March 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) is requesting that the Clearfield and Indiana Counties ozone nonattainment area (Clearfield/ Indiana Area) be redesignated as attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). EPA is approving the ozone redesignation request for the Clearfield/Indiana Area. In conjunction with its redesignation request, PADEP submitted a SIP revision consisting of a maintenance plan for the Clearfield/Indiana Area that provides for continued attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS for at least 10 years after redesignation. EPA is approving the 8-hour maintenance plan. PADEP also submitted a 2002 base year inventory for the Clearfield/Indiana Area, which EPA is approving. In addition, EPA is approving the adequacy determination for the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) that are identified in the Clearfield/ Indiana Area maintenance plan for purposes of transportation conformity, and is approving those MVEBs. EPA is approving the redesignation request, the maintenance plan, and the 2002 base year emissions inventory as revisions to the Pennsylvania SIP in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to preclude a possible scenario where a contracting officer has to unnecessarily reevaluate proposals already eliminated from a competition.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Section 814 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. Section 814 required the harmonization of the thresholds for cost or pricing data. Specifically, Section 814 required alignment of the threshold for cost or pricing data on non-commercial modifications of commercial items with the Truth In Negotiation Act (TINA) threshold for cost and pricing data.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a revision by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to the list of Least Developed Countries that are designated countries under the Trade Agreements Act of 1979.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the Federal Food Donation Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-247) which encourages executive agencies and their contractors, in contracts for the provision, service, or sale of food, to the maximum extent practicable and safe, to donate apparently wholesome excess food to nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to food-insecure people in the United States.

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) is requesting that the Greene County ozone nonattainment area (Greene County Area) be redesignated as attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). EPA is approving the ozone redesignation request for the Greene County Area. In conjunction with its redesignation request, PADEP submitted a SIP revision consisting of a maintenance plan for the Greene County Area that provides for continued attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS for at least 10 years after redesignation. EPA is approving the 8-hour maintenance plan. PADEP also submitted a 2002 base year inventory for the Greene County Area, which EPA is approving. In addition, EPA is approving the adequacy determination for the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) that are identified in the Greene County Area maintenance plan for purposes of transportation conformity, and is approving those MVEBs. EPA is approving the redesignation request, the maintenance plan, and the 2002 base year emissions inventory as revisions to the Pennsylvania SIP in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This SIP revision consists of a demonstration that the Virginia portion (Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park; Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William) of the Washington, DC-MD-VA area meets the requirements of reasonably available control technology (RACT) for oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) set forth by the Clean Air Act (CAA). This SIP revision demonstrates that all requirements for RACT are met either through: Certification that previously adopted RACT controls in Virginia's SIP that were approved by EPA under the 1-hour ozone NAAQS are based on the currently available technically and economically feasible controls, and that they continue to represent RACT for the 8-hour implementation purposes; a negative declaration demonstrating that no facilities exist in the Virginia portion of the Washington, DC-MD-VA area for certain control technology guideline (CTG) categories; and a new RACT determination for a specific source. This action is being taken under the CAA.

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This SIP revision pertains to the amendments of Virginia's open burning regulation. EPA is approving this SIP revision in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This final rule amends the Federal Labor Relations Authority's (FLRA) rules by setting out procedures for requesters to follow when making demands on or requests to an employee of the FLRA, the General Counsel of the FLRA (General Counsel) or the Federal Service Impasses Panel (Panel) to produce official records or provide testimony relating to official information in connection with a civil legal proceeding in which the FLRA is not named as a party. The final rule establishes procedures to respond to such demands and requests in an orderly and consistent manner. The final rule promotes uniformity in decisions, protects confidential information, provides guidance to requesters, and reduces the potential for both inappropriate disclosures of official information and wasteful allocation of agency resources.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) publishes this action to make final a rule to extend the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system until March 21, 2013. The purpose of the SIMA system is to provide statistical data on steel imports entering the United States seven weeks earlier than it would otherwise be available to the public. Aggregate data collected from the licenses are made available to the public on a weekly basis following review by the Department.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the Federal meat inspection regulations to require that all cattle that are non-ambulatory disabled at an official establishment, including those that become non-ambulatory disabled after passing ante-mortem inspection, be condemned and disposed of properly. In addition, this rule requires that establishments notify FSIS inspection personnel when cattle become non-ambulatory disabled after passing ante-mortem inspection. FSIS is taking this action to better ensure effective implementation of inspection and humane handling requirements at official establishments.

NMFS announces that it is establishing a revised control date that may be used to control future access to the commercial sector of the reef fish fishery operating in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). If changes to the management regime are developed and implemented under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), a control date could be used to limit the number of participants in the fishery. This announcement is intended, in part, to promote awareness of the potential eligibility criteria for future access so as to discourage speculative entry into the fishery while the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS consider whether and how access to the commercial sector of the reef fish fishery should be controlled.

This rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by removing two persons from the Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744). These persons are being removed from the Entity List because of determinations made by the United States Government during the annual review of the Entity List conducted by the End-User Review Committee (ERC). This rule also makes a clarification for two persons that were listed on the Entity List prior to this rule being published to revise the addresses provided for these listed persons or add an address. These two listed persons were listed under addresses in more than one country. This rule removes one of the addresses for each of these entities. The Entity List provides notice to the public that certain exports and reexports to parties identified on the Entity List require a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and that availability of License Exceptions in such transactions is limited.

This regulation establishes time-limited tolerances for combined residues of pyraclostrobin and its desmethoxy metabolite in or on sugarcane, cane and sugarcane, molasses. This action is in response to EPA's granting of an emergency exemption under section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of the pesticide on sugarcane. This regulation establishes a maximum permissible level for residues of pyraclostrobin and its desmethoxy metabolite in these food. The time-limited tolerances expire and are revoked on December 31, 2011.

This regulation establishes time-limited tolerances for combined residues of pendimethalin, [N-(1-ethylpropyl)-3,4-dimethyl- 2,6-dinitrobenzenamine] and its metabolite 4-[(1-ethylpropyl)amino]-2- methyl-3,5-dinitrobenzyl alcohol, in or on Bermuda grass forage and hay. This action is in response to crisis exemptions issued by the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture under section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of the pesticide on Bermuda grass pastures and hay fields. This regulation establishes a maximum permissible level for residues of pendimethalin in these feed commodities. The time-limited tolerances expire and are revoked on December 31, 2009.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 ft (< 18.3 m) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line or pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2009 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to catcher vessels < 60 ft LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI.

On September 30, 2008, the Maritime Administration published the final rule in this docket to implement provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and amend the definition of a ``qualified vessel'' under the Capital Construction Fund. The final rule was published with an effective date of the date of publication. Prior to publication, we inadvertently failed to submit the rule to Congress and the General Accounting Office (GAO), as required by the Congressional Review provisions in the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA). Therefore, the rule was not applicable on the date of publication.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above that would supersede an existing AD. 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 MCAI describes the unsafe condition as:

This final regulation governs the procedures the ODNI will follow for the production of ODNI information or material in proceedings before federal, state, local or other government entity of competent jurisdiction.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a document in the Federal Register on September 12, 2008 (73 FR 52926), revising the restricted areas at Naval Support Activity (NSA), Panama City (PC), Florida. The latitude of the shared point for the southeast point of restricted area BA-1 (Sec. 334.761(a)(2)) and the southwest point of restricted area BA-2 (Sec. 334.761(a)(3)) should have been provided as 30[deg]10'32'' N. This document corrects the final regulation by revising these actions.

EPA is publishing this action to provide the public with notice of the update to the Alabama State Implementation Plan (SIP) compilation. In particular, materials submitted by Alabama that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the Alabama SIP are being updated to reflect EPA-approved revisions to Alabama's SIP that have occurred since the last update. In this action EPA is also notifying the public of the correction of certain typographical errors.

The Department of Transportation published the new Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) rule in the Federal Register on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 (73 FR 27614). This document corrects editorial errors or omissions and clarifies ambiguities in the preamble, rule text and appendix of the final rule.

On March 3, 2009, FMCSA published a document in the Federal Register (74 FR 9172) requesting comments on its proposal to delay the effective date of its January 16, 2009, final rule entitled ``Elimination of Route Designation Requirement for Motor Carriers Transporting Passengers over Regular Routes.'' Based on the five comments received, all supporting the proposal to delay the effective date of the final rule, FMCSA is extending the effective date by 90 days, and seeks additional public comment on the rulemaking. The final rule announced the discontinuation of the administrative requirement that applicants seeking for-hire authority to transport passengers over regular routes submit a detailed description and a map of the route(s) over which they propose to operate. In response to the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff's memorandum of January 20, 2009, FMCSA extends the effective date to allow the Agency the opportunity for further review and consideration of the January 16, 2009, final rule and solicits public comments on the final rule. In order to afford sufficient time to consider and respond to comments, the effective date is extended for 90 days.

The Commission is adding a new product identified as Express Mail & Priority Mail Contract 5 to the Competitive Product List. This action is consistent with changes in a recent law governing postal operations and a recent Postal Service request. Republication of the lists of market dominant and competitive products is also consistent with new requirements in the law.

This rule relaxes the handling requirements prescribed under the California table grape marketing order (order) and the table grape import regulation. The order regulates the handling of table grapes grown in a designated area of southeastern California and is administered locally by the California Desert Grape Administrative Committee (committee). The import regulation is authorized under section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 and regulates the importation of table grapes into the United States. This rule relaxes the one-quarter pound minimum bunch size requirement for the 2009 season for grapes packed in containers holding 2 pounds net weight or less. Under the relaxation, up to 20 percent of the weight of such containers may consist of single, unattached stems or clusters of at least five berries each. This action provides California desert grape handlers and importers the flexibility to respond to a marketing opportunity on a test basis for one season to meet consumer needs.