Agencies and Commissions August 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined not to review the presiding administrative law judge's (``ALJ'') initial determination (``ID'') (Order No. 3) granting Complainant's motion to amend the complaint and notice of investigation.

The Commission is establishing a docket in response to a Postal Service request for an informal rulemaking on proposed changes in certain analytical methods used in periodic reporting. The proposed changes are identified as Proposals Four through Eight. They affect, respectively, Inbound International Mail; cost assignment of certain flat sorting operations; bias in mixed mail tallies; and Express Mail. Establishing this docket will allow the Commission to consider the Postal Service's proposal and comments from the public.

The FDIC has determined that insufficient assets exist in the receivership of Sun American Bank, Boca Raton, Florida, to make any distribution on general unsecured claims, and therefore such claims will recover nothing and have no value.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Gray Television Licensee, LLC (``Gray''), the licensee of station WJHG-TV, channel 7, Panama City, Florida, requesting the substitution of channel 18 for channel 7 at Panama City. WJHG's viewers continue to experience problems receiving the station's VHF channel 7 digital broadcasts despite two power increases since it began operations on digital channel 7. Gray states that the best solution to resolve the majority of viewers reception problems is to move to a UHF channel, which serves the public interest by resolving over-the-air reception problems in certain areas of WJHG's predicted service areas.

Section 942(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act eliminated the automatic suspension of the duty to file under Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for asset-backed securities issuers and granted the Commission the authority to issue rules providing for the suspension or termination of such duty. We are adopting rules to provide certain thresholds for suspension of the reporting obligations for asset-backed securities issuers. We are also amending our rules relating to the Exchange Act reporting obligations of asset-backed securities issuers in light of these statutory changes.

This rule amends the Postal Service's regulations concerning tort claims to update the mailing address of the National Tort Center.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and NASA NEPA policy and procedures (14 CFR part 1216 subpart 1216.3), NASA has prepared a Draft EA for launch of NASA routine payloads on expendable launch vehicles. For purposes of this Draft EA, NASA routine payloads include science instruments, spacecraft or technology demonstrations. This EA updates the Final Environmental Assessment for Launch of NASA Routine Payloads on Expendable Launch Vehicles from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base California published in June 2002. NASA missions covered by this Draft EA would be scheduled for launch at one of the proposed launch sites and would be within the total number of launch operations previously analyzed in launch vehicle and launch site NEPA documents. The proposed launches would occur from existing launch facilities at CCAFS, Florida, VAFB, California, the United States Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site (USAKA/RTS) in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), NASA's Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), Virginia, and the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC), Alaska. The Cooperating Agencies on this Draft EA include the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Draft EA analyzes the potential environmental impacts associated with preparing and implementing launches of missions that are designated NASA routine payloads on U.S. expendable launch vehicles from existing U.S. facilities using established procedures. The NASA routine payloads meet rigorously defined criteria ensuring that the spacecraft and their operation would not present any new or substantial environmental and safety concerns. A Routine Payload Checklist is used to exclude missions from consideration as routine payloads if they: (1) Include any extraterrestrial sample return; (2) would be launched on a vehicle or from a launch site for which NASA has not completed NEPA compliance; (3) carry radioactive sources that could not be approved by the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance Nuclear Flight Safety Assurance Manager or designee; (4) cause the manifested launch rate (per year) for a particular launch vehicle to exceed the rate previously approved and permitted at the launch sites; (5) require the construction of any new facilities (or substantial modification of existing facilities); (6) utilize hazardous materials in quantities exceeding the Envelope Payload Characteristics (EPCs); (7) utilize potentially hazardous material whose type or amount would not be covered by new or existing local permits; (8) release material other than propulsion system exhaust or inert gases into the atmosphere; (9) suggest the potential for any substantial impact on public health and safety not covered by this Draft EA; (10) have the potential for substantial effects on the environment outside the United States; (11) utilize an Earth-pointing laser system that does not meet the requirements for safe operations according to American National Standards Institute analysis techniques; (12) carry live or inactive disease-causing biological agents beyond Biological Safety Level 1; or (13) have the potential to create substantial public controversy related to environmental issues. Payloads that fall within the Routine Payload Checklist would utilize materials, quantities of materials, launch vehicles, and operational characteristics that are consistent with normal and routine payload preparation and flight activities at these specified launch sites. Therefore, the environmental impacts of launching routine payloads would fall within the range of routine, ongoing, and previously documented impacts associated with approved programs that have been determined not to be significant. The purpose and need for this proposed action is to fulfill NASA's mission for Earth exploration, space exploration, technology development, and scientific research. The scientific missions associated with NASA routine payloads could not be accomplished without launching orbital and interplanetary spacecraft.

San Francisco, in its municipal capacity, has filed a formal complaint alleging that there deficiencies in the Postal Service's delivery of mail to residents of certain multi-unit buildings, and that the Postal Service is therefore not acting in conformance with statutory requirements. This document identifies the grounds for the complaint, reviews key developments, and addresses certain procedural matters, including authorization of settlement negotiations.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing final regulations to implement the ruling in the case of Fathauer v. United States, 566 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 2009). In this decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that part-time employees are covered under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 5546(a), the statute governing the payment of Sunday premium pay for work performed on Sundays. The revised Sunday premium pay regulations eliminate references to ``full-time'' employees, which will permit Sunday premium payments to part-time employees, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 5546(a). Consistent with the reasoning in the Fathauer decision, OPM has determined that part-time prevailing rate employees are also entitled to payment of Sunday premium pay, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5544(a). Intermittent employees continue to be excluded from earning Sunday premium pay because of the nature of their appointment.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is amending the regulations governing disposition of Official Personnel Folders of Federal employees to clarify the roles and responsibilities of OPM and Federal agencies.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a revised information collection request (ICR) 3206-0219, USAJOBS. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35) as amended by the Clinger-Cohen Act (Pub. L. 104- 106), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is soliciting comments for this collection. The information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on June 22, 2011 at Volume 76 FR No. 120 allowing for a 60-day public comment period. No comments were received for this information collection. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. OMB is particularly interested in comments that: 1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; 2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; 3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued for public comment a document entitled: NUREG-1482, Revision 2, ``Guidelines for Inservice Testing at Nuclear Power Plants, Draft Report for Comment,'' and subtitled ``Inservice Testing of Pumps and Valves, and Inservice Examination and Testing of Dynamic Restraints (Snubbers) at Nuclear Power Plants''. (Note that this document was submitted previously for public comments as draft NUREG-1946. Based on public comments, draft NUREG- 1482 is being updated as Revision 2 and is being issued to incorporate all comments received for draft report NUREG-1946).