21300 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 77 / Monday, April 21, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

will be publicly available only in hard 

copy. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in www.regulations.gov or 

in hard copy at the OSWER Docket, 

EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave., NW., 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 telephone number for the 

OSWER Docket is (202) 566–0270. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

more detailed information on specific 

aspects of this rulemaking, contact 

William Noggle, Office of Solid Waste, 

Hazardous Waste Identification 

Division, MC 5304P, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington DC 20460, (703–

347–8769) (noggle.william@epa.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We are 

extending the comment period by 45 

days in response to a request from the 

public. In addition, EPA received a 

request to hold an informal public 

hearing. The Agency will publish 

another notice announcing the location 

and date of the hearing. As required by 

40 CFR 750.18(a), the hearing will begin 

no sooner than seven (7) days after the 

close of the comment period. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 761 

Environmental protection, Hazardous 

substances, Labeling, Polychlorinated 

biphenyls, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated: April 15, 2008. 

Susan Parker Bodine, 

Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and 

Emergency Response. 

[FR Doc. E8–8560 Filed 4–18–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

42 CFR Parts 5 and 51c 

RIN 0906–AA44 

Designation of Medically Underserved 

Populations and Health Professional 

Shortage Areas 

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

extension of public comment period and 

clarification. 

SUMMARY: On February 29, 2008, HHS 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking, ‘‘Designation of Medically 

Underserved Populations and Health 

Professional Shortage Areas’’ (73 FR 

11232), to revise and consolidate the 

criteria and processes for designating 

medically underserved populations 

(MUPs) and health professional shortage 

areas (HPSAs). HHS provided a 60-day 

public comment period, with written 

comments to be received on or before 

April 29, 2008. HHS and the Health 

Resources and Services Administration 

(HRSA) have received requests for an 

extension of the comment period. In 

consideration of these requests, HHS is 

extending the comment period an 

additional 30 days, with a new closing 

date of May 29, 2008. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed rule must be submitted on or 

before May 29, 2008. Please refer to 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for 

additional information. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

in one of four ways (no duplicates, 

please): 

1. Electronically. You may submit 

electronic comments on specific issues 

in this regulation to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Click on the link 

‘‘Submit electronic comments on HRSA 

regulations with an open comment 

period.’’ (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: 

Health Resources and Services 

Administration, Department of Health 

and Human Services, Attention: Ms. 

Andy Jordan, 8C–26 Parklawn Building, 

5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 

20857. 

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: Health Resources and 

Services Administration, Department of 

Health and Human Services, Attention: 

Ms. Andy Jordan, 8C–26 Parklawn 

Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, 

MD 20857. 

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 (May 29, 2008) to one 

of the following addresses. If you intend 

to deliver your comments to the 

Rockville address, please call telephone 

number (301) 594–0816 in advance to 

schedule your arrival with one of our 

staff members at these addresses: Room 

445–G, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 

200 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20201; or 8C–26 

Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, 

Rockville, MD 20857. (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 HRSA 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 FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andy Jordan, (301) 594–0197. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HRSA is 

concerned that the publication of the 

proposed HPSA/MUP regulation has 

created misapprehension among some 

health center grantees regarding their 

ability to meet the proposed HPSA/MUP 

designation criteria, and in particular, 

their eligibility for current or expanded 

health center funding opportunities. 

The proposed rule includes three 

methods for making designations. As 

proposed, none of the three methods 

would limit health center eligibility for 

current, new or expanded funding. 

Currently, all of the designations are 

made on data that are submitted by 

States or communities. Under the 

proposed rule, this submission burden 

would be reduced by HRSA’s use of 

nationally available data for initial 

calculations. In addition, States or 

communities continue to have the 

option to submit more specific or 

current local data as an alternative for 

use in calculations. This option may be 

particularly important to accurately 

reflect local demographic and health 

service realities. For example, an urban 

area may include a subpopulation with 

high needs, or a rural area may have 

recently experienced an acute loss of 

primary care providers. 

In addition to the Tier 1 method, the 

proposed rule includes two new 

designation methods. The first new 

method (Tier 2) assures that areas/ 

organizations are not disadvantaged by 

the presence of federally-supported 

resources. The second new method 

(Safety Net Facility) allows those 

organizations that serve high need 

populations to maintain or pursue 

designation. If none of the above 

methods produces a designation, this 

proposed rule continues the possibility 

of designation at the request of the 

Governor pursuant to existing law 

(section 330(b)(3)(D), Public Health 

Service Act). 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 77 / Monday, April 21, 2008 / Proposed Rules 21301 

To reassess the impact of the 

proposed regulation on health centers, 

HRSA analyzed the most recent data 

from health center grantees who 

reported in calendar year 2006 to the 

Uniform Data System (UDS) and HRSA 

applied the methodologies in the 

proposed rule using nationally available 

data. Based on this analysis, at most, 

only 16 out of 1,001 health center 

grantees (1.6 percent) would have to 

include State or local data to seek to 

maintain their current designation 

status. This analysis was conducted at 

the grantee level consistent with 

HRSA’s health center policy that states: 

‘‘The statutory obligations of serving an 

MUA or MUP is an organizational level 

obligation, not a site specific 

requirement.’’ (http://answers.hrsa.gov/, 

Answer ID 1216). The proposed rule 

does not change this health center 

policy. 

In order to facilitate a better 

understanding of the proposed rule, 

HRSA provided State Primary Care 

Offices (PCO) with a calculator that 

applies the formulas proposed in the 

rule to determine designation, with data 

files, as well as with technical 

assistance in using the calculator. We 

encourage interested parties to contact 

and work with their PCOs (http:// 

nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/resources/info/ 

pco.asp) to review data and understand 

the implications of the proposed rule. 

To allay concerns of some 

commenters, this notice seeks to draw 

attention to and elicit comments on the 

following matters: 

Eligibility for Federal Resources 

In the preamble, a statement in 

section IV. B. Methodology (last 

paragraph before subsection C at 73 FR 

11247) inaccurately reflects our intent 

and the potential effect regarding 

eligibility for organizations designated 

through Tier 1 or Tier 2. It suggests that 

Tier 2 designations will not be eligible 

for additional Federal resources. That is 

not the case. No provision in the 

proposed rule imposes any such 

limitation and it is not our intent to do 

so. Under the proposed rule, whether 

designated via Tier 1, Tier 2, or Safety 

Net Facility all entities will be equally 

eligible to compete for new or expanded 

health center funding. Similarly, all 

entities designated through Tier 1, Tier 

2, or Safety Net Facility will be equally 

eligible to compete for National Health 

Service Corps (NHSC) placements. In 

contrast to the health center policy 

described above, NHSC placements are 

site specific pursuant to section 333(a) 

of the Public Health Service Act. For 

example, while a health center grantee 

may be eligible for health center funding 

for all of its sites, only some of its sites 

may be eligible under law for NHSC 

placements. For further information on 

NHSC placements, please contact your 

State PCO. 

Scoring for Relative Need 

Scores are a numerical expression of 

relative need derived from available 

data about demography, economics, 

population density, health status and 

available primary care providers. Scores 

are designed to be used by the NHSC for 

provider placement and may be used by 

other programs. While the proposed rule 

does not include a specific methodology 

for scoring those organizations that 

receive a designation for serving highneed populations (Safety Net Facility), a 

scoring methodology will have to be 

established. To determine a Safety Net 

Facility designation, HRSA will need 

data on the proportions of the applicant 

organization’s patient population that 

are low-income uninsured as well as 

Medicaid-eligible (see 73 FR 11251 of 

the proposed rule). We seek comments 

on how to score these Safety Net 

Facility designations so that their need 

is ranked equitably with the 

designations scored in the other 

methods outlined in the proposed rule, 

that is, Tier 1 and Tier 2. 

We invite comments on these issues, 

as well as any other provisions of the 

proposed rule. We will respond to all 

comments when we publish the final 

rule. 

Dated: April 17, 2008. 

Elizabeth M. Duke, 

Administrator, Health Resources and Services 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 08–1167 Filed 4–17–08; 11:32 am] 

BILLING CODE 4152–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Defense Acquisition Regulations 

System 

48 CFR Chapter 2 

Nontraditional Defense Contractor 

AGENCY: Defense Acquisition 

Regulations System, Department of 

Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Request for public input. 

SUMMARY: DoD is interested in creating 

new and/or expanding existing 

pathways for nontraditional contractor 

participation in defense procurements. 

In order to gauge the Department’s 

success with respect to this endeavor, 

DoD is specifically interested in first 

establishing a standard Departmentwide definition for ‘‘nontraditional 

defense contractor’’ that would be 

applied in defense procurements 

conducted pursuant to the Federal 

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the 

Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS). In 

support of this initiative, DoD is seeking 

industry input with regard to the 

standards that should be utilized in 

defining what constitutes a 

nontraditional defense contractor and in 

developing an appropriate definition for 

use on a permanent basis. 

DATES: Submit written comments to the 

address shown below on or before June 

20, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to: Office 

of the Director, Defense Procurement 

and Acquisition Policy, ATTN: OUSD 

(AT&L) DPAP (CPIC), 3060 Defense 

Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301–3060. 

Comments also may be submitted by email to Anthony.Cicala@osd.mil. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Anthony E. Cicala, by telephone at 703–

693–7062, or by e-mail at 

Anthony.Cicala@osd.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since the 

1970s, DoD has encouraged its 

acquisition team to leverage, to the 

maximum extent possible, the 

commercial marketplace to acquire the 

Department’s products and services. In 

response to special commissions, 

panels, and legislation, in January 2001, 

DoD required the development of 

implementation plans with the goal of 

increasing the acquisition of commercial 

items using the procedures at FAR Part 

12, Acquisition of Commercial Items. In 

addition, legislative changes to FAR Part 

12, and FAR Part 13—Simplified 

Acquisition Procedures, were enacted in 

an attempt to streamline the process and 

create a more commercial-like 

contracting environment. DoD expected 

increased use of the flexibility afforded 

by FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 13 

procedures to provide DoD greater 

access to the commercial markets 

(products and services types) which 

would lead to increased competition, 

better prices, and access to new market 

entrants and/or technologies. DoD is 

interested in determining how 

successful it has been, and is now 

examining ways to collect information 

on the number of nontraditional defense 

contractors the Department reaches 

through its acquisitions to evaluate the 

extent of increased access to commercial 

markets, potential cost savings, 

increased quality, and/or technological 

innovation. 

Currently, a definition for 

nontraditional defense contractor is 

promulgated at DFARS Subpart 212.70, 

but the application of that definition is 

limited to follow-on efforts to Other 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with PROPOSALS