2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for RRC 250-B and 250-C series turboshaft and turboprop engines. That AD currently requires a onetime inspection of the fuel nozzle screen for contamination, and if contamination is found, inspection and cleaning of the entire aircraft fuel system before further flight. That AD also requires replacing the fuel nozzle with a new design fuel nozzle, at the next fuel nozzle overhaul or by June 30, 2006, whichever occurs first. This AD requires the same actions, but would add additional part numbers (P/Ns) to the list of affected fuel nozzles. This AD would also explain that the existing AD, as worded, allows certain part number (P/N) fuel nozzles back into service. Those fuel nozzles must not be allowed back into service. This AD is prompted by the discovery that several P/Ns of fuel nozzles were inadvertently left out of AD 2004-24-09. We are issuing this AD to minimize the risk of sudden loss of engine power and uncommanded shutdown of the engine due to fuel contamination and collapse of the screen in the fuel nozzle.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain McDonnell Douglas Model DC-9-81 (MD-81), DC-9-82 (MD-82), DC-9- 83 (MD-83), DC-9-87 (MD-87), and MD-88 airplanes. This AD requires installing a clamp, a bonding jumper assembly, and attaching hardware to the refueling manifold in the right wing refueling station area. This AD results from fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer. We are issuing this AD to prevent arcing on the in-tank side of the fueling valve during a lightning strike, which could result in an ignition source that could ignite fuel vapor and cause a fuel tank explosion.

This proposed rule would establish regulations applicable to the Quality Samples Program (QSP). The proposed regulations set forth details concerning program administration, including participant eligibility, application requirements, review and allocation process, reimbursement rules and procedures, and program controls.

This document contains final and temporary regulations amending Sec. 1.671-5, a provision which provides reporting rules for widely held fixed investment trusts (WHFITs). These regulations clarify and simplify reporting for trustees and middlemen of non-mortgage widely held fixed investment trusts (NMWHFITs). The text of these final and temporary regulations also serves, in part, as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-125071-06) on this subject in this issue of the Federal Register.

This document focuses on ways to better accommodate the operation of implanted and body-worn medical transmitters in the 400 MHz band. These devices use wireless technologies for increasingly sophisticated and beneficial health care applications. Such applications currently include cardiac defibrillators for heart patients and real-time blood sugar monitoring devices for diabetics, and may, in the future, include applications as diverse as brain, muscle and nerve stimulation techniques for treating an array of conditions from Parkinson's disease to severe chronic depression. The Commission tentatively concludes that modifying its current rules and designating an additional two megahertz of spectrum in the adjacent 401-402 MHz and 405-406 MHz bands) would appropriately provide needed capacity and more flexible operating rules for beneficial medical radio communication devices and thereby serve the public interest.

This document provides an additional 60 days for interested persons to submit comments on the proposed rule to amend the Customs and Border Protection Regulations pertaining to the electronic transmission of passenger manifests for commercial aircraft arriving in and departing from the United States and of passenger and crew manifests for commercial vessels departing from the United States. The proposed rule provides air carriers a choice to make manifest transmissions either for each passenger as passengers check in for the flight, up to but no later than 15 minutes prior to departure, or in batch form (a complete manifest containing all passenger data) no later than 60 minutes prior to departure. The proposed rule also provides for vessel carriers transmitting passenger and crew manifests no later than 60 minutes prior to the vessel's departure from the United States. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on July 14, 2006, and the comment period was scheduled to expire on August 14, 2006.

The Surface Transportation Board has instituted a proceeding to seek public comments on proposed changes to revise and clarify its guidelines for deciding small rate cases. In particular, the Board proposes to: create a simplified stand-alone cost (Simplified-SAC) method to be used in medium-size rate disputes for which a full stand- alone cost (Full-SAC) presentation would be too costly, given the value of the case; retain the Three-Benchmark method for small rate disputes for which a Simplified-SAC presentation would be too costly; and establish eligibility presumptions to distinguish between large, medium-size, and small rail rate disputes. These changes are intended to advance Congress' mandate to ``establish a simplified and expedited method for determining the reasonableness of challenged rail rates in those cases in which a full SAC presentation is too costly, given the value of the case.'' 49 U.S.C. 10701(d)(3).

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 an unsafe condition described in the MCAI.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, has approved a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the Berkley Bridge, at mile 0.4, across the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia to facilitate repair and replacement of electrical and mechanical equipment. This deviation allows vessel openings of the drawbridge upon three hours advance notice each day between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., beginning Monday, July 31, 2006 until and including Friday, August 4, 2006.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for the Vermont Air National Guard 60th Anniversary Air Show on August 18 and 19, 2006 in Burlington, Vermont. This zone will temporarily close all waters in Burlington Bay from Lone Rock Point 44[deg]29[min]43[sec] N 073[deg]14[min]56[sec] W SE to Oakledge Park 44[deg]27[min]15[sec] N 073[deg]14[min]52[sec] W, thence from the Burlington South break wall light 44[deg]28[min]12[sec] N 073[deg]13[min]32[sec] W extending due east to the shore, thence from the Burlington north break wall 44[deg]28[min]50[sec] N 073[deg]13[min]47[sec] W and extending due east to the shore. The safety zone, which temporarily prohibits entry into or movement within this portion of Burlington Bay, is necessary to safeguard the public from possible hazards associated with an air show. Entry into this zone by any vessel is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port, Northern New England or his designated representative.

EPA is revoking, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) section 408(e)(1), the existing exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of the inert ingredient ``wheat bran'' under 40 CFR 180.910. This regulatory action contributes toward the Agency's tolerance reassessment requirements under FFDCA section 408(q), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996. By law, EPA is required by August 2006 to reassess the tolerances that were in existence on August 2, 1996. This regulatory action counts as a tolerance reassessment toward the August 2006 review deadline.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) takes steps necessary to protect the federal universal service program and promote stability in the market for prepaid calling cards. In particular, the Commission will treat certain prepaid calling card service providers as telecommunications service providers. As such, these providers must pay intrastate access charges for interexchange calls that originate and terminate in the same state and interstate access charges on interexchange calls that originate and terminate in different states. They also must contribute to the federal Universal Service Fund (USF) based on their interstate revenues, subject to the limitations set forth below. The Commission also addresses a petition for interim relief filed by AT&T and adopts interim rules to facilitate compliance with the universal service and access charge rules. Specifically, on an interim and prospective basis, the Commission requires all prepaid calling card providers to comply with certain reporting and certification requirements.

NMFS announces the availability of Amendment 26 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Resource of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 26) prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). Amendment 26 would establish an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program for the Gulf of Mexico commercial red snapper fishery. The intended effect of Amendment 26 is to reduce overcapacity in the commercial red snapper fishery and to eliminate, to the extent possible, the problems associated with derby fishing, in order to assist the Council in achieving optimum yield (OY) from the fishery.

This notice proposes to change the name of the Eastman-Dodge County Airport to Heart of Georgia Regional Airport and to establish Class D airspace at Eastman, GA. On October 9, 1995, the Eastman-Dodge County Airport Authority adopted a name change for the airport. A non- Federal contract tower with a weather reporting system is being constructed at Heart of Georgia Regional Airport. Therefore, the airport will meet criteria for Class D airspace. Class D surface area airspace is required when the control tower is open to contain Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and other Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport. This action would establish Class D airspace extending upward from the surface to and including 2,500 feet MSL within a 4.1-mile radius of the airport.

This action corrects an error in the airspace description of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that was published in the Federal Register on July 12, 2006 (71 FR 39247), Airspace Docket No. 06-AWP-9.

The Federal Communications Commission proposes application processing and service rules for the 17/24 GHz Broadcasting Satellite Service (BSS). The Commission proposes and/or seeks comment on a number of issues, including: licensing procedures, posting of performance bonds, milestone schedules, limits on pending applications, annual reporting, license terms, replacement satellites, access to the U.S. market from non-U.S. satellites; public interest obligations, copyright and broadcast carriage, equal employment opportunity, geographic service coverage, and emergency alert system participation; use of internationally allocated spectrum by receiving stations located outside the United States; orbital spacing and antenna performance standards; technical requirements for intra-service sharing; other technical requirements, such as reverse band operations, tracking, telemetry, and command operations, polarization, and full frequency re- use requirements; and technical requirements for inter-service sharing in the 17 and 24 GHz bands.

The Office of Personnel Management is issuing final regulations to change the cost-of-living allowance rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The changes are the result of living-cost surveys conducted in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

In this document, we conclude a proceeding to collect $288,771,000 in regulatory fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, pursuant to section 9 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act), and an additional $10,000,000 as required by section 3013 of the Deficit Reduction Act (Pub. L. 109-171). These fees are mandated by Congress and are collected to recover the regulatory costs associated with the Commission's enforcement, policy and rulemaking, user information, and international activities.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a plain language rewrite of its regulations regarding the standards that govern OPM employee responsibilities and conduct as part of a review of certain OPM regulations. The purpose of the revisions is to make the regulations more readable.

This document contains temporary regulations relating to income that is associated with a residual interest in a Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit (REMIC) and that is allocated through certain entities to foreign persons who have invested in those entities. The regulations accelerate the time when income is recognized for withholding tax purposes to conform to the timing of income recognition for general income tax purposes. The foreign persons covered by these regulations include partners in domestic partnerships, shareholders of real estate investment trusts, shareholders of regulated investment companies, participants in common trust funds, and patrons of subchapter T cooperatives. These regulations are necessary to prevent inappropriate avoidance of current income tax liability by foreign persons to whom income from REMIC residual interests is allocated. The regulations clarify the timing of income under section 860G for purposes of determining a domestic partnership's responsibility under sections 1441 and 1442 for withholding tax with respect to a foreign partner's share of REMIC net income as a result of indirectly holding a residual interest. The regulations also provide that an excess inclusion is treated as income from sources within the United States. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

We are reopening the comment period for our proposed rule to revise and reorganize the regulations pertaining to the importation of fruits and vegetables to consolidate requirements of general applicability and eliminate redundant requirements, update terms and remove outdated requirements and references, update the regulations that apply to importations into territories under U.S. administration, and make various editorial and nonsubstantive changes to regulations to make them easier to use. We also proposed to make substantive changes to the regulations, including: Establishing criteria within the regulations that, if met, would allow us to approve certain new fruits and vegetables for importation into the United States and to acknowledge pest-free areas in foreign countries more effectively and expeditiously; doing away with the practice of listing specific commodities that may be imported subject to certain types of phytosanitary measures; and providing for the issuance of special use permits for fruits and vegetables. The proposed changes are intended to simplify and expedite our processes for approving certain new imports and pest-free areas while continuing to allow for public participation in the processes. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

The Coast Guard proposes to establish safety zones throughout the Great Lakes. These zones are intended to restrict vessels from portions of the Great Lakes during live fire gun exercises that will be conducted by Coast Guard cutters and small boats. These safety zones are necessary to protect the public from the hazards associated with the firing of weapons.

This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters. This action requires, before further flight, replacing a certain main gearbox (MGB) upper main housing assembly (housing assembly) that has 2700 or more hours time-in-service (TIS) with an airworthy part. This action also requires, before further flight, revising the Airworthiness Limitations section (ALS) of the maintenance manual by establishing a new retirement life for the MGB housing assembly of 2700 hours TIS. This amendment is prompted by testing of the MGB housing assembly that resulted in premature fatigue failure due to a manufacturing process creating an oxide skin defect in the housing. The actions specified in this AD are intended to prevent fatigue failure of the MGB housing, loss of MGB lube oil, loss of main and tail rotor drive, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

The FAA proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to all Airbus Model A300 airplanes. The existing AD currently requires repetitive inspections for cracking and corrosion in the lower rim area of the rear pressure bulkhead and adjacent areas, repetitive inspections for cracking or corrosion in the service apertures and the upper rim area of the rear pressure bulkhead, and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD would remove certain repetitive inspections and reduce the repetitive interval of one inspection. This proposed AD would also require an inspection for missing or damaged sealant of the area between the outer attachment angle and circumferential joint doubler, and corrective action if necessary. This proposed AD would also require additional inspections for corrosion of certain areas and repetitive inspections for airplanes on which repairs have been done. This proposed AD results from reports of corrosion and cracking in the various components associated with the rear pressure bulkhead. We are proposing this AD to prevent reduced structural capability of the fuselage and consequent decompression of the airplane.

This action establishes Class E airspace at Willow, AK to provide adequate controlled airspace to contain aircraft executing new Instrument Procedures. This rule results in new Class E airspace established upward from 700 feet (ft.) and 1,200 ft. above the surface at Willow, AK.