January 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) invites public comment on issues related to certain regulatory provisions in the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) that apply to facilities that store gasoline in aboveground storage tanks. In addition, we are withdrawing the version of this document published in the Federal Register, at 75 FR 1552, on January 12, 2010, because the footnotes in that document were misplaced. This document supersedes the January 12 document.

This proposed rule would establish regulations for fishing seasons, harvest limits, methods and means related to taking of fish and shellfish for subsistence uses during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board is presently on a schedule of completing the process of revising subsistence taking of fish and shellfish regulations in odd-numbered years and subsistence taking of wildlife regulations in even-numbered years; public proposal and review processes take place during the preceding year. The Board

By notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on November 13, 2009 (74 FR 58589), FRA proposed a rule to require the ten States with the most highway-rail grade crossing collisions, on average, over the past three years, to develop State highway-rail grade crossing action plans. This document announces a public hearing to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on the NPRM and announces a fourteen (14) day extension of the comment period, which closed December 14, 2009, to commence on the date of the public hearing. The extension provides interested parties the opportunity to comment on the NPRM and to respond to matters that arise at the public hearing related to the NPRM.

These special conditions are issued for the Boeing Model 747- 8/-8F airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features associated with the architecture and connectivity capabilities of the airplane's computer systems and networks, which may allow access to external computer systems and networks. Connectivity to external systems and networks may result in security vulnerabilities to the airplane's systems. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features. 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.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulation on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans prescribes interest assumptions for valuing and paying certain benefits under terminating single-employer plans. This final rule amends the benefit payments regulation to adopt interest assumptions for plans with valuation dates in February 2010. Interest assumptions are also published on PBGC's Web site (https://www.pbgc.gov).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is proposing an interim Continuing Contracts clause for use on specifically authorized Civil Works projects only. This proposal is in response to a recurring statutory provision that requires a change to the clause USACE had previously used.

This final rule restructures western Pacific fishery regulations to be consistent with five new area-specific fishery ecosystem plans (FEP). This final rule also amends references to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) information collection requirements to reflect the restructuring. The purpose of this rule is to make the regulations easier for the public to use by organizing existing fishing regulations by geographic location.

On February 24, 2009, the State of Arkansas, through the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), submitted a request to redesignate the Arkansas portion of the bi-state Memphis, Tennessee-Arkansas (Memphis TN-AR) 1997 8-hour ozone nonattainment area to attainment for the 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS); and to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan for the Arkansas portion of the bi-state Memphis TN-AR Area. The bi-state Memphis TN-AR 1997 8-hour ozone nonattainment area is composed of Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee (Shelby County) and Crittenden County, Arkansas. In this action, EPA proposes to approve the 1997 8-hour ozone redesignation request for Crittenden County, Arkansas. Additionally, EPA proposes to approve the 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for Crittenden County, including the state motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for the years 2006 and 2021. This proposed approval of Arkansas' redesignation request is based on EPA's determination that Arkansas has demonstrated that Crittenden County has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment specified in the Clean Air Act (CAA), including the determination that the entire Memphis TN- AR ozone nonattainment area has attained the 1997 8-hour ozone standard.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the West Duwamish Waterway, Seattle, Washington. Entry into, transit through, mooring or anchoring within this zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Puget Sound or her Designated Representative. This safety zone is necessary to ensure the safety of recreational and commercial traffic in the area during a vessel launch operation at Todd Pacific Shipyards, located at the entrance to the West Duwamish Waterway.

This document contains a final regulation that establishes a safe harbor period during which amounts that an employer has received from employees or withheld from wages for contribution to certain employee benefit plans will not constitute ``plan assets'' for purposes of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), and the related prohibited transaction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. This regulation will enhance the clarity and certainty for many employers as to when participant contributions will be treated as contributed in a timely manner to employee benefit plans. This final regulation will affect the sponsors and fiduciaries of contributory group welfare and pension plans covered by ERISA, including 401(k) plans, as well as the participants and beneficiaries covered by such plans and recordkeepers, and other service providers to such plans.

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, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to revise the designation of critical habitat for the bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. In total, approximately 36,498 kilometers (km) (22,679 miles (mi)) of streams (which includes 1,585.7 km (985.30 mi) of marine shoreline area in the Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound), and 215,870 hectares (ha) (533,426 acres (ac)) of reservoirs or lakes are being proposed for the revised critical habitat designation. The revised proposed critical habitat is located in Adams, Benewah, Blaine, Boise, Bonner, Boundary, Butte, Camas, Canyon, Clearwater, Custer, Elmore, Gem, Idaho, Kootenai, Lemhi, Lewis, Nez Perce, Owyhee, Shoshone, Valley, and Washington counties in Idaho; Deer Lodge, Flathead, Glacier, Granite, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Powell, Ravalli, and Sanders counties in Montana; Baker, Clatsop, Columbia, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Linn, Malheur, Morrow, Multnomah, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco, and Wheeler counties in Oregon; Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kittitas, Klickitat, Mason, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Pierce, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom, Whitman, and Yakima counties in Washington; and Elko county, Nevada.

This proposed rule would implement the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111-5) that provide incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs that adopt and meaningfully use certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. The proposed rule would specify theinitial criteria an EP and eligible hospital must meet in order to qualify for the incentive payment; calculation of the incentive payment amounts; payment adjustments under Medicare for covered professional services and inpatient hospital services provided by EPs and eligible hospitals failing to meaningfully use certified EHR technology; and other program participation requirements. Also, as required by ARRA the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will be issuing a closely related interim final rule that specifies the Secretary's adoption of an initial set of standards, implementation, specifications, and certification criteria for electronic health records. ONC will also be issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking on the process for organizations to conduct the certification of EHR technology.

NMFS proposes a regulation to implement the annual harvest guideline (HG) and seasonal allocations for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010. This rule is proposed according to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The proposed 2010 acceptable biological catch (ABC) or maximum HG is 72,039 mt. 5,000 mt of this 72,039 mt would initially be set aside for use under an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP), if issued, leaving the remaining 65,732 mt as the initial commercial fishing HG. That HG would be divided across the seasonal allocation periods in the following way: January 1-June 30, 22,463 mt would be allocated for directed harvest with an incidental set-aside of 1,000 mt; July 1-September 14, 25,861 mt would be allocated for directed harvest with an incidental set-aside of 1,000 mt; September 15-December 31, 11,760 mt would be allocated for directed harvest with an incidental set-aside of 1,000 mt with an additional 4,000 mt set aside to buffer against reaching the ABC. This rule is intended to conserve and manage Pacific sardine off the West Coast.

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: Cracks have been found on seat backrest links P/N (part number) 90-000200-104-1 and 90-000200-104-2. These cracks can significantly affect the structural integrity of seat backrests. Failure of the backrest links could result in injury to an occupant during emergency landing conditions. The proposed AD would require

On December 28, 2009, we published a final rule in the Federal Register to add the Republic of Korea to the list of regions that are considered free of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and the list of regions that are subject to certain import restrictions on meat and meat products because of their proximity to or trading relationships with rinderpest- or FMD-affected countries. The final rule was scheduled to become effective on January 12, 2010. However, due to an outbreak of FMD reported by the Republic of Korea on January 6, 2010, we are delaying indefinitely the effective date of the final rule. This delay will allow the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to consider the issues raised by this development and decide what subsequent actions to take.

On Wednesday, December 16, 2009, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced a 90-day finding on 192 species from a petition to list 475 species in the Southwest region of the United States as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In that notice, we used an incorrect docket number in one place and asked commenters submitting hardcopy comments to refer to this docket number in their comments. The correct docket number is [FWS-R2-ES-2008-0130]. However, comments we received under the incorrect docket number will be routed to the correct docket. If you already submitted a comment, even with the incorrect docket number, you need not resubmit it.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the I695 Bridge across Curtis Creek, mile 0.9, at Baltimore, MD. The deviation is necessary to facilitate mechanical repairs to the bridge. This temporary deviation allows the drawbridge to remain in the closed position during the deviation period.

The Coast Guard proposes to change the regulation governing the operation of three bridges across the Quinnipiac and Mill Rivers at New Haven, Connecticut, to relieve the bridge owner from the burden of crewing the bridges during time periods when the bridges seldom receive requests to open while still providing for the reasonable needs of navigation.

The Coast Guard is establishing a regulated navigation area (RNA) covering the Hood Canal in Washington that will be in effect whenever any U.S. Navy submarine is operating in the Hood Canal and being escorted by the Coast Guard. The RNA is necessary to help ensure the safety and security of the submarines, their Coast Guard security escorts, and the maritime public in general. The RNA will do so by requiring all persons and vessels located within the RNA to follow all lawful orders and/or directions given to them by Coast Guard security escort personnel.

This document contains a correction to temporary regulations (TD 9458), which were published in the Federal Register on Friday, September 4, 2009, relating to modification to consolidated return regulation permitting an election to treat a liquidation of a target, followed by a recontribution to a new reorganization.

EPA is finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval of revisions to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This action was proposed in the Federal Register on August 19, 2009, and concerns a local fee rule that applies to major sources of volatile organic compound and nitrogen oxide emissions in the San Joaquin Valley ozone nonattainment area. Under authority of the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act), this action simultaneously approves a local rule that regulates these emission sources and directs California to correct rule deficiencies.

EPA is publishing this action to provide the public with notice of the update to the Mississippi State Implementation Plan (SIP) compilation. In particular, materials submitted by Mississippi that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the Mississippi SIP are being updated to reflect EPA-approved revisions to Mississippi's SIP that have occurred since the last update. In this action, EPA is also notifying the public of the correction of certain typographical errors.

The Federal Trade Commission publishes this notice and request for public comment concerning proposed self-regulatory guidelines submitted by i-SAFE, Inc. under the safe harbor provision of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule.