32250 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 113 / Friday, June 12, 1998 / Notices

edition (issued in January or February)

which includes all current general wage

determinations for the States covered by

each volume. Throughout the remainder

of the year, regular weekly updates are

distributed to subscribers.

Signed at Washington, DC this 4th day of

June 1998.

Carl J. Poleskey,

Chief, Branch of Construction Wage

Determinations.

[FR Doc. 98–15406 Filed 6–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–27–M

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as

part of its continuing effort to reduce

paperwork and respondent burden,

conducts a pre-clearance consultation

program to provide the general public

and Federal Agencies with an

opportunity to comment on proposed

and/or continuing collections of

information in accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c) (2) (A)]. This

program helps to ensure that requested

data can be provided in the desired

format, reporting burden (time and

financial resources) is minimized,

collection instruments are clearly

understood, and the impact of collection

requirements on respondents can be

properly assessed. Currently, the Bureau

of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting

comments concerning the proposed

revision of the ‘‘The Consumer

Expenditure Quarterly Interview and

Diary Surveys.’’

A copy of the proposed information

collection request (ICR) can be obtained

by contracting the individual listed

below in the addressee section of this

notice.

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted to the office listed in the

addressee section below on or before

August 11, 1998.

BLS is particularly interested in

comments which help the agency to:

• Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;

• Evaluate the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

• Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and

• Minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including through the

use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology,

e.g., permitting electronic submissions

of responses.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Karin G.

Kurz, BLS Clearance Officer, Division of

Management Systems, Bureau of Labor

Statistics, Room 3255, 2 Massachusetts

Avenue N.E., Washington, D.C. 20212.

Ms. Kurz can be reached on 202–606–

7628 (this is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Consumer Expenditure (CE)

Survey, comprised of the Quarterly

Interview and Diary Surveys, collects

data on consumer expenditures,

demographic information, and related

data needed by the Consumer Price

Index (CPI) and other public and private

data users. The continuing surveys

provide a constant measurement of

changes in consumer expenditures

patterns for economic analysis and to

obtain data for future CPI revisions. The

CE Survey has been an ongoing survey

since 1979.

The data from the Consumer

Expenditure Survey is used to 1)

provide data required for the CPI

revision; 2) provide a continuous flow

of data on income and expenditure

patterns for use in economic analysis

and policy formulation; and 3) provide

a flexible consumer survey vehicle that

is available for use by other Federal

Government agencies. Public and

private users of price statistics,

including Congress and the economic

policy making agencies of the executive

branch, rely on data collected in the CPI

in their day-to-day activities. Hence,

data users and policy makers widely

accept the need to improve the process

used for revising the CPI. If the CE

Survey was not conducted on a

continuing basis, current information

necessary for more timely as well as

more accurate updating of the CPI

would not be available. In addition, data

would not be available to respond to the

continuing demand—from the public

and private sectors—for current

information on consumer spending.

In the Quarterly Interview Survey,

each consumer unit (CU) in the sample

is interviewed every three months over

five calendar quarters. The sample for

each quarter is divided into three

panels, with CU’s being interviewed

every three months in the same panel of

every quarter. The Quarterly Interview

Survey is designed to collect data on the

types of expenditures which

respondents can be expected to recall

for a period of three months or longer.

In general the expenses reported in the

Interview Survey are either relatively

large, such as property, automobiles, or

major appliances, or are expenses which

occur on a fairly regular basis, such as

rent, utility bills, or insurance

premiums.

The Diary (or recordkeeping) Survey

is completed at home by the respondent

family for two consecutive one-week

periods. The primary objective of the

Diary Survey is to obtain expenditure

data on small, frequently purchased

items which normally are difficult to

recall over longer periods of time.

Current Actions

The sample sizes for the Consumer

Expenditure Quarterly Interview and

Diary Surveys will be expanded by

approximately 50 percent. Data from the

CE are the basis for determining the

market basket of the CPI. Expansion of

the CE sample size, taken together with

other enhancements planned by BLS,

will enable BLS to cut substantially the

time it takes to update the CPI. The CPI

market basket is updated approximately

every ten years and under current

procedures the updated market is 31⁄2

years old at the time of introduction.

Under this proposed action, the length

of the required expenditure base period

will be cut from three years to two.

Other processing changes will allow the

length of time required to install a new

market basket in the index to be reduced

from two years to one. Thus, at the time

of its introduction into the CPI, the

updated market will be only 2 years old.

Moreover, these enhancements to

sample size and data processing will

facilitate any future decision to increase

the frequency of market basket updates,

e.g., from a 10-year to a 5-year cycle

beginning in 2002.

Expansion of CE sample sizes for the

CE and the construction of the computer

systems required for faster data

processing will have the added benefit

of allowing BLS to produce new

‘‘superlative’’ measures of consumer

price trends of an acceptable degree of

reliability and on a basis must closer to

real time than would be possible in the

absence of the expansion. Such indexes,

currently available only in experimental

form, are widely regarded a closer

approximations to cost-of-living index

than the current CPI.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 113 / Friday, June 12, 1998 / Notices 32251

Type of Review: Revision of a

currently-approved collection.

Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Title: Consumer Expenditure

Quarterly Interview and Dairy Surveys.

OMB Number: 1220–0050.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households.

Total Respondents: 18,108.

Frequency: Quarterly Interview

Survey respondents are interviewed

quarterly for five consecutive quarters

(four times in any one year). Dairy

Survey respondents complete two

consecutive weekly reports.

Total Responses: 67,583.

Average Time Per Response: 87.7

minutes.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 89,779

hours.

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):

$0.

Total Burden Cost (operating/

maintenance: $0.

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for Office of

Management and Budget approval of the

information collection request; they also

will become a matter of public record.

Signed at Washington, D.C., the 9th day of

June, 1998.

Karen A. Krein,

Acting Chief, Division of Management

Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[FR Doc. 98–15756 Filed 6–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–24–M

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50–325 and 50–324]

Licensee; Notice of Issuance of

Amendment to Facility Operating

License

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (Commission) has issued

Amendment No. 203 to Facility

Operating License No. DPR–71 and No.

233 to Facility Operating License No.

DPR–62 issued to Carolina Power &

Light Company (the licensee), which

revised the operating license and

Appendices A and B to the operating

license for the Brunswick Steam Electric

Plant, Units 1 and 2 (BSEP), located in

Brunswick County, North Carolina. The

amendments are effective as of the date

of issuance.

The amendment implements a full

conversion of the BSEP Technical

Specifications (TS) to a set of TS based

upon NUREG–1433, ‘‘Standard

Technical Specifications General

Electric Plants, BWR/4,’’ Revision 1,

dated April 1995. The application for

the amendment complies with the

standards and requirements of the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended

(the Act), and the Commission’s rules

and regulations. The Commission has

made appropriate findings as required

by the Act and the Commission’s rules

and regulations in 10 CFR Chapter I,

which are set forth in the license

amendment.

Notice of Consideration of Issuance of

Amendment to Facility Operating

License and Opportunity for a Hearing

in connection with this action was

published in the Federal Register on

January 24, 1997 (62 FR 3719). No

request for a hearing or petition for

leave to intervene was filed following

this notice.

The Commission has prepared an

Environmental Assessment related to

the action and has determined not to

prepare an environmental impact

statement. Based upon the

environmental assessment, the

Commission has concluded that the

issuance of the amendment will not

have a significant effect on the quality

of the human environment (63 FR

29039).

For further details with respect to the

action see (1) the application for

amendment dated November 1, 1996, as

supplemented by letters dated August 8,

September 11, September 17, October

13, November 6, December 19, 1997,

February 26, March 13, April 24, 1998

and May 22, 1998, (2) Amendment No.

203 to Facility Operating License No.

DPR–71 and Amendment No. 233 to

Facility Operating License No. DPR–62,

(3) the Commission’s related Safety

Evaluation, and (4) the Commission’s

Environmental Assessment. All of these

items are available for public inspection

at the Commission’s Public Document

Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L

Street NW., Washington, DC, and at the

local public document room located at

the University of North Carolina at

Wilmington, William Madison Randall

Library, 601 S. College Road,

Wilmington, North Carolina 28403–

3297.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day

of June 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

David C. Trimble,

Project Manager, Project Directorate II–1,

Division of Reactor Projects—I/II, Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–15709 Filed 6–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–423]

In the Matter of Central Maine Power

Company, (Millstone Nuclear Power

Station, Unit 3) Order Approving

Application Regarding the

Restructuring of Central Maine Power

Company by Establishment of a

Holding Company

I

Central Maine Power Company

(CMP), a 2.5 percent owner of the

Millstone Nuclear Power Station, Unit 3

(Millstone Unit 3), one of the 13 other

owners of Millstone Unit 3, is a coholder of Facility Operating License No.

NPF–49 issued by the U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC) pursuant

to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of

Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 50) on

January 31, 1986. Under this license,

Northeast Nuclear Energy Company

(NNECO), has the exclusive authority to

operate Millstone Unit 3. Millstone Unit

3 is located in New London County,

Connecticut.

II

By an application dated March 4,

1998, CMP, by and through its counsel,

Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius, requested

consent pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80

regarding the proposed restructuring of

CMP. Under the restructuring, CMP

would become a wholly owned

subsidiary of a newly created holding

company but would continue to hold its

2.5 percent ownership interest in

Millstone Unit 3. No direct transfer of

the license would occur. NNECO, which

is not involved in the proposed

transaction, would continue to be the

licensed operator for Millstone Unit 3.

The holders of CMP common stock

would automatically become holders of

common stock of the new holding

company on a share-for-share basis,

according to the application.

Notice of this application for consent

was published in the Federal Register

on April 24, 1998 (63 FR 20434); and an

Environmental Assessment and Finding

of No Significant Impact was published

in the Federal Register on May 4, 1998

(63 FR 24576).

Under 10 CFR 50.80, no license shall

be transferred, directly or indirectly,

through transfer of control of the license

unless the Commission shall give its

consent in writing. Upon review of the

information submitted in the

application dated March 4, 1998, the

NRC staff has determined that the

proposed restructuring of CMP by

creation of a holding company will not