August 1, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document corrects several technical and typographical errors in the proposed rule that was issued on June 30, 2008 and appeared in the July 7, 2008 Federal Register (73 FR 38502). The proposed rule addressed Medicare Part B payment policy, including the physician fee schedule (PFS) that is applicable for calendar year (CY) 2009. The proposed rule also addressed refinements to relative value units (RVUs) and physician self-referral issues. Specifically, the errors pertain to the following provisions: Practice expense, telehealth services, competitive acquisition program (CAP), anti-markup provisions, and the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative.

In response to an industry member request, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau extends the comment period for Notice No. 83, Proposed Revision of Distilled Spirits Plant Regulations, a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on May 8, 2008, for an additional 90 days.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain McDonnell Douglas airplanes listed above. This proposed AD would require installing a dam assembly for the container of the fuel boost pump of the center tank located in the right main tank, and doing the related investigative actions, and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD results from fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer. We are proposing this AD to prevent the center tank fuel boost pump from operating in a fuel vapor zone and becoming a potential ignition source in the right main tank, potentially resulting in a fuel tank explosion and consequent loss of the airplane.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the waters of Lake Washington, WA during Seattle's Seafair Fireworks show. This safety zone is necessary to ensure the safety of recreational and commercial boaters in the area during the fireworks show on August 2nd, 2008. Entry into, transit through, mooring, or anchoring within this zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, Puget Sound or his designated representatives.

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is publishing one set of administrative requirements that contain elements common to all of the competitive and noncompetitive non-formula grant programs the Agency administers as an interim rule. Although this interim rule becomes effective on the date of publication, CSREES is requesting comments for a 60-day period as identified below. In a relatively short period of time, this will allow CSREES to apply basic rules to grant programs that are currently operating without them, including new non-formula grant programs created by the passage of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) (Pub. L. 110-234) and to efficiently implement changes to programs with existing regulations as required by FCEA. The provisions in subparts A through E will serve as a single Agency resource codifying current practices simply and coherently for almost all CSREES competitive and noncompetitive non-formula grant programs except the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. As specific rules are developed for each CSREES grant program, CSREES will propose adding a subpart for that Federal assistance program to this regulation. This interim rule is being published with a first set of program-specific grant regulations as subpart F for the Specialty Research Crop Initiative, authorized under section 7311 of FCEA.

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill), the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act (2002 Appropriations), and the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) amended the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (Act) to require retailers to notify their customers of the country of origin of covered commodities. Covered commodities include muscle cuts of beef (including veal), lamb, chicken, goat, and pork; ground beef, ground lamb, ground chicken, ground goat, and ground pork; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; perishable agricultural commodities; macadamia nuts; pecans; ginseng; and peanuts. The implementation of mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for all covered commodities, except wild and farm- raised fish and shellfish, was delayed until September 30, 2008. The 2008 Farm Bill contains a number of provisions that amended the COOL provisions in the Act. These changes include the addition of chicken, goat, macadamia nuts, pecans, and ginseng as covered commodities, the addition of provisions for labeling products of multiple origin, as well as a number of other changes that are discussed more fully in the Supplementary Information portion of this rule. However, the implementation date of September 30, 2008, was not changed by the 2008 Farm Bill. Therefore, in order to meet the September 30, 2008, implementation date and to provide the newly affected industries the opportunity to provide comments prior to issuing a final rule, the Department is issuing this interim final rule. This interim final rule contains definitions, the requirements for consumer notification and product marking, and the recordkeeping responsibilities of both retailers and suppliers for covered commodities. The provisions in this interim final rule do not affect the regulatory requirements for fish and shellfish that were published in the October 5, 2004, Federal Register.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise the language pertaining to requirements for the acquisition of commercial items.

This document disposes of the petitions for reconsideration filed in response to the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) final rule on charter service published on January 14, 2008. This notice also corrects the final rule by adding an authority citation, revises Appendix B and Appendix C, and corrects Appendix D, which should have appeared in the final rule as a matrix.

The EPA is approving revisions to Idaho's State Implementation Plan (SIP) relating to open burning and crop residue disposal requirements and visible emissions. The Director of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) submitted a draft SIP revision to the EPA on April 15, 2008. The EPA proposed to approve this draft SIP revision on April 29, 2008, and stated that, if adopted by the State substantially unchanged from its current form, it would satisfy the requirements of the Clean Air Act (hereinafter the Act or CAA). 73 FR 23155. The Director of the IDEQ submitted a final SIP revision to the EPA on May 28, 2008. Based on EPA's review of this final SIP revision, EPA's analysis and review of the 2008 draft SIP revision (73 FR 23155), and comments received by the EPA during the public comment period on EPA's proposed approval of the draft SIP revision, the EPA is approving the final SIP revision submitted by the IDEQ on May 28, 2008, because it satisfies the requirements of the CAA. The Director of the IDEQ also submitted a SIP revision relating to open burning and crop residue disposal requirements on May 22, 2003, which the EPA approved on July 11, 2005 (70 FR 39658). In a ruling issued on January 30, 2007, and amended on May 29, 2007, that approval was remanded and vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Safe Air for Everyone v. USEPA, 475 F.3d 1096, amended 488 F.3d 1088 (9th Cir 2007) (SAFE decision). In the EPA's April 29, 2008, proposal discussed above, the EPA re-proposed to approve the portion of the May 22, 2003, SIP revision that would not be changed by the draft SIP revision, if adopted, submitted on April 15, 2008. We are also finalizing our approval of this portion of the 2003 SIP revision because it satisfies the requirements of the Act and does not contravene the Court's SAFE decision.