29456 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 118 / Monday, June 22, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

Dated: May 29, 2009. 

Charlene Frizzera, 

Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare 

& Medicaid Services. 

Approved: June 16, 2009. 

Kathleen Sebelius, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–14559 Filed 6–19–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

49 CFR Part 107 

[Docket No. PHMSA–2008–0010 (HM–208G)] 

RIN 2137–AE35 

Hazardous Materials Transportation; 

Miscellaneous Revisions to 

Registration and Fee Assessment 

Program 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of 

proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA) is withdrawing the notice of 

proposed rulemaking published under 

this docket on May 5, 2008 (73 FR 

24519). Our revised estimates of 

unexpended balances from previous 

years and revenues expected to be 

generated at current registration fee 

levels indicate that an increase in 

registration fees is not necessary to fund 

the national Hazardous Materials 

Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grants 

program at its authorized level of 

$28,318,000 for Fiscal Year 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Deborah Boothe, Office of Hazardous 

Materials Standards, (202) 366–8553, or 

David Donaldson, Office of Hazardous 

Materials Planning and Analysis, (202) 

366–4484, Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration, U.S. 

Department of Transportation. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Hazardous Materials Emergency 

Preparedness (HMEP) grants program, as 

mandated by 49 U.S.C. 5116, provides 

Federal financial and technical 

assistance to States and Indian tribes to 

‘‘develop, improve, and carry out 

emergency plans’’ within the National 

Response System and the Emergency 

Planning and Community Right-ToKnow Act of 1986 (Title III), 42 U.S.C. 

11001 et seq. The grants are used to 

develop, improve, and implement 

emergency plans; to train public sector 

hazardous materials emergency 

response employees to respond to 

accidents and incidents involving 

hazardous materials; to determine flow 

patterns of hazardous materials within a 

State and between States; and to 

determine the need within a State for 

regional hazardous materials emergency 

response teams. The HMEP grants 

program is funded by registration fees 

collected from persons who offer for 

transportation or transport certain 

hazardous materials in intrastate, 

interstate, or foreign commerce. 

Congress reauthorized the Federal 

hazardous materials transportation law 

(Federal hazmat law; 49 U.S.C. 5101 et 

seq.) in 2005. The Hazardous Materials 

Transportation Safety and Security 

Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Title VII of 

the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 

Efficient Transportation Equity Act—A 

Legacy for Users, Pub. L. 109–59, 119 

Stat. 1144, Aug. 10, 2005) authorizes 

$28.3 million per year for the HMEP 

grants program and lowered the 

maximum registration fee from $5,000 

to $3,000. The Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 

110–161, 121 Stat. 2404, Dec. 26, 2007) 

set an obligation limitation of 

$28,318,000 for expenses from the 

HMEP fund, and the Administration’s 

Fiscal Year 2009 budget requests 

$28,300,000 in support of HMEP 

activity. 

II. Current Rulemaking 

To ensure full funding of the HMEP 

grants program for FY 2009, PHMSA 

proposed an increase in registration fees 

to fund the program at the $28.3 million 

level (73 FR 24519, May 5, 2008). For 

those registrants not qualifying as a 

small business or not-for-profit 

organization, we proposed to increase 

the registration fee from $975 (plus a 

$25 administrative fee) to $2,475 (plus 

a $25 administrative fee) for registration 

year 2009–2010 and following years. As 

explained in the NPRM, an existing 

surplus enabled us to delay an increase 

in registration fees, but we concluded 

that we would not be able to fund the 

HMEP grants program at the $28.3 

million level in Fiscal Year 2009 

without an increase. 

We received 13 written comments in 

response to the NPRM from shippers 

and carriers and from the emergency 

response community, including the 

American Trucking Association (ATA), 

Council on the Safe Transportation of 

Hazardous Articles (COSTHA), Institute 

of Makers of Explosives (IME), 

International Association of Fire Chiefs 

(IAFC), National Association of SARA 

Title III Program Officials (NASTTPO), 

and Vessel Operators Hazardous 

Materials Association, Inc. (VOHMA). 

We have recently re-examined our 

estimates for funding the HMEP grants 

program based on updated information 

from the Department of Treasury on the 

HMEP account carry-over balance, deobligations of unused grant and 

administrative funds, increased 

enforcement of the registration 

requirements, and current registrant 

data, and we have further refined our 

estimates of revenues we anticipate 

collecting for registration years 2008– 

2009 (covering July 1, 2008 to June 30, 

2009) and 2009–2010 (covering July 1, 

2009 to June 30, 2010) at current 

registration fee levels. Based on this 

analysis, we have concluded that we 

will be able to fund the HMEP grants 

program at the $28.3 million level in 

Fiscal Year 2009 without an increase in 

registration fees. Accordingly, PHMSA 

is withdrawing the May 5, 2008, NPRM 

and terminating this rulemaking 

proceeding. Depending on appropriated 

and available funding for Fiscal Year 

2010, we may initiate a future 

rulemaking to adjust registration fees for 

future registration years. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2009 

under authority delegated in 49 CFR part 

106. 

Theodore L. Willke, 

Associate Administrator for Hazardous 

Materials Safety. 

[FR Doc. E9–14569 Filed 6–19–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[FWS–R6–ES–2009–0037; 92210–1117– 

0000–B4] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a 

Petition To Revise Critical Habitat for 

Eriogonum pelinophilum (Clay-Loving 

Wild Buckwheat) 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition 

finding and initiation of critical habitat 

review. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (USFWS), announce a 

90–day finding on a petition to revise 

critical habitat for Eriogonum 

pelinophilum (clay-loving wild 

buckwheat) under the Endangered 


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