51590 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 168 / Wednesday, August 31, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

surplus short-term funds, and manage 

interest rate risk under § 615.5135. 

■ 4. Amend § 615.5134 by revising 

paragraphs (a) and (c) and by adding 

new paragraph (d) to read as follows: 

§ 615.5134 Liquidity reserve requirement. 

(a) Each Farm Credit bank must 

maintain a liquidity reserve, discounted 

in accordance with paragraph (c) of this 

section, sufficient to fund 90 days of the 

principal portion of maturing 

obligations and other borrowings of the 

bank at all times. The liquidity reserve 

may only be funded from cash, 

including cash due from traded but not 

yet settled debt, and the eligible 

investments under § 615.5140. Money 

market instruments, floating, and fixed 

rate debt securities used to fund the 

liquidity reserve must be backed by the 

full faith and credit of the United States 

or rated in one of the two highest 

NRSRO credit categories. If not rated, 

the issuer’s NRSRO credit rating, if one 

of the two highest, may be used. 

* * * * * 

(c) The liquid assets of the liquidity 

reserve are discounted as follows: 

(1) Multiply cash and overnight 

investments by 100 percent. 

(2) Multiply money market 

instruments and floating rate debt 

securities that are below the contractual 

cap rate by 95 percent of the market 

value. 

(3) Multiply fixed rate debt securities 

and floating rate debt securities that 

meet or exceed the contractual cap rate 

by 90 percent of the market value. 

(4) Multiply individual securities in 

diversified investment funds by the 

discounts that would apply to the 

securities if held separately. 

(d) Each Farm Credit bank must have 

a contingency plan to address liquidity 

shortfalls during market disruptions. 

The board of directors must review the 

plan each year, making all needed 

changes. Farm Credit banks may 

incorporate these requirements into 

their § 615.5133 investment 

management policies. 

Subpart F—Property, Transfers of 

Capital, and Other Investments 

§ 615.5174 [Amended] 

■ 5. Amend § 615.5174 by removing the 

reference ‘‘§ 615.5131(g)’’ and adding in 

its place, the reference ‘‘§ 615.5131(f)’’

in paragraph (a). 

Dated: August 25, 2005. 

Jeanette C. Brinkley, 

Secretary, Farm Credit Administration Board. 

[FR Doc. 05–17266 Filed 8–30–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6705–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 3 

RIN 2900–AL12 

Exceptions to Definition of Date of 

Receipt Based on Natural or Man-Made 

Disruption of Normal Business 

Practices 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This document affirms an 

amendment to the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication 

regulation regarding the definition of 

‘‘date of receipt’’ authorizing the Under 

Secretary for Benefits to establish 

exceptions to the general rule when a 

natural or man-made event interferes 

with the channels through which the 

Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) 

ordinarily receives correspondence, 

resulting in extended delays in receipt 

of claims, information, or evidence from 

claimants served by VBA. Currently, 

VBA receives correspondence through 

its 57 Regional Offices and through the 

Appeals Management Center, which 

develops claims on appeal to the Board 

of Veterans Appeals. The intended 

effect is to ensure that claimants served 

by the affected VBA office or offices are 

not deprived of potential entitlement to 

benefits because of unexpected delays 

or impediments not caused by the 

claimants. 

DATES: Effective date: August 31, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maya Ferrandino, Consultant, 

Regulations Staff, Compensation and 

Pension Service, Veterans Benefits 

Administration, 810 Vermont Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC 20420, telephone 

(202) 273–7232. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA’s 

regulation addressing the date of receipt 

for purposes of benefit entitlement is 

located at 38 CFR 3.1(r), which 

implements the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 

5110, the statutory provision regarding 

effective dates of awards. On July 19, 

2004 (69 FR 42879), an interim final 

rule was published amending § 3.1(r) to 

provide that the Under Secretary for 

Benefits may establish exceptions to the 

rule governing date of receipt in 

circumstances when he or she 

determines that a natural or man-made 

disruption in the normal channels of 

communication results in one or more 

VBA offices experiencing extended 

delays in the receipt of correspondence. 

We provided a 60-day comment 

period that ended September 17, 2004. 

We received no comments. Based on the 

rationale set forth in the interim final 

rule we now affirm as a final rule the 

changes made by the interim final rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This document contains no provisions 

constituting a collection of information 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501–3520). 

Administrative Procedure Act 

This document without any changes 

affirms amendments made by an interim 

final rule that is already in effect. 

Accordingly, we have concluded under 

5 U.S.C. 553 that there is good cause for 

dispensing with a delayed effective date 

based on the conclusion that such 

procedure is impracticable, 

unnecessary, and contrary to the public 

interest. 

Unfunded Mandates 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C. 1532, that 

agencies prepare an assessment of 

anticipated costs and benefits before 

developing any rule that may result in 

an expenditure by State, local, or tribal 

governments, in the aggregate, or by the 

private sector of $100 million or more 

(adjusted annually for inflation) in any 

given year. This final rule would have 

no such effect on State, local, or tribal 

governments, or the private sector. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Secretary hereby certifies that 

this final rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities as they are 

defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601–612. Only VA 

beneficiaries could be directly affected. 

Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), 

this final rule is exempt from the initial 

and final regulatory flexibility analysis 

requirements of sections 603 and 604. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance numbers and titles for the 

programs affected by this document are 

64.109, Veterans Compensation for 

Service-Connected Disability; and 

64.110, Veterans Dependency and 

Indemnity Compensation for ServiceConnected Death. 

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 3 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Claims, Disability benefits, 

Health care, Pensions, Radioactive 

materials, Veterans, Vietnam. 

Approved: August 11, 2005. 

Gordon H. Mansfield, 

Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

■ Accordingly, the interim final rule 

amending 38 CFR Part 3 that was 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 168 / Wednesday, August 31, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 51591 

published at 69 FR 42879 on July 19, 

2004, is adopted as a final rule without 

change. 

[FR Doc. 05–17358 Filed 8–30–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 51 

[Docket No. OAR–2004–0440; FRL–7960–2] 

RIN 2060–AN06 

Stay of the Findings of Significant 

Contribution and Rulemaking for 

Georgia for Purposes of Reducing 

Ozone Interstate Transport 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In this action, EPA is 

amending a final rule it issued under 

section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) 

related to the interstate transport of 

nitrogen oxides (NOX). On April 21, 

2004, EPA issued a final rule that 

required the State of Georgia to submit 

State implementation plan (SIP) 

revisions that prohibit specified 

amounts of NOX emissions—one of the 

precursors to ozone (smog) pollution—

for the purposes of reducing NOX and 

ozone transport across State boundaries 

in the eastern half of the United States. 

This rule became effective on June 21, 

2004. 

Subsequently, the Georgia Coalition 

for Sound Environmental Policy (GCSEP 

or Petitioners) filed a petition for 

reconsideration requesting that EPA 

reconsider the inclusion of the State of 

Georgia in the NOX SIP Call Rule and 

also requested a stay of the effectiveness 

of the rule as it relates to the State of 

Georgia only. 

In response to this petition, EPA 

proposed to stay the effectiveness of the 

April 21, 2004 rule as it relates to the 

State of Georgia only, while EPA 

conducts notice-and-comment 

rulemaking to further address the issues 

raised by the Petitioners (70 FR 9897; 

March 1, 2005). Four parties commented 

on the proposed rule. No requests were 

made to hold a public hearing. After 

considering these comments, EPA has 

determined to finalize, as proposed, the 

stay of the effectiveness of this rule as 

it relates to the State of Georgia, only 

during notice—and comment 

proceedings for the petition for 

reconsideration. 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

September 30, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. OAR–2004–0440. All documents in 

the docket are listed in the EDOCKET 

index at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. 

Although listed in the index, some 

information is not publicly available, 

i.e., confidential business information 

(CBI) or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other materials, such as 

copyrighted material, is not placed on 

the Internet and will be publicly 

available only in hard copy form. 

Publicly available docket materials are 

available either electronically in 

EDOCKET or in hard copy at the EPA 

Docket Center, EPA West (Air Docket), 

Attention E-Docket No. OAR–2004–

0440, Environmental Protection Agency, 

1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 

B102, Washington, DC. The Public 

Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays. The telephone 

number for the Public Reading Room is 

(202) 566–1744 and the fax number is 

(202) 566–1749. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

General questions concerning today’s 

action should be addressed to Jan King, 

Office of Air Quality Planning and 

Standards, Air Quality Strategies and 

Standards Division, C539–02, Research 

Triangle Park, NC, 27711, telephone 

(919) 541–5665, e-mail 

king.jan@epa.gov. Legal questions 

should be directed to Winifred Okoye, 

Office of General Counsel, (2344A), 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC 20460, telephone (202) 

564–5446, e-mail 

okoye.winifred@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

This action responds only to 

comments related to the stay of 

effectiveness of Phase II of the NOX SIP 

Call in the State of Georgia. Comments 

that we consider out of the scope of the 

proposed rulemaking or not directly 

related to the reconsideration 

proceedings are not addressed in this 

action, but will be addressed later in the 

final action on the petition for 

reconsideration. 

Outline 

I. Background 

I. Final Rule 

III. Response to Comments 

A. Comments on the Stay of the NOX SIP 

Call in Georgia 

B. Delay in Finalizing Phase II of the NOX

SIP Call 

C. Stay of the 8-Hour Basis for the NOX SIP 

Call 

D. Effect of Stay on the NOX SIP Call 

Trading Program 

E. Comments on Modeling Assumptions 

F. General Comments 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children from Environmental Health and 

Safety Risks 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

I. National Technology Transfer 

Advancement Act 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions 

To Address Environmental Justice in 

Minority Populations and Low-Income 

Populations 

K. Congressional Review Act 

L. Judicial Review 

I. Background 

On October 27, 1998, EPA found that 

emissions of NOX from 22 States and the 

District of Columbia (23 States) were 

significantly contributing to downwind 

areas’ nonattainment of the 1-hour 

ozone national ambient air quality 

standard (NAAQS). [Finding of 

Significant Contribution and 

Rulemaking for Certain States in the 

Ozone Transport Assessment Group 

Region for Purposes of Reducing 

Regional Transport of Ozone, 63 FR 

57354; October 27, 1998 (NOX SIP Call 

Rule)]. More specifically, EPA found 

that the State of Georgia was 

significantly contributing to 1-hour 

ozone nonattainment in Birmingham, 

Alabama and Memphis, Tennessee. (63 

FR 57394). The EPA set forth 

requirements for each of the affected 

upwind States, including Georgia, to 

submit SIP revisions prohibiting those 

amounts of NOX emissions which 

significantly contribute to downwind 

nonattainment. The EPA further 

required that each State SIP provide for 

NOX reductions in amounts that any 

remaining emissions would not exceed 

the level specified in EPA’s NOX SIP 

Call regulations for that State in 2007. 

A number of parties, including certain 

States as well as industry and labor 

groups, challenged the NOX SIP Call 

Rule. More specifically, Georgia and 

Missouri industry petitioners citing to 

the Ozone Transport Assessment Group 

(OTAG), modeling and 

recommendations, maintained that EPA 

had record support only for the 

inclusion of eastern Missouri and 

northern Georgia, as significantly 

contributing to downwind 

nonattainment. In Michigan v. EPA, 213