Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 105 /Tuesday, June 2, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 29945

36°31′00′′ N, long. 108°35′00′′ W; thence to

point of beginning.

* * * * *

Issued in Seattle, Washington, on May 21,

1998.

Joe E. Gingles,

Acting Assistant Manager, Air Traffic

Division, Northwest Mountain Region.

[FR Doc. 98–14538 Filed 6–1–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Office of the Secretary

15 CFR Part 2

[Docket No. 980515130–8130–01]

RIN 0690–AA29

Procedures for Handling and

Settlement of Claims Under the Federal

Tort Claims Act

AGENCY: Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce

is amending its procedures for handling

and settlement of claims under the

Federal Tort Claims Act. The

amendments will bring the regulations

into conformity with present practice

and statutory and organizational

changes that have taken place since the

regulations were previously amended in

1983.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 2, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Donald Reed or M. Timothy Conner at

202–482–1067.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March

7, 1967, the Department of Commerce

(DOC) published procedures in

accordance with the Attorney General’s

regulations at 28 CFR Part 14 which

apply to claims asserted under the

Federal Tort Claims Act. The DOC

regulations delegated authority to settle

or deny claims to the General Counsel

and established procedures for the

administrative adjudication of such

claims. When the DOC regulations were

issued, the Assistant General Counsel

for Administration was responsible for

all procedures concerning such claims.

The Assistant General Counsel for

Finance and Litigation now has this

responsibility. In addition, paragraph

(d) of section 2.2 is removed to make the

regulations consistent with amendments

made by Pub. L. 100–694 to the Federal

Tort Claims Act. These amendments, at

Section 2679, provided that employees

acting within the scope of their

employment have full personal

immunity from all common law torts,

not just motor vehicle accidents.

Paragraph (f) of section 2.2 is removed

because it is outdated and no longer

necessary, and Section 2.7 is removed

because an annual report is no longer a

Departmental requirement.

Rulemaking Requirements

This rule has been determined to be

not significant for purposes of Executive

Order 12866. This rule of agency

organization, procedure and practice is

exempt from all requirements of section

553 of the Administrative Procedure Act

(5 U.S.C. 553), including the

requirements of notice and comment

and delayed effective date. Because a

notice of proposed rulemaking is not

required by 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other

law, the analytical requirements of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601

et seq.) are not applicable.

This rule does not contain

information collection requirements

subject to the procedures of the

Paperwork Reduction Act.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 2

Administrative practice and

procedure, Claims, Law.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 15 CFR Part 2 is amended as

follows:

PART 2—PROCEDURES FOR

HANDLING AND SETTLEMENT OF

CLAIMS UNDER THE FEDERAL TORT

CLAIMS ACT

1. The authority for 15 CFR part 2 is

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 28 U.S.C. 2672.

§ 2.2 [Amended]

2. In § 2.2, remove paragraphs (d) and

(f) and redesignate paragraph (e) as (d)

and (g) as (e), respectively.

§ 2.4 [Amended]

3. In § 2.4, in paragraphs (b) and (c)

remove the word ‘‘Administration’’ and

add in its place ‘‘Finance and

Litigation’’.

§ 2.5 [Amended]

4. In § 2.5, in paragraphs (a) and (b)

remove the word ‘‘Administration’’ and

add in its place ‘‘Finance and

Litigation’’.

§ 2.7 [Amended]

5. Remove § 2.7 and redesignate §2.8

as §2.7.

6. In the newly redesignated § 2.7, in

paragraphs (a) and (b) remove the word

‘‘Administration’’ and add in its place

‘‘Finance and Litigation’’.

7. In addition to the amendments set

forth above, in the newly redesignated

§ 2.7, in paragraph (a) remove the word

‘‘he’’ and add in its place ‘‘he/she’’.

8. In addition to the amendments set

forth above, in the newly redesignated

§ 2.7, in paragraph (b) remove the word

‘‘his’’ and add in its place ‘‘his/her’’.

Dated: May 22, 1998.

Alden Abbott,

Assistant General Counsel for Finance and

Litigation.

[FR Doc. 98–14505 Filed 6–1–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–BW–P

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

15 CFR Part 2013

Developing and Least-Developed

Country Designations under the

Countervailing Duty Law

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Interim Final Rule and Request

for Comments.

SUMMARY: This rule designates a list of

members of the World Trade

Organization (‘‘WTO’’) that are eligible

for special de minimis countervailable

subsidy and negligible import volume

standards under the countervailing duty

law.

DATES: This rule is effective June 2,

1998. Comments on the Interim Final

Rule should be submitted by July 31,

1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be

submitted to William D. Hunter, Office

of General Counsel, Office of the United

States Trade Representative, 600 17th

Street, NW, Washington, DC 20508.

Attn: Eligible Country List.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William D. Hunter, (202) 395–3582,

whunter@ustr.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Background

In the Uruguay Round Agreements

Act (‘‘URAA’’), Pub. L. No. 103–465,

Congress amended the countervailing

duty (‘‘CVD’’) law to conform to U.S.

obligations under the Agreement on

Subsidies and Countervailing Measures

(‘‘SCM Agreement’’) administered by

the WTO. Under the SCM Agreement,

WTO members that have not yet

reached the status of a developed

country are entitled to special treatment

for purposes of countervailing measures.

Specifically, imports from such

Members are subject to different

standards for purposes of determining

whether countervailable subsidies are

de minimis and whether import

volumes are negligible.

Under section 771(36) of the Tariff

Act of 1930, as amended (‘‘the Act’’), 19