October 29, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are amending the regulations for the importation of Hass avocados originating in Michoac[aacute]n, Mexico, into the United States by adding the option to ship avocados to the United States in bulk shipping bins when safeguarding is maintained from the packinghouse to the port of first arrival in the United States and by making it clear that the avocados may be shipped by land, sea, or air. We are also amending the regulations to allow avocados from multiple packinghouses that participate in the avocado export program to be combined into one consignment. We are taking these actions in response to requests from the Government of Mexico and inquiries from a U.S. maritime port. These actions will allow additional options for shipping Hass avocados from Mexico to the United States and allow Mexican exporters to ship full container or truck loads from multiple packinghouses while continuing to provide an appropriate level of protection against the introduction of plant pests.

On October 18, 2010, we published in the Federal Register (75 FR 63763) a notice announcing public meeting sessions to receive oral presentations and to interact with commenters regarding comments that were submitted to the Department of Education in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Program Integrity: Gainful Employment, published in the Federal Register on July 26, 2010 (75 FR 43616). This document corrects the ending date for members of the public to register to attendonlythe public meeting sessions that is listed in the October 18, 2010 notice.

The Secretary amends the regulations for Institutional Eligibility Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), to establish a process under which an institution applies for approval to offer an educational program that leads to gainful employment in a recognized occupation.

In this final rule, we respond to petitions for reconsideration of a final rule published on October 21, 2008, which upgraded NHTSA's school bus passenger crash protection requirements. This document denies most of the requests in the petitions for reconsideration. To the extent we grant petitions, we make slight changes to the regulatory text of the October 2008 final rule to clarify the rule. We make clearer the procedure specifying how we will measure the height of school bus passenger torso belts, and we are clarifying that a requirement that seat belts be integral to the passenger seat (a requirement adopted to reduce the likelihood of passengers getting injured by or tangled in loose belts) also applies to seats that have wheelchair positions or side emergency doors behind them, even if the seats are in the last row of vehicles. We are also slightly revising the procedure for testing the self- latching requirement for school bus seat cushions, to specify the weight that is placed on the seat cushion in Newtons, to specify that the downward force is applied in a one to five second timeframe, and to specify that activation of the self-latching mechanism is assessed using the seat cushion retention test. Those provisions make the language more consistent with that of a pre-existing seat cushion retention test in the standard.

DoD is issuing an interim rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement section 807 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010. Section 807 requires that facilities, infrastructure, and equipment that are intended for use by military or civilian personnel of the Department of Defense (DoD), in current or future military operations, should be inspected for safety and habitability prior to use, and that such facilities should be brought into compliance with generally accepted standards for the safety and health of personnel to the maximum extent practicable consistent with the requirements of military operations and the best interests of DoD to minimize the safety and health risk posed to such personnel.

DoD is adopting as final, without change, the interim rule that amended the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate increased thresholds for application of the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements, as determined by the United States Trade Representative.

This document contains a correction to the proposed rule titled ``Farm Loan Programs Loan Making Activities'' that was published September 23, 2010. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is correcting the Paperwork Reduction Act information since the information collection statement for special direct loan servicing was inadvertently omitted from the proposed rule.

The Board is amending Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official staff commentary to the regulation, in order to implement legislation that modifies the effective date of certain disclosure requirements in the gift card provisions of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009.

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 are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. That AD currently requires a detailed inspection for certain defects of the upper fasteners of the aft mount support fittings of the left and right engines, and corrective actions if necessary. This new AD requires repetitive replacement of the upper row of fasteners of the support fittings of the engine aft mount with new fasteners; and repetitive general visual inspections for defects of the lower row fasteners (Row B) of the support fittings of the left and right engine aft mounts, and replacement of all clearance fit fasteners in the lower row if necessary. This AD was prompted by reports of loose, cracked, or missing fasteners in the aft mount support fitting of the left and right engines. We are issuing this AD to prevent loose, cracked, or missing fasteners in the engine aft mount support fittings, which could lead to separation of the support fittings from the pylon, and could result in separation of the engine from the airplane.

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:

This document proposes to amend our rules concerning commercial radio operator licenses for maritime and aviation radio stations who perform certain functions performed within the commercial radio operators service, to determine which rules can be clarified, streamlined, or eliminated.