This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

23228

Vol. 66, No. 89

Tuesday, May 8, 2001

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE

UNITED STATES COURTS

Electronic Access Fees for Federal

Agencies

AGENCY: Administrative Office of the

United States Courts.

ACTION: Clarification.

SUMMARY: The Administrative Office of

the United States Courts will begin

collecting fees for electronic public

access in bankruptcy courts that have

installed and are using Version One of

the new Case Management/Electronic

Case Files (CM/ECF) system, as of July

1, 2001. Deployment is scheduled to be

completed for all court types by 2005.

DATES: This policy is applicable as of

July 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary Stickney, Chief of the EPA

Program Office, (202) 502–1500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As the

federal judiciary moves increasingly

toward using electronic case files, there

has been a great deal of interest in the

manner and scope of the application of

public access charges for electronic

court data, as mandated by Congress in

the Judicial Appropriations Act of 1991

and set forth in the Judicial Conference

Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (28 U.S.C.

1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, 1932). The

schedule imposes a charge of seven

cents per page for access to data

obtained electronically from the public

dockets of individual case records in the

court. This charge is collected by the

Administrative Office through its

Electronic Public Access (EPA) program

and applies largely to case data from

docket sheets obtained through the

Public Access to Court Electronic

Records (PACER) system, although an

increasing number of courts have begun

providing online images of official court

documents as well, to which the fee

equally applies.

Recently, a small number of courts

have implemented a prototype version

of the judiciary’s new CM/ECF system,

which permits electronic access to all

case file documents, in addition to

docket sheets. Access to CM/ECF has

been available free of charge to all users

in these prototype courts.

With deployment of the first full

version (‘‘Version One’’) of the

bankruptcy software, the EPA program

will begin administering the required

seven cents per page fee in the

bankruptcy courts, as of July 1, 2001.

District courts and courts of appeals will

begin billing when their respective

Version One applications are

implemented, which is expected in

2002 and 2003 respectively.

Although the access fee applies to all

users, it should be noted that it will not

apply to official recipients of electronic

documents, i.e. those parties legally

entitled to receive service, or to whom

service is directed by the filer. This

policy will entitle attorneys of record, as

well as, in most instances, U.S. Trustees

and bankruptcy case trustees, to one free

electronic copy of all of the documents

that they need from the case file in order

to fulfill their legal responsibilities. As

before, parties will still be responsible

for maintaining their own files; should

they fail to make a copy at the time of

service, however, then any additional

copy from the court will cost seven

cents per page for an electronic version,

fifty cents per page for paper.

As CM/ECF is deployed, the fee for

Internet access to case data, which

currently explicitly applies to federal

agencies, has obvious potential impact

on the everyday operations of many

federal agencies, as well as on

bankruptcy case trustees and United

States Trustees. In order to assess that

impact, and to ensure that, consistent

with the policy of the Judicial

Conference, usage charges are set at the

lowest possible level sufficient to fund

the program, the Administrative Office

has begun a study of the fee’s potential

impact on external users, including

government agencies. The study is

expected to be completed in the first

half of 2001, and the input of the federal

agencies who practice in the federal

courts should prove an important source

of data in this endeavor.

Leonidas Ralph Mecham,

Director.

[FR Doc. 01–11522 Filed 5–7–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 2210–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection,

Comment Request—Grants To

Improve Food Stamp Program Access

(OMB No. 0584–0506)

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13, this notice invites

the general public, other public

agencies, and grantees referred to in this

Notice to comment on the proposed

information collection. The proposed

collection is an extension of a

previously approved collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by July 9, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments and request

for copies of this information collection

to Barbara Hallman, Chief, State

Administration Branch, Food Stamp

Program, Food and Nutrition Service,

USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive,

Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments are

invited on: (a) Whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

agency, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

(b) 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;

(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,

and clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to 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.

All comments will be summarized

and included in the request for Office of

Management and Budget approval of the

information collection. All comments

will be a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Barbara Hallman, telephone number

(703) 305–2383 or by email at

Barbara.Hallman@FNS.USDA.GOV.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Food Stamp Program: Grants to

Improve Food Stamp Program Access.