August 25, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Criminal Division (CRM), Department of Justice, issued a proposed rule to amend its Privacy Act regulations (Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 16), to revise the exemptions for the following newly modified Privacy Act system of records entitled ``Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Fusion Center and International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center System,'' JUSTICE/CRM-028, 74 FR 26598 (June 3, 2009). The ``Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Fusion Center and International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center System,'' JUSTICE/ CRM-028, is exempt from the subsections of the Privacy Act listed below for the reasons set forth in the following text. Information in this system of records relates to matters of law enforcement, and the exemptions are necessary to avoid interference with law enforcement responsibilities and to protect the privacy of third parties.

On June 17, 2009, the Department of the Treasury released a White Paper on Financial Regulatory Reform (``White Paper'') calling on the SEC and the CFTC to ``make recommendations to Congress for changes to statutes and regulations that would harmonize regulation of futures and securities.'' Specifically, the White Paper recommended ``that the CFTC and the SEC complete a report to Congress by September 30, 2009 that identifies all existing conflicts in statutes and regulations with respect to similar types of financial instruments and either explains why those differences are essential to achieve underlying policy objectives with respect to investor protection, market integrity, and price transparency or makes recommendations for changes to statutes and regulations that would eliminate the differences.''

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) are issuing this notice to inform Federal contractors that the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (``Board'') has announced the availability of registration at federalreporting.gov. Federal contractors required to report on their use of Recovery Act funds by FAR clause 52.204-11 are encouraged to register early.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 5227, Split-Interest Trust Information Return.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS), Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS), and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) published a document in the Federal Register on July 23, 2009, at 74 FR 36448. The document did not provide a date for the comment period for the collection of information under the DATES section or the ``Comments'' under the Paperwork Reduction Act section.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 reauthorizes and modifies the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers program as established by Subtitle C of Title I of the Trade Act of 2002, which amended the Trade Act of 1974. Under this program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides technical assistance and cash benefits to eligible producers of raw agricultural commodities and fishermen (jointly referred to as ``producers'') when the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Administrator determines that increased imports of raw agricultural commodities, aquaculture products, or wild- caught aquatic species (jointly referred to as ``agricultural commodities'') have contributed importantly to a greater than 15 percent decrease in the national average price, or quantity of production, or value of production, or cash receipts for the agricultural commodity specified in the certified petition compared to the average of the three preceding marketing years. The rule establishes the procedure by which a group can submit a petition for certification of eligibility and individual producers of agricultural commodities can apply for technical assistance and cash benefits for the development and implementation of approved business adjustment plans.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is making available the Food Aid Quality Project report prepared by Sharing Science and Technology to Aid in the Improvement of Nutrition (SUSTAIN). The report contains recommendations for improvements in the specifications, micronutrient composition, commodity sampling, and testing regimes for commodities procured by FSA for the U.S. international food assistance programs.

The Federal Trade Commission (the ``Commission'' or ``FTC'') is amending its Telemarketing Sales Rule (``TSR'') by updating the fees charged to entities accessing the National Do Not Call Registry (the ``Registry'') as required by the Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007.

The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is issuing this final rule, as required by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the ``Recovery Act'' or ``the Act''). The rule requires vendors of personal health records and related entities to notify consumers when the security of their individually identifiable health information has been breached.