November 22, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule is making minor, purely technical changes to implement the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801- 6814). The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act repealed and supplanted section 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (16 U.S.C. 460l-6a) as the authority for special recreation permits issued by federal land management agencies and for recreation fees charged by federal land management agencies, including the Forest Service. Consequently, in 36 CFR part 251, subpart B, the final rule is replacing the citation to section 4(c) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act for special recreation permits (16 U.S.C. 460l- 6a(c)) with a citation to section 803(h) of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802(h)). The final rule also is adding a definition for recreation fee and revising the prohibition for failure to pay recreation fees in 36 CFR part 261, subpart A, to conform with the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. In addition, the final rule is removing 36 CFR part 291 governing recreation fees authorized under section 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act. Because these changes are minor, purely technical, and nondiscretionary, the Department finds that good cause exists to exempt this rulemaking from public notice and comment under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has adopted a policy which, when implemented, will result in the expunction of airman identities from certain FAA accident and incident records.

This action proposes to modify the St. Louis, MO, (STL) Class B airspace area. Specifically, this action proposes airspace changes to contain large, turbine-powered aircraft operations to and from the new Runway 11/29 at the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (KSTL), St. Louis, MO. The FAA is proposing this action to enhance safety and improve the management of aircraft operations in the KSTL terminal area. Further, this effort supports the FAA's national airspace redesign goal of optimizing terminal and en route airspace areas to reduce aircraft delays and improve system capacity.

Today's rule amends the current Federal Underground Injection Control (UIC) requirements by providing a regulatory alternative to owners and operators of Class I municipal disposal wells in specific areas of Florida that have caused or may cause movement of fluid into an Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW). Because operation of Class I wells with fluid movement into a USDW is prohibited by Federal UIC regulations, this new rule offers owners and operators of municipal disposal wells in certain counties in Florida the ability to continue to operate their wells provided they meet additional wastewater treatment requirements. These new treatment requirements, which apply only to injection operations in certain counties of Florida, are designed to provide an equivalent level of protection to USDWs that is afforded by the no-fluid-movement standard.

This final rule revises existing regulations that govern coverage and payment for hospice care under the Medicare program. These revisions reflect the statutory changes required by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA), the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 (BBRA), and the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA). Additionally, these revisions reflect current policy on the documentation needed to support a certification of terminal illness, admission to Medicare hospice, and a new requirement that allows for discharges from hospice for cause under very limited circumstances. This final rule does not address the requirement for hospice data collection, the changes to the limitation of liability rules, or the changes to the hospice conditions of participation that were included in the BBA. The intent of this final rule is to expand the hospice benefit periods, improve documentation requirements to support certification and recertification of terminal illness, provide guidance on hospice admission procedures, clarify hospice discharge procedures, update coverage and payment requirements, and address the changing needs of beneficiaries, suppliers, and the Medicare program.

The Department of Defense updates policies and responsibilities for the Defense Privacy Program which implements the Privacy Act of 1974 by showing organizational changes and realignments and by revising referenced statutory and regulatory authority.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Raytheon Aircraft Company (Raytheon) Models 58P and 58TC airplanes used as a lead airplane by the United States Forest Service. This proposed AD would require you to insert a new supplement into the Limitations Section of the Pilot's Operating Handbook and Airplane Flight Manual (POH/AFM) that establishes new limits for the structural life of the airframe (wing, fuselage, empennage, or associated structure); and dispose of the life-limited airframe following 14 CFR 43.10 when the limit of the structural life of the airframe is reached. This proposed AD results from Raytheon issuing a POH/AFM supplement that establishes the structural life limit of 4,500 hours time-in- service (TIS) for the airframe (wing, fuselage, empennage, and associated structure) for any Models 58P and 58TC airplanes used as a lead airplane by the United States Forest Service; and FAA's determination that the structural life limit is necessary. We are issuing this proposed AD to prevent cumulative fatigue damage and fatigue cracking damage that would sufficiently reduce residual strength of the airframe and result in failure. Failure of the airframe (wing, fuselage, empennage, or associated structure) could lead to loss of control of the airplane.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, has approved a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the Berkley Bridge, at mile 0.4, across the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia. To facilitate electrical and mechanical repairs, this deviation allows the drawbridge to remain closed-to- navigation each day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., on four two-day closure periods: November 29 & 30, 2005; December 28 & 29, 2005; January 24 & 25, 2006; and February 21 & 22, 2006.

This action establishes the Class E airspace area at Hillsboro Municipal Airport, Hillsboro, TX (INJ), to provide adequate controlled airspace for the area navigation (RNAV) global positioning system (GPS) standard instrument approach procedure (SIAP).

This action revokes Class E airspace, Eagle, Colorado published in the Federal Register October 13, 2005 (70 FR 59652). The FAA is taking this action due to errors in the effective date, airspace description, and geographic coordinates.

NMFS publishes this final rule to implement the 2005 and 2006 management measures to prevent overfishing of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) tuna stocks, consistent with recommendations by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) that have been approved by the Department of State (DOS) under the Tuna Conventions Act. The purse seine fishery for tuna in the ETP will be closed for a 6-week period beginning November 20, 2005, through December 31, 2005, and beginning November 20, 2006, through December 31, 2006. In this final rule, NMFS also announces that the longline fishery will close when a 150-mt limit has been reached. These actions are taken to limit fishing mortality on tuna stocks caused by purse seine fishing and longline fishing in the Convention Area and contribute to the long-term conservation of tuna stocks at levels that support healthy fisheries.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, and NCUA (Agencies) are publishing final rules to implement section 411 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). The final rules create exceptions to the statute's general prohibition on creditors obtaining or using medical information pertaining to a consumer in connection with any determination of the consumer's eligibility, or continued eligibility, for credit for all creditors. The exceptions permit creditors to obtain or use medical information in connection with credit eligibility determinations where necessary and appropriate for legitimate purposes, consistent with the Congressional intent to restrict the use of medical information for inappropriate purposes. The final rules also create limited exceptions to permit affiliates to share medical information with each other without becoming consumer reporting agencies. The final rules are substantially similar to the rules adopted by the Agencies on an interim final basis in June 2005.

The highway diesel fuel sulfur program, finalized in 2001, is resulting in the nationwide transition in 2006 of most diesel fuel from low-sulfur diesel (LSD) to ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD). Some in the diesel fuel production and distribution industries have indicated that they may be unable to complete the transition to ULSD by the current deadlines at the very furthest reaches the distribution system. In response, today's proposed action would make limited changes to the transition provisions for entities in the highway diesel distribution system. These proposed changes finely balance the concerns of the fuel industry with the critical need for ULSD to be available for 2007 diesel vehicles and engines. The impacts of the recent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. are not a contributing factor in today's proposed action, and there would be no change in the June 1, 2006 start date for refiners to be producing ULSD (15 ppm sulfur). We propose to extend the ULSD implementation dates for terminals and retail outlets by 45 days. Thus, terminals would have until September 1, 2006 (vs. July 15) and retailers would have until October 15, 2006 (vs. September 1) to complete their transitions to ULSD. We also propose that downstream of the refinery fuel slightly higher than 15 ppm sulfur could temporarily be sold as ULSD. In addition, we propose to extend the beginning of the restriction on how much ULSD can be downgraded to higher sulfur fuel by 15 days, to October 15, 2006 to be consistent with the end of the proposed new transition dates. The rule also includes proposed corrections to the recordkeeping and reporting requirements under the highway diesel and also proposes several minor amendments to the highway diesel sulfur, nonroad diesel sulfur, and gasoline sulfur programs to correct errors or omissions in the regulations.