May 17, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is submitting for public comment a proposed settlement of royalty rates for the retransmission of digital over-the-air television broadcast signals by satellite carriers under the statutory license.

The date of the staff technical conference on the electronic tariff and rate case filing software has been changed to June 1, 2005. This conference will address issues relating to the Commission's July 8, 2004 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring electronic tariff filings (69 FR 43929).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is proposing to amend its regulations to incorporate by reference standards promulgated by the North American Energy Standards Board's (NAESB's) Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) dealing with: Open Access Same-Time Information Systems (OASIS) business practice standards, including posting requirements for Order No. 2003 generator interconnection agreements and procedures; OASIS Standards and Communication Protocols and Data Dictionary; and business practice standards for Coordinate Interchange, Area Control Error (ACE) Equation Special Cases, Manual Time Error Correction, and Inadvertent Interchange Payback. Incorporating these standards by reference into the Commission's regulations is intended to benefit wholesale electric customers by streamlining utility business practices and transactional processes and OASIS procedures and by adopting a formal ongoing process for reviewing and upgrading the Commission's OASIS standards and other electric industry business practices that would benefit from the implementation of generic industry standards. In addition, the proposal to adopt business practice standards for Coordinate Interchange, ACE Equation Special Cases, Manual Time Error Correction, and Inadvertent Interchange Payback are intended to complement the Version 0 Reliability Standards of the North American Electric Reliability Council.

NMFS is amending the regulations governing the trade of tuna and tuna-like species in the North and South Atlantic Ocean to implement recommendations adopted at the 2004 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). This final rule lifts the trade restrictions on importing bigeye tuna (BET) from Cambodia; BET and bluefin tuna (BFT) from Equatorial Guinea; and BET, BFT, and swordfish (SWO) from Sierra Leone. Additionally, the final rule corrects section reference conflicts between two rules that were published in the Federal Register on November 17, 2004, and December 6, 2004.

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This proposed revision consists of an Early Action Compact (EAC) Plan that will enable the Northern Shenandoah Valley Ozone EAC Area to demonstrate attainment and maintenance of the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The proposed revision consists of an Early Action Compact (EAC) Plan that will enable the Roanoke MSA EAC Area to demonstrate attainment and maintenance of the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality (NAAQS) standard. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia which consists of regulatory modifications intended to clarify the applicability of the solvent metal cleaning operations using non-halogenated solvents provisions. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

This amendment supersedes an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for the specified Eurocopter France (ECF) model helicopters. That AD currently requires replacing certain main or combiner gearboxes with airworthy gearboxes. Further investigation has shown that the main gearbox is not affected, and this amendment requires replacing a certain combiner gearbox with a modified airworthy gearbox. This amendment is prompted by a report of a freewheel unit slipping resulting in an engine overspeed and shutdown. Also, this amendment is prompted by the conclusion of the investigation, which finds the freewheel slippage is due to the surface treatment applied to certain freewheel rollers in the combiner gearbox. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent an engine overspeed, an engine shutdown, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

Pursuant to the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. 4151 et. seq. (2000), the United States Postal Service is revising its standards for facility accessibility and adding them to the CFR. These revisions are made in response to the Americans with Disabilities Act/ Architectural Barriers Act Guidelines (ADAAG/ABAAG) recently published by the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (US Access Board).

EPA is proposing approval of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Colorado. On June 20, 2003, the Governor of Colorado submitted a revised maintenance plan for the Greeley carbon monoxide (CO) maintenance area for the CO National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The revised maintenance plan contains transportation conformity budgets for 2005 through 2009, 2010 through 2014, and 2015 and beyond. In addition, the Governor submitted revisions to Colorado's Regulation No. 11 ``Motor Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program'' and revisions to Colorado's Regulation No. 13 ``Oxygenated Fuels Program.'' In this action, EPA is proposing approval of the Greeley CO revised maintenance plan, the transportation conformity budgets, and the revisions to Regulation No. 11 and Regulation No. 13. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Clean Air Act.

This final rule removes 42 CFR part 50, subpart A, ``Responsibilities of Awardee and Applicant Institutions for Dealing With and Reporting Possible Misconduct in Science,'' and replaces it with a new, more comprehensive part 93, ``Public Health Service Policies on Research Misconduct.'' The proposed part 93 was published for public comment on April 16, 2004. The final rule reflects both substantive and non-substantive amendments in response to public comments and to correct errors and improve clarity, but the general approach of the NPRM is retained. The purpose of the final rule is to implement legislative and policy changes applicable to research misconduct that occurred over the last several years, including the common Federal policies and procedures on research misconduct issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy on December 6, 2000.

This document provides notice of cancellation of a public hearing on proposed rulemaking that affects corporations engaging in mergers and consolidations and their shareholders under sections 358, 368(a)(1)(A), 367 and 884 of the Internal Revenue Code.

This document corrects final and temporary regulations (TD 9196) that were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, April 14, 2005 (70 FR 19694). The document contains regulations providing guidance under section 3402(f) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) for employers and employees relating to the Form W-4, ``Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate.''

The EPA is proposing amendments to the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing, which were issued on April 29, 2003 under section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This action proposes to correct minor errors and add a clarifying exemption inadvertently omitted in the final rule. 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 we anticipate no significant adverse comments. We have explained our reasons for the proposed amendments in the preamble to the direct final rule. If we receive no significant adverse comments, we will take no further action on the proposed amendments. If we receive significant adverse comments, we will withdraw only those provisions on which we received significant 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 amendments in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register are withdrawn, all comments pertaining to those provisions will be addressed in a subsequent final action based on the proposed amendments. We will not institute a second comment period on the subsequent final action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time. The regulatory text for the proposal is identical to that for the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register. For further supplementary information, see the direct final rule.

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD), which applies to certain Saab Model SAAB SF340A and SAAB 340B series airplanes. That AD currently requires repetitive detailed inspections of the windshield wiper assembly for discrepant conditions, and corrective actions if necessary. This new AD requires repetitive detailed inspections of the left and right wiper arm assemblies for damage, and corrective/related investigative actions if necessary. This AD is prompted by an additional incident of a windshield wiper blade separating from the wiper arm. We are issuing this AD to prevent separation of a wiper arm from the airplane, which could result in damage to the fuselage skin and propeller.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Fokker Model F.28 series airplanes. This AD requires a one-time inspection of the area underneath the auxiliary power unit (APU) enclosure to determine if drain tubes in the area are correctly installed and to detect damaged wiring, and corrective action if necessary. This AD is prompted by a report of a fire under the APU enclosure. We are issuing this AD to prevent fuel from accumulating under the APU enclosure, which, in the presence of an ignition source, could result in a fire.