62236 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 233 / Tuesday, December 5, 1995 / Proposed Rules

human environment, health and safety

because it is not expected to:

(a) Increase public use to the extent of

compromising the nature and character of the

area or causing physical damage to it;

(b) Introduce incompatible uses that may

compromise the nature and characteristics of

the area, or cause physical damage to it;

(c) Conflict with adjacent ownerships or

land uses; or

(d) Cause a nuisance to adjacent owners or

occupants.

Based on this determination, this

proposed rulemaking is categorically

excluded from the procedural

requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by

Departmental guidelines in 516 DM 6,

(49 FR 21438). As such, neither an

Environmental Assessment (EA) nor an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

has been prepared.

List of Subjects

36 CFR Part 1

National parks, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

36 CFR Part 13

Alaska, National parks, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

In consideration of the foregoing, it is

proposed to amend 36 CFR Chapter I,

Parts 1 and 13, as follows:

PART 1—GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The authority citation for Part 1

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1, 3, 9a, 460 l–6a(e),

462(k); D.C. Code 8–137, 40–721 (1981).

2. Section 1.2 is amended by revising

paragraphs (a), (b) and (d) to read as

follows:

§ 1.2 Applicability and scope.

(a) The regulations contained in this

chapter apply to all persons entering,

using, visiting or otherwise within:

(1) The boundaries of federally owned

lands and waters administered by the

National Park Service; or

(2) The boundaries of lands and

waters administered by the National

Park Service for public use purposes

pursuant to the terms of a written

instrument; or

(3) Waters subject to the jurisdiction

of the United States located within the

boundaries of the National Park System,

including navigable waters and areas

within their ordinary reach (up to the

mean high water line in places subject

to the ebb and flow of the tide and up

to the ordinary high water mark in other

places) and without regard to the

ownership of submerged lands,

tidelands or lowlands; or

(4) Lands and waters in the environs

of the District of Columbia, policed with

the approval or concurrence of the head

of the agency having jurisdiction or

control over such reservations, pursuant

to the provisions of the Act of March 17,

1948 (62 Stat. 81); or

(5) Other lands and waters over which

the United States holds a less-than-fee

interest, to the extent necessary to fulfill

the purpose of the National Park Service

administered interest and compatible

with the nonfederal interest.

(b) The regulations contained in Parts

1 through 5 and Part 7 and Part 13 of

this chapter do not apply on nonfederally owned lands and waters or on

Indian tribal trust lands located within

National Park System boundaries,

except as provided in paragraph (a) of

this section or in regulations specifically

written to be applicable on such lands

and waters.

* * * * *

(d) The regulations contained in parts

2 through 5 and parts 7 and 13 of this

chapter shall not be construed to

prohibit administrative activities

conducted by the National Park Service,

or its agents, in accordance with

approved general management and

resources management plans, or in

emergency operations involving threats

to life, property or park resources.

* * * * *

3. Section 1.4 is amended in

paragraph (a) by revising the definition

of Boundary, by adding a definition for

National Park System, and by revising

the definition of Park area to read as

follows:

§ 1.4 Definitions.

(a) * * *

Boundary means the limits of lands or

waters administered by the National

Park Service as specified by Congress, or

denoted by Presidential Proclamation,

or recorded in the records of a state or

political subdivision in accordance with

applicable law, or published pursuant to

law, or otherwise published or posted

by the National Park Service.

* * * * *

National Park System (Park area)

means any area of land and water now

or hereafter administered by the

Secretary of the Interior through the

National Park Service for park,

monument, historic, parkway,

recreational, or other purposes.

* * * * *

Park area. See the definition for

National Park System in this section.

* * * * *

PART 13—NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

UNITS IN ALASKA

4. The authority citation for part 13

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1, 3, 462(k), 3101 et

seq.; subpart D also issued under 16 U.S.C.

20, 3197; § 13.65(b) also issued under 16

U.S.C. 1361, 1531.

5. Section 13.2 is amended by

republishing the first sentence of

paragraph (c) and revising the second

sentence of paragraph (c), and by

revising paragraph (e) to read as follows:

§ 13.2 Applicability and Scope.

* * * * *

(c) Subpart B of this part 13 contains

regulations applicable to subsistence

activities. Such regulations apply on

public lands within park areas except

Kenai Fjords National Park, Katmai

National Park, Glacier Bay National

Park, Klondike Gold Rush National

Historical Park and parts of Denali

National Park.* * *

* * * * *

(e) For purposes of this chapter,

‘‘federally owned lands’’ does not

include those land interests:

(1) Tentatively approved to the State

of Alaska; or

(2) Interim conveyed to a Native

Corporation.

Dated: October 20, 1995.

George T. Frampton, Jr.,

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and

Parks.

[FR Doc. 95–29565 Filed 12–4–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–70–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[AD–FRL–5341–1]

Clean Air Act Reclassification;

Pennsylvania—Liberty Borough

Nonattainment Area; PM–10;

Reopening of Comment Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of the

comment period.

SUMMARY: EPA is reopening the

comment period for a proposed rule

published on September 19, 1995 (60 FR

48439). In the September 19 notice, EPA

proposed to find that the Liberty

Borough, Pennsylvania nonattainment

area for particulate matter of nominal

aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10

micrometers (PM–10) did not attain

national ambient air quality standards
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 233 / Tuesday, December 5, 1995 / Proposed Rules 62237

for that pollutant by the statutory

attainment date. At the request of the

Allegheny Health Department, EPA is

reopening the comment period through

December 20, 1995. (The comment

period had been previously extended

through November 20, 1995 (60 FR

53729).) All comments received on or

before December 20, including those

received between the close of the

comment period on November 20 and

the publication of this document, will

be entered into the public record and

considered by EPA before taking final

action on the proposed rule.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before December 20, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Marcia L. Spink, Associate Director, Air

Programs, Mailcode 3AT00, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region III, 841 Chestnut Building,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas A. Casey, U.S. EPA Region III,

(215) 597–2746.

Dated: December 1, 1995.

William Wisniewski,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

[FR Doc. 95–29713 Filed 12–4–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

42 CFR Part 413

[BPD–788–P]

RIN 0938–AH12

Medicare Program; Uniform Electronic

Cost Reporting for Skilled Nursing

Facilities and Home Health Agencies

AGENCY: Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA), HHS.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would add

the requirement that, for cost reporting

periods beginning on or after October 1,

1995, all skilled nursing facilities and

home health agencies must submit cost

reports currently required under the

Medicare regulations in a standardized

electronic format. This proposed rule

would also allow a delay or waiver of

this requirement where implementation

would result in financial hardship for a

provider. The proposed provisions

would allow for more accurate

preparation and more efficient

processing of cost reports.

DATES: Comments will be considered if

we receive them at the appropriate

address, as provided below, no later

than 5 p.m. on February 5, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Mail written comments (one

original and three copies) to the

following address: Health Care

Financing Administration, Department

of Health and Human Services,

Attention: BPD–788–P, P.O. Box 7517,

Baltimore, MD 21207–0517.

If you prefer, you may deliver your

written comments (one original and

three copies) to one of the following

addresses:

Room 309–G, Hubert H. Humphrey

Building, 200 Independence Avenue,

SW, Washington, DC 20201, or

Room C5–11–17, 7500 Security

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–

1850.

Because of staffing and resource

limitations, we cannot accept comments

by facsimile (FAX) transmission. In

commenting, please refer to file code

BPD–788–P. Comments received timely

will be available for public inspection as

they are received, generally beginning

approximately 3 weeks after publication

of a document, in Room 309–G of the

Department’s offices at 200

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC, on Monday through

Friday of each week from 8:30 a.m. to

5 p.m. (phone: (202) 690–7890).

For comments that relate to

information collection requirements,

mail a copy of comments to: Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget,

Room 10235, New Executive Office

Building, Washington, DC 20503, Attn:

Allison Herron Eydt, HCFA Desk

Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom

Talbott, (410) 786–4592.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Generally, under the Medicare

program, skilled nursing facilities

(SNFs) and home health agencies

(HHAs) are paid for the reasonable costs

of the covered items and services they

furnish to Medicare beneficiaries.

Sections 1815(a) and 1833(e) of the

Social Security Act (the Act) provide

that no payments will be made to a

provider unless it has furnished the

information, requested by the Secretary,

needed to determine the amount of

payments due the provider. In general,

providers submit this information

through cost reports that cover a 12-

month period. Rules governing the

submission of cost reports are set forth

at 42 CFR 413.20 and 42 CFR 413.24.

Under § 413.20(a), all providers

participating in the Medicare program

are required to maintain sufficient

financial records and statistical data for

proper determination of costs payable

under the program. In addition,

providers must use standardized

definitions and follow accounting,

statistical, and reporting practices that

are widely accepted in the health care

industry and related fields. Under

§§ 413.20(b) and 413.24(f), providers are

required to submit cost reports

annually, with the reporting period

based on the provider’s accounting year.

Additionally, under § 412.52, all

hospitals participating in the

prospective payment system must meet

cost reporting requirements set forth at

§§ 413.20 and 413.24.

Section 1886(f)(1)(B)(I) of the Act

required the Secretary to place into

effect a standardized electronic cost

reporting system for all hospitals

participating in the Medicare program.

This provision was effective for hospital

cost reporting periods beginning on or

after October 1, 1989. On May 25, 1994,

we published a final rule with comment

period implementing the electronic cost

reporting requirement for hospitals (59

FR 26960). On June 27, 1995, we

published a final rule that responded to

comments on the May 25, 1994 final

rule with comment period (60 FR

33123).

II. Provisions of the Proposed

Regulations

Currently, § 413.24(f)(4) provides that

for cost reporting periods beginning on

or after October 1, 1989, all hospitals

must submit cost reports in a

standardized electronic format. While

the existing regulations do not require

any other provider types to file their

cost reports electronically, more than 75

percent of SNFs and HHAs currently

submit a hard copy of an electronically

prepared cost report rather than a

manually prepared cost report. HCFA’s

fiscal intermediaries then review the

information from these cost reports for

completeness and manually enter the

data into their automated data reporting

systems. This process takes

substantially longer than processing cost

reports submitted in a standardized

electronic format that allows data to be

automatically entered into the

intermediary’s system.

This proposed rule would revise

existing § 413.24(f)(4) to require SNFs

and HHAs to submit cost reports in a

standardized electronic format for cost

reporting periods beginning on or after

October 1, 1995. We note that the

electronic cost reports would not be due

until 5 months after the end of the

provider’s cost reporting period. Thus,

for a provider with a 12-month cost

reporting period beginning October 1,