March 9, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Advisory Committee was established by Public Law 98-181, November 30, 1983, to advise the Export-Import Bank on its programs and to provide comments for inclusion in the reports of the Export-Import Bank of the United States to Congress. Time and Place: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 beginning at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will be held at Ex-Im Bank in the Main Conference Room 1143, 811 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20571. Agenda: Agenda items include a briefing on the status of the 2008 Advisory Committee's recommendations and a discussion of the challenges for 2009. Public Participation: The meeting will be open to public participation, and the last 10 minutes will be set aside for oral questions or comments. Members of the public may also file written statement(s) before or after the meeting. If you plan to attend, a photo ID must be presented at the guard's desk as part of the clearance process into the building, and you may contact Susan Houser to be placed on an attendee list. If any person wishes auxiliary aids (such as a sign language interpreter) or other special accommodations, please contact, prior to March 10, 2009, Susan Houser, Room 1273, 811 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20571, Voice: (202) 565-3232 or TDD (202) 565-3377.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted a request for an updated delegation of authority to implement and enforce the Federal New Source Performance Standards, including one new standard not previously delegated. EPA's review of Wyoming's updated regulations determined that they contain adequate and effective procedures for the implementation and enforcement of these Federal standards. This action informs the public of the updated delegation to Wyoming. EPA is also making a technical amendment to update the list of subparts delegated to Wyoming.

The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to disclose environmental effects on proposed resource management actions in South George project planning area. This project would improve the health and vigor of upland forest stands by managing vegetation composition, structure, stand density, and diversity, and decrease the susceptibility to future wildland fires of uncharacteristic intensity by reducing ladder, surface, and canopy fuels. The project planning area is approximately 21,000 acres in size. Proposed project activities consist of commercial timber harvest, including treatment of activity and natural fuels within harvest units, non commercial thinning for fuels reduction purposes, temporary road construction (that will be decommissioned after project use), danger tree removal along haul routes, and landscape prescribed burning.

The OTS is proposing to amend its regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) governing the confidentiality of a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) to: clarify the scope of the statutory prohibition on the disclosure by a financial institution of a report of a suspicious transaction, as it applies to savings associations and service corporations; address the statutory prohibition on the disclosure by the government of a report of a suspicious transaction, as that prohibition applies to the OTS's standards governing the disclosure of SARs; clarify the exclusive standard applicable to the disclosure of a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, by the OTS is ``to fulfill official duties consistent with the purposes of the BSA''; and modify the safe harbor provision in its rules to include changes made by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act. These amendments are based upon a similar proposal being contemporaneously issued by the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) is proposing to revise its regulations governing the release of unpublished OTS information. The primary change being proposed would clarify that the OTS's decision to release a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) will be governed by the standards set forth in proposed amendments to the OTS's SAR regulation that are part of a separate, but simultaneous, rulemaking.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (``FinCEN'') of the Department of the Treasury, after consulting with staffs of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'') and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC''), is issuing for comment this proposed interpretive guidance. Published elsewhere in this part of the Federal Register are proposed rules clarifying the scope of the statutory prohibition on the disclosure by a financial institution of a report of a suspicious transaction set forth in the Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA''). The proposed rules include a provision which states that the prohibition does not apply when a securities broker-dealer, mutual fund, futures commission merchant, or introducing broker in commodities shares a suspicious activity report (``SAR''), or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, within its corporate organizational structure for purposes consistent with Title II of the BSA, as determined by regulation or guidance. The proposed guidance interprets this provision to permit a securities broker-dealer, mutual fund, futures commission merchant, or introducing broker in commodities to share a SAR with its affiliates that are also subject to SAR rules.