Service Fellowships

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary

42 CFR Part 61

RIN 0991-AA96

Service Fellowships

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is adopting

without change the interim final rule amending the regulations

governing service fellowships which was published in the Federal

Register on February 27, 1998 (63 FR 9949). These amendments revised

the authority citation, extended the time limitation on initial

appointments from 2 years to 5 years, permitted extensions of

appointments for up to 5 years rather than year-to-year, and deleted

obsolete references to the Surgeon General.

DATES: Effective Date: November 10, 1999. The effective date for this

final rule is not delayed because it adopts the interim final rule

without change.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jerry Moore, NIH Regulations Officer, National Institutes of Health,

6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 601, MSC 7669, Rockville, MD 20852;

telephone 301-496-4607 (not a toll-free number); Fax 301-402-0169. For

information with regard to service fellowships contact Edie Bishop,

Office of Human Resource Management, National Institutes of Health, 31

Center Dr., MSC 0424, Bethesda, MD 20892-0424; telephone 301-402-9484

(not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Health and Human Services

(HHS) published in the Federal Register on February 27, 1998 (63 FR

9949) an interim final rule amending the regulations, codified at 42

CFR part 61, subpart B, governing service fellowships. Although the

amendments were published as an interim final rule and were effective

immediately, the Secretary requested comments on the regulations. The

comment period expired on April 28, 1998. HHS received no comments on

the amendments. Consequently, HHS is adopting the interim final rule

without change as a final rule.

Section 207(g) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended,

authorizes the Secretary to designate individual scientists, other than

Commissioned Officers of the Public Health Service (PHS), to receive

fellowships; to be appointed for duty with the Service and compensated

without regard to the civil service classification laws; to hold their

fellowships under conditions prescribed therein; and to be assigned for

studies or investigations either in the United States or foreign

countries during the terms of their fellowships.

Consistent with the legislative intent of the PHS Act, Sec. 61.32

of the implementing regulations codified at 42 CFR Part 61, sates that

service fellowships ``may be provided to secure the services of

talented scientists for a period of limited duration for health-related

research, studies, and investigations where the nature of the work or

the character of the individual's services render customary employing

methods impracticable or less effective.''

The interim final rule amended Sec. 61.38 of the service fellowship

regulations to make time limitations on initial appointments more

flexible. Specifically, the interim final rule extended the current

time limitation on initial appointments from 2 to 5 years, and revised

the requirements with respect to extensions to permit extensions for up

to 5 years rather than year-to-year. These changes are intended to

provide HHS health agencies with greater flexibility to recruit and

retain their scientists. It is anticipated that the increased

flexibility will provide for simplified recruitment and classification.

Employment will continue to be linked to scientific excellence as

determined by agency peer review processes.

The interim final rule also amended the authority citation and the

references to the Surgeon General to reflect that the authority for the

service fellowships are vested in the Secretary. Section 61.30 was

amended to remove the paragraph designations and the definition for the

term ``Surgeon General'' and to add the definition for the term

``Secretary,'' and Sec. 61.34 was amended to remove clause (b) and

redesignate clause(c) and (b) to reflect current policy.

The following statements are provided for public information.

Executive Order No. 12866

Executive Order No. 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, requires

that all regulatory actions reflect consideration of the costs and

benefits they generate, and that they meet certain standards, such as

avoiding the imposition of unnecessary burdens on the affected public.

If an action is deemed to fall within the scope of the definition of

the term ``significant regulatory action'' contained in Sec. 3(f) of

the Order, a pre-publication review by the Office of Management and

Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is

necessary. This rule was reported to OIRA, and it was deemed not to be

a significant regulatory action.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) requires

that regulatory actions be analyzed to determine whether they will have

a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small

entities. The Secretary certifies that this rule will not have a

significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities

and, therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis, as defined under the

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 is not required. This rule applies

to individuals who apply for and may receive service fellowships. The

rule does not apply or affect ``small entities'' as that term is

defined in 5 U.S.C. 601.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not contain any information collection requirements

that are subject to OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).

List of Subjects in 42 CFR Part 61

Fellowships.

Approved: September 10, 1999.

Harold Varmus,

Director, National Institutes of Health.

Dated: November 1, 1999.

Donna Shalala,

Secretary.

Subpart B--Service Fellowships

Accordingly, the interim rule amending 42 CFR part 61, subpart B,

which was published at 63 FR 9949 on February 27, 1998, is adopted as a

final rule without change.

[FR Doc. 99-29400 Filed 11-9-99; 8:45 am]

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