Agencies and Commissions May 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The General Services Administration (GSA) is amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) by revising and updating the agency's implementation of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that there is a violation of 19 U.S.C. 1337 by Spansion, Inc. and Spansion, LLC, both of Sunnyvale, California (collectively ``Spansion''); QUALCOMM, Inc. of San Diego, California (``Qualcomm''); ATI Technologies of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada (``ATI''); Motorola, Inc. of Schaumburg, Illinois (``Motorola''); STMicroelectronics N.V. of Geneva, Switzerland (``ST-NV''); and Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. of Austin, Texas (``Freescale'') (collectively, ``Respondents'') in the above-captioned investigation. The investigation is terminated.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Regulatory Secretariat (VPR) will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to reinstate a previously approved information collection requirement concerning Integrity of Unit Prices.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a renewal of a currently approved information collection requirement regarding nondiscrimination in Federal financial assistance programs. This information is needed to facilitate nondiscrimination in GSA's Federal Financial Assistance Programs, consistent with Federal civil rights laws and regulations that apply to recipients of Federal financial assistance. The clearance currently expires on July 31, 2009.

This notice is issued in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2459f-1(d). This is an update to a previous notice (09-12) on the 2009 Power Beaming and Tether Challenges. The 2009 Power Beaming Challenge is now scheduled and teams that wish to compete may register. A notice on the Tether Challenge will be issued at a later time. The NASA Centennial Challenges is a program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in technologies of interest and value to NASA and the nation. The 2009 Power Beaming Challenge is a prize competition designed to promote the development of new power transmission technologies with applications in energy systems, transportation and emergency operations. Significant improvements in power beaming could contribute to revolutionary advances in space transportation as well as other areas.

Pursuant to sections 254(a)(11)(A) and 255(b) of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), Public Law 107-252, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) hereby causes to be published in the Federal Register changes to the HAVA State plans previously submitted by Florida and Ohio.

The Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Fourth FNPRM) seeks comment on whether to modify FCC Form 323-E, the Ownership Report filed by noncommercial educational (NCE) licensees of AM, FM, and TV broadcast stations, to obtain gender, race, and ethnicity data. Obtaining the information, the FCC believes, would further its goal to design policies to advance diversity in the broadcast industry. The Fourth FNPRM also seeks comment on whether to collect gender, race and ethnicity ownership information for low power FM (LPFM) licensees or whether to continue to exempt LPFM licensees from the 323-E filing requirements.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the following information collection(s). Comments are requested concerning (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act that does not display a valid OMB control number.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Small Business Administration's intentions to request approval on a new and/or currently approved information collection.

On April 6, 2009, the U.S. Department of Commerce published notice of the revocation of its antidumping duty order on gray portland cement and cement clinker from Mexico and termination of the sunset review of the order (74 FR 15435). Accordingly, the Commission gives notice that its antidumping duty review concerning gray portland cement and cement clinker from Mexico (Investigation No. 731-TA-451 (Second Review)) is terminated.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing amendments to the custody rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and related forms. The amendments, among other things, would require registered investment advisers that have custody of client funds or securities to undergo an annual surprise examination by an independent public accountant to verify client funds and securities. In addition, unless client accounts are maintained by an independent qualified custodian (i.e., a custodian other than the adviser or a related person), the adviser or related person must obtain a written report from an independent public accountant that includes an opinion regarding the qualified custodian's controls relating to custody of client assets. Finally, the amendments would provide the Commission with better information about the custodial practices of registered investment advisers. The amendments are designed to provide additional safeguards under the Advisers Act when an adviser has custody of client funds or securities.

This notice is issued in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2451(314)(d). The 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge is now scheduled and teams that wish to compete may soon register (see contact information below). The NASA Centennial Challenges is a program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in technologies of interest and value to NASA and the nation. The Lunar Lander Challenge is a prize competition designed to accelerate technology developments in reusable rocket-powered vehicles including vehicles capable of ferrying cargo or humans between lunar orbit and the lunar surface as well as future Earth launch vehicles or other rocket-powered vehicles. The Lunar Lander Challenge is administered for NASA by the X Prize Foundation. The prize purse is funded by NASA.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Astrophysics Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Subcommittee reports to the Science Committee of the NAC. The Meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting from the scientific community and other persons scientific and technical information relevant to program planning.

This document corrects a notice appearing in the Federal Register on May 18, 2009 (74 FR 23220), concerning the issuance of Draft Regulatory Guide 1237. This action is necessary to correct the

Under the provision of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), agencies are required to publish a Notice in the Federal Register notifying the public, that the Agency is revising an information collection request for OMB review, approval, and request public review and comment on the submission. Comments are being solicited on the need for the information; the accuracy of the Agency's burden estimate; the quality, practical utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the reporting burden, including automated collection techniques by using other forms of technology. The proposed form under review is summarized below.