July 28, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Washington has applied to EPA for final authorization of certain changes to its hazardous waste management program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, (RCRA). On June 18, 2010, EPA published a proposed rule to authorize the changes and opened a public comment period under Docket ID No. EPA-R10-RCRA-2010-0251. The comment period closed on July 19, 2010. EPA has decided that the revisions to the Washington hazardous waste management program satisfy all of the requirements necessary to qualify for final authorization and EPA is authorizing these revisions to Washington's authorized hazardous waste management program in this Final rule.

EPA is finalizing approval of revisions to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD) portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions were proposed in the Federal Register on April 16, 2010 and concern opacity standards related to multiple pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) emissions from several different types of sources, ranging from fugitive dust to diesel generators. We are approving a local rule that regulates these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

The Department of Justice is proposing to amend the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to implement certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (enacted March 9, 2006) relating to trafficking in contraband cigarettes or smokeless tobacco. The new law amends the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act by: reducing the threshold amount of cigarettes necessary to trigger jurisdiction under the CCTA from a quantity in excess of 60,000 to a quantity in excess of 10,000; extending the provisions of the CCTA to cover contraband smokeless tobacco; imposing reporting requirements on persons, except tribal governments, who engage in delivery sales of more than 10,000 cigarettes or 500 single-unit consumer-sized cans or packages of smokeless tobacco in a single month; requiring that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco seized and forfeited under the CCTA be either used in law enforcement operations or destroyed; and by authorizing state and local governments, and Federal tobacco permittees to bring civil causes of action against violators of the CCTA.

This document proposes to require the submission of various data required to support the continuation of the tolerances for the pesticide mevinphos. Pesticide tolerances are established under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

NMFS issues this proposed rule that would implement a regulatory amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (FMP) prepared by the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council). This proposed rule would modify the Bajo de Sico seasonal closure from a 3-month closure to a 6-month closure, and prohibit fishing for and possession of Caribbean reef fish in or from the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) portion of Bajo de Sico during the closure. The proposed rule would also prohibit anchoring in the EEZ portion of Bajo de Sico year-round. In addition to the measures contained in the regulatory amendment, this proposed rule would also add spear to the list of allowable gears in the commercial sector of the Caribbean reef fish fishery. The intended effect of this proposed rule is to provide further protection for red hind spawning aggregations and large snappers and groupers, and better protect the essential fish habitat (EFH) where these species reside.

The Coast Guard will enforce the Navy Pier Southeast Safety Zone in Chicago Harbor during August 4, 2010 through August 29, 2010. This action is necessary and intended to ensure safety of life on the navigable waters immediately prior to, during, and immediately after fireworks events. This rule will establish restrictions upon, and control movement of, vessels in a specified area immediately prior to, during, and immediately after fireworks events. During the enforcement period, no person or vessel may enter the safety zones without permission of the Captain of the Port, Sector Lake Michigan.

The Board adopts its 2010 User-Fee Update and revises its fee schedule to reflect increased costs associated with the January 2010 government salary increases, to reflect government fringe benefits, and to consider changes to the Board's overhead costs.

Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and modified BFEs are made final for the communities listed below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that each community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (Agency) is making several changes to its death benefits regulations. In particular, it is expanding the requirements necessary in order for a designation of beneficiary form to be valid. This change will also allow participants holding both a uniformed services and civilian account to submit a single designation of beneficiary form which can be used to designate beneficiaries for both accounts. The Agency is also amending its death benefit regulations to allow participants to designate a custodian under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act as a beneficiary, permit the Agency to defer to state law when a potential beneficiary is implicated in the death of a participant and is subsequently found not guilty by reason of insanity, and require a notary to witness disclaimers of death benefits.

This document corrects a typographical error in the amendatory instructions published in the Federal Register of June 29, 2010, regarding final rules 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 go into effect on August 22, 2010.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reopening until September 7, 2010, the comment period for the proposed rule published in the Federal Register of April 5, 2010 (75 FR 17093). The document proposed to amend certain neurological and physical medicine device regulations to establish special controls for these class II devices and to exempt some of these devices from premarket notification requirements. FDA is reopening the comment period to allow further comment and to receive any new information.

In accordance with current Agency practice to describe more clearly the measurement and scope or coverage of the tolerances, EPA is proposing minor revisions to tolerance expressions for a number of pesticide active ingredients, including the insecticides chlorethoxyfos, clofentezine, cyromazine, etofenprox, fenbutatin-oxide, fosthiazate, propetamphos, and tebufenozide; the fungicides aluminum tris(O-ethylphosphonate) and fenarimol; the herbicides butylate, clethodim, clomazone, fenoxaprop-ethyl, flumetsulam, flumiclorac pentyl, fluridone, fomesafen, glufosinate ammonium, lactofen, propyzamide, quinclorac, and pyridate; and the fungicide/bactericide oxytetracycline. Also, EPA is proposing to revoke the tolerances for aluminum tris(O-ethylphosphonate) on pineapple fodder and forage because they are not considered to be significant livestock feed items, and revise specific tolerance nomenclatures for aluminum tris(O- ethylphosphonate), clethodim, flumetsulam, and fluridone. In addition, EPA will be removing several expired tolerances for aluminum tris(O- ethylphosphonate), etofenprox, propyzamide, and tebufenozide.

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations that govern the export and import of nuclear equipment and material. This rule allows International Atomic Energy Agency Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources Category 1 and 2 quantities of radioactive materials to be imported under a general license. This rule also revises the definition of ``radioactive waste'' and removes the definition of ``incidental radioactive material.'' In addition, this rule updates, clarifies, and corrects several provisions.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, FCA, and NCUA (collectively, the Agencies) are adopting final rules to implement the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (the S.A.F.E. Act). The S.A.F.E. Act requires an employee of a bank, savings association, credit union or Farm Credit System (FCS) institution and certain of their subsidiaries that are regulated by a Federal banking agency or the FCA (collectively, Agency-regulated institutions) who acts as a residential mortgage loan originator to register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry, obtain a unique identifier, and maintain this registration. The final rule further provides that Agency- regulated institutions must: require their employees who act as residential mortgage loan originators to comply with the S.A.F.E. Act's requirements to register and obtain a unique identifier, and adopt and follow written policies and procedures designed to assure compliance with these requirements.

This final rule implements the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111-5) that provide incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs that adopt and successfully demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. This final rule specifiesthe initial criteria EPs, eligible hospitals, and CAHs must meet in order to qualify for an incentive payment; calculation of the incentive payment amounts; payment adjustments under Medicare for covered professional services and inpatient hospital services provided by EPs, eligible hospitals and CAHs failing to demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology; and other program participation requirements. Also, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will be issuing a closely related final rule that specifies the Secretary's adoption of an initial set of standards, implementation, specifications, and certification criteria for electronic health records. ONC has also issued a separate final rule on the establishment of certification programs for health information technology.