Agencies and Commissions June 18, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Commission finds it in the public interest to allow the viewability rule to sunset as scheduled. The Commission reinterprets the statutory viewability requirement to permit cable operators to require the use of set-top equipment to view must- carry signals, provided that such equipment is both available and affordable (or provided at no cost). The Commission establishes a transitional period of six months after expiration of the current rule during which hybrid systems will be required to continue to carry the signals of must-carry stations in analog format to all analog cable subscribers. The Commission also concludes that the small-system HD carriage exemption continues to serve the public interest and extends the existing exemption for three more years.

The FTC announces revised monetary thresholds for three exemptions from the Franchise Rule. FTC is required to adjust the size of the monetary thresholds every fourth year based upon the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers published by the Department of Labor.

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. 10) granting the Complainant's motion to amend the complaint and the Notice of Investigation.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (``FDIC'') is amending the definition of ``financial activities'' set forth in section 380.8 of the FDIC's notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on March 23, 2011 titled ``Orderly Liquidation Authority'' (``March 2011 NPR'').\1\ The March 2011 NPR proposed standards for determining if a company is predominantly engaged in financial activities for purposes of Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act'' or ``Act'').\2\ A company that is predominantly engaged in such activities is a ``financial company'' for purposes of Title II of the Act (unless it is one of the few entities specifically excepted). Provisions of the March 2011 NPR other than section 380.8 already have been finalized. Based on a number of factors described within this notice of proposed rulemaking (``NPR''), the FDIC believes that it is necessary to clarify the scope of the activities that would be considered to be financial activities. Accordingly, this NPR amends section 380.8 of the March 2011 NPR to clarify the activities that would be considered to be financial activities for purposes of determining if a company is predominantly engaged in such activities under Title II of the Act.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collections associated with the Commission's Migratory Bird Order on Remand (Order). This document is consistent with the Order, which stated that the rules will become effective upon Commission publication of a document in the Federal Register announcing their approval by OMB.