September 7, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the U.S. 1 Bridge, across the Housatonic River, mile 3.5, at Stratford, Connecticut. Under this temporary deviation, only one of the two moveable bascule spans will be opened for the passage of vessel traffic. This deviation is necessary to facilitate scheduled bridge maintenance.

This notice proposes special conditions for the Airbus A380- 800 airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes. The Airbus A380-800 will incorporate the use of high capacity lithium ion battery technology in on-board systems. For this design feature, the applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards regarding lithium ion batteries. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards. Additional special conditions will be issued for other novel or unusual design features of the Airbus Model A380-800 airplane.

This final rule revises delegations of authority to carry out the Federal hazardous material transportation law, as amended by the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety and Security Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Title VII of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users or ``SAFETEA-LU''), and in accordance with the Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act, Public Law 108-426, 118 Stat. 2423 (November 30, 2004) (Mineta Act) that were previously published in 71 FR 30828 (May 31, 2006). This final rule also adds delegations of authority to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) to carry out certain provisions of SAFETEA-LU.

The Federal Communications Commission published a document in the Federal Register on December 28, 2005, revising Commission rules. That document contained discrepancies between the text of the order and the final rules set forth at Sec. 90.677. This document corrects the final regulations by revising 47 CFR 90.677.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule revising the quantity of Class 3 (Native) spearmint oil that handlers may purchase from, or handle for, producers during the 2006-2007 marketing year. This rule continues in effect the action that increased the Native spearmint oil salable quantity from 1,007,886 pounds to 1,161,260 pounds, and the allotment percentage from 46 percent to 53 percent. The marketing order regulates the handling of spearmint oil produced in the Far West and is administered locally by the Spearmint Oil Administrative Committee (Committee). The Committee recommended this rule for the purpose of avoiding extreme fluctuations in supplies and prices to help maintain stability in the Far West spearmint oil market.

This rule changes how the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) handles certain claims under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for ``tropical'' regions, including Hawaii, Puerto Rico and other specified areas. The changes will reduce the burden on the affected program participants and ease program administration in the affected areas.

The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary) was designated in January 1992, and consists of three separate areas in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico, known as East Flower Garden, West Flower Garden and Stetson Banks. The present management plan for the Sanctuary was completed at the time of designation. In accordance with Section 304(e) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, as amended, (NMSA) (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), the National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is initiating a review of the management plan, to evaluate substantive progress toward implementing the goals for the Sanctuary, and to make revisions to the plan and regulations as necessary to fulfill the purposes and policies of the NMSA. The proposed revised management plan will likely involve changes to existing policies and regulations of the Sanctuary, to address contemporary issues and challenges, and to better protect and manage the Sanctuary's resources and qualities. The review process is composed of four major stages: Information collection and characterization; preparation and release of a draft management plan/environmental impact statement, and any proposed amendments to the regulations; public review and comment; and preparation and release of a final management plan/environmental impact statement, and any final amendments to the regulations. NOAA anticipates completion of the revised management plan and concomitant documents will require approximately eighteen to twenty-four months. NOAA will conduct public scoping meetings to gather information and other comments from individuals, organizations, and government agencies on the scope, types and significance of issues related to the Sanctuary's management plan and regulations. The scoping meetings are scheduled for October 17, 19, and 24, 2006, as detailed below.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains the Commerce Control List (CCL), which identifies items subject to Department of Commerce export controls. This final rule revises the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement's List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar List), and Statements of Understanding maintained and agreed to by governments participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement, or WA.) The Wassenaar Arrangement advocates implementation of effective export controls on strategic items with the objective of improving regional and international security and stability. To accommodate the changes to the Wassenaar List, this rule revises the EAR by amending certain entries that are controlled for national security reasons in Categories 1, 2, 3, 5 Part I (Telecommunications), 5 Part II (Information Security), 6, 8, and 9, and by amending the EAR Definitions. The purpose of this final rule is to make the necessary changes to the CCL, definitions of terms used in the EAR, and Wassenaar reporting requirements to implement Wassenaar List revisions that were agreed upon in the December 2005 Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary Meeting. In addition, this rule adds Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, South Africa, and Malta to the list of Wassenaar participating states in the EAR, which brings the total number of participating states to 40. This rule also adds or expands unilateral U.S. controls and national security controls on certain items to make them consistent with the amendments made to implement the Wassenaar Arrangement's decisions.