May 5, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On October 9, 2009, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'' or ``Commission'') published for comment in the Federal Register \1\ a notice of its intent to undertake a determination whether the Waha Financial Basis (``WAH'') contract, traded on the IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (``ICE''), an exempt commercial market (``ECM'') under sections 2(h)(3)-(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA'' or the ``Act''), performs a significant price discovery function pursuant to section 2(h)(7) of the CEA. The Commission undertook this review based upon an initial evaluation of information and data provided by ICE as well as other available information. The Commission has reviewed the entire record in this matter, including all comments received, and has determined to issue an order finding that the WAH contract performs a significant price discovery function. Authority for this action is found in section 2(h)(7) of the CEA and Commission rule 36.3(c) promulgated thereunder.

The Fisheries Finance Program (FFP or the Program) provides long-term financing to the commercial fishing and aquaculture industries for fishing vessels, fisheries facilities, aquaculture facilities, and individual fishing quotas (IFQs). The Program became a direct loan program, as a result of legislation in 1996, replacing a guaranteed loan program. The FFP collects loan principal and interest from loan recipients and fees from applicants in order to repay monies borrowed from the U.S. Treasury. It maintains fixed interest rates that are comparable to those of private sector lenders, however the FFP allows borrowers to prepay without penalty, and may carry longer repayment periods that are more advantageous to borrowers. The FFP does not make loans for new vessel construction or for vessel refurbishments that would increase harvesting capacity. Since the publication of its current regulations on May 1, 1996, the Program's authorizing statutes have been amended several times. However, the current regulations implementing the FFP have not been amended since 1996. Prior to the 2006 amendments to the FFP's statutory authorization, the 1996 rules for the Program were sufficient to implement the statute. The 2006 statutory changes have necessitated the current rules. In this action, NMFS amends our regulations to reflect the statutory changes to the Program, and to provide regulations for two additional lending products.

EPA has authorized a subcontractor of its prime contractor, Guident Technologies Inc. of [Herndon, VA, to access information which has been submitted to EPA under all sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Some of the information may be claimed or determined to be Confidential Business Information (CBI).

OSHA invites interested parties to participate in informal stakeholder meetings on the modernization of OSHA's injury and illness data collection system. OSHA encourages stakeholders who cannot participate to submit written comments. OSHA needs to gather information from stakeholders in order to be able to modify its current injury and illness recordkeeping regulation and develop a modernized recordkeeping system in ways that will help OSHA, employers, employees, researchers, and the public prevent workplace injuries and illnesses as well as, supporting President Obama's Open Government Initiative, increase the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use the resulting dataset generated and held by the Federal Government. The informal discussions at the stakeholder meetings and the written comments from stakeholders will help give OSHA this information.

EPA has received applications to register pesticide products containing an active ingredient not included in any previously registered pesticide product. Pursuant to the provisions of section 3(c)(4) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is hereby providing notice of receipt and opportunity to comment on these applications.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has completed a review of the Methylene Chloride (MC) Standard (29 CFR 1910.1052) pursuant to section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and section 5 of Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review. The purpose of this review was to determine whether the MC Standard has functioned as intended, whether it could be simplified or improved to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses, or whether it is no longer needed and should be rescinded.