August 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes to rule and invites public comment on the release of two parcels comprised of approximately 184.70 acres of airport property at March Inland Port, Riverside, California, from all restrictions of the surplus property agreement since the land is not needed for airport purposes. Reuse of the land for commercial/light industrial and environmental mitigation purposes represents a compatible land use. Disposal of the property will provide income for investment in airport improvements and development in accordance with the FAA Policy and Procedures Concerning the Use of Airport Revenue.

This document completes NHTSA's consideration of its responsibilities to help implement the obligations of the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The agency had proposed regulations to permit retroactive certification of foreign domiciled vehicles that, while built in compliance with U.S. standards applicable at the time of manufacture, had not been labelled as such. At the same time, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had proposed to require all commercial motor vehicles operating in the U.S. to have labels certifying compliance with the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS). After reviewing the comments on the NHTSA and FMCSA proposals, the Department has decided on a more effective and less cumbersome approach to ensuring that commercial motor vehicles were built to the FMVSS (or the very similar Canadian motor vehicle safety standards) and operate safely in the United States. FMCSA requires Mexican-domiciled carriers applying to operate in the United States to certify in their applications that their vehicles were manufactured or retrofitted in compliance with the FMVSSs applicable at the time they were built, and will confirm that certification during the pre-authority safety audit and subsequent inspections. In addition, enforcement through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations focuses on real world, operational safety and incorporates the various FMVSS applicable through the useful life of the vehicle. FMCSA will not require vehicles to have labels certifying their compliance with the standards in effect when they were built, and NHTSA is not proceeding with a retroactive certification approach or the related proposal for a new recordkeeping and retention rule. We have also decided against placing a definition of the term ``import'' in the Code of Federal Regulations. After considering the comments, we have concluded that creating a new regulation to define the term serves no regulatory function and is unnecessary for the promotion of motor vehicle safety.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is sponsoring a public meeting on Enhancing Integrity Management of Gas Distribution Pipelines. The meeting will be held on September 21, 2005, in Dallas, Texas. At the meeting, PHMSA will discuss actions that have been underway this year to review the need for integrity management requirements for gas distribution pipelines. The meeting also will provide discussion on the use of Excess Flow Valves in gas distribution safety lines as a technique for mitigating the consequences of service line incidents, and will provide the public an opportunity to give comments.

On January 18, 2005, DEA published in the Federal Register a solicitation of comments on the subject of dispensing controlled substances for the treatment of pain. Many of the comments that the agency received indicate that there is a need to issue a clarification regarding certain aspects of the prescription requirements for schedule II controlled substances. This document provides such clarification.

The Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), is amending the regulation regarding fees assessed to delegated States and designated official agencies, hereafter known as official agencies, authorized by GIPSA to provide official inspection and weighing services to the U.S. grain industry. The fee adjustment is necessary to collect sufficient revenue to cover the current and future cost of supervising the performance of the official agencies. Current supervision fees are charged to official agencies on a unit basis and represent an average rate of approximately 0.8 cent per metric ton of grain inspected or weighed by the official agencies. The final supervision fee increases the rate to a 1.1 cents per metric ton charge. Official agencies include the cost of GIPSA's supervision fee as part of the fee they charge their customers for grain services. The current average cost for services provided by official agencies is 21 cents per metric ton. Increasing the supervision fee by approximately 0.3 cent per metric ton will minimally increase the total cost of inspection and weighing services to the grain industry.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the National Park and Recreation Act of 1978, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service have jointly prepared a Proposed Plan/Final EIS for the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. The Final EIS discusses public and agency comments received on the draft EIS. It describes and analyzes four alternative management strategies, each presenting a different approach to resolving issues identified through public scoping. Alternative A is the ``no action'' or continuation of present management alternative. Alternative B would promote more travel and access within the Monument. Alternative C would emphasize retention and enhancement of the Monument's primitive character. The Proposed Plan is Alternative D, the agency preferred alternative from the draft Plan/EIS, refined by public comment. Alternative D, which emphasizes protection and restoration of physical and biological resources, is also considered to be the environmentally preferred alternative.

California has scheduled a special general election on October 4, 2005, to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat in the Forty- Eighth Congressional District vacated by Representative Christopher Cox. Under California law, a majority winner in a special election is declared elected. Should no candidate achieve a majority vote, a special runoff election will be held on December 6, 2005, among the top vote-getters of each qualified political party, including qualified independent candidates. Committees participating in the California special elections are required to file pre- and post-election reports. Filing dates for these reports are affected by whether one or two elections are held.

This document contains proposed regulations providing guidance on employer comparable contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) under section 4980G. In general, these proposed regulations would affect employers that contribute to employees' HSAs.

EPA is revising the format of part 52 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR part 52) for materials submitted by Chattanooga, Tennessee that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the State Implementation Plan (SIP). The regulations affected by this format change have all been previously submitted by the local agency and approved by EPA. This format revision will affect the ``Identification of Plan'' sections of 40 CFR part 52, by adding a table for the Chattanooga portion of the Tennessee SIP. This revision will also affect the format of the SIP materials that will be available for public inspection at the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, and the Regional Office.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Pratt & Whitney (PW) JT8D-1, -1A, -1B, -7, -7A, -7B, -9, -9A, -11, -15, -15A, -17, -17A, -17R, -17AR, -209, -217, -217A, -217C, and -219 turbofan engines. This AD requires removing affected rotating parts overhauled by a certain repair vendor, and inspecting the parts as applicable. This AD results from reports that certain JT8D critical life-limited rotating parts have been returned to service with cracks, corrosion pitting, or dimensions outside of manual limits. We are issuing this AD to prevent failure of critical life-limited rotating engine parts which could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A330-200, A330-300, A340-200, and A340-300 series airplanes; and Model A340-541 and -642 airplanes. This AD requires repetitively resetting the display units (DUs) for the electronic instrument system (EIS) either by switching them off and back on again or by performing a complete electrical shutdown of the airplane. This AD results from an incident in which all of the DUs for the EIS went blank simultaneously during flight. We are issuing this AD to prevent automatic reset of the DUs for the EIS during flight and consequent loss of data from the DUs, which could reduce the ability of the flightcrew to control the airplane during adverse flight conditions.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Turbomeca S.A. Arrius 2F turboshaft engines. This AD requires replacing certain O-rings on the check valve piston in the lubrication unit. This AD results from a report of a forced landing of a Eurocopter EC120B helicopter. We are issuing this AD to prevent an uncommanded in-flight shutdown of the engine, which could result in a forced autorotation landing and damage to the helicopter.

This proposed notice announces that on September 26, 2005, we will begin to accept revisions from private accrediting organizations (AOs) who seek to modify their deeming authority.

This notice announces a Town Hall meeting on the Medicare Provider Feedback Group (MPFG). The purpose of the meeting is to solicit facts and opinions from individual Medicare providers and suppliers on a variety of Medicare policy and operational issues. All Medicare providers and suppliers that participate in the Medicare program, including physicians, hospitals, home health agencies, and other third-party billers, are invited to attend this meeting. We will consider facts and opinions obtained from individual Medicare providers and suppliers. The meeting is open to the public, but attendance is limited to space available.

The FAA is withdrawing a previously published Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that sought public comment on issues about the use of child restraint systems (CRSs) in aircraft. Specifically, we sought crash performance and ease-of-use information about existing and new automotive CRSs, when used in aircraft. We also sought information about the development of any new or improved CRSs designed exclusively for aircraft use. We are withdrawing the document to pursue other options that will mitigate the risk of child injuries and fatalities in aircraft.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is amending two regulations to allow for full implementation of the Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) Internet Web site (https://www.wdol.gov) as the source for federal contracting agencies to use when obtaining wage determinations issued by the DOL for service contracts subject to the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) and for construction contracts subject to the Davis- Bacon Act and Related Acts (DBRA).

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Short Brothers Model SD3-60 airplanes. This AD requires an inspection of the rudder for damage, an inspection of the balance weight attachment for discrepancies, an inspection of the rudder horn spar and cleats for cracking and corrosion, and corrective action if necessary. This AD results from events in which fatigue cracking was found on the rudder horn spar. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracking and corrosion of the rudder horn spar, which could lead to detachment of the mass balance weight of the rudder. The detachment of the mass balance weight could jam or restrict the movement of the rudder, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane. Loss of a mass balance weight could also damage other parts of the airplane, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane, or could result in an injury to a person or damage to property on the ground.

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

This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on July 25, 2005 entitled ``Medicare Program; Proposed Changes to the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Calendar Year 2006 Payment Rates; Proposed Rule.''

The EPA is approving revisions to the South Carolina and Georgia State Implementation Plans (SIPs), submitted by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC) and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), respectively, for the Early Action Compact (EAC) areas in South Carolina and Georgia. The proposed SIP revisions were submitted on December 29, 2004, by South Carolina and December 31, 2004, by Georgia. There are ten EAC areas in South Carolina and Georgia covered by this final action: the Appalachian, Catawba, Pee Dee, Waccamaw, Santee Lynches, Berkeley- Charleston-Dorchester, Low Country, Lower Savannah, Central Midlands, and Upper Savannah EAC Areas. Only the Lower Savannah EAC Area has counties in both South Carolina and Georgia. For the purposes of this document, however, all of the above listed EAC areas will be collectively referred to as the ``South Carolina and Georgia EAC Areas.'' The SIP revisions meet the requirements for the South Carolina and Georgia EAC Areas to attain and maintain the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (the 8-hour ozone standard) as described in the EAC Protocol and related regulations. EPA is also now approving the photochemical modeling used by South Carolina and Georgia to support the attainment and maintenance demonstrations of the 8-hour ozone standard in the South Carolina and Georgia EAC Areas. The revisions being approved today further incorporate regulatory control measures into the South Carolina SIP, including two Statewide regulations pertaining to control of nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions and open burning. In addition, this final action also corrects inadvertent errors in the May 26, 2005, proposal document relating to these SIP revisions (70 FR 30396). In today's final action, EPA is not finalizing its proposed rulemaking to defer the effective date of the nonattainment designations for EAC areas. In a separate action, published on June 8, 2005, EPA proposed to defer the effective date of the nonattainment deferred designation for EAC areas until December 31, 2006 (69 FR 23858). EPA final action on the deferral is expected to be published before September 30, 2005.