December 26, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of etoxazole in or on cherry; hop, dried cones; and vegetable, cucurbit subgroup 9A. The Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

Because EPA received adverse comment, we are making a partial withdrawal and revision of the direct final rule for ``Nonroad Diesel Technical Amendments and Tier 3 Technical Relief Provision'' published on September 18, 2007.

This final rule amends regulations concerning the reporting requirements for the BE-12, Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States. The BE-12 survey is conducted once every 5 years and covers virtually the entire universe of foreign direct investment in the United States in terms of value. The benchmark survey will be conducted for 2007. BEA is changing the reporting requirements on the BE-12 Benchmark survey to: Increase the exemption level for reporting on the BE-12(LF) (Long Form) from $125 million to $175 million; increase the exemption level for reporting on the BE- 12(SF) (Short Form) from $10 million to $40 million; and increase the exemption level for reporting on the BE-12 Bank Form from $10 million to $15 million. In addition, BEA is amending Form BE-12(X) by: Re-naming it the Form BE-12 Claim for Not Filing and deleting several questions, which will be moved to a new Form BE-12 Mini. The Claim for Not Filing will be completed only by persons that are not subject to the reporting requirements of the BE-12 survey but have been contacted by BEA concerning their reporting status. The BE-12 Mini is an abbreviated form for reporting U.S. affiliates with total assets, sales or gross operating revenues, and net income (loss) less than or equal to $40 million.

The Secretary proposes to amend the Department's regulations regarding the production of information pursuant to demands in judicial or administrative proceedings. The changes are intended to promote consistency in the Department's assertion of privileges and objections, and thereby prevent harm that may result from inappropriate disclosure of confidential information or inappropriate allocation of agency resources. These changes would apply only where employees are subpoenaed in litigation to which the agency is not a party. Former Department employees would be expressly required to seek the Secretary's approval prior to responding to subpoenas that seek non- public materials and information acquired during their employment at the Department.

EPA is taking final action to approve a request submitted on June 7, 2007, from the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), to redesignate the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill 8-hour ozone nonattainment area to attainment for the 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (``NAAQS'', or ``standard''). The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill 8-hour ozone area is comprised of Durham, Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Orange, Person and Wake Counties in their entireties, and Baldwin, Center, New Hope and Williams Townships in Chatham County in North Carolina (hereafter referred to as the ``Triangle Area''). EPA's approval of the redesignation request is based on the determination that North Carolina has demonstrated that the Triangle Area has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment specified in the Clean Air Act (CAA), including the determination that the Triangle Area has attained the 8-hour ozone standard. Additionally, EPA is approving a revision to the North Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP) including the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the Triangle Area that contains the new subarea 2008 and 2017 motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOX), and an insignificance determination for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contribution from motor vehicle emissions to the 8-hour ozone pollution in the entire Triangle Area. Through this action, EPA is also finding the new subarea 2008 and 2017 NOX MVEBs, and the VOC insignificance determination, adequate for the purposes of transportation conformity. The above described actions were proposed for public comment on October 3, 2007; no comments were received. EPA is also making corrections to inadvertent errors made in the proposed rulemaking published on October 3, 2007, (72 FR 56312) to Tables 1, 6, and 7.

We are extending the actions taken by the Secretary pursuant to the HEROES Act of 2003, as announced in a notice published in the Federal Register on December 12, 2003 (68 FR 69312), and extended in a notice published in the Federal Register on October 20, 2005 (70 FR 61037).

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) 2005-23 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 2005-23 which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http:/ /www.regulations.gov.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have adopted as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 11246, as amended, Equal Employment Opportunity, to incorporate the exemption for religious entities prescribed in E.O. 13279.

The Department of the Navy is amending its certifications and exemptions under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (72 COLREGS), to reflect that the Deputy Assistant Judge Advocate General (Admiralty and Maritime Law) has determined that USS FREEDOM (LCS 1) is a vessel of the Navy which, due to its special construction and purpose, cannot fully comply with certain provisions of the 72 COLREGS without interfering with its special function as a naval ship. The intended effect of this rule is to warn mariners in waters where 72 COLREGS apply.

The Controlled Substances Export Reform Act of 2005 amended the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to provide authority for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to authorize the export of controlled substances from the United States to another country for subsequent export from that country to a second country, if certain conditions and safeguards are satisfied. DEA is amending its regulations to implement the new legislation.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations that affect component members of a controlled group of corporations and consolidated groups filing life-nonlife Federal income tax returns. These temporary regulations provide guidance for calculating and apportioning between component members any amount of additional tax and any reduction in the amount exempted from the alternative minimum tax. These temporary regulations also update and clarify the allocation of tax-benefit items in the case in which a component member has a short taxable year not including a December 31st date. Finally, these temporary regulations provide explanations of two concepts: A group's testing date and a member's testing period for use in determining which members of the group and which taxable years of those members are subject to the controlled group rules. The text of those regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is publishing this final rule so that employers may create, adopt, and maintain a wide range of retiree health plan designs, such as Medicare bridge plans and Medicare wrap-around plans, without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). To address concerns that the ADEA may be construed to create an incentive for employers to eliminate or reduce retiree health benefits, EEOC is creating a narrow exemption from the prohibitions of the ADEA for the practice of coordinating employer- sponsored retiree health benefits with eligibility for Medicare or a comparable State health benefits program.\1\ The rule does not otherwise affect an employer's ability to offer health or other employment benefits to retirees, consistent with the law.

The Federal Election Commission is revising its rules governing electioneering communications. These revisions implement the Supreme Court's decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., which held that the prohibition on the use of corporate and labor organization funds for electioneering communications is unconstitutional as applied to certain types of electioneering communications. Further information is provided in the supplementary information that follows.

FMCSA proposes to revise the standards for mandatory training requirements for entry-level operators of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate operations who are required to possess a commercial driver's license (CDL). The proposed rule would not apply to drivers who currently possess a CDL or obtain a CDL before a date 3 years after a final rule goes into effect. Following that date, persons applying for new or upgraded CDLs would be required to successfully complete specified minimum classroom and behind-the-wheel training from an accredited institution or program. The State driver-licensing agency would only issue a CDL if the applicant presented a valid Driver Training Certificate obtained from an accredited institution or program. This NPRM would strengthen the Agency's entry-level driver training requirements as a means to enhance the safety of CMV operations on our Nation's highways.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are designating critical habitat for Arenaria ursina (Bear Valley sandwort), Castilleja cinerea (Ash-gray Indian paintbrush), and Eriogonum kennedyi var. austromontanum (southern mountain wild- buckwheat) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 1,769 acres (ac) (722 hectares (ha)) of land fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designations for these three species. Approximately 1,412 ac (571 ha) of Federal and private land are being designated as critical habitat for Arenaria ursina; approximately 1,769 ac (722 ha) of Federal, State, and private land are being designated as critical habitat for Castilleja cinerea; and approximately 904 ac (366 ha) of Federal and private land are being designated as critical habitat for Eriogonum kennedyi var. austromontanum. All lands included in these final designations are in San Bernardino County, California. These final designations include an addition of a total of 258 ac (111 ha) from the total area included in the 2006 proposed designations for these species.