February 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document sets forth a proposal to amend the FM Table of Allotments, Section 73.202(b) of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 73.202(b). The Commission requests comment on a petition filed by Legend Communications of Wyoming, LLC. Petitioner proposes the allotment of Channel 267A at Ten Sleep, Wyoming, as a first local service. The purpose of the requested allotment is to maintain Ten Sleep's first potential local service, because petitioner has requested a change of community of license for unbuilt Station KYTS(FM), Channel 271C2, from Ten Sleep to Manderson, Wyoming. Channel 267A can be allotted at Ten Sleep in compliance with the Commission's minimum distance separation requirements with a site restriction of 0.3 km (0.2 miles) northeast of Ten Sleep. The proposed coordinates for Channel 267A at Ten Sleep are 44-02-08 North Latitude and 107-26-50 West Longitude. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION infra.

This document requests comments on a petition for rulemaking filed by Western New Life, Inc., licensee of Station WJZG-FM, Channel 254A, Culebra, Puerto Rico, proposing the deletion of vacant Channel 271B at Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands to accommodate a hybrid contingent application requesting the substitution of Channel 271A for Channel 254A at Culebra, and modification of the Station WJZG-FM license. The reference coordinates for vacant Channel 271B at Charlotte Amalie are 18-20-36 NL and 64-55-48 WL.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on 165 species from a petition to list 206 species in the mountain-prairie region of the United States as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that, for these 165 species, the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing may be warranted. Therefore, for these 165 species, we will not initiate a further status review in response to this petition; however, we are making no determination at this time on whether substantial information has been presented on the remaining 39 species included in the petition. A finding (or findings) will be made on the remaining 39 species at a later date. We ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of these 165 species, or threats to them or their habitat, at any time. This information will help us monitor and encourage the conservation of these species. An additional 2 species of the 206 were reviewed in a concurrent 90-day finding and, therefore, were not considered in this finding (see Petition).

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the Fresno and Stockton, CA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine Mariposa and Merced Counties and the Yosemite National Park portion of Madera and Tuolumne Counties, CA, to the Stockton wage area. These changes are based on recent consensus recommendations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee to best match the counties proposed for redefinition to a nearby FWS survey area.

The State of Oklahoma has applied to EPA for Final authorization of the changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA proposes to grant Final authorization to the State of Oklahoma. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, EPA is authorizing the changes by an immediate final rule. EPA did not make a proposal prior to the immediate final rule because we believe this action is not controversial and do not expect comments that oppose it. We have explained the reasons for this authorization in the preamble to the immediate final rule. Unless we get written comments which oppose this authorization during the comment period, the immediate final rule will become effective on the date it establishes, and we will not take further action on this proposal. If we receive comments that oppose this action, we will withdraw the immediate final rule and it will not take effect. We will then respond to public comments in a later final rule based on this proposal. You may not have another opportunity for comment. If you want to comment on this action, you must do so at this time.

In order to provide additional opportunities for the public, foreign nations that export swordfish to the United States, and other interested parties to comment on the petition for rulemaking to implement the provisions of section 101(a)(2)(A) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act for swordfish imports, NMFS is reopening the comment period. On December 15, 2008, NMFS published a notification of receipt of the petition. Based on the December 15, 2008 document, the comment period was scheduled to conclude on January 29, 2009. NMFS is now reopening the comment period until March 23, 2009. Comments received will be considered by NMFS as it determines whether to proceed with the request by Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network. In addition to general comments on the petition, NMFS specifically requests comments on how to define ``United States standards'' as referenced in MMPA section 101(a)(2).

EPA is proposing to correct its rule entitled ``Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Effects Abroad of EPA Actions,'' which was published September 19, 2007. Since the final rule became effective on October 19, 2007, EPA has received inquiries about some minor inconsistencies and ambiguities in the final rule. This action involves four minor, technical corrections to the rule to address those issues. The first correction expands the definition of ``applicants'' to include those who request EPA approvals. The second change clarifies that a categorical exclusion includes vacant land. The third change corrects the text to indicate that the number of extraordinary circumstances is ten. The last change expands Subpart C to apply to EPA approvals as well as permits and assistance grants. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, we have made these four changes as a direct final rule without a prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action on this proposed rule.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, has approved a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the Norfolk Southern 7 Railroad Bridge, at AIWW mile 5.8, across the Elizabeth River (Southern Branch) in Chesapeake, VA. Under this temporary deviation, the drawbridge may remain in the closed position on specific dates and times to facilitate structural repairs.

The Coast Guard is changing the drawbridge operation regulation for the Broadway and Burnside Bridges across the Willamette River, mile 11.7, in Portland, Oregon so that one-hour notice is required from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and two-hour notice at all other times. Also, the Broadway Bridge is deleted as a point of contact for upstream vessels, leaving the Hawthorne Bridge as the point of contact for both upstream and downstream travel directions. These changes are necessary to reduce the staffing requirements for the bridges, which has been made possible by the infrequent number of requests for openings received.

The Coast Guard is establishing a Regulated Navigation Area on the Willamette River, Portland, Oregon. This action is necessary to preserve the integrity of the engineered pilot cap placed over contaminated sediments as part of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund cleanup action at the McCormick & Baxter Creosoting Company Superfund Site. This rule is needed to prohibit activities that would cause disturbance of pilot cap material, which was placed to isolate and contain underlying contaminated sediment.

In the light of current economic circumstances affecting the U.S. economy and, in particular, the financial sector, NCUA is evaluating and reconsidering the role corporate credit unions currently play in the credit union system, including corporates' membership structure, size, and types of services they offer. NCUA is also considering whether to amend its regulation governing corporate credit unions to clarify or revise current provisions, including those related to: Capital; permissible investments; management of credit risk and liquidity; and corporate governance. NCUA seeks comment on these issues and any others commenters think NCUA should consider.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is delaying by sixty days the effective date of the final rule that amends the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations published in the Federal Register on December 5, 2008. Thus, the amendments will become effective on April 4, 2009. EPA additionally is requesting public comment on the extension of the effective date and its duration, and on the regulatory amendments contained in the final rule.

The FDIC is proposing to amend its regulations relating to the interest rate restrictions that apply to insured depository institutions that are not well capitalized. Under the proposed rule, such insured depository institutions generally would be permitted to offer the ``national rate'' plus 75 basis points. The ``national rate'' would be defined, for deposits of similar size and maturity, as an average of rates paid by all insured depository institutions and branches for which data are available. For those cases in which the ``national rate'' does not represent the prevailing rate in a particular market, as indicated by available evidence, the depository institution would be permitted to offer the prevailing rate plus 75 basis points. The purpose of this proposed rule is to clarify the interest rate restrictions for certain insured depository institutions and examiners.

This document delays the effective date by 60 days and provides a 30-day public comment period to run concurrently for the final rule exempting portions of the Partner Vetting System from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act, as published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2009.

Section 651(e) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) authorized the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Commission or NRC) to issue a time-limited waiver (70 FR 51581; August 31, 2005) to allow continued use and possession of naturally-occurring and accelerator- produced radioactive materials (NARM) while the Commission developed a regulatory framework for regulation of the new byproduct material. The Commission has begun terminating the time-limited waiver in phases in accordance to the provisions of the ``Plan for the Transition of Regulatory Authority Resulting from the Expanded Definition of Byproduct Material'' (transition plan) issued by the Commission on October 19, 2007 (72 FR 59157). The first phase of waiver terminations occurred on November 30, 2007 (72 FR 68043), and the second phase occurred on September 30, 2008 (73 FR 14376). This document provides advance notification that on August 7, 2009, the Commission will terminate the time-limited waivers for all remaining non-Agreement States and Canadian licenses that are under NRC jurisdiction. Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey, and Virginia. As provided in the transition plan, for existing NRC licensees, NARM use amendments are required within 6 months from the date of waiver termination. For NARM users in non-Agreement States and Canadian licensees without a NRC license, the license applications are required within 12 months from the date waiver termination.

This final rule extends for 2 years the date on which the Musculoskeletal System Listing of Impairments will no longer be effective. We use the body system listings at the third step of the sequential evaluation process when we evaluate your claim for benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act. Other than extending the effective date of the listings, we have not revised the musculoskeletal listings. This extension will ensure that we continue to have the medical evaluation criteria in the listings to adjudicate disability claims involving disorders of the musculoskeletal body system at the third step of the sequential evaluation process.