April 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain TCM IO-520, TSIO-520, and IO-550 reciprocating engines with certain SAP cylinder assemblies installed. This proposed AD would require initial and repetitive inspections and compression tests to detect cracks in those cylinders with more than 750 flight hours time- in-service (TIS). This proposed AD results from reports of cracks in the area of the exhaust valve and separation of cylinder heads from the barrels of SAP cylinder assemblies with certain part numbers. We are proposing this AD to prevent separation of the cylinder head, which could result in immediate loss of engine power, possible structural damage to the engine, and possible fire in the engine compartment.

The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the Washington Street S136 Bridge, across the Norwalk River, mile 0.0, at Norwalk, Connecticut. While in effect, this deviation allows the bridge owner to open only one of the two moveable spans for bridge openings. Vessels that require a full two-span bridge opening will be required to provide at least a twelve-hour advance notice by calling the bridge operator. This deviation is necessary to facilitate scheduled bridge maintenance.

This action proposes to revoke Class E airspace at Luke AFB, Phoenix, AZ. The United States Air Force (USAF) is closing the airport to Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations when the control tower is not open.

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 action corrects a paragraph reference that appeared in the final rule, Airworthiness Standards; Airframe Rules Based on European Joint Aviation Requirements, which the FAA published in the Federal Register on February 9, 1996. In that final rule, the FAA inadvertently changed a paragraph reference. The intent of this action is to correct the error in the regulation to ensure the requirement is clear and accurate.

The Department of Labor (the Department or DOL) is publishing this Final Rule to amend its regulations regarding the temporary employment of nonimmigrant foreign professionals in order to implement procedural requirements applicable to the E-3 visa category. This visa classification was established by Title V of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (Division B) in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005, and applies to certain Australian nationals coming to the United States solely to perform services in specialty occupations. This Final Rule clarifies the procedures that employers must follow in obtaining a DOL- certified labor condition application before seeking an E-3 visa for a foreign worker.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for northern rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, and pelagic shelf rockfish for catcher vessels subject to sideboard limits established under the Central GOA Rockfish Program in the Western Regulatory Area and West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the sideboard limits of northern rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, and pelagic shelf rockfish established for catcher vessels in the Western Regulatory Area and West Yakutat District of the GOA.

In this document, the Commission grants American Telemedicine Association's (ATA) Petition for Reconsideration in part and extends for three years the Commission's prior determination to grandfather those health care providers who were eligible under the Commission's definition of ``rural'' prior to the Second Report and Order.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect approval of a new animal drug application (NADA) filed by Intervet Inc. The NADA provides for use of approved, single-ingredient Type A medicated articles containing zilpaterol hydrochloride, monensin USP, and melengestrol acetate in three-way combination Type B and Type C medicated feeds for heifers fed in confinement for slaughter.

This document describes the membership makeup of Federal subsistence regional advisory councils established under subsistence management regulations. This document is the final step in an administrative action with respect to those regulations, made necessary because of an order entered by the U.S. District Court for Alaska. The U.S. District Court order made it necessary to give further consideration to alternative methods for assuring balance in membership for regional advisory councils and to provide a complete and thorough administrative record.

This document contains corrections to a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-168745-03) that was published in the Federal Register on Monday, March 10, 2008 (73 FR 12838) explaining how section 263(a) of the Internal Revenue Code applies to amounts paid to acquire, produce, or improve tangible property. The proposed regulations clarify and expand the standards in the current regulations under section 263(a), as well as provide some bright-line tests (for example, a de minimis rule for acquisitions). The proposed regulations will affect all taxpayers that acquire, produce, or improve tangible property.

The Rural Housing Service is proposing to revise the existing income limit structure for Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) eligibility. Instead of eligible adjusted income based on households ranging from 1-8 persons according to 7 CFR 1980.345 (a), a two tier income structure consisting of a 1-4 member household and a 5-8 member household is proposed. The new adjusted income limit for the 1-4 member household, for example, would be current adjusted income limit for the 4 member household. The present add-on income limits for larger households will remain unchanged. The present multiple income limits (1-8 persons) are cumbersome, and the proposed consolidation is expected to simplify program delivery as well as allow the agency to serve additional qualified homebuyers. The SFHGLP is in partnership with many State Housing Agencies throughout the United States. The majority of these agencies already maintain a two tier income structure, and this proposed change would allow a seamless integration of the respective programs. This proposal would not apply to other housing programs.

In this Final Rule, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is revising its financial forms, statements, and reports for natural gas companies, contained in FERC Form Nos. 2, 2-A and 3-Q. The revisions are designed to enhance the forms' usefulness by updating them to reflect current market and cost information relevant to interstate natural gas pipelines and their customers. The changes will provide additional information that the Commission needs to carry out its responsibilities under the Natural Gas Act (NGA).

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is proposing to designate the precursor chemical, 4-anilino-N-phenethyl-4-piperidine (ANPP) as an immediate precursor for the schedule II controlled substance, fentanyl, under the definition set forth in 21 U.S.C. Sec. 802(23). Furthermore, DEA is proposing to control ANPP as a schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), pursuant to the authority in 21 U.S.C. 811(e), which states that an immediate precursor may be placed in the same schedule as the controlled substance it produces, without the need of addressing the ``factors determinative of control'' in 21 U.S.C. Sec. 811 or the findings required in 21 U.S.C. 812(b). ANPP is the immediate chemical intermediary in the synthesis process currently used by clandestine laboratory operators for the illicit manufacture of the schedule II controlled substance fentanyl. The distribution of illicitly manufactured fentanyl has caused an unprecedented outbreak of hundreds of fentanyl-related overdoses in the United States in recent months. DEA believes that the control of ANPP as a schedule II controlled substance is necessary to prevent its diversion as an immediate chemical intermediary for the illicit production of fentanyl.

This rule would consolidate requirements governing the Employment Assistance Program and the Adult Vocational Training Program. These programs assist Indian people to obtain job skills and to obtain and retain permanent employment. Combining these regulations will be consistent with changes to the Department's budget, which has combined these two regulations into one line item.

This action confirms the effective date of the direct final rule that establishes Class E airspace at Huntsville Municipal Airport, Huntsville, Arkansas, published in the Federal Register February 15, 2008 (73 FR 8794) Docket No. FAA-2008-0004.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposes to revise the commercial driver's license (CDL) knowledge and skills testing standards, and to require new Federal minimum standards for States to issue commercial learner's permits (CLPs). FMCSA also proposes that a CLP holder meet virtually the same requirements as those for a CDL holder. This means that a driver holding a CLP would be subject to the same driver disqualification offenses as apply to a CDL holder. This NPRM responds to section 4019 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), section 4122 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), and section 703 of the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 (SAFE Port Act). The purpose of this proposal is to enhance safety by ensuring that only qualified drivers are allowed to operate commercial motor vehicles on our nation's highways.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of buprofezin in or on berry, low growing , subgroup 13-07G; okra; olive; olive, oil; pepper, nonbell; radicchio; vegetable, fruiting, group 8, except nonbell pepper; and vegetable, leafy, except Brassica, group 4, except head lettuce and radicchio; and increases the existing tolerance for residues of buprofezin in or on head lettuce. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). This regulation also removes existing tolerances for residues of buprofezin in or on leaf lettuce and tomato and modifies 40 CFR 180.511 by removing the third column (Expiration/Revocation Date) from the table in paragraph (a), since it is no longer applicable.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to amend and consolidate in one place the federal drinking water requirements (known as National Primary Drinking Water Regulations or NPDWRs) for aircraft public water systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Aircraft public water systems are subject to the requirements of SDWA and the NPDWRs. The existing federal drinking water standards were primarily designed to regulate water quality in stationary public water systems and the application of these requirements to mobile water systems with the capability of flying throughout the world has created implementation challenges. The proposed requirements are intended to tailor existing health-based drinking water standards to the unique characteristics of aircraft public water systems for the enhanced protection of public health against illnesses attributable to microbiological contamination. This is accomplished through multiple- barrier protection and procedural control measures. EPA believes that the combination of these components will better protect public health while building upon existing aircraft operations and maintenance programs, better coordinate federal programs that regulate aircraft water systems, and minimize disruption of aircraft flight schedules.

This document contains a correction to the final rule to amend the regulations implementing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) that was published in the Federal Register, Friday, October 5, 2007.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Atka mackerel for vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery in the Western Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2008 Atka mackerel allowable catch (TAC) specified for vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery in the Western Aleutian District of the BSAI.

Currently, foreign students in F-1 nonimmigrant status who have been enrolled on a full-time basis for at least one full academic year in a college, university, conservatory, or seminary certified by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's (ICE's) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) are eligible for 12 months of optional practical training (OPT) to work for a U.S. employer in a job directly related to the student's major area of study. This interim final rule extends the maximum period of OPT from 12 months to 29 months for F-1 students who have completed a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree and accept employment with employers enrolled in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS') E-Verify employment verification program. This interim rule requires F-1 students with an approved OPT extension to report changes in the student's name or address and changes in the employer's name or address as well as periodically verify the accuracy of this reporting information. The rule also requires the employers of F-1 students with an extension of post-completion OPT authorization to report to the student's designated school official (DSO) within 48 hours after the OPT student has been terminated from, or otherwise leaves, his or her employment with that employer prior to end of the authorized period of OPT. This rule also ameliorates the so-called ``cap-gap'' problem by extending the authorized period of stay for all F-1 students who have a properly filed H-1B petition and change of status request (filed under the cap for the next fiscal year) pending with USCIS. If USCIS approves the H-1B petition, the students will have an extension that enables them to remain in the United States until the requested start date indicated in the H-1B petition takes effect. This interim final rule also implements a programmatic change to allow students to apply for OPT within 60 days of concluding their studies.

The Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operations of the Rock Island Railroad and Highway Drawbridge across the Upper Mississippi River, Mile 482.9, Rock Island, Illinois. The deviation is necessary as the drawbridge is part of the annual route for the Quad City Marathon. This deviation allows the bridge to remain in the closed-to-navigation position during the event.

The Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Tower Drawbridge across the Sacramento River, mile 59.0, at Sacramento, CA. The deviation is necessary to allow the bridge owner, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), to celebrate the completion of the newly refurbished drawbridge. This deviation allows the bridge to remain in the closed-to-navigation position during the event.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) large municipal waste combustor plan (the plan) revision for implementing emission guideline (EG) amendments promulgated on May 10, 2006 by EPA under the Clean Air Act (the Act). The plan revision establishes revised emission limits, monitoring, and recordkeeping requirements for existing LMWC units with a unit capacity greater than 250 tons per day (TPD). An existing LMWC unit is one for which construction commenced on or before September 20, 1994.