2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted an information collection package to the OMB for extension under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 \1\. The package requests a three-year extension of its Security, OMB Control Number 1910-1800. This information collection request covers information necessary for DOE management to exercise management oversight and control over their contractors. The collections consist of information (1) for the nuclear materials control and accountability for DOE-owned and -leased facilities and DOE-owned nuclear materials at other facilities that are exempt from licensing by the NRC; (2) for the protection of classified information, special nuclear materials and other national security assets (DOE site self-assessments and site security plans); and (3) collection of Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence data from bidders on DOE contracts requiring personnel security clearances.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of an emergency for the State of Mississippi (FEMA-3291-EM), dated August 30, 2008, and related determinations.

This notice amends the notice of a major disaster declaration for the State of Iowa (FEMA-1763-DR), dated May 27, 2008, and related determinations.

Notice is hereby given in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act that a meeting of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House will be held at the White House at 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 16, 2008.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of an emergency for the State of Florida (FEMA-3293-EM), dated September 7, 2008, and related determinations.

This notice sets forth the names and titles of the current membership of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) Performance Review Board as of September 11, 2008.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4), this notice announces the appointment of members of the Departmental Offices Performance Review Board (PRB). The purpose of this Board is to review and make recommendations concerning proposed performance appraisals, ratings, bonuses and other appropriate personnel actions for incumbents of SES positions in the Departmental Offices, excluding the Legal Division. The Board will perform PRB functions for other bureau positions if requested. Composition of Departmental Offices PRB: The Board shall consist of at least three members. In the case of an appraisal of a career appointee, more than half the members shall consist of career appointees. The names and titles of the Board members are as follows:

Notice is hereby given of the intention of NRCS to issue a series of revised conservation practice standards in its National Handbook of Conservation Practices. These standards include: Deep Tillage (Code 324); Waste Transfer (Code 634); and, Road/Trail/Landing Closure and Treatment (Code 654). NRCS State Conservationists who choose to adopt these practices for use within their States will incorporate them into Section IV of their respective electronic Field Office Technical Guide. These practices may be used in conservation systems that treat highly erodible land or on land determined to be a wetland.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of New Hampshire (FEMA-1787-DR), dated September 5, 2008, and related determinations.

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations (49 CFR Part 107, Subpart B), notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein. This notice is abbreviated to expedite docketing and public notice. Because the sections affected, modes of transportation, and the nature of application have been shown in earlier Federal Register publications, they are not repeated here. Request of modifications of special permits (e.g. to provide for additional hazardous materials, packaging design changes, additional mode of transportation, etc.) are described in footnotes to the application number. Application numbers with the suffix ``M'' demote a modification request. There applications have been separated from the new application for special permits to facilitate processing.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of two petitions for a decision that certain 1997-2001 Jeep Cherokee multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) are eligible for importation into the United States because (1) they are substantially similar to vehicles that were originally manufactured for sale in the United States and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards, and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (``the Corporation'') is issuing several amendments to existing provisions relating to the AmeriCorps national service program and adding rules to clarify the Corporation's prohibition on making false or misleading statements and requirements for participant evaluations, living allowance disbursements, multiple applications for the same project, use of national service insignia, and other requirements.

The Board is publishing amendments to Regulation B (Equal Credit Opportunity Act) to update the address where questions should be directed concerning creditors for which the Office of Thrift Supervision administers compliance with the regulation.

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 reinstatement of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on a voluntary consumer survey about food safety.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to amend its bottled water regulations to require that source water, which is currently subject to weekly microbiological testing, be tested specifically for total coliform as is done for finished bottled water products. Further, FDA is proposing that if any coliform organisms are detected in source water or finished bottled water products, bottled water manufacturers would be required to test for the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli), an indicator of fecal contamination. FDA also is proposing to amend the adulteration provision of the bottled water standard to reflect the possibility of adulteration caused by the presence of filth. Bottled water containing E. coli would be considered adulterated, and source water containing E. coli would not be considered to be of a safe, sanitary quality and would be prohibited from use in the production of bottled water. In addition, this rule would require bottlers to rectify or eliminate the source of E. coli contamination in source water and keep records of such actions. Existing regulatory provisions would require bottled water manufacturers to keep records of new testing required by this rule. FDA tentatively concludes that this proposed rule, if finalized, will ensure that FDA's standards for the minimum quality of bottled water, as affected by fecal contamination, will be no less protective of the public health than those set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for public drinking water.

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 collection of information associated with the Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program.

Pursuant to section 472a(c) of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA), and the authority delegated at 7 CFR 2.20, the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment has determined that the substantial overriding public interest (SOPI) justifies the use of market-related contract term adjustments (MRCTA) to extend beyond 10 years, certain existing green timber sale contracts tied to Softwood Lumber index 0811 and Hardwood Lumber index 0812 that were awarded prior to January 1, 2007. This SOPI determination is based on the sustained drastic reduction in softwood lumber prices since 2004 and the more recent hardwood lumber decline.

The USDA, Forest Service is seeking comments on forest certification and its implications for America's national forests. This Federal Register notice is to serve as a formal public solicitation of views on the question of National Forest System certification and its implications, if national forest lands were to become certified under one or both of the two major certification systems being used in the United States. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres, or approximately eight percent of the nation's land, believes that it is important to better understand the implications of third- party certification of National Forest System (NFS) lands and, in 2005, began exploring independent, third party certification as a potential option. To this end, the Forest Service initiated the National Forest Certification Study, which resulted in the report, ``National Forest Certification Study: An Evaluation of the Application of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Standards on Five National Forests.'' This report documents the study in which third-party auditors evaluated current forest management practices on five national forest units using the existing certification standards of two certification programs, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Recognizing that the Forest Service has not decided whether it will seek certification, public outreach and discussion is requested to obtain public and stakeholder views on the National Forest Certification Study and its associated report, as well as the potential implications of NFS certification in general before determining how to proceed. In addition to comments on the National Forest Certification Study, the Forest Service is particularly interested in public views on the following questions: 1. What are your general views on the implications of independent, third party certification of NFS lands? 2. Would certification improve the management of national forests? 3. Could certification make it more difficult to achieve national forest management goals? 4. What questions would certification be able to answer, and what needs would it be able to meet, on national forest lands? 5. Are there key questions or needs that certification would be unable or poorly suited to address? 6. Would independent, third party certification be an appropriate or effective tool, given the unique role of national forests? Or, because of that unique role, would certification be particularly inappropriate or ineffective? Detailed information about the NFS Certification Study is available on the following Web site: https://www.fs.fed.us/projects/ forestcertification/index.shtml.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of ethoprop in or on hop, dried cones; peppermint, tops; and spearmint, tops. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).