October 20, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) [44 U.S.C. 3505(c)(2)(A)]. The program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of the collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.

This interim rule, promulgated pursuant to sections 101(a)(1), 101(c)(5), and 111(b) of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Division A of Public Law 110-343 (EESA), provides guidance on the executive compensation provisions applicable to participants in the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) Capital Purchase Program (CPP). Section 111(b) of EESA requires financial institutions from which the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is purchasing troubled assets through direct purchases to meet appropriate standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. This interim final rule includes the following standards for purposes of the CPP: (a) Limits on compensation that exclude incentives for senior executive officers (SEOs) of financial institutions to take unnecessary and excessive risks that threaten the value of the financial institution; (b) required recovery of any bonus or incentive compensation paid to a SEO based on statements of earnings, gains, or other criteria that are later proven to be materially inaccurate; (c) prohibition on the financial institution from making any golden parachute payment to any SEO; and (d) agreement to limit a claim to a federal income tax deduction for certain executive remuneration. These rules generally affect financial institutions that participate in the CPP, certain employers related to those financial institutions, and their officers.

The proposed information collection request (ICR) described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. OTS is soliciting public comments on the proposal.

On August 22, 2006, the Advisory Committee on Job Corps (ACJC) was established in accordance with the provisions of the Workforce Investment Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Committee was established to advance Job Corps' new vision for student achievement aimed at 21st century high-growth employment. This Committee will also evaluate Job Corps program characteristics, including its purpose, goals, and effectiveness, efficiency, and performance measures in order to address the critical issues facing the provision of job training and education to the youth population that it serves. The Committee may provide other advice and recommendations with regard to identifying and overcoming problems, planning program or center development or strengthening relations between Job Corps and agencies, institutions, or groups engaged in related activities.

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c) (2)(A)]. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the proposed extension of the ``Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.'' A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual listed below in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is announcing the Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) members it has selected for the 2008-09 third quarter review cycle under the community support requirements regulation. This notice also prescribes the deadline by which Bank members selected for review must submit Community Support Statements to the FHFA.

The purpose of this notice is to announce the publication of CMAQ final guidance. Sections 1101, 1103 and 1808 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59, Aug. 10, 2005) \1\ amend the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program, and authorize $8.6 billion to support the CMAQ program in 2005-2009. The interim guidance went into effect October 31, 2006; however, we solicited comments on the interim guidance on December 19, 2006, at 71 FR 76038. This notice describes and discusses comments we received and announces the publication of the final CMAQ guidance. The notice also describes the effect of a provision of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-140 that affects CMAQ funding. This provision became effective on December 20, 2007, beyond the time for submitting comments on the interim guidance.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9424) that were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 (73 FR 53934) under sections 358, 362(e)(2), and 1502 of the Internal Revenue Code. The final regulations apply to corporations filing consolidated returns, and corporations that enter into certain tax-free reorganizations. The final regulations provide rules for determining the tax consequences of a member's transfer (including by deconsolidation and worthlessness) of loss shares of subsidiary stock. In addition, the final regulations provide that section 362(e)(2) generally does not apply to transactions between members of a consolidated group. Finally, the final regulations conform or clarify various provisions of the consolidated return regulations, including those relating to adjustments to subsidiary stock basis.

The Federal Election Commission (``Commission'') requests comments on the proposed deletion of its rules regarding increased contribution limits and coordinated party expenditure limits for Senate and House of Representatives candidates facing self-financed opponents. These rules were promulgated to implement sections 304 and 319 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, known as the ``Millionaires' Amendment.'' In Davis v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court held that sections 319(a) and (b), regarding House of Representatives elections, were unconstitutional. The Court's holding also applies to the contribution and spending limits in section 304 regarding Senate elections. The Commission, therefore, proposes to remove its current rules that implement the Millionaires' Amendment. In addition, the Commission proposes to retain certain other rules that generally are applicable throughout the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the ``Act'' or ``FECA''). The Commission has made no final decision on the issues presented in this rulemaking. Further information is provided in the supplementary information that follows.

DoD has issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement Section 819 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006. Section 819 authorizes DoD to use an evaluation factor that considers whether an offeror intends to perform a contract using employees or individual subcontractors who are members of the Selected Reserve.

This rule eliminates the Department's Board of Appellate Review (L/BAR), which had been authorized to review certain Department determinations, in particular those related to loss of citizenship and passport denials. Because L/BAR's jurisdiction has been superseded or made obsolete, and in large part replaced by review of loss of citizenship and passport matters by the Bureau of Consular Affairs, this rule eliminates L/BAR and authorizes on a discretionary basis an alternative, less cumbersome review of loss of nationality determinations by the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

On May 3, 2007, EPA promulgated the final rule titled: National Air Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Halogenated Solvent Cleaning (the Halogenated Solvent Cleaning rule) pursuant to sections 112(d)(6) and 112(f) of the Clean Air Act. The Halogenated Solvent Cleaning rule set facility-wide emission limits for certain halogenated solvent cleaning machines and a May 3, 2010, compliance deadline. Following promulgation of the Halogenated Solvent Cleaning rule, the Administrator received several petitions for reconsideration, pursuant to Clean Air Act section 307(d)(7)(B). The purpose of this notice is to initiate a process for responding to certain issues raised in the petitions. We are requesting comment on the particular issues for which we are granting reconsideration, and those issues are identified, in detail, below. Specifically, we are requesting comment on the revised risk assessment, our use of the 2002 National Emissions Inventory data in lieu of the 1999 National Emissions Inventory data, which was used at proposal, our ample margin of safety determination under Clean Air Act section 112(f)(2), our determination under Clean Air Act section 112(d)(6), and the compliance deadline.