December 31, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule finalizes the proposed rule published on October 17, 2006, and implements certain provisions of Section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA). The IRTPA provides that United States citizens and nonimmigrant aliens may enter the United States only with passports or such alternative documents as the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate as satisfactorily establishing identity and citizenship. The statute requires that the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, develop and implement a plan to require virtually all travelers entering the United States to present a passport or other document or combination of documents that are deemed by the Secretary of Homeland Security to be sufficient to denote identity and citizenship. The legislation also requires that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of State seek to facilitate the frequent travel of those living in border communities. This final rule takes into account the amendment to section 7209 by the 2007 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act calling for the availability of a passport card for land and sea travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The Administration's proposal to address the remainder of the legislative requirements in section 7209, called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), is being addressed in separate rulemakings.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its spent fuel storage cask regulations by revising the Holtec International HI-STORM 100 cask system listing within the ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 5 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) Number 1014. Amendment No. 5 would include deletion of the requirement to perform thermal validation tests on thermal systems; an increase in the design basis maximum decay heat loads, namely, to 34 kilowatts (kW) for uniform loading and 36.9 kW for regionalized loading, and introduction of a new decay heat regionalized scheme; an increase in the maximum fuel assembly weight for boiling water reactor fuel in the Multi-Purpose Canister (MPC)-68 from 700 to 730 pounds; an increase in the maximum fuel assembly weight of up to 1,720 pounds for assemblies not requiring spacers, otherwise 1,680 pounds; changes to the assembly characteristics of 16x16 pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies to be qualified for storage in the HI- STORM 100 cask system; a change in the fuel storage locations in the MPC-32 for fuel with axial power shaping rod assemblies and in the fuel storage locations in the MPC-24, MPC-24E, and the MPC-32 for fuel with control rod assemblies, rod cluster control assemblies, and control element assemblies; elimination of the restriction that fuel debris can only be loaded into the MPC-24EF, MPC-32F, MPC-68F, and MPC-68FF canisters; introduction of a requirement that all MPC confinement boundary components and any MPC components exposed to spent fuel pool water or the ambient environment be made of stainless steel or, for MPC internals, neutron absorber or aluminum; the addition of a threshold heat load below which operation of the Supplemental Cooling System would not be required and modification of the design criteria to simplify the system; minor editorial changes to include clarification of the description of anchored casks, correction of typographical/ editorial errors, clarification of the definitions of loading operations, storage operations, transport operations, unloading operations, cask loading facility, and transfer cask in various locations throughout the CoC and Final Safety Analysis Report; and modification of the definition of non-fuel hardware to include the individual parts of the items defined as non-fuel hardware.

NMFS proposes regulations that would limit the harvest of Pacific halibut by guided sport charter vessel anglers in International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) Area 2C of Southeast Alaska to the guideline harvest level (GHL) for that area under two different scenarios. First, if the GHL remains unchanged in 2008, a suite of three management measures are proposed to be added to an existing two- halibut daily catch and size limit. These management measures include a prohibition on the harvest of halibut by charter vessel guides, operators, and crew; a limit on the number of fishing lines that may be used on a charter vessel of six or the number of charter vessel anglers onboard, whichever is less; and an annual catch limit of four halibut per charter vessel angler. Second, if the GHL decreases in 2008, then a one-halibut daily catch limit is proposed to be substituted for the existing two-halibut daily catch limit. The prohibition of halibut harvest by charter vessel guides, operators, and crew, and the 6-line limit also are proposed under the second scenario. This proposed regulatory change is necessary to reduce the halibut harvest in the charter vessel sector to the GHL for Area 2C. The intended effect of this action is a reduction in the poundage of halibut harvested by the guided sport charter vessel sector in Area 2C to the GHL while minimizing adverse impacts on the charter fishery, its sport fishing clients, the coastal communities that serve as home ports for this fishery, and on fisheries for other species.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its spent fuel storage cask regulations by revising the Holtec International HI- STORM 100 cask system listing within the ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 5 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) Number 1014. Amendment No. 5 includes deletion of the requirement to perform thermal validation tests on thermal systems; an increase in the design basis maximum decay heat loads, namely, to 34 kilowatts (kW) for uniform loading and 36.9 kW for regionalized loading, and introduction of a new decay heat regionalized scheme; an increase in the maximum fuel assembly weight for boiling water reactor fuel in the Multi-Purpose Canister (MPC)-68 from 700 to 730 pounds; an increase in the maximum fuel assembly weight of up to 1,720 pounds for assemblies not requiring spacers, otherwise 1,680 pounds; changes to the assembly characteristics of 16 x 16 pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies to be qualified for storage in the HI-STORM 100 cask system; a change in the fuel storage locations in the MPC-32 for fuel with axial power shaping rod assemblies and in the fuel storage locations in the MPC-24, MPC-24E, and the MPC-32 for fuel with control rod assemblies, rod cluster control assemblies, and control element assemblies; elimination of the restriction that fuel debris can only be loaded into the MPC- 24EF, MPC-32F, MPC-68F, and MPC-68FF canisters; introduction of a requirement that all MPC confinement boundary components and any MPC components exposed to spent fuel pool water or the ambient environment be made of stainless steel or, for MPC internals, neutron absorber or aluminum; the addition of a threshold heat load below which operation of the Supplemental Cooling System would not be required and modification of the design criteria to simplify the system; minor editorial changes to include clarification of the description of anchored casks, correction of typographical/editorial errors, clarification of the definitions of loading operations, storage operations, transport operations, unloading operations, cask loading facility, and transfer cask in various locations throughout the CoC and Final Safety Analysis Report; and modification of the definition of non-fuel hardware to include the individual parts of the items defined as non-fuel hardware.

Using data from Management Information System annual reports, FRA has determined that the 2006 rail industry random testing positive rates were 0.60 percent for drugs and 0.13 percent for alcohol. Because the industry-wide random drug testing positive rate has remained below 1.0 percent for the last two years, the Federal Railroad Administrator (Administrator) has determined that the minimum annual random drug testing rate for the period January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2008, will remain at 25 percent of covered railroad employees. In addition, because the industry-wide random alcohol testing violation rate has remained below 0.5 percent for the last two years, the Administrator has determined that the minimum random alcohol testing rate will remain at 10 percent of covered railroad employees for the period January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2008.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) of Canada, under international agreement, jointly publish and presently administer the St. Lawrence Seaway Regulations and Rules (Practices and Procedures in Canada) in their respective jurisdictions. Under agreement with the SLSMC, the SLSDC is proposing to amend the joint regulations by updating the Regulations and Rules in various categories. The proposed changes would update the following sections of the Regulations and Rules: Condition of Vessels; Seaway Navigation; and, Information and Reports. The SLSDC is seeking to harmonize the ballast water requirements for vessels transiting the U.S. waters of the Seaway with those currently required by Canadian authorities for transit in waters under Canadian jurisdiction of the Seaway. These proposed amendments are necessary to take account of updated procedures and would eliminate the confusion regarding the requirements for saltwater flushing in the binational waters of the Seaway System.

This action extends a temporary final rule initially published on October 18, 2005. The regulations contained in the temporary rule, emergency action, published on October 18, 2005, and subsequently extended several times at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will expire on January 1, 2008. This temporary rule extends a closure of Federal waters through December 31, 2008. The FDA has determined that current oceanographic conditions and alga sampling data suggest that the northern section of the Temporary Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP) Closure Area remain closed to the harvest of bivalve molluscan shellfish and that the southern area remain closed to the harvest of whole or roe-on scallops. NMFS is publishing the regulatory text associated with this closure in this temporary emergency rule in order to ensure that current regulations accurately reflect the codified text that has been modified and extended numerous times, so that the public is aware of the regulations being extended through December 31, 2008.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations under section 468A of the Internal Revenue Code relating to deductions for contributions to trusts maintained for decommissioning nuclear power plants. The temporary regulations reflect changes to the law made by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and affect most taxpayers that own an interest in a nuclear power plant. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

This document contains proposed amendments to regulations relating to employment tax adjustments and employment tax refund claims. These proposed amendments modify the process for making interest-free adjustments for both underpayments and overpayments of Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) taxes and Federal income tax withholding (ITW) under sections 6205(a) and 6413(a), respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These proposed amendments also modify the process for filing claims for refund of overpayments of employment taxes under sections 6402 and 6414. These amendments are proposed in connection with the IRS's development of new forms to report adjustments to employment taxes which will replace the existing process of reporting adjustments of employment taxes on regularly filed employment tax returns. These proposed amendments affect taxpayers that file Form 941, ``Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return,'' Form 943, ``Employer's Annual Tax Return for Agricultural Employees,'' Form 944, ``Employer's ANNUAL Federal Tax Return,'' Form 945, ``Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax,'' and Form CT-1, ``Employer's Annual Railroad Retirement Tax Return,'' and any related Spanish-language returns or returns for U.S. possessions. This document contains proposed amendments to regulations relating to the return requirements under section 6011 to reflect the changes to the adjustment and refund processes, and to reflect additional statutory and process updates. This document also contains proposed amendments to the regulations under section 6302 to clarify deposit obligations with respect to interest-free adjustments of underpayments and the effect of adjustments and refunds on the deposit schedule of a Form 943 filer. This document also provides notice of a public hearing on these proposed amendments to the regulations.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing a regulation that would add an additional item of return information that may be disclosed to the Bureau of the Census (Bureau) for use in the Bureau's annual Survey of Industrial Research and Development. This proposed regulation provides guidance to IRS personnel responsible for disclosing the information. This regulation facilitates the assistance of the IRS to the Bureau in its statistics programs and requires no action by taxpayers and has no effect on their tax liabilities.

This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

This document contains corrections to the final rule titled ``Regulatory Streamlining of the Farm Service Agency's Direct Farm Loan Programs'' that was published November 8, 2007. The Agency is correcting the order of two forms in the appendices and inserting the date of ``12-31-07'' on form FSA-2512 in the upper left corner.