June 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Commission delays until January 9, 2006, the effective date of the rule requiring the sender of a facsimile advertisement to obtain the recipient's express permission in writing.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), announce the reopening of the comment period on the proposal to designate critical habitat for four vernal pool crustaceans and eleven vernal pool plants in California and Southern Oregon, and the availability of the draft economic analysis of the proposed designation of critical habitat. The economic analysis identifies potential costs of approximately $992 million over or 20-year period or $87.5 million per year as a result of the designation of critical habitat, including those costs coextensive with listing. We are reopening the comment period for the proposal to designate critical habitat for these species to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule and the associated draft economic analysis. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted as they will be incorporated into the public record as part of this comment period, and will be fully considered in the preparation of the final rule.

Indiana has applied to EPA for Final authorization of the changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA has determined that these changes satisfy all requirements needed to qualify for Final authorization, and is proposing to authorize the State's changes through this proposed final action.

The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the drawbridge operation regulations for the Metropolitan Avenue Bridge, mile 3.4, across English Kills at New York City, New York. Under this temporary deviation the bridge may remain in the closed position from July 8, 2005 through July 22, 2005 and from July 25, 2005 through August 31, 2005. This temporary deviation is necessary to facilitate bridge maintenance.

EPA is today amending its regulations to delete methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) from the list of chemicals subject to reporting under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (PPA). This action is being taken to comply with a DC Circuit decision and order requiring the Agency to delete MEK. Because this action is being taken to conform the regulations to the court's order, notice and comment are unnecessary, and this rule is effective immediately. Upon promulgation of this rule, facilities will no longer be required under EPCRA section 313 to report releases of and other waste management information on MEK, including those that occurred during the 2004 reporting year.

The Coast Guard is changing the regulation governing the operation of the State Highway 188 vertical lift span bridge, across Bayou La Batre, mile 2.3, at Bayou La Batre, Alabama. This rule will allow the draw of the bridge to open on the hour during the predominant daylight hours, remain closed except for emergencies at night and remain closed to navigation at specific vehicular peak rush hour periods. This rule will allow for better coordination and facilitate movement of both vehicular and marine traffic at the bridge site due to an increase in commuter traffic Monday thru Friday.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of 2-ethyl-3-hydroxy- 4H-pyran-4-one, also known as ethyl maltol when used as an inert ingredient in or on growing crops, when applied to raw agricultural commodities after harvest, or to animals. Firmenich Incorporated submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA), requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of ethyl maltol.

This document adopts as a final rule, with some changes, proposed amendments to the Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') Regulations concerning the North American Free Trade Agreement (``the NAFTA''). The regulatory changes interpret the term ``production'' to include disassembly and clarify that components recovered from the disassembly of used goods in a NAFTA country are entitled to NAFTA originating status when imported into the United States provided that the recovered components satisfy the applicable NAFTA rule of origin requirements.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations revising the BNG Fuel Solutions Corporation Ventilated Storage Cask (VSC-24) System listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment No. 5 to Certificate of Compliance Number (CoC No.) 1007. Amendment No. 5 would change the certificate holder's name from Pacific Sierra Nuclear Associates to BNG Fuel Solutions Corporation. No changes were required to be made to the VSC-24 Final Safety Analysis Report nor its Technical Specifications.

These special conditions are issued to Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH, N.A. Otto-Strasse 5, A-2700 Wiener Neistadt, Austria; telephone: 43 2622 26 700; facsimile: 43 2622 26 780, as part of the FAA Type Validation of the Diamond Aircraft Industries Model DA-42. This airplane will have novel and unusual design features when compared to the state of technology envisaged in the applicable airworthiness standards. These novel and unusual design features include the installation of a Garmin Model G-1000 electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) display, and digital engine controls. The applicable regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate airworthiness standards for the protection of these systems from the effects of high intensity radiated fields (HIRF). These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to the airworthiness standards applicable to these airplanes.

This document amends the Federal motor vehicle safety standard on hydraulic and electric brake systems to extend the current minimum performance requirements and associated test procedures for parking brake systems to all multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs), buses and trucks with gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR) greater than 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) equipped with hydraulic or electric brake systems. Currently, the only vehicles with GVWRs greater than 10,000 pounds to which the standard's parking brake requirements apply are school buses. The agency concludes that it is in the interest of safety to require all MPVs, buses and trucks with GVWRs over 10,000 pounds to have parking brakes that meet the performance requirements currently applicable to heavy school buses.

FRA is issuing revisions to the regulations governing locomotive event recorders to improve the crashworthiness of railroad locomotive event recorders and to enhance the quality of information available for post-accident investigations. FRA is amending its existing regulations in four major ways: By requiring that a new locomotive have an event recorder with a ``hardened'' memory module, proven by a requirement that the memory module preserve stored data throughout a sequence of prescribed tests; by requiring that this event recorder on a new locomotive collect certain additional types of information; by simplifying standards for inspecting, testing, and maintaining all event recorders; and by requiring the phasing out, over a four-year period, of event recorders on existing locomotives that use magnetic tape as a data storage medium and their replacement with event recorders with a certified survivable version of its previous event recorder. FRA is also revising the definitions contained in the existing regulation to remove the letter designations so that the defined terms are simply presented in alphabetical order.

On February 2, 2004, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to amend its open access regulations governing capacity release and standards for business practices and electronic communications with interstate natural gas pipelines. The NOPR proposed to incorporate by reference ten creditworthiness standards promulgated by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) and adopt additional regulations related to the creditworthiness of shippers on interstate natural gas pipelines. The Commission adopted the NAESB creditworthiness standards in Docket No. RM96-1-026 (70 FR 28204), and is now issuing a policy statement on creditworthiness. Therefore, the proposed rulemaking in Docket No. RM04-4-000 is withdrawn.

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is issuing this final rule to revise the regulations governing State and Local Government Series (SLGS) securities. SLGS securities are non-marketable Treasury securities that are only available for purchase by issuers of tax-exempt securities. The changes in the final rule prohibit issuers of tax-exempt securities from engaging in certain practices that in effect use the SLGS program as a cost-free option. The final rule also makes other changes that are designed to improve the administration of the SLGS program.

The Federal Election Commission is publishing a revised Explanation and Justification for its rule regarding appearances by Federal officeholders and candidates at State, district, and local party fundraising events under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (``FECA''). The rule, which is not being amended, contains an exemption permitting Federal officeholders and candidates to speak at State, district, and local party fundraising events ``without restriction or regulation.'' These revisions to the Explanation and Justification conform to the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Shays v. FEC. Further information is provided in the supplementary information that follows.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Boeing Model 727 airplanes equipped with an auxiliary fuel tank having a fuel pump installed. This AD requires revising the airplane flight manual to include limitations on operating the fuel pumps for the auxiliary fuel tank. This AD is prompted by a design review of the fuel pump installation, which revealed a potential unsafe condition related to the auxiliary fuel tank(s). We are issuing this AD to prevent dry operation of the fuel pumps for the auxiliary fuel tank, which could create a potential ignition source inside the auxiliary fuel tank that could result in a fire or explosion of the auxiliary fuel tank.

The Secretary of Education proposes to establish the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS or standard) as required under sections 612(a)(23)(A) and 674(e)(4) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (Act). The purpose of the NIMAS is to help increase the availability and timely delivery of print instructional materials in accessible formats to blind or other persons with print disabilities in elementary schools and secondary schools.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A330 and A340 series airplanes. This proposed AD would require repetitive borescope inspections of the left and right fuel tanks of the trimmable horizontal stabilizers (trim tanks) for detached or damaged float valves; related investigative/corrective actions if necessary; and the eventual replacement of all float valves in the left and right trim tanks with new, improved float valves, which terminates the need for the repetitive inspections. This proposed AD would also require repetitive replacement of certain new, improved float valves. This proposed AD is prompted by reports of detached and damaged float valves in the trim tanks. We are proposing this AD to prevent, in the event of a lightning strike to the horizontal stabilizer, sparking of metal parts and debris from detached and damaged float valves, or a buildup of static electricity, which could result in ignition of fuel vapors and consequent fire or explosion.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopts rules requiring providers of interconnected voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) servicemeaning VoIP service that allows a user generally to receive calls originating from and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network (PSTN)to supply enhanced 911 (E911) capabilities to all of their customers as a standard feature of the service, rather than as an optional enhancement. The rules further require interconnected VoIP service providers to provide E911 from wherever the customer is using the service, whether at home or away from home. These changes will enhance public safety and ensure E911 access to emergency services for users of interconnected VoIP services.

This technical amendment updates the listing of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control numbers for MSHA's standards and regulations. We are prohibited from conducting a collection of information unless we display a currently valid OMB control number. This consolidated listing assists the public in searching for current MSHA standards and regulations that include information collection, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements approved by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

We are amending the Mexican fruit fly regulations by removing a provision that allows regulated articles to be moved interstate from a regulated area without a certificate or limited permit if they are moved into States other than commercial citrus-producing States. Additionally, we are amending the regulations to remove references to quarantined States and to refer to regulated areas as quarantined areas. We are also making other changes to the regulations, including clarifying that an entity requiring the services of an inspector is responsible for the costs of services performed outside of normal business hours. These actions are necessary to prevent the interstate spread of Mexican fruit fly and make the Mexican fruit fly regulations more consistent with our other domestic fruit fly regulations.

This interim final rule amends the current regulation by requiring the use of three alternative Producer Price Indices (PPI) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in lieu of the four PPI that the Forest Service has monitored for use in timber sale contract market- related contract term additions. After December 2003, the Bureau of Labor Statistics discontinued providing three of the four PPI that the Forest Service has monitored and changed the reference number for the fourth PPI. The Forest Service is issuing an interim final rule implementing the use of the three alternative PPI, prior to publishing a final rule. By using the three alternative PPI, the Forest Service will be able to continue providing market-related contract term additions during drastic reductions in wood products market prices.

This document corrects final regulation (TD 9207) that were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, May 26, 2005 (70 FR 30334). The final regulation relates to the definition of liabilities under section 752 of the Internal Revenue Code.

On November 29, 2004, the State of Washington submitted a carbon monoxide (CO) maintenance plan for the Spokane CO nonattainment area to EPA for approval. The State concurrently requested that EPA redesignate the Spokane CO nonattainment area to attainment for the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for CO. In this action, EPA is proposing approval of the maintenance plan and redesignation of the Spokane CO nonattainment area to attainment.