April 5, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Through this action, the Rural Housing Service (RHS) is proposing to amend its regulation to change the requirements of the Reserve Account for the Sections 514/516 Farm Labor Housing program and the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing (RRH) program. The intended effect of this action is to address reserve account requirements of new construction rental housing funded under Sections 514/516 and Section 515 and does not affect reserve accounts for existing portfolios.

An open meeting of the Area 2 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted (via teleconference). The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

The meeting of the Advisory Committee for Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology scheduled for May 1 and 2, 2007, is cancelled. This meeting was announced in the Federal Register of March 16, 2007 (72 FR 12621).

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated 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:

FMCSA announces its decision to approve Isuzu Motors America, Inc.'s (Isuzu) application for an exemption for 76 of its drivers to enable them to test-drive commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in the United States without a commercial driver's license (CDL) issued by one of the States. The Isuzu CMVs are prototypes that require testing under U.S. climatic conditions prior to being placed on the U.S. market. Each of these drivers holds a CDL issued in Japan, but lacks the U.S. residency necessary to obtain a CDL issued by one of the States of the United States. FMCSA believes the knowledge and skills testing and training program that drivers must undergo to obtain a Japanese CDL ensures that these drivers will achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemption.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A330 and A340 airplanes. This proposed AD would require revising the Airworthiness Limitations Section of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness to incorporate new limitations for fuel tank systems. This proposed AD results from fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer. We are proposing this AD to prevent the potential of ignition sources inside fuel tanks, which, in combination with flammable fuel vapors caused by latent failures, alterations, repairs, or maintenance actions, could result in fuel tank explosions and consequent loss of the airplane.

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD), which applies to Airbus Model A300 B2 and B4 series airplanes equipped with General Electric CF6-50 engines. That AD currently requires deactivating both thrust reversers and revising the airplane flight manual (AFM) to require performance penalties during certain takeoff conditions to ensure that safe and appropriate performance is achieved for airplanes on which both thrust reversers have been deactivated. This new AD requires one-time inspections of the directional pilot valve (DPV), the rocker arm and associated hardware, and corrective actions if necessary; reactivation of both thrust reversers; and repetitive inspections of the DPV and the associated control mechanism of the thrust reversers for incorrect assembly or excessive wear, and corrective actions if necessary. Accomplishing all of the actions would allow the removal of the AFM limitations in the existing AD. This AD results from reports indicating that the DPV was assembled incorrectly; further investigation revealed excessive wear on certain correctly assembled DPVs and the associated control mechanism. We are issuing this AD to prevent uncommanded in-flight deployment of a thrust reverser, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on the proposed designation of critical habitat for two southern California plants: Ceanothus ophiochilus (Vail Lake ceanothus) and Fremontodendron mexicanum (Mexican flannelbush). We also announce the availability of the draft economic analysis for the proposed critical habitat designations and an amended Required Determinations section of the proposal. The draft economic analysis identifies potential costs will be $385,000 to $659,000 in undiscounted dollars over a 20-year period as a result of the proposed designation of critical habitat, including those costs coextensive with listing and recovery. Discounted future costs are estimated to be $325,000 to $559,000 ($22,000 to $38,000 annualized) at a 3 percent discount rate, or $272,000 to $471,000 ($26,000 to $44,000 annualized) at a 7 percent discount rate. The amended Required Determinations section provides our determination concerning compliance with applicable statutes and Executive Orders that we have deferred until the information from the draft economic analysis of this proposal was available. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule, the associated draft economic analysis, and the amended Required Determinations section.

We are adopting amendments to the rules that govern when a foreign private issuer may terminate the registration of a class of equity securities under section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act'') and the corresponding duty to file reports required under section 13(a) of the Exchange Act, and when it may cease its reporting obligations regarding a class of equity or debt securities under section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Under the current rules, a foreign private issuer may find it difficult to terminate its Exchange Act registration and reporting obligations despite the fact that there is relatively little interest in the issuer's U.S.- registered securities among United States investors. Moreover, currently a foreign private issuer can only suspend, and cannot terminate, a duty to report arising under section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. New Exchange Act Rule 12h-6 will permit a foreign private issuer of equity securities to terminate its reporting obligations under either section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Exchange Act by meeting a quantitative benchmark designed to measure relative U.S. market interest for its equity securities that does not depend on a head count of the issuer's U.S. security holders. The new rule will permit a foreign private issuer to compare the average daily trading volume of its securities in the United States with its worldwide average daily trading volume, using a 5 percent benchmark. The accompanying rule amendments will also help provide U.S. investors with ready access through the Internet on an ongoing basis to material information about a foreign private issuer of equity securities that is required by its home country after it has exited the Exchange Act reporting system. The new rule will also permit a foreign private issuer of debt securities to terminate, rather than merely suspend, its section 15(d) reporting obligations.

This document contains final regulations under section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) regarding the limitations of section 415, including updates to the regulations for numerous statutory changes since comprehensive final regulations were last published under section 415. The final regulations also make conforming changes to regulations under sections 401(a), 401(a)(9), 401(k), 402, 416, and 457, and make other minor corrective changes to regulations under sections 401(a)(4), 414(s), 457, and 924. These regulations affect administrators of, participants in, and beneficiaries of qualified employer plans and certain other retirement plans.

The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS or sanctuary) is seeking applicants for the following vacant seat on its Sanctuary Advisory Council (council): Citizen-at-large alternate. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the sanctuary. The applicant who is chosen should expect to serve out the remainder of the term, pursuant to the council's Charter.