52030 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 169 / Thursday, September 1, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

Executive Order 13211, Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This rule is not a significant energy 

action. It will not have an adverse effect 

on energy supplies. To the extent that 

the rule affects the mining of energy 

minerals (i.e., uranium and other 

fissionable metals), the rule may save 

mining claims or sites that would 

otherwise be forfeited for the late 

payment of insufficient location and/or 

maintenance fees. It will not change 

financial obligations of the mining 

industry. 

Authors 

The principal author of this interim 

rule is Roger Haskins in the Solid 

Minerals Group, assisted by Frank 

Bruno in the Regulatory Affairs Group, 

Washington Office, BLM. 

List of Subjects in 43 CFR Part 3834 

Maintenance fees; mines; public 

lands—mineral resources; reporting and 

record keeping requirements. 

Dated: August 26, 2005. 

Chad Calvert, 

Acting Assistant Secretary, Land and 

Minerals Management. 

■ For the reasons stated in the preamble, 

and under the authority of sections 441 

and 2478 of the Revised Statutes, as 

amended (43 U.S.C. 1201 and 1457); 

and sections 2319 and 2324 of the 

Revised Statutes, as amended (30 U.S.C. 

22 and 28); part 3834, Group 3800, 

Subchapter C, Chapter II of Title 43 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations is 

amended as follows: 

PART 3834—REQUIRED FEES FOR 

MINING CLAIMS OR SITES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 3834 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 30 U.S.C. 28f; 30 U.S.C. 242; 43 

U.S.C. 1201, 1740; 115 Stat 414. 

Subpart B—Fee Adjustment 

■ 2. Revise § 3834.21 to read as follows: 

§ 3834.21 How will BLM adjust the location 

and maintenance fees? 

BLM will adjust the location and 

maintenance fees at least every 5 years, 

based upon the CPI, as required by 30 

U.S.C. 28j(c), or at any other time as 

required by other statute. 

■ 3. Revise § 3834.23 to read as follows: 

§ 3834.23 When do I start paying the 

adjusted fees? 

(a) In the case of a CPI adjustment 

required by 30 U.S.C. 28j(c), you must 

pay the adjusted initial maintenance 

and location fees when you record a 

new mining claim or site located on or 

after the September 1 that immediately 

follows the date BLM published its 

notice about the adjustment. 

(b) In the case of adjustments required 

by other statute, you must pay the 

adjusted initial maintenance and 

location fees for a new mining claim or 

site as provided in the statute. 

(c) For previously recorded mining 

claims and sites, you must pay the CPIbased adjusted maintenance fee on or 

before the September 1 that immediately 

follows the date BLM published its 

notice about the adjustment. 

(d) Notwithstanding 43 CFR 

3830.91(a)(3) and 3830.96, in any year 

in which BLM adjusts the maintenance 

and location fees, if you pay the fees 

timely, but pay an amount based on the 

fee in effect immediately before the 

adjustment was made, BLM will send 

you a notice, as provided in § 3830.94, 

giving you 30 days in which to pay the 

additional amount required to meet the 

adjusted fees. If you do not pay the 

additional amount due within 30 days 

after the date you received the notice, 

you will forfeit the affected mining 

claims or sites. 

[FR Doc. 05–17534 Filed 8–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–84–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

48 CFR Parts 225 and 252 

[DFARS Case 2004–D034] 

Defense Federal Acquisition 

Regulation Supplement; Restrictions 

on Totally Enclosed Lifeboat Survival 

Systems 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: DoD has issued a final rule 

amending the Defense Federal 

Acquisition Regulation Supplement 

(DFARS) to remove text addressing 

restrictions on the acquisition of totally 

enclosed lifeboat survival systems. The 

restrictions are based on fiscal year 1994 

and 1995 appropriations act provisions, 

that are no longer considered 

applicable, and other statutory 

provisions that apply only to the Navy. 

DATES: Effective September 1, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Amy Williams, Defense Acquisition 

Regulations Council, OUSD (AT&L) 

DPAP (DAR), IMD 3C132, 3062 Defense 

Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301–3062. 

Telephone (703) 602–0328; facsimile 

(703) 602–0350. Please cite DFARS Case 

2004–D034. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background 

This final rule removes DFARS 

225.7008, Restrictions on totally 

enclosed lifeboat survival systems, and 

the corresponding contract clause at 

DFARS 252.225–7039. These 

restrictions implement Section 8124 of 

the Fiscal Year 1994 DoD 

Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 103–139), 

Section 8093 of the Fiscal Year 1995 

DoD Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 103–

335), and 10 U.S.C. 2534. The fiscal year 

1994 and 1995 appropriations act 

restrictions are no longer considered 

applicable. 10 U.S.C. 2534 applies to the 

acquisition of totally enclosed lifeboats 

that are components of naval vessels. 

Since this restriction impacts only the 

Navy, and 10 U.S.C. 2534(h) specifies 

that DoD may not use contract clauses 

or certifications, but must use 

management and oversight techniques, 

to implement this restriction, DFARS 

coverage for implementation of this 

restriction is considered unnecessary. 

DoD published a proposed rule at 70 

FR 14628 on March 23, 2005. DoD 

received no comments on the proposed 

rule. Therefore, DoD has adopted the 

proposed rule as a final rule without 

change. 

This rule was not subject to Office of 

Management and Budget review under 

Executive Order 12866, dated 

September 30, 1993. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

DoD certifies that this final rule will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small entities 

within the meaning of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., 

because the domestic source restrictions 

of 10 U.S.C. 2534 still apply to the 

acquisition of totally enclosed lifeboats 

that are components of naval vessels. 10 

U.S.C. 2534 requires that DoD acquire 

such lifeboats only if the manufacturer 

is part of the national technology and 

industrial base. 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act does 

not apply because the rule does not 

contain any information collection 

requirements that require the approval 

of the Office of Management and Budget 

under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq. 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 169 / Thursday, September 1, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 52031 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 225 and 

252 

Government procurement. 

Michele P. Peterson, 

Editor, Defense Acquisition Regulations 

System. 

■ Therefore, 48 CFR parts 225 and 252 

are amended as follows: 

■ 1. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

parts 225 and 252 continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 421 and 48 CFR 

Chapter 1. 

PART 225—FOREIGN ACQUISITION 

225.7008 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 2. Section 225.7008 is removed and 

reserved. 

225.7008–1 through 225.7008–4 

[Removed] 

■ 3. Sections 225.7008–1 through 

225.7008–4 are removed. 

PART 252—SOLICITATION 

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT 

CLAUSES 

252.225–7039 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 4. Section 252.225–7039 is removed 

and reserved. 

[FR Doc. 05–17351 Filed 8–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–08–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

48 CFR Parts 232 and 252 

[DFARS Case 2004–D033] 

Defense Federal Acquisition 

Regulation Supplement; Levy on 

Payments to Contractors 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Interim rule with request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: DoD has issued an interim 

rule amending the Defense Federal 

Acquisition Regulation Supplement 

(DFARS) to address the effect of Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS) levies on contract 

payments. The rule requires DoD 

contractors to promptly notify the 

contracting officer if a levy that will 

jeopardize contract performance is 

imposed on a contract. 

DATES: Effective date: September 1, 

2005. 

Comment date: Comments on the 

interim rule should be submitted to the 

address shown below on or before 

October 31, 2005 to be considered in the 

formation of the final rule. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by DFARS Case 2004–D033, 

using any of the following methods: 

Æ Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Æ Defense Acquisition Regulations 

Web Site: http://emissary.acq.osd.mil/ 

dar/dfars.nsf/pubcomm. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Æ E-mail: dfars@osd.mil. Include 

DFARS Case 2004–D033 in the subject 

line of the message. 

Æ Fax: (703) 602–0350. 

Æ Mail: Defense Acquisition 

Regulations Council, Attn: Mr. Bill Sain, 

OUSD(AT&L)DPAP(DAR), IMD 3C132, 

3062 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 

20301–3062. 

Æ Hand Delivery/Courier: Defense 

Acquisition Regulations Council, 

Crystal Square 4, Suite 200A, 241 18th 

Street, Arlington, VA 22202–3402. 

All comments received will be posted 

to http://emissary.acq.osd.mil/dar/ 

dfars.nsf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Bill Sain, (703) 602–0293. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background 

The Debt Collection Improvement Act 

of 1996 authorized a centralized 

program for the offset of Federal 

payments, including contract payments 

to collect delinquent non-tax debts 

owed to the Federal Government. To 

implement this authority, the 

Department of the Treasury created the 

Treasury Offset Program (TOP). The 

Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 authorized 

the Internal Revenue Service to 

continuously levy up to 15 percent of 

certain Federal payments, including 

contract payments. To implement this 

authority, the Federal Payment Levy 

Program (FPLP) was created. The FPLP 

is an automated process that uses the 

TOP system to match delinquent tax 

debts with Federal payments. When a 

match occurs, the payment is levied and 

applied to the tax debt. The FPLP 

process works in tandem with a manual 

‘‘paper’’ levy process outlined in 26 

U.S.C. 6331–6332. 

Section 887, Modification of 

Continuing Levy on Payments to 

Federal Vendors, of Public Law 108–357 

amends Section 6331(h) of the Internal 

Revenue Code by raising the amount of 

levy the Government may withhold on 

Federal payments for goods or services 

sold or leased to the Federal 

Government, from 15 percent to 100 

percent. 

This interim DFARS rule is intended 

to address contract non-performance 

that may result from application of a 

levy. 

New Contract Clause Stating 

Government Right To Assess Levy 

While DoD has been participating in 

the levy program for a number of years, 

neither the FAR nor the DFARS 

includes a clause addressing levies. DoD 

believes that such a clause, along with 

implementing DFARS language in Part 

232, is needed to ensure that all parties 

understand their rights and obligations 

related to the assessment of a levy. 

Levies That Jeopardize Contract 

Performance 

DoD is concerned that situations may 

arise in which the levy of a contract 

payment could jeopardize contract 

performance. As such, the DFARS needs 

to include coverage addressing the 

process to be followed when such 

situations arise. 

The levy process makes it impractical, 

in most cases, to identify whether a levy 

will jeopardize contract performance 

prior to a contract payment being levied. 

While the contractor may have received 

a notice of potential levy, that notice 

does not identify which contract or 

contracts to which the levy will be 

applied. Furthermore, it is the 

contractor’s responsibility for 

identifying a levy that will significantly 

impact contract performance, since it is 

the contractor’s liability that has created 

the situation. Therefore, this interim 

rule requires that the contractor notify 

the contracting officer when a levy is 

imposed on a DoD contract payment 

and that the contractor state whether it 

believes the levy jeopardizes contract 

performance. In addition, the contractor 

is required to advise the contracting 

officer if the contractor is aware of any 

adverse effect on national security that 

may result from the inability to perform 

the contract. The contracting officer will 

take appropriate action on the instant 

contract. 

When the contractor believes the levy 

jeopardizes contract performance, it is 

important that DoD have a timely 

process for addressing those cases. The 

interim rule requires the Government to 

promptly review the contractor’s 

assessment and either agree or disagree 

that contract performance will be 

jeopardized. When the Government 

disagrees with the contractor’s 

assessment, the Government will notify 

the contractor and no further action will 

be taken. When the Government agrees 

with the contractor’s assessment that the 

levy will jeopardize contract 

performance and also believes that the 

lack of performance will adversely affect 

national security, some or all of the 

monies collected will be returned to the 

contractor. When the Government