August 18, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is issuing interim regulations with a request for comments concerning the procedures used to collect debts that are owed to the NLRB. These interim regulations conform to the legislative changes enacted in the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA) and the amended procedures presented in the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) issued by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). These regulations are intended to improve the NLRB's collection of debts owed to the United States.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone encompassing the navigable waters of Presque Isle Bay during the Celebrate Erie Fireworks on August 20, 2006. This safety zone is necessary to ensure the safety of spectators and vessels from the hazards associated with fireworks displays. This safety zone is intended to restrict vessel traffic from a portion of Presque Isle Bay, Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Galveston Causeway Railroad Bascule Bridge across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, mile 357.2 west of Harvey Locks, at Galveston, Galveston County, Texas. This deviation provides for two (2) three-hour closures to conduct scheduled maintenance to the drawbridge.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by an airworthiness authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The proposed AD would require actions that are intended to address the unsafe condition described in the MCAI.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking (PRM-36-01) submitted by the American National Standards Institute N43.10 Committee. The petitioner requested that the NRC amend its regulations to provide relief from the requirements to have an operator present onsite whenever an irradiator is operated using an automatic product conveyor system and whenever product is moved into or out of the radiation room when an irradiator is operated in a batch mode. In addition, the petitioner requested relief from the requirement to have a person who has received training, described in the regulations, on how to respond to alarms onsite at a panoramic irradiator where static irradiations (no movement of the product) are occurring.

EPA is proposing to update a portion of the Outer Continental Shelf (``OCS'') Air Regulations. Requirements applying to OCS sources located within 25 miles of States' seaward boundaries must be updated periodically to remain consistent with the requirements of the corresponding onshore area (``COA''), as mandated by section 328(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (``the Act''). The portion of the OCS air regulations that is being updated pertains to the requirements for OCS sources by the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (Ventura County APCD). The intended effect of approving the OCS requirements for the Ventura County APCD is to regulate emissions from OCS sources in accordance with the requirements onshore. The change to the existing requirements discussed below is proposed to be incorporated by reference into the Code of Federal Regulations and is listed in the appendix to the OCS air regulations.

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. This revision amends Virginia regulations by updating the definition of ``volatile organic compound''. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

On September 15, 1998 (63 FR 49321), EPA published a ``Notice of intent to delete Operable Unit 2 of the South Andover Salvage Yards site from the National Priorities List; request for comments,'' and on October 28, 1998 (63 FR 57608), a ``Final Rule; notice of deletion for Operable Unit 2 of the South Andover Salvage Yards Superfund Site from the National Priorities List (NPL).'' The EPA is publishing this Technical Correction to the October 28, 1998 final notice of deletion due to errors that were published in that notice and in the National Priorities List at 40 CFR part 300, Appendix B. After review of the final notice of deletion and the National Priorities List, EPA is publishing this Technical Correction today to change the word ``removing'' in the October 28, 1998 final notice of deletion to the word ``revising'' and to amend 40 CFR part 300, Appendix B by adding the South Andover Site, Andover, Minnesota, and inserting a ``P'' in the Notes (a) column for the South Andover Site, Andover, Minnesota. EPA will place a copy of the final partial deletion package in the site repositories.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain EMBRAER Model EMB-135BJ airplanes. This AD requires inspecting for missing fire blocking material on the left- and right-hand partitions of the forward baggage compartment door; replacing the seal on both partitions; and performing corrective action if necessary. This AD results from a report indicating that certain airplanes were delivered with the fire blocking material missing and the seal improperly installed on the partitions of the forward baggage compartment door. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct such discrepancies on the forward baggage compartment partition, which, in the event of a fire in the baggage compartment, could result in smoke propagating into the main cabin.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 airplanes. This AD requires inspecting to determine the part number of the twin motor actuators, and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. This AD results from a report of a low pressure valve of the twin motor actuator found partially open, although the valve detection system indicated that the valve was closed. Investigation revealed that the locating pin in the actuator was too short to engage with the valve slot, resulting in incorrect alignment of the actuator and the drive assembly, causing the valve to remain partially open. We are issuing this AD to ensure that, in the event of an engine fire, the valve actuator functions properly to block the fuel flow to the engine and prevent an uncontrollable fire.

The FAA adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) MU-2B series airplanes. This AD requires you to incorporate power assurance charts into the Limitations Section of the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM), inspect the engine torque indication system, and recalibrate the torque pressure transducers as required. This AD results from a recent safety evaluation that used a data-driven approach to analyze the design, operation, and maintenance of the MU-2B series airplanes in order to determine their safety and define what steps, if any, are necessary for their safe operation. Part of that evaluation was the identification of unsafe conditions that exist or could develop on the affected type design airplanes. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct torque transducers that are out of calibration. The above issue, if uncorrected, could result in degraded performance and poor handling qualities with consequent loss of control of the airplane in certain situations.

The FAA supersedes Airworthiness Directive (AD) 84-09-05, which applies to certain GROB-WERKE GMBH & CO KG (previously identified as BURKHART-GROB FLUGZEUGBAU INDUSTRIESTRABE) Model G102 ASTIR CS sailplanes. AD 84-09-05 requires you to install a modified spherical locking bolt and nut in the forward horizontal stabilizer connection to the vertical stabilizer and install new locking pins in the aft connecting plate for the horizontal stabilizer. Since we issued AD 84- 09-05, fatigue cracks were found in the modified spherical locking bolt. Consequently, this AD requires you to replace the modified spherical locking bolt, the retaining pins (collar bolts), and associated hardware; add a life limit on the spherical locking bolt and the retaining pins; and repetitively inspect the front and rear horizontal stabilizer attachment. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the airworthiness authority for Germany. We are issuing this AD to prevent cracks in the spherical locking bolt, which could result in failure of the horizontal stabilizer connection. This failure could lead to loss of control.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list 16 insect species from the Algodones Sand Dunes, Imperial County, California, as threatened or endangered, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. We find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing these species may be warranted. Therefore, we are not initiating a status review in response to this petition. We ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of these species or threats to them or their habitat at any time.

This action modifies the Class D and the Class E airspace areas at Cannon AFB, Clovis, NM, to provide controlled airspace for Category (CAT) E aircraft performing a circling approach within Class D and Class E Airspace.

We are revising the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs to implement changes arising from our continuing experience with these systems, and to implement a number of changes made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-171). In addition, in the Addendum to this final rule, we describe the changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the rates for Medicare hospital inpatient services for operating costs and capital-related costs. We also are setting forth rate-of-increase limits as well as policy changes for hospitals and hospital units excluded from the IPPS that are paid in full or in part on a reasonable cost basis subject to these limits. These changes are applicable to discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2006. In this final rule, we discuss public comments we received on our proposals to refine the diagnosis-related group (DRG) system under the IPPS to better recognize severity of illness among patientsto use a hospital-specific relative value (HSRV) cost center weighting methodology to adjust DRG relative weights; and to implement consolidated severity-adjusted DRGs or alternative severity adjustment methods. Among the other policy changes that we are making are those changes related to: limited revisions of the reclassification of cases to DRGs; the long-term care (LTC)-DRGs and relative weights; the wage data, including the occupational mix data, used to compute the wage index; applications for new technologies and medical services add-on payments; payments to hospitals for the direct and indirect costs of graduate medical education; submission of hospital quality data; payments to sole community hospitals and Medicare-dependent, small rural hospitals; and provisions governing emergency services under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 (EMTALA). We are responding to requested public comments on a number of other issues that include performance-based hospital payments for services and health information technology, as well as how to improve health data transparency for consumers. In addition, we are responding to public comments received on a proposed rule issued in the Federal Register on May 17, 2006 that proposed to revise the methodology for calculating the occupational mix adjustment to the wage index for the FY 2007 hospital inpatient prospective payment system by applying an adjustment to 100 percent of the wage index using new 2006 occupational mix survey data collected from hospitals. We are finalizing two policy documents published in the Federal Register relating to the implementation of the Health Care Infrastructure Improvement Program, a hospital loan program for cancer research, established under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. This final rule also revises the definition of the term ``unit'' to specify the exclusion of units of drugs sold to approved Medicare Competitive Acquisition Program (CAP) vendors for use under the CAP from average sales price (ASP) calculations for a period of up to 3 years, at which time we will reevaluate our policy.