December 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is taking final action to approve the State Plan submitted by Iowa on August 15, 2006, and updates to rules submitted on April 26, 2007. The plan addresses the requirements of EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR), promulgated on May 18, 2005, and subsequently revised on June 9, 2006. EPA has determined that the submitted State Plan fully meets the CAMR requirements for Iowa. CAMR requires States to regulate emissions of mercury (Hg) from large coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs). CAMR establishes State budgets for annual EGU Hg emissions and requires States to submit State Plans to ensure that annual EGU Hg emissions will not exceed the applicable State budget. States have the flexibility to choose which control measures to adopt to achieve the budgets, including participating in the EPA-administered CAMR cap-and-trade program. In the State Plan that EPA is approving today, Iowa has met the CAMR requirements by electing to participate in the EPA trading program.

The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are announcing a public workshop entitled ``Maximizing the Public Health Benefit of Adverse Event Collection Throughout a Product's Marketed Life Cycle.'' The purpose of the public workshop is to solicit information and views from interested persons on research approaches and methods associated with the best ways to assess the public health benefit of collecting and reporting all adverse events (AEs). The input from this workshop will be used to publish a request for information to determine the types of outside organizations that would be interested in, and have the capability to conduct, the research described in this paragraph, followed by a request for proposal (RFP).

Pursuant to Section 14(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and in accordance with Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 102-3.65, and following consultation with the Committee Management Secretariat, General Services Administration, notice is hereby given that the Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee has been renewed for a two-year period beginning December 14, 2007. The Committee will provide advice to the Director, Office of Science, on the Biological and Environmental Research Program managed by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The Secretary of Energy has determined that renewal of the Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee is essential to the conduct of the Department's business and is in the public interest in connection with the performance of duties imposed by law upon the Department of Energy. The Committee will continue to operate in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463), the General Services Administration Final Rule on Federal Advisory Committee Management, and other directives and instructions issued in implementation of those acts.

Notice is hereby given that the Department of State proposes to alter an existing system of records, STATE-36, pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C.(r)), and Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-130, Appendix I. The Department's report was filed with the Office of Management and Budget on 12-12-2007. It is proposed that the current system will retain the name ``Security Records.'' It is also proposed that due to the expanded scope of the current system, the altered system description will include revisions and/or additions to the following sections: System Location; Categories of Individuals covered by the System; Authority for Maintenance of the System; and Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories of Users and Purposes of such Uses. Changes to the existing system description are proposed in order to reflect more accurately the Bureau of Diplomatic Security's record- keeping system, the Authority establishing its existence and responsibilities, and the uses and users of the system. Any persons interested in commenting on the altered system of records may do so by submitting comments in writing to Margaret P. Grafeld, Director; Office of Information Programs and Services; A/ISS/IPS; Department of State, SA-2; Washington, DC 20522-8001. This system of records will be effective 40 days from the date of publication, unless we receive comments that will result in a contrary determination. The altered system description, ``Security Records, State-36,'' will read as set forth below.

NMFS, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on salmon bycatch reduction measures in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI), in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The proposed action would replace the current Chinook and Chum Salmon Savings Areas in the BSAI with new regulatory closures, salmon bycatch limits, or a combination of both. These management measures could incorporate current or new bycatch reduction methods. The scope of the EIS will be to determine the impacts to the human environment resulting from these salmon bycatch reduction measures. NMFS will accept written comments from the public to determine the issues of concern and the appropriate range of management alternatives for analysis in the EIS.

NMFS, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), announces its intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on revisions to Steller sea lion protection measures, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The proposed action is to revise the Steller sea lion protection measures for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) groundfish fisheries. The scope of the SEIS will be to determine the impacts to the human environment resulting from modifications to the existing protection measures. NMFS will accept written comments from the public to determine the issues of concern and the appropriate range of management alternatives to be addressed in the SEIS.

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).

The Secretary intends to use the grant slate developed for the HSI Program authorized by Title V of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, in FY 2007 to make new Individual Development grant awards in FY 2008. The Secretary takes this action because a significant number of high-quality applications remain on last year's grant slate. The Administration has requested $94,914,000 for the HSI program for FY 2008, of which we intend to use an estimated $13,408,000 for new awards. The actual level of funding for the FY 2008 program, if any, depends on final Congressional action. No Cooperative Development grant awards will be made from the FY 2008 appropriation for this program. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) has provided $100 million for grants to Hispanic-serving institutions for Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) and articulation programs in each of the FYs 2008 and 2009. Further information about the criteria and priorities applicable to these awards and the Secretary's plans for conducting the FY 2008 competition under the CCRAA, including workshops, will be forthcoming.

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-23. A companion document, the Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.

This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of OREGON (FEMA-1733-DR), dated 12/09/ 2007. Incident: Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides. Incident Period: 12/01/2007 and continuing.

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 implement recommendations to change the regulations related to performance-based payments.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require use of Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) when acquiring personal computer products such as desktops, notebooks (also known as laptops), and monitors pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and Executive Order 13423, ``Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management.''

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.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), MMS is inviting comments on a collection of information that we will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The information collection request (ICR) concerns the paperwork requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR 250, Subpart M, ``Unitization.''

Under the provisions of 30 U.S.C. 188(d) and (e), and 43 CFR 3108.2-3(a) and (b)(1), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received a petition for reinstatement from Nerd Gas Company, LLC for competitive oil and gas lease WYW157577 for land in Uinta County, Wyoming. The petition was filed on time and was accompanied by all the rentals due since the date the lease terminated under the law.

This gives notice of OPM decisions granting authority to make appointments under Schedules A, B, and C in the excepted service as required by 5 CFR 6.6 and 213.103.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD results from service history of incidents and accidents involving transport category turbojet airplanes without leading edge high lift devices, that shows that even small amounts of frost, ice, snow, or slush on the wing leading edges or forward upper wing surfaces can cause an adverse change in the stall speeds, stall characteristics, and the protection provided by the stall protection system. This proposed AD requires revising the airplane flight manual to include a new cold weather operations limitation. We are proposing this AD to prevent possible loss of control on takeoff resulting from even small amounts of frost, ice, snow, or slush on the wing leading edges or forward upper wing surfaces. The proposed AD would require actions that are intended to address the unsafe condition.

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.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) will hold a work session, which is open to the public.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is correcting a notice that appeared in the Federal Register of December 12, 2007 (72 FR 70599). The document announced that a proposed collection of information had been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency processing under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The document was published with an error. This document corrects that error.

Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 17.01 sets forth the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations concerning ``reasonable charges'' for medical care or services provided or furnished by VA to a veteran for: (1) A non- service-connected disability for which the veteran is entitled to care or the payment of expenses for care under a health plan contract; (2) a non-service-connected disability incurred incident to the veteran's employment and covered under a worker's compensation law or plan that provides reimbursement or indemnification for such care and services; or (3) a non-service-connected disability incurred as a result of a motor vehicle accident in a State that requires automobile accident reparations insurance. The regulations include methodologies for establishing billed amounts for the following types of charges: Acute inpatient facility charges; skilled nursing facility and sub-acute inpatient facility charges; partial hospitalization facility charges; outpatient facility charges; physician and other professional charges, including professional charges for anesthesia services and dental services; pathology and laboratory charges; observation care facility charges; ambulance and other emergency transportation charges; and charges for durable medical equipment, drugs, injectables, and other medical services, items, and supplies identified by Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) Level II codes. The regulations also provide that data for calculating actual charge amounts at individual VA facilities based on these methodologies will either be published as a notice in the Federal Register or will be posted on the Internet site of the Veterans Health Administration Chief Business Office, currently at https://www.va.gov/cbo, under ``Charge Data.'' Certain charges are hereby updated as described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice. These changes are effective January 1, 2008. In circumstances when charges for medical care or services provided or furnished at VA expense, by either VA or non-VA providers, have not been established under other provisions or regulations, the method for determining VA's charges is set forth at 38 CFR 17.101(a)(8).

This final rule conforms the regulations in 27 CFR Part 447 to the revised International Traffic in Arms Regulations by amending the list of countries from which the importation of defense articles into the United States is proscribed by adding Afghanistan and removing South Africa and some of the states composing the former Soviet Union (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan). The rule also removes the arms embargo against the countries of Serbia and Montenegro. It also clarifies an outdated reference in the regulations to Zaire, currently known as the ``Democratic Republic of the Congo,'' and makes a miscellaneous technical amendment to the regulations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting is providing notice that it will hold a public meeting on Friday, January 11, 2008, in the Multipurpose Room, Room L-006, at the Commission's main offices, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will be open to the public. The meeting will be webcast on the Commission's Web site at https://www.sec.gov. The public is invited to submit written statements for the meeting. The agenda for the meeting includes: (1) Discussion and deliberation of a Committee progress report with concrete proposals and conceptual approaches based on the Committee's work to date in the areas of substantive complexity, standard setting, audit process and compliance and delivery of financial information; (2) a decision to use the Committee progress report as the basis for a report to be published for public comment; and (3) a discussion of next steps and planning for the next meeting.

The Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) will meet for purposes of reviewing recommendations from the Administration Transition Task Force and HSAC subgroups. In addition, the HSAC will receive briefings from Secretary Michael Chertoff and other DHS officials. The meeting will be partially closed.