June 16, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS issues a proposed rule to implement Amendment 79 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). This action is necessary to reduce bycatch and improve utilization of groundfish harvested by catcher/ processor trawl vessels in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island management area (BSAI) that are not listed American Fisheries Act (AFA) catcher/processors referred to throughout this proposed rule as non-AFA catcher/processors. This action is intended to promote the management objectives of the Improved Retention/Improved Utilization (IRIU) program, the FMP, and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is correcting errors that appeared in the Hazardous Waste Manifest Final Rule, which was published in the Federal Register (FR) on March 4, 2005 (70 FR 10776). This final rule does not create new regulatory requirements.

We use the Listing of Impairments (the listings) at the third step of the sequential evaluation process when we evaluate your claim for benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). This final rule extends until July 3, 2006, the date on which listings for four body systems will no longer be effective and extends until July 2, 2007, the date on which the listings for eight body systems will no longer be effective. Other than extending the date during which the listings will be effective, we have made no revisions to the listings; they remain the same as they now appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. This extension will ensure that we continue to have the medical evaluation criteria in the listings to adjudicate disability claims in these body systems at step three of the sequential evaluation process.

PHMSA is correcting a Final Rule published in the Federal Register on May 19, 2005 (70 FR 28833). That Final Rule amended requirements for pipeline operators in 49 CFR parts 192 and 195 to develop and implement public awareness programs and incorporated by reference the guidelines of the American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practice (RP) 1162. The document was assigned the amendment numbers 192-100 and 195-84, which were already assigned to different amendments. This document corrects the amendment numbers, and corrects the language amending part 192 so that it is consistent with part 195.

The Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Tule Lake Vertical Lift Span Highway and Railroad Bridge across the Corpus ChristiPort Aransas Channel, mile 14.0, at Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX. This deviation allows the bridge to remain closed to navigation for six hours each day for three consecutive days. This temporary deviation is necessary for the repair of the haul rope anchors of the drawbridge.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement recreational management measures for the 2005 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. The intent of these measures is to prevent overfishing of the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass resources.

This amendment adopts miscellaneous amendments to the required IFR (instrument flight rules) altitudes and changeover points for certain Federal airways, jet routes, or direct routes for which a minimum or maximum en route authorized IFR altitude is prescribed. This regulatory action is needed because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System. These changes are designed to provide for the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace under instrument conditions in the affected areas.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) generally reaffirms its determinations in Order No. 2005. Order No. 2005 establishes requirements governing the conduct of open seasons for proposals to construct Alaska natural gas transportation projects, including procedures for allocation of capacity. Pursuant to the directive of section 103(e)(2) of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act, enacted on October 13, 2004, the regulations promulgated in Order No. 2005 include the criteria for and timing of any open season, promote competition in the exploration, development, and production of Alaska natural gas, and for any open seasons for capacity exceeding the initial capacity, provide for the opportunity for the transportation of natural gas other than from the Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson units. In this order, the Commission addresses the requests for rehearing and/or clarification of Order No. 2005. Here, we grant rehearing in part, deny rehearing in part, and provide clarification of Order No. 2005. In specific, we: Clarify that the Commission may require design changes necessary to ensure that some portion of a proposed voluntary expansion will be allocated to new shippers or shippers seeking to transport gas from areas other than Prudhoe Bay or Point Thomson, provided such shippers are willing to sign qualifying long-term firm transportation agreements; codify the expanded criteria for evaluating late bids for capacity and the requirement that any late bid contain a good faith showing; in the case of the mandatory pre-review, codify that the plan to be filed by the Commission must contain the open season notice, and eliminates the 30-day prior notice requirement; discuss how the open season rules may apply to jurisdictional gas treatment plants; clarify that capacity bid for the open season is exempt from allocation only in a case where there is also presubscribed capacity, and that in the event there are more than one pre- subscription agreement, bidders in the open season may not cherry-pick among the provisions of the several agreements; clarify the project applicant's obligation to establish a separate entity to conduct the open season; and further codify the requirements of the catchall provision regarding information to be included in an open season notice.

On February 23, 2005, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) issued a final rule adopting as a final rule, the interim final rule which was issued on January 5, 1993. This final rule also made minor amendments to some of the regulations in Part 194 in response to public comments and the experience that OPS gained in implementing the interim final rule, leading spill response exercises, and responding to actual spills. The amendments were generally technical in nature and did not involve additional costs to pipeline operators or the public. In issuing the final rule, a table was inadvertently misprinted. This table in Sec. 194.105(b)(3) specifies the potential spill volume reduction credits operators may use when they have secondary containment and other spill prevention measures on breakout tanks. These spill reduction credits are used when calculating the worst case discharge volume. This correction replaces the incorrect table with the correct table.