70574 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 22, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

If you are convicted of * * * then you may be subject to * * * under * * * 

(3) Any act prohibited by paragraph (a)(1), (2), 

or (3) of this section.

A fine not to exceed $100 for the first offense, 

or a sentence of a fine and/or imprisonment 

for a Class A or B misdemeanor in accordance with 18 U.S.C. 3571 and 3581 et seq. 

for all subsequent offenses.

The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement 

Act (16 U.S.C. 6811). 

[FR Doc. 05–23113 Filed 11–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–84–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the Secretary 

45 CFR Part 162 

[CMS–0050–N] 

RIN 0938–AK62 

HIPAA Administrative Simplification: 

Standards for Electronic Health Care 

Claims Attachments; Extension of 

Comment Period 

ACTION: Notice of extension of comment 

period for proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This notice extends the 

comment period for a proposed rule 

published in the Federal Register on 

September 23, 2005 (70 FR 55990) that 

would recommend the adoption of a set 

of standards to facilitate the electronic 

exchange of clinical and administrative 

data to further improve the claims 

adjudication process when additional 

documentation is required. Due to the 

very technical nature of this rule, the 

industry is asking for additional time to 

conduct a more comprehensive and 

thorough review in order to provide 

comments to the Standards 

Development Organizations as well as to 

CMS. The comment period is extended 

for 60 days. 

DATES: The comment period is extended 

to 5 p.m. on January 23, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: In commenting, please refer 

to file code CMS–0050–P. Because of 

staff and resource limitations, we cannot 

accept comments by facsimile (FAX) 

transmission. 

You may submit comments in one of 

four ways (no duplicates, please): 

1. Electronically. You may submit 

electronic comments on specific issues 

in the September 23, 2005 proposed rule 

to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/regulations/ 

ecomments. (Attachments should be in 

Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or Excel; 

however, we prefer Microsoft Word.) 

2. By regular mail. You may mail 

written comments (one original and two 

copies) to the following address ONLY: 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, Department of Health and 

Human Services, Attention: CMS–0050–

P, P.O. Box 8014, Baltimore, MD 21244–

8014. 

Please allow sufficient time for mailed 

comments to be received before the 

close of the comment period. 

3. By express or overnight mail. You 

may send written comments (one 

original and two copies) to the following 

address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Department of 

Health and Human Services, Attention: 

CMS–0050–P, Mail Stop C4–26–05, 

7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 

21244–1850. 

4. By hand or courier. If you prefer, 

you may deliver (by hand or courier) 

your written comments (one original 

and two copies) before the close of the 

comment period to one of the following 

addresses. If you intend to deliver your 

comments to the Baltimore address, 

please call telephone number (410) 786–

7195 in advance to schedule your 

arrival with one of our staff members. 

Room 445–G, Hubert H. Humphrey 

Building, 200 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20201; or, 7500 

Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 

21244–1850. 

(Because access to the interior of the 

HHH Building is not readily available to 

persons without Federal Government 

identification, commenters are 

encouraged to leave their comments in 

the CMS drop slots located in the main 

lobby of the building. A stamp-in clock 

is available for persons wishing to retain 

a proof of filing by stamping in and 

retaining an extra copy of the comments 

being filed.) 

Comments mailed to the addresses 

indicated as appropriate for hand or 

courier delivery may be delayed and 

received after the comment period. 

For information on viewing public 

comments, see the beginning of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lorraine Doo, 410–786–6597. 

Submitting Comments: We welcome 

comments from the public on all issues 

set forth in the September 23, 2005 

proposed rule to assist us in fully 

considering issues, developing policies 

and adopting standards. You can assist 

us by referencing the file code CMS–

0050–P and the specific ‘‘issue 

identifier’’ that precedes the section on 

which you choose to comment. 

Inspection of Public Comments: All 

comments received before the close of 

the comment period are available for 

viewing by the public, including any 

personally identifiable or confidential 

business information that is included in 

a comment. CMS posts all comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period on its public Web site 

as soon as possible after they have been 

received. Comments received timely 

will be available for public inspection as 

they are received, generally beginning 

approximately 3 weeks after publication 

of a document, at the headquarters of 

the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, 

Baltimore, Maryland 21244, Monday 

through Friday of each week from 8:30 

a.m. to 4 p.m. To schedule an 

appointment to view public comments, 

phone 1–800–743–3951. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

September 23, 2005, we published a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register 

(70 FR 55990) that would recommend 

the adoption of a set of standards to 

facilitate the electronic exchange of 

clinical and administrative data to 

further improve the claims adjudication 

process when additional documentation 

is required. This rule proposes two 

X12N transaction standards: One to 

request the information, and one to 

respond to that request with the answer 

or additional information. This rule also 

proposes the use of Health Level 7 (HL7) 

specifications for the content and format 

of communicating the actual clinical 

information. Finally, this rule proposes 

the adoption of the Logical Observation 

Identifiers, Names and Codes or 

LOINC for specific identification of the 

additional information being requested, 

and the coded answers that respond to 

the requests. Due to the highly technical 

nature of the materials, and the size 

(length) of the technical documents 

being reviewed, we want to provide 

additional time for the industry to 

review and comment upon all of the 

technical documents (implementation 

guides, specifications, code sets, 

modifiers), and the policies proposed in 

the September 23, 2005 proposed rule. 

Due to the complexity of this 

proposed rule, the length of time 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 22, 2005 / Proposed Rules 70575 

between the development of the 

proposed standards and the publication 

of this proposed rule, the potential need 

to upgrade the data content of the 

specifications or the use of Release 2 of 

the Clinical Document Architecture 

(CDA), numerous members of the 

industry and professional associations 

have requested more time to analyze the 

potential impact and consequences of 

the proposed rule. Thus, we have 

decided to extend the comment period 

for an additional 60 days. This 

document announces the extension of 

the public comment period to January 

23, 2006. 

Authority: Secs. 1173 and 1175 of the 

Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1302d–2 and 

1320d–4). 

Dated: November 9, 2005. 

Mark B. McClellan, 

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services. 

Dated: November 17, 2005. 

Michael O. Leavitt, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–23077 Filed 11–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 051114298–5298–01; I.D. 

110105C] 

RIN 0648–AT12 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Gulf of 

Mexico Commercial Grouper Fishery; 

Trip Limit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this proposed 

rule to implement a regulatory 

amendment to the Fishery Management 

Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the 

Gulf of Mexico (FMP) prepared by the 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council (Council). This proposed rule 

would establish a 6,000–lb (2,722–kg) 

commercial trip limit for shallow-water 

and deep-water grouper, combined, in 

the exclusive economic zone of the Gulf 

of Mexico. The intended effect of this 

proposed rule is to minimize the effects 

of derby fishing and prolong the fishing 

season. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed rule must be received no later 

than 5 p.m., eastern time, on December 

7, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the proposed rule by any of the 

following methods: 

• E-mail: 0648–

AT12.Proposed@noaa.gov. Include in 

the subject line the following document 

identifier: 0648–AT12. 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Andy Strelcheck, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

• Fax: 727–824–5308; Attention: Andy 

Strelcheck. 

Copies of the regulatory amendment, 

which includes a Regulatory Impact 

Review (RIR), an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), and an 

Environmental Assessment (EA), may be 

obtained from the Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council, 2203 N. 

Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 

33607; telephone: 813–348–1630; fax: 

813–348–1711; e-mail: 

gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org. Copies of 

the regulatory amendment may also be 

downloaded from the Council’s website 

at www.gulfcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andy Strelcheck, telephone: 727–824–

5374; fax: 727–824–5308; e-mail: 

andy.stelcheck@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reef 

fish fishery of the Gulf of Mexico is 

managed under the FMP. The FMP was 

prepared by the Council and is 

implemented under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) by regulations 

at 50 CFR part 622. 

On July 15, 2004 (69 FR 33315, June 

15, 2004), NMFS implemented 

Secretarial Amendment 1 to the FMP to 

establish a red grouper rebuilding plan, 

including a 5.31 million-lb (2.42 

million-kg), gutted weight, commercial 

quota and a 1.25 million-lb (0.57 

million-kg), gutted weight, recreational 

target catch level for red grouper. 

Secretarial Amendment 1 also reduced 

the commercial quotas for deep-water 

grouper (i.e., speckled hind and 

yellowedge, misty, warsaw, and snowy 

grouper) and shallow-water grouper 

(i.e., all grouper other than deep-water 

grouper, goliath grouper, and Nassau 

grouper and including scamp before the 

quota for shallow-water grouper is 

reached). In 2004, the commercial deepwater grouper and shallow-water 

grouper quotas were reached prior to the 

end of the fishing year, and the fisheries 

were closed on July 15, 2004 (69 FR 

41433, July 9, 2004), and November 15, 

2004 (69 FR 65092, November 10, 2004), 

respectively. In November 2004, the 

Council, at the request of 

representatives of the commercial 

grouper fishing industry, asked NMFS 

to develop an emergency or interim rule 

establishing trip limits for the 

commercial grouper fishery in 2005. 

Trip limits, which began at 10,000 lb 

(4,536 kg) and stepped down to 7,500 lb 

(3,402 kg) and then to 5,500 lb (2,495 

kg) at defined trigger points, were 

implemented by NMFS through an 

emergency rule that was effective from 

March 3 through August 16, 2005 (70 FR 

8037, February 17, 2005). NMFS 

extended the emergency rule and trip 

limits for an additional 180 days 

effective August 17, 2005, through 

February 12, 2006 (70 FR 48323, August 

17, 2005). These trip limits were 

implemented to prolong the shallowwater grouper and deep-water grouper 

fishing seasons in 2005 and to reduce 

the adverse effects associated with 

derby fishing. However, the emergency 

trip limits were not restrictive enough to 

achieve the intended objectives. In fact, 

the deep-water and shallow-water 

grouper fisheries closed earlier in 2005 

(June 23, 2005, and October 10, 2005, 

respectively) than they had in 2004. 

The Council prepared a regulatory 

amendment to evaluate alternatives and 

establish more permanent trip limits for 

the commercial grouper fishery. After 

considering the effectiveness of existing 

trip limits, management alternatives, 

and public testimony, the Council 

adopted a 6,000–lb (2,722–kg) 

commercial trip limit for shallow-water 

grouper and deep-water grouper, 

combined. This proposed rule would 

implement the 6,000–lb (2,722–kg) trip 

limit. To maximize the effectiveness of 

this more restrictive trip limit, the 

Council and NMFS have agreed the 

existing trip limits implemented via 

emergency rule (70 FR 48323, August 

17, 2005) would terminate upon 

implementation of the 6,000–lb (2,722–

kg) trip limit proposed in this rule. 

Classification 

NMFS has determined that the 

proposed rule is consistent with the 

FMP and preliminarily determined that 

the rule is consistent with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act and 

other applicable laws. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS prepared an IRFA as required 

by section 603 of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act. The IRFA describes the