December 9, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Maritime Commission repeals the marine terminal agreements exemption, which exempted such agreements from the Shipping Act's 45-day statutory waiting period, and amends the Commission's regulations to transfer an existing definition of the marine terminal conference agreement to another section. This rule also corrects a typographical error.

The Coast Guard is adopting the subject interim rule published in the Federal Register August 20, 2009, as a final rule without change. Due to the physical location of Pier 91, Large Passenger Cruise Vessels are required to maneuver near a prominent marina frequented by a large recreational vessel community and near other numerous large commercial fishing vessels located at adjacent piers, posing a high safety and security risk when Large Passenger Cruise Vessels are entering and departing the cruise terminal. Due to the inherent safety and security risks associated with the movement of a cruise ship into or out of this especially tight berth at Pier 91, coupled with the large recreational boating community and commercial traffic in the area, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port Puget Sound finds it necessary to enact these safety and security zones.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of clothianidin in or on multiple commodities which are identified and discussed later in this document. This regulation additionally increases established tolerances in or on cotton, gin byproducts; cotton, undelinted seed and potato, granules/flakes and deletes tolerances in or on several commodities that will be superseded by this action. Valent U.S.A. Corporation, Bayer CropScience and Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announces the reopening and extension of the public comment period for the interim rule entitled ``Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Transitional Worker Classification.'' The interim rule was initially published on October 27, 2009 and intended to become effective on November 27, 2009. On November 25, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia enjoined implementation of the rule until DHS considers public comments and issues a final rule. To provide the public and the CNMI with optimum opportunity to comment on the proposed transitional worker classification provisions, USCIS is reopening the comment period for an additional 30 days. USCIS will consider comments received during the entire public comment period in its development of the final rule.

This final rule amends regulations of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) setting forth reporting requirements for the BE-605 quarterly survey of foreign direct investment in the United States. The survey obtains quarterly sample data on transactions and positions between foreign-owned U.S. business enterprises (U.S. affiliates) and their ``affiliated foreign groups'' (i.e., their foreign parents and foreign affiliates of their foreign parents).

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the swine health protection regulations to clarify the applicability of the regulations regarding the treatment of garbage that consists of industrially processed materials. The interim rule made clear that such materials are subject to the same treatment requirements as other regulated garbage, except for materials that meet the definition of processed product that we added to the regulations in the interim rule. The interim rule was necessary to ensure that garbage fed to swine has been treated to inactivate disease organisms that pose a risk to the U.S. swine industry.

On October 28, 2009, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) proposed changes to its 8(a) Business Development (8(a) BD) and Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) programs as well as its size regulations. The rule proposes to make a number of changes to the regulations governing the 8(a) BD and SDB programs, and several changes to SBA's size regulations. Some of the changes involve technical issues. Other changes are more substantive and result from SBA's experience in implementing the current regulations. SBA requested comments on the various approaches for the proposed changes in the proposed rulemaking. The proposed rule provided a 60-day comment period closing on December 28, 2009.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to revise the designated critical habitat for the Santa Ana sucker (Catostomus santaanae). The areas identified in this proposed rule constitute a revision of the areas designated as critical habitat for the Santa Ana sucker on January 4, 2005. In the 2005 final rule, we designated 8,305 ac (3,361 ha) of critical habitat in Los Angeles County. Approximately 9,605 acres (ac) (3,887 hectares (ha)) of habitat in the Santa Ana River (San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange Counties) and the San Gabriel River and Big Tujunga Creek (Los Angeles County) in southern California fall within the boundaries of the proposed revised critical habitat designation.

This final rule will implement the procedures that the Department of Health and Human Services will follow at the Administrative Law Judge and Medicare Appeals Council levels in deciding appeals brought by individuals who have enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug benefit program. In addition, it will implement the reopening procedures that will be followed at all levels of appeal.

NCUA is issuing proposed amendments to its rule governing corporate credit unions contained in part 704. The major revisions involve corporate credit union capital, investments, asset-liability management, governance, and credit union service organization (CUSO) activities. The amendments would establish a new capital scheme, including risk-based capital requirements; impose new prompt corrective action requirements; place various new limits on corporate investments; impose new asset-liability management controls; amend some corporate governance provisions; and limit a corporate CUSO to categories of services preapproved by NCUA. In addition, this proposal contains conforming amendments to part 702, Prompt Corrective Action (for natural person credit unions); part 703, Investments and Deposit Activities (for federal credit unions); part 747, Administrative Actions, Adjudicative Hearings, Rules of Practice and Procedure, and Investigations; and part 709, Involuntary Liquidation of Federal Credit Unions and Adjudication of Creditor Claims Involving Federally Insured Credit Unions. These amendments will strengthen individual corporates and the corporate credit union system as a whole.