January 15, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to section 658.11 of title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has requested approval of a plan to temporarily close segments of the Interstate to all traffic except buses and authorized vehiclesI-395 (between the Capital Beltway and the District of Columbia (DC) line) and I-66 (between the Capital Beltway and the DC line)on January 20, 2009, beginning at 12 a.m., for one consecutive 24-hour period because of the Presidential Inauguration. The request has been made for the purposes of safety and security in and around the District of Columbia and as a complementary piece of the DC DOT traffic management plan. The Interstate routes included in the request are part of the National Network of highways that can safely and efficiently accommodate the large vehicles authorized by provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA), as amended, designated in accordance with 23 CFR Part 658 and listed in Appendix A. This regulation limits the authority of the States to restrict the access of these commercial motor vehicles to the designated National Routes, and requires the approval of the FHWA for additions, deletions, exceptions and restrictions in accordance with 23 CFR 658.11. The FHWA has decided to approve the request by the VDOT as an emergency deletion in accordance with section 658.11(e) due to the safety considerations discussed in this notice. The FHWA is requesting comments from the general public on this determination.

This final rule delays the effective date of the definition of ``required use'' as revised by HUD's November 17, 2008, final rule amending its RESPA regulations. The November 17, 2008, final rule provides that the revised definition is applicable commencing January 16, 2009, the effective date of the final rule. As a result of recently initiated litigation, HUD has determined to delay the effective date of the revised definition of ``Required use'' until April 16, 2009.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary moving security zone around steam generators as they transit through and when moored in the Captain of the Port(COTP) zone San Diego. This security zone is needed to prevent vessels from transiting in the vicinity of the generators to help ensure the safety and security of the operation. Entry into this zone will be prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port, San Diego, or his designated representative.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

Pursuant to Section (102)(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy NEPA regulations (32 CFR Part 775), and Marine Corps NEPA directives (Marine Corps Order P5090.2A, change 1), the Department of the Navy intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and conduct public scoping meetings for the proposed basing and operation of 12 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) F-35B squadrons at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, in San Diego, California and MCAS Yuma in Yuma, Arizona. The Department of the Navy is initiating the public scoping process to identify community concerns and local issues that should be addressed in the EIS. Federal, state and local agencies and interested parties are encouraged to provide written comments to identify specific issue or topics of environmental concern that should be addressed in the EIS. The Department of the Navy will consider these comments in determining the scope of the EIS.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is amending its December 12, 2006 Order, which temporarily capped the scheduled operations at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LaGuardia) pending the implementation of a longer-term regulation to manage congestion there. In particular, we are amending the Order to move toward an hourly limit of 71 operations from 6 a.m. through 9:59 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, and 12 noon through 9:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on Sunday. To move toward this new hourly limit, we do not through this amendment force air carriers to relinquish Operating Authorizations at the airport. Instead, the FAA will accept voluntary flight reductions for the duration of the Order, whereupon the FAA will retire the surrendered Operating Authorizations until an hourly average of 71 scheduled operations is achieved. In the event that the current final rule takes effect, that rule would impose a reduction in scheduled service using the air carriers' base of operations during the week of September 28, 2008. The FAA published that rule on October 10, 2008, and it is presently stayed pending judicial review. If it proves necessary to require a reduction in scheduled operations through a future amendment of the Order, air carriers that voluntarily surrender Operating Authorizations under this initiative will be credited with voluntary schedule reductions that they commit to on or before February 2, 2009. The FAA will accept voluntarily offered schedule reductions through February 2, 2009, and expects air carriers to suspend service at LaGuardia under this arrangement on or before May 31, 2009. The FAA separately extended the Order's expiration until 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on October 24, 2009.\1\

The EPA is taking final action on one part of the September 14, 2006 Federal Register proposed rule for the New Source Review (NSR) program. The purpose of the proposed rule was to clarify for sources and permitting authorities three aspects of the NSR program aggregation, debottlenecking, and project nettingthat pertain to how to determine what emissions increases and decreases to consider in determining major NSR applicability for modified sources. This final action addresses only aggregation. This action retains the current rule text for aggregation and interprets that rule text to mean that sources and permitting authorities should combine emissions when activities are ``substantially related.'' It also adopts a rebuttable presumption that activities at a plant can be presumed not to be substantially related if they occur three or more years apart. With respect to the other two components of the originally proposed rule, the EPA is taking no action on the proposed rule for project netting and, by way of a separate document published in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of this Federal Register, is withdrawing the proposed provisions for debottlenecking.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a final regulation that codifies the authority and responsibility of FHFA to oversee and enforce the statutory requirements affecting the operations of the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended, and to effect congressionally mandated adjustments to the civil money penalties applicable to violations of that law.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is soliciting ideas and information relating to ways in which HHS could continue to improve its use of resources and authorities in encouraging the development and use of new medical technologies, consistent with the goals of (a) maintaining and improving the quality of care, (b) controlling overall healthcare costs, and (c) using timely and practical administrative procedures. This Request for Information is now available on the HHS Web site at https://aspe.hhs.gov/sp/ medtechinnovation/rfi.

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on (PRA) of 1995, Public Law No. 104-13. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. Subject to the PRA, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of six months, the information collection(s) associated with section 73.626(f) of the rules, and that this rule will take effect as of the date of this notice. On December 5, 2008, the Commission published the summary document of the Report and Order, In the Matter of the Digital Television Distributed Transmission System Technologies, MB Docket No. 05-312, FCC 08-256, at 73 FR 74047. The Ordering Clause of the Report and Order stated that the Commission would publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing when OMB approval for this rule section which contains information collection requirements has been received and when the revised rule will take effect. This notice is consistent with the statement in the Report and Order.

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an opportunity for sponsors and foreign manufacturers of finished drug products and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) intended for human use imported by a secure supply chain to apply to participate in a voluntary Secure Supply Chain (SSC) pilot program to be conducted by FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA). The goal of the pilot program is to allow FDA to determine the practicality of developing a secure supply chain program. The information obtained from this pilot program will assist FDA in its determination. A Secure Supply Chain program would assist the agency in its efforts to prevent the importation of adulterated, misbranded, or unapproved drugs by allowing the agency to focus its resources on imported drugs outside the program that may pose such risks. Such a program would increase the likelihood of expedited entry for specific finished drug products and APIs imported into the United States that meet the criteria for selection under the program.

Notice is hereby given that the Department of Veterans Affairs intends to conduct a recurring computer matching program. This will match personnel records of the Department of Defense with VA records of benefit recipients under the Montgomery GI Bill. The goal of these matches is to identify the eligibility status of veterans, servicemembers, and reservists who have applied for or who are receiving education benefit payments under the Montgomery GI Bill. The purpose of the match is to enable VA to verify that individuals meet the conditions of military service and eligibility criteria for payment of benefits determined by VA under the Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (MGIB) and the Montgomery GI BillSelected Reserve (MGIB- SR).

This notice informs the public of the annual adjustments to the reimbursement rates for meals served in the Summer Food Service Program for Children. These adjustments address changes in the Consumer Price Index, as required under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. The 2009 reimbursement rates are presented as a combined set of rates to highlight simplified cost accounting procedures that are extended nationwide by enactment of the Fiscal Year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The 2009 rates are also presented individually, as separate operating and administrative rates of reimbursement, to show the effect of the Consumer Price Index adjustment on each rate.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an Agency delivering the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Utilities Programs, hereinafter referred to as Rural Development and/or the Agency, intends to hold public scoping meetings and prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) in connection with potential impacts related to a project proposed by Fitzgerald Renewable Energy, LLC (FRE), with headquarters in Winter Park, FL. The proposal consists of the construction of a 55 megawatt (MW) biomass power plant located in Ben Hill County, Georgia on Peachtree Road. FRE is requesting the Agency to provide financial assistance for the proposed action.