December 22, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Commission proposes to approve four revised regional Reliability Standards developed by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council and approved by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which the Commission has certified as the Electric Reliability Organization responsible for developing and enforcing mandatory Reliability Standards. These regional Reliability Standards have been designated by WECC as FAC-501-WECC-1Transmission Maintenance, PRC-004-WECC-1 Protection System and Remedial Action Scheme Misoperation, VAR-002- WECC-1Automatic Voltage Regulators, and VAR-501-WECC-1Power System Stabilizer. Proposed FAC-501-WECC-1 addresses transmission maintenance for specified transmission paths in the Western Interconnection. Proposed PRC-004-WECC-1 addresses the analysis of misoperations that occur on transmission and generation protection systems and remedial action schemes in the Western Interconnection. Proposed VAR-002-WECC-1 is meant to ensure that automatic voltage regulators remain in service on synchronous generators and condensers in the Western Interconnection. Proposed VAR-501-WECC-1 is meant to ensure that power system stabilizers remain in service on synchronous generators in the Western Interconnection. In addition, under section 215(d)(5) of the Federal Power Act, the Commission proposes to direct the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, working through its standards development process, to develop modifications to these to regional Reliability Standards to address specific issues, as discussed below.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is issuing compliance directive STD 03-11-002 Fall Protection in Residential Construction. This directive rescinds compliance directive STD 03-00-001, Plain Language Revision of OSHA Instruction STD 3.1, Interim Fall Protection Compliance Guidelines for Residential Construction, effective on June 18, 1999. There continue to be high numbers of fall-related fatalities in residential construction. The Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, the National Association of Home Builders, and the Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Association have recommended the withdrawal of directive STD 03-00-001.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of flutolanil in or on Brassica leafy vegetable group 5 and turnip greens. The Interregional Research Project Number 4 requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The Environmental Protection Agency is removing its regulation implementing the Governmentwide common rule on drug-free workplace requirements for financial assistance. This regulatory action implements the OMB's initiative to streamline and consolidate into one title of the CFR all federal regulations on drug-free workplace requirements for financial assistance. These changes constitute an administrative simplification that would make no substantive change in Environmental Protection Agency policy or procedures for drug-free workplace.

Section 343 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) \1\ provides that, on a temporary basis, the NCUA Board shall fully insure the net amount that any member or depositor at an insured credit union maintains in a noninterest- bearing transaction account. Although this insurance coverage is self- implementing, and therefore already in place, this proposed rule: clarifies the definition of the term ``noninterest-bearing transaction account;'' provides that this new insurance coverage is separate from, and in addition to, other coverage provided in NCUA's share insurance rules; and imposes certain notice and disclosure requirements.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a final rule on March 23, 2009, promulgating energy conservation standards for certain electric motors as prescribed in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act. This document is being issued to correct the energy efficiency levels that DOE promulgated for NEMA Design B general purpose electric motors that, due to a drafting error, are not consistent with statutory requirements.

The U.S Department of Energy (DOE) waives the general rule of Federal preemption for energy conservation standards under 42 U.S.C. 6297(c) with respect to any State regulation concerning the water use or water efficiency of faucets, showerheads, water closets and urinals if such State regulation is: More stringent than Federal regulation concerning the water use or water efficiency for that same type or class of product; and applicable to any sale or installation of all products in that particular type or class.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a component of the Department of Justice, issued a proposed rule for a new Privacy Act system of records entitled, the ``Data Integration and Visualization System (DIVS),'' JUSTICE/FBI-021, 75 FR 53262 (August 31, 2010). DIVS is exempt from the subsections of the Privacy Act listed below for the reasons set forth in the following text. Information in this system of records related to matters of law enforcement and the exemptions are necessary to avoid interference with the national security and criminal law enforcement functions and responsibilities of the FBI. This document addresses a public comment on the proposed rule.

DoD proposes to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to revise and expand reporting requirements for Government-furnished property to include items uniquely and non-uniquely identified, and to clarify policy for contractor access to Government supply sources.

Under section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to approve the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's (NERC) proposed interpretation of certain specific requirements of the Commission- approved Reliability Standards, TOP-005-1, Operational Reliability Information, and IRO-005-1, Reliability CoordinationCurrent-Day Operations. Specifically, the interpretation addresses whether a Special Protection System (or SPS) that is operating with only one communication channel in service is ``degraded'' under these standards. The Commission proposes to approve the interpretation, discussed below, as being consistent with and not expanding or changing the existing Reliability Standards. However, to address Commission concerns that the interpretation fails to specify that a Special Protection System that has lost a communication channel be reported, the Commission also proposes to direct NERC pursuant to section 215 (d)(5) of the FPA to develop modifications to the TOP-005-1 and IRO-005-1 Reliability Standards, as discussed below, through its Reliability Standards development process. The Commission seeks comments on its proposal.

The NTSB seeks comments from the public regarding amendments to its regulations which set forth rules of procedure for the NTSB's review of certificate actions taken by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and those which set forth rules of procedure concerning applications for fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). The NTSB is undertaking a review in an effort to respond to parties' suggestions for changing the rules, in order to update rules that may be outdated, in the interest of modernizing the rules to accommodate prospective electronic filing and document availability in case dockets.

This document invites comment the submission of additional information concerning the methodological changes for the digital ILLR model with respect to the calculation of diffraction loss close to an obstacle or leading up to and following a pair of obstacles; and a factual or scientific basis for explaining the additional losses in the line of sight range above and beyond the free space loss and two-ray- loss. The Commission is particularly interested in information on any other techniques for improving the degree to which the model accurately represents the propagation of a digital television signal from a transmitter to a specific receive site and any new data that may be available for improving the model's predictions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a request by New Jersey to revise the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for ozone involving the control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The SIP revision consists of two new rules, Subchapter 26, ``Prevention of Air Pollution From Adhesives, Sealants, Adhesive Primers and Sealant Primers,'' and Subchapter 34, ``TBAC Emissions Reporting,'' (TBAC means tertiary butyl acetate or t-butyl acetate) and revisions to Subchapter 23, ``Prevention of Air Pollution From Architectural Coatings,'' Subchapter 24, ``Prevention of Air Pollution From Consumer Products,'' and Subchapter 25, ``Control and Prohibition of Air Pollution by Vehicular Fuels,'' of the New Jersey Administrative Code. The intended effect of this action is to approve control strategies that will result in VOC emission reductions that will help achieve attainment of the national ambient air quality standard for ozone.

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes a regulation requiring employers, including labor organizations in their capacity as employers, subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to post notices informing their employees of their rights as employees under the NLRA. The National Labor Relations Board (Board) believes that many employees protected by the NLRA are unaware of their rights under the statute. The intended effects of this action are to increase knowledge of the NLRA among employees, to better enable the exercise of rights under the statute, and to promote statutory compliance by employers and unions. The proposed rule establishes the size, form, and content of the notice, and sets forth provisions regarding sanctions and remedies that may be imposed if an employer fails to comply with its obligations under the rule.

We are proposing amendments to our rules to implement Section 1503 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 1503(a) of the Act requires issuers that are operators, or that have a subsidiary that is an operator, of a coal or other mine to disclose in their periodic reports filed with the Commission information regarding specified health and safety violations, orders and citations, related assessments and legal actions, and mining- related fatalities. Section 1503(b) of the Act mandates the filing of a Form 8-K disclosing the receipt of certain orders and notices from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is proposing new rules and amended guidance and acceptable practices to implement the new statutory provisions enacted by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act''). The proposed rules, guidance and acceptable practices, which apply to the designation and operation of contract markets, implement the Dodd-Frank Act's new statutory framework that, among other things, amends Section 5 of the Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA'') concerning designation and operation of contract markets, and adds a new CEA Section 2(h)(8) to include the listing, trading and execution of swaps on designated contract markets. The Commission requests comment on all aspects of the proposed rules, guidance and acceptable practices.