186 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 2 / Monday, January 5, 1998 / Proposed Rules

be held at the same location as the

appeals workshop.

In order to accomplish a broad based

fact finding on how the requirements of

RSFA affect our customers and

stakeholders, comments from the public

are encouraged. In addition to

attendance at this meeting, comments

can be made in writing and sent directly

to MMS using instructions in the

ADDRESSES part of this notice.

Dated: December 29, 1997.

Lucy Querques Denett,

Associate Director for Royalty Management.

[FR Doc. 98–121 Filed 1–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

PANAMA CANAL COMMISSION

35 CFR Parts 133 and 135

RIN 3207–AA45

Tolls for Use of Canal; Rules for

Measurement of Vessels

AGENCY: Panama Canal Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking;

request for comments; notice of hearing.

SUMMARY: The Panama Canal

Commission (Commission) proposes to

set a fixed, minimum toll rate for certain

small vessels transiting the Panama

Canal. The Commission has determined

an efficient use of existing Canal

capacity and resources requires a

change in the method of calculating

tolls used to meet the transit needs of

certain small vessels. A minimum toll

for small vessels will ensure the

Commission can recover at least part of

the resources it expends on this type of

transits.

The proposed increase complies with

the statutory requirement tolls be set at

rates which produce revenues sufficient

to cover Canal costs of operation and

maintenance, including capital for plant

replacement, expansion and

improvements, and working capital.

This notice of proposed rulemaking

also announces the availability from the

Commission of an analysis showing the

basis and justification for the proposed

change, solicits written data, views or

arguments from interested parties, and

sets the time and place for a public

hearing.

DATES: The agency must receive written

comments and requests to present oral

testimony on or before February 6, 1998.

A public hearing will be held at 9 a.m.,

February 13, 1998, in the Republic of

Panama.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments and

requests to testify at the hearing to: John

A. Mills, Secretary, Panama Canal

Commission, 1825 I Street NW., Suite

1050, Washington, DC 20006–5402; or

Department of Financial Management,

Panama Canal Commission, Balboa,

Ancon, Republic of Panama.

The hearing location is at the

Miraflores Visitors Pavilion Theater,

Building 6–A, Miraflores Locks,

Republic of Panama (accessible from

Gaillard Highway).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

A. Mills, Telephone: (202) 634–6441,

Facsimile: (202) 634–6439, E-mail:

pancanalwo@aol.com; or Department of

Financial Management, Telephone: 011

(507) 272–3137, Facsimile: 011 (507)

272–3040, E-mail: fmfp@pancanal.com.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

1604 of the Panama Canal Act of 1979,

as amended, 22 U.S.C. 3794, establishes

procedures for proposing toll rate

increases and changes in the rules for

measurement of vessels. Those

procedures have been supplemented by

regulations in 35 CFR part 70, which

also provides interested parties with

instructions for participating in the

process governing changes in toll rates

and measurement rules. The

Commission strongly encourages all

interested parties to present in writing,

or orally at the hearing, pertinent data,

views or arguments, along with other

relevant information. Oral presentations

should be limited to 20 minutes. Further

information governing the content of the

notice of appearance or intention to

present supplementary data at the

hearing appear at 35 CFR 70.8 and

70.10.

Section 1602(b) of the Panama Canal

Act of 1979, as amended, 22 U.S.C.

3792(b), requires Canal tolls be

prescribed at rates calculated to produce

revenues to cover as nearly as

practicable all costs of maintaining and

operating the Panama Canal and the

facilities and appurtenances related

thereto. In analyzing the issue of tolls

for certain small vessels, it is recognized

the primary purpose of the Commission

is to provide a safe and efficient transit

service to the oceangoing vessels of the

world, primarily those engaged in

commerce. The waterway, however, also

attracts a considerable number of small

vessels, such as yachts, fishing craft,

and tugboats. Such small vessel transits

are incidental to the primary mission of

the Canal. They also consume a

disproportionately large share of

available Canal capacity and resources,

creating costly inefficiencies in Canal

operations. In addition, and perhaps

more importantly, small vessels

(especially yachts), impose

administrative costs and logistical

problems which currently are not offset

by the tolls they pay. Consequently, last

November, Congress amended section

1602(a) of the Panama Canal Act of

1979, 22 U.S.C. 3792(a) by Pub. L. 105–

85 to allow the Commission to set tolls

for yachts and other small vessels

transiting the Canal based on other than

net vessel tons of earning capacity.

The Commission is attempting to

reduce the administrative costs and

logistical requirements of small vessel

transits. It is also trying to improve the

scheduling options available for these

vessels with the goal of minimizing the

negative impact on the Commission’s

resources and capacity, and, wherever

possible, reduce the expenses associated

with the transit of these small vessels.

All of these steps are taken in order to

maintain the transit service offered to

these vessels. Even with these measures,

however, the Commission’s analysis of

small vessel transits indicates the cost of

providing the service far exceeds the toll

charged for the service. To address this

issue, the Commission’s Board of

Directors approved a recommendation

to set a fixed, minimum toll for certain

small vessels to recover these expenses

in a proportionate manner.

The Commission will consider all

submissions before publishing the final

rule in the Federal Register. The final

rule, as approved and published by the

Commission, will be effective no earlier

than 30 days after the date of its

publication as final in the Federal

Register.

The Commission is exempt from

Executive Order 12866. Accordingly,

provisions of that directive do not apply

to this rule. Even if the Order were

applicable, this change would not

constitute a ‘‘rule’’ as that term is

defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act

[5 U.S.C. 601(2)] because it concerns

‘‘rates’’ and ‘‘practices relating’’ thereto.

Furthermore, the Commission has

determined implementation of this rule

will have no adverse effect on

competition, employment, investment,

productivity, innovation, or on the

ability of the United States based

enterprises to compete with foreign

based enterprises in domestic or export

markets.

The Secretary of the Commission

certifies these proposed regulatory

changes meet the applicable standards

of sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive

Order No. 12988 of February 7, 1996.

List of Subjects

35 CFR Part 133

Navigation, Panama Canal, Tolls,

Vessels.

35 CFR Part 135

Measurement, Vessels.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 2 / Monday, January 5, 1998 / Proposed Rules 187

For the reasons stated in the

preamble, the Panama Canal

Commission proposes to amend 35 CFR

parts 133 and 135 as follows:

PART 133—TOLLS FOR USE OF

CANAL

1. The authority citation for part 133

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 22 U.S.C. 3791–3792.

2. Section 133.1 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 133.1 Rates of toll.

The following rates of toll shall be

paid by vessels using the Panama Canal:

(a) On vessels over 38.10 meters

(125.00 feet) in length overall:

(1) On merchant vessels, yachts, army

and navy transports, colliers, hospital

ships, and supply ships, when carrying

passengers or cargo (laden), $2.57 per

PC/UMS Net Ton—that is, the Net

Tonnage determined in accordance with

part 135 of this chapter.

(2) On vessels in ballast without

passengers or cargo, $2.04 per PC/UMS

Net Ton.

(3) On other floating craft including

warships, other than transports, colliers,

hospital ships, and supply ships, $1.43

per ton of displacement.

(4) All vessels whose PC/UMS Net

Tonnage (laden or ballast) or

displacement tonnage would result in a

toll of less than $1,500 shall pay the

fixed, minimum toll provided in

paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) On vessels less than or equal to

38.10 meters (125.00 feet) in length

overall:

(1) Vessels with or without passengers

or cargo shall pay a fixed, minimum toll

of $1,500.

(2) Vessels whose constructional

features are such as to render the

application of this provision

unreasonable or impractical, as

determined by the Panama Canal

Commission, shall have a PC/UMS Net

or displacement tonnage determined

and shall have the toll assessed in

accordance with paragraph (a) of this

section; however, in no case shall the

toll be less than $1,500.

PART 135—RULES FOR

MEASUREMENT OF VESSELS

1. The authority citation for part 135

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 22 U.S.C. 3791–3792.

1. Section 135.1 is amended by

adding at the end thereof two new

sentences to read as follows:

§ 135.1 Scope.

* * * Vessels less than or equal to

38.10 meters (125.00 feet) in length

overall are not required to be measured,

except as provided for in § 133.1(b)(2) of

this chapter. Vessels greater than 38.10

meters (125.00 feet) in length overall

may not be assigned a PC/UMS Net

Tonnage if it is determined by the

Panama Canal Commission the fixed,

minimum toll provided for in

§ 133.1(b)(1) will apply.

Dated: December 29, 1997.

John A. Mills,

Secretary, Panama Canal Commission.

[FR Doc. 98–099 Filed 1–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3640–04–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Office of Inspector General

42 CFR Part 1001

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on

the Shared Risk Exception; Meetings

AGENCY: Office of Inspector General

(OIG), HHS.

ACTION: Meeting of Negotiated

Rulemaking Committee.

SUMMARY: This document announces the

revised dates for the seventh set of

meetings of the Negotiated Rulemaking

Committee on the Shared Risk

Exception. The purpose of this

Committee is to negotiate the

development of an interim final rule

addressing the shared risk exception to

the Federal health care programs’ antikickback provisions, as statutorilymandated by section 216 of the Health

Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act of 1996.

DATES: The next series of meetings will

be held on January 21 and 22, 1998 from

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The January sessions will be

held at the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20024, as

previously announced.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Inquiries regarding these sessions

should be addressed to Joel Schaer, OIG

Regulations Officer, Office of Counsel to

the Inspector General, Room 5518,

Cohen Building, 330 Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201; or

call (202) 619–0089.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The dates

for the next series of meetings for the

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on

the Shared Risk Exception, originally

scheduled for January 20 through 22,

1998 (62 FR 63689, December 2, 1997),

have been revised. The Committee will

now plan to meet only on January 21

and 22, 1998.

The Negotiated Rulemaking

Committee on the Shared Risk

Exception been established to provide

advice and make recommendations to

the Secretary of Health and Human

Services with respect to the text or

content of an interim final rule that will

establish standards relating to the

exception to the anti-kickback statute

for risk-sharing arrangements. set forth

in section 1128B(b)(3)(F) of the Social

Security Act. The exception was

enacted by section 216 of Public Law

104–191, the Health Insurance

Portability and Accountability Act

(HIPAA) of 1996. Section 216 of HIPAA

provides that the Secretary will

promulgate regulations that establish

standards for the exception using an

expedited negotiated rulemaking

process. In the January meeting, the

Committee will conclude discussion of

issues relating to the development of the

interim final rule and the options for

resolving those issues.

Both the January 21 and 22, 1998

meetings will be open to the public

without advanced registration. A

summary of all proceedings of these

meetings and relevant matters and other

material will also be available for public

inspection at the address listed above

from the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.,

or can be accessed through the OIG web

site located at http://www.dhhs.gov/

progorg/oig. Notice of this meeting is

given under the Federal Advisory

Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2).

Dated December 19, 1997.

D. McCarty Thornton,

Chief Counsel to the Inspector General.

[FR Doc. 98–30 Filed 1–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4150–04–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and

Families

45 CFR Parts 302, 303, and 304

RIN 0970–AB69

Child Support Enforcement Program;

State Plan Requirements, Standards

for Program Operations, and Federal

Financial Participation

AGENCY: Office of Child Support

Enforcement (OCSE), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would

implement part of the paternity

establishment provisions contained in

section 331 of the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity