May 7, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the opening of a docket to receive and to make available to the public reports and other relevant information received by FDA related to the Sentinel Initiative. The goal of the Sentinel Initiative is to develop a system that will ultimately enable FDA to actively monitor the safety of marketed regulated products. The information that will be made available is being developed primarily, but not exclusively, as a result of a series of contracts awarded by FDA to inform the development of the system. The information will be made available in the docket under the docket number at the top of this notice, as well as on FDA's Sentinel Initiative Web page (Sentinel Web page) at https:// www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/advance/sentinel/. FDA welcomes interested parties, including individuals, to submit to this docket their views and perspectives on the information included in the docket or on any other aspect of the Sentinel Initiative.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the American pika (Ochotona princeps) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing of the American pika may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review of the species, and we will issue a 12-month finding to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial data regarding this species. We will make a determination on critical habitat for this species if, and when, we initiate a listing action.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

EPA Region 4 today is proposing for public comment the issuance of its 2009 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permit for stormwater discharges on Indian Country Lands within the states of Region 4 from new dischargers engaged in large and small construction activities. Hereinafter, this NPDES general permit will be referred to as ``permit'' or ``2009 construction general permit'' or ``2009 CGP.'' ``New dischargers'' are those who did not file a notice of intent (``NOI'') to be covered under the 2004 construction general permit (``2004 CGP'') before it expired. Existing dischargers who properly filed an NOI to be covered under the 2004 CGP continue to be authorized to discharge under that permit according to its terms. This draft 2009 CGP contains generally the same limits and conditions as the National CGP issued by other EPA regions on July 30, 2008 (``2008 National CGP''). As proposed, EPA Region 4 is issuing this CGP for a period not to exceed two (2) years and will make the permit available to new construction activities and unpermitted ongoing activities only.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise the language that provides requirements for termination of contracts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is making technical corrections to rule amendments adopted in Release No. 33-9006 (February 11, 2009), which appeared in the Federal Register on February 19, 2009 (74 FR 7748). Specifically, the Commission is making certain corrections to conform to technical amendments adopted in Release No. 33-9002A (April 1, 2009), which appeared in the Federal Register on April 7, 2009 (74 FR 15666).

Notice is hereby given that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) will meet Thursday, May 14, 2009. The meeting will be held in Room M09 in the Old Post Office Building, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC at 9 a.m.

The Board of Governors (Board) is amending the routing number guide to next-day availability checks and local checks in Regulation CC to delete the reference to the Seattle branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and to reassign the Federal Reserve routing symbols currently listed under that office to the Los Angeles branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The Board is also amending the routing number guide to delete the reference to the Denver branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and to reassign the routing symbols currently listed under that office to the Los Angeles branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and to the head office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. These amendments reflect the restructuring of check-processing operations within the Federal Reserve System.

This regulation establishes tolerances for the residues of metconazole, including its metabolites and degradates, in or on corn, field, forage; corn, field, grain; corn, field, stover; corn, pop, grain; corn, pop, stover; corn, sweet, forage; corn, sweet, kernel plus cob with husks removed; corn, sweet, stover; cotton, undelinted seed; and cotton, gin byproducts. BASF Corporation requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). This regulation also establishes tolerances for residues of metconazole, including its metabolites and degradates, in or on canola seed, and eggs. Valent U.S.A. Corporation requested the tolerance for canola seed under the FFDCA. EPA required an additional tolerance for eggs based on findings in the studies submitted by the registrant.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') proposes to amend its regulations that prescribe minimum adjusted net capital (``ANC'') requirements for futures commission merchants (``FCMs'') and introducing brokers (``IBs''). The proposed amendments would increase the required minimum dollar amount of ANC, as defined in the regulations, that an FCM must maintain from $250,000 to $1,000,000. The proposed amendments also would increase the required minimum dollar amount of ANC that IBs must maintain from $30,000 to $45,000. The Commission also is proposing to amend the computation of an FCM's margin-based minimum ANC requirement to incorporate into the calculation customer and noncustomer positions in over-the-counter derivative instruments that are submitted for clearing by the FCM to derivatives clearing organizations (``DCOs'') or other clearing organizations (``cleared OTC derivative positions''). In addition, the Commission is proposing to amend the regulations to require that FCM proprietary cleared OTC derivative positions be subject to capital deductions in a manner that is consistent with the capital deductions required by the Commission's regulations for FCM proprietary positions in exchange-traded futures contracts and options contracts. Further, the Commission proposes to amend the FCM capital computation to increase the applicable percentage of the total margin-based requirement for futures, options and cleared OTC derivative positions in customer accounts from eight percent to ten percent and in noncustomer accounts from four percent to ten percent. Lastly, the Commission solicits public comments on the advisability of increasing the ANC requirement for FCMs that are also securities brokers and dealers by the amount of net capital required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'') Rule 15c3-1(a).