December 28, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. HUD is requesting renewed approval to require Public Housing Agencies to obtain certificates of insurance from contractors and subcontractors before beginning work under either the development of a new low-income public housing project or the modernization of an existing project.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

There will be a public meeting in Washington, DC to discuss the proposed rule for the management of roadless areas on National Forest System lands in the State of Idaho.

The Media Bureau extends the comment and reply comment deadlines on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') on revisions to the Commission's program access and retransmission consent rules and whether it may be appropriate to preclude the practice of programmers to tie desired programming with undesired programming. To facilitate the development of a thorough record, the deadline for filing comments in response to the NPRM is extended to January 4, 2008, and the deadline for filing reply comments is extended to January 22, 2008.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 8609, Low-Income Housing Credit Allocation and Certification and 8609-A, Annual Statement of Low-Income Housing Credit.

The National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC) will meet in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss emerging issues in urban and community forestry and introduce the new ``Council'' members.

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of requests by the registrants to voluntarily terminate certain uses of its products containing the pesticide chloroneb. The requests would terminate chloroneb's use on residential lawns and turf, as well as on lawns and turf at parks and schools. The requests would not terminate the last chloroneb products registered for use in the United States. EPA intends to grant these requests at the close of the comment period for this announcement unless the Agency receives substantive comments within the comment period that would merit its further review of the requests, or unless the registrants withdraw their requests within this period. Upon acceptance of these requests, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the final order.

This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition (Defect Petition DP06-005) submitted by Public Citizen to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30162, requesting that the agency commence a proceeding to determine the existence of a defect related to motor vehicle safety with regard to engine stalling in Model Year (MY) 2003-2005 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Flex Fuel Vehicles that operate using E85, an alternative fuel. After reviewing all available information, NHTSA has concluded that further expenditure of the agency's investigative resources on the issue raised by the petition is not warranted. The agency accordingly has denied the petition.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of dimethenamid in or on hop, dried cones; pumpkin, radish (roots and tops); rutabaga (roots and tops); turnip greens; turnip (roots and tops); and winter squash. The Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). This regulation also modifies 40 CFR 180.464, section (b) by deleting the existing time-limited tolerance for winter squash as a permanent tolerance is being established by this action.

EPA has released on its website updates to the listings of inert ingredients permitted in pesticide products applied to non-food sites, including those permitted for use in minimum risk pesticides exempted under FIFRA Section 25(b) and those eligible for USDA's National Organic Program. The lists were last updated in 2004.

These special conditions are issued for Boeing Model 757 Series Airplanes. These airplanes, as modified by Triad International Maintenance Company (TIMCO), will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with seats that include non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels that would affect survivability during a post-crash fire event. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

These special conditions are issued for the Boeing Model 787-8 airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes. The architecture of the Boeing Model 787-8 computer systems and networks may allow access to external systems and networks, such as wireless airline operations and maintenance systems, satellite communications, electronic mail, the Internet, etc. On-board wired and wireless devices may also have access to parts of the airplane's digital systems that provide flight critical functions. These new connectivity capabilities may result in security vulnerabilities to the airplane's critical systems. For these design features, the applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for protection and security of airplane systems and data networks against unauthorized access. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing standards. Additional special conditions will be issued for other novel or unusual design features of the Boeing Model 787-8 airplanes.

EPA is finalizing an exemption to the phaseout of methyl bromide to meet the needs of 2008 critical uses. Specifically, EPA is authorizing uses that qualify for the 2008 critical use exemption and the amount of methyl bromide that may be produced, imported, or supplied from existing pre-phaseout inventory for those uses in 2008. EPA is taking action under the authority of the Clean Air Act to reflect recent consensus decisions taken by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer at the 18th Meeting of the Parties.

This document contains proposed regulations providing guidance relating to sections 411(a)(13) and 411(b)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) concerning certain hybrid defined benefit plans. These regulations provide guidance on changes made by the Pension Protection Act of 2006. These regulations affect sponsors, administrators, participants, and beneficiaries of hybrid defined benefit plans.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) of 1969, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of a Revised Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for long-term development of natural gas resources in the Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA). The BLM released a Draft Supplemental Impact Statement (DSEIS) on December 15, 2006. The comment period for the DSEIS closed on April 6, 2007. Based upon public comments, BLM is reissuing a Revised Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (RDSEIS) to include the analysis of two additional alternatives. The RDSEIS includes the three alternatives that were analyzed in the original draft: the no action, proposed action, and the BLM preferred alternative. It also includes two additional alternatives: One based upon the comments BLM received from oil and gas proponents and the State of Wyoming Game and Fish; and an additional alternative which analyzes full field development with current wildlife timing stipulations in place. The first added alternative analyzes the effects of continued development activities during winter under relaxed wildlife timing stipulations within a core area of the PAPA. In addition, leases on the East and West flanks of the PAPA are proposed to be placed in suspense to offset affected winter habitat in the core development areas. A wildlife matrix and mitigation fund has been incorporated into this alternative to address on and off-site mitigation. The second added alternative analyzes the effects of full field development with wildlife timing stipulations carried forward from the 2000 PAPA ROD and subsequent PAPA decision documents. This alternative would allow for the development of 4399 wells, the level of development currently considered necessary to effectively recover the oil and gas resources. In addition to the two new alternatives, the RDSEIS will analyze pace of development. This analysis will show levels of impact associated with the number of rigs operating at any one time in the PAPA.

EPA is issuing national emission standards for electric arc furnace steelmaking facilities that are area sources of hazardous air pollutants. The final rule establishes requirements for the control of mercury emissions that are based on the maximum achievable control technology and requirements for the control of other hazardous air pollutants that are based on generally available control technology or management practices.

This notice lists CMS manual instructions, substantive and interpretive regulations, and other Federal Register notices that were published from July 2007 through September 2007, relating to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This notice provides information on national coverage determinations (NCDs) affecting specific medical and health care services under Medicare. Additionally, this notice identifies certain devices with investigational device exemption (IDE) numbers approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that potentially may be covered under Medicare. This notice also includes listings of all approval numbers from the Office of Management and Budget for collections of information in CMS regulations and a list of Medicare-approved carotid stent facilities. Included in this notice is a list of the American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data registry sites, active CMS coverage-related guidance documents, and special one-time notices regarding national coverage provisions. Also included in this notice is a list of National Oncologic Positron Emissions Tomography Registry sites, a list of Medicare-approved ventricular assist device (destination therapy) facilities, a list of Medicare-approved lung volume reduction surgery facilities, a list of Medicare-approved clinical trials for fluorodeoxyglucose positron emissions tomogrogphy for dementia, and a list of Medicare-approved bariatric surgery facilities. Section 1871(c) of the Social Security Act requires that we publish a list of Medicare issuances in the Federal Register at least every 3 months. Although we are not mandated to do so by statute, for the sake of completeness of the listing, and to foster more open and transparent collaboration efforts, we are also including all Medicaid issuances and Medicare and Medicaid substantive and interpretive regulations (proposed and final) published during this 3-month time frame.

This notice in accordance with section 1153(i) of the Social Security Act (the Act), gives at least 6 months advance notice of the expiration dates of contracts with out-of-State Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs). It also specifies the period of time in which in- State QIOs may submit a proposal for those contracts.

This notice announces a Town Hall meeting in accordance with section 503 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) to discuss fiscal year (FY) 2009 applications for add-on payments for new medical services and technologies under the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS). Interested parties are invited to this meeting to present their comments, recommendations, and data regarding whether the FY 2009 new medical services and technologies applications meet the substantial clinical improvement criterion.