December 4, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is issuing a final rule on the procedures for implementing the Regional Equity provision of section 1241(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985, 16 U.S.C. 3841(d). The Regional Equity provision ensures that each State receives a $15 million minimum annual aggregate level of conservation program funding. NRCS published an interim final rule for Regional Equity in the Federal Register on January 13, 2009, with request for public comment. This final rule responds to comments received on the January 13, 2009, interim final rule, and makes minor adjustments to the Regional Equity regulation at 7 CFR part 662 in response to these comments.

We propose to eliminate the remaining portions of part 405 of our rules, which we now use for initial disability claims in our Boston region. We propose to use the same rules for disability claims in the Boston region that we use for disability adjudications in the rest of the country, including those rules that apply to the administrative law judge (ALJ) and Appeals Council (AC) levels of our administrative review process in parts 404 and 416 of our rules.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 establishes a Housing Trust Fund to be administered by HUD. The purpose of the fund is to provide grants to States to increase and preserve the supply of rental housing for extremely low- and very low-income families, including homeless families, and to increase homeownership for extremely low- and very low-income families. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 charges HUD to establish through regulation the formula for the distribution of the Housing Trust Fund to States. The statute specifies that only certain factors are to be part of the formula, and assigns priority to certain factors. This proposed rule submits, for public comment, the proposed formula for allocating funds from the Housing Trust Fund.

This document clarifies a proposed rule appearing in the Federal Register on November 3, 2009. The previous document did not include the factual basis for the National Mediation Board's certification, under Section 605 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, that the proposed rule is not expected to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The proposed rule affects only the Board's election process and the method used by the Board to determine the outcome of a self-organization vote by employees. The proposed rule would not directly affect any small entities as defined under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Accordingly, the National Mediation Board certifies that it will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.

On August 26, 2003, the EPA published in the Federal Register a direct final rule to approve the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resource's (NC DENR) equivalency by permit program, pursuant to section 112(l) of the Clean Air Act, to implement and enforce State permit terms and conditions that substitute for the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from the pulp and paper industry for the International Paper Riegelwood mill in Riegelwood, North Carolina. Then, on April 12, 2004, the EPA published in the Federal Register a direct final rule to amend the August 26, 2003, direct final rule in order to extend its coverage to include an additional four mills in North Carolina. This action is taken to once again amend the August 26, 2003, direct final rule in order to expand the NC DENR equivalency by permit program coverage to include all 32 sources in North Carolina subject to the plywood and composite wood products rule.

This rule amends the Potato Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) to increase the assessment rate on handlers and importers of potatoes from 2.5 cents to 3 cents per hundredweight. This increase is provided for under the Plan which is authorized by the Potato Research and Promotion Act (Act). The National Potato Promotion Board, which administers the Plan, recommended this action to sustain and expand their promotional, research, advertising and communications programs.

The Department of Homeland Security is issuing a final rule to amend its regulations to exempt portions of a Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Coast Guard system of records entitled the ``Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Coast Guard030 Merchant Seaman's Records System of Records'' from certain provisions of the Privacy Act. Specifically, the Department exempts portions of the Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Coast Guard030 Merchant Seaman's Records system from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements.

The Department of Homeland Security is issuing a final rule to amend its regulations to exempt portions of a Department of Homeland Security/National Protections and Programs Directorate/U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology system of records entitled the ``Department of Homeland Security/National Protections and Programs Directorate/U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology001 Arrival and Departure Information System of Records'' from certain provisions of the Privacy Act. Specifically, the Department exempts portions of the Department of Homeland Security/National Protections and Programs Directorate/U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology001 Arrival and Departure Information system of records from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements.

The Commander, Ninth Coast Guard District, is identifying all remotely operated or automated drawbridges in his area of responsibility in subpart B of this part. This rule identifies all the remotely operated or automated drawbridges in this district that currently open on signal to navigation. This rule does not revise the operating schedule or conditions for any of the identified drawbridges.

These special conditions are issued for the Embraer S.A. Model EMB-505 airplane. The EMB 505 is an all-new, high-performance, sweep wing, twin turbofan powered aircraft. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) which include turbofan engines, aft engine location, new avionics, a trimmable horizontal tail, and performance characteristics inherent in this type of airplane that were not envisioned by the existing regulations. In addition, this airplane is a jet airplane being certificated in the commuter category by exemption. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

On August 7, 2009, the Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Opportunity for Comment (NOPR) to make certain changes to the existing regulations for the loan guarantee program authorized by Section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Title XVII or the Act). Section 1703 of Title XVII authorizes the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to make loan guarantees for projects that ``avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases; and employ new or significantly improved technologies as compared to commercial technologies in service in the United States at the time the guarantee is issued.'' Section 1703 of Title XVII also identifies ten categories of technologies and projects that are potentially eligible for loan guarantees. The two principal goals of section 1703 of Title XVII are to encourage commercial use in the United States of new or significantly improved energy-related technologies and to achieve substantial environmental benefits. DOE believes that commercial use of these technologies will help sustain and promote economic growth, produce a more stable and secure energy supply and economy for the United States, and improve the environment.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above that would revise an existing AD. This 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) to supersede AD 91-18-19, which applies to certain Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (Hawker) (Type Certificate Numbers 3A15, 3A16, and A23CE formerly held by Raytheon Aircraft Company; formerly held by Beech Aircraft Corporation) Models 58, 58A, 58P, 58PA, 58TC, 58TCA, 95-B55, 95-B55A, A36, A36TC, B36TC, E55, E55A, F33A, and V35B airplanes. AD 91- 18-19 currently requires you to do a one-time inspection of the pilot and copilot shoulder harnesses for an incorrect washer and replace any incorrect washer with the correct washer. Since we issued AD 91-18-19, we have found that the applicability of AD 91-18-19 was incorrectly stated when the Model A36TC airplane was omitted from the Applicability section. Consequently, this AD would retain the actions and the serial number (SN) applicability of AD 91-18-19 and realign the SN applicability for Models A36TC and B36TC airplanes. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct an incorrect washer installed in the pilot and copilot shoulder harnesses. This incorrect part could result in a malfunctioning shoulder harness. Such a malfunction could lead to occupant injury.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Twin Commander Aircraft LLC Models 690, 690A, and 690B airplanes. This AD requires you to inspect between the surface of the left-hand (LH) and right- hand (RH) upper wing skins and the engine mount beam support straps for any signs of corrosion, replace the upper steel straps with parts of improved design, and modify both wings. This AD results from reports that corrosion was found between the mating surfaces of the wing upper skin surface and the engine mount beam support straps. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct corrosion on the engine mount beam support straps and the upper wing skins, which could result in failure of the engine mount beam support straps. This failure could lead to loss of the engine and possible loss of control of the airplane.

The Commission is adopting rule amendments that impose additional disclosure and conflict of interest requirements on nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (``NRSROs'') in

PHMSA is amending the Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations to require operators of gas distribution pipelines to develop and implement integrity management (IM) programs. The purpose of these programs is to enhance safety by identifying and reducing pipeline integrity risks. The IM programs required by this rule are similar to those required for gas transmission pipelines, but tailored to reflect the differences in and among distribution pipelines. Based on the required risk assessments and enhanced controls, the rule also allows for risk-based adjustment of prescribed intervals for leak detection surveys and other fixed-interval requirements in the agency's existing regulations for gas distribution pipelines. To further minimize regulatory burdens, the rule establishes simpler requirements for master meter and small liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) operators, reflecting the relatively lower risk of these small pipelines.

The FAA is revising an existing airworthiness directive (AD), which applies to all 328 Support Services GmbH (Dornier) Model 328-100 airplanes. That AD currently requires modifying the electrical wiring of the fuel pumps; installing insulation at the hand flow control and shut-off valves, and other components of the environmental control system; and installing markings at fuel wiring harnesses. That AD also requires revising the Airworthiness Limitations section of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness to incorporate new inspections of the fuel tank system. This AD clarifies the intended effect of the AD on spare and on-airplane fuel tank system components. This AD results from fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer. We are issuing this AD to reduce the potential of ignition sources inside fuel tanks, which, in combination with flammable fuel vapors, could result in fuel tank explosions and consequent loss of the airplane.