February 13, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the Scripps Institute of Oceanography [Responsible Party/Principal Investigator: John Hildebrand, Ph.D.] has been issued a permit to conduct scientific research on marine mammals.

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 8329, Lender's Information Return for Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCCs) and Form 8330, Issuer's Quarterly Information Return for Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCCs).

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 8842, Election To Use Different Annualization Periods for Corporate Estimated Tax.

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 an existing final regulation, IA-5-92 (TD 8537), Carryover of Passive Activity Losses and Credits and At-Risk Losses to Bankruptcy Estates of Individuals (Sec. Sec. 1.1398-1 and 1.1398-2).

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 an existing final regulation, REG-209793-95 (TD 8697), Simplification of Entity Classification Rules (Sec. 301.7701-3).

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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 MCAI describes the unsafe condition as:

The Department of Commerce, 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.

This notice announces the initial filing of pesticide petitions proposing the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

The Department of Homeland Security is proposing amendments to its regulations affecting temporary and seasonal agricultural workers within the H-2A nonimmigrant classification and their U.S. employers. This rule proposes to relax the current limitations on the ability of U.S. employers to petition unnamed agricultural workers to come to the United States and include multiple beneficiaries who are outside the United States on one petition. The rule proposes to revise the current limitations on agricultural workers' length of stay including: lengthening the amount of time an agricultural worker may remain in the United States after his or her employment has ended and shortening the time period that an agricultural worker whose H-2A nonimmigrant status has expired must wait before he or she is eligible to obtain H-2A nonimmigrant status again. This rule also proposes to provide for temporary employment authorization to agricultural workers seeking an extension of their H-2A nonimmigrant status through a different U.S. employer, provided that the employer is a registered user of the E- Verify employment eligibility verification program. In addition, the rule proposes to modify the current notification and payment requirements for employers when an alien fails to show up at the start of the employment period, an H-2A employee's employment is terminated, or an H-2A employee absconds from the worksite. To better ensure the integrity of the H-2A program, this rule also proposes to require certain employer attestations, preclude the imposition of fees by employers or recruiters on prospective beneficiaries, preclude reconsideration of certain temporary labor certification denials, and bar H-2A status for nationals of countries consistently refusing or unreasonably denying repatriation of its nationals. These changes are necessary to encourage and facilitate the lawful employment of foreign temporary and seasonal agricultural workers. Finally, this rule proposes to establish a pilot program under which aliens admitted on certain temporary worker visas at a port of entry participating in the program must also depart through a port of entry participating in the program and present designated biographical information, possibly including biometric identifiers, upon departure. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will publish a Notice in the Federal Register designating which temporary workers must participate in the program, which ports of entry are participating in the program, which biographical and/or biometric information would be required, and the format for submission.

The Department of Labor (the Department or DOL) is proposing to amend its regulations regarding the certification of temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers employed in temporary or seasonal agricultural employment and the enforcement of the contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers. This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) would re-engineer the process by which employers may obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2A (agricultural temporary worker) status. Re-engineering measures focus on the utilization of an attestation-based application process after an employer conducts pre-filing recruitment and the elimination of duplicative activities currently performed by the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). In concert with these changes, the Department proposes to amend the wage and hour regulations to provide for enhanced enforcement, including more rigorous penalties, under the H-2A program to complement the modernized certification process so that workers are appropriately protected should an employer fail to meet the requirements of the H-2A program.

EPA is proposing to take direct final action approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Colorado. On August 3, 2007, the Governor's designee submitted revisions to Colorado's Regulation No. 7, ``Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds,'' Section XII, ``Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) From Oil and Gas Operations.'' EPA is proposing to approve the revisions to Regulation No. 7, Section XII. This action is being taken under Section 110 of the Clean Air Act. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State's SIP revision as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a non- controversial SIP revision and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the preamble to the direct final rule. If EPA receives no adverse comments, EPA will not take further action on this proposed rule. If EPA receives adverse comments, EPA will withdraw the direct final rule and it will not take effect. EPA will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time. Please note that if EPA receives adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of the rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.

This regulation establishes a tolerance for combined residues of 1,3-dichloropropene and metabolites in or on grape. Dow AgroSciences, LLC requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend the licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants and licensees. The proposed amendments are necessary to implement the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, which requires that the NRC recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority in fiscal year (FY) 2008, less the amounts appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF), amounts appropriated for Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR), and amounts appropriated for generic homeland security activities. Based on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub. L. 110-161), signed by the President on December 26, 2007, the NRC's required fee recovery amount for the FY 2008 budget is approximately $779.1 million. After accounting for carryover and billing adjustments, the total amount to be billed as fees is approximately $760.7 million.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for the A season allowance of the 2008 Pacific cod sideboard limits apportioned to non- American Fisheries Act (AFA) crab vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2008 Pacific cod sideboard limits apportioned to non-AFA crab vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Central California Area Office will change public use of the Big Island area at Lake Berryessa, specifically the waterway between the Smittle Creek Day Use Area, the Oak Shores Day Use Area, and Big Island. Use will change from a gasoline-powered motorized zone to an electric trolling motor- only zone.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management invites comments on the submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.