September 12, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Education (Department) gives notice that on December 5, 2007, an arbitration panel rendered a decision in the matter of Hawaii Department of Human Services, Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division v. United States Department of Defense, Department of the Navy (Case No. R-S/06-4). This panel was convened by the Department under 20 U.S.C. 107d-1(b), after the Department received a complaint filed by the petitioner, the Hawaii Department of Human Services, Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division.

Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires any person who intends to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) a new chemical (i.e., a chemical not on the TSCA Inventory) to notify EPA and comply with the statutory provisions pertaining to the manufacture of new chemicals. Under sections 5(d)(2) and 5(d)(3) of TSCA, EPA is required to publish a notice of receipt of a premanufacture notice (PMN) or an application for a test marketing exemption (TME), and to publish periodic status reports on the chemicals under review and the receipt of notices of commencement to manufacture those chemicals. This status report, which covers the period from August 4, 2008 through August 15, 2008, consists of the PMNs and TME, both pending or expired, and the notices of commencement to manufacture a new chemical that the Agency has received under TSCA section 5 during this time period.

This final rule amends regulations for oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf to implement a mandate in the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. These amendments (1) provide a credit to lessees who relinquish certain eligible leases in the Gulf of Mexico; (2) define eligible leases as those within 125 miles of the Florida coast in the Eastern Planning Area, and certain leases within 100 miles of the Florida coast in the Central Planning Area; and (3) allow lessees to use the credits in lieu of monetary payment for either a lease bonus bid or royalty due on oil and gas production from most other leases in the Gulf of Mexico, or to transfer the credits to other Gulf of Mexico lessees for their use.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is revising its Direct Mail Program so that certain filings of Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, will now be filed at a designated lockbox facility instead of a USCIS Service Center. However, if you are the spouse of an active member of the Armed Forces, this notice instructs you now to file your Form N-400 at the Nebraska Service Center (NSC), whether you are filing from within the U.S. or abroad. This notice does not change the filing location for Forms N-400 filed by active members or certain veterans of the Armed Forces who are eligible to apply for naturalization under sections 328 or 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act).

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

An open meeting of the Area 3 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted via telephone conference call. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

PHMSA proposes to revise the Federal pipeline safety regulations to address human factors and other components of control room management. The proposed rules would require operators of hazardous liquid pipelines, gas pipelines, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities to amend their existing written operations and maintenance procedures, operator qualification (OQ) programs, and emergency plans to assure controllers and control room management practices and procedures used maintain pipeline safety and integrity. This proposed rule results from a PHMSA study of controllers and controller performance issues known as the Controller Certification Project (CCERT), a National Transportation Safety Board study, safety- related condition reports, operator visits and inspections, and inquiries. This rule would improve opportunities to reduce risk through more effective control of pipelines and require the human factors management plan mandated by the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement, and Safety Act of 2006 (PIPES Act). These regulations would enhance pipeline safety by coupling strengthened control room management, including automated control systems, with improved controller training and qualifications and fatigue management. PHMSA expects these regulations will complement efforts already underway in the pipeline industry to address human factors and control room management, such as the development of new national consensus standards, including an American Petroleum Institute (API) recommended practices on roles and responsibilities, shift operations, management of change, fatigue management, alarm management and SCADA display standard, as well as comparable business practices at some pipeline companies.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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: