February 16, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Technical information or comments are requested on the proposed Base (1% annual chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and proposed BFE modifications for the communities listed below. The BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that the community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list Sidalcea hendersonii (Henderson's checkermallow) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. We find the petition does not provide substantial scientific information indicating that listing S. hendersonii may be warranted. Therefore, we will not be initiating a further status review in response to this petition, however, we ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of the species or threats to it.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) allows NMFS to regulate the subsistence harvest of marine mammals by Alaska Natives when the affected stock of marine mammals is depleted and after the opportunity for a formal hearing on the proposed regulations. After designating the Cook Inlet stock of beluga whales as depleted, NMFS proposed regulations to limit the subsistence harvest from this stock. In December 2000, a formal hearing was conducted on the proposed regulations. In August 2004, a second formal hearing was conducted on proposed long term harvest regulations from 2005 through the CI beluga whale's recovery. The Administrative Law Judge presiding in the August 2004 hearings submitted his recommended decision to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries (AA) on November 8, 2005. The Judge's recommended decision is available for public review, and NMFS solicits comments on his recommendations.

In response to a request from an alcohol industry trade association, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau reopens the comment period for Notice No. 53, Use of the Word ``Pure'' or Its Variants on Labels or in Advertisements of Alcohol Beverage Products, an advance notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on December 7, 2005. The comment period is reopened for an additional 30 days.

This Treasury decision establishes the Rattlesnake Hills viticultural area in Yakima County in south-central Washington State. The 68,500-acre area is entirely within the established Yakima Valley and Columbia Valley viticultural areas. We designate viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the Oriental fruit fly regulations by removing a portion of Los Angeles County, CA, from the list of quarantined areas and removing restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from that area. The interim rule was necessary to relieve restrictions that were no longer needed to prevent the spread of the Oriental fruit fly into noninfested areas of the United States.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the public comment period for the proposal to remove the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the lower 48 States of the United States, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended. The proposed delisting rule for the bald eagle was published on July 6, 1999 (64 FR 36454). Comments previously submitted on the July 6, 1999, proposed rule need not be resubmitted as they have been incorporated into the public record as part of this reopening of the comment period, and they will be fully considered in the preparation of the final rule. In reopening the comment period, we provide new information, respond to the comments we received in the proposed rule, and further clarify our reasons for proposing to delist the species. The best available scientific and commercial data available indicates that the bald eagle has recovered. The bald eagle population in the lower 48 States has increased from approximately 487 active nests in 1963, to an estimated minimum 7,066 breeding pairs today. The recovery of the bald eagle is due in part to habitat protection and management actions, and the reduction in levels of persistent organochlorine pesticides (such as DDT) occurring in the environment. This rule will not affect protection provided to the species under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) or the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). In addition, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act will continue to provide protection to the bald eagle, if delisting under the ESA is found to be warranted. To help clarify the BGEPA protections provided to the bald eagle, the Service is also soliciting public comments on two related draft bald eagle documents under the BGEPA that are being published simultaneously with this proposed delisting rule. First, we are publishing a notice of availability and request for public comments on draft National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines (Guidelines). The Guidelines provide guidance on how to comply with the requirements of the BGEPA by avoiding disturbance to bald eagles under different land use scenarios. Second, we are publishing a proposed rule to add the definition of ``disturb'' to our regulations at 50 CFR 22.3, which implement the BGEPA. These two documents are published separately in this part of today's Federal Register and include additional information about submitting comments on them.

This document provides required notice of substantive rules issued by the Coast Guard and temporarily effective between April 1, 2005 and September 30, 2005 that were not published in the Federal Register. This quarterly notice lists temporary local regulations, temporary drawbridge operation regulations, security zones, and safety zones, all of limited duration and for which timely publication in the Federal Register was not possible.

Pursuant to the authority delegated by 18 CFR 375.308(x)(1), the Director of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP) computes and publishes the project cost and annual limits for natural gas pipelines blanket construction certificates for each calendar year.

This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations to reflect changes made by three Public Laws. First, Public Law 106-377, the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, changed the rate of compensation payments to certain veterans of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and recognized guerrilla forces, who reside in the United States. Second, Public Law 106-419, the Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2000, changed the amount of monetary burial benefits that VA will pay to survivors of certain veterans of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and recognized guerrilla forces who lawfully reside in the United States at death. This document adopts with changes the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2001 at 66 FR 66763. This document additionally implements Public Law 108-183, the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, and solicits comments on this regulatory amendment only. This public law added service in the Philippine Scouts as qualifying service for payment of compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) and monetary burial benefits at the full- dollar rate, and provided for payment of DIC at the full-dollar rate to survivors of certain veterans of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and recognized guerrilla forces who lawfully reside in the United States.

On July 30, 2004, EPA promulgated national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for the plywood and composite wood products (PCWP) source category. The Administrator subsequently received a petition for reconsideration of certain provisions in the final rule. In addition, following promulgation, stakeholders expressed concern with some of the final rule requirements including definitions, the emissions testing procedures required for facilities demonstrating eligibility for the low-risk subcategory, stack height calculations to be used in low-risk subcategory eligibility demonstrations, and permitting and timing issues associated with the low-risk subcategory eligibility demonstrations. In two separate Federal Register notices published on July 29, 2005, we announced our reconsideration of certain aspects of the final rule, and we proposed amendments to the final rule. In the notice of reconsideration, we requested public comment on the approach used to establish and delist a low-risk subcategory of PCWP affected sources, as outlined in the final rule, and on an issue related to the final rule's startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) provisions. In the proposed amendments notice, we proposed simplifying the requirements for the low-risk demonstrations (LRD) and allowing additional time for facilities to submit them. We also requested comment on whether to extend the MACT compliance date. We also clarified some common applicability questions. In this action, we are promulgating amendments to the PCWP NESHAP and providing our conclusions following the reconsideration process.