33878 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 127 / Monday, July 1, 1996 / Proposed Rules

List of Subjects in 25 CFR Part 21

Indians, Indians—welfare contracts.

For the reasons given in the preamble,

part 21 of title 25, chapter I of the Code

of Federal Regulations is proposed to be

revised as set forth below.

PART 21—SOCIAL WELFARE

ARRANGEMENTS WITH STATES OR

OTHER AGENCIES

Sec.

21.1 Who may negotiate agreements with

States, Counties, and other Federal

agencies?

21.2 Who may sign agreements for the relief

of distress and social welfare of Indians?

21.3 What must the State, County, or other

Federal welfare agency provide?

21.4 What standards must welfare service

providers meet?

21.5 What will the Bureau provide?

21.6 What information is collected?

21.7 Definitions.

Authority: 25 U.S.C. 454.

§ 21.1 Who may negotiate agreements with

States, Counties, and other Federal

agencies?

The Secretary may negotiate with

State, county, or other Federal welfare

agencies to provide welfare services for

Indians within a particular State and

within the exterior boundaries of Indian

reservations or on trust or restricted

lands that are under the jurisdiction of

the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

§ 21.2 Who may sign agreements for the

relief of distress and social welfare of

Indians?

The proper officer of the State,

county, or other Federal welfare agency

must sign agreements to provide welfare

services. Evidence of the officer’s

authority must accompany the

agreement. Agreements to provide

welfare services are not effective until

the Secretary approves and signs them.

§ 21.3 What must the State, County, or

other Federal welfare agency provide?

(a) Plan of operation. A plan of

operation describing the services and

assistance to be rendered and a budget

showing the plan of expenditures of

funds must be submitted with the

agreement. No change in the plan of

operation may be made without the

Secretary’s prior approval.

(b) Financial statements. Thirty days

after the close of each fiscal year, a

detailed financial statement showing all

expenditures must be submitted to the

Secretary. Any deviations from the

approved plan of operation must be

explained and the records of the

contractor must remain available for

inspection by representatives of the

Bureau of Indian Affairs.

§ 21.4 What standards must welfare

service providers meet?

(a) Service. The standards of aid, care,

and service for Indians can be no less

than the standards for other clients

requiring similar aid, care, and services.

(b) Personnel. Unless the Secretary

has agreed otherwise, the personnel

employed for provision of public

welfare services to Indians are subject to

the contractor’s merit system and the

approval of the Secretary and local

welfare authorities.

§ 21.5 What will the Bureau of Indian

Affairs provide?

(a) Cooperative services. The Bureau

will maintain cooperative services at the

local level.

(b) Government property and

facilities. The agreement must specify

the terms under which the contractor

may use Federal property, facilities and

equipment. Agreements that allow use

of Federal automobiles must require the

contractor be responsible for damage or

injury to property or persons and to

return the equipment in good condition.

The contractor must carry sufficient

insurance and expressly relieve the

Federal Government of any and all

liability for any personal injury or

property damages.

§ 21.6 What information is collected?

The information collection

requirements contained in § 21.3 will be

approved by the Office of Management

and Budget as required by 44 U.S.C.

1320 et seq. The information collected

in the plan of operation will be used to

determine how contract funds are

utilized and to measure performance of

the contractor and plan for future

agreements . The information collected

in the financial statement will be used

to determine the adequacy of services

and utilization of the budget provided to

the contractor. A response is required to

obtain a benefit.

§ 21.7 Definitions.

Must means a mandatory or

imperative act or requirement.

Secretary means the Secretary of the

Interior.

Dated: June 6, 1996.

Ada E. Deer,

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 96–16038 Filed 6–28–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 1

RIN 2900–AI33

Rulemaking procedures; Public

Participation

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: In a document recently

published in the Federal Register (61

FR 11309), the Department of Veterans

Affairs (VA) amended the ‘‘GENERAL

PROVISIONS’’ regulations by

eliminating a policy statement

concerning prior notice-and-comment

for rulemaking. That action, taken

without prior notice-and-comment,

concluded that the policy statement was

unnecessary. Judicial review has been

sought on the basis that such action did

not comply with notice-and-comment

provisions. While we believe such

position is not legally correct, we do not

object to providing interested parties

with an opportunity to comment on

whether the policy statement should be

eliminated. Accordingly, a companion

document published in the Rules and

Regulations section of this issue of the

Federal Register reestablishes the policy

statement and this document proposes

to eliminate it, thus affording interested

parties the opportunity to comment

thereon. For reasons stated below, it

does not appear that there is a need to

retain the policy statement.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before August 30, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver written

comments to: Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Ave., NW, Room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420. Comments

should indicate that they are submitted

in response to ‘‘RIN 2900–AI33.’’ All

written comments will be available for

public inspection at the above address

in the Office of Regulations

Management, Room 1158, between the

hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,

Monday through Friday (except

holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas O. Gessel, Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D), Office

of General Counsel, Department of

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue,

NW, Washington, DC 20420, (202) 273–

8605.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

document proposes to amend the

‘‘GENERAL PROVISIONS’’ regulations

in 38 CFR part 1 by removing § 1.12.
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 127 / Monday, July 1, 1996 / Proposed Rules 33879

This section consists of a policy

statement concerning prior notice-andcomment for rulemaking.

The provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553 set

forth notice-and-comment requirements

for rulemaking and include an

exemption from the notice-andcomment requirements for rulemaking

concerning public property, loans,

grants, benefits, or contracts. Regardless

of whether the rulemaking concerns

public property, loans, grants, benefits,

or contracts, the provisions of 5 U.S.C.

553 also contain exemptions from the

notice-and-comment requirements for

interpretative rules; general statements

of policy; rules of organization,

procedure, or practice; and for rules

published with an appropriate

statement of ‘‘good cause.’’ The

regulatory history of § 1.12 indicates

that, despite the statutory exemption for

public property, loans, grants, benefits,

or contracts, VA intended to utilize the

notice-and-comment provisions for

rulemaking unless it were determined

that it was appropriate to use an

applicable exemption other than an

exemption based on the mere fact that

the subject matter concerned property,

loans, grants, benefits, or contracts (see

37 FR 3552, Feb. 17, 1972).

Subsequent to the promulgation of

§ 1.12, statutory provisions were

established that specifically apply the

public notice-and-comment provisions

of 5 U.S.C. 553 to VA rulemaking

concerning loans, grants, or benefits (see

38 U.S.C. 501(d)). These statutory

provisions do not impose notice-andcomment provisions for rulemaking

concerning public property or contracts.

Also, subsequent to the promulgation

of § 1.12, statutory provisions were

established that specifically apply

notice-and-comment provisions to

certain rulemaking concerning

contracts. In this regard, 41 U.S.C. 418b

provides, with certain exceptions, that

‘‘no procurement policy, regulation,

procedure, or form (including

amendments or modifications thereto)

relating to the expenditure of

appropriated funds that has (1) a

significant effect beyond the internal

operating procedures of the agency

issuing the procurement policy,

regulation, procedure or form, or (2) a

significant cost or administrative impact

on contractors or offerors, may take

effect until 60 days after the

procurement policy, regulation,

procedure, or form is published for

public comment in the Federal

Register.’’

It does not appear that there is a need

for VA to self-impose additional noticeand-comment requirements for

rulemaking beyond those imposed by

statute.

A companion document

reestablishing § 1.12 is published in the

Rules and Regulations section of this

issue of the Federal Register.

No notice of proposed rulemaking

was required in connection with this

rulemaking action. Accordingly, no

regulatory flexibility analysis is required

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601–612). Nevertheless, the

Secretary of Veterans Affairs certifies

that this proposed rule would not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities as

they are defined in the Regulatory

Flexibility Act. The adoption of the

proposed rule would not have a direct

effect on small entities.

There is no Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance program number.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 1

Administrative practice and

procedure, Archives and records,

Cemeteries, Claims, Courts, Flags,

Freedom of information, Government

contracts, Government employees,

Government property, Infants and

children, Inventions and patents,

Investigations, Parking, Penalties, Postal

Service, Privacy, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Seals and

insignia, Security measures, Wages.

Approved: June 21, 1996.

Jesse Brown,

Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 38 CFR part 1 is proposed to

be amended as set forth below:

PART 1—GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The authority citation for part 1

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless

otherwise noted.

§ 1.12 [Removed]

Section 1.12 and the undesignated

center heading preceding § 1.12 are

removed.

[FR Doc. 96–16643 Filed 6–28–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[WA 54–7127; FRL–5529–9]

Clean Air Act Reclassification;

Spokane, Washington Carbon

Monoxide Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: EPA proposes to find that the

Spokane, Washington carbon monoxide

(CO) nonattainment area has not

attained the CO national ambient air

quality standard (NAAQS) by the Clean

Air Act (CAA) mandated attainment

date for moderate nonattainment areas,

December 31, 1995. This proposed

finding is based on EPA’s review of

monitored air quality data for

compliance with the CO NAAQS. If EPA

takes final action on this proposed

finding, the Spokane CO nonattainment

area will be reclassified by operation of

law as a serious nonattainment area.

The intended effect of such a

reclassification would be to allow the

State additional time to submit a new

State implementation plan (SIP)

providing for attainment of the CO

NAAQS by no later than December 31,

2000, the CAA attainment deadline for

serious CO areas.

DATES: Written comments on this

proposal must be received by July 31,

1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be sent to: Montel Livingston, SIP

Manager, Office of Air Quality, M/S

OAQ–107, EPA Region 10, Docket #54–

7127, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle,

Washington 98101. The rulemaking

docket for this notice is available for

public review during normal business

hours at the following location: EPA,

Region 10, Office of Air Quality, M/S

OAQ–107, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle,

Washington 98101. Copies of the docket

are also available at the Washington

Department of Ecology, Attention Tami

Dahlgren, Olympia, Washington 98504–

7600, telephone (360) 407–6830; and at

the Spokane County Air Pollution

Control Authority, West 1101 College,

Suite 403, Spokane, Washington 99201,

telephone (509) 456–4727.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William M. Hedgebeth of the EPA

Region 10 Office of Air Quality, (206)

553–7369.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. CAA Requirements and EPA Actions

Concerning Designation and

Classifications

The CAA Amendments of 1990

(CAAA) were enacted on November 15,

1990. Under section 107(d)(1)(C) of the

CAA, each carbon monoxide (CO) area

designated nonattainment prior to

enactment of the 1990 Amendments,

such as the Spokane area, was

designated nonattainment by operation

of law upon enactment of the 1990

Amendments. Under section 186(a) of