November 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Corps of Engineers is amending its regulations to modify an existing danger zone, in waters of the United States in the vicinity of Bloodsworth Island, Maryland. The amendment reflects the current operational and safety procedures at the Bloodsworth Island Range and highlights a change in the enforcement authority from the Commander, Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia to the Commander, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The regulations are necessary to safeguard United States Navy vessels and United States Government facilities/ installations from sabotage and other subversive acts, accidents, or incidents of a similar nature. These regulations are also necessary to protect the public from potentially hazardous conditions which may exist as a result from use of the areas by the United States Navy.

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) published a final rule under part 627 on September 26, 2007 (72 FR 54527). This final rule amends our priority of claims regulations to provide priority of claims rights to Farm Credit System (System) banks if they make payments under a reallocation agreement to holders of consolidated and System-wide obligations on behalf of a defaulting System bank. In accordance with 12 U.S.C. 2252, the effective date of the final rule is 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register during which either or both Houses of Congress are in session. Based on the records of the sessions of Congress, the effective date of the regulations is November 16, 2007.

The Commission is revising its regulations to provide that all documents will be eligible for filing by means of the Commission's eFiling system, with exceptions to be posted by the Secretary of the Commission on the Commissions Web site.

Section 1936 of the Social Security Act (the Act) (as added by section 6034 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA)) established the Medicaid Integrity Program to promote the integrity of the Medicaid program by requiring CMS to enter into contracts with eligible entities to: Review the actions of individuals or entities furnishing items or services (whether on a fee-for-service, risk, or other basis) for which payment may be made under an approved State plan and/or any waiver of such plan approved under section 1115 of the Act; audit claims for payment of items or services furnished, or administrative services rendered, under a State plan; identify overpayments to individuals or entities receiving Federal funds; and educate providers of services, managed care entities, beneficiaries, and other individuals with respect to payment integrity and quality of care. This proposed rule would provide requirements for an eligible entity to enter into a contract under the Medicaid integrity audit program. The proposed rule would also establish the contracting requirements for eligible entities. The requirements would include procedures for identifying, evaluating, and resolving organizational conflicts of interest that are generally applicable to Federal acquisition and procurement; competitive procedures to be used; and procedures under which a contract may be renewed.

In this document, the Commission adopts rules and provides guidance to implement section 621(a)(1) of the Communications Act. The Commission solicited and reviewed comments on this section and found that to promote the federal goals of enhanced cable competition and accelerated broadband development, the Commission's rules regarding the local franchising process should be extended to incumbent cable operators. The Commission adopts measures to address a variety of means by which local franchising authorities are unreasonably refusing to award competitive franchises. The rules and guidance will facilitate enhanced cable competition and accelerated broadband development.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to address implementation of Section 104 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

This document is issued under the joint authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in accordance with Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-22 which amend the FAR. An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-22 which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http:/ /www.regulations.gov.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking comments regarding the establishment of an industry-funded promotion, research, and information program for sorghum, which includes, but is not limited to, grain sorghum, sorghum forage, sorghum hay, sorghum haylage, sorghum billets, and sorghum silage. For the purpose of clarity, the term sorghum will mean all the above mentioned types of sorghum unless specifically identified otherwise. The proposed Order would be implemented under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (Act). The proposed Sorghum Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Order) would establish a national Sorghum Promotion, Research, and Information Board (Board) comprised initially of 13 sorghum producers. Producers and importers would pay assessments based on the value of the sorghum they produce or import. A referendum would be conducted 3 years after assessments begin to determine if sorghum producers and importers favor the program.

This document proposes new criteria to be used by Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to determine whether non-coastwise- qualified vessels are in violation of the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) when engaging in cruise itineraries in which passengers board at a U.S. port, the vessel calls at several Hawaiian ports, and then the vessel proceeds to a foreign port or ports for a brief period, before ultimately returning to the original U.S. port of embarkation where the passengers disembark to complete their cruise. CBP believes these itineraries are contrary to the PVSA because it appears that the primary objective of the foreign stop is evasion of the PVSA.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public comment on a draft revision of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) ``Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material'' (TS-R-1), which is scheduled for publication in 2009. The NRC and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) jointly will be submitting comments on the draft document to the IAEA. We are requesting input from the public to assist in developing the U.S. 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) 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:

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain McDonnell Douglas Model 717-200 airplanes. This proposed AD would require installing an additional support bracket for the gray water drain hose, replacing the screw of the support bracket with a new screw for the potable water supply hose, installing a spacer, doing a detailed inspection to detect interference or wear damage on hoses, lines and/or cables, and doing corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD results from reports of interference between the potable water supply hose and/or gray water drain hose at the aft lavatories with the fuel line and/or power feeder cables of the auxiliary power unit (APU) located below the aft cabin floor. We are proposing this AD to prevent interference and chafing between the potable water supply hose and/or gray water hose with the fuel line and/or power feeder cables of the APU, which may cause arcing and sparking, and/or fuel leaking, and consequent fire or explosion.

The FAA proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain McDonnell Douglas Model DC-8-55, DC-8F-54, and DC-8F-55 airplanes; and Model DC-8-60, DC-8-70, DC-8-60F, and DC-8-70F series airplanes. The existing AD currently requires a one-time inspection for previous repairs of the aft fuselage skin panel at the longeron 28 skin splice; repetitive inspections for cracks of the same area; and related investigative and corrective actions. The existing AD also provides optional actions for extending the repetitive inspection intervals. This proposed AD would re-define and more clearly describe the optional actions for extending the repetitive inspection intervals. This proposed AD results from our determination that the inspections and actions described in the existing AD do not adequately address the unsafe condition. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct cracks in the aft fuselage skin at the longeron 28 skin splice, which could lead to loss of structural integrity of the aft fuselage, resulting in rapid decompression of the airplane.

On April 27, 2004, the FAA revised its policy regarding the co-location of antenna systems on existing structures previously studied by the FAA. Based on various additional comments from industry regarding the initial policy, the FAA finds that further modifications to this policy are necessary.

NCUA is amending its rule governing the purchase, sale, and pledge of eligible obligations by adding a conflict of interest provision substantially similar to the conflict of interest provision in NCUA's general lending rule. This addition will help ensure that decisions by a federal credit union (FCU) regarding the purchase, sale, and pledge of eligible obligations are made with the FCU's best interests in mind.

NASA is amending its regulations by removing NASA's Foreign Patent Licensing Regulations. NASA no longer follows these regulations, but issues licenses based on Government-wide licensing regulations promulgated by the Department of Commerce that take precedence over individual agency licensing regulations.

This Tax Division directive increases the settlement authority of the Chiefs of the Civil Trial Sections, the Court of Federal Claims Section, the Appellate Section, the Office of Review, and the Deputy Assistant Attorneys General, to compromise and close civil claims. In addition, this directive increases the discretionary redelegation of limited authority by a section chief to his or her assistant chiefs and reviewers. This directive supersedes Directive No. 105.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau proposes to establish the 13.4 square mile ``Leona Valley'' viticultural area in the northeast part of Los Angeles County, California. We designate viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase. We invite comments on this proposed addition to our regulations.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') periodically reviews the speculative position limits for certain agricultural commodities set out in Commission regulation 150.2 (``Federal speculative position limits''). In this regard, the Commission has reviewed the existing levels for Federal speculative position limits and is now proposing to increase these limits for all single-month and all-months-combined positions in all commodities except oats, based on the formula set out in Commission Regulation 150.5(c). In addition, the Commission is also proposing to aggregate traders' positions for purposes of ascertaining compliance with Federal speculative position limits when a designated contract market (``DCM'') lists for trading a futures contract that shares substantially identical terms with a Regulation 150.2-enumerated contract listed on another DCM, including a futures contract that is cash-settled based on the settlement prices for a futures contract that is already enumerated. The Commission is requesting comment on these rule amendments.

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for CFM International, S.A. CFM56-5C4/1 series turbofan engines. That AD currently requires that the low pressure turbine (LPT) conical support, part number (P/N) 337-002-407-0, be removed from service at or before reaching the cyclic life limit of 9,350 cycles-since-new (CSN). This AD requires that the same P/N LPT conical support be removed from service before reaching the new, relaxed cyclic life limit of 20,000 CSN. This AD results from CFM International, S.A. performing a life extension study of the LPT conical support, P/N 337-002-407-0. We are issuing this AD to prevent LPT conical supports from remaining in service beyond their certified cyclic life limit, which could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.

EPA is approving State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of Maine. These revisions update Maine's criteria pollutant emissions reporting program and list of terms and associated definitions used in Maine's air pollution control regulations. The intended effect of this action is to approve these revisions into the Maine SIP. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (BHTC) Model 206A and 206B helicopters. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The aviation authority of Canada, with which we have a bilateral agreement, states in the MCAI:

NHTSA issued a report in 2002 on the results of a comprehensive school bus research program examining ways of further improving school bus safety. Based on that research, we are now proposing several upgrades to the school bus passenger crash protection requirements. For new school buses of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), we propose to require lap/shoulder belts in lieu of the lap belts that are currently specified. For school buses with gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR) greater than 4,536 kilograms (kg) (10,000 pounds), this NPRM provides guidance to State and local jurisdictions on the subject of installing seat belts. Each State or local jurisdiction would continue to decide whether to install belts on these large school buses. Where State or local decisions are made to install lap or lap/shoulder belts on large school buses, this NPRM proposes performance requirements for those voluntarily-installed seat belts on large school buses manufactured after the proposed effective date. Other changes to school bus safety requirements are also proposed, including raising the height of seat backs from 20 inches to 24 inches on all new school buses.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposes to amend its regulations concerning the establishment of American viticultural areas (AVAs). The proposed changes address the effect that the approval of an AVA may have on established brand names. In addition, the proposed changes provide clearer regulatory standards for the establishment of AVAs within AVAs. The proposed amendments also clarify the rules for preparing, submitting, and processing viticultural area petitions. Finally, we propose to add to the regulations statements regarding the viticultural significance of established viticultural area names, or key portions of those names, for wine labeling purposes.

The EPA is announcing an extension of the public comment period on our proposed amendments for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) for Particulate Matter Less Than 2.5 Micrometers (PM2.5)Increments, Significant Impact Levels (SILs) and Significant Monitoring Concentration (SMC) (September 21, 2007). The EPA is extending the comment period that originally ends on November 20, 2007. The extended comment period will close on January 21, 2008. The EPA is extending the comment period because of the timely requests we received to do so.