December 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On January 27, 2009, HUD issued a final rule that revised the regulations for its public and assisted housing programs to require the use of the Enterprise Income Verification system by public housing agencies and multifamily housing owners and management agents when verifying the employment and income of program participants. Consistent with Administration policy to review rules issued during the transition from one Administration to another, HUD re-opened the January 27, 2009, final rule for public comment, and delayed the effective date of the regulatory amendments to January 31, 2010. The public comments received in response to solicitation of comments on the January 27, 2009, final rule highlighted certain regulatory provisions requiring further clarification and others extraneous to the purpose of the rule, which was full implementation of the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system. On October 15, 2009, HUD published a proposed rule soliciting public comment on proposed revisions to the January 27, 2009, final rule that would clarify certain provisions of the January 27, 2009, final rule and return other regulatory provisions to their pre-January 2009, final rule content.

In accordance with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-05, approved February 17, 2009) (Recovery Act), and implementing guidance of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), this notice advises that certain individual exceptions to the Buy American requirement of the Recovery Act have been determined applicable for work using Capital Fund Recovery Formula and Competition (CFRFC) grant funds. Specifically, exceptions were granted to the Chicago Housing Authority for the purchase and installation of a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system, associated fan coils and rooftop units (RTUs) in the Kenmore Apartments project, and to the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, in Nashville, TN, for the purchase and installation of a variable refrigerant volume (VRV) Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system at the Edgefield Manor property.

OSHA is scheduling informal public hearings on its proposal to revise the Hazard Communication Standard. OSHA anticipates receiving several hearing requests, and this document describes the procedures the public must use to participate in the hearings.

In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs announces the proposed extension of a public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

This is an amendment of the Administrative declaration of disaster for the State of Arkansas, dated 12/04/2009.

This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of PENNSYLVANIA dated 12/17/2009.

This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 12/17/2009.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Nebraska (FEMA- 1864-DR), dated 12/16/2009.

In this document, the Commission responds to the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Qwest Communications International, Inc. v. FCC and seeks comment on certain

On October 2, 2009, the Department of State published in the Federal Register (74 FR 50997) a Notice of Receipt of Application for a Presidential Permit for an International Pedestrian Bridge on the U.S.- Mexico Border near San Diego, California and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. This notice requested comment on Otay-Tijuana Venture, L.L.C.'s application for a Presidential permit to authorize the construction, operation, and maintenance of a new international pedestrian bridge called the San Diego-Tijuana Airport Cross Border Facility (CBF) on the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego, California and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The Department now gives notice of the availability of, and requests comment on, the draft environmental assessment (EA) that the project sponsor prepared under the Department's guidance.

The Department of State is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for information collection described below. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment in the Federal Register preceding submission to OMB. We are conducting this process in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The invention listed below is jointly owned by the U.S. Government, as represented by the Department of Commerce, and the University of Southern Florida. The Department of Commerce's interest in the invention is available for licensing in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 and 37 CFR part 404 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development.

Executive Order 12260 requires the United States Trade Representative to set the U.S. dollar thresholds for application of Title III of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2511 et seq.), which implements U.S. trade agreement obligations, including those under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement, Chapter 15 of the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement (U.S.-Australia FTA), Chapter 9 of the United States- Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (U.S.-Bahrain FTA), Chapter 9 of the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement (U.S.-Chile FTA), Chapter 9 of the Dominican Republic-Central American-United States (DR-CAFTA), Chapter 9 of the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (U.S.- Morocco FTA), Chapter 10 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Chapter 9 of the United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement (U.S.-Oman FTA), Chapter 9 of the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (U.S.-Peru TPA), and Chapter 13 of the United States- Singapore Free Trade Agreement (U.S.-Singapore FTA). These obligations apply to covered procurements valued at or above specified U.S. dollar thresholds.

DoD is adopting as final, with a minor change, the interim rule that amended the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement Section 802(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 and DoD policy requirements. Section 802(a) contains requirements for DoD to assess long-term technical data needs when acquiring major weapon systems and subsystems. DoD policy requires similar assessment for computer software needs.

The Office of Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for the International Sports Programming Initiative. Public and private non- profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) may submit proposals for projects designed to reach out to youth and promote mutual understanding by increasing the professional capacity of those who design and manage youth sports programs in select countries in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, the Near East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere. The focus of all programs must be on reaching out to both male and female youth ages 7- 17 and/or their coaches/administrators. Programs designed to train elite athletes or coaches will not be considered. Eligible countries and territories in each region are: Africa: Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, and Zambia; East Asia and the Pacific: Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Australia, and New Zealand; Near East and North Africa: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, West Bank/Gaza, and Israel; South and Central Asia: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Bangladesh; Europe: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Turkey, and France (Marseille) NOTE: Programs submitted for France MUST focus on the culturally diverse southern part of the country, specifically the region around Marseille. During the two-way exchange, participants selected for the U.S. portion must come from the Marseille area and be representative of the multi- cultural population. The in-country portion must take place in the Marseille region.; and the Western Hemisphere: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Barbados, Peru, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Haiti, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

As directed by the National Forest Management Act, the USDA Forest Service is preparing the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests' revised land management plan (forest plan) and will also prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for this revised forest plan. This notice briefly describes the nature of the decision to be made, the need for change and proposed action, and information concerning public participation. It also provides estimated dates for filing the EIS and

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed 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:

The OCC, the Board, the FDIC, and the OTS (collectively, the ``agencies'') are amending their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations to adjust the asset-size thresholds used to define ``small bank'' or ``small savings association'' and ``intermediate small bank'' or ``intermediate small savings association.'' As required by the CRA regulations, the adjustment to the threshold amount is based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index.

This direct final rule makes nonsubstantive organizational changes to the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) existing regulations for reporting accidents and determining penalty amounts for failure to report certain accidents. These changes will allow MSHA to automate the Agency's assessment process for violations involving immediate notification of an accident. They will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of MSHA's assessment process.

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new information collection, which is summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We published a Federal Register Notice with a 60-day public comment period on this information collection on February 26, 2009. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

In accordance with section 205 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, this annual notice solicits proposals and recommendations for developing new and modifying existing safe harbor provisions under the Federal anti-kickback statute (section 1128B(b) of the Social Security Act), as well as developing new OIG Special Fraud Alerts.

NMFS is adjusting the 2010 total allowable catch (TAC) amount for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Pacific cod fishery. This action is necessary because NMFS has determined this TAC is incorrectly specified. This action will ensure the BSAI Pacific cod TAC does not exceed the appropriate amount based on the best available scientific information for Pacific cod in the BSAI. This action is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP).

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``Commission'') is issuing a final rule under section 104(d) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (``CPSIA''). In accordance with that section, the final rule requires each manufacturer of a durable infant or toddler product to: provide a postage-paid consumer registration form with each product; keep records of consumers who register their products with the manufacturer; and permanently place the manufacturer's name and contact information, model name and number, and the date of manufacture on each such product. The final rule specifies the text and format for the registration form and establishes requirements for registration through the internet.