7188 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 26 / Thursday, February 7, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

taken in accordance with subpart D of 

part 752 of this chapter if the individual 

has completed one year of current 

continuous service under other than a 

temporary appointment limited to 1 

year or less and is not otherwise 

excluded by the provisions of that 

subpart. 

■ 3. Revise § 315.804(a) to read as 

follows: 

§ 315.804 Termination of probationers for 

unsatisfactory performance or conduct. 

(a) Subject to § 315.803(b), when an 

agency decides to terminate an 

employee serving a probationary or trial 

period because his work performance or 

conduct during this period fails to 

demonstrate his fitness or his 

qualifications for continued 

employment, it shall terminate his 

services by notifying him in writing as 

to why he is being separated and the 

effective date of the action. The 

information in the notice as to why the 

employee is being terminated shall, as a 

minimum, consist of the agency’s 

conclusions as to the inadequacies of 

his performance or conduct. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Revise § 315.805 introductory text 

to read as follows: 

§ 315.805 Termination of probationers for 

conditions arising before appointment. 

Subject to § 315.803(b), when an 

agency proposes to terminate an 

employee serving a probationary or trial 

period for reasons based in whole or in 

part on conditions arising before his 

appointment, the employee is entitled to 

the following: 

* * * * * 

PART 752—ADVERSE ACTIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 752 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 7504, 7514, and 7543. 

■ 2. Revise § 752.401 (c)(1) and (2), 

(d)(11) and (12), and add (d)(13) to read 

as follows: 

§ 752.401 Coverage. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(1) A career or career conditional 

employee in the competitive service 

who is not serving a probationary or 

trial period; 

(2) An employee in the competitive 

service who has completed 1 year of 

current continuous service under other 

than a temporary appointment limited 

to 1 year or less; 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(11) A nonpreference eligible 

employee serving a probationary or trial 

period under an initial appointment in 

the excepted service pending 

conversion to the competitive service, 

unless they meet the requirements of 

paragraph (c)(5) of this section; 

(12) An employee whose agency or 

position has been excluded from the 

appointing provisions of title 5, United 

States Code, by separate statutory 

authority in the absence of any 

provision to place the employee within 

the coverage of chapter 75 of title 5, 

United States Code; and 

(13) An employee in the competitive 

service serving a probationary or trial 

period, unless they meet the 

requirements of paragraph (c)(2) of this 

section. 

■ 3. Revise § 752.402 (b) to read as 

follows: 

§ 752.402 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(b) Current continuous employment 

means a period of employment or 

service immediately preceding an 

adverse action without a break in 

Federal civilian employment of a 

workday. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E8–2121 Filed 2–6–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Parts 550 and 892 

RIN 3206–AJ88 

Allotments From Federal Employees 

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) is issuing final 

regulations dealing with the use of 

OPM’s allotment authority to allow for 

pretax salary reductions as part of 

OPM’s flexible benefits plan. Using an 

allotment from an employee’s pay to the 

employing agency allows certain 

payments (e.g., employee health 

insurance premiums, contributions to a 

flexible spending arrangement, and 

contributions to a health savings 

account) to be paid with pretax dollars, 

as provided under section 125 of the 

Internal Revenue Code. In addition, 

these regulations finalize certain policy 

clarifications and changes to make the 

regulations more readable. 

DATES: Effective Date: The final 

regulations are effective on March 10, 

2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kevin Kitchelt by telephone at (202) 

606–2858; by fax at (202) 606–0824; or 

by e-mail at pay-performancepolicy@opm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

November 17, 2006, the U.S. Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM), issued 

interim regulations (71 FR 66827) on 

OPM’s allotment authority at 5 CFR part 

550, subpart C, to allow for pretax salary 

reductions as part of OPM’s flexible 

benefits plan. Using an allotment from 

an employee’s pay to the employing 

agency allows certain payments (e.g., 

employee health insurance premiums, 

contributions to a flexible spending 

arrangement, and contributions to a 

health savings account) to be paid with 

pretax dollars, as provided under 

section 125 of the Internal Revenue 

Code. The interim regulations also made 

certain policy clarifications and changes 

to make the regulations more readable 

The 60-day comment period ended on 

January 16, 2007. During the comment 

period, OPM received one comment that 

was outside the scope of these 

regulations. Therefore, we are adopting 

the interim regulations as final with a 

correction to a section title. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that these regulations will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

because they will apply only to Federal 

agencies and employees. 

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has reviewed this rule in accordance 

with E.O. 12866. 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Parts 550 and 

892 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Claims, Government 

employees, Wages, Health insurance, 

and Taxes. 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 

Linda M. Springer, 

Director. 

■ Accordingly, the interim rule 

amending 5 CFR parts 550 and 892 

which was published at 71 FR 66827 on 

November 17, 2006, is adopted as final 

with the following change: 

PART 550—PAY ADMINISTRATION 

(GENERAL) 

Subpart C—Allotments From Federal 

Employees 

■ 1. The authority citation for subpart C 

of part 550 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5527; E.O. 10982, 3 

CFR 1959–1963 Comp., p.502. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 26 / Thursday, February 7, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 7189 

1To view the interim rule and the comment we 

received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/ 

fdmspublic/component/ 

main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2006-0129. 

■ 2. The heading of subpart C is revised 

to read as set forth above. 

■ 3. The undesignated center heading 

‘‘Allotments for Savings’’ following 

§ 550.351 is removed. 

■ 4. Revise the heading to § 550.361 to 

read as follows: 

§ 550.361 Scope. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E8–2131 Filed 2–6–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS–2006–0129] 

RIN 0579–AC32 

Wood Packaging Material; Treatment 

Modification 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as 

final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final 

rule, without change, an interim rule 

that amended the regulations for the 

importation of unmanufactured wood 

articles to bring the methyl bromide 

treatment schedule into alignment with 

current international phytosanitary 

standards. The interim rule was 

necessary because international 

phytosanitary standards had changed, 

and our regulations needed to be 

updated to reflect the current standards. 

DATES: Effective on February 7, 2008, we 

are adopting as a final rule the interim 

rule published at 72 FR 30460–30462 on 

June 1, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

John T. Jones, II, Forestry Products 

Trade Director, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 140, Riverdale, MD 20737–

1236; (301) 734–8860. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In an interim rule 1 effective and 

published in the Federal Register on 

June 1, 2007 (72 FR 30460–30462, 

Docket No. APHIS–2006–0129), we 

amended the regulations for the 

importation of unmanufactured wood 

articles to bring the methyl bromide 

treatment schedule into alignment with 

current international phytosanitary 

standards. 

Comments on the interim rule were 

required to be received on or before July 

31, 2007. We received one comment by 

that date, from a State agriculture 

department. The commenter stated that 

methyl bromide treatments do not 

control deep wood insects, but did not 

provide any evidence to support that 

assertion. The commenter also stated 

that more effective treatments should be 

required, but did not offer any 

suggestions for such treatments. 

We agree that the methyl bromide 

treatment standards adopted in the 

interim rule would be inappropriate for 

the treatment of logs or large pieces of 

lumber. However, these standards apply 

specifically to wood packaging 

materials, such as pallets, crating, and 

boxes, which are typically made of stock 

1⁄2-inch to 3 inches in thickness. 

Research has demonstrated that 

fumigation of wood packaging material 

in accordance with these standards will 

be sufficient to penetrate wood stock of 

the sizes typically used for wood 

packaging materials and will provide an 

appropriate level of phytosanitary 

protection. We are making no changes to 

the interim rule in response to this 

comment. 

Therefore, for the reasons given in the 

interim rule and in this document, we 

are adopting the interim rule as a final 

rule without change. 

This action also affirms the 

information contained in the interim 

rule concerning Executive Orders 12866 

and 12988 and the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

Further, this action has been 

determined to be not significant for the 

purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, 

therefore, has not been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, we 

have performed a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis, which is set out 

below, regarding the economic effects of 

this rule on small entities. 

We invited the public to comment on 

the potential effects of the interim rule 

on small entities, in particular the 

number and kind of small entities that 

may incur benefits or costs from the 

implementation of the interim rule. 

However, we did not receive any 

additional information or data in 

response to those requests. 

The rule affects foreign exporters of 

goods that are shipped using wood 

packaging materials. No U.S. entities 

involved in the production or supply of 

unmanufactured wood packaging 

materials are expected to be negatively 

affected by the rule because the revised 

treatment must occur in the country of 

origin. The impact on foreign entities is 

not expected to be large because only 

the treatment time and concentration 

reading have been changed; the methyl 

bromide dosage rate remains the same. 

It is possible that some foreign entities 

might pass on additional treatment 

costs, if any, to U.S. buyers. 

The rule has no mandatory reporting, 

recordkeeping, or other compliance 

requirements for U.S. entities, other 

than the requirements that normally 

pertain to commodity importation. 

APHIS has not identified any 

duplication, overlap, or conflict of the 

interim rule with other Federal rules. 

We do not foresee the rule having a 

significant economic impact on small 

entities, and therefore have not 

proposed significant alternatives to 

minimize impacts. The rule simply 

aligns the U.S. methyl bromide 

treatment requirements for wood 

packaging materials with the standards 

established by the International Plant 

Protection Convention. The rule benefits 

the United States by reducing the risk of 

introduction of pests via 

unmanufactured wood packaging 

materials. It may impact foreign 

exporters of goods to the United States 

who use unmanufactured wood 

packaging materials, which in turn may 

affect importers of these goods. 

However, cost increases, if any, due to 

the revised treatment requirements are 

not expected to significantly affect 

domestic entities and thus will not have 

a measurable impact on the flow of 

trade. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319 

Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Imports, Logs, 

Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Rice, 

Vegetables. 

PART 319—FOREIGN QUARANTINE 

NOTICES 

■ Accordingly, we are adopting as a 

final rule, without change, the interim 

rule that amended 7 CFR part 319 and 

that was published at 72 FR 30460– 

30462 on June 1, 2007. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 1st day of 

February 2008. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–2262 Filed 2–6–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with RULES