February 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The purpose of this notice is to present a final report of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's review of certain accessibility provisions of the International Building Code, 2003 edition (2003 IBC), published by the International Code Council (ICC).\1\ ICC requested that the Department review the accessibility provisions of the 2003 IBC to determine whether those provisions are consistent with the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act (the Act), the regulations implementing the 1988 Amendments to the Act, and the Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines (the Guidelines) and, therefore, that the 2003 IBC could be recognized by the Department as a safe harbor for compliance with the law.

Pursuant to section 111(b)(1)(B) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the EPA has reviewed the emission standards for particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOX) contained in the standards of performance for electric utility steam generating units, industrial-commercial-institutional steam generating units, and small industrial-commercial-institutional steam generating units. This action presents the results of EPA's review and proposes amendments to standards consistent with those results. Specifically, we are proposing amendments to the PM, SO2, and NOX emission standards. We are also proposing to replace the current percent reduction requirement for SO2 with an output-based SO2 emission limit. We are also proposing an amendment to the PM emission limit. In addition to amending the emissions limits, we also are proposing several technical clarifications and corrections to existing provisions of the current rules.

On November 29, 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published the preliminary results of the new shipper reviews of the antidumping order on honey from the People's Republic of China (69 FR 69350). These reviews cover four exporters, Anhui Honghui Foodstuff (Group) Co., Ltd. (``Anhui Honghui''), Eurasia Bee's Products Co., Ltd. (``Eurasia''), Inner Mongolia Youth Trade Development Co., Ltd. (``Inner Mongolia Youth''), and Jiangsu Kanghong Natural Healthfoods Co., Ltd. (``Jiangsu Kanghong''). The period of review (``POR'') is December 1, 2002, through November 30, 2003. Based on our analysis of the record, and on comments from the interested parties, we have made changes to the margin calculations of all four producers/exporters as described below. See ``Final Results of Review'' section below.

The benchmark assessment of the South Atlantic black sea bass stock, completed in 2003 by SEDAR 2, will be updated with recent data during an assessment workshop to be held in Beaufort, NC.

This notice announces six information-gathering public meetings to be held at various locations on behalf of a financial education national strategy working group of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (Commission), established by the Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act (Title V of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003).

Pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. I), this notice announces the cancellation of a meeting of the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG). The TAMWG affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River restoration efforts to the Trinity Management Council. The meeting was scheduled to be held March 1, 2005 at the Veteran's Memorial Hall, 101 Memorial Lane, Weaverville, CA 96001. This meeting will be rescheduled at a later date.

This notice invites nominations of members to the Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) Groups (the Panel). Seven vacancies will exist on the Panel as of March 31, 2005. The purpose of the Panel is to review the APC groups and their associated weights and to advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (the Administrator) concerning the clinical integrity of the APC groups and their associated weights. The advice provided by the Panel will be considered as CMS prepares its annual updates of the hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) through rulemaking. The panel was recently rechartered for a 2-year period through November 21, 2006. Nominations: Nominations will be considered if received no later than March 15, 2005 at 5 p.m. e.s.t. Mail or deliver nominations to the following address: CMS; Attn: Shirl Ackerman-Ross, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), Advisory Panel on APC Groups; Center for Medicare Management (CMM), Hospital & Ambulatory Policy Group (HAPG), Division of Outpatient Care (DOC); 7500 Security Boulevard, Mail Stop C4-05-17; Baltimore, MD 21244-1850. Web Site: For additional information on the APC Panel and updates to the Panel's activities, search our Web site at: https:// www.cms.hhs.gov/faca/apc/default.asp. Advisory Committees' Information Lines: You may also refer to the CMS Advisory Committee Information Hotlines at 1-877-449-5659 (toll- free) or 410-786-9379 (local) for additional information.

This final rule provides a mechanism for us to expeditiously make changes to the durable medical equipment regional carrier (DMERC) service area boundaries without notice and comment rulemaking. Through this mechanism, we can change the geographical boundaries served by the regional contractors that process durable medical equipment claims through issuance of a Federal Register notice and make other minor changes in the contract administration of the DMERCs. The mechanism provides a method for increasing or decreasing the number of DMERCs, changing the boundaries of DMERCs based on criteria other than the boundaries of the Common Working File sectors, and awarding new contractors to perform statistical analysis or maintain the national supplier clearinghouse. We will publish these changes and their justifications in a Federal Register notice, rather than through notice and comment rulemaking. Although we may change the number and configuration of regional carriers, we are not altering the criteria and factors that we use in awarding contracts. Through this final rule, we are improving the contracting process so that we can swiftly meet the challenges of the changing healthcare industry and address the changing needs of beneficiaries, suppliers, and the Medicare program.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received petitions in 2004 to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program and to modify the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries because of country practices. The list of country practice petitions accepted for review will be announced in the Federal Register at a later date. This notice announces the product petitions that are accepted for further review in the 2004 GSP Annual Review, and sets forth the schedule for comment and public hearing on these petitions, for requesting participation in the hearing, and for submitting pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2005 interim total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod apportioned to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component of the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Groundfish Oversight Committee in March, 2005. Recommendations from the committee will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), on behalf of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), publishes annual management measures governing the Pacific Halibut fishery which are approved by the Secretary of State. This action is intended to provide public notice of the effectiveness of these IPHC annual management measures and to inform persons subject to them of their restrictions and requirements.

The PBGC proposes to amend its regulations to provide a rule for computing liability under section 4063(b) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (``ERISA'') when there is a substantial cessation of operations by an employer as described by section 4062(e) of ERISA.

The Office of Academic Exchange Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) U.S. Business Internship Program for Young Middle Eastern Women. Public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) may submit proposals to administer the participant recruitment, selection, pre-program preparation and alumnae components of the MEPI U.S. Business Internship Program for Young Middle Eastern Women. Eligible countries/locales are listed under the heading Funding Opportunity Description in this RFGP.

This document contains final regulations relating to the application of the unified partnership audit procedures to disputes regarding the ownership of residual interests in a Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit (REMIC). These regulations will affect taxpayers that invest in REMIC residual interests.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 4070, Employee's Report of Tips to Employer, Form 4070A, Employee's Daily Record of Tips; Forma 4070PR, Informe al Patrono de Propinas Recibidas por el Empleado; Forma 4070A-PR, Registro Diario de Propinas del Empleado.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. app. I section 10(d), of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and 5 U.S.C. section 552b, the Government in the Sunshine Act, a report summarizing the closed meeting activities of the Art Advisory Panel during 2004 has been prepared. A copy of this report has been filed with the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Management.