Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 6 / Thursday, January 9, 1997 / Notices 1335

B. Take No Action

This alternative assumes the existing

facility would be maintained in its

current condition. Existing processing

capacities would become increasingly

more inadequate as the volume of

border traffic, particularly trucks,

continues to increase. Increased traffic

and processing delays would result in

queuing conditions at the POE and

possible also on State Route 543 north

of the POE and into Canada. The

absence of adequate facilities at Pacific

Highway and associated delays may

ultimately force truck traffic to utilize

smaller border crossings not located

along a major state highway. The

inefficiencies and disadvantages

associated with inadequate facilities

would be worsened if the Take No

Action Alternative were selected.

IV. Environmentally Preferred

Alternative

As required by the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a

lead agency must identify its preferred

alternative. The environmentally

preferred alternative is the alternative

which best promotes the national

environmental policies incorporated in

NEPA. In general, this would be the

alternative resulting in the least damage

to the human environment and which

best protects natural and cultural

resources.

While Design Alternative 3B and 5 are

similar, Design Alternative 5, is

identified as GSA’s environmentally

preferred alternative. Design Alternative

5 would impact the least amount of

wetlands by shifting the development

focus on the western side of the site

farther south than Design Alternative

3B. Design Alternative 5 would also

include additional northbound truck

parking to the east of State Route 543 for

use by our client agencies.

V. Environmental Impacts and

Mitigation Measures

In terms of environmental harm, this

alternative would have only minor

impacts to: topography; soils;

hydrology; visual resources; fiscal

considerations; land use and zoning;

transportation; and noise. However,

moderate impacts would occur to

biological resources (wetlands). No

significant impacts were identified.

All practicable means to alleviate,

minimize and/or compensate

environmental harm will be considered

in the development of the project.

Although several mitigation measures

were recommended in the Draft EIS,

only those that can be implemented

under the authority of GSA were

adopted. For example, additional land is

to be purchased to minimize the loss of

wetlands. GSA shall monitor the

implementation of those adopted

mitigation measures necessary to assure

measures specified in the Draft and the

Record of Decision are carried out.

VI. Conclusion

Environmental and other relevant

concerns presented by interested

agencies and private citizens have been

addressed sufficiently in the Final

Environmental Impact Statement and

Final Supplemental Environmental

Impact Statement and are hereby

acknowledged and incorporated into

this ROD by reference. The General

Services Administration believes there

are no outstanding environmental issues

to be resolved with respect to the

proposed project and which are within

the mission capabilities of this agency.

After consulting with the GSA staff,

reviewing both the Final EIS and the

Final Supplemental EIS and all of its

related materials, it is my decision the

GSA will proceed with Design

Alternative 5 as the environmentally

preferred alternative for the expansion

of the Pacific Highway Port of Entry in

Blaine, Whatcom County, Washington.

Dated: December 23, 1996.

L. Jay Pearson,

Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–525 Filed 1–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–23–M

Office of Acquisition Policy; Change in

Solicitation Procedures Under the

Small Business Competitiveness

Demonstration Program

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Title VII of the Business

Opportunity Development Reform Act

of 1988 (Public Law 100–656)

established the Small Business

Competitiveness Demonstration

Program and designated nine (9)

agencies, including GSA, to conduct the

program over a four (4) year period from

January 1, 1989 to December 31, 1992.

The Small Business Opportunity

Enhancement Act of 1992 (Public Law

102–366) extended the demonstration

program until September 1996 and

made certain changes in the procedures

for operation of the demonstration

program. The program has been

extended for an additional one-year

period by the Omnibus Consolidated

Appropriations Act (Public Law 104–

208). The law designated four (4)

industry groups for testing whether the

competitive capabilities of the specified

industry groups will enable them to

successfully compete on an unrestricted

basis. The four (4) industry groups are:

construction (except dredging);

architectural and engineering (A&E)

services (including surveying and

mapping); refuse systems and related

services (limited to trash/garbage

collection); and non-nuclear ship repair.

Under the program, when a

participating agency misses its small

business participation goal, restricted

competition is reinstituted only for

those contracting activities that failed to

attain the goal. The small business goal

is 40 percent of the total contract dollars

awarded for construction, trash/garbage

collection services, and non-nuclear

ship repair and 35 percent of the total

contract dollars awarded for architectengineer services. This notice

announces modifications to GSA’s

solicitation practices under the

demonstration program based on a

review of the agency’s performance

during the period from October 1, 1995

to September 30, 1996. Modifications to

solicitation practices are outlined in the

Supplementary Information section

below and apply to solicitations issued

on or after January 1, 1997.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom

Wisnowski, Office of GSA Acquisition

Policy, (202) 501–1224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Procurements of construction or trash/

garbage collection with an estimated

value of $25,000 or less will be reserved

for emerging small business concerns in

accordance with the procedures

outlined in the interim policy directive

issued by the Office of Federal

Procedure Policy (58 FR 13513, March

11, 1993).

Procurements of construction or

trash/garbage collection with an

estimated value that exceeds $25,000 by

GSA contracting activities will be made

in accordance with the following

procedures:

Construction Services in Groups 15, 16,

and 17

Procurements for all construction

services (except solicitations issued by

GSA contracting activities in Regions 2,

7, and 8 in SIC Group 15, the National

Capital Region in individual SIC code

1794, and Regions 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9

in individual SIC code 1796) shall be

conducted on an unrestricted basis.

Procurements for construction

services in SIC Group 15 issued by GSA

contracting activities in Regions 2, 7,

and 8, and individual SIC code 1794 in

the National Capital Region, and in

individual SIC code 1796 in Regions 2,

3, 5, 6, 7, and 9, shall be set aside for
1336 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 6 / Thursday, January 9, 1997 / Notices

small business when there is a

reasonable expectation of obtaining

competition from two or more small

businesses. If no expectation exists, the

procurements will be conducted on an

unrestricted basis.

Region 2 encompasses the states of

New Jersey, New York, and territories of

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Region 3 encompasses the states of

Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia,

Maryland (except Montgomery and

Prince Georges Counties), and Virginia

(except the city of Alexandria and the

counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun,

and Prince William).

Region 5 encompasses the states of

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan,

Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Region 6 encompasses the states of

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

Region 7 encompasses the states of

Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New

Mexico, and Texas.

Region 8 encompasses the states of

Colorado, Montana, North Dakota,

South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Region 9 encompasses the states of

Arizona, California, Hawaii, and

Nevada.

The National Capital Region

encompasses the District of Columbia,

Montgomery and Prince Georges

counties in Maryland, and the city of

Alexandria and the counties of

Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince

William in Virginia.

Trash/garbage Collection Services in

PSC S205

Procurements for trash/garbage

collection services in PSC S205 will be

conducted on an unrestricted basis.

Architect-Engineer Services (All PSC

Codes Under the Demonstration

Program)

Procurements for all architectengineer services (except procurements

issued by contracting activities in GSA

Regions 4, 5, 9, and the National Capital

Region) shall be conducted on an

unrestricted basis.

Procurements for architect-engineer

services issued by contracting activities

in Regions 4, 5, 9, and the National

Capital Region shall be set aside for

small business when there is a

reasonable expectation of obtaining

competition from two or more small

businesses. If no expectation exists, the

procurements may be conducted on an

unrestricted bases.

Region 4 encompasses the states of

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,

North Carolina, South Carolina,

Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Region 5 encompasses the states of

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan,

Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Region 9 encompasses the states of

Arizona, California, Hawaii, and

Nevada.

The National Capital Region

encompasses the District of Columbia,

Montgomery and Prince Georges

counties in Maryland, and the city of

Alexandria and the counties of

Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince

William in Virginia.

Non-Nuclear Ship Repair

GSA does not procure non-nuclear

ship repairs.

Dated: December 16, 1996.

Ida M. Ustad,

Deputy Associate Administrator for

Acquisition Policy.

[FR Doc. 97–526 Filed 1–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–61–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

National Committee on Vital and Health

Statistics: Meetings

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory

Committee Act, the Department of

Health and Human Services announces

the following advisory committee

meetings.

Name: National Committee on Vital and

Health Statistics (NCVHS), Subcommittee on

Health Data Needs, Standards, and Security.

Times and Dates:

9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m., January 21, 1997.

9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m., January 22, 1997.

9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m., February 10, 1997.

9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m., February 11, 1997.

Place: Room 503A, Hubert H. Humphrey

Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, D.C. 20201.

Status: Open.

Purpose: Under the Administrative

Simplification subtitle of the Health

Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104–191), the Secretary

of Health and Human Services is required to

adopt standards for specified transactions to

enable health information to be exchanged

electronically. The law requires that, within

24 months of adoption, all health plans,

health care clearinghouses, and health care

providers who choose to conduct these

transactions electronically must comply with

these standards. The Secretary is required to

consult the NCVHS in complying with these

provisions. As part of the consultation

process, the Committee will submit

recommendations to the Secretary during

1997.

To assist in the development of the NCVHS

recommendations to HHS, the NCVHS

Subcommittee on Health Data Needs,

Standards, and Security is holding a series of

public meetings to obtain the views,

perspectives and concerns of interested and

affected parties. The Subcommittee

recognizes that there are natural tensions

which exist between those who generate the

information which goes into these

transactions and those who use the

information. At the meetings, the

Subcommittee will discuss these and other

issues which may arise when a uniform set

of standards must be implemented by all data

generators and users. Generators of this data

include hospitals, physicians, nurses,

dentists, pharmacists, and other providers of

health care. Users of this data include health

insurers, health plans, researchers, and

managers of quality, utilization and risk.

For the meetings, specific organizations

representing both the generators and users of

this data will be invited by the Subcommittee

to provide answers to the following questions

in writing, to make brief oral presentations of

their answers, and to answer further

questions from the Subcommittee.

Representatives of ANSI accredited

Standards Developing Organizations will be

asked to present their views of these issues

as well.

Questions To Be Addressed

1. What are your organization’s

expectations for the results of the

Administrative Simplification standards

requirements in the Health Insurance

Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

(HIPAA)? In what ways will the outcome

affect the members of your organization, both

positively and negatively?

2. Does your organization have any

concerns about the process being undertaken

by the Department of Health and Human

Services to carry out the Administrative

Simplification requirements of this law? If so,

what are those concerns and what

suggestions do you have for improvements?

3. What major problems are experienced by

the members of your organization with the

current transactions specified under the

HIPAA? For generators of the data, how

readily available is the information that you

need to provide for the transactions and how

meaningful is that information from a clinical

perspective? For users of the data, are you

receiving the information you need from the

transactions to pay the bill, manage the care

process, etc., and what is your perception of

its quality?

4. How can the goal of administrative

simplification best be achieved while

meeting the business needs of all

stakeholders?

In addition, the Subcommittee will receive

a presentation from the Health Care

Financing Administration on unique

identifiers for providers and payers on

January 21. On January 22, the Subcommittee

will discuss other business consistent with

its charge.

Notice: In the interest of security, the

Department has instituted stringent

procedures for entrance to the Hubert H.

Humphrey building by non-government

employees. Thus, persons without a

government identification card should plan

to arrive at the building each day either

between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. or 12:30 and 1:00

p.m. so they can be escorted to the meeting.

Entrance to the meeting at other times during

the day cannot be assured.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT: Substantive program information