Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 195 / Friday, October 6, 2000 / Notices 59841

various stakeholders, including other

Federal agencies, State health agencies,

environmental groups, trade

associations and public interest groups.

Based on comments received, a detailed

outline was developed and comments

were once again solicited, which led to

the draft document in this notice.

Onsite/decentralized systems

currently serve about 25 percent of the

U.S. population and approximately 40

percent of new development. The vast

majority of these systems are

conventional onsite wastewater systems

(septic systems). States report that these

wastewater systems have failed because

of inappropriate siting or design or

inadequate long-term maintenance and

that septic tank systems constitute the

third most common source of ground

water contamination.

The final guidelines will be

accompanied by a guidance manual. An

outline of this guidance manual is also

available for review and comment. The

final manual will provide details on

assessing, developing, implementing,

and sustaining a viable management

program. The guidelines for

management and the accompanying

guidance manual are scheduled for

completion in the Summer of 2001.

Prior to completion, EPA will reach out

to interested parties, primarily through

discussions with national and Statelevel organizations to gain input.

Dated: September 27, 2000.

J. Charles Fox,

Assistant Administrator for Office of Solid

Waste and Emergency Response.

[FR Doc. 00–25743 Filed 10–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6882–1]

Public Water System Supervision

Program Revision for the State of

Florida

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of tentative approval.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that

the State of Florida is revising its

approved Public Water System

Supervision Program. Florida has

adopted drinking water regulations

requiring consumer confidence reports

from all community water systems. EPA

has determined that these revisions are

no less stringent than the corresponding

federal regulations. Therefore, EPA

intends on approving this State program

revision.

All interested parties may request a

public hearing. A request for a public

hearing must be submitted by November

6, 2000 to the Regional Administrator at

the address shown below. Frivolous or

insubstantial requests for a hearing may

be denied by the Regional

Administrator. However, if a substantial

request for a public hearing is made by

November 6, 2000, a public hearing will

be held. If no timely and appropriate

request for a hearing is received and the

Regional Administrator does not elect to

hold a hearing on his own motion, this

determination shall become final and

effective on November 6, 2000. Any

request for a public hearing shall

include the following information: (1)

The name, address, and telephone

number of the individual organization,

or other entity requesting a hearing; (2)

A brief statement of the requesting

person’s interest in the Regional

Administrator’s determination and a

brief statement of the information that

the requesting person intends to submit

at such hearing; (3) The signature of the

individual making the request, or, if the

request is made on behalf of an

organization or other entity, the

signature of a responsible official of the

organization or other entity.

ADDRESSES: All documents relating to

this determination are available for

inspection between the hours of 8 a.m.

and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,

at the following offices: Florida

Department of Environmental

Protection, 2600 Blairstone Road,

Tallahassee, Florida 32399 or at the

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region 4, Drinking Water Section, 61

Forsyth Street Southwest, Atlanta,

Georgia 30303.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bonita Johnson, EPA Region 4, Drinking

Water Section at the Atlanta address

given above or by telephone at (404)

562–9442.

Authority: (Section 1420 of the Safe

Drinking Water Act, as amended (1996), and

40 CFR part 142 of the National Primary

Drinking Water Regulations)

A. Stanley Meiburg,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

[FR Doc. 00–25748 Filed 10–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

[DA 00–2171 and DA 00–2232]

Comment Sought on Reserve Prices or

Minimum Opening Bids and Other

Auction Procedural Issues; Auction of

Additional FM Broadcast Construction

Permits To Be Included in Auction No.

37 Scheduled for February 21, 2001

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This document announces the

auction of certain FM broadcast

construction permits to commence

February 21, 2001.

DATES: Comments regarding the vacant

FM allotments listed in Attachment A of

DA 00–2171 (‘‘Auction No. 37 Comment

Public Notice’’) are due on or before

October 9, 2000. Comments regarding

the eight additional vacant FM

allotments listed in DA 00–2232

(‘‘Addendum Public Notice’’) are due on

or before October 13, 2000. All reply

comments are due on or before October

23, 2000.

ADDRESSES: To file formally, parties

must submit an original and four copies

to the Office of the Secretary, Federal

Communications Commission, 445

Twelfth Street, SW, TW–A325,

Washington, DC 20054. In addition,

parties must submit one copy to Louis

Sigalos, Deputy Division Chief,

Auctions and Industry Analysis

Division, Wireless Telecommunications

Bureau, 445 Twelfth Street, SW, Suite

4–A668, Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kathy Garland, Auctions and Industry

Analysis Division, Wireless

Telecommunications Bureau, at (717)

338–2888; Kenneth Burnley, Legal

Branch, Auctions and Industry Analysis

Division, Wireless Telecommunications

Bureau, at (202) 418–0660; or Lisa

Scanlan, Audio Services Division, Mass

Media Bureau at (202) 418–2700.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of two Public Notices, DA 00–

2171 (‘‘Auction No. 37 Comment Public

Notice’’) and DA 00–2232 (‘‘Addendum

Public Notice’’), released September 25,

2000 and September 29, 2000

respectively. The complete text of the

public notices, including attachments, is

available for inspection and copying

during normal business hours in the

FCC Reference Center (Room CY–A257),

445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC. It

may also be purchased from the

Commission’s copy contractor,

International Transcription Services,

Inc. (ITS, Inc.) 1231 20th Street, NW,

59842 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 195 / Friday, October 6, 2000 / Notices

Washington, DC 20036, (202) 857–3800.

It is also available on the Commission’s

web site at http://www.fcc.gov.

1. By these Public Notices, the

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

(the ‘‘Bureau’’) and the Mass Media

Bureau (collectively referred to as the

‘‘Bureaus’’) announce the auction of

certain FM broadcast construction

permits to commence February 21,

2001. As discussed in greater detail

herein, the Bureaus propose that

Auction No. 37 be composed of 359

construction permits in the FM

Broadcast service as listed in

Attachment A of DA 00–2232

(‘‘Addendum Public Notice’’).

2. Specifically, Attachment A of DA

00–2171 (‘‘Auction No. 37 Comment

Public Notice’’) lists 351 vacant FM

allotments, reflecting FM channels

assigned to the Table of FM Allotments,

47 CFR 73.202(b), pursuant to the

Commission’s established rulemaking

procedures, designated for use in the

indicated community. Attachment A of

the Addendum Public Notice adds eight

additional vacant FM allotments not

listed in the Auction No. 37 Comment

Public Notice, and lists all vacant FM

allotments that will be included in

Auction No. 37. The eight additional

vacant FM allotments of the Addendum

Public Notice have been inserted into

Attachment A alphabetically by state

and the market numbers identified in

the attachment to the Auction 37

Comment Public Notice have been

revised to reflect the addition of these

eight vacant FM allotments. Both Public

Notices seek comment on procedural

issues related to the auctioning of FM

broadcast construction permits in

Auction No. 37.

3. As stated in the Broadcast First

Report and Order, 63 FR 48615

(September 11, 1998), applicants may

apply for any vacant FM allotment, as

specified in Attachment A of the

Addendum Public Notice; applicants

specifying the same FM allotment will

be considered mutually exclusive and,

thus, the construction permit for the FM

allotment will be awarded by

competitive bidding procedures. The

reference coordinates for each vacant

FM allotment are also listed in

Attachment A of the Addendum Public

Notice.

4. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997

requires the Commission to ‘‘ensure

that, in the scheduling of any

competitive bidding under this

subsection, an adequate period is

allowed * * * before issuance of

bidding rules, to permit notice and

comment on proposed auction

procedures * * *.’’ Consistent with the

provisions of the Balanced Budget Act

and to ensure that potential bidders

have adequate time to familiarize

themselves with the specific rules that

will govern the day-to-day conduct of an

auction, the Commission directed the

Bureau, under its existing delegated

authority, to seek comment on a variety

of auction-specific procedures prior to

the start of each auction. We therefore

seek comment on the following issues

relating to Auction No. 37.

I. Auction Structure

A. Simultaneous Multiple Round

Auction Design

5. We propose to award these FM

construction permits in a single stage,

simultaneous multiple-round auction.

As described further, this methodology

offers every FM construction permit for

bid at the same time in successive

rounds of bidding. We seek comment on

this proposal.

B. Upfront Payments and Initial

Maximum Eligibility for Each Bidder

6. The Bureaus have delegated

authority and discretion to determine an

appropriate upfront payment for the FM

construction permits being auctioned

taking into account such factors as the

efficiency of the auction process and the

potential value of spectrum. As

described further, the upfront payment

is a refundable deposit made by each

bidder to determine and establish

eligibility to bid on the FM construction

permits. Upfront payments related to

the specific spectrum subject to auction

protects against frivolous or insincere

bidding and provides the Commission

with a source of funds from which to

collect payments owed at the close of

the auction. With these guidelines in

mind, we propose the schedule of

upfront payments contained in

Attachment A to the Public Notice. We

seek comment on this proposal.

7. We further propose that the amount

of the upfront payment submitted by a

bidder will determine the initial

maximum eligibility (as measured in

bidding units) for each bidder. Upfront

payments will not be attributed to

specific construction permits, but

instead will be translated into bidding

units to define a bidder’s initial

maximum eligibility, which cannot be

increased during the auction. Thus, in

calculating the upfront payment

amount, an applicant must determine

the maximum number of bidding units

it may wish to bid on (or hold high bids

on) in any single round, and submit an

upfront payment covering that number

of bidding units. We seek comment on

this proposal.

C. Activity Rules

8. In order to ensure that the auction

closes within a reasonable period of

time, an activity rule requires bidders to

either place a valid bid and/or be the

standing high bidder during each round

of the auction rather than waiting until

the end to participate. A bidder that

does not satisfy the activity rule will

either use an activity rule waiver, if any

remain, or lose bidding eligibility in the

auction.

9. We propose a single stage auction

with the following activity requirement:

In each round of the auction, a bidder

desiring to maintain its eligibility to

participate in the auction is required to

be active on one hundred (100) percent

of its bidding eligibility. Failure to

maintain the requisite activity level will

result in the use of an activity rule

waiver, if any remain, or a reduction in

the bidder’s bidding eligibility, thus

eliminating the bidder from the auction.

We seek comment on this proposal.

D. Activity Rule Waivers

10. Use of an activity rule waiver

preserves the bidder’s current bidding

eligibility despite the bidder’s activity

in the current round being below the

required minimum level. An activity

rule waiver applies to an entire round

of bidding and not to a particular

construction permit. Activity waivers

are principally a mechanism for auction

participants to avoid the loss of auction

eligibility in the event that exigent

circumstances prevent them from

placing a bid in a particular round.

11. The FCC auction system assumes

that bidders with insufficient activity

would prefer to use an activity rule

waiver (if available) rather than lose

bidding eligibility. Therefore, the

system will automatically apply a

waiver (known as an ‘‘automatic

waiver’’) at the end of any bidding

period where a bidder’s activity level is

below the minimum required, unless (i)

there are no more activity rule waivers

available; or (ii) the bidder overrides the

automatic application of a waiver by

reducing eligibility, thereby meeting the

minimum requirements.

12. We propose that a bidder with

insufficient activity that wants to reduce

its bidding eligibility rather than use an

activity rule waiver, must affirmatively

override the automatic waiver

mechanism during the bidding period

by using the reduce eligibility function

in the software. In this case, the bidder’s

eligibility would be permanently

reduced to bring the bidder into

compliance with the activity rules. Once

eligibility has been reduced, a bidder

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 195 / Friday, October 6, 2000 / Notices 59843

would not be permitted to regain its lost

bidding eligibility.

13. We propose that a bidder may

proactively use an activity rule waiver

as a means to keep the auction open

without placing a bid. If a bidder

submits a proactive waiver (using the

proactive waiver function in the bidding

software) during a bidding period in

which no bids are submitted, the

auction will remain open and the

bidder’s eligibility will be preserved. An

automatic waiver invoked in a round in

which there are no new valid bids will

not keep the auction open, under the

simultaneous stopping rule. The

submission of a proactive waiver cannot

occur after a bid has been submitted in

a round and will preclude a bidder from

placing any bids later in that round.

14. We propose that each bidder in

Auction No. 37 be provided with five

activity rule waivers that may be used

in any round during the course of the

auction. We seek comment on this

proposal.

E. Information Relating to Auction

Delay, Suspension or Cancellation

15. For Auction No. 37, we propose

that, by public notice or by

announcement during the auction, the

Bureau may delay, suspend or cancel

the auction in the event of natural

disaster, technical obstacle, evidence of

an auction security breach, unlawful

bidding activity, administrative or

weather necessity, or for any other

reason that affects the fair and

competitive conduct of competitive

bidding. In such cases, the Bureau, in its

sole discretion, may elect to: resume the

auction starting from the beginning of

the current round; resume the auction

starting from some previous round; or

cancel the auction in its entirety.

Network interruption may cause the

Bureau to delay or suspend the auction.

We emphasize that exercise of this

authority is solely within the discretion

of the Bureau, and its use is not

intended to be a substitute for situations

in which bidders may wish to apply

their activity rule waivers. We seek

comment on this proposal.

II. Bidding Procedures

A. Round Structure

16. The Commission will use its

Automated Auction System to conduct

the electronic simultaneous multiple

round auction format for Auction No.

37. The initial bidding schedule will be

announced in a public notice to be

released at least one week before the

start of the auction, and will be

included in the registration mailings.

The simultaneous multiple round

format will consist of sequential bidding

rounds, each followed by the release of

round results. Details regarding the

location and format of round results will

be included in the same public notice.

17. The Bureau has discretion to

change the bidding schedule in order to

foster an auction pace that reasonably

balances speed with the bidders’ need to

study round results. The Bureau may

increase or decrease the amount of time

for the bidding rounds and review

periods, or the number of rounds per

day, depending upon the bidding

activity level and other factors. We seek

comment on this proposal.

B. Reserve Price or Minimum Opening

Bid

18. The Balanced Budget Act calls

upon the Commission to prescribe

methods by which a reasonable reserve

price will be required or a minimum

opening bid established when FCC

licenses or construction permits are

subject to auction (i.e., because the

Commission has accepted mutually

exclusive applications for those

licenses), unless the Commission

determines that a reserve price or

minimum bid is not in the public

interest. Consistent with this mandate,

the Commission has directed the

Bureaus to seek comment on the use of

minimum opening bids and/or reserve

price prior to the start of each auction

of broadcast construction permits.

19. Normally, a reserve price is an

absolute minimum price below which

an item will not be sold in a given

auction. Reserve prices can be either

published or unpublished. A minimum

opening bid, on the other hand, is the

minimum bid price set at the beginning

of the auction below which no bids are

accepted. It is generally used to

accelerate the competitive bidding

process. Also, in a minimum opening

bid scenario, the auctioneer generally

has the discretion to lower the amount

later in the auction. It is also possible

for the minimum opening bid and the

reserve price to be the same amount.

20. In light of the Balanced Budget

Act, the Bureaus propose to establish

minimum opening bids for Auction No.

37. The Bureaus believe a minimum

opening bid, which has been utilized in

other broadcast auctions, is an effective

bidding tool. A minimum opening bid,

rather than a reserve price, will help to

regulate the pace of the auction and

provides flexibility.

21. For Auction No. 37, the proposed

minimum opening bid for each FM

allotment, as listed in Attachment A of

the Public Notice, was determined by

taking into account various factors

related to the efficiency of the auction

and the potential value of the spectrum,

including the type of service and class

of facility offered, market size,

population covered by the proposed FM

broadcast facility, industry cash flow

data and recent broadcast transactions.

We seek comment on this proposal.

22. If commenters believe that these

minimum opening bids will result in

unsold construction permits, or are not

reasonable amounts, or should instead

operate as reserve prices, they should

explain why this is so, and comment on

the desirability of an alternative

approach. Commenters are advised to

support their claim with valuation

analyses and suggested reserve prices or

minimum opening bid levels or

formulas. Alternatively, comment is

sought on whether, consistent with the

Balanced Budget Act, the public interest

would be served by having no minimum

opening bids or reserve prices.

C. Minimum Accepted Bids and Bid

Increments

23. Once there is a standing high bid

on a construction permit, a bid

increment will be applied to that permit

to establish a minimum acceptable bid

for the following round. For Auction

No. 37, we propose to set a minimum

10 percent increment. This means that

a new bid placed by a bidder must be

at least 10 percent greater than the

previous bid received on the

construction permit. The Bureau retains

the discretion to change the

methodology for determining the

minimum bid increment if they

determine the circumstances so dictate.

Advanced notice of the Bureau’s

decision to do so will be announced via

the Automated Auction System.

24. Bidders will enter their bid as

multiples of the bid increment (i.e., with

a 10 percent bid increment, a bid of 1

increment will place a bid 10 percent

above the previous high bid, a bid of 2

increments will place a bid 20 percent

above the previous high bid). We seek

comment on this proposal.

D. Information Regarding Bid

Withdrawal and Bid Removal

25. For Auction No. 37, we propose

the following bid removal and bid

withdrawal procedures. Before the close

of a bidding period, a bidder has the

option of removing any bid placed in

that round. By using the remove bid

function in the software, a bidder may

effectively ‘‘unsubmit’’ any bid placed

within that round. A bidder removing a

bid placed in the same round is not

subject to a withdrawal payment.

26. Once a round closes, a bidder may

no longer remove a bid. However, in the

next round, a bidder may withdraw

59844 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 195 / Friday, October 6, 2000 / Notices

standing high bids from previous

rounds using the withdraw bid function.

A high bidder that withdraws its

standing high bid from a previous round

is subject to the bid withdrawal

payment provisions. We seek comment

on these bid removal and bid

withdrawal procedures.

27. In the Part 1 Third Report and

Order, 63 FR 770 (January 7, 1998), the

Commission explained that allowing bid

withdrawals facilitates efficient

aggregation of licenses and the pursuit

of efficient backup strategies as

information becomes available during

the course of an auction. The

Commission noted, however, that in

some instances bidders may seek to

withdraw bids for improper reasons,

including to delay the close of the

auction for strategic purposes. The

Bureau, therefore, has discretion, in

managing the auction, to limit the

number of withdrawals to prevent

strategic delay of the close of the

auction or other abuses. The

Commission stated that the Bureau

should assertively exercise its

discretion, consider limiting the number

of rounds in which bidders may

withdraw bids, and prevent bidders

from bidding on a particular market it

finds that a bidder is abusing the

Commission’s bid withdrawal

procedures.

28. Applying this reasoning, we

propose to limit each bidder in Auction

No. 37 to withdraw standing high bids

in no more than two rounds during the

course of the auction. To permit a

bidder to withdraw bids in more than

two rounds would likely encourage

insincere bidding or the use of

withdrawals for anti-competitive

strategic purposes. The two rounds in

which withdrawals are utilized will be

at the bidder’s discretion; withdrawals

otherwise must be in accordance with

the Commission’s rules. There is no

limit on the number of standing high

bids that may be withdrawn in either of

the rounds in which withdrawals are

utilized. Withdrawals will remain

subject to the bid withdrawal payment

provisions specified in the

Commission’s rules. We seek comment

on these proposals.

E. Stopping Rule

29. For Auction No. 37, the Bureau

proposes to employ a simultaneous

stopping rule approach. The Bureau has

discretion ‘‘to establish stopping rules

before or during multiple round

auctions in order to terminate the

auction within a reasonable time.’’ A

simultaneous stopping rule means that

all construction permits remain open

until the first round in which no new

acceptable bids, proactive waivers or

withdrawals are received. After the first

such round, bidding closes

simultaneously on all construction

permits. Thus, unless circumstances

dictate otherwise, bidding would

remain open on all construction permits

until bidding stops on every permit.

30. The Bureau seeks comment on a

modified version of the simultaneous

stopping rule. The modified stopping

rule would close the auction for all

construction permits after the first

round in which no bidder submits a

proactive waiver, a withdrawal, or a

new bid on any construction permit on

which it is not the standing high bidder.

Thus, absent any other bidding activity,

a bidder placing a new bid on a

construction permit for which it is the

standing high bidder would not keep

the auction open under this modified

stopping rule. The Bureau further seeks

comment on whether this modified

stopping rule should be utilized.

31. We propose that the Bureau

retains the discretion to keep an auction

open even if no new acceptable bids or

proactive waivers are submitted and no

previous high bids are withdrawn. In

this event, the effect will be the same as

if a bidder had submitted a proactive

waiver. The activity rule, therefore, will

apply as usual and a bidder with

insufficient activity will either lose

bidding eligibility or use a remaining

activity rule waiver.

32. Finally, we propose that the

Bureau reserve the right to declare that

the auction will end after a specified

number of additional rounds (‘‘special

stopping rule’’). If the Bureau invokes

this special stopping rule, they will

accept bids in the final round(s) only for

construction permits on which the high

bid increased in at least one of the

preceding specified number of rounds.

The Bureau proposes to exercise this

option only in certain circumstances,

such as, for example, where the auction

is proceeding very slowly, there is

minimal overall bidding activity, or it

appears likely that the auction will not

close within a reasonable period of time.

Before exercising this option, the

Bureau is likely to attempt to increase

the pace of the auction by, for example,

increasing the number of bidding

rounds per day, and/or increasing the

amount of the minimum bid increments

for the limited number of construction

permits where there is still a high level

of bidding activity. We seek comment

on these proposals.

Federal Communications Commission.

Margaret Wiener,

Deputy Chief, Auctions and Industry Analysis

Division.

[FR Doc. 00–25741 Filed 10–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Change in Bank Control Notices;

Acquisitions of Shares of Banks or

Bank Holding Companies

The notificants listed below have

applied under the Change in Bank

Control Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)) and

§ 225.41 of the Board’s Regulation Y (12

CFR 225.41) to acquire a bank or bank

holding company. The factors that are

considered in acting on the notices are

set forth in paragraph 7 of the Act (12

U.S.C. 1817(j)(7)).

The notices are available for

immediate inspection at the Federal

Reserve Bank indicated. The notices

also will be available for inspection at

the offices of the Board of Governors.

Interested persons may express their

views in writing to the Reserve Bank

indicated for that notice or to the offices

of the Board of Governors. Comments

must be received not later than October

20, 2000.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

(Phillip Jackson, Applications Officer)

230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago,

Illinois 60690–1414:

1. John Mark DeCook, Pella, Iowa, and

Martin ‘‘Bruce’’ Heerema, Pella, Iowa;

each to retain voting shares of Vermeer

Investment Company, Pella, Iowa, and

thereby indirectly retain voting shares of

Marion County State Bank, Pella, Iowa.

2. Raymond James Schirmer, and

Robert Lawrence Foust, both of

Strawberry Point, Iowa; to acquire

additional voting shares of Munter

Agency, Inc., Strawberry Point, Iowa,

and thereby indirectly acquire

additional voting shares of Union Bank

and Trust Company, Strawberry Point,

Iowa.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, October 2, 2000.

Robert deV. Frierson,

Associate Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–25667 Filed 10–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Formations of, Acquisitions by, and

Mergers of Bank Holding Companies

The companies listed in this notice

have applied to the Board for approval,

pursuant to the Bank Holding Company