Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 189 / Thursday, September 28, 2000 / Notices 58295

1Although this Draft Protocol reflects LSC policy,

it is not intended to and shall not create or confer

any rights for or on behalf of any person or party

and shall not establish legally enforceable rights

against LSC or establish any legally enforceable

obligations on the part of LSC, its directors, officers,

employees and other agents.

2Rulemaking includes both the development of

new rules and regulations and the amendment of

existing rules and regulations.

3The Office of Legal Affairs is the office

previously known as the Office of General Counsel

and serves as legal advisor and corporate secretary

to LSC.

4There may be instances in which use of

Negotiated Rulemaking is unnecessary or

inappropriate, such as for non-controversial issues

or issues relating solely to LSC’s internal

operations. In such cases, LSC may determine that

Continued

(d) Documentation of real property

acquisitions shall consist of the

acquisition contract, evidence of a

market survey, cost or price analysis,

and an explanation of the reason(s) for

selecting a particular source, a copy of

an independent appraisal of the

property’s market value, evidence of

board approval of the acquisition, a

statement of handicapped accessibility

sufficient to meet the requirements of 45

CFR 1624.5(c), and a copy of the LSC

property interest agreement required by

Section 4(e) herein.

Section 9—Recipient Policies and

Procedures

Recipients shall develop written

policies and procedures which

implement, at a minimum, the

requirements of Sections 3 and 4 herein.

Victor M. Fortuno,

General Counsel and Vice President for Legal

Affairs.

[FR Doc. 00–24835 Filed 9–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7050–01–P

LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION

Rulemaking Protocol

AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation.

ACTION: Announcement of adoption of

rulemaking protocol and establishment

of new rulemakings notification mailing

list.

SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the text

of a new rulemaking protocol adopted

by the LSC Board of Directors which

will govern LSC rulemaking activities

and announces the establishment of a

mailing list for persons and

organizations wishing to be notified of

future LSC rulemakings.

DATES: This Rulemaking Protocol

became effective upon its adoption at

the LSC Board of Directors Meeting on

September 18, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mattie C. Condray, Senior Assistant

General Counsel, Office of Legal Affairs,

Legal Services Corporation, 750 First

Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002–

4250; 202/336–8817 (phone); 202/336–

8952 (fax); mcondray@lsc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Legal Services Corporation is

authorized by Congress to issue

regulations as necessary to carry out its

mission. See 42 U.S.C. 2996(e). LSC,

however, is not a ‘‘department, agency,

or instrumentality of the Federal

Government.’’ 42 U.S.C. 2996(d). As

such, LSC is not subject to the

requirements of the Administrative

Procedures Act, which governs the

rulemaking activities of Federal

agencies. Rather, LSC is required to

‘‘afford notice and reasonable

opportunity for comment to interested

parties prior to issuing rules,

regulations, and guidelines, and it shall

publish in the Federal Register at least

30 days prior to their effective date all

its rules, regulations, guidelines and

instructions.’’ 42 U.S.C. 2999(g).

Throughout its history, LSC has

conducted its rulemaking in compliance

with the statutory requirements

described above, but has not had a

written statement of the Board of

Directors (‘‘Board’’) setting forth the

procedures to be followed in the course

of LSC rulemaking activities. The Board

determined that, while there is no legal

requirement for LSC to have a written

protocol related to rulemaking, having

one would serve to advance LSC’s

policy of conducting its rulemaking

activities in a spirit of cooperative

dialog with our recipients and other

interested parties. Accordingly, on

September 18, 2000, at a meeting of its

Board of Directors, the Legal Services

Corporation adopted a new Rulemaking

Protocol to govern its rulemaking

activities. The text of the Protocol is set

forth below.

It should be noted that, since this

Protocol is a statement of LSC internal

procedure and is not a ‘‘rule, regulation,

guideline or instruction,’’ LSC is not

required by law to publish this Protocol

or seek public comment. LSC is

choosing to publish this Protocol in the

Federal Register (and has also posted it

on the LSC website at

http:\\www.lsc.gov) in furtherance of

LSC’s interest in and policy of

conducting its business in a fair and

open manner.

Rulemaking Protocol

This Rulemaking Protocol is intended

to reflect the policy of LSC to conduct

its rulemaking activities in a spirit of

cooperative dialog with our recipients

and other interested parties 1 and has

the following six objectives:

1. Enhanced implementation of the

will of Congress as expressed in the LSC

Act, amendments thereto and other

statutory enactments;

2. Increased public participation in

the manner and method in which LSC

promulgates rules;

3. The adoption of procedures that

reflect the best practices in rulemaking

as articulated in the Administrative

Procedures Act, the Negotiated

Rulemaking Act of 1990 and Executive

Order 12866;

4. Implementation of LSC’s strategic

initiatives as set forth in Strategic

Directions, 2000–2005 (adopted January

29, 2000);

5. Formalization of LSC’s policies

governing rulemaking and specifically

reserving specific responsibilities and

authorities unto the Board; and

6. Development of a rulemaking

protocol that is efficient and effective.

Regulatory Policy Direction

The Board, through the Operations

and Regulations Committee

(‘‘Committee’’), provides direction on

LSC regulatory policy and establishes

priorities for LSC rulemaking activities.

The Committee will look to staff to

effectuate LSC rulemaking policies and

priorities through this Protocol. Final

authority over LSC rulemaking policies

and actions rests with the Board.

Initiation of Rulemaking

The impetus for a rulemaking 2 may

come from any one of several sources;

Congressional directive; internal LSC

initiative (Board or Committee members

and/or staff); or a formal request from a

member of the regulated community or

general public. Once the Board has

agreed on a potential subject for

rulemaking, LSC’s Office of Legal

Affairs 3 (‘‘OLA’’), in close consultation

with appropriate Corporation staff, will

develop a Rulemaking Options Paper

(‘‘ROP’’). The ROP will contain a

discussion of the subject for the

potential rulemaking, and will include

an outline of the policy and legal issues

involved. The ROP shall also

recommend whether the potential

rulemaking should be Negotiated or

accomplished by Notice and Comment

Rulemaking. The appropriate

rulemaking process shall be selected on

a case-by-case with full recognition,

however, of LSC’s policy favoring open

and collaborative rulemaking. It is

anticipated that most rulemaking will be

Negotiated. 4 Once the ROP is

58296 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 189 / Thursday, September 28, 2000 / Notices

such issues should be handled solely through

Notice and Comment Rulemaking.

5The facilitator could be a professional facilitator

hired by the LSC or could be an LSC employee who

has received training in Alternative Dispute

Resolution and facilitation methods (including

training in areas such as recognizing leadership

styles, methods for team-building, creating

consensus and defusing conflict). In either case, the

facilitator will be specifically assigned to act in a

neutral capacity and not as an advocate of LSC

policy or substantive expert in the matter at hand.

6Prior to the development of the NPRM, LSC may

do some information gathering (either through

seeking written comments or through formal or

informal in-person outreach other otherwise) as

necessary.

7 During the comment period, LSC may, in its

discretion, hold a public hearing at which

interested parties make oral presentations, followed

by written comments.

developed, it will be submitted to the

Committee. The Committee, acting

through its Chair, shall consult with the

President before deciding whether to

proceed as recommended.

If, after consultation with the

President, the Committee elects to

proceed with a rulemaking, the

President will officially so notify the

Board. The President will also inform

the Inspector General (‘‘IG’’) that the

rulemaking is being undertaken and

communicate to the IG the general

parameters of the proposed rule and the

ROP. Notice that a rulemaking

proceeding has begun will also be

posted on the LSC website, indicating

the subject matter of the rulemaking and

whether the rulemaking will be

Negotiated or accomplished through

Notice and Comment. In addition to

website notice, notice by mail will also

be given those who have previously

requested such notice and are included

in the Corporation’s mailing list

dedicated to that purpose.

Negotiated Rulemaking

In a Negotiated Rulemaking, a group

comprised of LSC representatives and

affected and/or interested parties will

meet under the direction of a trained

facilitator, (‘‘Working Group’’) 5 with the

intention of developing consensusbased positions leading to regulations.

The key feature of Negotiated

Rulemaking is its collaborative

approach, which seeks consensus where

possible and decisionmaking by LSC

after full dialog with the regulated

community and other interested parties.

The President, in consultation with

the Committee Chair, will solicit

suggestions for appointment to the

Working Group from the regulated

community, its clients, advocates, the

organized bar and other interested

parties. The President, working in

consultation with the Committee, acting

through its Chair, will make

appointments of individuals and

organizations to the Working Group,

including the facilitator and the OLA

representative. All groups or

organizations asked to participate in the

Working Group shall be responsible for

selecting and designating their

representatives. It is expected that

membership on the Working Group will

be diverse and fully representative of

the legal services community and other

interested parties.

The Working Group shall meet as

necessary to develop a draft Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’). The

members of the Working Group will,

drawing upon their substantive

expertise, discuss the subjects

prompting the need for rulemaking and

work toward developing a consensus on

solutions to the problems identified.

The OLA representative on the

Working Group, with the assistance of a

subgroup of the membership, shall draft

the regulatory language consistent with

achieved consensus. The Working

Group will review the regulation to

ensure it reflects any consensus

reached, although the Corporation

retains ultimate responsibility for

crafting the regulatory language.

The consensus proposal of the group,

once developed, must go through the

formal rulemaking process as an NPRM.

At this point the Notice and Comment

process described below will be

followed.

On occasion it may happen that no

consensus can be reached by the

Working Group on a regulatory proposal

or some element thereof. In those

instances, the President will report this

to the Committee and seek direction

from the Committee, acting through its

Chair, on whether to continue the

rulemaking using the Notice and

Comment process or to terminate the

rulemaking.

Notice and Comment Rulemaking

In Notice and Comment Rulemaking,

LSC develops rulemaking proposals and

takes comment on them in writing and

at certain publicly designated meetings

of the Committee. Employing this

process in conjunction with Negotiated

Rulemaking will ensure that LSC’s

policy of cooperative dialog will be

carried out in a fair, open and

productive manner. LSC believes the

Notice and Comment process will allow

for an effective dialog between LSC and

its recipients and other interested

parties, even in those instances in

which Negotiated Rulemaking is not

used.

OLA will have the primary

responsibility for the drafting of the

Draft NPRM, which includes both the

proposed regulatory text and the

proposed preamble, working with

management, appropriate staff and the

Office of Inspector General (‘‘OIG’’).6

The Draft NPRM will be shared with the

OIG for review and comment. The Draft

NPRM will be submitted to the

President with a Statement of Issues.

The President may then: approve the

Draft NPRM for submission to the

Committee for its consideration; return

the Draft NPRM to OLA for revisions as

necessary; or, jointly with the

Committee, terminate the rulemaking.

Once approved, the Draft NPRM will

be set for consideration by the

Committee at a public meeting. The

Draft NPRM and Statement of Issues

will be provided to the Committee

sufficiently in advance of the meeting to

permit their appropriate consideration.

The notice of the meeting announcing

the placement of the Draft NPRM on the

Committee agenda will be published in

the Federal Register and will recite that

the Draft NPRM will be publicly

available and will be posted on the LSC

website. Posting of the Draft NPRM to

the LSC website will be sufficiently in

advance of the Committee meeting to

permit appropriate consideration by

interested parties.

At the Committee meeting,

management will present the Draft

NPRM with the assistance of OLA and

opportunity for public comment will be

provided. The Committee will then

deliberate and shall decide whether to

publish the NPRM or return it to staff

for revisions.

Once the NPRM has been approved,

OLA will make any necessary technical

revisions to document before it is

published in the Federal Register for

comment.7 The comment period will be

at least 30 days and, it is anticipated, in

most instances will be 60 days (but

could, under appropriate circumstances,

be longer). However, the decision as to

whether to limit the notice period to 30

days or to provide a longer comment

period is a matter entirely within

discretion of the Board.

Copies of all comments received will

be provided to the Committee and made

available to other Board Members upon

request. Copies of all comments will

also be placed in a public docket

available for inspection and copying in

the FOIA Reading Room at the

Corporation’s offices. Copies of

comments received in electronic format,

along with an index of all comments

received, will be placed into an

‘‘electronic’’ docket on the LSC website.

Upon the close of the comment

period, OLA will draft a Final Rule

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 189 / Thursday, September 28, 2000 / Notices 58297

8On rare occasions, it may become necessary for

LSC to raise additional issues for comment. In such

a case, LSC may issue a Revised NPRM and repeat

the comment process.

(which consists of the regulatory text

and preamble).8 The draft of the Final

Rule will be shared with the OIG for

review and comment. The draft of the

Final Rule will be submitted to the

President with a Statement of Issues.

The President may then: approve the

draft of the Final Rule for submission to

the Committee for its consideration;

return it to OLA for revisions as

necessary; or, jointly with the

Committee, terminate the rulemaking.

Once approved, the draft of the Final

Rule will be set for consideration by the

Committee at a public meeting. The

draft of the Final Rule and Statement of

Issues will be provided to the

Committee and the Board sufficiently in

advance of the meeting to permit

appropriate consideration. In addition, a

notice of the meeting announcing the

placement of the Final Rule on the

Committee agenda will be published in

the Federal Register. At the Committee

meeting, management will present a

summary of the Comments and the draft

Final Rule with the assistance of OLA.

It is anticipated that the Committee will

accept public comment as needed to

assist in its deliberations. The

Committee will vote on whether to

recommend the Final Rule to the Board

or return it to staff for revisions.

If the draft Final Rule is approved by

the Committee for review by the Board,

the Board will consider the draft Final

Rule and vote to adopt it or to return it

to the Committee for further action. At

its discretion, the Board may request the

participation of members of the public

during its deliberations. Once the Final

Rule is adopted by the Board, OLA will

make any necessary technical revisions

to it and submit the final version for

approval for publication to the Board’s

designee (for example, the Board Chair

or the Committee Chair). The Final Rule

will then be published in the Federal

Register and placed on LSC’s website.

Establishment of Mailing List

As noted above, public notice that a

rulemaking proceeding has begun will

be accomplished through posting a

notice to that effect on the LSC website,

and by sending notice by mail to those

who have previously requested such

notice. With this notice, LSC is formally

establishing a mailing list dedicated to

that purpose. Persons and organizations

wishing to be notified by mail when

LSC undertakes a rulemaking

proceeding should submit a notice

indicating such interest and providing

contact information (name, title,

organization and mailing address) to

Mattie C. Condray at the address listed

above.

Victor M. Fortuno,

General Counsel and Vice President for Legal

Affairs.

[FR Doc. 00–24836 Filed 9–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7050–01–P

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Under the paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–

13 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), and as part

of its continuing effort to reduce

paperwork and respondent burden, the

National Science Foundation (NSF) is

inviting the general public or other

Federal agencies to comment on this

proposed continuing information

collection.

DATES: Written comments on this notice

must be received by November 27, 2000

to be assured of consideration.

Comments received after that date will

be considered to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information or for a copy of the

collection instrument and instructions

contact Ms. Suzanne H. Plimpton, NSF

Reports Clearance Officer, via surface

mail: National Science Foundation,

ATTN: NSF Reports Clearance Officer,

Suite 295, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,

Arlington, VA 22230 or e-mail:

splimpto@nsf.gov. Individuals who use

a telecommunications device for the

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 8

p.m., Eastern time, Monday through

Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title of Collection: 2001 National

Survey of Recent College Graduates.

OMB Control No.: 3145–0077.

Expiration Date of Approval: February

28, 2002.

1. Abstract

The National Survey of Recent

College Graduates (NSRCG) has been

conducted biennially since 1974. For

the 2001 cycle, a sample of individuals

who have recently earned bachelor’s

and master’s degrees in science and

engineering from U.S. institutions will

be surveyed. The purpose of the study

is to provide national estimates

describing the relationship between

education and employment for

bachelor’s and master’s recipients in

science and engineering. The study is

one of three components of the

Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data

System (SESTAT), which produces

national estimates of the size and

characteristics of the nation’s science

and engineering population.

The National Science Foundation Act

of 1950, as subsequently amended,

includes a statutory charge to ‘‘* * *

provide a central clearinghouse for the

collection, interpretation, and analysis

of data on scientific and engineering

resources, and to provide a source of

information for policy formulation by

other agencies of the Federal

Government.’’ The National Survey of

Recent College Graduates is designed to

comply with these mandates by

providing information on the supply

and utilization of scientists and

engineers at the bachelor’s and master’s

degree level. Collected data will be used

to produce estimates of the

characteristics of these individuals.

They will also provide necessary input

into the SESTAT labor force data

system, which produces national

estimates of the size and characteristics

of the country’s science and engineering

population. The Foundation uses this

information to prepare congressionally

mandated reports such as Women and

Minorities in Science and Engineering

and Science and Engineering Indicators.

A public release file of collected data,

designed to protect respondent

confidentiality, is expected to be made

available to researchers on CD–ROM

and on the World Wide Web.

The Survey will be primarily

conducted using Computer Assisted

Telephone Interviews (CATI).

Questionnaires will be mailed only to

those individuals who are unwilling to

provide information over the telephone

but willing to complete a mail

questionnaire. CATI interviewing will

begin in April 2001 and is estimated to

end in December 2001. The survey will

be collected in conformance with the

Privacy Act of 1974 and the individual’s

response to the survey is voluntary. NSF

will insure that all information collected

will be kept strictly confidential and

will be used only for research or

statistical purposes, analyzing data, and

preparing scientific reports and articles.

2. Expected Respondents

We will sample approximately 27,500

graduates with bachelor’s and master’s

degrees in science and engineering from

U.S. academic institutions