December 19, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy will convene its seventh meeting on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. The meeting will be open to the public.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on the information collection provisions of the agency's Voluntary Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Manuals for Operators and Regulators of Retail and Food Service Establishments.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). In the final CCP, we describe how we will manage this refuge for the next 15 years.

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (``Department'') and the International Trade Commission (``ITC'') that revocation of the existing antidumping duty (``AD'') orders on ferrovanadium from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') and the Republic of South Africa (``South Africa'') would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury to an industry in the United States within a reasonably foreseeable time, the Department is publishing this notice of continuation of the AD orders.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is rescinding the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from India for the period February 1, 2007, through January 31, 2008, for 166 companies, based on: 1) timely withdrawals of the review requests; 2) confirmed statements of no shipments during the period of review (POR); 3) a mistaken initiation; and 4) multiple addresses.

This notice announces the final Federal share disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments for Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2007 and the preliminary Federal share DSH allotments for FFY 2009. This notice also announces the final FFY 2007 and the preliminary FFY 2009 limitations on aggregate DSH payments that States may make to institutions for mental disease and other mental health facilities. In addition, this notice includes background information describing the methodology for determining the amounts of States' FFY DSH allotments.

NMFS has received an application from CGGVeritas (Veritas) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to conducting an on-ice marine geophysical research and seismic survey in the U.S. Beaufort Sea from February to May, 2009. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposed IHA for these activities.

The Department of State is seeking applications and nominations for the renewal of the General Advisory Committee to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) as well as to a Scientific Advisory Subcommittee of the General Advisory Committee. The purpose of the General Advisory Committee and the Scientific Advisory Subcommittee is to provide public input and advice to the United States Section to the IATTC in the formulation of U.S. policy and positions at meetings of the IATTC and its subsidiary bodies. The Scientific Advisory Subcommittee shall also function as the National Scientific Advisory Committee (NATSAC) provided for in the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP). The United States Section to the IATTC is composed of the Commissioners to the IATTC, appointed by the President, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Fisheries or his or her designated representative. Authority to establish the General Advisory Committee and Scientific Advisory Subcommittee is provided under the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, as amended by the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act (IDCPA) of 1997.

This Public Notice pertains to J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application form DS 3035, used by exchange visitors to start the J-1 visa waiver process and to pay the processing fee for the waiver application. Certain exchange visitors are subject to Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and are required to return to their home country for a period of two years or receive a waiver of the requirement. Such exchange visitors are not eligible to receive H, K, or L nonimmigrant visas nor are they eligible for immigrant visas or permanent resident status until they have complied with or received a waiver of the foreign residence requirement. An exchange visitor who wishes to apply for a waiver of the two-year foreign residence requirement starts the waiver process by filling out the DS 3035, J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application which is available on the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site (https://travel.state.gov), and submits it along with the processing fee to the lock-box address for processing. Currently J-1 visa waiver applicants may type the form online or download the form and complete it manually. When the form is completed online the applicant receives a bar-code page which he/she prints and sends to the lock-box with the processing fee and other required documents. The data from the bar-code page is scanned into Waiver Review System (WRS) when it is received from the lock-box and automatically opens up a case file for the applicant. Without the bar-code, the Waiver Review Division (VO/L/W) must manually enter the data from the two-page form into its WRS which is time-consuming and lengthens the processing time for waiver applications. Since completing the form online allows VO/L/W to quickly and efficiently scan the data from the bar-code into its database system, the Department will adjust the manner in which exchange visitors are allowed to complete the DS 3035 form. Therefore, effective February 1, 2009, applicants will be required to type and complete the DS 3035 form online. We believe that online only completion of the DS 3035 form will further enhance the waiver process and maintain established processing timelines for waiver applications which ultimately benefit the applicants.

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of a request dated September 29, 2008 by the registrant to voluntarily cancel some registrations and amend other registrations to terminate uses of certain end-use products containing the pesticide carbofuran. The request would terminate flowable carbofuran use in or on alfalfa, cotton, ornamentals, popcorn, small grains (wheat, oats and barley) soybeans, sugarcane, sweet corn, and tobacco. The request would also terminate all carbofuran products registered under FIFRA section 24 Special Local Need Labels for use in or on corn (field), CRP acres, cucumbers, grapes, melons, ornamentals (container and field production), peppers (including Chiles and bell), sorghum, squash, sugar beets, sugarcane (soil applied), tobacco, and small grains (wheat, oats, and barley). The request would also terminate, subject to a two-year phase-out period, the use of flowable carbofuran as a post-plant application to artichokes. The request proposes to cancel the use of granular carbofuran on bananas, coffee, cucumbers, melons, and squash. The request would not terminate the last carbofuran products registered for use in the US.

The Interim Meeting of the 94th National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) will be held January 11 to 14, 2009. Publication of this notice on the NCWM's behalf is undertaken as a public service; NIST does not endorse, approve, or recommend any of the proposals contained in this notice or in the publications of the NCWM mentioned below. The meetings are open to the public but registration is required. Registration information is stated in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below.

Notice is hereby given that Sea World Inc., 9205 South Park Center Loop, Suite 400, Orlando, FL 32819 [Brad Andrews, Responsible Party], has applied in due form for a permit take two non-releasable Guadalupe fur seals (Arctocephalus townsendi) with the option of holding up to six non-releasable furs seals at any given time for purposes of enhancement.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issues this final rule amending the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan's (BDTRP) implementing regulations by extending, for an additional three years, fishing restrictions expiring on May 26, 2009. This action continues, without modification, current nighttime fishing restrictions of medium mesh gillnets operating in the North Carolina portion of the Winter-Mixed Management Unit during the winter. Medium mesh fishing restrictions are extended for an additional three years to ensure continued conservation of the Western North Atlantic coastal bottlenose dolphin stock, should a directed spiny dogfish fishery reemerge in North Carolina.

NMFS has developed a policy and guidance document for implementation of the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) and northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) research permits and grants programs. This document establishes policy for implementation of the preferred alternative and recommendations in Chapter 5 of the 2007 Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Steller Sea Lion and Northern Fur Seal Research.

NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) for authorization for the take of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to launching space launch vehicles, intercontinental ballistic and small missiles, and aircraft and helicopter operations at VAFB. By this document, NMFS is proposing regulations to govern that take. In order to issue a Letter of Authorization (LOA) and issue final regulations governing the take, NMFS must determine that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stocks and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of such species or stock for taking for subsistence uses. NMFS must also prescribe the means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on such species or stock and their habitats.

On November 20, 2008, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to accept North American Electric Reliability Corporation's (NERC) interpretation of certain specific requirements of one Commission-approved Reliability Standard, BAL-003- 0, Frequency Response and Bias; and to remand NERC's proposed interpretation of VAR-001-1, Voltage and Reactive Control, for reconsideration. (73 FR 71971). This document extends the time for filing comments in response to the Commission's NOPR.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-21), this notice announces that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of information abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden and it includes the actual data collection instrument.