of the 

ascending register each time the system 

is checked into or out of service. These 

records must be available for inspection 

by Postal Service officials at any time 

during business hours. 

(c) To ensure adequate control over 

Postage Evidencing Systems, plans for 

the following subjects must be 

submitted for prior approval, in writing, 

to the office of Payment Technology. 

(1) Service procedures for all Postage 

Evidencing Systems—these are 

procedures to address the process to be 

used for new Postage Evidencing 

Systems as well as those previously 

leased to another customer. 

(2) Transportation and storage of 

Postage Evidencing Systems—these are 

procedures that provide reasonable 

precautions to prevent use by 

unauthorized individuals. Providers 

must ship all postage meters by Postal 

Service Registered Mail® service unless 

given written permission by the Postal 

Service to use another carrier. The 

provider must demonstrate that the 

alternative delivery carrier employs 

security procedures equivalent to those 

for Registered Mail service. 

(3) Postage Evidencing System 

examination/inspection procedures and 

schedule—the provider is required to 

perform postage meter examinations or 

inspections based on an approved 

schedule. Failure to complete the 

postage meter examination or 

inspections by the due date may result 

in the Postal Service requiring the 

provider to disable the meter’s resetting 

capability. If necessary, the Postal 

Service shall notify the customer that 

the postage meter is to be removed from 

service and the authorization to use a 

Postage Evidencing System revoked, 

following the procedures for revocation 

specified by regulation. The Postal 

Service shall notify the provider to 

remove the postage meter from the 

customer’s location. 

(4) Out-of-service procedures for a 

nonfaulty Postage Evidencing System— 

these procedures must be used when the 

system is to be removed from service for 

any reason. 

(5) Postage Evidencing System repair 

process—any physical or electronic 

access to the internal components of a 

postage meter, as well as any access to 

software or security parameters, must be 

conducted within an approved facility 

under the provider’s direct control and 

active supervision. To prevent 

unauthorized use, the provider or any 

third party acting on its behalf must 

keep secure any equipment or other 

component that can be used to open or 

access the internal, electronic, or secure 

components of a postage meter. 

(6) Handling procedures for faulty 

meters—the provider must maintain 

handling procedures for faulty meters, 

including those that are inoperable, misVerDate Mar<15>2010 16:08 Apr 19, 2012 Jkt 226001 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\20APR1.SGM 20APR1

tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 77 / Friday, April 20, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 23619 

registering, have unreadable registers, 

inaccurately reflect their current status, 

show any evidence of possible 

tampering or abuse, and those for which 

there is any indication that the postage 

meter has some mechanical or electrical 

malfunction of any critical security 

component, such as any component the 

improper operation of which could 

adversely affect Postal Service revenues, 

or of any memory component, or that 

affects the accuracy of the registers or 

the accuracy of the value printed. 

(7) Lost or stolen postage meter 

procedures—the provider must 

promptly report to the Postal Service the 

loss or theft of any postage meter or the 

recovery of any lost or stolen postage 

meter. Such notification to the Postal 

Service will be made by completing and 

filing a standardized lost and stolen 

meter incident report within 10 

calendar days of the provider’s 

determination of a meter loss, theft, or 

recovery. 

(8) Postage meter destruction—when 

required, the postage meter must be 

rendered completely inoperable by the 

destruction process and associated 

postage; printing dies and components 

must be destroyed. Manufacturers or 

distributors of meters must submit the 

proposed destruction method; a 

schedule listing the postage meters to be 

destroyed, by serial number and model; 

and the proposed time and place of 

destruction to Payment Technology for 

approval prior to any meter destruction. 

Providers must record and retain the 

serial numbers of the meters to be 

destroyed and provide a list of such 

serial numbers in electronic form in 

accordance with Postal Service 

requirements for meter accounting and 

tracking systems. Providers must give 

sufficient advance notice of the 

destruction to allow Payment 

Technology to schedule observation by 

its designated representative who shall 

verify that the destruction is performed 

in accordance with a Postal Serviceapproved method or process. To the 

extent that the Postal Service elects not 

to observe a particular destruction, the 

provider must submit a certification of 

destruction, including the serial 

number(s), to the Postal Service within 

5 calendar days of destruction. These 

requirements for meter destruction 

apply to all postage meters, Postage 

Evidencing Systems, and postal security 

devices included as a component of a 

Postage Evidencing System. 

(d) If the provider uses a third party 

to perform functions that may have an 

impact upon a Postage Evidencing 

System (especially its security), 

including, but not limited to, business 

relationships, repair, maintenance, and 

disposal of Postage Evidencing Systems, 

Payment Technology must be advised in 

advance of all aspects of the 

relationship, as they relate to the 

custody and control of Postage 

Evidencing Systems and must 

specifically authorize in writing the 

proposed arrangement between the 

parties. 

(1) Postal Service authorization of a 

third-party relationship to perform 

specific functions applies only to the 

functions stated in the written 

authorization but may be amended to 

embrace additional functions. 

(2) No third-party relationship shall 

compromise the Postage Evidencing 

System, or its components, including, 

but not limited to, the hardware, 

software, communications, and security 

components, or of any security-related 

system with which it interfaces, 

including, but not limited to, the 

resetting system, reporting systems, and 

Postal Service support systems. The 

functions of the third party with respect 

to a Postage Evidencing System, its 

components, and the systems with 

which it interfaces are subject to the 

same scrutiny as the equivalent 

functions of the provider. 

(3) Any authorized third party must 

keep adequate facilities for and records 

of Postage Evidencing Systems and their 

components in accordance with 

paragraph (b) of this section. All such 

facilities and records are subject to 

inspection by Postal Service 

representatives, insofar as they are used 

to distribute, control, store, maintain, 

repair, replace, destroy, or dispose of 

Postage Evidencing Systems. 

(4) The provider must ensure that any 

party acting on its behalf in any of the 

functions described in paragraph (b) of 

this section maintains adequate 

facilities, records, and procedures for 

the security of the Postage Evidencing 

Systems. Deficiencies in the operations 

of a third party relating to the custody 

and control of Postage Evidencing 

Systems, unless corrected in a timely 

manner, can place at risk a provider’s 

approval to manufacture and/or 

distribute Postage Evidencing Systems. 

(5) The Postal Service reserves the 

right to review all aspects of any 

relationship if it appears that the 

relationship poses a threat to Postage 

Evidencing System security and may 

require the provider to take appropriate 

corrective action. By entering into any 

relationship under this section, the 

provider is not relieved of any 

responsibility to the Postal Service, and 

such must be stated in any 

memorialization of the relationship. 

Stanley F. Mires, 

Attorney, Legal Policy & Legislative Advice. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9534 Filed 4–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–12–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R04–OAR–2012–0118; FRL–9662–4] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; Alabama: 

Removal of State Low-Reid Vapor 

Pressure Requirement for the 

Birmingham Area 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to 

approve a revision to the Alabama State 

Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted 

by the Alabama Department of 

Environmental Management (ADEM), 

on January 10, 2012, for parallel 

processing. ADEM submitted the final 

version of the SIP revision on March 2, 

2012. The revision modifies Alabama’s 

SIP to move Chapter 335–3–20 ‘‘Control 

of Fuels,’’ which includes the regulation 

that governs the State’s 7.0 pounds per 

square inch (psi) requirement for the 

low-Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) fuel 

program in Jefferson and Shelby 

Counties (hereafter referred to as the 

‘‘Birmingham Area’’) from the active 

measures portion of the Alabama SIP to 

the contingency measures portions of 

the maintenance plans for the 

Birmingham Area for the ozone national 

ambient air quality standards (NAAQS 

or standards), and of the proposed 

maintenance plans for the 1997 annual 

fine particulate matter (PM2.5) standards, 

and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards, 

when those actions are finalized. The 

change to the SIP will result in the 

federal RVP requirement of 7.8 psi 

applying for the Birmingham Area. EPA 

is approving this SIP revision because 

the State has demonstrated that it is 

consistent with section 110 of the Clean 

Air Act (CAA or Act). 

DATES: This final rule is effective April 

20, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

Number EPA–R04–OAR–2012–0118. All 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the www.regulations.gov Web site. 

Although listed in the electronic docket, 

some information is not publicly 

available, i.e., confidential business 


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