January 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Vermont (FEMA-1816-DR), dated January 14, 2009, and related determinations.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Maine (FEMA-1815-DR), dated January 9, 2009, and related determinations.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of New Hampshire (FEMA-1812-DR), dated January 2, 2009, and related determinations.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (FEMA-1813-DR), dated January 5, 2009, and related determinations.

In accordance with relevant provisions of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice of its determination of the trade surplus in certain sugar goods of Peru. As described below, the level of Peru's trade surplus in these goods relates to the quantity of sugar goods for which the United States grants duty-free tariff treatment under the United StatesPeru Trade Promotion Agreement (Peru TPA).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requesting nominations for voting members to serve on the Allergenic Products Advisory Committee;Blood Products Advisory Committee; Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee; and the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. Nominations will be accepted for current vacancies and those that will or may occur through September 30, 2009. FDA has a special interest in ensuring that women, minority groups, and individuals with disabilities are adequately represented on advisory committees and, therefore, encourages nominations of qualified candidates from these groups.

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and the Assistant Secretary for Health have taken final action in the following case: Nima Afshar, PhD., University of California, San Francisco: Based on a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) report and Respondent's own admission, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Dr. Nima Afshar, former postdoctoral fellow at UCSF engaged in research misconduct in research supported by National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant T32 CA108462 and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), NIH, grant R01 GM59704. PHS found that Respondent engaged in research misconduct in the performance of research on yeast to test whether disruption of the tight controls, to prevent re-replication, on the initiation of DNA replication could produce gene amplifications with a copy number greater than two (2). Specifically, Respondent falsified files containing raw scanned microarray images from another researcher's experiments to demonstrate that in experiments that she claimed to have conducted, she successfully observed gene amplifications with a copy number greater than two (2); there were 36 such instances of falsifying data files. Dr. Afshar has entered into a Voluntary Settlement Agreement in which she has voluntarily agreed, for a period of three (3) years, beginning on December 22, 2008: (1) To exclude herself from serving in any advisory capacity to PHS, including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant; and (2) that any institution that submits an application for PHS support for a research project on which the Respondent's participation is proposed or that uses the Respondent in any capacity on PHS supported research, or that submits a report of PHS-funded research in which the Respondent is involved, must concurrently submit a plan for supervision of the Respondent's duties to the funding agency for approval. The supervisory plan must be designed to ensure the scientific integrity of the Respondent's research contribution. Respondent agrees to ensure that a copy of the supervisory plan also is submitted to ORI by the institution for ORI approval. Respondent agrees that she will not participate in any PHS-supported research until such a supervisory plan is submitted to ORI.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve the proposed information collection project: ``Assessing Organizational Responses to AHRQ's Health Literacy Pharmacy Tools.'' In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), AHRQ invitesthe public to comment on this proposed information collection.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) adopts additional measures for domestic implementation of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), an advanced marine vessel tracking and navigation technology that can significantly enhance our Nation's homeland security as well as maritime safety. Specifically, in the Second Report and Order in WT Docket No. 04-344, the Commission designates maritime VHF Channel 87B (161.975 MHz) for exclusive AIS use throughout the Nation, while providing a replacement channel for those geographic licensees that are currently authorized to use Channel 87B in an inland VHF Public Coast (VPC) service area (VPCSA); determines that only Federal Government (Federal) entities should have authority to operate AIS base stations, obviating any present need for the Commission to adopt licensing, operational, or equipment certification rules for such stations; and requires that Class B AIS shipborne deviceswhich have somewhat reduced functionality vis-[agrave]-vis the Class A devices that are carried by vessels required by law to carry AIS equipment, and are intended primarily for voluntary carriage by recreational and other non- compulsory vesselscomply with the international standard for such equipment, while also mandating additional safeguards to better ensure the accuracy of AIS data transmitted from Class B devices. These measures will facilitate the establishment of an efficient and effective domestic AIS network, and will optimize the navigational and homeland security benefits that AIS offers.

On November 20, 2008, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Final Rule in Order No. 720 which amended part 284 of its regulations to require, in relevant part, major non-interstate natural gas pipelines to post, on a daily basis, certain information regarding scheduled volumes in natural gas to be transported. The date for major non-interstate pipelines to comply with the requirements of Order No. 720 is being extended at the request of the American Gas Association.

The Board, OTS, and NCUA (collectively, the Agencies) are exercising their authority under section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act to prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The final rule prohibits institutions from engaging in certain acts or practices in connection with consumer credit card accounts. The final rule relates to other Board rules under the Truth in Lending Act, which are published elsewhere in today's Federal Register. Because the Board has proposed new rules regarding overdraft services for deposit accounts under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act elsewhere in today's Federal Register, the Agencies are not taking action on overdraft services at this time. A secondary basis for OTS's rule is the Home Owners' Loan Act.

The Board is proposing to amend Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official staff commentary to the regulation, which interprets the requirements of Regulation E. The proposal would limit the ability of a financial institution to assess an overdraft fee for paying automated teller machine (ATM) withdrawals and one-time debit card transactions that overdraw a consumer's account, unless the consumer is given notice of the right to opt out of the payment of such overdrafts, and the consumer does not opt out. As an alternative approach, the proposal would limit the ability of a financial institution to assess an overdraft fee for paying ATM withdrawals and one-time debit card transactions that overdraw a consumer's account, unless the consumer affirmatively consents, or opts in, to the institution's payment of overdrafts for these transactions. In addition, the proposal would prohibit financial institutions from assessing an overdraft fee if the overdraft would not have occurred but for a debit hold placed on funds in the consumer's account that exceeds the actual amount of the transaction.