December 7, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Secretary amends the Department's regulations governing the determination and recovery of indirect costs by grantees. These amendments address procedural aspects related to the establishment of temporary indirect cost rates, specify the temporary rate that will apply to grants generally, and clarify how indirect costs are determined for a group of applicants that apply for a single training grant.

This rule makes one revision to the Department of Justice regulations on the destruction of contraband drug evidence. The rule concerns the proper handling and disposal of liquid phencyclidine (PCP).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect approval of a supplemental new animal drug application (NADA) filed by Cross Vetpharm Group Ltd. The supplemental NADA provides for use of a 100 milligram per milliliter (mg/mL) strength erythromycin injectable solution in cattle for the treatment of bovine respiratory disease.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Georgia State Implementation Plan, submitted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, on September 26, 2007. The revisions include modifications to Georgia's Air Quality Rules found at Chapter 391-3-20-.21, pertaining to rules for Enhanced Inspection and Maintenance (I/M). Enhanced I/M was required for 1-hour nonattainment areas classified as serious and above, under the Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended in 1990. The I/M program is a way to ensure that vehicles are maintained properly and verify that the emission control system is operating correctly, in order to reduce vehicle-related emissions. This action is being taken pursuant to section 110 of the CAA.

This final rule makes revisions to the pesticide tolerance crop grouping regulations. Crop grouping allows tolerances to be established for multiple related crops based on data from a representative set of crops. The revisions will create a new crop group for edible fungi (mushrooms), expand existing crop groups by adding new commodities, establish new crop subgroups, and revise the representative crops in some groups. Additionally, EPA is revising the general crop group regulation to explain how the Agency will implement revisions to crop groups. EPA expects these revisions to promote greater use of crop groupings for tolerance-setting purposes and, in particular, assist in retaining or making pesticides available for minor crop uses. This is the first in a series of planned crop group updates expected during the next several years.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to revise and combine contract clauses addressing assumption of risk for loss under contracts involving the furnishing of aircraft to the Government. The proposed rule establishes requirements that apply consistently to all contract types.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to address limitations on the allowability of contractor costs associated with the leasing of Government equipment for display or demonstration. The proposed rule specifies that monies paid to the Government for the leasing of Government equipment are unallowable, except in the case of foreign military sales contracts.

EPA is issuing this Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to invite comment from all interested parties on our plan to propose new emission standards and other related provisions for new compression-ignition marine engines with per cylinder displacement at or above 30 liters per cylinder. We refer to these engines as Category 3 marine engines. We are considering standards for achieving large reductions in oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and particulate matter (PM) through the use of technologies such as in-cylinder controls, aftertreatment, and low sulfur fuel, starting as early as 2011. Category 3 marine engines are important contributors to our nation's air pollution today and these engines are projected to continue generating large amounts of NOX, PM, and sulfur oxides (SOX) that contribute to nonattainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5 and ozone across the United States. Ozone and PM2.5 are associated with serious public health problems including premature mortality, aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, aggravation of existing asthma, acute respiratory symptoms, chronic bronchitis, and decreased lung function. Category 3 marine engines are of concern as a source of diesel exhaust, which has been classified by EPA as a likely human carcinogen. A program such as the one under consideration would significantly reduce the contribution of Category 3 marine engines to national inventories of NOX, PM, and SOX, as well as air toxics, and would reduce public exposure to those pollutants.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) (collectively, the agencies) are adopting a new risk-based capital adequacy framework that requires some and permits other qualifying banks \1\ to use an internal ratings-based approach to calculate regulatory credit risk capital requirements and advanced measurement approaches to calculate regulatory operational risk capital requirements. The final rule describes the qualifying criteria for banks required or seeking to operate under the new framework and the applicable risk-based capital requirements for banks that operate under the framework.