2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is preparing to conduct proceedings in accordance with section 1201(a)(1) of the Copyright Act, which was added by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and which provides that the Librarian of Congress may exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention. This notice requests written comments from all interested parties, including representatives of copyright owners, educational institutions, libraries and archives, scholars, researchers and members of the public, in order to elicit evidence on whether noninfringing uses of certain classes of works are, or are likely to be, adversely affected by this prohibition on the circumvention of measures that control access to copyrighted works.

The regulations contained in the temporary rule, emergency action, published on September 9, 2005, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), continue through December 31, 2005. In that action NMFS reopened a portion of Federal waters of the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and southern New England that it had previously closed from June 14, 2005, through September 30, 2005, to the harvest for human consumption of certain bivalve molluscan shellfish due to the presence in those waters of the toxin that causes Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). The FDA has determined that there is insufficient analytical data to support the scheduled reopening of the entire area to all bivalve molluscan shellfish fishing on October 1, 2005.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the 2005 Fall Meeting of the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC). This OTC meeting will explore options available for reducing ground-level ozone precursors in a multi-pollutant context.

The EPA is proposing amendments to the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for secondary aluminum production, which were issued on March 23, 2000 under section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), and amended on December 30, 2002. This action proposes to correct a punctuation error in the definition of ``clean charge'' and a typographical error in the operating temperature of a scrap dryer/delacquering kiln/decoating kiln afterburner. In the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register, we are taking direct final action on the proposed amendments because we view the amendments as noncontroversial, and we anticipate no adverse comments. We have explained our reasons for the proposed amendments in the preamble to the direct final rule. If we receive no adverse comments, we will take no further action on the proposed amendments. If we receive adverse comments, we will withdraw the amendments. We will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register indicating that the amendments are being withdrawn. If the direct final rule amendments in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register are withdrawn, all comments will be addressed in a subsequent final action based on the proposed amendments. We will not institute a second comment period on the subsequent final action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time. The regulatory text for the proposal is identical to that for the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register. For further supplementary information, see the direct final rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency is approving a revision to the New York State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning New York's permitting program. The SIP revision consists of amendments to Title 6 of the New York Code, Rules and Regulations, Part 201, ``Permits and Certificates.'' The intended effect of this approval is to incorporate administrative changes to New York's permitting program into the SIP.

This document provides the public with notice that a petition seeking to reopen the record in the Commission's pending reconsideration of the Bank One negotiated service agreement has been filed. It notes that the petition, if granted, could expand the scope of reconsideration. It also notes that a companion notice of inquiry has been issued and identifies several new or revised comment deadlines.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a Programmatic Sediment Management Plan that will address sediment management within the four lower Snake River reservoirs and that portion of McNary reservoir contained within the lower Snake River The plan will identify and evaluate ways the Corps can manage sediment within these reservoirs and examine the sediment input (sources) on a programmatic basis in the near-term, mid-term, and long-term. The reservoirs extend from the mouth of the Snake River upstream to the communities of Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington; and include the lower 2 miles of the Clearwater River from its confluence with the Snake River at Lewiston upstream to the U.S. Highway 12 Bridge. In the plan the Corps will also include all tributaries that could significantly contribute sediment to the lower Snake River. The Corps is preparing this plan because sediment management has been an ongoing maintenance issue since the completion of Ice Harbor Dam, the first dam and reservoir on the lower Snake River, in 1961. Rather than addressing sediment-related problems on a case-by-case basis, the Corps has determined that it would be more effective to evaluate sediment management as a whole and on a watershed basis. The intent of the plan is to identify ways to reduce the amount of sediment entering the reservoirs, identify how to manage the sediment once it enters the reservoirs, and identify possible changes to structures or operations to reduce maintenance and associated impacts while still providing for authorized project purposes, including navigation.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the regulations regarding the importation of horses into the United States by requiring persons who cancel reservations for stall space at import quarantine facilities to notify us earlier and by increasing the fee for canceling reservations.

The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') has determined that a request for a new shipper review of the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''), received in May 2005, meets the statutory and regulatory requirements for initiation. The period of review (``POR'') of this new shipper review is November 1, 2004, through April 30, 2005.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA) requires the Secretary to publish FMRs periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on October 1 of each year. The primary uses of FMRs are to determine payment standard amounts for the Housing Choice Voucher program, to determine initial renewal rents for some expiring project-based Section 8 contracts, to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment (HAP) contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program, and to serve as a rent ceiling in the HOME rental assistance program. Today's notice provides final FY2006 FMRs for all areas that reflect the estimated 40th and 50th percentile rent levels trended to April 1, 2006. Today's notice, however, does not include final determinations on 50th percentile rent levels, as proposed in HUD's notice published on August 25, 2005. The 30-day public comment period on that notice ended September 26, 2005, and HUD is evaluating the public comments. A notice that provides final determinations on 50th percentile FMRs will be issued subsequently, and as further discussed in Section VII of this notice. This notice also invokes the Secretary's authority to waive regulatory requirements for exception FMRs in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and by displacement of residents of the affected area.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, we are proposing to create a new system titled, ``Cancer Prevention and Treatment Demonstration for Ethnic and Racial Minorities (CPTD) System, System No. 09-70-0560.'' Section 122 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA) (Public Law (Pub. L.) 106-554) grants CMS the authority to award at least nine cooperative agreement demonstration projects that will identify methods to reduce disparities in early cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment for Black, Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and American Indian (including Alaskan Native, Eskimo, and Aleut) Medicare beneficiary populations. Demonstration sites will use the best available scientific evidence to identify promising models of cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment interventions to promote health and appropriate utilization of Medicare covered services, eliminate disparities in cancer detection and treatment among ethnic and racial populations of Medicare beneficiaries, and provide information to improve the effectiveness of the Medicare program. The purpose of this system is to collect and maintain demographic and cancer health-related data on Medicare target population beneficiaries who voluntarily enroll in the CPTD Project for Ethnic and Racial Minorities. This system will enable CMS to enroll eligible participants in the demonstration project; randomize participants into intervention and control groups; reimburse demonstration site service claims; and develop, maintain and analyze/evaluate research information showing the potential impact of providing cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment facilitation services to underserved Medicare beneficiaries. Information retrieved from this system may be disclosed to: (1) Support regulatory, reimbursement, and policy functions performed within the agency or by a contractor, grantee, consultant or other legal agent; (2) assist another Federal or state agency with information to enable such agency to administer a Federal health benefits program, or to enable such agency to fulfill a requirement of Federal statute or regulation that implements a health benefits program funded in whole or in part with Federal funds; (3) assist an individual or organization engaged in the performance activities of the demonstration or in a research project or in support of an evaluation project related to the prevention of disease or disability, the restoration or maintenance of health, or payment related projects; (4) support constituent requests made to a congressional representative; (5) support litigation involving the agency; and (6) combat fraud and abuse in certain health benefits programs. We have provided background information about the new system in the Supplementary Information section below. Although the Privacy Act requires only that CMS provide an opportunity for interested persons to comment on the proposed routine uses, CMS invites comments on all portions of this notice. See Dates section for comment period.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice concerning the final effect of the HHS decision to designate a class of employees at the Y-12 facility, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On August 25, 2005, as provided for under 42 U.S.C. 7384q(b), the Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the extension of an approved information collection with revision. This information collection is used to support of brokerage services needed to meet domestic and export food assistance program needs. This information collection will allow CCC to determine the availability of brokers to meet CCC's transportation needs. The agreement in this information collection is an addition to the Standard Rules Tender (SRT) Governing Motor Carrier Transportation, and/or Standard Operating Agreement (SOA) Governing Intermodal Transportation that CCC approved.

In response to a petition for rulemaking submitted by Ms. Barbara Sanford, NHTSA published a Request for Comments (RFC) in the Federal Register on January 22, 2003 that included several questions regarding convex mirrors on commercial trucks. The Sanford petition asked the agency to amend our Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) for rearview mirrors to require that all commercial trucks traveling on interstate highways have convex mirrors affixed to their front right and left fenders in order to provide drivers of these vehicles an increased field-of-view during lane change maneuvers, which the petitioner stated is necessary to eliminate a blind spot caused by the elevated position of commercial truck drivers relative to passenger cars. Prior to receiving the Sanford petition, the agency had decided to conduct research on heavy truck mirror systems, including fender- mounted mirrors. For reasons discussed in this document, the agency is withdrawing the RFC and is terminating this rulemaking, because additional research is necessary to assess the potential safety benefits of convex mirrors in this application.

The Coast Guard proposes to change the drawbridge operation regulations of three North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) bridges: the S.R. 74 Bridge, across the AICW mile 283.1 at Wrightsville Beach; the Cape Fear River Memorial Bridge, mile 26.8, at Wilmington; and the Isabel S. Holmes (US 117) Bridge, at mile 1.0, across Northeast Cape Fear River at Wilmington, North Carolina. This proposal will allow the bridges to remain in the closed position at particular dates and times to accommodate road races, marathons and triathlons. Vessels that can pass under the bridges without a bridge opening may do so at all times.

The Coast Guard announces the availability of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) of the Integrated Anti- Swimmer System (IAS). The Coast Guard is proposing to deploy and operate the IAS for temporary periods at various U.S. ports throughout the U.S. Maritime Domain, when necessary. The purpose of the Proposed Action is to increase the Coast Guard's ability to detect, track, classify, and interdict, if necessary, potential underwater threats and as a result, protect personnel, ships, and property from sabotage and/ or other subversive acts. Potential threats targeted by the IAS include combat divers and unmanned vehicles. The IAS will be co-located with, and used by, the Coast Guard's newly established Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSSTs). The IAS is proposed to be used at a range necessary to maintain situational awareness and allow the MSSTs sufficient time to react and counter a detected threat. Extensive research and analysis of alternatives has led to the conclusion that an active sonar system is the only currently available technology that affords this capability.

GIPSA requests comments on the applicants for designation to provide official services in the Minnesota area.