January 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document amends the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to indicate the extension of the import restrictions that were imposed by Treasury Decision 01-06 on certain archaeological material originating in Italy and representing the pre- Classical, Classical, and Imperial Roman periods of its cultural heritage, ranging in date from approximately the 9th century B.C. through approximately the 4th century A.D. that were imposed by Treasury Decision (T.D.) 01-06. The Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, has determined that conditions continue to warrant the imposition of import restrictions. Accordingly, the restrictions will remain in effect for an additional 5 years, and the CBP regulations are being amended to reflect this extension. These restrictions are being extended pursuant to determinations of the United States Department of State made under the terms of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act in accordance with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. T.D. 01-06 contains the Designated List of archaeological material originating in Italy and representing the pre- Classical, Classical, and Imperial Roman periods of its cultural heritage, ranging in date from approximately the 9th century B.C. through approximately the 4th century A.D.

NMFS issues this temporary rule to amend, and extend the effective date of, the grouper bag limit provisions implemented by a temporary rule published by NMFS on July 25, 2005, to reduce overfishing of red grouper in Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This temporary rule amends the bag limit provision consistent with the October 31, 2005, ruling of the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida (Court). The intended effect is to reduce overfishing of red grouper in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the navigable waters of Hog Island Reach on the Cooper River, for the demolition and recovery operations of the Grace Memorial and Silas Pearman Bridges. This rule prohibits entry, anchoring, mooring, or transiting within the temporary safety zone without the permission of the Captain of the Port Charleston or his designated representative. This regulation is necessary to protect life and property on the navigable waters of the Cooper River from the danger associated with the demolition and recovery operations of these bridges.

The Coast Guard is enlarging the current anchorage area outside the Federal breakwater of the Ports of Los AngelesLong Beach, CA. This rule is necessary in order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of larger vessels necessitating anchorage and will provide vessels an appropriate area to anchor.

This amendment adopts miscellaneous amendments to the required IFR (instrument flight rules) altitudes and changeover points for certain Federal airways, jet routes, or direct routes for which a minimum or maximum en route authorized IFR altitude is prescribed. This regulatory action is needed because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System. These changes are designed to provide for the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace under instrument conditions in the affected areas.

This action corrects an error in the effective date and the legal description listed in a final rule published in the Federal Register on December 5, 2005, Docket No. FAA-2005-20417, Airspace Docket No. 05-ANM-06.

We are amending the brucellosis regulations concerning interstate movement of cattle by changing the classification of Idaho from Class Free to Class A. We have determined that Idaho no longer meets the standards for Class Free status. This action is necessary to prevent the interstate spread of brucellosis.

In this document, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau extends the period for reply comment on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in this proceeding. The deadline to file reply comments is extended from December 27, 2005 to January 26, 2006. The action is taken to respond to a joint request filed on behalf of a number of carriers and trade associations, representing a cross-section of the wireless industry, to extend the reply comment deadline by 30 days.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions. The revisions pertain to regulations to control Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from VOC transfer operations and solvent using processes. The revisions allow use of gasoline vapor recovery systems approved by Texas, and add new requirements to control VOC emissions from motor vehicle fuel dispensing facilities and surface coating facilities in Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, and Rockwall Counties. These counties are part of the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) 8-hour ozone standard nonattainment area. The revisions also amend regulations on use of cleaning solvents. We are approving the revisions pursuant to sections 110, 116 and part D of the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA). The control of VOC emissions will help to attain and maintain the 8-hour national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone in Texas. This approval will make the revised regulations Federally enforceable.

The Surface Transportation Board (Board) has received a proposal to create a class exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for Class II and Class III railroads \1\ from the prior approval requirements for abandonments under 49 U.S.C. 10903. A public hearing was held on August 31, 2004, to discuss the proposal. Before deciding whether to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR), the Board seeks comments from interested persons on this proposal and possible alternatives to it, as detailed below.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to determine threatened status for Penstemon grahamii (Graham's beardtongue), a plant species from Colorado and Utah, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). P. grahamii exists in a series of small populations that extend in a narrow band from Raven Ridge west of the town of Rangely in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, westward to the vicinity of Sand Wash near the point where Carbon, Duchesne, and Uintah Counties meet in Utah's Uinta Basin. Threats to the species include degradation of the species' habitat by oil and gas exploration, drilling and field development, and tar sand and oil shale mining. Off-road vehicle (ORV) use, overutilization by domestic and wild grazers, and overutilization for horticultural use may also affect some populations. These threats, in combination with small population sizes and limited distribution, result in species vulnerability to natural and human-caused stochastic events. This proposal, if made final, would implement Federal protection provided by the Act. In addition, we propose to designate 3,503.68 acres (2,102 hectares) as critical habitat for P. grahamii in five units in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, and Duchesne and Uintah Counties, Utah.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of the thymol (5-methyl-2-isopropyl-1- phenol) on honey, honeycomb, and honeycomb with honey when applied/used as treatment to decrease the incidence of Varroa mite infestation in the honey bee. Vita (Europe) Limited, c/o Landis International Limited, 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 thymol (5-methyl-2-isopropyl-1-phenol).

FMCSA adopts as final and without change its interim regulations which implement section 4140 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The regulations specify that: A driver who passed FMCSA- approved knowledge and skills tests for a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) school bus endorsement before September 30, 2002, has met the requirements for a school bus endorsement; the compliance date for States to administer knowledge and skills tests to all school bus drivers is extended to September 30, 2006; and the expiration date for allowing States to waive the driving skills test is also extended to September 30, 2006.

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD), which applies to certain Raytheon airplanes identified above. That AD currently requires a visual inspection to determine whether adequate clearance exists between the fan venturi motor casing and the adjacent equipment, and adjustments, if necessary; and a visual inspection to detect signs of overheating, degradation of insulating materials, and ingestion of debris into the motor, and replacement of discrepant parts with serviceable parts. This new AD instead requires that operators replace the fan venturi with a new or modified part. This AD results from reports that the fan venturi overheated and produced smoke while the airplane was on the ground. We are issuing this AD to prevent heat and fire damage to equipment adjacent to the fan venturi, which could result in smoke in the cabin and/or burning equipment.

In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the Commission by its designee, the Executive Director, is updating its schedule of fees for the use of government lands. The yearly update is based on the most recent schedule of fees for the use of linear rights- of-way prepared by the United States Forest Service. Since the next fiscal year will cover the period from October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006 the fees in this notice are effective October 1, 2005. The fees will apply to fiscal year 2006 annual charges for the use of government lands. The Commission has concluded, with the concurrence of the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB that this rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined in section 251 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C 804(2).

A Petition for Declaratory Ruling regarding the Commission's carrier change verification rules was filed by a coalition of rural local exchange carriers (LEC Petitioners). Specifically, the LEC Petitioners asked the Commission to declare that certain carrier change verification actions do not violate the Commission's rules, which prohibits executing carriers from verifying the submission of a change request by a submitting carrier or causing an unreasonable delay in the execution of a change. In this document, the Commission denies the LEC Petitioners' request.

NMFS proposes a regulation to implement the annual harvest guideline for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006. This harvest guideline has been calculated according to the regulations implementing the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and establishes allowable harvest levels for Pacific sardine off the Pacific coast.

This document cancels a public hearing on proposed regulations relating to a taxpayer's right to a hearing under section 6320 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 after the filing of a notice of Federal tax lien (NFTL).

In the Rule and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations that provide rules for determining whether a controlled foreign corporation's (CFC's) distributive share of partnership income is excluded from foreign personal holding company income under the exception contained in section 954(i). The regulations will affect CFCs that are qualified insurance companies, as defined in section 953(e)(3), that have an interest in a partnership and U.S. shareholders of such CFCs. The text of those temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

On April 2, 2004 (69 FR 17531), EPA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to propose procedures to be used by manufacturers of light-duty vehicles, light-duty trucks and heavy-duty vehicles to demonstrate, for purposes of emission certification, that new motor vehicles will comply with EPA emissions standards throughout their useful lives. The NPRM proposed emissions certification durability procedures to be used by manufacturers to demonstrate the expected rate of deterioration of the emission levels of their vehicles. The Agency received several comments concerning the component durability portion of the durability process. Options for addressing component durability were not discussed in the April 2004 proposal, and EPA believes it is appropriate to address component durability in a supplemental proposal. Therefore, EPA is issuing this action to request comments on three options for addressing component durability during the vehicle emissions certification process.

EPA is finalizing updates for delegation of certain federal standards to state and local agencies in Region IX. This document is addressing general authorities mentioned in the regulations for New Source Performance Standards and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, updating the delegations tables and clarifying those authorities that are retained by EPA.

This rule adopts as final, without change, the interim final rule published in the Federal Register (70 FR 22595) on May 2, 2005. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is publishing this final rule to designate smoking cessation counseling (individual and group sessions) as a service that is not subject to copayment requirements.

This document contains final and temporary regulations providing guidance under subpart F relating to partnerships. The temporary regulations add rules for determining whether a controlled foreign corporation's (CFC's) distributive share of partnership income is excluded from foreign personal holding company income under the exception contained in section 954(i). These temporary regulations will affect CFCs that are qualified insurance companies, as defined in section 953(e)(3), that have an interest in a partnership and U.S. shareholders of such CFCs. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is publishing this companion proposed rule to the direct final rule, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, which is intended to amend our current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations for human drugs, including biological products, to exempt most investigational ``Phase 1'' drugs from complying with the regulatory requirements. We will instead exercise oversight of production of these drugs under the agency's general statutory CGMP authority and investigational new drug application (IND) authority. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, FDA is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled ``INDsApproaches to Complying With CGMP During Phase 1'' to provide further guidance on the subject.