2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice proposes updated requirements that the Department of Health and Human Service's (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) would employ to test and approve closed-circuit respirators used for escaping atmospheres considered to be immediately dangerous to life and health, including such respirators required by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for use in underground mines. NIOSH and MSHA jointly review and approve this type of respirator used for mine emergencies under 42 CFR pt. 84, Approval of Respiratory Protective Devices. NIOSH also approves these respirators used in other work environments where escape equipment may be provided to workers, such as vessels operated by U.S. Navy and Coast Guard personnel. The proposed rule would replace only those technical requirements in 42 CFR Part 84Subpart H that are uniquely applicable to closed-circuit escape respirators (CCERs), a subset of the variety of escape respirators presently covered by Subpart H. All other applicable requirements of 42 CFR Part 84 would remain unchanged. The purpose of these updated requirements is to enable NIOSH and MSHA to more effectively ensure the performance, reliability, and safety of CCERs.

NMFS proposes 2009 and 2010 harvest specifications and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2009 and 2010 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the BSAI in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are approving an amendment to the Mississippi regulatory program (Mississippi program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Mississippi proposed revisions to its regulations and statute regarding ``valid existing rights'' as they pertain to designation of lands as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations. Mississippi intends to revise its program to be consistent with SMCRA.

NMFS is reallocating projected unused amounts of Pacific cod from catcher vessels using trawl gear, catcher vessels using pot gear, and vessels using jig gear to American Fisheries Act (AFA) catcher processor vessels, catcher processor vessels using pot gear, and catcher processor vessels using hook-and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). These actions are necessary to allow the 2008 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod to be harvested.

On July 30, 2008, the Board published a final rule amending Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA). The July 2008 final rule requires creditors to give consumers transaction-specific cost disclosures shortly after application for closed-end loans secured by a consumer's principal dwelling. The disclosures must be provided before the consumer pays any fee, other than a fee for obtaining the consumer's credit history. Also on July 30, 2008, the Congress enacted the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which included amendments to TILA, known as the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act of 2008 (MDIA). On October 3, 2008, the Congress amended the MDIA in connection with its enactment of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (``Stabilization Act''). The Board is now proposing revisions to Regulation Z to implement the provisions of the MDIA, as amended. The MDIA broadens and adds to the requirements of the Board's July 2008 final rule. Among other things, the MDIA requires early, transaction-specific disclosures for mortgage loans secured by dwellings other than the consumer's principal dwelling and requires waiting periods between the time when disclosures are given and consummation of the transaction. Moreover, these requirements of the MDIA will become effective on July 30, 2009, about two months earlier than the Board's regulatory amendments adopted in the July 2008 final rule. Consistent with the MDIA, the proposed amendments to Regulation Z would require creditors to deliver good faith estimates of the required mortgage disclosures or place them in the mail no later than three business days after receiving a consumer's application for a dwelling- secured closed-end loan. The delivery or mailing of these disclosures would have to occur at least seven business days before consummation. If the annual percentage rate provided in the good faith estimates changes beyond a stated tolerance, creditors must provide corrected disclosures, which the consumer must receive at least three business days before consummation of the transaction. The proposal would allow consumers to expedite consummation to meet a bona fide personal financial emergency. The MDIA, as amended by the Stabilization Act, specifies different requirements for providing early disclosures for mortgage transactions secured by a consumer's interest in a timeshare plan.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of the herbicide safener, mefenpyr-diethyl (CAS Reg. No. 135590-91-9), also known as 1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4,5-dihydro-5-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3,5- dicarboxylic acid, diethyl ester and its 2,4-dichlorophenyl-pyrazoline metabolites, applied at a rate no greater than 0.053 pounds safener per acre per growing season, in or on the rotational crop commodities soybean seed, soybean hay, soybean forage and canola seed. Bayer CropScience requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

EPA is taking final action to repeal expired, and therefore, obsolete regulatory provisions regarding interim ocean dumping sites, interim ocean dumping permits, and interim ocean dumping criteria. Repeal of all reference to ``interim'' provisions is necessary based on legislation enacted since promulgation of the reference, EPA action since promulgation of the reference, or the passage of a date specified in a definition of the reference. This action does not make any substantive changes to EPA's ocean dumping regulations. This is a housekeeping measure intended only to eliminate confusion by repealing obsolete regulatory text.

We, NMFS, will hold two public hearings in Florida in January of 2009, to receive public comments on the proposal to designate critical habitat for the endangered U.S. distinct population segment (DPS) of smalltooth sawfish that published on November 20, 2008.

This rule will manage winter visitation and recreational use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. Publication of this final rule in the Federal Register complies with the November 7, 2008 order of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming in Wyoming v. United States Department of the Interior, Case Nos. 07-CV-0319-B, 08-CV-00004- B, which reinstated the 2004 final rule on winter use in the parks, without its sunset provisions.

The final rule entitled Management of Donated Foods in Child Nutrition Programs, the Nutrition Services Incentive Program, and Charitable Institutions was published on August 8, 2008. The Office of Management and Budget approved and cleared the associated information collection requirements (ICR) on October 14, 2008. This document announces approval of the ICR.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), publish this final rule to revise subpart IImport/Export Licenses, of title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 14 (50 CFR 14), to clarify the import/export license and fee requirements, adjust the inspection fee schedule, and update license and inspection fee exemptions. We are clarifying when an import/export license is required by persons who engage in the business of importing and exporting wildlife as well as changing the license requirement exemptions. Revised regulations will help those importing and exporting wildlife better understand when an import/export license is required and will allow us to consistently apply these requirements. We are gradually increasing inspection fees, and now publishing the changes for 2008 through 2012. We determined that these inspection fees must be adjusted every year to cover the increased cost of providing inspection services. Because we are publishing these inspection fee changes now, importers and exporters can accurately predict the costs of importing and exporting wildlife several years in advance.

Comments are requested on the proposed Base (1 percent annual- chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and proposed BFE modifications for the communities listed in the table below. The purpose of this notice is to seek general information and comment regarding the proposed regulatory flood elevations for the reach described by the downstream and upstream locations in the table below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are a part of the floodplain management measures that the community is required either to adopt or show evidence of having in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In addition, these elevations, once finalized, will be used by insurance agents, and others to calculate appropriate flood insurance premium rates for new buildings and the contents in those buildings.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is giving concurrent notice of a new system of records pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Intelligence Records System (IIRS) and this proposed rulemaking. In this proposed rulemaking, the Department proposes to exempt portions of the system of records from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements.

The Department of Homeland Security is giving concurrent notice of a revised and updated system of records pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Confidential and Other Sources of Information (COSI) system of records and this proposed rulemaking. In this proposed rulemaking, the Department proposes to exempt portions of the system of records from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements. The exemptions for the legacy system of records notices will continue to be applicable until the final rule for this SORN has been completed.

The Forest Service is revising the travel management rule to make it consistent with language proposed in the rule's implementing directives that was published for public notice and comment in the Federal Register and that has been adopted in the final directives. The notice adopting the final travel management directives is contained in the same issue of the Federal Register as this rule. The change to the travel management rule is needed to allow for limited motor vehicle use on National Forest System (NFS) lands within a specified distance of State or county roads or trails solely for the purposes of dispersed camping or big game retrieval. In addition, the agency is removing a redundant paragraph from the regulations concerning the travel management rule.

The Department of Energy (DOE) publishes a proposed rule to amend the existing regulations at Part 1004 that establish procedures by which records may be requested from all DOE offices pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This proposed rule would streamline DOE's procedures for determining the releasability of information and update the fee requirements for the reproduction of documents. This proposed rule would remove the so-called ``extra balancing test'' in section 1004.1 which states: ``To the extent permitted by other laws, the DOE will make records available which it is authorized to withhold under 5 U.S.C. 552 whenever it determines that such disclosure is in the public interest.'' This sentence imposes an additional burden on DOE to reconsider a determination to legally withhold information in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552. In addition, this proposed rule would amend section 1004.9(a)(4) to raise the per page rate for paper copy reproductions and microform to paper copies to the rate of 20 cents per page. Additional administrative changes which do not require notice and comment will be promulgated in the Final Rule to bring DOE's regulations into compliance with the 1996 Amendments to the FOIA and to reflect minor alterations in DOE's internal organizational structure.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to change the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in the Pacific and Alaska COLA areas. The proposed rate changes are the result of interim adjustments OPM calculated based on relative Consumer Price Index differences. The proposed regulations would reduce the COLA rates for the Pacific allowance areas and Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Alaska, by 1 percentage point.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on the proposed revised designation of critical habitat for the wintering population of the piping plover (Charadrius melodus) in Texas under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) and a draft environmental assessment of the proposed critical habitat designation and a corrected area estimated for 19 critical habitat units vacated by the court, and amended required determinations. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule, the associated DEA, the draft environmental assessment, the corrected acreage figures, and our amended required determinations. Comments previously submitted on this rulemaking do not need to be resubmitted, as they will be incorporated into the public record and fully considered when preparing our final determination.

We propose to amend our Supplemental Security Income (SSI) regulations by making technical revisions to our rules on income and resources. Many of these revisions reflect legislative changes found in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), an amendment to the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, and the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (SSPA). We further propose to amend the SSI home exclusion rules to extend the home exclusion to individuals who, because of domestic abuse, leave a home that would otherwise be an excludable resource. Finally, we propose to update our ``conditional- payment'' rule to eliminate the liquid resource requirement as a prerequisite to receiving conditional payments.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, propose to extend our two existing depredation orders for double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 21.47 and 21.48 so that we can continue to authorize take of double-crested cormorants without a permit under the terms and conditions of the depredation orders and gather data on the effects of double-crested cormorant control actions. If we do not extend these depredation orders, any action to control depredating double-crested cormorants will require a permit. We have prepared a draft environmental assessment (DEA) to analyze the environmental impacts associated with our proposed extensions. We invite the public to comment on the DEA and our proposed extension. The DEA is posted at https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule in the Federal Register on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 (73 FR 68321) that amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to, among other things, clarify that the terms ``transferred'' and ``transfer'', in the context of two sections of the EAR, meant ``assigned to'' and ``assignment'', respectively. That final rule contained one inadvertent error in the amendatory instruction used for revising one of those two sections. This error in the amendatory instruction led to one sentence of the revised regulatory text to not be revised as was intended in the regulatory text of that final rule. This document corrects that amendatory instruction error by revising that one sentence from that section.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace at Atlantic Municipal Airport, Atlantic, IA. Additional controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) at Atlantic Municipal Airport, Atlantic, IA. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) aircraft operations at Atlantic Municipal Airport.

The Coast Guard is reopening the period for public comment on its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on regulations governing the stability of passenger vessels and the maximum number of passengers that may safely be permitted on board a vessel.

This action proposes to establish Class E airspace at Umiat, AK. Two Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) are being developed for the Umiat Airport at Umiat, AK, along with a textual Obstacle Departure Procedure (ODP). Adoption of this proposal would result in creating Class E airspace upward from 700 feet (ft.) and 1,200 ft. above the surface at the Umiat Airport, Umiat, AK.