53114 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 179 / Monday, September 15, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

Issued in Seattle, Washington, on August 

28, 2008. 

Kevin Nolan, 

Acting Manager, Operations Support Group, 

Western Service Center. 

[FR Doc. E8–21225 Filed 9–12–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

14 CFR Part 382 

[Docket No. DOT–OST–2008–0272 and 

DOT–OST–2008–0273] 

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of 

Disability in Air Travel 

AGENCY: Department of Transportation, 

Office of the Secretary. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of 

electronic submission. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Transportation is publishing the 

following document regarding the 

provisions on conflict of laws and 

equivalent alternative determinations 

contained in the Office of the Secretary 

(OST) final rule on ‘‘Nondiscrimination 

on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel’’ 

(73 FR 27614; May 13, 2008). The 

document announces the availability of 

electronic submissions for conflict of 

law waiver requests and applications for 

equivalent alternative determinations 

through the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS). It also provides 

guidance to U.S. and foreign air carriers 

on how to submit such requests and 

applications through FDMS. 

DATES: This document is effective on 

September 15, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Blane A. Workie, Chief, Aviation Civil 

Rights Compliance Branch, Office of the 

Assistant General Counsel for Aviation 

Enforcement and Proceedings, 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W98– 

310, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366– 

9342. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

13, 2008, the Department of 

Transportation published a final rule 

amending its Air Carrier Access Act 

(ACAA) rules to apply to foreign air 

carriers and adding new provisions 

concerning passengers who use medical 

oxygen and passengers who are deaf or 

hard-of-hearing. The rule, which applies 

to U.S. carriers wherever their 

operations take place and foreign air 

carriers with respect to their flights that 

begin or end at a U.S. airport, allows 

carriers to apply to the Department of 

Transportation (DOT or Department) for 

a waiver from the requirements in the 

rule if a foreign legal requirement 

conflicts with a given provision of this 

rule. A carrier that submits a conflict of 

law waiver request on or before 

September 10, 2008, obtains a 

commitment from DOT not to take 

enforcement action related to the 

allegedly conflicting foreign law 

pending DOT’s response to the waiver 

request. 

The rule also permits U.S. and foreign 

carriers to apply to the Department for 

a determination on what the final rule 

calls an ‘‘equivalent alternative.’’ A 

carrier that submits an application for 

an equivalent alternative determination 

on or before September 10, 2008, can 

implement its proposed equivalent 

alternative unless and until the 

Department disapproves it. However, a 

carrier that submits such an application 

after September 10, 2008, cannot use its 

proposed equivalent alternative unless 

and until the Department approves it. 

The rule specifies that carriers must 

send conflict of law waiver requests or 

applications for equivalent alternative 

determinations to the Assistant General 

Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings. It provides the following 

address for paper submissions of such 

requests/applications: Assistant General 

Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings, C–70, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W96–322, 

Washington, DC 20590. It does not 

provide a mechanism for submitting the 

information electronically. The purpose 

of this notice is to inform airlines that 

they have the option of electronically 

submitting a conflict of law waiver 

request or an application for an 

equivalent alternative determination 

through FDMS as a substitute for paper 

submission. The Department believes 

that allowing carriers to submit the 

requested information through FDMS 

will make the process more efficient for 

carriers and will best ensure the timely 

receipt by the Office of the Assistant 

General Counsel for Aviation 

Enforcement and Proceedings (Aviation 

Enforcement Office) of the waiver 

requests and applications for equivalent 

alternative determinations. It should be 

noted that the filing of waiver requests 

or applications by mail is still permitted 

but this notice provides another 

mechanism for submitting such 

requests/applications. 

Manner of Submitting a Conflict of Law 

Waiver Request and an Application for 

Equivalent Alternative Determination 

Has a Public Docket Been Established? 

DOT has established an official public 

docket for conflict of law waiver 

requests under docket identification (ID) 

number DOT–OST–2008–0272 and for 

applications for equivalent alternative 

determinations under docket 

identification ID DOT–OST–2008–0273. 

The official public docket will consist of 

the waiver requests or applications and 

other information related to those 

actions (e.g., approval or denial of 

requests/applications). Although a part 

of the official docket, the public docket 

is not intended to include Confidential 

Business Information (CBI) or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. The official public 

docket is the collection of materials that 

is available for public viewing. 

How Do I Submit a Conflict of Law 

Waiver Request or an Application for 

Equivalent Alternative Determination 

Through the Electronic Public Docket in 

FDMS? 

You may submit requests/applications 

electronically through FDMS by taking 

the following steps: 

a. Go directly to www.regulations.gov 

<http://www.regulations.gov/> and use 

the SEARCH DOCUMENTS field to 

input your docket number. Click the GO 

>> command to see your search results. 

b. Click on the ‘‘Send a Comment or 

Submission’’ link (the yellow speech 

bubble should be available) after 

insuring that you have the correct 

docket. This can be verified by checking 

the DOCKET ID information. 

c. You will now be sent to the PUBLIC 

COMMENT AND SUBMISSION FORM; 

here you will fill out submitter 

information, as well as attach any 

documents you wish to upload (note: 

you can have multiple submissions 

attached, the size limit is 10 megabytes). 

The only required field on this form is 

the GENERAL COMMENTS BOX. If 

uploading attachments you would first 

click ‘‘browse’’ to find the file you wish 

to attach, then click ‘‘add attachment’’ 

to attach the file to your comment. 

d. After uploading any attachments 

and filling in the form, you will click 

the ‘‘NEXT STEP’’ button to go to the 

REVIEW COMMENT page; here you can 

double check the information you 

provided and verify that everything is 

correct before going to the final step. 

e. Once you have clicked the SUBMIT 

button, you will be taken to the 

COMMENT SUBMITTED page, and 

given a receipt with a COMMENT 

TRACKING NUMBER. You will want to 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 179 / Monday, September 15, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 53115 

write this down or print the page for 

your records. This information can be 

used to track your submission. 

To ensure proper receipt by the 

Department, identify the appropriate 

docket ID number in the subject line on 

the first page of your request or 

application. 

How Should I Submit Confidential 

Business Information (CBI) to the 

Agency? 

You should not submit information 

that you consider to be CBI through the 

electronic public docket in FDMS. If 

you wish to take advantage of the 

opportunity to electronically submit a 

conflict of law waiver request or an 

application for an equivalent alternative 

determination but a portion of your 

request or application contains CBI, 

then you should send by mail to the 

Aviation Enforcement Office the 

original document containing CBI and 

submit a second copy of the original 

document with the CBI redacted in 

FDMS. The date that you submit the 

document to FDMS will be considered 

the receipt date. 

The original document that you mail 

to the Aviation Enforcement Office 

should clearly indicate which material 

you believe contains confidential 

information. You can do this by marking 

‘‘confidential’’ on each page of the 

original document that you would like 

to keep confidential and highlighting or 

underlining the CBI. You will also need 

to explain why the information is 

confidential (as a trade secret, other 

confidential commercial information, or 

sensitive security information (SSI)). In 

your explanation, you should provide 

enough information to enable the 

Department to determine whether the 

information provided is protected by 

law and must be handled separately. 

Information not marked as CBI will be 

included in FDMS without prior notice. 

Also, if you do not provide an 

explanation of why the information is 

confidential you risk the Department 

including it in the public docket. The 

Department will also place in the public 

docket those portions of submissions 

that a carrier may have redacted but that 

the agency determines are not trade 

secrets, other confidential commercial 

information, or SSI. DOT’s policy is that 

waiver requests or applications for 

equivalent alternative determinations 

will be made available for public 

viewing in DOT’s electronic public 

docket (i.e., FDMS) as DOT receives 

them and without change, unless the 

request or application contains 

copyrighted material, CBI, or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. 

Dated: September 8, 2008. 

Samuel Podberesky, 

Assistant General Counsel for Aviation 

Enforcement and Proceedings, U.S. 

Department of Transportation. 

[FR Doc. E8–21204 Filed 9–12–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

29 CFR Parts 4022 and 4044 

Benefits Payable in Terminated SingleEmployer Plans; Allocation of Assets 

in Single-Employer Plans; Interest 

Assumptions for Valuing and Paying 

Benefits 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation’s regulations on Benefits 

Payable in Terminated Single-Employer 

Plans and Allocation of Assets in 

Single-Employer Plans prescribe interest 

assumptions for valuing and paying 

benefits under terminating singleemployer plans. This final rule amends 

the regulations to adopt interest 

assumptions for plans with valuation 

dates in October 2008. Interest 

assumptions are also published on the 

PBGC’s Web site (http://www.pbgc.gov). 

DATES: Effective October 1, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Catherine B. Klion, Manager, Regulatory 

and Policy Division, Legislative and 

Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20005, 202–326– 

4024. (TTY/TDD users may call the 

Federal relay service toll-free at 1–800– 

877–8339 and ask to be connected to 

202–326–4024.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

PBGC’s regulations prescribe actuarial 

assumptions—including interest 

assumptions—for valuing and paying 

plan benefits of terminating singleemployer plans covered by title IV of 

the Employee Retirement Income 

Security Act of 1974. The interest 

assumptions are intended to reflect 

current conditions in the financial and 

annuity markets. 

Three sets of interest assumptions are 

prescribed: (1) A set for the valuation of 

benefits for allocation purposes under 

section 4044 (found in Appendix B to 

part 4044), (2) a set for the PBGC to use 

to determine whether a benefit is 

payable as a lump sum and to determine 

lump-sum amounts to be paid by the 

PBGC (found in Appendix B to part 

4022), and (3) a set for private-sector 

pension practitioners to refer to if they 

wish to use lump-sum interest rates 

determined using the PBGC’s historical 

methodology (found in Appendix C to 

part 4022). 

This amendment (1) adds to 

Appendix B to part 4044 the interest 

assumptions for valuing benefits for 

allocation purposes in plans with 

valuation dates during October 2008, (2) 

adds to Appendix B to part 4022 the 

interest assumptions for the PBGC to 

use for its own lump-sum payments in 

plans with valuation dates during 

October 2008, and (3) adds to Appendix 

C to part 4022 the interest assumptions 

for private-sector pension practitioners 

to refer to if they wish to use lump-sum 

interest rates determined using the 

PBGC’s historical methodology for 

valuation dates during October 2008. 

For valuation of benefits for allocation 

purposes, the interest assumptions that 

the PBGC will use (set forth in 

Appendix B to part 4044) will be 6.18 

percent for the first 20 years following 

the valuation date and 5.25 percent 

thereafter. These interest assumptions 

represent a decrease (from those in 

effect for September 2008) of 0.06 

percent for the first 20 years following 

the valuation date and 0.06 percent for 

all years thereafter. 

The interest assumptions that the 

PBGC will use for its own lump-sum 

payments (set forth in Appendix B to 

part 4022) will be 3.25 percent for the 

period during which a benefit is in pay 

status and 4.00 percent during any years 

preceding the benefit’s placement in pay 

status. These interest assumptions 

represent a decrease (from those in 

effect for September 2008) of 0.25 

percent in the immediate annuity rate 

and are otherwise unchanged. For 

private-sector payments, the interest 

assumptions (set forth in Appendix C to 

part 4022) will be the same as those 

used by the PBGC for determining and 

paying lump sums (set forth in 

Appendix B to part 4022). 

The PBGC has determined that notice 

and public comment on this amendment 

are impracticable and contrary to the 

public interest. This finding is based on 

the need to determine and issue new 

interest assumptions promptly so that 

the assumptions can reflect current 

market conditions as accurately as 

possible. 

Because of the need to provide 

immediate guidance for the valuation 

and payment of benefits in plans with 

valuation dates during October 2008, 

the PBGC finds that good cause exists 

for making the assumptions set forth in 


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