July 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On July 23, 2008, Productos Laminados de Monterrey S.A. de C.V. and Prolamsa, Inc. (collectively, ``Prolamsa'') filed a First Request for Panel Review with the United States Section of the NAFTA Secretariat pursuant to Article 1904 of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Panel review was requested of the Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value made by the International Trade Administration respecting Light-Walled Rectangular Pipe and Tube From Mexico. The determination was published in the Federal Register (73 FR 35649) on June 24, 2008. The NAFTA Secretariat has assigned Case Number USA-MEX-2008-1904-03 to this request.

The Commission charges fees to designated contract markets and registered futures associations to recover the costs incurred by the Commission in the operation of its program of oversight of self- regulatory organization (SRO) rule enforcement programs (17 CFR part 1 Appendix B) (National Futures Association (NFA), a registered futures association, and the contract markets are referred to as SROs). The calculation of the fee amounts to be charged for FY 2008 is based upon an average of actual program costs incurred during FY 2005, 2006, and 2007, as explained below. The FY 2008 fee schedule is set forth in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Electronic payment of fees is required.

In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Proposed Collection: Title: Evaluation of Risk Factors Associated with Viral Infections in Chinese Donors: a. Risk factors associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), b. Risk factors associated with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). This collection will cover two protocols as stated in the title. The first protocol will aim to study risk factors associated with HIV in Chinese donors and the second protocol will study risk factors related to HBV and HCV in Chinese donors. Type of Information Collection Request: NEW. Need and Use of Information Collection: Understanding the risk factors associated with HIV, HBV and HCV infections in donors is essential for developing donor behavioral screening policies. Injection drug use, sexual transmissions, transfusion history, and medical injections are thought to be major routes of transmission in China but their relative importance in blood donors is unknown. In the U.S., risk factors have been better characterized but, questions still remain. Risk factors cannot be identified in 33% and 40% of persons with acute hepatitis B and C respectively, and risk factors may differ between the U.S. and China. This study will improve our understanding of potential transfusion transmitted viral risk factors that cannot be optimally studied in the U.S. because of their low prevalence. For example, we may be able to assess whether treatments commonly used in China, such as acupuncture and medical injections, are important routes of HBV and HCV transmission. The primary objectives of the proposed study are to assess: The primary risk factors associated with HIV, HBV and HCV. The relative importance of injection drug use, heterosexual transmission, family history, transfusion history, history of previous whole blood or plasma donation, male to male sex, medical injections, acupuncture, and tattoos as routes of transmission for HIV, HBV and HCV. Other important routes of transmission for these viruses such as sex with an injection drug user, snorting drugs, living with someone who has HBV and HCV, living with someone who injects drugs, sharing a toothbrush or a razor, having been in jail, occupational history, having surgery, etc. It is proposed to conduct a large, multi blood center case-control study to meet the study objectives. Cases for the HIV protocol will be donors with confirmed anti-HIV antibody reactivity. Blood Centers will select a random group of donors with negative infectious disease test results as Controls for this study. Controls will be enrolled with a 2:1 ratio to Cases and will be matched to the Cases by blood center and donation month. Blood Centers will contact potential Controls by phone and/or mail, inviting them to come back to participate in this study. Cases and Controls will be consented and interviewed using the same Risk Factor Questionnaire (RFQ) by Chinese-CDC (C-CDC) or blood center staff, either at the local C-CDC or blood center. The second protocol assessing risk factors related to HBV and HCV will have three groups of donors: ``HBV Group'': HBV (HBsAg) positive donors either from prescreening (rapid testing) or routine screening testing. Confirmatory testing for HBV will be done for these donors. ``HCV Group'': HCV (anti-HCV) positive donors from routine screening testing (blood centers do not do prescreening rapid testing for anti- HCV). Confirmatory testing for HCV will be done for these donors. The third group will be a ``Control Group'' including donors with negative results for all prescreening and routine screening tests. No additional testing is done for these donors. On a monthly basis, the blood centers will use the confirmatory testing results for HBV and HCV respectively, to generate a list of cases. For that same month, the blood center will generate a list of controls (randomly selected and matched by blood center and month of donation.) The same control group will be used for HBV and HCV cases. Donors in all three groups will be mailed a Risk Factor Survey study packet. The packet will include a study information sheet (discussing the purpose and nature of this study), an informed consent document explaining the voluntary nature, the benefits and risks of this study, a RFQ, a small monetary reward for taking the survey and an envelope with paid postage for the donor to mail their completed questionnaire back to the blood center. Frequency of Response: Once. Affected Public: Individuals. Type of Respondents: Adult Blood Donors. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,920; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1; Average Burden of Hours per Response: 0.33; and Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 1,293.5. The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at: $1,940.25 (based on $1.50 per hour). According to China's National Bureau of Statistics in 2006, the average annual wage in China is 21,001 Chinese Yuan (or $ 2,958 U.S. dollars based on current exchange rate of 1 U.S. dollar = 7.1). There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

This document contains corrections for the notice that was published in the Federal Register of Thursday, July 24, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 143), [Page 43214-43215]. The topic of the conference call has been changed.

This interim final rule codifies in the Code of Federal Regulations recently-enacted statutory provisions that prohibit public transportation agencies, railroad carriers, and their respective contractors and subcontractors from knowingly misrepresenting Federal guidance or regulations concerning security background checks for certain individuals.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

Applicant seeks an order declaring that it has ceased to be an investment company. On April 16, 2007, each series of applicant transferred its assets to a corresponding series of either Legg Mason Partners Equity Trust or Legg Mason Partners Income Trust, based on net asset value. Expenses of approximately $1,016,235 incurred in connection with the reorganization were paid by applicant and Legg Mason, Inc., the parent of applicant's investment adviser. Filing Date: The application was filed on July 16, 2008. Applicant's Address: 55 Water St., New York, NY 10041.

This document contains a correction to final regulations (TD 9414) that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, July 14, 2008 (73 FR 40173). The final regulations provide guidance on the portion of property transferred to a trust or otherwise, that is properly includible in a grantor's gross estate under Internal Revenue Code (Code) sections 2036 and 2039 if the grantor has retained the use of the property or the right to an annuity, unitrust, or other payment from such property for life, for any period not ascertainable without reference to the grantor's death, or for a period that does not in fact end before the grantor's death.

The Department of Commerce, 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)).

This notice announces applicability determinations, alternative monitoring decisions, and regulatory interpretations that EPA has made under the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS); the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP); and the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Program.

On October 27, 2005 (70 FR 61885), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a final rule revising its regulations to conform with the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that, among other things, terminated the NRC's authority and responsibility to conduct antitrust reviews of future applications to construct or operate a nuclear reactor. Inadvertently, the final rule failed to remove some references to the NRC's authority and responsibility to conduct antitrust reviews. This rule removes those provisions.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for GE CF34-8E series turbofan engines with certain part number (P/N) full authority digital engine controls (FADECs) installed. This AD requires reprogramming the FADEC software from version 8Ev5.40 to an FAA- approved software version. This AD results from six loss of thrust control events from the same software fault scenario. We are issuing this AD to prevent loss of thrust control and controllability of the airplane.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is issuing an Order pursuant to Section 409(b)(3) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act (FDICIA). Section 409(b)(3) provides that the Commission (or one of several other authorized U.S. financial regulators) may determine that the supervision by a foreign financial regulator of a multilateral clearing organization (MCO) for over-the- counter (OTC) instruments satisfies appropriate standards. The Commission is issuing this Order with respect to the supervision by the United Kingdom's (UK) Financial Services Authority (FSA) of ICE Clear Europe Limited (ICE Clear Europe).

This document increases the maximum monetary forfeiture penalties available to the Commission under its rules governing monetary forfeiture proceedings to account for inflation. The inflationary adjustment is necessary to implement the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, which requires federal agencies to adjust ``civil monetary penalties provided by law'' at least once every four years. The increase covers the period between June of the year the particular forfeiture amount was last set or adjusted and June 2007. The increase in the Consumer Price Index for the relevant period was applied to each maximum penalty, and then rounded using the statutorily defined rules to adjust each maximum monetary forfeiture penalty accordingly. The base forfeiture amounts in the Commission's rules remain unchanged by this rule revision.

This order amends the manufacturing cost allowances and the butterfat yield factor used in the Class III and Class IV product-price formulas applicable to all Federal milk marketing orders. More than the required producers approved the issuance of the interim order as amended.