57098 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 1, 2008 / Notices 

a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 8:30 a.m to 12 

noon on Tuesday, October 28, 2008. 

To request accommodation of a 

disability, please contact the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATON

CONTACT, preferably at least 10 days 

prior to the meeting, to give EPA as 

much time as possible to process your 

request. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

EPA. One Potomac Yard (South Bldg.) 

2777 Crystal Dr., Arlington VA. 4th 

Floor South Conference Room. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron 

Kendall, Field and External Affairs 

Division (7506P), Office of Pesticide 

Programs, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC 20460–0001; telephone 

number: (703) 305–5561 fax number: 

(703) 308–1850; e-mail address: 

kendall.ron@epa.gov. or Grier Stayton, 

SFIREG Executive Secretary, P.O. Box 

466, Milford DE 19963; telephone 

number (302) 422–8152; fax (302) 422– 

2435; e-mail address: 

grier.staytonaapco-sfireg@comcast.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does this Action Apply to Me? 

You may be potentially affected by 

this action if you are interested in 

SFIREG information exchange 

relationship with EPA regarding 

important issues related to human 

health, environmental exposure to 

pesticides, and insight into EPA’s 

decision-making process. You are 

invited and encouraged to attend the 

meetings and participate as appropriate. 

Potentially affected entities may 

include, but are not limited to: 

Those persons who are or may be 

required to conduct testing of chemical 

substances under the Federal Food, 

Drug and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA), or the 

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 

Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). 

B. How Can I Get Copies of this 

Document and Other Related 

Information? 

1. Docket. EPA has established a 

docket for this action under docket ID 

number EPA–HQ–OPP–2008–0143. 

Publicly available docket materials are 

available either in the electronic docket 

at http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only 

available in hard copy, at the Office of 

Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory 

Public Docket in Rm. S–4400, One 

Potomac Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. 

Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. The hours of 

operation of this Docket Facility are 

from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The Docket Facility telephone 

number is (703) 305–5805. 

2. Electronic access. You may access 

this Federal Register document 

electronically through the EPA Internet 

under the ‘‘Federal Register’’ listings at 

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr. 

II. Background 

1. State Updates/Issues 

2. Assessment of Risks from Semivolatile Pesticides in Air-State and 

Federal Experience and Perspective 

3. Surface Water Benchmarks Update 

- Region 5 Pilot Project status report 

4. USDA National Potable Well 

Sampling Program 

5. Chemigation Label Referral 

6. POINTS Performance Measures 

Reporting Tool 

7. Further Cooperation between OPP 

and OW 

8. OPP EFED Assignment of GW 

Statements /Revision of Chapter 8 of the 

Label Review Manual 

9. SFIREG WQ&PD Committee Scope 

and Possible Name Change 

10. Development/Availability of 

Human Health Benchmarks from 

OGWDW 

11. Analytical Methods for Pesticides 

in Water and Their Availability and 

Distribution to States 

12. OPP and OECA Updates 

13. Aquatic Herbicide PermittingExamples from Washington and 

Michigan 

III. How Can I Request to Participate in 

this Meeting? 

You may submit a request to 

participate in this meeting to the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. Do not submit any information 

in your request that is considered CBI. 

Requests to participate in the meeting, 

identified by docket ID number EPA– 

HQ–OPP–2008–0143, must be received 

on or before October 21, 2008. 

List of Subjects 

Environmental protection. 

Dated: September 22, 2008. 

W. R. Diamond, 

Director, Field and External Affairs Division, 

Office of Pesticide Programs. 

[FR Doc. E8–23133 Filed 9–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S 

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY 

COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Submission for OMB Review 

AGENCY: Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission. 

ACTION: Final Notice of Submission for 

OMB Review. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission (EEOC) hereby gives notice 

that it has submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) a 

request to approve a new information 

collection as described below. 

DATES: Written comments on this final 

notice must be submitted on or before 

October 31, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: The Request for Clearance 

(SF 83–I), supporting statement, and 

other documents submitted to OMB for 

review may be obtained from: Mildred 

A. Rivera-Rau, General Attorney, 

Federal Sector Programs, Office of 

Federal Operations, EEOC, 1801 L 

Street, NW., Washington, D.C. 20507; 

(202) 663–4590; (202) 663–7208 (TTD); 

mildred.rivera@eeoc.gov. Comments on 

this final notice must be submitted to 

Chandana Achanta, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

OMB, 725 17th Street, NW., Room 

10235, New Executive Office Building, 

Washington, DC 20503 or electronically 

mailed to 

Chandana_L._Achanta@omb.eop.gov. 

Comments should also be sent to 

Stephen Llewellyn, Executive Officer, 

Executive Secretariat, EEOC, 10th Floor, 

1801 L Street, NW., Washington, D.C. 

20507, or by the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. After 

accessing this Web site, follow its 

instructions for submitting comments. 

As a convenience to commenters, the 

Executive Secretariat will accept 

comments totaling six or fewer pages by 

facsimile (‘‘FAX’’) machine. This 

limitation is necessary to ensure access 

to the equipment. The telephone 

number of the FAX receiver is (202) 

663–4114. (This is not a toll-free 

number). Receipt of FAX transmittals 

will not be acknowledged, except that 

the sender may request confirmation of 

receipt by calling the Executive 

Secretariat staff at (202) 663–4070 or 

(202) 663–4074 (TTD). (These are not 

toll-free telephone numbers). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barbara Dougherty, Federal Sector 

Programs, Office of Federal Operations, 

EEOC, 1801 L Street, NW., Washington, 

DC 20507; (202) 663–4770; (202) 663– 

7208 (TTD). This notice is also available 

in the following formats: large print, 

Braille, audio tape and electronic file on 

computer disk. Requests for this notice 

in an alternative format should be made 

to the Publications Center at 1–800– 

669–3362. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 1, 2008 / Notices 57099 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A notice 

that EEOC would be submitting this 

request was published in the Federal 

Register on November 15, 2007, 

allowing for a 60-day public comment 

period. Five comments were received. 

The first comment expressed general 

opposition to the collection of racespecific data in any form by the federal 

government due to the lack of evidence 

that there is widespread discrimination 

in the federal government. In addition, 

this commenter believed that collection 

of the demographic information would 

harm the federal government by 

requiring increased representation of 

underrepresented groups without regard 

to qualifications, thus leaving the 

government open to litigation and 

claims of ‘‘reverse’’ discrimination. The 

commenter believed that the proposed 

data collection would create an 

emphasis to ‘‘get numbers up to a level 

that is perceived to be ‘right’ ’’ and 

would place pressure on agencies to 

focus their recruitment on ‘‘women and 

minorities.’’ This commenter further 

questioned the utility of the data 

because some applicants would refuse 

to respond. Finally, this commenter 

found that the proposed Demographic 

Information on Applicants form did not 

explain who is considered an applicant 

or when the form should be 

administered. 

A second commenter did not oppose 

the collection of demographic data but 

advised that during a November 27, 

2007, Council of Federal EEO and Civil 

Rights Executives meeting, a manager of 

the Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) opined that federal executives 

should not collect the demographic 

information of applicants for federal 

employment. The commenter requested 

that EEOC and OPM resolve the matter 

prior to seeking OMB approval. This 

commenter also believed that the 

Demographic Information on Applicants 

form does not use the nine categories of 

‘‘targeted’’ disabilities that EEOC 

previously established. A third 

commenter requested that the definition 

of each demographic category used on 

Question 4 be eliminated for clarity and 

ease of form administration. The fourth 

and fifth commenters strongly 

supported the collection of demographic 

data. One such commenter noted that 

the collection would: ‘‘ensure 

applicants are treated fairly; evaluate 

federal recruitment efforts; and identify 

racial, ethnic, or other disparities within 

the federal workforce.’’ In addition, the 

commenters felt that the collection tool 

was an important step forward, will 

allow for more refined analysis, and 

enable the scrutiny of workplace 

practices including areas for targeted 

recruitment. 

The perception of discrimination 

among federal employees and 

applicants is fairly widespread. 

According to the EEOC’s latest Annual 

Report on the Federal Work Force Fiscal 

Year 2007, there were 37,809 completed 

EEO counselings at federal agencies 

during fiscal year (FY) 2007. 

Government-wide, federal employees 

filed 16,363 formal EEO complaints in 

FY 2007. Also in FY 2007, 7,869 federal 

hearings were requested, and EEOC’s 

Office of Federal Operations received 

5,226 appeals. These numbers show that 

EEOC’s effort to foster the creation of 

agency model EEO programs through 

Management Directive 715 (MD–715) is 

a valuable endeavor. Part of that effort 

includes the collection of demographic 

information on applicants for federal 

employment. 

The proposed Demographic 

Information on Applicants form neither 

establishes a new requirement to collect 

applicant flow data nor adds emphasis 

to the collection of such data. MD–715 

has required the analysis of applicant 

flow data for more than four years; 

however, analysis was hampered by the 

lack of a data collection tool. Some 

agencies, including the Department of 

Transportation, already have obtained 

OMB approval for department-specific 

demographic information collection 

forms. The use of this proposed general 

form is intended to alleviate the 

problem of requiring each agency to 

seek OMB approval for a data collection 

tool. Finally, this collection of data does 

not mandate that agencies make any 

employment decision based on race or 

sex, or require a specific number of 

hires for any EEO group. This data 

collection is useful to gain an accurate 

picture of applicant flow in each agency 

to ensure that each agency is aware of 

the effects of its recruitment and hiring 

practices. 

The collection of demographic data 

under MD–715 requires annotation of 

the number of applicants who were 

deemed qualified for each position, 

broken down by EEO group and 

occupational category. There is no 

requirement or implication that a 

particular number or percentage of 

applicants must be deemed qualified for 

any position or that unqualified 

applicants be selected. Each agency 

determines whether an applicant is 

qualified based on the requirements of 

the specific position. Applicants’ EEO 

status is, by law, separated from the 

employment application prior to 

submission to the selecting official, 

thereby precluding consideration of race 

or national origin in the hiring decision. 

The use of the Demographic Information 

on Applicants form does not require an 

agency to narrow its recruitment to 

certain targeted EEO groups to the 

exclusion of other EEO groups. This tool 

will be used to determine if the agency 

is reaching a broad range of applicants 

from diverse groups who are qualified 

for the positions being posted. 

The data submission is voluntary. 

Applicants are informed of the request 

and may decline to respond for any 

reason or no reason. If the group being 

measured is sufficiently large, even a 

partial response rate will yield useful 

data. If the agency does not receive a 

significant response, it can make note of 

this in its MD–715 report to EEOC. 

Each agency must determine when 

the applicant flow form is to be 

distributed and by what means. This 

will necessarily be tailored to the 

method by which applications are 

received in each agency. 

Although OPM does not concur with 

EEOC’s view on the advisability of 

collecting applicant flow data, EEOC is 

the federal agency charged with the 

implementation of Title VII of the Civil 

Rights Act and Section 501 of the 

Rehabilitation Act. EEOC believes that 

collection and analysis of applicant flow 

data is an important component of any 

EEO program striving to achieve model 

workplace status. This form simply 

presents—to those agencies that choose 

to use it—a streamlined way of 

collecting that data. 

The proposed Demographic 

Information on Applicants form does 

use the term ‘‘disability’’ despite the use 

of the term ‘‘handicap’’ in OPM Form 

256 (on which it was modeled) as the 

term ‘‘handicap’’ is no longer commonly 

used. The nine disability categories 

used are those EEOC uses for MD–715 

data collection. However, the 

commenter is correct in that three of the 

nine categories are slightly modified 

from OPM Form 256. First, there is a 

discrepancy in question (5)(6) in the 

category of ‘‘Seizure/convulsive 

disorder.’’ The proposed form uses the 

term ‘‘seizure’’ in addition to 

‘‘convulsive disorder.’’ The term 

‘‘seizure’’ is not used in OPM Form 256 

but does accurately describe the 

impairment EEOC is targeting. Second, 

in question (5)(7) the term ‘‘intellectual 

disorder’’ is used along with ‘‘mental 

retardation’’ because more recently 

‘‘intellectual disability’’ is the favored 

term for persons with mental 

retardation. Finally, in question (5)(8), 

EEOC uses the term ‘‘Psychiatric 

Disorder or a history of treatment for 

mental or emotional illness.’’ OPM 

Form 256 states this category as ‘‘Mental 

or emotional illness (A history of 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
57100 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 1, 2008 / Notices 

treatment for mental or emotional 

problems).’’ While OPM Form 256 does 

not include the words ‘‘psychiatric 

disorder,’’ this term has come to be 

preferred and provides a fuller, more 

contemporary description. These three 

disability categories, which have been 

slightly modified, are not intended to be 

different from those EEOC previously 

has used. The minor changes are 

intended only to provide more clarity 

given the change in common usage 

since 1987—the year OPM Form 256 

was drafted. 

Due in part to the change in the 

definition of ‘‘Asian’’ over the past 

several years, EEOC believes it useful to 

include—in Question 4 of the proposed 

form—definitions for each race or 

national origin category. The proposed 

Demographic Information on Applicants 

form also will be revised to delete the 

‘‘n’’ from the term ‘‘Alaskan Native’’ in 

question 4 to read ‘‘1. American Indian 

or Alaska Native.’’ Finally, the phrase 

‘‘and you may self identify at any time’’ 

has been added to the section of the 

form that applies to self-identification of 

disability status. 

Overview of This Information 

Collection 

Type of Review: New collection. 

Collection Title: Demographic 

Information on Applicants form. 

Form No.: None. 

Frequency of Report: Occasional. 

Type of Respondent: Applicants for 

federal employment. 

Description of Affected Public: 

Individuals submitting applications for 

federal employment. 

Responses: 3,510,600. 

Reporting Hours: 175,530 (3 minutes 

per response). 

Costs to Respondents: None. 

Federal Cost: None. 

Abstract: EEOC enforces Title VII of 

the Civil Rights Act and the 

Rehabilitation Act, among other equal 

employment opportunity laws. Pursuant 

to its authority under those statutes, 

EEOC issued Equal Employment 

Opportunity Management Directive 715 

(MD–715) in 2003. MD–715 provides 

policy guidance and standards for 

establishing and maintaining effective 

affirmative programs of equal 

employment opportunity under Section 

717 of Title VII and effective affirmative 

action programs under Section 501 of 

the Rehabilitation Act. The overriding 

objective of MD–715 is to ensure that all 

employees and applicants for 

employment enjoy equality of 

opportunity in the federal workplace 

regardless of race, color, sex, age, 

national origin, religion, or disability. In 

order to ensure that agencies proactively 

prevent potential discrimination and 

establish systems to monitor compliance 

with Title VII and the Rehabilitation 

Act, MD–715 requires agencies to 

evaluate their employment practices by 

collecting and analyzing data on the 

race, national origin, sex, and disability 

status of applicants for both permanent 

and temporary employment. This notice 

concerns an optional form for use by 

federal agencies in gathering 

demographic information on applicants 

for federal employment. Use of the form 

is not required. Federal agencies may or 

may not elect to use the form. 

Applicants for federal employment may 

or may not elect to complete the form. 

Burden Statement: The estimated 

number of respondents is approximately 

3,510,600 applicants. The burden is 

estimated to be approximately three 

minutes per respondent. Because the 

form is voluntary, there is no way 

accurately to predict the number of 

applicants who will respond. 

Dated: September 11, 2008. 

For the Commission. 

Naomi C. Earp, 

Chair. 

[FR Doc. E8–23069 Filed 9–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6570–01–P 

FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE 

CORPORATION 

Notification and Federal Employee 

Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act 

of 2002 

AGENCY: Farm Credit System Insurance 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Farm Credit System 

Insurance Corporation (FCSIC or 

Corporation) is publishing its notice 

under the Notification and Federal 

Employee Antidiscrimination and 

Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act) 

(Pub. L. 107–174), as required by the No 

FEAR Act and 5 CFR 724. Under the No 

FEAR Act, agencies are required to 

notify employees, former employees, 

and applicants of their rights and 

remedies under Federal 

antidiscrimination and whistleblower 

protection laws applicable to them. The 

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) 

has published implementing regulations 

at 5 CFR 724, which require notice and 

training, and include model language 

for agency notices. 

DATES: October 1, 2008 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: B. 

Jeffrey McGiboney, Equal Employment 

Opportunity Director, Farm Credit 

System Insurance Corporation, McLean, 

Virginia 22102–5090, (703) 883–4353, 

TTY (703) 883–4056, or James M. 

Morris, General Counsel, Farm Credit 

System Insurance Corporation, McLean, 

Virginia 22102, (703) 883–4380, TTY 

(703) 883–4390. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For the 

reasons noted above, FCSIC is 

publishing this No FEAR Act Notice 

(also available at the Agency’s Web site 

at (http://www.fcsic.gov). 

On May 15, 2002, Congress enacted 

the ‘‘Notification and Federal Employee 

Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act 

of 2002,’’ which is now known as the 

No FEAR Act. One purpose of the Act 

is to ‘‘require that Federal agencies be 

accountable for violations of 

antidiscrimination and whistleblower 

protection laws.’’ Public Law 107–174, 

Summary. In support of this purpose, 

Congress found that ‘‘agencies cannot be 

run effectively if those agencies practice 

or tolerate discrimination.’’ Public Law 

107–174, title I, General Provisions, 

section 101(1). 

The Act also requires this Agency to 

provide this notice to Federal 

employees, former Federal employees 

and applicants for Federal employment 

to inform you of the rights and 

protections available to you under 

Federal antidiscrimination and 

whistleblower protection laws. 

Antidiscrimination Laws 

A Federal agency cannot discriminate 

against an employee or applicant with 

respect to the terms, conditions or 

privileges of employment on the basis of 

race, color, religion, sex, national origin, 

age, disability, marital status or political 

affiliation. Discrimination on these 

bases is prohibited by one or more of the 

following statutes: 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(1), 

29 U.S.C. 206(d), 29 U.S.C. 631, 29 

U.S.C. 633a, 29 U.S.C. 791 and 42 U.S.C. 

2000e–16. 

If you believe that you have been the 

victim of unlawful discrimination on 

the basis of race, color, religion, sex, 

national origin or disability, you must 

contact an Equal Employment 

Opportunity (EEO) counselor within 45 

calendar days of the alleged 

discriminatory action, or, in the case of 

a personnel action, within 45 calendar 

days of the effective date of the action, 

before you can file a formal complaint 

of discrimination with your agency. See, 

e.g. 29 CFR 1614. If you believe that you 

have been the victim of unlawful 

discrimination on the basis of age, you 

must either contact an EEO counselor as 

noted above or give notice of intent to 

sue to the Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 

180 calendar days of the alleged 

discriminatory action. If you are alleging 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES