47124 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 13, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

1FRA notes that extending the comment period 

to September 15, 2008, would remove all 

possibilities of any final rule becoming effective 

prior to the fourth quarter (October–December), in 

which the majority of the adjacent-track fatalities 

have occurred. 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 501, 

549, and 552 

Government procurement. 

Dated: August 6, 2008. 

Al Matera, 

Director, Office of Acquisition Policy. 

Therefore, GSA proposes to amend 48 

CFR parts 501, 549 and 552 as set forth 

below: 

PART 501—GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION ACQUISITION 

REGULATION SYSTEM 

1. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

part 501 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c). 

501.106 [Amended] 

2. Amend section 501.106 by 

removing the GSAR Reference 

‘‘549.502(b)’’ and corresponding OMB 

Control Number ‘‘3090–0027’’; and 

removing the GSAR Reference 

‘‘552.249–71’’ and corresponding OMB 

Control Number ‘‘3090–0227’’. 

PART 549—TERMINATION OF 

CONTRACTS 

3. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

part 549 is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c). 

549.5 [Removed] 

4. Remove subpart 549.5. 

549.502 [Removed] 

5. Remove section 549.502. 

PART 552—SOLICITATION 

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT 

CLAUSES 

6. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

part 552 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c). 

552.249–70 and 552.249–71 [Removed] 

7. Remove sections 552.249–70 and 

552.249–71. 

[FR Doc. E8–18722 Filed 8–12–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–61–S 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

49 CFR Part 214 

[Docket No. FRA–2008–0059, Notice No. 2] 

RIN 2130–AB93 

Railroad Workplace Safety; AdjacentTrack On-Track Safety for Roadway 

Workers 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM); withdrawal. 

SUMMARY: On July 17, 2008, FRA 

published an NPRM in the Federal 

Register addressing adjacent-track ontrack safety procedures for roadway 

workers. For the reasons stated below, 

FRA has decided to withdraw the 

NPRM. 

DATES: The NPRM published on July 17, 

2008 at 73 FR 41214 is withdrawn as of 

August 13, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kenneth Rusk, Staff Director, Track 

Division, Office of Safety Assurance and 

Compliance, FRA, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., RRS–15, Mail Stop 25, 

Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202–

493–6236); or Anna Winkle, Trial 

Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, FRA, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., RCC–12, 

Mail Stop 10, Washington, DC 20590 

(telephone 202–493–6166 or 202–493–

6052). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

NPRM was developed in order to 

respond to fatal train incidents and in 

response to recommendations from the 

Railroad Safety Advisory Committee 

(RSAC). The NPRM was published with 

an abbreviated comment period in order 

to address the issue in a more timely 

fashion, in response to a joint petition 

for Emergency Order that was filed by 

the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way 

Employes Division (BMWED) and the 

Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen 

(BRS). However, since the publication of 

the NPRM, FRA received a joint request 

from BMWED and BRS that FRA extend 

the comment period for this NPRM to 60 

days, due to concern that parts of the 

NPRM failed to accurately capture the 

consensus recommendations of the 

RSAC.1 The joint request did not specify 

which parts of the NPRM failed to 

reflect the consensus recommendations, 

and no formal comments have been 

submitted by the BMWED or BRS to that 

effect. However, there have been several 

‘‘ex parte’’ communications subsequent 

to the filing of the joint request in which 

a representative of the BMWED has 

recommended that FRA make very 

specific changes to the proposed rule. In 

accordance with the Department of 

Transportation’s Policy (Order No. 

2100.2 (1970)), all communications 

between FRA employees and other 

parties since the publication of the 

NPRM have been reduced to writing and 

placed in the public docket. 

It should be noted that while the 

proposed rule text was intended to be 

responsive to the intent of the 

consensus language recommended to 

FRA by the RSAC, FRA may not 

delegate its rulemaking authority to a 

committee, and may choose to accept or 

reject any or all of the consensus 

proposals for cause stated. However, in 

consideration of the assistance provided 

by the RSAC, FRA does endeavor to 

ensure that FRA representatives to the 

consensus process reflect the policies of 

the Federal Railroad Administrator. In 

reviewing the consensus language, there 

were several areas that FRA thought 

needed clarification in order to ensure 

uniform application of the law, as well 

as enforceability of the consensus 

language if it were to be adopted as 

written. In crafting the NPRM, FRA 

presented the RSAC consensus language 

in the preamble verbatim and 

transparently explained its rationale for 

all changes it made to the consensus 

language. As this was an NPRM, FRA 

sought comment on the entire proposal, 

including those portions that FRA 

sought to clarify. 

FRA recognizes that inadvertent 

errors do sometimes occur in 

formulating a proposal and expects that 

interested parties would provide 

comments to both FRA and all other 

interested parties through the 

established comment process detailed in 

the NPRM. Given the alleged 

discrepancies between the consensus 

language and the proposed rule, the 

need to clarify the essential issues and 

move toward resolution of the safety 

concern at hand, and the ex parte 

communications regarding this 

proposed rule, FRA has decided to 

withdraw this rulemaking and will take 

such further regulatory steps as safety 

requires. The docket for this rulemaking 

has been closed. Any formal comments 

submitted on this NPRM will need to be 

resubmitted by the commenter, if still 

applicable, to a future rulemaking 

docket. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 13, 2008 / Proposed Rules 47125 

Issued in Washington, DC on August 7, 

2008. 

Joseph H. Boardman, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E8–18714 Filed 8–11–08; 10:00 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 600 

[Docket No. 070717348–7766–02] 

RIN 0648–AV60 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Annual Catch Limits; National 

Standard Guidelines 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS); National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule, extension of 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: NMFS extends the public 

comment period on the proposed rule to 

revise National Standard 1 (NS1) 

guidelines, including guidance on how 

to comply with new annual catch limit 

(ACL) and accountability measures 

(AM) requirements for ending 

overfishing of fisheries managed by 

federal fishery management plans. 

NMFS has received various requests to 

extend the comment period for the 

proposed rule beyond its current 90-day 

comment period. The extension of the 

comment period for another two weeks 

is intended to ensure that NMFS 

provides adequate time for various 

stakeholders and members of the public 

to comment on the proposed guidance 

on ACLs and AMs and other proposed 

revisions to the NS1 guidelines. The 

comment period ending date is 

extended from September 8, 2008, to 

September 22, 2008. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before September 22, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by 0648–AV60, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov; 

• Fax: 301–713–1193, Attn: Mark 

Millikin; 

• Mail: Mark R. Millikin, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Office 

of Sustainable Fisheries, 1315 East-West 

Highway, Room 13357, Silver Spring, 

MD 20910 (mark outside of envelope 

‘‘Comments on Annual Catch Limits 

proposed rule’’); 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

be generally posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit confidential business 

information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, Wordperfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

Copies of the Regulatory Impact 

review (RIR)/Regulatory Flexibility Act 

analysis (RFAA) for this proposed rule 

are available from Mark R. Millikin at 

the address listed above. The RIR/RFAA 

document is also available via the 

internet at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ 

msa2007/catchlimits.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark R. Millikin, Senior Fishery 

Management Specialist, 301–713–2341. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A 

proposed rule that covers NMFS’

proposed revisions to the NS1 

guidelines, including guidance on ACLs 

and AMs was published in the Federal 

Register on June 9, 2008 (73 FR 32526), 

with a comment period ending date of 

September 8, 2008. After receiving 

several requests to extend the comment 

period, NMFS has decided to extend it 

for another two weeks through 

September 22, 2008. 

This action extends the comment 

period for a proposed rule that the 

Office of Management and Budget 

determined to be significant under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C 1801 et seq. 

Dated: August 8, 2008. 

John Oliver, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Operations, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–18756 Filed 8–12–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with PROPOSALS