September 26, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule would establish a Special Air Traffic Rule (SATR) in the vicinity of Luke Air Force Base (Luke) which would require general aviation (GA) traffic operating under visual flight rules (VFR) to establish communication with the Luke Radar Approach Control (RAPCON) while operating in the area around Luke. This action is necessary to address reported near midair collisions in the area around Luke and would help reduce the potential for midair collisions in the vicinity of Luke.

The Director, Office of Water and Watersheds, EPA Region 10, is proposing to issue a general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for Offshore Seafood Processors in Alaska, pursuant to the provisions of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq. The draft general permit authorizes the discharge of treated seafood processing wastes from new and existing facilities to State and Federal Waters, at least 0.5 nautical miles from shore as delineated by mean lower low water. Interested persons may submit comments on the proposed general permit to EPA Region 10 at the address below. Comments must be received or postmarked by November 10, 2008. A fact sheet has been prepared which sets forth the principle factual, legal, policy, and scientific information considered in the development of the draft general permit. The draft general permit contains a variety of technology-based and water quality-based effluent limitations, along with administrative and monitoring requirements, as well as other standard conditions, prohibitions, and management practices. Within state waters a 100 foot mixing zone is proposed for residues, dissolved gas, non-hydrocarbon oil and grease, fecal coliform, pH, temperature, color, turbidity, and total residual chlorine. In addition, the permit allows for the issuance of site specific zones of deposit (ZODs) by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC). The site specific ZODs would only be authorized for facilities discharging between 0.5-1 nautical mile from shore upon application by the discharger. If a discharger requests a ZOD, ADEC would public notice the proposed ZOD authorization before the ZOD is authorized for the discharger. ZODs will be granted through an individual State certification that will be attached to EPA's authorization to discharge letter. Public Comment: Copies of the draft general permit, fact sheet, Biological Evaluation, Essential Fish Habitat Assessment, Environmental Assessment, Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), and Ocean Discharge Criteria Evaluation are available upon request. Theses documents may also be downloaded from the Region 10 Web site at https:// www.epa.gov/r10earth/waterpermits.htm (click on draft permits, then Alaska). Interested persons may submit written comments to the attention of Lindsay Guzzo at the address below. All comments must include the name, address, and telephone number of the commenter and a concise statement of comment and the relevant facts upon which it is based. Comments of either support or concern which are directed at specific, cited permit requirements are appreciated. After the expiration date of the Public Notice on November 10, 2008, the Director, Office of Water and Watersheds, EPA Region 10, will make a final determination with respect to issuance of the general permit. The proposed requirements contained in the draft general permit will become final upon issuance if no significant comments are received during the public comment period.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Ely RMP planning area located in east-central Nevada in Lincoln, White Pine and a portion of Nye counties. The Nevada State Director signed the ROD on August 20, 2008, which constitutes the final decision of the BLM and makes the Approved RMP effective immediately.

The Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service published a document in the Federal Register. Agency Information Collection Activities: New Collection; Comment Request Action: 60-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review: Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Data Collection and Effectiveness Study. The Department is issuing a restructured a paragraph for clarification purposes.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission affirms its basic determinations in Order No. 704, while granting rehearing in part and clarification regarding requirements that certain natural gas market participants report information regarding their reporting of transactions to price index publishers and their blanket sales certificate status. These natural gas market participants must report annually certain information regarding their physical natural gas transactions for the previous calendar year. As clarified in the Order on Rehearing and Clarification, certain market participants engaged in a de minimis volume of transactions will not be required to report information regarding their transactions for the calendar year. The reported information will make it possible to assess the formation of index prices and the use of index pricing in natural gas markets. These regulations facilitate price transparency in markets for the wholesale sale of physical natural gas in interstate commerce as contemplated by section 23 of the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C. 717t-2.

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

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) created and expanded State and Federal title IV-D child support enforcement databases and significantly enhanced access to information for title IV-D child support purposes. States are moving toward integrated service delivery and developing enterprise architecture initiatives to link their program databases. This final rule prescribes requirements for: State Parent Locator Service responses to authorized location requests; and State IV-D program safeguarding of confidential information and authorized disclosures of this information. This rule restricts the use of confidential data and information to child support purposes, with exceptions for certain disclosures permitted by statute.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, this notice announces a meeting of Advisory Panel on Medicare Education (the Panel). The Panel advises and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the effectiveness of consumer education strategies concerning the Medicare program. This meeting is open to the public.

This notice lists CMS manual instructions, substantive and interpretive regulations, and other Federal Register notices that were published from April 2008 through June 2008, relating to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This notice provides information on national coverage determinations (NCDs) affecting specific medical and health care services under Medicare. Additionally, this notice identifies certain devices with investigational device exemption (IDE) numbers approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that potentially may be covered under Medicare. This notice also includes listings of all approval numbers from the Office of Management and Budget for collections of information in CMS regulations and a list of Medicare- approved carotid stent facilities. Included in this notice is a list of the American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data registry sites, active CMS coverage-related guidance documents, and special one-time notices regarding national coverage provisions. Also included in this notice is a list of National Oncologic Positron Emissions Tomography Registry sites, a list of Medicare-approved ventricular assist device (destination therapy) facilities, a list of Medicare-approved lung volume reduction surgery facilities, a list of Medicare-approved clinical trials for fluorodeoxyglucose positron emissions tomogrogphy for dementia, and a list of Medicare-approved bariatric surgery facilities. Section 1871(c) of the Social Security Act requires that we publish a list of Medicare issuances in the Federal Register at least every 3 months. Although we are not mandated to do so by statute, for the sake of completeness of the listing, and to foster more open and transparent collaboration efforts, we are also including all Medicaid issuances and Medicare and Medicaid substantive and interpretive regulations (proposed and final) published during this 3-month time frame.