April 6, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 85 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. The proposed regulations would amend the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program to remove a restriction that prohibits certain catcher/ processors from participation in directed groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area in July. This action is necessary to improve flexibility and reduce operating costs for catcher/processors that participate in the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, and other applicable law.

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

As stipulated by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is hereby giving notice that the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) will hold a meeting. The meeting will be open to the public.

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

Notice is hereby given that a complaint was filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission on March 2, 2009, under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 1337, on behalf of Gertrude Neumark Rothschild of Hartsdale, New York. The complaint alleges violations of section 337 based upon the importation into the United States, the sale for importation, and the sale within the United States after importation of certain light emitting diode chips, laser diode chips and products containing same by reason of infringement of certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 5,252,499. The complaint further alleges that an industry in the United States exists as required by subsection (a)(2) of section 337.

The Board requests comment on proposed modifications to its method for calculating the private-sector adjustment factor (PSAF). The PSAF is part of the Board's calculation, as required by the Monetary Control Act of 1980 (MCA), to establish the fees that Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks) charge for certain financial services provided to depository institutions (DIs). Consideration of a new PSAF methodology was prompted by the reduction in clearing balances held by DIs at Reserve Banks following the Board's recent implementation of the payment of interest on required reserve balances and excess balances held at Reserve Banks, as well as by long-term changes in the structure of the market for providing payment services to DIs. The existing PSAF calculation model, which is built upon a correspondent bank framework, is driven primarily by the level of clearing balances held by DIs at Reserve Banks. The expected continued reduction in clearing balances will make the current PSAF calculation methodology less meaningful. Accordingly, the Board requests comment on the prospective need to change its methodology and its proposal to replace the current correspondent bank model for calculating the PSAF with a publicly traded firm model as described in this notice. If approved, use of this new model could be reflected in priced services fees as early as 2010.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notifies Federal agencies of the laboratories currently certified to meet the standards of Subpart C of the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs (Mandatory Guidelines). The Mandatory Guidelines were first published in the Federal Register on April 11, 1988 (53 FR 11970), and subsequently revised in the Federal Register on June 9, 1994 (59 FR 29908), on September 30, 1997 (62 FR 51118), and on April 13, 2004 (69 FR 19644).

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is amending its regulations to alter the process by which it forwards Form I-589, Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal, for asylum applications filed affirmatively with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to the Department of State (DOS). The affirmative asylum process allows individuals, who are physically present in the United States, regardless of their manner of arrival and regardless of their current immigration status, to apply for asylum. The current regulation requires USCIS (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)) to forward to DOS a copy of each completed asylum application it receives. This rule provides that USCIS will no longer forward all affirmative asylum applications to DOS. Instead, USCIS will send affirmative asylum applications to DOS only when USCIS believes DOS may have country conditions information relevant to the case. This change will increase the efficiency of DOS' review of asylum applications. Additionally, in accordance with the Homeland Security Act, this rule revises references to legacy INS in 8 CFR 208.11.