2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Defense Science Board will meet in closed session on October 27-28, 2010, at the Pentagon, Arlington, VA.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is requesting public comment related to a study of how the Commission could reduce the burden of complying with Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for companies whose public float is between $75 million and $250 million, while maintaining investor protections for such companies, and whether any methods of reducing the compliance burden or a complete exemption for such companies from the auditor attestation requirement in Section 404(b) would encourage companies to list on exchanges in the United States in their initial public offerings. This study is required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

We are withdrawing rule 151A under the Securities Act of 1933, which defines the terms ``annuity contract'' and ``optional annuity contract'' under the Act. On July 12, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order vacating the rule.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., has filed a petition proposing that the food additive regulations be amended to provide for the safe use of seed meal from a variety of bioengineered safflower in cattle and poultry feeds.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the new information collection, Land Between The Lakes (LBL) Communication Effectiveness Study.

This document directs that a referendum be conducted among eligible California, Arizona, and New Mexico pistachio producers to determine whether they favor continuance of the marketing order regulating the handling of pistachios grown in California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is publishing the names of 12 entities and 17 individuals whose property and interests in property have been blocked pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (``Kingpin Act'') (21 U.S.C. 1901-1908, 8 U.S.C. 1182).

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for GE CF6-45 and CF6-50 series turbofan engines. This proposed AD would require performing a fluorescent penetrant inspection (FPI) of the stage 3 low-pressure turbine (LPT) rotor at every shop visit at which the LPT module is separated from the engine. This proposed AD results from seven reports of uncontained failures of LPT stage 3 disks and eight reports of cracked LPT stage 3 disks found during shop visit inspections. We are proposing this AD to prevent LPT rotor separation, which could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.

EPA is taking final action to approve a request from the State of Texas to redesignate the Beaumont/Port Arthur (BPA) Texas ozone nonattainment area to attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). EPA is making a final determination that the BPA nonattainment area has attained the 1997 8- hour ozone NAAQS, based on complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air quality monitoring data for 2006-2008. Preliminary data available for 2009 and 2010 show that the area continues to attain the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. In finalizing its approval of the redesignation request, EPA also approves, as a revision to the BPA State Implementation Plan (SIP), a 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance plan that includes a 2021 Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget (MVEB). EPA is also approving the BPA area's 2002 base year emissions inventory as part of the BPA SIP. EPA also is approving as part of the BPA SIP, the Texas Clean-Fuel Vehicle (CFV) Program Equivalency Demonstration. EPA finds that with final approval of these revisions, the area has a fully approved SIP that meets all of the 1997 8-hour ozone requirements and 1-hour ozone anti-backsliding requirements under section 110 and Part D of the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) that are applicable for purposes of redesignation. EPA is also approving a determination that the BPA area is meeting the 1-hour ozone standard based upon three years of complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air quality monitoring data for 2006-2008. Preliminary data available for 2009 and 2010 show that the area continues to attain the standard. Additionally, EPA is taking final action to approve the post-1996 Rate of Progress (ROP) plan's contingency measures, the substitute control measures for the failure-to-attain contingency measures, and the removal from the Texas SIP of a 1-hour ozone failure-to-attain contingency measure, a volatile organic compound (VOC) SIP rule for marine vessel loading, as meeting the requirements of section 110(l) and part D of the Act. EPA also is providing clarification of an earlier separate EPA rulemaking action approving the Section 110(a)(1) Maintenance Plan for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard for the El Paso 1997 8-hour attainment area.

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:

Section 766 of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act'') requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') to adopt an interim final rule for the reporting of security-based swaps entered into before July 21, 2010, the terms of which had not expired as of that date (``pre-enactment security-based swap transactions''), within 90 days of the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act. Pursuant to this requirement, the Commission today is adopting an interim final temporary rule that requires specified counterparties to pre-enactment security-based swap transactions to report certain information relating to pre-enactment security-based swaps to a registered security-based swap data repository or to the Commission by the compliance date established in the security-based swap reporting rules required under Sections 3C(e) and 13A(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act''),\1\ or within 60 days after a registered security- based swap data repository commences operations to receive and maintain data concerning such security-based swaps, whichever occurs first and report information relating to pre-enactment security-based swaps to the Commission upon request. The Commission also is issuing an Interpretive Note to the rule that states that counterparties that may be required to report to the Commission will need to preserve information pertaining to the terms of these pre-enactment security- based swaps.

The Office of the Secretary is amending several existing procedural regulations governing appeals to the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA); adopting new regulations governing consolidation, extensions of time, intervention, and motions in IBLA appeals; removing regulations relating to the former Interior Board of Surface Mining and Reclamation Appeals and Interior Board of Contract Appeals, which no longer exist; and correcting the address of the Office of Hearings and Appeals.

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Delaware. The revision amends existing Section 2.0Consumer Products to Delaware's Regulation 1141 (formerly SIP Regulation No. 41)Limiting Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer and Commercial Products. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

NCUA is issuing final amendments to its rule governing corporate credit unions. The major revisions involve corporate credit union capital, investments, asset-liability management, governance, and credit union service organization (CUSO) activities. The amendments establish a new capital scheme, including risk-based capital requirements; impose new prompt corrective action requirements; place various new limits on corporate investments; impose new asset-liability management controls; amend some corporate governance provisions; and limit a corporate CUSO to categories of services preapproved by NCUA. In addition, this rulemaking contains conforming amendments to rules governing Prompt Corrective Action (for natural person credit unions); Investments and Deposit Activities (for federal credit unions); Administrative Actions, Adjudicative Hearings, Rules of Practice and Procedure, and Investigations; and Involuntary Liquidation of Federal Credit Unions and Adjudication of Creditor Claims Involving Federally Insured Credit Unions. These amendments will strengthen individual corporates and the corporate credit union system as a whole.

The Department of the Treasury is adopting, without change, an interim rule that amended its regulations on the Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended, by removing three Privacy Act systems of records from this part, revising the title of the one remaining Privacy Act system of records relating to the functions of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and retaining the Privacy Act exemptions for TTB's one remaining system of records.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its findings on the noise compatibility program (NCP) submitted by the Chicago Executive Airport Board of Directors for Chicago Executive Airport under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 47501 et seq. (the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act, herein referred to as ``the Act'') and 14 CFR part 150. On March 1, 2010, the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by Chicago Executive Airport Board of Directors for Chicago Executive Airport were in compliance with applicable requirements. On September 30, 2010, the FAA approved the Chicago Executive Airport noise compatibility program. Twenty-one of the twenty-seven recommendations of the program were approved.