Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 150 /Wednesday, August 5, 1998 / Proposed Rules 41755

by selecting the ‘‘Tax Regs’’ option on

the IRS Home Page, or by submitting

comments directly to the IRS Internet

site at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/

tax-reg/comments.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

LaNita VanDyke of the Regulations Unit,

Assistant Chief Counsel (Corporate),

(202) 622–7180 (not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A notice

of proposed rulemaking and notice of

public hearing appearing in the Federal

Register on Thursday, January 29, 1998

(63 FR 4408), announced that a public

hearing with respect to proposed

regulations relating to adjustments to a

partner’s basis in its partnership interest

and a partnership’s basis in its assets

would be held on Wednesday, July 8,

1998, beginning at 10 a.m. in the IRS

Auditorium, Internal Revenue Building,

1111 Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington DC, and that requests to

speak and outlines of oral comments

should be received by Wednesday, June

24, 1998.

The date and the time of the public

hearing have changed. The room

number of the Washington, DC location

has changed, and one remote

teleconference site has been added.

The hearing will be held in room 3411

of the Internal Revenue Building, 1111

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC. The remote teleconference site is in

room 5003 of the Federal Building, 5th

Floor, 300 N. Los Angeles Street, Los

Angeles, California.

The public hearing will be begin at 1

p.m. (EDT); attendees will be admitted

beyond the lobby of the Internal

Revenue Building in Washington, DC

after 12:30 p.m. The hearing time at the

remote teleconference site in Los

Angeles will be concurrent with the

hearing in Washington, DC. (10 a.m.

PDT).

Requests to speak and outlines of oral

comments should be received by

Thursday, August 27, 1998. All persons

who have notified the Service by

Thursday, August 27, 1998, of their

desire to testify will be given the

opportunity to do so. Requests should

specify the site from which the speaker

wishes to testify; if no specific site is

named, the speaker will be scheduled to

appear in Washington, DC. Requests to

testify in Los Angeles should include a

telephone number in case the Service

needs to contact the speaker prior to the

public hearing.

Due to limited seating capacity at the

remote teleconference site, no more than

12 people may be accommodated at any

one time in the teleconference room.

Seating in the teleconference room will

be made available based on the order of

presentations. IRS personnel will be

available at the remote teleconference

site to assist speakers in using the

teleconference equipment.

The Service will prepare an agenda

showing the scheduling of speakers and

will make copies of the agenda available

free of charge at the hearing. Testimony

will begin with the speakers in Los

Angeles, and will conclude with

presentations by the speakers in

Washington, DC.

Cynthia Grigsby,

Chief, Regulations Unit, Assistant Chief

Counsel (Corporate).

[FR Doc. 98–20941 Filed 8–4–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health

Administration

29 CFR Part 1915

Fire Protection for Shipyard

Employment Negotiated Rulemaking

Advisory Committee; Meeting

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Fire Protection for Shipyard

Employment Negotiated Rulemaking

Advisory Committee; notice of open

meeting.

SUMMARY: The Occupational Safety and

Health Administration announces a

meeting of the Fire Protection for

Shipyard Employment Negotiated

Rulemaking Advisory Committee.

OSHA invites all interested persons to

attend. The committee members

represent groups interested in, or

significantly affected by, the outcome of

the rulemaking. They include

representatives of shipyards, labor

unions, professional associations, and

government agencies. The committee

will continue its discussions on a

proposed standard to protect workers

from fire hazards in shipyard

employment, including the following

areas: scope and application;

administrative, engineering, and work

practice controls; fire brigades; written

fire plans; technological advances; cost

of fire protection; and the content of

appendices. The committee’s goal is to

reach consensus on a draft proposed

standard and explanatory preamble that

it will recommend to OSHA.

DATES: The meeting will take place

Wednesday, Thursday, and, if necessary

Friday, September 9–11, 1998, from 8:00

a.m. to about 4:00 p.m. daily. Submit

comments, requests for oral

presentations, and requests for disability

accommodations by August 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Crowne Plaza, 151 Beach Blvd.,

Biloxi, Mississippi, telephone (601)

435–5400. Mail comments and requests

for oral presentations to Mr. Joseph V.

Daddura, U.S. Department of Labor,

OSHA, Office of Maritime Standards,

200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N–

3621, Washington, D.C. 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Joseph V. Daddura, Project Officer,

Office of Maritime Standards, OSHA

(202–219–7234, ext. 123). For disability

accommodations, contact Ms. Theda

Kenney (202–219–8061, ext. 100).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Meeting Agenda

The committee will focus its

discussions on definitions, paperwork

burdens, costs and benefits, and the

current draft of the recommendation.

The committee will also discuss how a

proposed rule could impact small

employers.

Public Participation

Send written comments, data, views,

or statements for the Committee’s

consideration to Mr. Joseph V. Daddura.

You may also request the opportunity to

make an oral presentation to the

committee by providing Mr. Daddura

with a summary of the proposed

presentation, an estimate of the time

desired, and a statement of the interest

you represent. The committee’s

facilitator will allow such presentations

if there is adequate time in the meeting

schedule.

Authority: This document is issued

pursuant to the Negotiated Rulemaking Act

of 1990 (5 U.S.C. 561 et seq.) and Section 7(b)

of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of

1970 (29 U.S.C. 656).

Signed at Washington, DC, this 30th day of

July 1998.

Charles N. Jeffress,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 98–20926 Filed 8–4–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–26–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration

30 CFR Parts 72 and 75

RIN 1219–AA74

Diesel Particulate Matter Exposure of

Underground Coal Miners

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health

Administration (MSHA), Labor.
41756 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 150 /Wednesday, August 5, 1998 / Proposed Rules

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of

comment periods; notice of hearings;

and close of record.

SUMMARY: MSHA is extending the

period for public comment regarding the

Agency’s proposed rule addressing

diesel particulate matter exposure of

underground coal miners, which was

published in the Federal Register on

April 9, 1998; and the notice of

preliminary determination of no

significant environmental impact

published in the Federal Register on

July 14, 1998.

The Agency is also announcing that it

will hold public hearings in

Birmingham, Alabama; Salt Lake City,

Utah; Mt. Vernon, Illinois; and Beckley,

West Virginia. The hearing dates, times,

and locations will be announced by a

separate notice in the Federal Register.

The rulemaking record will remain

open 30 days after the last public

hearing.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before October 9, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed

rule may be transmitted by electronic

mail, fax, or mail. Comments by

electronic mail must be clearly

identified as such and sent to this e-mail

address: comments@msha.gov.

Comments by fax must be clearly

identified as such and sent to: MSHA,

Office of Standards, Regulations, and

Variances, 703–235–5551. Send mail

comments to: MSHA, Office of

Standards, Regulations, and Variances,

Room 631, 4015 Wilson Boulevard,

Arlington, VA 22203–1984 or any

MSHA district or field office, and or

technical support center. Copies of the

proposal are available for review by the

mining community at each district and

field office location, and at each

technical support center. The document

is also available for loan to interested

members of the public. These comments

will become a part of the official

rulemaking record. Interested persons

are encouraged to supplement written

comments with computer files or disks;

please contact the Agency with any

questions about format.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patricia W. Silvey, Director; Office of

Standards, Regulations, and Variances;

MSHA; 703–235-1910.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April

9, 1998, (63 FR 17492), MSHA

published a proposed rule to reduce the

risks to underground coal miners of

serious health hazards that are

associated with exposure to high

concentrations of diesel particulate

matter (dpm). DPM is a very small

particle in diesel exhaust. Underground

miners are exposed to far higher

concentrations of this fine particulate

than any other group of workers. The

best available evidence indicates that

such high exposures put these miners at

excess risk of a variety of adverse health

effects, including lung cancer.

The proposed rule for underground

coal mines would require that mine

operators install and maintain highefficiency filtration systems on certain

types of diesel-powered equipment.

Underground coal mine operators

would also be required to train miners

about the hazards of dpm exposure.

The comment period was scheduled

to close on August 7, 1998. However,

due to requests from the mining

community, the Agency is extending the

comment period for an additional 60

days, until October 9, 1998. MSHA

believes that this extension will provide

sufficient time for all interested parties

to review and comment on the proposal.

All interested parties are encouraged to

submit comments prior to October 9,

1998.

The National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et. seq.),

requires each Federal agency to consider

the environmental effects of proposed

actions and to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement on

major actions significantly affecting the

quality of the human environment. On

July 14, 1998, (63 FR 37796), MSHA

published a notice in the Federal

Register that announced its preliminary

determination that the proposed rule

would have no significant

environmental impact. The comment

period was scheduled to close on

August 10, 1998; however, by this

notice, MSHA is extending the comment

period until October 9, 1998.

Additionally, MSHA plans to hold the

first public hearing within two weeks of

the close of the comment period. The

hearing dates, times, and locations will

be announced by a separate notice in

the Federal Register. The hearings will

be held under section 101 of the Federal

Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.

To allow for the submission of posthearing comments, the rulemaking

record will remain open 30 days after

the last public hearing. This date will

also be announced by a separate notice

in the Federal Register. This provides a

total of more than 6 months from date

of publication for the public to comment

on this proposed rule.

Dated: July 30, 1998.

J. Davitt McAteer,

Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and

Health.

[FR Doc. 98–20830 Filed 8–4–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–43–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[TX–61–1–7376; FRL–6136–1]

Approval and Promulgation of State

Implementation Plans (SIP) for Texas:

Accelerated Vehicle Retirement (AVR)

Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed

disapproval.

SUMMARY: A proposed disapproval of the

Texas AVR program was published in

the Federal Register (FR) on December

19, 1997 (62 FR 66576). The purpose of

this action is to withdraw the proposed

disapproval. The State has withdrawn

the SIP submittal.

DATES: This withdrawal is effective

August 5, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of materials relevant

to this document are available for public

inspection during normal business

hours at the following location. Persons

interested in examining these materials

should make an appointment at least 24

hours before the visiting day.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region 6, Air Planning Section (6PD–L),

1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas,

Texas 75202–2733.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Sandra Rennie, Air Planning Section

(6PD–L), EPA Region 6, 1445 Ross

Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202–2733,

telephone (214) 664–7367.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On October 31, 1994, Texas submitted

a revision to the SIP to provide for a

Vehicle Scrappage Program in Title 30

of the Texas Administrative Code,

Chapter 114: Control of Air Pollution

from Motor Vehicles. The program

allowed for the scrappage of vehicles,

calculating the credits, and applying the

credits to stationary sources. The

program was not approvable because the

method of calculating the credits was

not approvable. The method required

actual measurements of vehicle mass

emissions using the IM240 emissions

test. This emissions test is not available

to the public in the State because in

1995, the Legislature halted the first

vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/

M) program that used the IM240 test.

That program was replaced in 1997, by

a low enhanced emissions I/M test that

does not measure mass emissions.

Consequently, the emissions measured

from that program are not quantifiable