April 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) will meet in a partially closed session.

On October 1, 1999, the FAA amended the regulations governing takeoff and landing slots and slot allocation procedures at certain High Density Traffic Airports as a result of the ``Open Transborder'' Agreement between the Government of the United States and the Government of Canada. One element of this final rule established that the deadline for submission of requests for international slots will be published in a Federal Register notice for each scheduling season. The purpose of the amendment is for the FAA deadline for international slots requests to coincide with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) deadline for submission of slot requests. In accordance with this amendment, the FAA announces in this notice that the deadline for submitting requests for international slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) for allocation under 14 CFR 93.217 is May 11, 2006. The FAA will allocate international slots through December 31, 2006 only, as the High Density Rule expires at JFK on December 31, 2006. (See 49 U.S.C. 41715(a)(2).) After that date, slots will no longer be required for operation at JFK. The FAA has designated Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (O'Hare) as a Level 2, Schedules Facilitated Airport under the IATA Guidelines and will review international operations based on runway parameters. The FAA requests carriers intending to conduct international service at O'Hare for the Winter 2006/07 Scheduling Season to submit their intended schedules following the same procedures used for submitting requests for slots at JFK. Carriers are advised that this notice does not alter or change any coordination procedures conducted by the City of Chicago for O'Hare's Terminal 5 facilities. Finally, the U.S. scheduling season is consistent with the changes in daylight savings time. In accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58), daylight savings time will begin on March 11, 2007 and end on November 3, 2007. The IATA Northern Winter Scheduling Season will end on March 24, 2007, and its Summer Scheduling Season will only begin on March 25, 2007. There is a two-week period for which the IATA Winter scheduling season will overlap with the U.S. summer scheduling season. We recognize this transition period will cause some carriers to adjust scheduled times based on their network requirements and other considerations. For O'Hare, the FAA will accept carriers' schedule requests for the entire IATA Northern Winter Scheduling Season (ending on March 24, 2007), even though that will be the first two weeks of the U.S. summer scheduling season. This will facilitate carriers seeking to confirm schedules at other worldwide slot coordinated airports in accordance with the IATA season and coordination process. Carriers should clearly indicate any schedule differences during the March 11 to 24, 2007, period. The FAA intends to provide the maximum practical flexibility to accommodate schedule adjustments during this period and does not anticipate any significant issues regarding historic rights due to the earlier introduction of daylight saving time in the U.S. A deadline for submitting the reamining summer schedules for 2007 will by announced in the Federal Register by September 2006. The Department of Transportation reserves the right to withhold the approval of schedules to any foreign air carrier of a country that does not provide equivalent rights of access to its airports for U.S. air carriers, as determined by the Secretary of Transportation.

This notice rescinds the previous Notice of Intent (issued October 3, 2001Vol. 66, No. 192) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed highway project in Butler County.

We are amending the animal importation regulations by adding Indiana to the lists of States approved to receive certain stallions and mares imported into the United States from regions affected with contagious equine metritis (CEM). We are taking this action because Indiana has entered into an agreement with the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to enforce its State laws and regulations to control CEM and to require inspection, treatment, and testing of horses, as required by Federal regulations, to further ensure the horses' freedom from CEM. This action relieves unnecessary restrictions on the importation of mares and stallions from regions where CEM exists.

We are revising one of our regulations to clarify that we will protect a title II claimant's filing date as of the date the claimant or other proper applicant on the claimant's behalf completes and transmits to the Social Security Administration (SSA) the Personal Information Identification data on the Internet Social Security Benefit Application (ISBA). This revision addresses an aspect of implementing the ISBA to provide certain rights to Internet filers that we afford to other filers. In addition, we are correcting one word in a different title II regulation. The revision is necessary to correctly reflect the circumstances under which a claimant for widow's or widower's benefits as the insured person's surviving divorced spouse would be considered ``unmarried.''

This Notice is provided pursuant to section 2905(b)(7)(B)(ii) of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. It provides a partial list of military installations closing or realigning pursuant to the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Report. It also provides a corresponding listing of the Local Redevelopment Authorities (LRAs) recognized by the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), as well as the points of contact, addresses, and telephone numbers for the LRAs for those installations. Representatives of state and local governments, homeless providers, and other parties interested in the redevelopment of an installation should contact the person or organization listed. The following information will also be published simultaneously in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of each installation. There will be additional Notices providing this same information about LRAs for other closing or realigning installations where surplus government property is available as those LRAs are recognized by the OEA.

The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) is seeking applicants for the following vacant seats on its Sanctuary Advisory Council (Council): Commercial Fishing member, Conservation alternate, Public-At-Large member, Public-At-Large alternate, Research member, and Tourism member. Applicants are chosen based upon: their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying, community and professional affiliations, views regarding the protection and management of marine resources, and the length of residence in the communities located near the Sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve 2-year terms, pursuant to the Council's Charter.

This document confirms the effective date of the direct final rule which establishes a Class E enroute domestic airspace area, Vandenberg AFB, CA, to replace existing Class G uncontrolled airspace.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 207, Airport Security Access Control Systems.

We are proposing to revise and reorganize the regulations pertaining to the importation of fruits and vegetables to consolidate requirements of general applicability and eliminate redundant requirements, update terms and remove outdated requirements and references, update the regulations that apply to importations into territories under U.S. administration, and make various editorial and nonsubstantive changes to regulations to make them easier to use. We are also proposing to make substantive changes to the regulations, including: Establishing criteria within the regulations that, if met, would allow us to approve certain new fruits and vegetables for importation into the United States and to acknowledge pest-free areas in foreign countries more effectively and expeditiously; doing away with the practice of listing specific commodities that may be imported subject to certain types of phytosanitary measures; and providing for the issuance of special use permits for fruits and vegetables. These changes are intended to simplify and expedite our processes for approving certain new imports and pest-free areas while continuing to allow for public participation in the processes. This proposal, if adopted, would represent a significant structural revision of the fruits and vegetables import regulations and would establish a new process for approving certain new commodities for importation into the United States. It would not, however, allow the importation of any specific new fruits or vegetables, nor would it alter the conditions for importing currently approved fruits or vegetables except as specifically described in this document. To the extent to which trading partners consider the time it takes to conduct the rulemaking process a trade barrier, by reducing that time, these proposed changes may facilitate the export of U.S. agricultural commodities. The proposed changes would not alter the manner in which the risk associated with a commodity import request is evaluated, nor would it alter the manner in which those risks are ultimately mitigated.

Pursuant to Sections 323(b)(10) and 346(a) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended, (EPCA or the Act), 42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(10) and 6317(a), the Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) promulgates a rule prescribing test procedures for measuring the energy efficiency of distribution transformers under EPCA, definitions to delineate the products covered by the test procedures, provisions (including a sampling plan) manufacturers must use to implement the test procedures, provisions to allow manufacturers to use calculation methods to determine the efficiency of some of their models, and enforcement testing for distribution transformers. The Department will use the new test procedures in evaluating what energy conservation standards are warranted for distribution transformers other than the low-voltage dry-type. When DOE promulgates such standards, then the test procedures and other provisions adopted today will be used to determine the efficiencies and assess compliance of the transformers subject to these standards. For low-voltage dry-type distribution transformers, the new standards prescribed for them in section 325(y) of EPCA, 42 U.S.C. 6295(y), go into effect on January 1, 2007, and all of the provisions of today's rule will become applicable to those transformers at that time.

EPA is convening a public workshop to provide training for persons responsible for submitting information during the 2006 Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) period. The workshop will focus on reporting requirements, case studies, the electronic IUR software, and submission of IUR information through the Internet. The IUR requirements were modified by amendments to 40 CFR part 710 promulgated on January 7, 2003 (68 FR 847) (FRL-6767-4) and December 19, 2005 (70 FR 75059) (FRL-7743-9). This workshop is open to the public.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's risk assessments, preliminary risk reduction options, and related documents for the pesticides chlorine dioxide, sodium chlorite and sodium chlorate (antimicrobial uses), and opens a public comment period on these documents. The public also is encouraged to suggest risk management ideas or proposals to address the risks identified. EPA is developing a Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for chlorine dioxide through a modified, 4-Phase public participation process that the Agency uses to involve the public in developing pesticide reregistration and tolerance reassessment decisions. Through these programs, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides meet current health and safety standards.