Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 199 / Monday, October 17, 2005 / Proposed Rules 60257 

DATES: Written or electronic comments 

and requests for a public hearing must 

be received by December 16, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: Send submissions to: 

CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–114444–05), Room 

5203, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin 

Station, Washington, DC 20044. 

Submissions may be hand delivered 

Monday through Friday between the 

hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to: 

CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–114444–05), 

Courier’s Desk, 1111 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224 or 

sent electronically via the IRS Internet 

site at http://www.irs.gov/regs or via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov (IRS REG–114444–

05). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Concerning the proposed regulations, 

Neil Worden, (202) 283–7900; 

concerning submissions of comments 

Robin Jones, Publications and 

Regulations Branch, (202) 622–3521 (not 

toll-free numbers). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Temporary regulations in the Rules 

and Regulations section of this issue of 

the Federal Register amend 26 CFR part 

801. The temporary regulations amend 

part 801 to clarify when quantity 

measures, which are not tax 

enforcement results, may be used in 

measuring organizational and employee 

performance. The text of those 

regulations also serves as the text of 

these regulations. The ‘‘Explanation of 

Provisions’’ section of the temporary 

regulations explains the temporary 

regulations and these proposed 

regulations. 

Special Analyses 

It has been determined that this notice 

of proposed rulemaking is not a 

significant regulatory action as defined 

in Executive Order 12866. Therefore, a 

regulatory assessment is not required. It 

also has been determined that section 

553(b) of the Administrative Procedure 

Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 5) does not apply 

to these regulations, and because the 

regulation does not impose a collection 

of information on small entities, the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

chapter 6) does not apply. Pursuant to 

section 7805(f) of the Internal Revenue 

Code, this notice of proposed 

rulemaking will be submitted to the 

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration for comment 

on its impact on small business. 

Comments and Requests for Public 

Hearing 

Before these proposed regulations are 

adopted as final regulations, 

consideration will be given to any 

written or electronic comments that are 

timely submitted to the IRS. The IRS 

and the Treasury Department 

specifically request comments on the 

clarity of the proposed regulations and 

how they can be made easier to 

understand. All comments will be 

available for public inspection and 

copying. A public hearing may be 

scheduled if requested by any person 

who timely submits comments. If a 

public hearing is scheduled, notice of 

the date, time and place for the hearing 

will be published in the Federal 

Register. 

Drafting Information 

The principal author of these 

regulations is Karen F. Keller, Office of 

Associate Chief Counsel (General Legal 

Services). However, other personnel 

from the IRS participated in their 

development. 

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 801 

Government employees, Organization 

and functions (Government agencies). 

Proposed Amendments to the 

Regulations 

Accordingly, 26 CFR part 801 is 

proposed to be amended as follows: 

PART 801—BALANCED SYSTEM FOR 

MEASURING ORGANIZATIONAL AND 

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE WITHIN 

THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 

Paragraph 1. The authority citation 

for Part 801 continues to read in part as 

follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 9501 * * *. 

Par. 2. Section 801.1T is redesignated 

as § 801.1 and amended by revising the 

section heading to read as follows: 

§ 801.1 Balanced performance 

measurement system; in general. 

[The text of proposed § 801.1 is the 

same as the text of § 801.1T published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register.] 

Par. 3. Section 801.2T is redesignated 

as § 801.2 and amended by revising the 

section heading to read as follows: 

§ 801.2 Measuring organizational 

performance. 

[The text of proposed § 801.2 is the 

same as the text of § 801.2T published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register.] 

Par. 4. Section 801.3T is redesignated 

as § 801.3 and amended by revising the 

section heading to read as follows: 

§ 801.3 Measuring employee performance. 

[The text of proposed § 801.3 is the 

same as the text of § 801.3T published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register.] 

Par. 5. Section 801.4T is redesignated 

as § 801.4 and amended by revising the 

section heading to read as follows: 

§ 801.4 Customer satisfaction measures. 

[The text of proposed § 801.4 is the 

same as the text of § 801.4T published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register.] 

Par. 6. Section 801.5T is redesignated 

as § 801.5 and amended by revising the 

section heading to read as follows: 

§ 801.5 Employee satisfaction measures. 

[The text of proposed § 801.5 is the 

same as the text of § 801.5T published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register.] 

Par. 7. Section 801.6T is redesignated 

as § 801.6 and amended by revising the 

section heading to read as follows: 

§ 801.6 Business results measures. 

[The text of proposed § 801.6 is the 

same as the text of § 801.6T published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register.] 

Par. 8. Section 801.7T is redesignated 

as § 801.7 and amended by revising the 

section heading to read as follows: 

§ 801.7 Examples. 

[The text of the proposed § 801.7 is 

the same as the text of § 801.7T 

published elsewhere in this issue of the 

Federal Register.] 

Par. 9. Section 801.8T is redesignated 

as § 801.8 and amended by revising the 

section heading to read as follows: 

§ 801.8 Effective dates. 

[The text of proposed § 801.8 is the 

same as the text of § 801.8T published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register.] 

Mark E. Matthews, 

Deputy Commissioner for Services and 

Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. 05–20438 Filed 10–14–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND 

COMMUNITY SERVICE 

45 CFR Chapter XXV 

AmeriCorps State and National, Senior 

Corps, and Learn and Serve 

AGENCY: Corporation for National and 

Community Service. 

ACTION: Notice inviting preliminary 

informal public input in advance of 

rulemaking on criminal background 

checks for AmeriCorps State/National, 

Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve 

America grant programs. 

60258 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 199 / Monday, October 17, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

SUMMARY: The Corporation for National 

and Community Service (the 

Corporation) invites public input 

regarding a Corporation requirement 

that grantees conduct and document 

criminal background checks on grantfunded employees and participants 

who, on a recurring basis, have access 

to children and other vulnerable 

populations, including the elderly and 

individuals with disabilities. In 

addition, the Corporation seeks input 

concerning whether any category of 

individuals should, on the basis of their 

criminal histories, be disqualified from 

working or participating in a 

Corporation-funded project in which 

they have such access. 

We will consider input submitted in 

writing, as described below, or orally in 

one of two conference calls we will hold 

on the dates listed below. The 

Corporation will not respond formally 

to this input, but will consider it in 

drafting any Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking. The public will have a 

separate opportunity to provide formal 

comment on any proposed rule the 

Corporation publishes for comment in 

2005 or thereafter. 

DATES: Please submit written input to 

the Corporation as soon as possible. In 

addition, the Corporation will hold 

conference calls on this topic on 

October 21, 2005 and October 28, 2005. 

See Supplementary Information for 

conference call information. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

input to the Corporation by any of the 

following methods: 

(1) Electronically through the 

Corporation’s e-mail address system to 

tbryant@cns.gov. 

(2) By fax to 202–606–3467, Attention 

Tom Bryant, Associate General Counsel. 

(3) By mail sent to: Corporation for 

National and Community Service, Attn: 

Tom Bryant, Associate General Counsel, 

1201 New York Avenue NW., Suite 

10600, Washington, DC 20525. 

(4) By hand delivery or by courier to 

the Corporation’s mailroom at Room 

8410 at the mail address given in 

paragraph (3) above, between 9 a.m. and 

4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

Due to continued delays in the 

Corporation’s receipt of mail, we 

strongly encourage responses via e-mail 

or fax. You may request this notice in 

an alternative format for the visually 

impaired. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information about the substance 

of this notice, or for information about 

the conference calls, contact Tom 

Bryant at (202) 606–6678 

(tbryant@cns.gov). The TDD/TTY 

number is (800) 833–3722. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Many 

national and community service 

programs are dedicated to helping 

children learn to read, giving at-risk 

children better opportunities to thrive, 

helping the elderly maintain their 

independence, and otherwise serving 

vulnerable individuals. With that 

commitment comes the responsibility to 

safeguard the well-being of program 

beneficiaries, including thorough 

effective screening of staff, participants, 

and volunteers in each program. Several 

years ago, a Corporation-sponsored 

technical assistance provider published 

the Staff Screening Tool Kit, 2nd 

Edition with helpful information 

designed to strengthen an organization’s 

screening process. You may download 

the Tool Kit at http:// 

www.nationalservice.gov/ 

screeningtoolkit. 

Currently, only the AmeriCorps State 

and National grant program has a 

criminal background check requirement 

in its grant provisions. For the 2005–

2006 program year, it states as follows: 

Criminal Background Checks. 

Programs with members (18 and over) or 

grant-funded employees who, on a 

recurring basis, have access to children 

(usually defined under state or local law 

as un-emancipated minors under the age 

of 18) or to individuals considered 

vulnerable by the program (i.e. the 

elderly or individuals who are either 

physically or mentally disabled), shall, 

to the extent permitted by state and 

local law, conduct criminal background 

checks on these members or employees 

as part of the overall screening process. 

The grantee must ensure, to the extent 

permitted by state or local law, that it 

maintains background check 

documentation for members and 

employees covered by this provision in 

the member or employee’s file or other 

appropriate file. The documentation 

must demonstrate that, in selecting or 

placing an individual, the grantee or the 

grantee’s designee (such as a site 

sponsor) reviewed and considered the 

background check’s results. 

The Corporation intends to codify a 

requirement for AmeriCorps through the 

formal rulemaking process and seeks 

input on whether the current provision 

should be maintained or amended. 

Senior Corps is comprised of three 

separate programs: (1) The Foster 

Grandparent Program (FGP); (2) the 

Senior Companion Program (SCP); and 

(3) the Retired Senior Volunteer 

Program. We intend to codify a 

requirement for each program through 

the formal rulemaking process. 

The Learn and Serve Program consists 

of (1) School-Based K–12 Programs; (2) 

Higher Education Programs, and (3) 

Community-Based Programs. Given the 

fact that participants in Learn and Serve 

programs are generally not individually 

attributable to a Corporation grant, we 

are considering whether and to what 

extent we should codify requirements 

relating to the screening of staff and 

participants in Learn and Serve America 

programs. 

The Corporation intends to strengthen 

its internal procedures for its two 

Federally-conducted programs, 

AmeriCorps National Civilian 

Community Corps and AmeriCorps 

VISTA, outside the scope of this 

rulemaking process. 

To inform the rulemaking process, the 

Corporation invites preliminary 

informal input from the public 

addressing a criminal background check 

requirement for grantees. The 

Corporation specifically invites input on 

the following questions: 

(1) What are the most effective 

screening practices used by 

organizations that serve children and 

other vulnerable populations? 

(2) Is recurring access to children and 

other vulnerable populations (i.e. the 

elderly or individuals who are either 

physically or mentally disabled) the 

most appropriate way to describe the 

predicate for the background check 

requirement? 

(3) What are the costs associated with 

conducting criminal background 

checks? 

(4) What are the types and levels of 

background checks that are available to 

grantees? 

(5) Should the Corporation require 

grantees to obtain a background check 

from a specific data base (e.g. state 

registry or the Department of Justice’s 

National Sex Offender Public Registry at 

http://www.nsopr.gov)? 

(6) Should the Corporation codify a 

per se disqualification for program 

participants or staff based upon a 

particular background check finding? 

(7) How should the Corporation 

balance the goal of including at-risk 

participants in national and community 

service programs with the need to 

ensure appropriate protection for 

vulnerable populations? 

(8) What are efficient and effective 

ways to document background checks 

and how should a program document 

that it considered such a finding of 

criminal history in selecting or placing 

an individual? 

(9) Are grantees in a particular 

program category already required by 

State or local law to have safeguards in 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 199 / Monday, October 17, 2005 / Proposed Rules 60259 

this area that obviate or mitigate the 

need for a separate grant condition? 

(10) Does the current language in the 

AmeriCorps grant provisions 

appropriately define the scope of the 

requirement and documentation of 

compliance? 

(11) What safeguards are necessary to 

protect the privacy of program 

participants or staff? 

(12) What are the best practices to 

monitor and enforce compliance with 

requirements relating to the screening of 

participants? 

(13) Where grantees are involved in a 

variety of programmatic activities, as in 

the case of RSVP, how should the 

Corporation identify those programs 

where volunteers and staff have access 

to children or other vulnerable 

individuals on a recurring basis? 

(14) To what extent do state and local 

laws constrain the Corporation from 

requiring grantees to conduct criminal 

background checks on national service 

participants or employees, who, on a 

recurring basis, have access to children 

or other vulnerable populations? 

(15) How often should a criminal 

background check be conducted for a 

national service participant who serves 

for two or more years? 

(16) Are there categories of grantees 

(e.g. local school districts) for whom a 

separate Corporation requirement for 

criminal background checks might not 

be necessary because the grantee is 

already independently required to have 

appropriate applicant screening 

safeguards in place? 

For more information on the 

Corporation, please visit our Web site at: 

http://www.nationalservice.gov. 

Conference Calls and Public Input 

The Corporation is planning two 

conference calls in October, 2005. The 

first will be conducted on October 21, 

2005, at 3 p.m., e.s.t. and the second on 

October 28, 2005, also at 3 p.m. e.s.t. 

The USA Toll Free Number is 1–888–

790–1769. The passcode is 7282715. 

Each conference call will last 

approximately 1 hour. Please check our 

Web site at http:// 

www.nationalservice.gov/about/ 

newsroom/ 

releases_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=196 for 

additional or updated information 

regarding these conference calls, or 

contact Tom Bryant at tbryant@cns.gov. 

Dated: October 11, 2005. 

Frank R. Trinity, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 05–20652 Filed 10–14–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6050–$$–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Parts 63 and 64 

[WC Docket No. 05–271; FCC 05–150] 

Consumer Protection in the Broadband 

Era 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Communications 

Commission (Commission) initiates this 

rulemaking to explore whether 

regulations we would adopt pursuant to 

the Commission’s ancillary jurisdiction 

under Title I of the Communications Act 

(Act) should apply to broadband 

Internet access service, regardless of the 

underlying technology providers use to 

offer the service. The rulemaking seeks 

comment on whether the imposition of 

regulations in the areas of consumer 

privacy, unauthorized changes to 

service, truth-in-billing, network outage 

reporting, discontinuance of service, 

rate averaging requirements, and the 

corresponding ability of consumers to 

take advantage of Commission avenues 

for resolution of these consumer 

protection issues, is desirable and 

necessary as a matter of public policy, 

or whether we should rely on market 

forces to address some or all of the areas 

listed. The rulemaking also explores 

whether there are other areas of 

consumer protection not listed above for 

which the Commission should impose 

regulations. Overall, this rulemaking 

will determine whether any noneconomic regulatory requirements are 

necessary to ensure that consumer 

protection needs are met by all 

providers of broadband Internet access 

service. 

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

January 17, 2006, and reply comments 

are due on or before March 1, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by WC Docket No. 05–271, by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Agency Web Site: http:// 

www.fcc.gov. Follow the instructions for 

submitting comments on http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. 

• E-mail: ecfs@fcc.gov, and include 

the following words in the body of the 

message, ‘‘get form.’’ A sample form and 

directions will be sent in response. 

• Mail: Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington. DC 20554. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: 236 

Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, 

Washington, DC 20002. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number for this rulemaking. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http://www.fcc.gov/ 

cgb/ecfs/, including any personal 

information provided. For detailed 

instructions on submitting comments 

and additional information on the 

rulemaking process, see the ‘‘Public 

Participation’’ heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William Kehoe, Senior AttorneyAdvisor, Competition Policy Division, 

Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 

418–1580. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking in WC Docket No. 

05–271, FCC 05–150, adopted August 5, 

2005, and released September 23, 2005. 

The complete text of this NPRM is 

available for inspection and copying 

during normal business hours in the 

FCC Reference Information Center, 

Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 

CY–A257, Washington, DC 20554. This 

document may also be purchased from 

the Commission’s duplicating 

contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 

445 12th Street, SW., Room CY–B402, 

Washington, DC 20554, telephone (800) 

378–3160 or (202) 863–2893, facsimile 

(202) 863–2898, or via e-mail at 

www.bcpiweb.com. It is also available 

on the Commission’s Web site at 

http://www.fcc.gov. 

Public Participation 

Comments may be filed using: (1) The 

Commission’s Electronic Comment 

Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal 

Government’s eRulemaking Portal, or (3) 

by filing paper copies. See Electronic 

Filing of Documents in Rulemaking 

Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (May 1, 1998). 

• Electronic Filers: Comments may be 

filed electronically using the Internet by 

accessing the ECFS: http://www.fcc.gov/ 

cgb/ecfs/ or the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Filers should follow the instructions 

provided on the Web site for submitting 

comments. 

• For ECFS filers, filers must transmit 

one electronic copy of the comments for 

the docket number referenced in the 

caption. In completing the transmittal 

screen, filers should include their full