January 23, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document supplements NHTSA's notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) of August 31, 2005 that proposed to: (a) Expand the applicability of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, Child restraint systems, to restraints recommended for children up to 80 pounds, and (b) require booster seats and other restraints to meet performance criteria when tested with a crash test dummy representative of a 10-year-old child. In Part 1 of this SNPRM, NHTSA is proposing a test procedure for positioning the 10-year-old child dummy in a child restraint, to reduce variation due to chin-to-lower neck contact that was exhibited by the dummy in sled tests conducted subsequent to the NPRM. Comments are also requested in Part 1 on some other changes or clarifications to the NPRM, proposed in response to the public comments. In Part 2 of this SNPRM, we likewise propose to add a seating procedure for positioning the Hybrid III 6-year-old dummy in a child restraint for FMVSS No. 213 compliance testing. Concerns about the variability in HIC measurements obtained by that test dummy have led NHTSA to postpone mandatory use of the dummy in agency compliance tests. The seating procedure will address this variability issue and facilitate the full use of the dummy as a compliance instrument.

This document contains final regulations under section 197 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that apply to a section 197 intangible resulting from an assumption reinsurance transaction, and under section 338 that apply to reserve increases after a deemed asset sale. The final regulations also provide guidance with respect to existing section 846(e) elections to use historical loss payment patterns. The final regulations apply to insurance companies.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Kansas regulatory program (Kansas program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Kansas proposes revisions to its 2002 Kansas Revegetation Guidelines and its Normal Husbandry Practices. Kansas intends to update obsolete information used in determining the forage production success standard for warm season native grasses. Kansas also proposes to update their normal husbandry practices to increase clarity and to update references to other Agencies technical guidelines. These documents give the times and locations that the Kansas programs and proposed amendments to that program are available for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written comments on the amendments, and the procedures that we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

The Department of Energy (DOE) today publishes a final rule to amend the Department's regulations to decrease the random drug testing rate of DOE contractor employees in testing designated positions (TDP). Today's final rule also makes minor technical changes that delete: A sentence pertaining to specimen collection and handling in order to conform the section with the current U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs; and obsolete references to the Personnel Security Assurance Program and the Personnel Assurance Program.

This notice proposes special conditions for the Embraer S.A.; Model EMB-500 airplane. This airplane has a novel or unusual design feature associated with the braking system. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to harmonize with Brazil's Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil (ANAC) and to maintain the same level of safety between the ANAC Type Certificate and the U.S. Type Certificate.

This notice proposes special conditions for the Embraer S.A., Model EMB-500 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with high fuel temperature. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed 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.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the Eurocopter France (Eurocopter) Model AS 355 N helicopters. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the technical Agent for France, with which we have a bilateral agreement states in the MCAI:

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the specified BHTC model helicopters. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The aviation authority of Canada, with which we have a bilateral agreement, states in the MCAI:

On October 24, 2006, HUD published a final rule revising the agency's regulations on demolition or disposition of public housing projects. This publication corrects certain typographical and other non-substantive errors that occurred in the final rule.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by pot catcher vessels greater than or equal to 60 feet ([gteqt] 18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2008 Pacific cod allowable catch (TAC) specified for pot catcher vessels [gteqt] 60 feet (18.3 m) LOA in the BSAI.