June 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On June 23, 2008, we published final regulations in the Federal Register to establish regulations for the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant program. That document inadvertently included several minor technical errors. This document corrects the final regulations.

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce has approved the revised management plan, which includes an expansion of the boundary of the reserve, for the Chesapeake Bay Maryland National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Chesapeake Bay Maryland National Estuarine Research Reserve has three sites: Monie Bay, Jug Bay, and Otter Point Creek. Monie Bay was designated as part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve in 1985 and Jug Bay and Otter Point Creek were designated in 1990 pursuant to Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1461. The reserve has been operating under a management plan approved in 1990. Pursuant to 15 CFR Section 921.33(c), a state must revise their management plan every five years. The submission of this plan brings the reserve into compliance and sets a course for successful implementation of the goals and objectives of the reserve. A boundary expansion, new facilities, and updated programmatic objectives are notable revisions to the 1990 approved management plan. The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure; the education, stewardship, and research goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility development to support reserve operations. Since 1990, the reserve has added a coastal training program that delivers science-based information to key decision makers in the Chesapeake Bay. The reserve has realized many aspects of the 1990 plan, including the completion of the Anita C. Leight Center in Harford County. This facility provides classrooms, lab space, exhibit space and office space and has allowed the implementation of research, education and volunteer activity at the Otter Point Creek component of the reserve. This management plan calls for a boundary expansion at two reserve sites: 1,345 acres are incorporated into the Jug Bay component site and approximately 32 acres will be incorporated into the Otter Point Creek site. The Otter Point Creek component will expand its land area from 443 to 475 acres. The land increase consists of two forested parcels adjacent to the current boundary that will serve as a buffer for core estuarine habitat and will also provide an important access point for monitoring and education programming. The expansion at Jug Bay includes land on both sides of the Patuxent River, increasing the acreage of this site from 491 to 1,836. The original boundary for this component site included a portion of the county-owned parks. This expansion incorporates a larger portion of those parks to become designated as part of the National Estuarine Research Reserves. West of the Patuxent River, the reserve will add 455 acres of wetlands and buffer lands that will enhance the protection of core reserve lands and will enhance the research and monitoring. East of the Patuxent River, the reserve will be expanded by 890 acres to increase the level of protection surrounding the river and expand the area available for reserve programming.

Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), implementing procedural provisions of NEPA, and Executive Order (EO) 12114, Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions, the Department of the Navy (DON) gives notice that a combined Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)/Finding of No Significant Harm (FONSH) has been issued and is available for Expeditionary Strike Group Composite Training Unit Exercise (ESG COMPTUEX) July 2008.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) will hold a work session, which is open to the public.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC) Ad Hoc Scientific and Statistical Committee will hold a public meeting.

The Coast Guard will enforce the Fourth of July Fireworks, City of Sausalito, safety zone from 9 a.m. through 9:30 p.m. on July 4, 2008. This action is necessary to control vessel traffic and to ensure the safety of event participants and spectators. During the enforcement period, unauthorized persons or vessels are prohibited from entering into, transiting through, or anchoring in the safety zone, unless authorized by the Patrol Commander (PATCOM).

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a request to renew two existing approved Information Collection Requests (ICRs) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). One of these ICRs is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2008. The second ICR is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2009. Before submitting the ICRs to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

Under section 122(h)(1) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency has entered into a settlement for reimbursement of past response costs concerning the Component Concepts Site located in Thomasville, Davidson County, North Carolina for publication.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with regulations for the interstate movement of fruits and vegetables from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to help ensure that injurious plant pests are not spread to noninfested areas of the United States.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), this notice announces that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of information abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden; it includes the actual data collection instrument.

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

In this document, the Media Bureau extends the comment and reply comment period in this proceeding. The Commission seeks comment on various proposals to increase participation in the broadcasting industry by new entrants and small businesses, especially minority- and women-owned businesses, with the goal of promoting innovation, diversity of ownership and viewpoints, spectrum efficiency, and competition in media markets.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C. App 2, Section 1), the Sunshine in the Government Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b), and 41 CFR 102-3.150, the Department of Defense announces the following closed meeting of the Transformation Advisory Group.

The Defense Science Board 2008 Summer Study on Capability Surprise will meet in closed session on August 4-14, 2008; at the Beckman Center, Irvine, CA.

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

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Maritime Administration is issuing a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Removal of Non-Retention Vessels from National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) Sites for Disposal. The Draft EA has been prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508). The Maritime Administration invites comments on the Draft EA. The purpose of the Programmatic EA is to evaluate the potential environmental impacts from and alternatives to the Removal of Non- Retention Vessels from National Defense Reserve Fleet Sites for Disposal proposed by the Maritime Administration. The Maritime Administration is charged with disposing of obsolete ``non-retention'' U.S. government-owned merchant type vessels of 1,500 gross tons or more per Section 203 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 548 (2008)). Non-retention vessels are vessels that have been determined by the Maritime Administration to be of insufficient value for commercial or military operation by the Federal Government to merit further preservation. 46 U.S.C. 57102 (2008). The Maritime Administration's non-retention ships are located at three fleet anchorages in the James River, Virginia; Beaumont, Texas; and Suisun Bay, California. The Maritime Administration is proposing to tow obsolete vessels from these three fleet anchorages either to one of seven Maritime Administration-approved or provisionally approved recycling facilities across the United States, or to various locations (to be determined on a case-by-case basis) to be used as artificial reefs, or sold for reuse as limited by applicable law, or to be donated for use as memorials and museums, or to be used by the U.S. Navy in at-sea training exercises referred to as Sinking Exercises, or SINKEX, during which the Navy fires live munitions at the vessel to give trainees a better sense of the capabilities of Navy weaponry. Following the use of live fire, vessels are allowed to sink to the sea bottom.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Northern New Mexico. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we are notifying the public that we have submitted to OMB an information collection request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR part 250, subpart K, Oil and Gas Production Rates, and related documents. This notice also provides the public a second opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of these regulatory requirements.