March 25, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains temporary regulations relating to the disclosure of return information, pursuant to section 6103(n) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), by an officer or employee of the Treasury Department, to a whistleblower and, if applicable, the legal representative of the whistleblower, to the extent necessary in connection with a written contract among the IRS, the whistleblower and, if applicable, the legal representative of the whistleblower, for services relating to the detection of violations of the internal revenue laws or related statutes. The temporary regulations will affect officers and employees of the Treasury Department who disclose return information to whistleblowers, or their legal representatives, in connection with written contracts among the IRS, whistleblowers and, if applicable, their legal representatives, for services relating to the detection of violations of the internal revenue laws or related statutes. The temporary regulations will also affect any whistleblower, or legal representative of a whistleblower, who receives return information in connection with a written contract among the IRS, the whistleblower and, if applicable, the legal representative of the whistleblower, for services relating to the detection of violations of the internal revenue laws or related statutes. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. 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 MCAI describes the unsafe condition as:

This document contains a correction to final regulations (TD 9386) that were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 (73 FR 13124) concerning the availability and character of a loss deduction under section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code for losses sustained from abandoned stock or other securities. These regulations clarify the tax treatment of losses from abandoned securities, and affect any taxpayer claiming a deduction for a loss from abandoned securities.

Section 1119 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59, 119 Stat. 1144) makes significant changes to the Indian Reservation Road Bridge Program (IRRBP). In addition, it authorizes $14 million of IRRBP funds per year for the replacement or rehabilitation of structurally deficient or functionally obsolete Indian Reservation Road (IRR) bridges. This final rule amends the existing IRRBP by establishing new policies and provisions. Also, in this final rule, preliminary engineering (PE) is now an eligible activity.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of the Treasury gives notice of a final rule to exempt an Internal Revenue Service system of records entitled ``Treasury/IRS 42.002Excise Compliance Programs'' from certain provisions of the Privacy Act.

NMFS closes the recreational fishery for red snapper in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). NMFS has determined this action is necessary to prevent the recreational fishery from exceeding its quota for the fishing year. This closure is necessary to prevent overfishing of Gulf red snapper.

This action proposes to establish four Federal airways in the National Airspace System (NAS) to replace four non-part 95 routes in Alaska. The conversion of these non-part 95 routes would change uncharted nonregulatory airways requiring special aircrew authorization to Federal Airways, thus adding to the instrument flight rules (IFR) airway and route infrastructure in Alaska. This proposal would establish three Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR) Federal airways, and one Low/Medium Frequency (L/MF) Colored Federal airway.

This proposed rule would revise the regulations for locatable minerals operations conducted on National Forest System lands. The revised rule would apply to prospecting, exploration, development, mining and processing operations, and reclamation under the Mining Law of May 10, 1872, as amended. The Forest Service invites written comments on this proposed rule.

On October 4, 2007, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an interim rule in the Federal Register at 72 FR 56832, establishing rules necessary for the ratification and implementation of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, signed at The Hague on May 29, 1993 (``Convention''). The comment period ended December 3, 2007. Of the 54 comments received by DHS, most requested an extension of the comment period to allow sufficient time to provide meaningful and substantive comments. DHS is re-opening and extending the comment period for 60 days until May 27, 2008.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 ft (< 18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using pot or hook-and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2008 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to catcher vessels < 60 ft (18.3 m) LOA using pot or hook-and-line gear in the BSAI.