November 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued 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:

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:

To help prevent terrorist weapons from being transported to the United States, vessel carriers bringing cargo to the United States are required to transmit certain information to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) about the cargo they are transporting prior to lading that cargo at foreign ports of entry. This interim final rule requires both importers and carriers to submit additional information pertaining to cargo to CBP before the cargo is brought into the United States by vessel. This information must be submitted to CBP by way of a CBP- approved electronic data interchange system. The required information is reasonably necessary to improve CBP's ability to identify high-risk shipments so as to prevent smuggling and ensure cargo safety and security. These regulations specifically fulfill the requirements of section 203 of the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act of 2006 and section 343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002, as amended by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002.

This document provides notice of public hearing on proposed regulations relating to options granted under an employee stock purchase plan as defined in section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code. These proposed regulations affect certain taxpayers who participate in the transfer of stock pursuant to the exercise of options granted under an employee stock purchase plan.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with the Commission's Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 08-151 (Report and Order). This notice is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of the rules.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone around the Dredge R.S. Weeks during dredging operations in Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. This safety zone will enhance the safety of vessels transiting Oregon Inlet, North Carolina during periods of dredging operations. This project is being undertaken to increase the water depth in Oregon Inlet, North Carolina to 14 feet. Entry into the safety zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, North Carolina.

The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the Amtrak Railroad Bridge, across the Connecticut River, mile 3.4, at Old Lyme, Connecticut. Under this temporary deviation the bridge may remain in the closed position for nine days in December and twelve days in January to facilitate required bridge maintenance.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is announcing the date, time, and location for a meeting regarding the Management Costs Interim Rule (1660-AA21). This meeting will be open to the public. FEMA also announces the reopening of the comment period for the Management Costs Interim Rule.

Following the two recent Buy America rulemakings pursuant to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) received a petition for reconsideration of the treatment of bi-metallic composite conducting rail as a steel product that must be manufactured in the United States. At present, FTA's Buy America regulation treats both running rail and contact rail as a steel or iron product which must be manufactured entirely in the United States. During the recent rulemakings, several commenters proposed that bi-metallic rail be instead categorized as ``traction power equipment.'' If adopted, the proposal would have changed the regulatory treatment of contact rail based on the rail's composition. As traction power equipment, bi-metallic rail would have been subject to a lower 60 percent domestic content requirement, in contrast to running rail made of steel and iron, which must contain 100 percent domestic content. In addition, as traction power equipment, bi- metallic rail would be subject only to ``final assembly'' in the United States, which may be a less rigorous process than the manufacturing process required for other forms of power rail, including steel and iron. Because FTA believed adopting the proposal in the Final Rule would have altered the regulatory environment for affected parties who may have been unaware of the proposal, including manufacturers of steel and iron contact rail, without subjecting the issue to full notice-and- comment from all affected parties, FTA declined to adopt the proposal, instead deferring action to this separate rulemaking. Through this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NRPM), FTA proposes to amend its Buy America regulations to re-categorize bi-metallic composite conducting rail as ``traction power equipment'' which need only consist of 60 percent domestic content, with final assembly taking place in the United States.

This interim final rule with comment period makes technical changes to the existing methodology and process used to compute and issue each State's preliminary and final allotments available to pay the Medicare Part B premiums for qualifying individuals (QIs). The technical revisions conform the existing regulations to reflect continued funding of this program. Additionally, this rule contains charts providing the States' final QI allotments for the Federal fiscal year (FY) 2008 and preliminary QI allotments for FY 2009, determined in accordance with the methodology set forth in the October 2006 final rule, and reflecting funding for the QI program made available under recent legislation.

DoD is making technical amendments to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to update references and the list of Army contracting activities.

DoD has issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to update the list of ``least developed'' countries that are designated as eligible countries under the Trade Agreements Act, in accordance with direction from the United States Trade Representative.

DoD has adopted as final, with changes, an interim rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to update requirements for reporting of Government property in the possession of DoD contractors. The rule replaces DD Form 1662 reporting requirements with requirements for DoD contractors to electronically submit, to the Item Unique Identification (IUID) Registry, the IUID data applicable to the Government property in the contractor's possession.

EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Tennessee on October 12, 2007. The revision pertains to the Knox County portion of the Tennessee SIP and includes changes to Knox County Air Quality Management Regulation (Knox County Regulation) Section 25.10Permit by Rule. Specifically, Section 25.10 was changed so that it clearly states that turbines and other internal combustion engines are excluded from the ``Permit by Rule'' provision. This revision is considered by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), to be as or more stringent than the State of Tennessee's SIP requirements. This action is being taken pursuant to section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the SIP revision as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this rule, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this document. Any parties interested in commenting on this document should do so at this time.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District (ICAPCD), Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD), South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), and Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern volatile organic compound emissions from storage of reactive organic compound liquids, polyester resin operations, coatings of metal parts and products, and adhesives and sealants. We are proposing to approve local rules that regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, published a final rule in the Federal Register on November 5, 2008, that sets forth regulations that authorize measures to increase harvest of certain populations of light geese, revise the regulations for the management of overabundant light goose populations, and modify the conservation order that will increase take of birds from such populations. That final rule contained errors in two amendatory instructions and certain corresponding text of the regulations; one error would incorrectly remove changes made to the regulations at 50 CFR part 20 in a series of final rules we published concerning hunting methods for resident Canada geese and the other mischaracterizes the contents of subpart E of 50 CFR part 21. This document corrects those errors.

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA, we, or our) is proposing to amend and/or make revisions and technical changes to our regulations. These amendments are proposed to clarify FCA's regulations related to disclosure and reporting practices of Farm Credit System (System) institutions. In addition, they will ensure that FCA regulations are consistent with System structural changes and are updated to include changes to accounting and reporting standards.

This notice proposes special conditions for General Electric Company (GE) GEnx-2B67 and GEnx-2B69 model turbofan engines. The fan blades of these engines will have novel or unusual design features when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the part 33 airworthiness standards. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features. These special conditions contain the added safety standards the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards of 14 CFR part 33.

This rule raises the maximum civil penalties that can be assessed as a result of DOT aviation enforcement actions for violations of certain economic provisions of U.S.C. Title 49. This inflation adjustment is required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 and the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996.

In accordance with Department of Transportation regulations, this final rule raises the minimum limit on domestic baggage liability applicable to air carriers to reflect inflation since July 2006, the basis month of the most recent previous revision to the liability limit. Regulations require that the Department of Transportation periodically revise the limit to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. This revision adjusts the minimum limit of liability from the current amount of $3,000 announced by the Department in January 2007 to $3,300, to take into account the changes in consumer prices since the prior revision.

Because EPA received comment, we are withdrawing the direct final rule for extension of the Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) deadline for authorized programs (states, tribes, or local governments) with existing electronic document receiving systems to submit applications for EPA approval under CROMERR, published on October 17, 2008.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to fully use the 2008 total allowable catch (TAC) of northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed regulations for the underground injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) for geologic sequestration under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) on July 25, 2008. The initial public comment period for this proposal was 120 days, ending on November 24, 2008. In response to requests, this action extends the public comment period for an additional 30 days.

The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its spent fuel storage cask regulations by adding the MAGNASTOR System to the list of ``Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks.'' This proposed rule would allow the holders of power reactor operating licenses to store spent fuel in the MAGNASTOR System under a general license.

In the September 18, 2008 issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 54226), we published an interim final rule with comment period that revises the regulations governing the Medicare Advantage (MA) program (Part C), prescription drug benefit program (Part D) and section 1876 cost plans. The interim final rule makes conforming changes to the MA regulations to reflect new statutory requirements regarding special needs plans (SNP), private-fee-for-service plans (PFFS), regional preferred provider organizations (RPPO) plans, Medicare medical savings accounts (MSA) plans, and new statutory provisions governing cost- sharing for dual-eligible enrollees in the MA program prescription drug pricing, coverage, and payment processes in the Part D program. In addition, the interim final rule sets forth new requirements governing the marketing of Part C and Part D plans which by statute must be in place at a date specified by the Secretary, but no later than November 15, 2008. Both the conforming changes to the regulations to reflect new statutory provisions and the new marketing requirements are based on provisions in the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), which became law on July 15, 2008. This correcting amendment corrects technical and typographical errors identified in the September 18, 2008 interim final rule.