33844 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 123 / Tuesday, June 26, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 165

Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation

(water), Reporting and record keeping

requirements, Security measures,

Waterways.

For the reasons discussed in the

preamble, the Coast Guard amends 33

CFR part 165 as follows:

PART 165—REGULATED NAVIGATION

AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS

1. The authority citation for part 165

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1231; 50 U.S.C. 191,

33 CFR 1.05–1(g), 6.04–1, 6.04–6 and 160.5;

49 CFR 1.46.

2. A new temporary § 165.T09–935 is

added to read as follows:

§ 165.T09–935 Safety Zone: Kewaunee

Annual Trout Festival Fireworks Display,

Kewaunee Harbor, Lake Michigan,

Wisconsin.

(a) Location. The safety zone will

encompass all waters bounded by the

arc of a circle with a 800-foot radius

with its center in approximate position

44°27′30′′ N, 087°29′45′′ W located off of

Kewaunee Festival Grounds, Kewaunee

Harbor, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin.

(b) Effective Time and Date. This

section is effective from 9:30 p.m. (local

time) until 10:30 p.m. (local time) on

July 13th, 2001.

(c) Regulations. In accordance with

the general regulations in 165.23 of this

part, entry into this zone is prohibited

unless authorized by the Coast Guard

Captain of the Port Milwaukee, or his

designated on scene representative. The

designated on scene Patrol Commander

may be contacted via VHF Channel 16.

Dated: June 8, 2001.

M R. Devries,

Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of

the Port Milwaukee.

[FR Doc. 01–15998 Filed 6–25–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–15–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 173

[USCG 1999–6094]

RIN 2115–AF87

Raising the Threshold of Property

Damage for Reports of Accidents

Involving Recreational Vessels

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; partial suspension of

rule with request for comments.

SUMMARY: On May 1, 2001, the Coast

Guard published a final rule raising the

threshold of damage to property for

reports of accidents involving

recreational vessels when damage to

vessels and other property totals $2,000

or more in any one accident. The rule

also included a second provision

requiring reports of collisions involving

two or more vessels resulting

exclusively in damage to property,

regardless of the amount of such

damage. After issuance of the rule, a

State Boating Law Administrator

expressed concern about the second

provision. Because of this concern, we

are suspending that provision and are

inviting comments on the provision.

DATES: Effective date: July 2, 2001.

Comments must reach the Facility

specified in ADDRESSES on or before

September 24, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Identify your comments and

related material by the docket number

for this rulemaking [USCG–1999–6094].

To make sure they do not enter the

docket more than once, please submit

them by only one of the following

means:

(1) By mail to the Docket Management

Facility, U.S. Department of

Transportation, room PL–401, 400

Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC

20590–0001.

(2) By hand-delivery to room PL–401

on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building,

400 Seventh Street SW., Washington,

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday

through Friday, except Federal holidays.

The telephone number is 202–366–

9329.

(3) By fax to the Docket Management

Facility at 202–493–2251.

(4) Electronically through the Internet

Site for the Docket Management System

at http://dms.dot.gov.

The Docket Management Facility

maintains the public docket for this

rulemaking. Comments and material

received from the public, as well as

documents mentioned in this preamble

as being available in the docket, will

become part of this docket and will be

available for inspection or copying at

room PL–401 on the Plaza level of the

Nassif Building, at the address listed

above between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays. You may also find this docket

on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

You may obtain a copy of this partial

suspension of final rule by calling the

U.S. Coast Guard Infoline at 1–800–368–

5647, or read it on the Internet, at the

Web Site for the Office of Boating

Safety, at http://www.uscgboating.org or

at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

questions on this proposed rule, contact

Bruce Schmidt, Project Manager, Office

of Boating Safety, U.S. Coast Guard, by

telephone at 202–267–0955 or by e-mail

at bschmidt@comdt.uscg.mil. For

questions on viewing or submitting

material to the docket, call Dorothy

Beard, Chief, Dockets, Department of

Transportation, telephone 202–366–

5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulatory History

The regulatory history for this

rulemaking appears in the preamble of

the final rule entitled ‘‘Raising the

Threshold of Property Damage for

Reports of Accidents Involving

Recreational Vessels’’ [66 FR 21671

(May 1, 2001)].

Reason for Partial Suspension of

Effective Date

After issuance of the final rule, a State

Boating Law Administrator expressed

concern about a provision in the rule

requiring reports of all collisions

involving two or more vessels resulting

exclusively in damage to property,

regardless of the amount of such

damage.

Currently, few States have statutory

authority to require reports of multivessel accidents that result neither in

personal injury nor in any damage to

property. Further, States’ legislative

calendars preclude compliance by the

published effective date, July 2, 2001.

We note that States’ legislation would

be unnecessary if the provision for

reporting collisions of two or more

vessels included a threshold of $500,

since all States do now maintain such

a threshold. In response to the concern

raised about the impacts on States’

legislation, the Coast Guard has decided

to suspend the provision in 33 CFR

173.55(a)(3), requiring a report

whenever ‘‘* * * a collision occurs

involving two or more vessels,

regardless of the amount of damage to

property; * * *’’, and to provide a 90-

day comment period on the provision.

To facilitate the editorial handling of

this suspension, Coast Guard is

designating this provision as paragraph

(a)(3)(ii) of § 173.55. The first provision

raising the threshold of damage to $2000

is designated as paragraph (a)(3)(i) and

remains effective July 2, 2001.

Request for Comments

We encourage you to participate in

this rulemaking by submitting to the

Facility specified in ADDRESSES

comments and related material limited

to the requirements of the provision in

newly designated 33 CFR

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 123 / Tuesday, June 26, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 33845

173.55(a)(3)(ii). We will consider all

comments received during the comment

period and may change 33 CFR

173.55(a)(3) in response to the

comments.

Dated: June 19, 2001.

Kenneth T. Venuto,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting

Assistant Commandant for Operations.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 33 CFR part 173 is amended

as follows:

PART 173—VESSEL NUMBERING AND

CASUALTY AND ACCIDENT

REPORTING

1. The authority citation for part 173

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 31 U.S.C. 9701; 46 U.S.C. 2110,

6101, 12301, 12302; OMB Circular A–25; 49

CFR 1.46.

§ 173.55 [Amended]

2. In § 173.55 in paragraph (a)(3), the

text reading ‘‘Damage to vessels and

other property totals $2000 or more or

there is a complete loss of any vessel;

or’’ is designated as paragraph (a)(3)(i),

and the remainder of the paragraph is

designated as paragraph (a)(3)(ii) and

suspended indefinitely.

[FR Doc. 01–15838 Filed 6–25–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–15–U

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

38 CFR Parts 17 and 59

RIN 2900–AJ43

Grants to States for Construction and

Acquisition of State Home Facilities

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Interim final rule.

SUMMARY: This document establishes

regulations regarding grants to States for

the construction or acquisition of State

homes for furnishing domiciliary and

nursing home care to veterans, or for the

expansion, remodeling, or alteration of

existing State homes for furnishing

domiciliary, nursing home, or adult day

health care to veterans. This is

necessary to update the regulations and

to implement statutory provisions,

including provisions of the Veterans

Millennium Health Care and Benefits

Act.

DATES: Effective Date: June 26, 2001.

Comments must be received by VA on

or before August 27, 2001.

The incorporation by reference of

certain publications in this rule is

approved by the Director of the Office

of the Federal Register as of June 26,

2001.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver

written comments to: Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Ave., NW., Room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420; or fax comments

to (202) 273–9289; or e-mail comments

to OGCRegulations@mail.va.gov.

Comments should indicate that they are

submitted in response to ‘‘RIN 2900–

AJ43.’’ All comments received will be

available for public inspection in the

Office of Regulations Management,

Room 1158, between the hours of 8:00

a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through

Friday (except holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Frank Salvas, Chief, State Home

Construction Grant Program (114),

Veterans Health Administration, 202–

273–8534.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

document establishes regulations

regarding grants to States for the

construction or acquisition of State

homes for furnishing domiciliary and

nursing home care to veterans, or for the

expansion, remodeling, or alteration of

existing State homes for furnishing

domiciliary, nursing home, or adult day

health care to veterans. The rule, which

is set forth in a new 38 CFR part 59,

consists of a comprehensive rewrite of

the regulations set forth in 38 CFR

17.210 through 17.222. The substantive

differences from the previous

regulations are discussed below.

Public Law 102–585 changed from 90

days to 180 days the time limit for

States receiving a conditionallyapproved grant to fully comply with the

requirements for a grant. The rule

reflects this statutory provision.

Under authority of Public Law 104–

262 (enacted on October 9, 1996), the

rule includes provisions for awarding

grants to States to expand, remodel, or

alter existing buildings for furnishing

adult day health care.

The rule also includes provisions to

implement statutory provisions

established by the Veterans Millennium

Health Care and Benefits Act (Public

Law 106–117, enacted on November 30,

1999). This Act made the following

changes that are reflected in the rule:

• The Act requires VA to prescribe for

each State the number of nursing home

and domiciliary beds for which grants

may be furnished. This is required to be

based on the projected demand for

nursing home and domiciliary care on

November 30, 2009 (10 years after the

date of enactment of the Veterans

Millennium Health Care and Benefits

Act (Pub. L. 106–117)), by veterans who

at such time are 65 years of age or older

and who reside in that State. In

determining the projected demand, VA

must take into account travel distances

for veterans and their families.

• The Act sets forth new criteria for

determining the order of priority for

grants for projects, including provisions

regarding whether the need for a bedproducing project is great, significant, or

limited.

• The Act provides that VA may not

accord any priority to projects for the

construction or acquisition of a hospital.

• The Act provides that a State may

not request a grant for a project for

which the total cost of construction is

not in excess of $400,000.

• The Act provides that a grant may

not include maintenance and repair

work.

• The Act requires an application for

a grant for construction or acquisition of

a nursing home or a domiciliary facility

to include the following in the

application for a grant:

(1) Documentation that the site of the

project is in reasonable proximity to a

sufficient concentration and population

of veterans that are 65 years of age and

older and that there is a reasonable basis

to conclude that the facility when

complete will be fully occupied,

(2) A financial plan for the first three

years of operation of such facility, and

(3) A five-year capital plan for the

State home program for that State.

The rule also includes provisions to

reflect that, under Public Law 106–419,

VA will not recapture amounts for all or

portions of a facility that was changed

to an outpatient clinic established and

operated by VA.

As noted above, the Veterans

Millennium Health Care and Benefits

Act sets forth new criteria for

determining the order of priority for

grants for projects. We have also created

new subpriorities for each priority

category that reflect the statutory

priority scheme. In addition, further

subpriorities in ‘‘priority group 1—

subpriority 1’’ are established to give

higher priorities to the most urgently

needed projects. Further subpriorities in

‘‘priority group 1—subpriority 4’’ are

established to give higher priority to

projects that we have determined are

most needed for care of veterans. As a

last resort for ties in subpriorities, the

rule will give projects priority based on

the earliest dates of receipt by VA of

applications.

For a State’s application to be

included in priority group 1, a State

must have made sufficient funds

available for the project for which the

grant is requested so that such project

may proceed upon approval of the grant