May 13, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has submitted its annual report on the identification of those foreign countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access to United States persons that rely upon intellectual property protection, and those foreign countries determined to be priority foreign countries, to the Committee on Finance of the United States Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the United States House of Representatives, pursuant to section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242).

The Coast Guard proposes to establish a temporary safety zone for the Beverly Homecoming Fireworks in Beverly, Massachusetts. This safety zone is necessary to protect the life and property of the maritime public from potential hazards associated with a fireworks display. The safety zone would temporarily prohibit entry into or movement within this portion of Beverly Harbor during the closure period.

The Coast Guard proposes designating the Humboldt Bay Bar Channel and the Humboldt Bay Entrance Channel as a Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) for certain commercial vessels transporting oil or hazardous material as cargo. This action is necessary to reduce significant hazards to subject vessels, the port and the public that are present during periods of poor weather conditions. This RNA includes criteria for when the bar would close, notice requirements, and procedures for waiver requests for vessels transporting oil or certain dangerous cargoes in bulk within Humboldt Bay.

On December 11, 2003, EPA promulgated national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for miscellaneous coating manufacturing. This action proposes amending the NESHAP by providing additional compliance options and clarifications. Specifically, this action proposes an option to demonstrate compliance with a percent reduction emission limit by measuring total organic compounds (TOC), an option to demonstrate compliance with the weight percent hazardous air pollutant (HAP) limit in coatings products based on formulation data, and a change to the process vessel standards to allow the cover or lid on a process vessel to be opened for material additions and sampling. Other proposed amendments are clarifications of the requirements for cleaning operations, the compliance date for equipment that is added to an existing source, the conditions under which you must determine whether an emission stream is a halogenated vent stream, and the terminology used to describe the emission limits for process vessels. This action also proposes a revised definition of Group 2 transfer operations to clarify that all product loading operations are part of the miscellaneous coating manufacturing affected source and, thus, are not subject to the organic liquid distribution (OLD) NESHAP. In the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register, we are taking direct final action on the proposed amendments because we view the amendments as noncontroversial and anticipate no adverse comments. We have explained our reasons for the amendments in the preamble to the direct final rule. If we receive no adverse comments, we will take no further action on the proposed amendments. If we receive adverse comments, we will withdraw only those provisions on which we received adverse comments. We will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register indicating which provisions will become effective and which provisions are being withdrawn. If part or all of the direct final rule in the Rules and Regulations section of today's Federal Register is withdrawn, all comments pertaining to the withdrawn provisions will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed amendments. We will not institute a second comment period before taking the subsequent final action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding a public meeting to discuss the development of regulations for aircraft public water systems. To support the rulemaking process, EPA will undertake a collaborative stakeholder process with representatives from industry, government, public interest groups, and the general public.

EPA is taking direct final action to amend the national emission standards for pharmaceuticals production. The direct final rule amendments include provisions for planned routine maintenance of wastewater tanks, alternative monitoring provisions for caustic scrubbers and condensers, and references general standards for containers. We are making the amendments by direct final rule, without prior proposal, because we view the revisions as noncontroversial and anticipate no adverse comments.

The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service has initiated the process to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Canadian River Tamarisk Control Project on the Cibola National Forest, Kiowa National Grassland. The proposed action would restore the hydrologic function of the Canadian River by eradicating tamarisk (salt cedar) along the river corridor and tributaries, covering 16 miles (approximately 540 acres) that occur on Federal administrative lands. This proposal includes the use of a helicopter to aerially apply the herbicide imazapyr (common trade names Arsenal and Habitat) along with an approved surfactant and drift control agent, and/or use mechanical treatments and backpack sprayers to apply the same herbicide to cut stumps in designated areas. The objective is to eradicate tamarisk from this section of the Canadian River and promote the re-establishment of native riparian vegetation and habitat conditions for wildlife. Salt cedar has actively invaded the riparian area along the Canadian River, replacing native plants and wildlife. The Canadian River supplies irrigation water to thousands of acres of agriculture land, provides for recreational opportunities, and is home to several indigenous wildlife species. Tamarisk is listed by both the State of New Mexico Department of Agriculture and the Federal government as a noxious weed. The State of New Mexico has identified tamarisk as a species that is causing an ecological crisis in several river systems throughout the state, including the Canadian River. Land owners both above and below the National Grassland segment of the Canadian River are in the process of treating their lands to control tamarisk using the same types of treatment methods. This effort would be coordinated with those other treatment efforts within this watershed. Tamarisk is known to cause a change in ecological conditions that tend to eliminate native species and reduce water delivery, due to its ability to transpire large amounts of water during the growing season. Herbicide treatments have been shown to be an effective and efficient method for eradicating tamarisk and returning the riparian habitat to a healthy functioning ecosystem that is beneficial to both the biotic and human environments. The Canadian River Canyon has been identified as an inventoried roadless area. The Canadian River also has eligibility status as a scenic river under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and outstanding remarkable values would be protected until a decision is made on the future use of the river and adjacent lands or until an action is taken by Congress to designate the river as such.

EPA is disapproving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland, and is issuing a protective finding for that plan pursuant to EPA's transportation conformity rule. The intended effect of this action is to disapprove Maryland's attainment plan for the Metropolitan Washington, DC severe 1-hour ozone nonattainment area (the Washington area) and to issue a protective finding which allows the motor vehicle emissions budgets identified in that plan to be used in future conformity determinations. This action allows transportation planning activities, including conformity analyses and determinations, to continue normally until such time as highway sanctions would be imposed pursuant to the Clean Air Act (the CAA or the Act) and EPA's order of sanctions rule.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to harvest timber on north Prince of Wales Island, in a location south of Coffman Cove, west of Luck Lake and East of the Naukati/Sarkar on the Thorne Bay Ranger District, Tongass National Forest. The proposed action would harvest up to 50 million board feet (MMBF) of timber on approximately 4,500 acres. The project would require up to 32 miles of new road construction (14 of these would be temporary road) and seven miles of road reconstruction.

The Secretary of Agriculture is establishing a Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee, under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, to provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the State Petitions for Inventoried Roadless Area Management final rule set out at 36 CFR part 294, subpart B, published elsewhere in this part of today's Federal Register. Nominations of persons to serve on this committee are invited.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.