December 24, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hereby approves the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's revision of three Commission- approved Reliability Standards, designated INT-005-3, Interchange Authority Distributes Arranged Interchange; INT-006-3, Response to Interchange Authority; and INT-008-3, Interchange Authority Distributes Status.

The information collection requirements described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''). The FTC is seeking public comments on its proposal to extend through May 31, 2013, the current PRA clearance for information collection requirements contained in its Contact Lens Rule. Those clearances expire on May 31, 2010.

This document contains correcting amendments to the interim final rule entitled ``Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements'' published in the Federal Register on November 25, 2008. The interim final rule, which requires the submission of an Importer Security Filing (ISF) for cargo arriving in the United States by vessel and a bond to secure compliance with the ISF requirement, inadvertently omitted the liability amounts for breach of the importer security filing bond and neglected to make provision for using the importer security filing bond to secure a single ISF transaction. This document clarifies the bond terms applicable to the importer security filing bond as set forth in an Appendix to the Customs and Border Protection bond regulations by adding the liability amounts for a breach of the bond and by adding a paragraph to cover a single transaction.

On November 4, 2009, NMFS published a proposed rule to increase the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General category maximum daily retention limit; allow the General category season to remain open until the January subquota is reached; and increase the Harpoon category daily incidental retention limit. The proposed rule is intended to more thoroughly utilize available U.S. BFT quota, particularly for the General and Harpoon (commercial handgear) categories. In the proposed rule, NMFS announced the end of the comment period as December 21, 2009, which would allow an approximately 45-day comment period. In order to provide additional opportunities for the public and other interested parties to comment on the proposed rule, NMFS is extending the comment period for this action until March 31, 2010. Comments received by NMFS on the proposed rule will help NMFS determine whether and how to implement final management measures for the BFT General and Harpoon categories as described in the proposed action.

The Mark Twain National Forest is proposing to begin charging a $50 fee for the overnight rental of Sinking Tower Cabin. Rentals of other cabins on other National Forests have shown that people appreciate and enjoy the availability of historic rental cabins. Funds from the rental will be used for the continued operation and maintenance of Sinking Tower Cabin. People are invited to comment on this proposal. This fee is only proposed and will be determined upon further analysis and public comment.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (hereinafter the ``Corporation''), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. Sec. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirement on respondents can be properly assessed.

The Department of Commerce, 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.

This rule updates the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) legal authority citations for the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to replace citations to the President's Notice of November 10, 2008 Continuation of Emergency Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction with the President's Notice of November 6, 2009 on the same subject and to reflect the recodification of former 42 U.S.C app. 466c as 15 U.S.C 1824a. BIS is making these changes to keep the CFR legal authority citations for the EAR current.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Condition Evaluation of Bridges, 1994, second edition (also referred to as ``the Manual''), together with the 2001 and 2003 Interim Revisions, is incorporated by reference in FHWA regulations, approved by the Federal Highway Administration, and recognized as a national standard for bridge inspections and load rating. The purpose of this final rule is to update the incorporation by reference language to incorporate the most recent version of the AASHTO Manual, now known as The Manual for Bridge Evaluation, First Edition, 2008.

On June 24, 2009, the NCUA published an interim final rule amending its lending rules to create a limited exception to the 20-year maturity limit on second mortgage loans. The amendment will permit Federal credit unions participating in the Department of the Treasury's Making Home Affordable Program to modify a second mortgage loan, beyond 20 years, to match the term of a modified first mortgage loan. This rule confirms those amendments as final without change.

DoD is issuing this final rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to clarify the definitions of ``component'' and ``domestic manufacture'' as they relate to policy on foreign acquisition.

DoD has adopted as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to conform to the FAR changes implementing the waiver of the component test of the Buy American Act to contracts and subcontracts. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Case 2000-305 implemented 41 U.S.C. 431 with respect to the inapplicability of certain laws to contracts and subcontracts for the acquisition of commercially available off-the- shelf (COTS) items.