2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA requests public comment on the merits of a petition for rulemaking filed by the Truck Manufacturers Association. This trade association, whose members include all of the major North American manufacturers of medium and heavy-duty trucks, has petitioned FMCSA to amend the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to eliminate turbochargers from the list of equipment considered to be noise dissipative devices. The Truck Manufacturers Association contends that virtually all trucks are now equipped with turbochargers. Hence, these trucks cannot be cited for failure to meet the visual exhaust system inspection requirements of FMCSA's safety regulations if they have no muffler.

Notice is hereby given that the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared a model licensee application relating to the modification of shutdown testing requirements in technical specifications (TS) for Boiling Water Reactors (BWR). The purpose of this model is to permit the NRC to efficiently process amendments that propose to modify LCO 3.10.1 that would allow control rod scram time testing to be performed concurrently with inservice leak and hydrostatic testing. Licensees of nuclear power reactors to which the model applies could then request amendments, confirming the applicability to their reactors. The NRC staff is requesting comment on the model application prior to announcing its availability for license amendment applications. A model safety evaluation and no significant hazards determination regarding the proposed changes to LCO 3.10.1 have been previously posted in the Federal Register for comment on August 21, 2006 (71 FR 48561).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995 and 5 CFR 1320), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review of a revised information collection. RI 25-15, Notice of Change in Student's Status, is used to collect sufficient information from adult children of deceased Federal employees or annuitants to assure that the child continues to be eligible for payments from OPM. Approximately 2,500 certifications are processed annually. Each form takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 835 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 418-3251 or E-mail to MaryBeth Smith- Toomey@opm.gov. Please include your mailing address with your request.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone in the Gulf of Alaska, encompassing the navigable waters in the vicinity of Narrow Cape and Ugak Island. The zone is needed to protect persons and vessels operating in the vicinity of the safety zone during a rocket launch from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation, Narrow Cape, Kodiak Island facility. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port, Western Alaska, or their on-scene representative. The intended effect of this safety zone is to ensure the safety of human life and property during the rocket launch.

The Coast Guard proposes a safety zone to be used to keep spectator vessels out of the path and away from the area directly below participating aircraft during the fleet week air show practice in order to ensure the safety of event participants and spectators.

The Coast Guard is establishing a moving temporary safety zone in the navigable waters of San Francisco Bay, California during vibro penetration testing for a seismic upgrade of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Transbay tube. The testing will require placement of a barge at test sites along the BART Transbay tube. The safety zone will surround the barge and move with the barge as it conducts the tests at seven sites along the BART Transbay tube. This safety zone is necessary to protect persons and vessels from hazards, injury, and damage associated with the vibro penetration testing. Unauthorized persons or vessels are prohibited from entering into, transiting through, or remaining in the safety zone without permission of the Captain of the Port or his designated representative.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it has issued a ROD for the FEIS that evaluated a proposal to relocate the existing Panama City-Bay County International Airport (PFN) to a new site in western Bay County, Florida. The ROD provides final agency determination and approvals for those federal actions by the FAA necessary for the proposed relocation of PFN.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD, Huntington District will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate potential impacts to the natural, physical, and human environment as a result of the proposed installation of hydropower generation facilities at Bluestone Dam, Hinton, Summers County, WV (Hydropower Project). The proposed hydropower project would utilize three of the six existing penstocks which were part of the original construction of the dam. The proposed project would also involve the discharge of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States (U.S.) and would involve work in the New River, a navigable water of the U.S. Therefore, the subject proposal would require a Department of the Army (DA) permit pursuant to section 404 of the Clean Water Act (Section 404) and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (Section 10). This EIS will document the agency's evaluation of all reasonable alternatives as they affect stability of the dam and control the release of water from Bluestone Dam, and will document analysis of impacts to Waters of the U.S. sufficient to accommodate the NEPA process for permitting under section 10 and section 404.

The FRA is updating its announcement of RSAC's Working Group activities to reflect its current status.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Boeing Model 777-200 and -300 series airplanes. This AD requires inspecting the lower web of the aft fairing of engine struts for any discoloration and doing any related investigative and corrective action if necessary; inspecting the heat shield castings for any damage and doing any corrective action if necessary; installing gap cover strips; and replacing insulation blankets with new insulation blankets. This AD results from a report that several discolored fairing lower webs and some damaged/deteriorated insulation blankets were found in the aft fairings of engine struts. We are issuing this AD to prevent cracking of lower webs of the aft fairings, which could result in flammable hydraulic fluid leaking onto or near an ignition source, and possibly result in an uncontrollable fire in the engine strut area.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 18 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these exemptions will provide a level of safety that will be equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, the FDIC, and the OTS (collectively, the agencies) may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, has approved the agencies' publication for public comment of proposed new regulatory reporting requirements for banks \1\ that are subject to the agencies' revised market risk capital rules. The proposal describes the scope of reporting and the proposed reporting requirements. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the FFIEC should modify the proposed reporting requirements prior to giving its final approval. The agencies will then submit the proposed reporting requirements to OMB for review and approval and, upon approval, OMB will assign control numbers.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are proposing revisions to the market risk capital rule to enhance its risk sensitivity and introduce requirements for public disclosure of certain qualitative and quantitative information about the market risk of a bank or bank holding company. The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) currently does not apply a market risk capital rule to savings associations and is proposing in this notice a market risk capital rule for savings associations. The proposed rules for each agency are substantively identical.