April 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FHWA, on behalf of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), is issuing this notice to advise the public that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared for the proposed 24th Street Improvement Project in Kern County, California.

In this document, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (Bureau) grants a request to stay the effectiveness of paragraphs 95 and 96 of the 2007 TRS Cost Recovery Declaratory Ruling, which restrict telecommunications relay service (TRS) providers from using consumer or call databases to contact TRS users. Because these paragraphs have been challenged in the Court of Appeals, a stay is appropriate pending review of the argument that these paragraphs violate the First Amendment rights of providers.

The public is invited to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species and marine mammals.

FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared for the proposed South Padre Island Second Access project in Cameron County, Texas. Publication of this Notice of Intent (NOI) will serve to rescind a previous NOI published in July 2003 for the same project. The proposed project would link State Highway (SH) 100 on the mainland with Park Road (PR) 100 on South Padre Island. Currently, vehicular access to South Padre Island is limited to the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway connecting the City of Port Isabel and the Town of South Padre Island. The proposed project would provide a second connection from the Texas mainland to South Padre Island in Cameron County, Texas. The proposed project would consist of construction predominantly on new right-of- way.

The Surface Transportation Board is issuing this policy statement to clarify when, under the agency's regulation at 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), a carrier may ``consummate'' abandonment and file a ``notice of consummation'' of the abandonment of a rail line where the Board has imposed conditions on its abandonment authorization in order to satisfy section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), 16 U.S.C. 470f, or the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (NEPA). In cases where a condition is imposed under NHPA, a notice of consummation should not be filed for any part of the line until the historic review process is completed and the condition is removed. However, where a NHPA condition is needed only for a segment of the line or for a particular structure or structures, the railroad may request that the Board modify the condition to allow the railroad to salvage the portions of the line not affected by that condition. In contrast, a condition imposed under NEPA that is related to salvage activities is not a regulatory barrier to consummation of an abandonment.\1\ A notice of consummation may be filed prior to satisfying such a salvage condition. However, filing a notice of consummation in that situation does not remove the condition, which must still be satisfied if and when salvage activities are conducted. If a property encumbered with salvage conditions changes ownership, the new owner must show that it agrees to abide by the salvage conditions at the time of conveyance by referencing the conditions in the instrument of conveyance, and providing a copy of the instrument of conveyance to the Board so that it can be filed in the pertinent abandonment proceeding. Additionally, railroads are cautioned to comply fully with section 106 of NHPA.

This notice announces the first meeting of the Electricity Advisory Committee. The Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92- 463, as amended, requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register. Date and Time: Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 8:30 a.m.12:30 p.m. EDT. Location: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton National Hotel located at 900 South Orme Street, Arlington, Virginia 22204. Agenda: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

This final rule amends the regulations governing the WIC Program to clarify issues that have arisen subsequent to the publication of the WIC Food Delivery Systems Final Rule on December 29, 2000, and to strengthen further the requirements for State vendor management and infant formula cost-containment systems. This rule contains provisions that would prohibit a State agency from requiring an infant formula manufacturer to provide free infant formula or other items in its infant formula rebate bid solicitation and contract; require that a State agency provide an abbreviated administrative review when a vendor receives a WIC civil money penalty (CMP) as a result of a Food Stamp Program (FSP) disqualification; and expand the types of vendor information that a State agency may release for general program purposes. Technical changes were also made to 7 CFR 246.16a due to revisions made to the WIC Food Packages, published in the Federal Register December 6, 2007. This rule updates regulatory citations contained in 7 CFR 246.16a that refer to 7 CFR 246.10.

The public is invited to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species and marine mammals.

This notice announces that the Information Collection Request for the Adult Education Annual Report Form, OMB 1076-0120, requires renewal. The current Adult Education Annual Report Form, with no appreciable changes, will be submitted after the comment period to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 350(c)(2)(A). The Department of the Interior is soliciting public comments on the renewal.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared for the approved I-70 First and Second Tier environmental documents. The I- 70 corridor for this Supplemental EIS is from the I-470 interchange in Kansas City to near the Lake St. Louis interchange in St. Louis. The project length is approximately 199 miles.

This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the State of Mississippi dated 04/16/2008. Incident: Severe Storms and Tornadoes. Incident Period: 04/04/2008.

In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended (Magnuson-Stevens Act), NMFS proposes guidelines and procedures for the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (GMFMC) (collectively the Councils), and NMFS to follow in determining procedures and voting eligibility requirements for referenda on Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program proposals. The intended effect of these procedures and guidance is to ensure IFQ program referenda are fair and equitable.

This document proposes superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (Bell) Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230, and 430 helicopters. That AD currently requires visually inspecting the main rotor hydraulic actuator support (support) to verify the presence of all dowel pins and sealant between the support and transmission and verifying the proper torque of each attaching nut (nut). This action would require the same actions as the existing AD but would also require the repetitive actions at intervals not to exceed 600 hours time-in-service (TIS) or 12 months, whichever occurs first. This proposal is prompted by the discovery that the 12- month compliance requirement was correctly included in the Emergency AD (EAD) that we issued but was inadvertently omitted when we published the Final rule; request for comments following the issuance of the EAD. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent failure of the support and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

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:

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC) is publishing for comment an interim final policy statement (``Policy Statement'') on the treatment of covered bonds in a conservatorship or receivership. The Policy Statement provides guidance on the availability of expedited access to collateral pledged for certain covered bonds in a receivership or a conservatorship, after the FDIC decides whether to terminate or continue the transaction. The Policy Statement provides guidance to facilitate the prudent and incremental development of the U.S. covered bond market while the FDIC, and other regulators, evaluate the benefits and risks of these products in the U.S. mortgage market. The Policy Statement is being published as ``interim final'' in order to provide immediate guidance, but with a view to possible later amendment in response to comments received.

On February 3, 2006, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Final Rule (Order No. 672) implementing Subtitle A (Reliability Standards) of the Electricity Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct). The Commission is issuing a policy statement that adopts administrative policy on Commission review of notices of penalty for violation of Reliability Standards and that modifies Order No. 672.

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection titled, ``Community Reinvestment Act Regulation12 CFR 25.'' The OCC is also giving notice that it has submitted the collection to OMB for review.

The FAA is requesting public comment on the City of Westfield, Massachusetts request to change a portion (14.99 acres) of Airport property from aeronautical use to non-aeronautical use. The property is located off of Falcon Drive in Westfield, Massachusetts and is identified by the City Assessors Office as Map 72R, Parcel 63. Upon disposition the property will be used for construction of a stormwater detention basin associated with the construction of a Target Distribution Center. The property was acquired under ADAP Project No. 7-25-0053-02. The disposition of proceeds from the disposal of airport property will be in accordance with FAA's Policy and Procedures Concerning the Use of Airport Revenue, published in the Federal Register on February 16, 1999.