January 21, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to section 994(a), (o), and (p) of title 28, United States Code, the United States Sentencing Commission is considering promulgating certain amendments to the sentencing guidelines, policy statements, and commentary. This notice sets forth the proposed amendments and, for each proposed amendment, a synopsis of the issues

This notice advises that HUD is issuing for public comment a comprehensive set of revised closing documents for use in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily rental projects. This notice starts anew the process for updating the multifamily rental project closing documents; that process commenced with an August 2, 2004, notice that presented proposed revised closing documents for public comment. The August 2004 notice was followed by an August 31, 2006, notice in which HUD provided updates on the closing document development process, advised of policy decisions that HUD had made at that time, and announced a September 21, 2006, public meeting at which HUD would take questions on the development process and policy decisions announced in the August 31, 2006, notice.

The Department of Homeland Security announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) has designated Haiti for temporary protected status (TPS) for a period of 18 months. Under section 244(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary is authorized to designate a foreign state for TPS or parts of such state upon finding that such state is experiencing ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or ``extraordinary and temporary conditions.'' The Secretary may grant TPS to individual nationals of the designated foreign state (or to eligible aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in such state) who have been both continuously physically present in the United States since the effective date of the designation and continually residing in the United States since a date determined by the Secretary, and who meet other eligibility criteria. TPS is available only to persons who were continuously physically present in the United States as of the effective date of the designation.

The EPA is hereby granting a waiver of the Buy American requirements of ARRA Section 1605 under the authority of Section 1605(b)(1) [inconsistent with the public interest] to Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources, Gwinnett County, Georgia (``County'') for the purchase of a foreign manufactured submersible pump. This is a project specific waiver and only applies to the use of the specified product for the ARRA project being proposed. Any other ARRA recipient that wishes to use the same product must apply for a separate waiver based on project specific circumstances. The County's tunnel and tunnel lift station project will include installation of two submersible pumps as well as the purchase of one spare pump. The project was originally designed between 2003 and 2006, and bids were taken on March 1, 2007. The County standardized ITT Flygt Corporation as the sole manufacturer of submersible pumps in 2003, when design of the project started. At the time of design, the County already had in operation 88 Flygt pumps out of the 106 pumps in the system. The County has submitted a detailed memorandum dated October 17, 2003, explaining the rationale for standardization. According to the memorandum, the County desired to, ``standardize on a single brand of submersible pumps for wastewater pump stations in order to provide greater reliability in the operation of pump stations and avoid the increased costs of inventory, service, maintenance, and engineering associated with using several different brands.'' This is a project whose earlier phases began prior the enactment of ARRA and was undertaken for the principal purpose of Clean Water Act compliance. The procurement for those prior phases standardized on a particular manufactured good that is subject to ARRA section 1605 requirements for its ARRA-funded phase but the performance from and operation and maintenance of such good in the performance of the facility would be detrimentally affected by a requirement to use a non-standardized good(s). Based on the review of the information provided, EPA has concluded that a waiver of the Buy American provisions is justified. The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Administration and Resources Management has concurred on this decision to make an exception to Section 1605 of ARRA. This action permits the County to purchase Flygt submersible pumps, manufactured by ITT Flygt Corporation, as specified in its September 1, 2009, request.

EPA is finalizing the update of the Outer Continental Shelf (``OCS'') Air Regulations proposed in the Federal Register on March 3, 2009. Requirements applying to OCS sources located within 25 miles of States' seaward boundaries must be updated periodically to remain consistent with the requirements of the corresponding onshore area (``COA''), as mandated by section 328(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act (``the Act''). The portion of the OCS air regulations that is being updated pertains to the requirements for OCS sources operating off of the State of Alaska. The intended effect of approving the OCS requirements for the State of Alaska is to regulate emissions from OCS sources in a manner consistent with the requirements onshore. The change to the existing requirements discussed below is incorporated by reference into the regulations and is listed in the appendix to the OCS air regulations.

EPA is announcing a new general practice of reviewing submissions under section 8(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for confidential business information (CBI) claims of chemical identities listed on the public portion of the TSCA Chemical Substances Inventory. Where a health and safety study submitted under section 8(e) of TSCA involves a chemical identity that is already listed on the public portion of the TSCA Chemical Substances Inventory, EPA expects to find that the chemical identity clearly is not entitled to confidential treatment. EPA believes this new general practice will make more health and safety information available to the public and support an important part of the Agency's mission: To promote public understanding of the potential risks posed by chemicals in commerce.

This notice announces EPA's approval, under regulations for Cross-Media Electronic Reporting, of the State of North Carolina's request to revise its EPA-authorized program to allow electronic reporting.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is issuing this policy statement to clarify and provide guidance to Commission staff and affected parties that Commission Rule 12.1(a), 17 CFR 12.1(a), requires that all rules of practice relating to reparation proceedings under 17 CFR part 12 ``shall be construed liberally so as to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of the issues presented with full protection for the rights of all parties.''

The U.S. Department of State invites recommendations for qualified U.S. experts to serve as authors or reviewers of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which will be developed and finalized over the coming four years.

Pursuant to the Decisions adopted by the 27th and 32nd Sessions of the World Heritage Committee (Documents WHC-03/72.COM/ 7A.12, WHC 32.COM.7B.39) accepted by the United States Government, the National Park Service (NPS) announces the publication for comment of a Draft Site Progress Report to the World Heritage Committee for Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice concerning the final effect of the HHS decision to designate a class of employees at the Oak Ridge Hospital in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On December 10, 2009, as provided for under 42 U.S.C. 7384q(b), the Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC:

In compliance with Section 202(c) of the National Housing Act, this notice advises of the cause and description of administrative actions taken by HUD's Mortgagee Review Board against HUD-approved mortgagees.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice concerning the final effect of the HHS decision to designate a class of employees at the Hanford site in Richland, Washington, as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On December 10, 2009, as provided for under 42 U.S.C. 7384q(b), the Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC:

NMFS issues regulations under authority of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act (WCPFC Implementation Act), which authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to promulgate regulations needed to carry out the obligations of the United States under the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Convention), including implementing the decisions of the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC). The regulations include requirements related to permitting, vessel monitoring systems, vessel observers, vessel markings, reporting and recordkeeping, at-sea transshipment, and boarding and inspection on the high seas, among others. NMFS has determined that this action is necessary for the United States to satisfy its international obligations under the Convention, to which it is a Contracting Party. It will have the effect of requiring that all relevant U.S. fishing vessels are operated in conformance with the provisions of the Convention.

This final rule revises identification requirements for U.S. vessels that fish for pelagic management unit species in the western and central Pacific Ocean. Each vessel is required to display its International Telecommunication Union Radio Call Sign (IRCS) or, if an IRCS has not been assigned, its official number preceded by the characters ``USA ''. This rule makes Federal vessel identification requirements consistent with international requirements.

On December 21, 2009, we published in the Federal Register (74 FR 67862) a notice inviting applications for the Excellence in Economic Education program's FY 2010 competition. The original notice established a February 16, 2010, deadline date for eligible applicants to apply for funding under this program. For this competition, applicants are required to submit their applications electronically through the Department's Electronic Grant Application System (e- Application). However, e-Application will not be available to users beginning Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, 2010. During this time the Department will transition the e-application process from the current system (GAPS) to a new system. Because e-Application will be unavailable for several days prior to the original deadline date, we are extending the deadline date for transmittal of applications for the Excellence in Economic Education program FY 2010 competition.

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2010. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.