February 22, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Board is amending Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act, and the staff commentary to the regulation in order to implement provisions of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 that are effective on February 22, 2010. The rule establishes a number of new substantive and disclosure requirements to establish fair and transparent practices pertaining to open-end consumer credit plans, including credit card accounts. In particular, the rule limits the application of increased rates to existing credit card balances, requires credit card issuers to consider a consumer's ability to make the required payments, establishes special requirements for extensions of credit to consumers who are under the age of 21, and limits the assessment of fees for exceeding the credit limit on a credit card account.

EPA issued an ANPRM in the Federal Register of December 23, 2009, concerning the initiation of rulemaking to increase public availability of the identities of the inert ingredients in pesticide products. Two requests for a 90-day extension of the comment period were submitted by the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment and Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. Based on these requests, EPA is extending the comment period for 60 days, from February 22, 2010, to April 23, 2010.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is publishing this final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by revising the controls on certain select agents identified in Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 1C360 on the Commerce Control List (CCL) to reflect changes that the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Department of Agriculture, recently made to the Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs (PPQ) list of select agents and toxins. The changes made by APHIS were part of a biennial review and republication of the select agents and toxins lists separately maintained by APHIS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Both agencies maintain controls on the ``possession, use, and transfer within the United States'' of certain select agents and toxins, including human and zoonotic pathogens, animal pathogens, and plant pathogens. BIS maintains controls on ``exports'' of the select agents and toxins regulated by CDC and APHIS. CDC and APHIS simultaneously published the revisions to their lists of select agents and toxins on October 16, 2008. These changes became effective on November 17, 2008. BIS determined that the only changes that required amendments to the EAR were the changes to the PPQ list of select agents and toxins maintained by APHIS.

We are revising our regulations to allow a representative payee who will no longer be serving in that capacity to transfer accumulated benefit payments and interest directly to a beneficiary if we determine that it would be in the best interest of the beneficiary. This change will give us more flexibility in deciding how conserved funds should be handled in these circumstances. The change will also reduce or eliminate delays in the delivery of conserved funds to some beneficiaries.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Model 767-200, -300, -300F, and -400ER series airplanes. This proposed AD would require a detailed inspection of the entryway door movable ceiling panel for pin migration at either end of the hinge assembly and damage to the pin; a detailed inspection for correct crimp at both ends and damage to hinge stock; a detailed inspection of the ceiling area for any visible cosmetic and/or tie-rod chafing that could be caused by a migrated hinge pin; and a detailed inspection for wire damage and/or breakage; and other specified and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD results from reports of fault messages caused by improperly crimped hinge pins coming into contact with wires and causing damage. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct improperly crimped hinge pins, which could damage tie rods and wire bundles, causing shorts in many systems, including the spar fuel shut off valve, oxygen mask deployment, and burned wires, which could be an ignition source in a hidden area of the airplane.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has initiated the process to develop and publish energy standards for manufactured housing as directed by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007. To facilitate this process, enhance the quality of the standards and supporting documentation, and to allow interested parties to provide suggestions, comments and information, DOE is publishing this advance notice of proposed rulemaking. As the energy efficiency standards would cover new manufactured housing, DOE is interested in information that relates to the design, construction, financing, operating costs, and other areas of relevance to establishing and implementing such standards. This notice identifies several areas on which DOE is particularly interested in receiving information; however, any input and suggestions considered relevant to the topic are welcome.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``Commission'') is correcting a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register of December 29, 2009 (74 FR 68668). The document issued a final rule under section 104(d) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (``CPSIA'') requiring manufacturers of durable infant or toddler products to establish and maintain a system for consumers to register their products with the manufacturer.