September 15, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to the provisions of the ``Government in the Sunshine Act'' (5 U.S.C. 552b), notice is hereby given of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board's public hearing and meeting.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Western Area Power Administration (Western), plans to authorize a new interconnection and design, construct, own, operate, and maintain a new 69-kilovolt (kV) transmission line and fiber optic cable for delivery of project use power as part of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region's (Reclamation) Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC)/California Aqueduct Intertie (Intertie) project. The Intertie, including the interconnection to Western's system and transmission line and fiber optic cable, was analyzed in a Reclamation Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with the Final EIS dated and released in November 2009. The EIS was developed in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Reclamation issued a Record of Decision (ROD) dated December 28, 2009, to proceed with the Intertie, described as its Proposed Action in the EIS. The Intertie would be located in Alameda County, California, and involves constructing and operating a pumping plant, a pipeline connection between the DMC and the California Aqueduct at Mile 7.2 of the DMC and Mile 9 of the California Aqueduct, a switchyard, access roads, and the transmission line. Reclamation served as the lead agency in the preparation of the NEPA documents for this project. Western, in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021), served as a cooperating agency. Western adopted the EIS in March 2010 (DOE/EIS-0398) to meet its NEPA responsibilities for its transmission actions in support of the Intertie.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the C season allowance of the 2010 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock for Statistical Area 610 in the GOA.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for shallow-water species by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to fully use the fourth seasonal apportionment of the 2010 Pacific halibut bycatch allowance specified for the trawl shallow-water species fishery in of the GOA.

NMFS is soliciting nominations to the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) as established by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 (ATCA). NMFS is also soliciting nominations for technical advisors to the Advisory Committee's species working groups.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a public meeting to discuss and receive comments on the following: the product classes DOE plans to analyze for the purposes of amending energy conservation standards for Class A external power supplies (EPSs) and establishing energy conservation standards for battery chargers (BCs) and non-Class A EPSs; the analytical framework, models, and tools DOE is using to evaluate standards for these products; the results of preliminary analyses performed by DOE for these products; and potential energy conservation standard levels derived from these analyses that DOE could consider for these products. DOE also encourages interested parties to submit written comments on these subjects. To inform stakeholders and facilitate the public meeting and comments process, DOE has prepared an agenda, a preliminary technical support document (TSD), and briefing materials, which are available at: https://www1.eere.energy.gov/ buildings/appliancestandards/residential/batteryexternal.html .

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Maritime Administration's (MARAD's) intention to request extension of approval for three years of a currently approved information collection.

The Coast Guard is establishing a safety zone around VERMILION 380A, a fixed platform, at Block 380 in the Outer Continental Shelf, approximately 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay, Louisiana. The fixed platform is on fire and the safety zone is needed to protect first responders attending to the fire and platform. Placing a safety zone around the platform will significantly reduce the threat of collisions, allisions, oil spills, and releases of natural gas, and thereby protect the safety of life, property, and the environment.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking public assistance in providing technical training to patent examiners within all technology centers. The Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP) is intended to provide scientists and experts as lecturers to patent examiners in order to update them on technical developments, the state of the art, emerging trends, maturing technologies, and recent innovations in their fields. Such guest lecturers must have relevant technical knowledge, as well as familiarity with prior art and industry practices/standards in areas of technology where such lectures would be beneficial.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') is conducting the first administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain steel nails (``nails'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') for the period of review (``POR'') January 23, 2008, through July 31, 2009. The Department has preliminarily determined that sales have been made below normal value (``NV'') with respect to certain exporters who participated fully and are entitled to a separate rate in this administrative review. If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results of this review, the Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries of subject merchandise during the POR. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

EPA has received a specific exemption request from the South Dakota Department of Agriculture to use the pesticide amitraz (CAS No. 330089-61-1) to treat up to 250,000 colonies of beehives to control varroa mites. The applicant proposes a use of a pesticide which was voluntarily canceled under section 6(f) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and which poses a risk similar to the risk which was voluntarily canceled under section 6(f) of FIFRA. EPA is soliciting public comment before making the decision whether or not to grant the exemption.