2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing regulations to permit FDA Center Directors to grant exceptions or alternatives to certain regulatory labeling requirements applicable to human drugs, biological products, or medical devices that are or will be included in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). Under this rule, the appropriate FDA Center Director may grant an exception or alternative to such labeling requirements if he or she determines that compliance with the requirements could adversely affect the safety, effectiveness, or availability of specified lots, batches, or other units of human drugs, biological products, or medical devices that are or will be included in the SNS, including not only those that are approved, licensed, or cleared for marketing, but also those that are investigational. A grant of an exception or alternative under these regulations will include any safeguards or conditions deemed appropriate by the FDA Center Director to ensure that the labeling of such products includes information for the safe and effective use of the products given their anticipated circumstances of use. This rule will facilitate the safety, effectiveness, and availability of appropriate medical countermeasures in the event of a public health emergency.

This is a recommended decision regarding proposed amendments to Marketing Order No. 981 (order), which regulates the handling of almonds grown in California. Two amendments were proposed by the Almond Board of California (Board), which is responsible for local administration of the order. These proposed amendments would: authorize the establishment of specific outgoing quality requirements for different markets; and authorize the establishment of container marking and labeling requirements. The proposals are intended to provide additional flexibility in administering the quality control provisions of the order and provide the industry with additional tools to aid in the marketing of almonds. This recommended decision invites written exceptions on the proposed amendments.

The Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) has adjusted the cap on average total assets that defines a ``Community Financial Institution'' and the limits on annual compensation for Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) directors based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) as published by the Department of Labor (DOL). These changes take effect on January 1, 2008.

In accordance with Section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department for funding under the FY 2006 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Public Housing (PH) Family Self-Sufficiency Program funding for Fiscal Year 2006. This announcement contains the consolidated names and addresses of those award recipients selected for funding based on demonstrated performance.

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

This NOAA is issued in connection with the calendar year 2008 tax credit allocation round of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, as authorized by Title I, subtitle C, section 121 of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-554) and amended by section 221 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-357), section 101 of the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 108-357), and Division A, section 102 of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-432) (the Act). Through the NMTC Program, the Fund provides authority to CDEs to offer an incentive to investors in the form of tax credits over seven years, which is expected to stimulate the provision of private investment capital that, in turn, will facilitate economic and community development in Low- Income Communities. Through this NOAA, the Fund announces the availability of $3.5 billion of NMTC authority authorized by the Act. In this NOAA, the Fund addresses specifically how an entity may apply to receive an allocation of NMTCs, the competitive procedure through which NMTC Allocations will be made, and the actions that will be taken to ensure that proper allocations are made to appropriate entities.

This special condition is issued for the Bell Helicopter Model 429 helicopters. These helicopters will have novel or unusual design features associated with installing electrical and electronic systems that perform critical functions, including an Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) and a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC). The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards to protect systems that perform critical control functions, or provide critical displays, from the effects of high-intensity radiated fields (HIRF). This special condition contains the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to ensure that critical functions of systems will be maintained when exposed to HIRF.

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. HUD is requesting renewed approval to require Public Housing Agencies to obtain certificates of insurance from contractors and subcontractors before beginning work under either the development of a new low-income public housing project or the modernization of an existing project.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

There will be a public meeting in Washington, DC to discuss the proposed rule for the management of roadless areas on National Forest System lands in the State of Idaho.

The Media Bureau extends the comment and reply comment deadlines on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') on revisions to the Commission's program access and retransmission consent rules and whether it may be appropriate to preclude the practice of programmers to tie desired programming with undesired programming. To facilitate the development of a thorough record, the deadline for filing comments in response to the NPRM is extended to January 4, 2008, and the deadline for filing reply comments is extended to January 22, 2008.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 8609, Low-Income Housing Credit Allocation and Certification and 8609-A, Annual Statement of Low-Income Housing Credit.

The National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC) will meet in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss emerging issues in urban and community forestry and introduce the new ``Council'' members.

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of requests by the registrants to voluntarily terminate certain uses of its products containing the pesticide chloroneb. The requests would terminate chloroneb's use on residential lawns and turf, as well as on lawns and turf at parks and schools. The requests would not terminate the last chloroneb products registered for use in the United States. EPA intends to grant these requests at the close of the comment period for this announcement unless the Agency receives substantive comments within the comment period that would merit its further review of the requests, or unless the registrants withdraw their requests within this period. Upon acceptance of these requests, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the final order.

This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition (Defect Petition DP06-005) submitted by Public Citizen to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30162, requesting that the agency commence a proceeding to determine the existence of a defect related to motor vehicle safety with regard to engine stalling in Model Year (MY) 2003-2005 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Flex Fuel Vehicles that operate using E85, an alternative fuel. After reviewing all available information, NHTSA has concluded that further expenditure of the agency's investigative resources on the issue raised by the petition is not warranted. The agency accordingly has denied the petition.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of dimethenamid in or on hop, dried cones; pumpkin, radish (roots and tops); rutabaga (roots and tops); turnip greens; turnip (roots and tops); and winter squash. The Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). This regulation also modifies 40 CFR 180.464, section (b) by deleting the existing time-limited tolerance for winter squash as a permanent tolerance is being established by this action.

EPA has released on its website updates to the listings of inert ingredients permitted in pesticide products applied to non-food sites, including those permitted for use in minimum risk pesticides exempted under FIFRA Section 25(b) and those eligible for USDA's National Organic Program. The lists were last updated in 2004.

These special conditions are issued for Boeing Model 757 Series Airplanes. These airplanes, as modified by Triad International Maintenance Company (TIMCO), will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with seats that include non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels that would affect survivability during a post-crash fire event. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

These special conditions are issued for the Boeing Model 787-8 airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes. The architecture of the Boeing Model 787-8 computer systems and networks may allow access to external systems and networks, such as wireless airline operations and maintenance systems, satellite communications, electronic mail, the Internet, etc. On-board wired and wireless devices may also have access to parts of the airplane's digital systems that provide flight critical functions. These new connectivity capabilities may result in security vulnerabilities to the airplane's critical systems. For these design features, the applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for protection and security of airplane systems and data networks against unauthorized access. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing standards. Additional special conditions will be issued for other novel or unusual design features of the Boeing Model 787-8 airplanes.