March 9, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Agusta S.p.A. (Agusta) Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The aviation authority of Italy, with which we have a bilateral agreement, states in the MCAI that during the installation of a fire extinguisher bottle on a new helicopter, it was found that the electrical receptacle/ connectors on the bottle which commands the firing of the extinguishing agent were swapped between engines No. 1 and No. 2. This condition could affect helicopters already in service and fire extinguisher bottles of the same part number in stock as spare parts. If not corrected, an improperly wired fire extinguishing bottle might cause the extinguishing agent to be discharged toward the unselected engine when the system is activated, rather than toward the engine with the fire. The proposed AD would require determining if each engine has the proper outlet end on the electrical receptacle/connector that attaches the firing cartridge to the fire extinguisher bottle, and if not, replacing the fire extinguisher bottle. The proposed AD is intended to prevent the fire extinguishing agent from not discharging toward the engine with the fire, which could result in loss of the helicopter due to an engine fire.

This document proposes to amend regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) concerning periods of eligibility applicable to VA's provision of Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment benefits and services. The proposed amendments are intended to reflect changes in law, to reflect VA's interpretation of statutory requirements, to make clarifying changes, and to make other changes that are nonsubstantive.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the Lake Charles- Alexandria and New Orleans, LA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine Iberia and St. Martin Parishes, LA, from the New Orleans wage area to the Lake Charles-Alexandria 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. No other changes are proposed for the Lake Charles-Alexandria and New Orleans FWS wage areas.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection requirements associated with Sections 25.115, 25.134, 25.218 and 25.220 of the Commission's rules, and that these rules will take effect as of the date of this notice. On November 24, 2008, the Commission published the summary document of the Report and Order, The Part 25 Earth Station Streamlining Eight Report and Order, IB Docket No. 00-248, FCC 08-246, at 73 FR 70897. The Report and Order stated that the Commission will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing when OMB approval for the rule sections which contain information collection requirements has been received and when the revised rules will take effect. This notice is consistent with the statement in the Report and Order.

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

This action decreases the landing limit of Eastern Georges Bank (GB) cod to 500 lb (226.8 kg) per day-at-sea (DAS), or any part of a DAS, up to 5,000 lb (2,267.9 kg) per trip for NE multispecies DAS vessels fishing in the U.S./Canada Management Area. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and is intended to increase the likelihood of harvesting the total allowable catch (TAC) for Eastern GB cod without exceeding it during the 2008 fishing year. This action is being taken to allow vessels to fully harvest the TACs for transboundary stocks of GB cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise the deep-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the first seasonal apportionment of the Pacific halibut bycatch allowance specified for the deep-water species fishery in the GOA has been reached.

This rule invites comments on a proposed partial exemption to the minimum grade requirements under the tomato import regulation. The Florida Tomato Committee (Committee) which locally administers the marketing order for tomatoes grown in Florida (order) recommended the change for Florida tomatoes. The change in the import regulation is required under section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. A separate rule amending the rules and regulations under the order to exempt Vintage Ripes TM tomatoes (Vintage Ripes TM) from the shape requirements associated with the U.S. No. 2 grade is being issued by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). This rule would provide the same partial exemption under the import regulation so it would conform to the regulations under the order.

The OCC 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 national banks; address the statutory prohibition on the disclosure by the government of a SAR, as that prohibition applies to the OCC'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 OCC 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 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is proposing to revise its regulations governing the release of non-public OCC information. The primary change being proposed would clarify that the OCC's decision to release a suspicious activity report (SAR) will be governed by the standards set forth in proposed amendments to the OCC's SAR regulation that are part of a separate, but simultaneous, rulemaking.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (``FinCEN''), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury (``Treasury''), is proposing to revise the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA'') regarding the confidentiality of a report of suspicious activity (``SAR'') to: Clarify the scope of the statutory prohibition against the disclosure by a financial institution of a SAR; address the statutory prohibition against the disclosure by the government of a SAR; clarify that the exclusive standard applicable to the disclosure of a SAR by the government is to fulfill official duties consistent with the purposes of the BSA; modify the safe harbor provision to include changes made by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing the Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (``USA PATRIOT Act''); and make minor technical revisions for consistency and harmonization among the different rules. These amendments are consistent with similar proposals to be issued by some of the Federal bank regulatory agencies.\1\

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (``FinCEN'') of the Department of the Treasury, after consulting with the staffs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (``FRB''), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (``FDIC''), the National Credit Union Administration (``NCUA''), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (``OCC''), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (``OTS'') (hereinafter, the ``Federal Banking Agencies''), 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 bank 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 bank to share a SAR with its affiliates that also are subject to SAR rules.