28830 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 110 / Thursday, June 6, 1996 / Proposed Rules

ADDRESSES: Interested parties should

submit written comments and requests

to present oral testimony BY MAIL to

Marilyn J. Kretsinger, Acting General

Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box

70400, Southwest Station, Washington,

D.C. 20024, or BY HAND delivery to the

Office of the General Counsel, Copyright

Office, James Madison Memorial

Building, Room LM 407, First Street and

Independence Avenue, S.E.,

Washington, D.C. The hearing will be

held on June 26, 1996, in the Register’s

Conference Room, Room LM 407,

located on the fourth floor of the Library

of Congress, James Madison Memorial

Building, First Street and Independence

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marilyn J. Kretsinger, Acting General

Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box

70400, Southwest Station, Washington,

D.C. 20024. Telephone: (202) 707–8380.

Facsimile: (202) 707–8366.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Office’s Current Rulemaking

Proceeding

Recently the Copyright Office

initiated a Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning group

registration of photographs. Over the

years photographers and photography

businesses have told the Office that they

were not able to take advantage of the

benefits of registration because Office

practices were too burdensome, in terms

of both effort and finances.

On December 4, 1995, the Office

published a NPRM with a request for

comments in the Federal Register. 60

FR 62057 (Dec. 4, 1995). This NPRM

sought public comment on proposed

regulations that would permit a single

registration for a group of unpublished

and published related photos that met

specified conditions. The proposed

deposit would be a general written

description of the subject matter of the

photos, e.g., ‘‘photos of 1996 blizzard in

Washington, DC.’’

In seeking public comment, the Office

published nine questions to elicit

comment and information about the

potential effects of the proposed

regulations. See 60 FR 62057. The

comment period was originally

scheduled to close January 18, 1996,

with reply comments due by February 2,

1996; however, due to the inordinate

number of government and business

closures that occurred during December

1995 and January 1996, the Office

extended these deadlines. Comments

were requested by February 9, 1996, and

reply comments by March 1, 1996. The

Office is in the process of carefully

reviewing all of these comments.

Subject Matter To Be Addressed at the

Public Hearing

In the course of such review, certain

additional issues and concerns have

been brought to the Office’s attention.

Therefore, in order to supplement the

information the Office has already

received in response to the NPRM, the

Office will hold a public hearing on

June 26, 1996, to solicit additional

comments on the proposed regulations

regarding group registration of

photographs. This hearing will provide

an opportunity to obtain more

information on the concerns expressed

during the original comment period by

allowing individuals and organizations

who wish to comment to address further

the issues set out in the NPRM, as well

as:

(1) Innocent infringement. Is there a

greater likelihood that those who

innocently use photographs may be

sued and may be found liable for

copyright infringement if the proposed

regulations are put into effect? Are

existing provisions of the copyright law

concerning innocent infringers adequate

or should those provisions be modified?

If so, in what way?

(2) Frivolous law suits. If the proposed

regulations were put into effect, would

they lead to an increase in the filing of

frivolous law suits?

(3) Industry guidelines. Do the

proposed regulations affect the

development of industry guidelines? If

so, how? Would they affect compliance

with agreed upon guidelines? If so,

how?

Filing of Written Comments

All of the comments filed in response

to the NPRM 60 FR 62057 (Dec. 4,

1995), are already part of the record for

this rulemaking. Anyone who wishes to

file initial comments or supplemental

comments addressing either the issues

raised in this notice or those set out in

the NPRM may do so. All written

comments must be received in the

Copyright Office at the address given

above by close of business on Monday,

July 15, 1996.

Dated: June 3, 1996.

Marybeth Peters,

Register of Copyrights.

[FR Doc. 96–14222 Filed 6–5–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 1410–30–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 73

[FRL–5513–5]

RIN 2060–AG41

Acid Rain Program; Elimination of

Direct Sale and IPP Written Guarantee

Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: Title IV of the Clean Air Act,

as amended by the Clean Air Act

Amendments of 1990 (the Act),

authorized the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) to establish the

Acid Rain Program to reduce the

adverse health and ecological effects of

acidic deposition. Title IV mandates

that EPA hold yearly auctions and direct

sales of allowances for a small portion

of the total allowances allocated each

year. EPA is also required to issue to

Independent Power Producers (IPPs)

guarantees to purchase allowances in

the direct sale. The direct sale and IPP

provisions were designed to help ensure

that units, including new IPPs, have a

public source of allowances beyond

those already allocated initially.

Because no allowances have been sold

through the direct sale program since it

began in 1993, EPA is proposing to

revise its regulations in order to

terminate the direct sales. The

allowances available previously in the

direct sale program will now be

available in the annual allowance

auctions. In addition, because the IPP

written guarantee program is

implemented through the direct sale

program and no applications for such

guarantees have been received, EPA is

proposing to terminate the guarantee

program.

Because the rule revision is not

expected to receive any adverse

comments, the revision is also being

issued as a direct final rule in the Final

Rules section of this Federal Register.

DATES: Comments on the regulations

proposed by this action must be

received on or before July 8, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments. All written

comments must be identified with the

appropriate docket number (Docket No.

A–96–19) and must be submitted in

duplicate to U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, EPA Air Docket

Section (6102), Waterside Mall, Room

M1500, 1st Floor, 401 M St. SW.,

Washington, DC 20460.

Docket. Docket No. A–96–19,

containing information considered
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 110 / Thursday, June 6, 1996 / Proposed Rules 28831

during development of the promulgated

standards and requirements in this

proposal, is available for public

inspection and copying between 8:30

a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through

Friday, at EPA’s Air Docket Section at

the above address. A reasonable fee may

be charged for copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenon Smith, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Acid Rain Division

(6204J), 401 M Street SW., Washington,

DC 20460, (202) 233–9164, or call the

Acid Rain Hotline at (202) 233–9620.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If no

significant, adverse comments are

timely received, no further activity is

contemplated in relation to this

proposed rule and the direct final rule

in the Final Rules section of this

Federal Register will automatically go

into effect on the date specified in that

rule. If significant, adverse comments

are timely received on any portion of

the direct final rule, that portion will be

withdrawn and all public comment

received on that portion will be

addressed in a subsequent final rule

based on the relevant portions of this

proposed rule. Because the Agency will

not institute a second comment period

on this proposed rule, any parties

interested in commenting should do so

during this comment period.

For further supplemental information,

the detailed rationale, and the rule

revision, see the information provided

in the direct final rule in the Final Rules

section of this Federal Register.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 73

Environmental protection, Acid rain,

Air pollution control, Electric Utilities,

Reporting and record keeping

requirements, and Sulfur dioxide.

Dated: May 24, 1996.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 96–14113 Filed 6–5–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

49 CFR Part 6

[Docket No. OST–96–1421 Notice 96–15]

RIN 2105–AB73

Implementation of Equal Access to

Justice Act in Agency Proceedings

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The Department is proposing

to update its regulation providing for

the award of attorney fees and other

expenses under the Equal Access to

Justice Act to eligible individuals and

entities who are parties to certain

administrative proceedings before the

Department and its various operating

administrations. These revisions are

necessitated by various statutory

changes that have been made since the

Department adopted its present rule in

1983. The Department is not, however,

proposing any other substantive

alterations to its regulation. All of the

Department’s proposed changes to its

regulation either mirror the currentlyapplicable statutory requirements or are

of a minor, non-technical nature. This

action is a response to the President’s

Regulatory Reinvention Initiative and is

designed to update the regulation to

reflect currently applicable law.

DATES: Comments should be received by

August 5, 1996. Late-filed comments

will be considered to the extent

practicable.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

Docket Clerk, Docket No. OST–96–1421,

Room PL–401, Department of

Transportation, 400 Seventh Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20590. For the

convenience of persons who will be

reviewing the docket, it is requested that

commenters provide an original and

three copies of their comments.

Comments can be inspected from 9 a.m.

to 5 p.m. Commenters who wish the

receipt of their comments to be

acknowledged should include a

stamped, self-addressed postcard with

their comments. The docket clerk will

date-stamp the postcard and mail it to

the commenter. Comments should be on

8 by 11 inch white paper using dark ink

and should be without tabs and

unbound.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alexander J. Millard, Office of the

General Counsel, U.S. Department of

Transportation, 400 Seventh Street,

SW., Room 4102, Washington, DC

20590, telephone (202) 366–9285, or S.

Reid Alsop, Office of the Chief Counsel,

Federal Highway Administration, U.S.

Department of Transportation, 400

Seventh Street SW., Room 4230,

Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202)

366–1371.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In his

Regulatory Reinvention Initiative

Memorandum of March 4, 1995,

President Clinton directed that Federal

agencies conduct a page-by-page review

of all of their regulations and ‘‘eliminate

or revise those that are outdated or

otherwise in need of reform.’’ In

response to that directive, the

Department has undertaken a review of

its regulations including its rule

governing the award of attorney fees and

other expenses in certain administrative

proceedings under the Equal Access to

Justice Act (EAJA) (Pub. L. 96–481, 94

Stat. 2325). The Department’s regulation

is codified at 49 CFR part 6.

In 1983, the Department of

Transportation (DOT) published a final

regulation implementing EAJA in the

administrative adjudicatory context, 48

FR 1068 (January 10, 1983). EAJA,

which took effect on October 1, 1981,

provides for the award of attorney fees

and other expenses to parties who

prevail over the Federal Government in

certain administrative and court

proceedings under section 554 of the

Administrative Procedure Act (APA). It

requires that agencies conducting

proceedings under section 554 establish

uniform procedures for making awards.

DOT’s final rule, 49 CFR part 6,

therefore, established uniform

procedures under the EAJA for any

adversary adjudications conducted

pursuant to section 554 by this

Department or any of its operating

administrations. As noted in the

Department’s regulation, currently three

types of proceedings are specifically

covered by the regulation; namely, Coast

Guard license, certificate or document

suspension and revocation proceedings,

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) fuel economy

enforcement proceedings, and the

Federal Highway Administration

(FHWA) driver qualification and

compliance order proceedings.

Since DOT adopted its final rule in

1983, Congress has amended EAJA on a

number of occasions in several respects.

After reviewing these statutory changes,

DOT has determined that its regulation

needs to be revised to ensure that it

comports with the current statutory

requirements. DOT accordingly is

proposing to modify the following

sections of its rule:

(a) § 6.1 Purpose of these rules.

The second sentence of this section

presently provides:

An eligible party may receive an award

when it prevails over the Department of

Transportation or any of its operating

administrations unless the agency’s position

in the proceeding was substantially justified

or special circumstances make an award

unjust.

The Department is proposing to delete

this sentence. These standards do not

completely reflect the currentlyapplicable requirements given various

statutory changes that have been made

to 5 U.S.C. 504 since 1983. In place of

this sentence, as discussed below, the

Department is proposing to revise

section 6.9. This section, as revised,

would set forth, in some detail, the