August 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule is published to streamline personnel security clearance procedures and make the process more efficient within the Department of Defense. This will simplify security processing and allow the deserving public to obtain a security clearance in a more efficient manner.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all McDonnell Douglas Model DC-9-10, -20, -30, -40, and -50 series airplanes. This AD requires replacing the clamp bases for the fuel vent pipe with improved clamp bases. This AD results from reports that the foil wrapping on existing plastic clamp bases has migrated out of position, which compromises the bonding of the fuel vent lines to the airplane structure. We are issuing this AD to ensure that the fuel vent lines are properly bonded to the airplane structure. Improper bonding could prevent electrical energy from a lightning strike from dissipating to the airplane structure, and create an ignition source, which could result in a fuel tank explosion.

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for Pratt & Whitney (PW) JT8D-209, -217, -217A, -217C, and -219 turbofan engines. That AD currently requires initial and repetitive visual inspections for fretting and fluorescent magnetic particle inspections (FMPI) for cracking in the area of the tierod holes on 8th stage high pressure compressor (HPC) front hubs (from here on, referred to as HPC front hubs) that have operated at any time with PWA 110-21 coating. This AD requires either replacing HPC front hubs and HPC disks that have operated at any time with PWA 110-21 coating and that operated in certain engine models, or, visually inspecting and FMPI for cracking of those parts and re-plating them if they pass inspection. This AD also requires adding JT8D-1, -1A, -1B, -7, -7A, -7B, -9, -9A, - 11, -15, -15A, -17, -17A, -17R, and -17AR engines to the applicability. This AD results from an investigation by PW, which concluded that any HPC front hub or HPC disk coated with PWA 110-21 that ever operated on JT8D-15, -15A, -17, -17A, -17R, -17AR, -209, -217, -217A, -217C, and - 219 turbofan engines, could crack before reaching their published life limit. We are issuing this AD to prevent a rupture of an HPC front hub or an HPC disk that could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.

FRA is issuing procedures governing the creation of Emergency Relief Dockets (ERD) as well as procedures for obtaining waivers from a safety rule, regulation, or standard during an emergency situation or event. FRA's purpose for establishing the ERD and emergency waiver procedures is to provide an expedited process for FRA to address the needs of the public and the railroad industry during emergency situations or events.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are finalizing minor changes to our regulations to improve the quality and diversity of revegetation in the reclamation of coal mined lands. These revisions govern topsoil redistribution and revegetation success standards and will: Encourage species diversity on reclaimed lands by allowing replacement of soil in variable thicknesses; provide more flexibility to States in using new vegetative success standards and sampling techniques by removing the current requirement that such changes be included in the approved regulatory program; define success standards for lands with an undeveloped land postmining land use; remove shelter belts from the list of postmining land uses subject to success standards; provide more flexibility to operators when they demonstrate compliance with time-in-place requirements by allowing them to consider all trees and shrubs in place at bond release, including volunteer trees and shrubs, and not requiring them to verify the length of time that individual trees and shrubs have been in placethis change will remove a significant impediment to reforestation of mined lands; and make the timing of revegetation success measurements in areas receiving 26 inches of annual precipitation or less consistent with those in areas receiving more than 26 inches of annual precipitation.

The United States Commission on Civil Rights (Commission) is proposing to repeal its old employee conduct regulations, which have been superseded by the executive branch Standards of Ethical Conduct, financial disclosure and financial interests regulations issued by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) In place of its old regulations, the Commission is proposing to add a section of residual cross-references to those branchwide regulations as well as its proposed new supplemental standards regulations and certain executive branchwide conduct rules promulgated by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The Board is amending Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official staff commentary to the regulation, which interprets the requirements of Regulation E. The final rule provides that Regulation E covers payroll card accounts that are established directly or indirectly through an employer, and to which transfers of the consumer's salary, wages, or other employee compensation are made on a recurring basis. The final rule also provides financial institutions with an alternative to providing periodic statements for payroll card accounts if they make account information available to consumers by specified means.

EPA is finalizing approval of revisions to the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions were proposed in the Federal Register on May 16, 2006 and concern oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and oxides of sulfur (SOX) emissions from facilities emitting 4 tons or more per year of NOX or SOX in the year 1990 or subsequent year under the SCAQMD's Regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM) program. We are approving local rules that regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

EPA proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the state of Iowa for the purpose of establishing exemptions for indoor sources of air pollution that are not directly vented to the outside but have emissions that leave the building through doors, vents or other means. This revision also clarifies that the permitting exemptions do not relieve the owner or operator of any source from any obligation to comply with any other applicable requirements. The state has demonstrated that air pollution emissions from this equipment are negligible and these exemptions are likely to result in no significant impact on human health or the environment. We have reviewed the state's justification for the revisions and agree with its conclusions.

With the issuance of this final rule, the Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) places the substance embutramide, including its salts, into Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). As a result of this rule, the regulatory controls and criminal sanctions of Schedule III will be applicable to the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, importation and exportation of embutramide and products containing embutramide.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations to require that jurisdictional natural gas companies report damage to facilities as the result of a natural disaster or terrorist activity that results in a reduction in pipeline throughput or storage deliverability. The Commission is issuing this Final Rule based on its experience following Hurricanes Rita and Katrina under the existing reporting requirements which only require pipeline companies to report service interruptions and therefore did not require natural gas companies to report significant hurricane damage to facilities in instances where service interruptions were avoided by rerouting gas supplies or other means. The Commission has determined that the additional reporting requirements are necessary in order to effectively monitor the nation's natural gas infrastructure in crisis situations.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing a public hearing on emergency research conducted without informed consent under FDA's emergency research rule. The public hearing announced in this document is part of FDA's Human Subject Protection and Bioresearch Monitoring Initiative. We are particularly interested in hearing the views of individuals and groups who have encountered challenges in the conduct of emergency research in the absence of informed consent, including patient advocacy groups, individuals who have participated in clinical studies, institutional review board members (IRBs), sponsors, clinical investigators, medical societies, ethicists, and other interested parties. We are seeking input on a number of specific questions regarding aspects of emergency research and additional human subject protections. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, we are also issuing a draft guidance entitled ``Guidance for Institutional Review Boards, Clinical Investigators, and Sponsors; Exception from Informed Consent Requirements for Emergency Research.'' We will consider comments received on this draft guidance together with comments and suggestions received at the hearing to determine whether the current framework is adequate for the ethical conduct of emergency research, or whether modifications would be appropriate.

Our safety standard on occupant protection in interior impact requires, in part, that light vehicles provide head protection when an occupant's head strikes upper interior components, such as pillars, side rails, headers, and the roof during a crash. While these requirements already apply to most vehicles, the compliance date for altered vehicles and vehicles built in two or more stages is September 1, 2006. In April 2006, we responded to two petitions for rulemaking by proposing certain amendments to the head protection requirements as they apply to these vehicles. We also proposed to delay the compliance date of the requirements for these vehicles until September 1, 2008. Given the short period of time until the current September 1, 2006 compliance date, and as a partial step toward completing action on the April 2006 proposal, we are, by this final rule, delaying the compliance date for one year. This will give us time to fully analyze the comments and reach a decision on other aspects of the proposal, including the proposed additional delay in the compliance date.

This final rule revises the Hazardous Materials Regulations to address a known safety problem with cylinders manufactured of aluminum alloy 6351-T6. The revisions include an inspection and testing program for early detection of sustained load cracking on cylinders manufactured of aluminum alloy 6351-T6 and used in self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), and oxygen services.

NOAA and the USFWS are issuing final regulations for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. This action codifies the prohibitions and management measures set forth in Presidential Proclamation 8031 establishing the Monument. The rule is effective immediately.

The FAA is proposing a rule to address the potential for increased congestion and delay at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LaGuardia) when the High Density Rule (HDR) expires there on January 1, 2007. The rule, if adopted, would establish an operational limit on the number of aircraft landing and taking off at the airport. To offset the effect of this limit, the proposed rule would increase utilization of the airport by encouraging the use of larger aircraft through implementing an airport-wide, average aircraft size requirement designed to increase the number of passengers that may use the airport within the overall proposed operational limits.

This action corrects an error in the airport reference point (ARP) for Provo Municipal Airport, Provo, UT, in the final rule that was published in the Federal Register on August 1, 2006, (71 FR 43355), Docket No. FAA-2006-24234; Airspace Docket No. 06-AWP-5. In addition, corrections are made to change FAA Order 7400.9O to FAA Order 7400.9N, amending its date in two references to September 1, 2005, effective September 15, 2005; and make two editorial changes, replacing the word attends with amends in the Summary, and Class D to Class E in the legal description.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to amend its regulations governing drug establishment registration and drug listing. The proposed revisions would reorganize, consolidate, clarify, and modify current regulations concerning who must register establishments and list human drugs, human drugs that are also biological products (including vaccines and allergenic products), and/ or human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/ Ps), and animal drugs. The proposal describes when and how to register and list and what information must be submitted for registration and listing. In addition, the proposal would make certain changes to the National Drug Code (NDC) system and would require the appropriate NDC number to appear on the labels for drugs subject to the listing requirements. The proposed regulations generally would require the electronic submission of all registration and most listing information. We (FDA) rely on establishment registration and drug listing information for administering many of our programs, such as postmarketing surveillance (including FDA inspections), bioterrorism, drug shortages and availability, and user fee assessments. We are taking this action to use the latest technology to improve our registration and listing system, which would further our goal of protecting the public health. We also believe that the conversion to an electronic system would make the registration and listing processes more efficient and effective for industry and us. We are also taking this action to support the implementation of, for example, the electronic prescribing provisions of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, our rulemaking requiring a bar code on certain drug products, and the DailyMed initiative.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA or the Agency) adopts as final, with minor changes, its interim regulations as published in the Federal Register in August 2002. Since that time, enforcement officials have discovered many carriers operating without the required operating authority or beyond the scope of their authority. By making minor changes to the rule, FMCSA facilitates enforcement of these regulatory requirements by the agency's employees and its State counterparts. Clarifying that operating authority means registration as required by statute assists State enforcement officers in identifying the correct violation and not confusing operating authority with other registration requirements.

We are approving an amendment to the West Virginia regulatory program (the West Virginia program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). West Virginia revised the Code of West Virginia (W. Va. Code) as amended by Senate Bill 461 concerning water rights and replacement, and revised the Code of State Regulations (CSR) as amended by Committee Substitute for House Bill 4135 by adding a postmining land use of bio-oil cropland, and the criteria for approving bio-oil cropland as a postmining land use for mountaintop removal mining operations.

We are amending the regulations governing the importation of fruits and vegetables in order to allow pink and red tomatoes grown in approved registered production sites in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama to be imported into the United States. The conditions to which the importation of tomatoes will be subject, including trapping, pre-harvest inspection, and shipping procedures, are designed to prevent the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States. This action will allow for the importation of pink and red tomatoes from those countries in Central America while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States.

Notice is hereby given, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770, 5 U.S.C. App 1, section 10), of the fifth meeting of the Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee for Dog Management at Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA).

This rule identifies communities that are participating and suspended from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). These communities have applied to the program and have agreed to enact certain floodplain management measures. The communities' participation in the program authorizes the sale of flood insurance to owners of properties located in the communities listed below.

This final rule specifies uniform requirements for the accuracy, collection, storage, survivability, and retrievability of onboard motor vehicle crash event data in passenger cars and other light vehicles equipped with event data recorders (EDRs). This final rule responds to the growing practice in the motor vehicle industry of voluntarily installing EDRs in an increasing number of light vehicles. This final rule is intended to standardize the data obtained through EDRs so that such data may be put to the most effective future use and to ensure that EDR infrastructure develops in such a way as to speed medical assistance through providing a foundation for automatic crash notification (ACN). This final regulation: requires that the EDRs installed in light vehicles record a minimum set of specified data elements; standardizes the format in which those data are recorded; helps to ensure the crash survivability of an EDR and its data by requiring that the EDR function during and after the front and side vehicle crash tests specified in two Federal motor vehicle safety standards; and requires vehicle manufacturers to ensure the commercial availability of the tools necessary to enable crash investigators to retrieve data from the EDR. In addition, to ensure public awareness of EDRs, the regulation also requires vehicle manufacturers to include a standardized statement in the owner's manual indicating that the vehicle is equipped with an EDR and describing the functions and capabilities of EDRs. This final rule for standardization of EDR data will ensure that EDRs record, in a readily usable manner, the data necessary for ACN, effective crash investigations, and analysis of safety equipment performance. Standardization of EDR data will facilitate development of ACN, e-911, and similar systems, which could lead to future safety enhancements. In addition, analysis of EDR data can contribute to safer vehicle designs and a better understanding of the circumstances and causation of crashes and injuries.