12738 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 28, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

public comments would serve no

purpose.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Department of State, in

accordance with the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), has

reviewed this regulation and, by

approving it, certifies that this rule will

not have a significant economic impact

on a substantial number of small

entities.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of

1995

This rule will not result in the

expenditure by state, local and tribal

governments, in the aggregate, or by the

private sector, of $100 million or more

in any year and it will not significantly

or uniquely affect small governments.

Therefore, no actions were deemed

necessary under the provisions of the

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of

1995.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996

This rule is not a major rule as

defined by section 804 of the Small

Business Regulatory Enforcement Act of

1996. This rule will not result in an

annual effect on the economy of $100

million or more; a major increase in

costs or prices; or significant adverse

effects on competition, employment,

investment, productivity, innovation, or

on the ability of United States-based

companies to compete with foreignbased companies in domestic and

export markets.

Executive Order 12866

The Department of State does not

consider this rule, to be a ‘‘significant

regulatory action’’ under Executive

Order 12866, section 3(f), Regulatory

Planning and Review, and the Office of

Management and Budget has waived its

review process under section 6(a)(3)(A).

Executive Order 13132

This regulation will not have

substantial direct effects on the states,

on the relationship between the national

government and the states, or on the

distribution of power and

responsibilities among the various

levels of government. Therefore, in

accordance with section 6 of Executive

Order 13132, it is determined that this

rule does not have sufficient federalism

implications to warrant the preparation

of a federalism summary impact

statement.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not impose any new

reporting or record-keeping

requirements. The information

collection requirement (Form OF–156)

contained by reference in this rule was

previously approved for use by the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction

Act.

List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 41

Aliens, Nonimmigrants, Passports and

visas.

Accordingly, the Department amends

22 CFR part 41 as follows:

PART 41—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for Part 41 is

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1104; 22 U.S.C. 2651a.

2. Revise § 41.111(b) introductory text

and (b)(2) to read as follows:

§ 41.111 Authority to issue visa.

(b) Issuance in the United States in

certain cases. The Deputy Assistant

Secretary for Visa Services and such

officers of the Department as the former

may designate are authorized, in their

discretion, to issue nonimmigrant visas,

including diplomatic visas, to:

* * * * *

(2) Other qualified aliens who:

(i) Are currently maintaining status in

the E, H, I, L, O, or P nonimmigrant

category;

(ii) Intend to reenter the United States

in that status after a temporary absence

abroad; and

(iii) Who also present evidence that:

(A) They were previously issued visas

at a consular office abroad and admitted

to the United States in the status which

they are currently maintaining; and

(B) Their period of authorized

admission in that status has not expired.

Dated: January 21, 2001.

Mary A. Ryan,

Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs,

Department of State.

[FR Doc. 01–4769 Filed 2–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–06–U

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

22 CFR Part 126

General Policies and Provisions

CFR Correction

In Title 22 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, parts 1 to 299, revised as of

Apr. 1, 2000, in part 126, beginning on

page 469, the second § 126.5 is removed.

[FR Doc. 01–55502 Filed 2–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 1505–01–D

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary

45 CFR Parts 160 and 164

RIN 0991–AB08

Standards for Privacy of Individually

Identifiable Health Information

AGENCY: Office for Civil Rights, HHS.

ACTION: Final rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: This action provides for the

submission of comments on a technical

amendment to the final rule adopting

standards for privacy of individually

identifiable health information

published on December 28, 2000, in the

Federal Register (65 FR 82462), to

convert it to a final rule with request for

comments. The purpose of this action is

to permit public comment on the final

rule for a limited period before the rule

becomes effective.

DATES: 1. Comments will be considered

if received as provided below, no later

than 5 p.m. on March 30, 2001.

2. The effective date of the final rule

with request for comments published

December 28, 2000 (65 FR 82462) was

corrected to be April 14, 2001. See 66

FR 12434 (February 26, 2001).

ADDRESSES: Comments will be

considered only if provided through any

of the following means:

1. Mail written comments (1 original

and, if possible, a floppy disk) to the

following address: U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services, Attention:

Privacy I, Room 801, Hubert H.

Humphrey Building, 200 Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201.

2. Deliver written comments (1

original and, if possible, a floppy disk)

to Room 801, 200 Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201.

3. Submit electronic comments at the

following website: http://aspe.hhs.gov/

admnsimp/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kimberly Coleman, 1–866–OCR–PRIV

(1–866–627–7748) or TTY 1–866–788–

4989.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comment Procedures, Availability of

Copies, and Electronic Access

Comment procedures: All comments

should include the full name, address,

and telephone number of the sender or

a knowledgeable point of contact. Each

specific comment should specify the

section of the final rule to which the

specific comment pertains. If possible,

please send an electronic version of the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 28, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 12739

comments on a 31⁄2 inch DOS format

floppy disk in Adobe Acrobat Portable

Document Format (PDF), HTML, ASCII

text, or popular word processor format

(Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect).

All comments and content must be

limited to the 8.5 wide by 11.0 high

vertical (also referred to as ‘‘portrait’’)

page orientation. If identical/duplicate

comment submissions are submitted

both electronically and in paper form,

each submission should clearly indicate

that it is a duplicate submission.

Because of staffing and resource

limitations, we will not accept

comments by electronic mail or

facsimile (FAX) transmission. Any

comments received through such media

will be deleted or destroyed, as

appropriate. They will not be

considered as public comments.

Comments that are timely received in

proper form and at one of the addresses

specified above will be available for

public inspection by appointment as

they are received, generally beginning

approximately three weeks after this

publication in Room 801 of the

Department’s offices at 200

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC on Monday through

Friday of each week from 8:30 a.m. to

5 p.m. Appointments may be made by

telephoning 202–260–3392.

After the close of the comment period,

comments that we are technically able

to convert will be posted on the

Administrative Simplification website

specified above.

Copies: To order copies of the Federal

Register containing this document, send

your request to New Orders,

Superintendent of Documents, PO Box

371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250–7954.

Specify the date of the issue requested

and enclose a check or money order

payable to the Superintendent of

Documents or enclose your Visa or

Master Card number and expiration

date. Credit card orders can also be

placed by calling the order desk at 202–

512–1800 or by fax to 202–512–2250.

The cost for each copy is $9.

Alternatively, the Federal Register may

be viewed and photocopied at most

libraries designated as Federal

Depository Libraries and at many other

public and academic libraries

throughout the country that receive the

Federal Register.

Electronic Access: This document is

available electronically at the above

website as well as at the web site of the

Government Printing Office at http://

www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/

140.html.

Discussion

On December 28, 2000, we published

in the Federal Register a final rule

adopting standards for the privacy of

individually identifiable health

information (Privacy Rule). The Privacy

Rule is the second in a series of rules

mandated by sections 261–264 of the

Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA),

Public Law 104–191. In general, the

Privacy Rule establishes in 45 CFR part

160 a set of definitions applicable to the

entire set of HIPAA rules, requirements

for requesting that a state law be

excepted from preemption by the

statute, and compliance and

enforcement requirements. The Privacy

Rule also establishes a new subpart E of

part 164. Subpart E establishes

standards which entities covered by the

statute—health plans, health care

clearinghouses, and certain health care

providers—are required to comply with

to protect the privacy of certain

individually identifiable health

information (‘‘protected health

information’’). The standards are

requirements relating to the uses and

disclosures of protected health

information, the rights of individuals

with respect to their protected health

information, and the procedures for

exercising those rights.

The Privacy Rule affects over 600,000

entities and virtually every American. It

is estimated to cost in excess of $17.6

billion over ten years. The Department

received over 52,000 public comments

in the public comment period on the

proposed rule; in the period following

publication of the final rule, HHS has

received approximately a thousand

inquiries about the impact and

operation of the Privacy Rule on

numerous sectors of the economy. Many

comments exhibit substantial confusion

over how the Rule will operate; others

express great concern over the

complexity and workability of the Rule.

The significance of the Privacy Rule for

the health care industry and for society

as a whole, and the substantial nature of

some concerns that have been raised

have led us to conclude that an

additional comment period on the

Privacy Rule is warranted. Accordingly,

we hereby solicit public comment for 30

days on the Privacy Rule, as published

in the Federal Register on December 28,

2000 at 65 FR 82462.

Based on telephone calls, e-mails,

letters, and other contacts with HHS, we

are aware that the Privacy Rule has been

the subject of widespread debate in the

health care industry and the public at

large in the almost two months since its

publication. Thus, we believe that many

of the public’s concerns about the

Privacy Rule have already crystallized.

We accordingly are of the view that 30

days should be sufficient for the public

to state its views fully to HHS.

We determined that the report to

Congress required by 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)

was not received by the Congress

concurrent with the transmission of the

Privacy Rule to the Federal Register, as

previously thought. We have published

elsewhere in this section of the Federal

Register a final rule correcting the

effective date of the Privacy Rule to

April 14, 2001 to comply with 5 U.S.C.

801(a)(3)(A). This action does not alter

the corrected effective date. The public

comment period provided for above

accordingly will close before the Privacy

Rule becomes effective.

Dated: February 22, 2001.

Tommy G. Thompson,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–4811 Filed 2–26–01; 11:13 am]

BILLING CODE 4150–04–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 010112013-1013-01; I.D.

022201A]

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish by

Vessels Using Non-Pelagic Trawl Gear

in the Red King Crab Savings Subarea

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Modification of a closure.

SUMMARY: NMFS is opening directed

fishing for groundfish with non-pelagic

trawl gear in the red king crab savings

subarea (RKCSS) of the Bering Sea and

Aleutian Islands management area

(BSAI). This action is necessary to

utilize the amount of the 2001 red king

crab bycatch limit specified for the

RKCSS.

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local

time (A.l.t.), February 23, 2001, until

1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 27, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary Furuness, 907–586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS

manages the groundfish fishery in the

BSAI exclusive economic zone

according to the Fishery Management

Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area