49302 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 25, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

information that would assist it in 

pursuing the following objectives: 

1. To remove obstacles to 

participation by faith-based 

organizations in the delivery of publicly 

funded services and activities. What 

changes in HHS regulations, guidance, 

or other documents (e.g., contracts and 

funding opportunity announcements) or 

processes might encourage faith-based 

organizations to participate in HHSfunded programs and services? What 

existing regulations, guidance, or other 

documents or processes deter such 

participation? 

2. To ensure faith-based 

organizations—particularly those with a 

history of providing health, education, 

and other support to low-income 

people—are not excluded from 

eligibility for HHS funding. Which 

provisions in HHS regulations, 

guidance, or other documents directly 

or indirectly inhibit faith-based 

organizations from receiving HHS 

funds? How can the Department 

improve these regulations, guidance, or 

other documents? Are any faith-based 

organizations being restricted, excluded, 

substantially burdened, discriminated 

against, or disproportionately 

disadvantaged by HHS, an HHS grantee 

or contractor, or a state or local 

government entity administering an 

HHS-funded program or activity 

because of their religious character, 

identity, beliefs, or moral convictions? 

3. To ensure that faith-based 

organizations receive accommodation, 

equal treatment, and respect for their 

religious beliefs and moral convictions 

from HHS or HHS-funded entities. What 

regulations, guidance documents, 

policies, procedures, and/or assessment 

tools should HHS develop to 

affirmatively further the 

accommodation, equal treatment, and 

respect for the religious exercise of 

faith-based organizations interacting 

with HHS or HHS funded entities? 

4. To improve our understanding of 

the role of faith-based organizations in 

implementing programs and activities 

that advance the goals and objectives of 

HHS. Describe the value, whether 

qualitative or quantitative, that faithbased organizations provide in 

improving the health and well-being of 

Americans and other populations 

eligible for public benefits and services. 

What would the consequences be if 

these organizations were no longer able 

to participate in the Department’s 

programs or services or were denied 

eligibility for Federal funding? Do faithbased organizations provide unique 

value that could not easily be replicated 

by other recipients? Would adequate 

services be available to people in need 

in the absence of Federal partnerships 

with faith-based organizations? 

This is a request for information only. 

Respondents are encouraged to provide 

complete but concise responses to any 

or all of the questions outlined above. 

This request for information is issued 

solely for information and planning 

purposes; it does not constitute a notice 

of proposed rulemaking or request for 

proposals, applications, proposal 

abstracts, or quotations, nor does it 

suggest that the Department will 

undertake any particular action in 

response to comments. This request for 

information does not commit the United 

States Government (‘‘Government’’) to 

contract for any supplies or services or 

make a grant award. Further, HHS is not 

seeking proposals through this request 

for information and will not accept 

unsolicited proposals. Respondents are 

advised that the Government will not 

pay for any information or 

administrative costs incurred in 

response to this request for information; 

all costs associated with responding to 

this request for information will be 

solely at the interested party’s expense. 

Not responding to this request for 

information does not preclude 

participation in any future rulemaking 

or procurement, if conducted. It is the 

responsibility of the potential 

responders to monitor this request for 

information announcement for 

additional information pertaining to this 

request. We also note that HHS will not 

respond to questions about the policy 

issues raised in this request for 

information. HHS may or may not 

choose to contact individual responders. 

Such communications would only serve 

to further clarify written responses. 

Contractor support personnel may be 

used to review the responses submitted 

under this request for information. 

Responses to this notice are not offers 

and cannot be accepted by the 

Government to form a binding contract 

or issue a grant. Information obtained as 

a result of this request for information 

may be used by the Government for 

program planning on a non-attribution 

basis. Respondents should not include 

any information that might be 

considered proprietary or confidential. 

This request for information should not 

be construed as a commitment or 

authorization to incur cost for which 

reimbursement would be required or 

sought. All submissions become 

Government property and will not be 

returned. HHS may publicly post the 

comments received, or a summary 

thereof. While responses to this request 

for information do not bind HHS to any 

further actions related to the response, 

all comments may be posted online on 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

III. Collection of Information 

Requirements 

This document does not impose 

information collection requirements; 

that is, reporting, recordkeeping or 

third-party disclosure requirements. 

This request for information constitutes 

a general solicitation of comments. In 

accordance with the implementing 

regulations of the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA) at 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(4), 

information subject to the PRA does not 

generally include ‘‘facts or opinions 

submitted in response to general 

solicitations of comments from the 

public, published in the Federal 

Register or other publications, 

regardless of the form or format thereof, 

provided that no person is required to 

supply specific information pertaining 

to the commenter, other than that 

necessary for self-identification, as a 

condition of the agency’s full 

consideration of the comment.’’ 

Consequently, this document need not 

be reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget under the 

authority of the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Dated: October 20, 2017. 

Jane E. Norton, 

Director, Office of Intergovernmental & 

External Affairs, U.S. Department of Health 

and Human Services. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23257 Filed 10–24–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 770 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2017–0245; FRL–9962–80] 

RIN 2070–AK36 

Voluntary Consensus Standards 

Update; Formaldehyde Emission 

Standards for Composite Wood 

Products 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to amend 

the formaldehyde emission standards 

for composite wood products final rule, 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 12, 2016 (81 FR 89674). The 

proposed amendment would update 

multiple voluntary consensus standards 

that have been updated, superseded, or 

withdrawn since publication of the 

notices of proposed rulemaking on June 

10, 2013 (78 FR 34796 and 78 FR 34820) 


nlaroche on DSK9F9SC42PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 25, 2017 / Proposed Rules 49303 

and would amend an existing regulatory 

provision regarding the correlation of 

quality control test methods. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before November 9, 2017. Comments 

postmarked after the close of the 

comment period will be stamped ‘‘late’’ 

and may or may not be considered by 

the Agency. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by docket identification (ID) 

number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2017–0245, by 

one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Do not submit electronically any 

information you consider to be 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. 

• Mail: Document Control Office 

(7407M), Office of Pollution Prevention 

and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: To make special 

arrangements for hand delivery or 

delivery of boxed information, please 

follow the instructions at http://

www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html. 

Additional instructions on 

commenting or visiting the docket, 

along with more information about 

dockets generally, is available at http:// 

www.epa.gov/dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

For technical information contact: 

Erik Winchester, National Program 

Chemicals Division, Office of Pollution 

Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001; 

telephone number: (202) 564–6450; 

email address: winchester.erik@epa.gov. 

For general information contact: The 

TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 422 

South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 

14620; telephone number: (202) 554– 

1404; email address: TSCA–Hotline@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For 

further information about the proposed 

changes to the voluntary consensus 

standards and the correlation of quality 

control test methods, please see the 

information provided in the direct final 

action, with the same title, that is 

located in the ‘‘Rules and Regulations’’ 

section of this Federal Register 

publication. For the reasons set out in 

the preamble to that direct final action, 

this proposed rule would amend title 

40, chapter I, subchapter R, of the Code 

of Federal Regulations as provided in 

that direct final action. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 770 

Environmental protection, 

Formaldehyde, Incorporation by 

reference, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Third-party certification, 

Toxic substances, Wood. 

Dated: October 12, 2017. 

E. Scott Pruitt, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23061 Filed 10–24–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 64 

[CG Docket Nos. 03–123 and 10–51; DA 17– 

980] 

Petition for Reconsideration of Action 

in Rulemaking Proceeding 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Petition for reconsideration. 

SUMMARY: A Petition for Reconsideration 

(Petition) has been filed in the 

Commission’s rulemaking proceeding 

by the Interstate Telecommunications 

Relay Service Advisory Council. 

DATES: Comments to the Petition must 

be filed on or before November 9, 2017. 

Reply Comments must be filed on or 

before November 20, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 12th Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Scott, Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, email: 

Michael.Scott@fcc.gov; phone: (202) 

418–1264. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s 

document DA 17–980, released October 

6, 2017. The full text of the Petition is 

available for viewing and copying at the 

FCC Reference Information Center, 445 

12th Street SW., Room CY–A257, 

Washington, DC 20554 or may be 

accessed online via the Commission’s 

Electronic Comment Filing System at: 

https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/109211

32140710/Interstate%20TRS%20

Advisory%20Council%20PFR%209

.21.2017%20filed.pdf. The Commission 

will not send a Congressional Review 

Act (CRA) submission to Congress or the 

Government Accountability Office 

pursuant to the CRA, 5.U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A), because no rules are being 

adopted by the Commission. 

Subject: Telecommunications Relay 

Services and Speech-to-Speech Services 

for Individuals with Hearing and 

Speech Disabilities; Structure and 

Practices of the Video Relay Service 

Program, FCC 17–86, published at 82 FR 

39673, August 22, 2017 in CG Docket 

Nos. 03–123 and 10–51. This document 

is being published pursuant to 47 CFR 

1.429(e). See also 47 CFR 1.4(b)(1) and 

1.429(f), (g). 

Number of Petitions Filed: 1. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Karen Peltz Strauss, 

Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental 

Affairs Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23146 Filed 10–24–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 170823804–7932–01] 

RIN 0648–BH17 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Individual Bluefin Quota Program; 

Accountability for Bluefin Tuna Catch 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments and notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to modify the 

Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) 

regulations to require vessels in the 

pelagic longline fishery to account for 

bycatch of bluefin tuna (bluefin) using 

Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) on a 

quarterly basis instead of before 

commencing any fishing trip with less 

than the minimum required IBQ balance 

or with quota debt. Specifically, vessels 

would be allowed to fish with an IBQ 

balance below the minimum amount 

currently required to depart on a fishing 

trip with pelagic longline gear, or with 

quota debt incurred by exceeding their 

IBQ balance, during a given calendar 

quarter; however, vessels would be 

required to reconcile quota debt and 

satisfy the minimum IBQ requirement 

prior to departing on a pelagic longline 

fishing trip in the subsequent calendar 

quarter. The action will further optimize 

fishing opportunity in the directed 

pelagic longline fishery for target 

species such as tuna and swordfish and 

improve the functionality of the IBQ 

Program and its accounting provisions, 

consistent with the objectives of 

Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS Fishery Management Plan (FMP). 


nlaroche on DSK9F9SC42PROD with PROPOSALS