2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS closes the commercial fishery for red snapper in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico. NMFS has determined the fall portion of the annual commercial quota for red snapper will have been reached by December 26, 2006. This closure is necessary to protect the red snapper resource.

This action revises Class E airspace at Homer, AK to provide adequate controlled airspace to contain aircraft executing four new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs). This rule results in the revision of Class E airspace upward from the surface, from 700 feet (ft.), and from 1,200 ft. above the surface at Homer, AK.

This action revises Class E airspace at Hooper Bay, AK to provide adequate controlled airspace to contain aircraft executing two new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs). This rule results in the revision of Class E airspace upward from 700 feet (ft.) and 1,200 ft. above the surface at Hooper Bay, AK.

This action revises Class E airspace at Tok Junction, AK to provide adequate controlled airspace to contain aircraft executing a new Standard Instrument Approach Procedure (SIAP). This rule results in the revision of Class E airspace upward from 700 feet (ft.) and 1,200 ft. above the surface at Tok Junction, AK.

DoD has issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to adjust acquisition-related thresholds for inflation. Section 807 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 requires periodic adjustment of statutory acquisition-related dollar thresholds, except those established by the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, or trade agreements. This rule also amends other acquisition-related thresholds that are BASED on policy rather than statute.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Kern County Air Pollution Control District (KCAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). The KCAPCD revisions concern permitting requirements. We are proposing to approve local rules that administer regulations under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is proposing amendments to its procedures for implementing the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). This proposed rule also includes minor, technical amendments to the Agency's procedures for implementing Executive Order 12114, ``Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions.'' This proposed rule would amend EPA's NEPA implementing procedures by: consolidating and standardizing the procedural provisions and requirements of the Agency's environmental review process under NEPA; clarifying the general procedures associated with categorical exclusions, consolidating the categories of actions subject to categorical exclusion, amending existing and adding new categorical exclusions, and consolidating and amending existing and adding new extraordinary circumstances; consolidating and amending the listing of actions that generally require an environmental impact statement; clarifying the procedural requirements for consideration of applicable environmental review laws and executive orders; and incorporating other proposed revisions consistent with the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations (CEQ's Regulations).

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for Rolls-Royce Corporation (RRC) 501-D series turboprop engines. That AD requires removal from service of certain turbine rotor components at reduced life limits. This AD requires the same actions but adds two new life limits. This AD results from RRC reevaluating and revising component life limits for 501-D22 series turboprop engines. We are issuing this AD to prevent uncontained turbine rotor failure resulting in an in-flight engine shutdown and possible damage to the airplane.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on two petitions to list the Mono Basin area population of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Bi-State area of California and Nevada as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. We find that the petitions do not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing this population may be warranted. Therefore, we are not initiating a status review in response to these petitions. We ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of this population or threats to it or its habitat at any time.

This provides notice of the Federal Subsistence Board's action to provide winter subsistence harvest opportunities for lake trout, Dolly Varden, and rainbow trout in Tustumena Lake. The fishing opportunity in Tustumena Lake provides an exception to the Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska, published in the Federal Register on March 29, 2006. Those regulations established seasons, harvest limits, methods, and means relating to the taking of fish and shellfish for subsistence uses during the 2006 regulatory year.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule to amend its adjudication regulations regarding compensation for disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses suffered by veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War. This amendment is necessary to extend the presumptive period for qualifying chronic disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses that must become manifest to a compensable degree in order that entitlement for compensation be established. The intended effect of this amendment is to provide consistency in VA adjudication policy and preserve certain rights afforded to Persian Gulf War veterans and ensure fairness for current and future Persian Gulf War veterans.

On June 29, 1995, and July 10, 1997, EPA proposed to approve a request by the Forest County Potawatomi Community (FCP Community) to redesignate certain trust lands within its reservation as Class I with respect to the Clean Air Act (CAA) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) construction permit program. In these proposals, EPA did not explicitly state the mechanism it would use if it granted the redesignation request nor did the Agency include a draft of its codification. In this action, EPA is proposing that it will promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) if it approves FCP Community's request and this action proposes potential codification language. This FIP will be implemented by EPA unless or until it is replaced by a Tribal Implementation Plan (TIP).

EPA is proposing to approve revisions adopted by North Dakota on February 1, 2005 to Chapter 33-15-15 of the North Dakota Administrative Code (Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality) that incorporate EPA's December 31, 2002 NSR Reforms. North Dakota submitted the request for approval of these rule revisions into the State Implementation Plan (SIP) on February 10, 2005. North Dakota has a federally-approved Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program for new and modified sources impacting attainment areas in the State. North Dakota is in attainment for all pollutants, and does not have a SIP-approved non-attainment permit program. On December 31, 2002, EPA published revisions to the Federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and non-attainment NSR regulations (67 FR 80186). These revisions are commonly referred to as ``NSR Reform'' regulations and became effective nationally in areas not covered by a SIP on March 3, 2003. These regulatory revisions include provisions for baseline emissions determinations, actual-to-future- actual methodology, plantwide applicability limits (PALs), clean units, and pollution control projects (PCPs). On November 7, 2003, EPA published a reconsideration of the NSR Reform regulations that clarified two provisions in the regulations (68 FR 63021). On June 24, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling on challenges to the December 2002 NSR Reform revisions (State of New York v. EPA, 413 F.3d 3 (D.C. Cir. 2005). Although the Court upheld most of EPA's rules, it vacated both the Clean Unit and the Pollution Control Project provisions and remanded back to EPA the ``reasonable possibility'' standard for when a source must keep certain project-related records. North Dakota is seeking approval at this time for its PSD regulations to implement the NSR Reform provisions that have not been vacated by the June 24, 2005, court decision.

We are amending the regulations to list a number of fruits and vegetables from certain parts of the world as eligible, under specified conditions, for importation into the United States. Some of the fruits and vegetables are already eligible for importation under permit, but are not specifically listed in the regulations. All of the fruits and vegetables, as a condition of entry, will be inspected and subject to treatment at the port of first arrival as may be required by an inspector. In addition, some of the fruits and vegetables will be required to meet other special conditions. In one case, we are adding a systems approach that will provide an alternative to methyl bromide fumigation. These actions will provide the United States with additional types and sources of fruits and vegetables while continuing to protect against the introduction of quarantine pests through imported fruits and vegetables.

EPA is hereby extending the comment period for a proposed rule issued on October 20, 2006 (71 FR 61926) (FRL-8081-3), to require testing for certain chemicals on the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)/EPA Priority List of Hazardous Substances to March 19, 2007. This extension is being made as a result of a request by a member of the public for additional time to submit comments.

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 aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as:

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone around construction vessels and mooring lines under the West Span of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge during the deck erection phase of construction. This safety zone will be in effect regardless of whether construction vessels are present or not. This zone approximately encompasses all waters from the Gig Harbor shoreline to just east of the west bridge caissons, extending 1500 feet north and south. The Coast Guard is taking this action to safeguard the public from possible collision with the vessels or their mooring lines, chains, or cables. Entry into this zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, Puget Sound or his designated representatives.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone around the Barge ``MARMACK 12'', Official Number 1024657, while it is being used for the New Tacoma Narrows Bridge Construction Project. The zone will extend 500 feet in all directions from the barge, and will be in effect at all times during the duration of this rule. This zone is only in effect while the barge is on the navigable waters of the United States, in the Tacoma Narrows. The Coast Guard is taking this action to safeguard the public from possible collision with the barge and the deck sections it is carrying, and from hazards associated with navigating in the vicinity of the barge during construction operations. Entry into this zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, Puget Sound or his designated representatives.

This document corrects errors in a final rule that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) published in the Federal Register on November 1, 2006. That action amended the Commission's regulations governing small power production and cogeneration in response to section 1253 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries (AA), NOAA, announces the extension of temporary restrictions consistent with the requirements of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan's (ALWTRP) implementing regulations. These restrictions will continue to apply to lobster trap and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 1,549 nm\2\ (5,312 km\2\), south of Portland, Maine, for an additional 15 days. The purpose of this action is to provide immediate protection to an aggregation of Northern right whales (right whales).

NMFS proposes 2007 and 2008 harvest specifications and prohibited species catch (PSC) allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2007 and 2008 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the BSAI in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).

This final rule amends regulations of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce (BEA) to set forth the reporting requirements for the BE-120, Benchmark Survey of Transactions in Selected Services and Intangible Assets with Foreign Persons. This survey replaces a similar but more limited survey, the BE-20, Benchmark Survey of Selected Services Transactions with Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. The agency form number and survey title are being changed because the survey is being reconfigured to reflect changes in BEA's survey program for international services that have occurred since the previous BE-20 survey was conducted, as well as to begin collection of data on transactions with affiliated foreigners and unaffiliated foreigners using the same survey instruments. The BE-120 survey will be conducted once every five years beginning with fiscal year 2006. The BE-120 survey is intended to cover the universe of selected services transactions and transactions in intangible assets with foreign persons. In nonbenchmark years, universe estimates covering these transactions will be derived from the sample data reported on BEA's follow-on quarterly survey, by extrapolating forward the universe data collected on the BE-120 benchmark survey.

This document makes a minor correction to the preamble language for the final rule entitled ``Final Extension of the Deferred Effective Date for 8-hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Early Action Compact Areas.'' The final rule was initially published in the Federal Register on November 29, 2006. This correction extends the time period for petitions for judicial review of this action from December 29, 2006 to January 29, 2007.