July 15, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces the date and location of the 2005 Federal Duck Stamp contest, which is open to the public. This notice is a follow-up to our March 4, 2005, Federal Register notice, in which we gave background information on the contest and preliminary information on this year's contest (70 FR 10671).

Each Federal agency is required by the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, to publish a description of the systems of records containing personal information defined by the Act. In this notice the Board updates the descriptions of seven systems it currently maintains, and announces the creation of an eighth system.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is making additional proposals, requesting comments, and establishing procedures related to its July 8, 2004, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (69 FR 43929) (NOPR). The Commission is proposing to revise its prior proposal that natural gas companies and public utilities file pre-existing agreements electronically. The Commission is proposing that only current tariffs and future agreements, and not pre-existing non-conforming rate schedules and agreements, be filed electronically. The Commission is proposing to permit electronic service of all initial and subsequent tariff filings upon the implementation of electronic tariff filing. The Commission is seeking comment on whether oil pipelines should utilize an approach to tariff filing that differs from the approach to be utilized in the gas pipeline and electric industries. In addition, Commission staff will be establishing a second technical conference in the next few months once the changes to the Commission's software that have been identified are completed. Comments on the non-regulatory text portion of the proposal are anticipated to be due within 60 days after the conference. A future notice will be issued announcing a date for a second technical conference to discuss the electronic tariff filing software to be used in compliance with the NOPR.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulations on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans and Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans prescribe interest assumptions for valuing and paying benefits under terminating single-employer plans. This final rule amends the regulations to adopt interest assumptions for plans with valuation dates in August 2005. Interest assumptions are also published on the PBGC's Web site (https://www.pbgc.gov).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a collection of information entitled ``Food Canning Establishment Registration, Process Filing, and Recordkeeping for Acidified Foods and Thermally Processed Low-Acid Foods in Hermetically Sealed Containers'' has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulations to reflect a change in the name and address for the Association of Official Analytical Chemists International (AOAC). This action is editorial in nature and is intended to improve the accuracy of the agency's regulations.

The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve. The National Estuarine Research Reserve evaluation will be conducted pursuant to sections 312 and 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, (CZMA) and regulations at 15 CFR part 921, subpart E and part 923, subpart L. The CZMA requires continuing review of the performance of states with respect to coastal program implementation. Evaluation of a National Estuarine Research Reserve requires findings concerning the extent to which a state has met the national objectives, adhered to its Reserve final management plan approved by the Secretary of Commerce, and adhered to the terms of financial assistance awards funded under the CZMA. The evaluation will include a site visit, consideration of public comments, and consultations with interested Federal, state and local agencies and members of the public. A public meeting will be held as part of the site visit. Notice is hereby given of the date of the site visit for the listed evaluation, and the date, local time, and location of the public meeting during the site visit. The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve evaluation site visit will be held September 13-16, 2005. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 14, 2005, at 7 p.m. at the Community Room, 825 Imperial Beach Boulevard, Imperial Beach, California. Copies of a state's most recent performance reports, as well as OCRM's evaluation notification and supplemental request letters to the state, are available upon request from OCRM. Written comments from interested parties regarding this Program are encouraged and will be accepted until 15 days after the public meeting. Please direct written comments to Ralph Cantral, Chief, National Policy and Evaluation Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOS/NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, 10th Floor, N/ORM7, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. When the evaluation is completed, OCRM will place a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Evaluation Findings. Notice is hereby given of the availability of the final evaluation findings for the Minnesota, Texas, and Alabama Coastal Management Programs (CMPs); and the Weeks Bay (Alabama), Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island), and Grand Bay (Mississippi) National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs). Sections 312 and 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA), as amended, require a continuing review of the performance of coastal states with respect to approval of CMPs and the operation and management of NERRs. The states of Minnesota, Texas, and Alabama were found to be implementing and enforcing their federally approved coastal management programs, addressing the national coastal management objectives identified in CZMA Section 303(2)(A)-(K), and adhering to the programmatic terms of their financial assistance awards. Weeks Bay (Alabama), Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island), and Grand Bay (Mississippi) NERRs were found to be adhering to programmatic requirements of the NERR System. Copies of these final evaluation findings may be obtained upon written request from: Ralph Cantral, Chief, National Policy and Evaluation Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOS/NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, 10th Floor, N/ORM7, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, or Ralph.Cantral@noaa.gov, (301) 713-3155, extension 118.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) publishes the names of the persons selected to serve on its Senior Executive Service Performance Review Board (PRB).

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Pike National Forest of the Rocky Mountain Region of the Forest Service announces availability of the Final Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final Plan/EIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Gold Camp Road. The Forest Service is also announcing the agency's decision to restore and reopen a collapsed railroad tunnel and reopen a closed section of Gold Camp Road to one-way traffic, with a third party partner to operate the segment of road (Modified Alternative E). The objective of the management plan for the road is to best accommodate public use and access to National Forest System lands and nearby private in-holdings while maintaining public safety and the historic character of the road. The affected road segment has been closed since 1988 for safety reasons.

The Forest Service has accepted an application for a special use authorization from Deerfield Wind, LLC for the installation and operation of 20 to 30 wind turbines on National Forest System (NFS) lands managed by Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). The project would utilize approximately 80 acres of National Forest land within the Manchester District.

EPA is taking direct final action to correct, amend, and revise certain provisions of the Highway Diesel Rule adopted on January 18, 2001 (66 FR 5002), and the Nonroad Diesel Rule on June 29, 2004 (69 FR 38958). First, it makes minor corrections to clarify the regulations governing compliance with the diesel fuel standards. These minor corrections focus primarily on the Nonroad Rule, however, some may affect provisions contained in the Highway Rule that were overlooked at the time the Nonroad Rule was finalized. Second, it amends the designate and track provisions to account for companies within the fuel distribution system that perform more than one function related to fuel production and/or distribution. This will alleviate the problem of inaccurate volume balances due to a company performing multiple functions. Finally, with respect to the generation of fuel credits, it revises the regulatory text to allow refiners better access to early highway diesel fuel credits. The intention of this amendment is to help ensure a smooth transition to ultra low-sulfur diesel fuel nationwide.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces that the Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) are available for review. The Final CCP and EIS were prepared pursuant to the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 6688dd et seq.), and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The CCP describes how the Service intends to manage the refuge over the next 15 years.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains the Commerce Control List (CCL), which identifies items subject to Department of Commerce export controls. This final rule revises certain entries controlled for national security reasons in Categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Part I (telecommunications), 6, 7, 8, and 9, and Definitions to conform with changes in the Wassenaar Arrangement's List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies and Statements of Understanding maintained and agreed to by governments participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement). The Wassenaar Arrangement focuses on implementation of effective export controls on strategic items with the objective of improving regional and international security and stability. The purpose of this final rule is to make the necessary changes to the CCL, definitions of terms used in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and Wassenaar reporting requirements to implement Wassenaar List revisions that were agreed upon in the December 2004 Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary Meeting. In addition, this rule adds Slovenia to the list of Wassenaar member countries in the EAR. This rule also adds or expands unilateral U.S. controls on certain items consistent with the amendments made to implement the Wassenaar Arrangement's decisions.

The Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) is announcing the Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) members it has selected for the 2004-05 sixth quarter review cycle under the Finance Board's community support requirements regulation. This notice also prescribes the deadline by which Bank members selected for review must submit Community Support Statements to the Finance Board.