August 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule decreases the assessment rate established for the South Texas Onion Committee (Committee) for the 2009-10 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.03 to $0.025 per 50-pound equivalent of onions handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of onions grown in South Texas. Assessments upon onion handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal period begins August 1 and ends July 31. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West Virginia. This revision establishes budget trading programs for nitrogen oxides (NOX) annual, NOx ozone season, and sulfur dioxides (SO2) annual emissions to

This document provides required notice of substantive rules issued by the Coast Guard and temporarily effective between May 2006 and January 2009, that expired before they could be published in the Federal Register. This notice lists safety zones and special local regulations issued in the Eighth Coast Guard District, all of very limited duration and for which timely publication in the Federal Register was not possible.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the navigable waters of San Francisco Bay near San Francisco, CA in support of a Fleet Week fireworks display. This safety zone is necessary to ensure the safety of participants and spectators from the dangers associated with the pyrotechnics. Unauthorized persons or vessels are prohibited from entering into, transiting through, or remaining in the safety zones without permission of the Captain of the Port or his designated representative.

Section 1218 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) requires the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to permit the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) until July 30, 2010, to use Affordable Housing Program (AHP) homeownership set-aside funds to refinance low- or moderate-income households' mortgage loans. On October 17, 2008, FHFA amended its AHP regulation to authorize the Banks to provide AHP direct subsidies under their homeownership set-aside programs to low- or moderate-income households who qualify for refinancing assistance under the Hope for Homeowners Program established by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) under Title IV of HERA. Based on the comments received on the amendments and continuing adverse conditions of the mortgage market, FHFA has determined that in order for the AHP set-aside refinancing program to be implemented successfully for the benefit of the intended households, the scope of the program authority should be broadened and the Banks should have greater flexibility in implementing the program. Accordingly, FHFA is issuing and seeking comment on an interim final rule that authorizes the Banks to provide AHP subsidy through their members to assist in the refinancing of eligible households' mortgages under eligible Federal, State and local programs for targeted refinancing in addition to the Hope for Homeowners Program. These programs would include the Administration's Making Home Affordable Refinancing program. The interim final rule permits the Banks to provide AHP direct subsidy to members and to use the subsidy for principal reduction and for loan closing costs, and requires that households obtain counseling for qualification for refinancing and foreclosure mitigation.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing a final rule classifying dental amalgam into class II, reclassifying dental mercury from class I to class II, and designating a special control to support the class II classifications of these two devices, as well as the current class II classification of amalgam alloy. The three devices are now classified in a single regulation. The special control for the devices is a guidance document entitled, ``Class II Special Controls Guidance Document: Dental Amalgam, Mercury, and Amalgam Alloy.'' This action is being taken to establish sufficient regulatory controls to provide reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of these devices. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, FDA is announcing the availability of the guidance document that will serve as the special control for the devices.

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance regarding the treatment of controlled services transactions under section 482 and the allocation of income from intangible property, in particular with respect to contributions by a controlled party to the value of intangible property owned by another controlled party. This document also contains final regulations that modify the regulations under section 861 concerning stewardship expenses to be consistent with the changes made to the regulations under section 482. These final regulations potentially affect controlled taxpayers within the meaning of section 482. They provide updated guidance necessary to reflect economic and legal developments since the issuance of the current guidance.

The Federal Aviation Administration amends the airworthiness standards applicable to transport category airplanes certificated for flight in icing conditions. The rule requires a means to ensure timely activation of the airframe ice protection system. This rule is the result of information gathered from a review of icing accidents and incidents, and will improve the level of safety for new airplane designs for operations in icing conditions.

EPA proposes to approve a revision to the West Virginia (WV) hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerator (HMIWI) 111(d)/129 plan (the ``plan''). The revision contains a modified WV Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality (DAQ) rule, WV45CSR18, that streamlines and consolidates the state's regulatory structure for incinerator units into one rule which incorporates Clean Air Act (CAA), section 129, requirements. This approval action relates only to HMIWI units. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State of West Virginia's HMIWI plan revision submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule

EPA proposes to approve a revision to the West Virginia (WV) commercial and industrial solid waste incinerator (CISWI) 111(d)/129 plan (the ``plan''). The revision contains a modified WV Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality (DAQ) rule, WV45CSR18, that streamlines the state's regulatory structure for incinerator units into one rule which incorporates Clean Air Act (CAA), section 129 requirements. This approval action relates only to CISWI units. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State of West Virginia's CISWI plan revision submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipate no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by CBS Stations Group of Texas, L.P. (``CBS Stations Group'') and Television Station KTXA, L.P. (``KTXA L.P.'') (collectively, ``Joint Petitioners''), the respective licensees of Fort Worth, Texas stations KTVT(TV), channel 11, and KTXA(TV), channel 19. The Joint Petitioners request the substitution of DTV channel 19 for KTVT(TV)'s assigned DTV channel 11 at Fort Worth and the substitution of DTV channel 29 for KTXA(TV)'s assigned DTV channel 19 at Fort Worth.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations to limit the quantity of byproduct material contained in a generally licensed device to below one-tenth (1/10) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Category 3 thresholds. As a result of this amendment, individuals possessing devices with byproduct material meeting or exceeding these thresholds would be required to apply for and obtain a specific license. The NRC is also proposing to further clarify the requirements that apply when a device authorized to be used under the general license is instead held under a specific license. The proposed amendments would also modify the Compatibility Categories contained in the current regulations.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the specified model helicopters. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Community. The MCAI states that the AD is issued following a manufacturing nonconformity found on one batch of the servo-control caps. With a defective servo-control, rotation of the distributor might not be stopped mechanically since only friction of inner seals holds the distributor sleeve in its position. The proposed

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule that changed the assessment rate established under the marketing order (order) for olives grown in California for the 2009 and subsequent fiscal years. The interim final rule increased the assessment rate from $15.60 to $28.63 per assessable ton of olives handled. The interim final rule was necessary to provide adequate operating funds for the California Olive Committee (committee), which administers the order locally.

Comments are requested on the proposed Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and proposed BFE modifications for the communities listed in the table below. The purpose of this notice is to seek general information and comment regarding the proposed regulatory flood elevations for the reach described by the downstream and upstream locations in the table below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are a part of the floodplain management measures that the community is required either to adopt or show evidence of having in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In addition, these elevations, once finalized, will be used by insurance agents, and others to calculate appropriate flood insurance premium rates for new buildings and the contents in those buildings.

This document corrects a final rule appearing in the Federal Register on March 31, 2008 (73 FR 16965), that amended the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) regulations that govern fitness for duty programs. This document is necessary to correct erroneous language in the preamble and codified language of the final rule. These corrections include fixing typographical errors and cross-references, revising language in the preamble to clarify unintended discrepancies with the codified rule text, and making non-substantive changes to the rule text that do not modify any requirements in the final rule.

The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Board) is proposing to implement a set of procedural regulations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552, and Public Law 104-231, the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996. These proposed regulations have been written to conform to the statutory provisions in the Acts, to expedite the processing of FOIA requests received by the Board, and to ensure the proper dissemination of information to the public.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect approval of an original abbreviated new animal drug application (ANADA) filed by First Priority, Inc. The ANADA provides for use of nitrofurazone ointment on horses for prevention or treatment of superficial bacterial infections.

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes a regulation to implement Executive Order 13496, which was signed by President Barack Obama on January 30, 2009. Executive Order 13496 (``the Executive Order,'' ``the Order,'' or ``EO 13496'') requires nonexempt Federal departments and agencies to include within their Government contracts specific provisions requiring that contractors and subcontractors with whom they do business post notices informing their employees of their rights as employees under Federal labor laws. The Executive Order requires the Secretary (``Secretary'') of the Department of Labor (``Department'') to initiate a rulemaking to prescribe the size, form, and content of the notice that must be posted by a contractor under paragraph 1 of the contract clause described in section 2 of the Order. Under the Executive Order, Federal Government contracting departments and agencies must include the required contract provisions in every Government contract, except for collective bargaining agreements and contracts for purchases under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, and except in those cases in which the Secretary exempts a contracting department or agency with respect to particular contracts or subcontracts or class of contracts or subcontracts pursuant to section 4 of the Order. As required by the Executive Order, this proposed rule establishes the content of the notice required by the Executive Order's contract clause, and implements other provisions of the Executive Order, including provisions regarding sanctions, penalties, and remedies that may be imposed if the contractor or subcontractor fails to comply with its obligations under the Order and the implementing regulations.