2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to revise FAR subpart 19.8, Contracting with the Small Business Administration (The 8(a) Program), to conform to the Small Business Administration (SBA) regulations. The FAR Council did not publish this rule for comment because this change will not have a significant effect beyond the internal operating procedures of the Government and will not have a significant effect on contractors or offerors. Furthermore, this requirement has existed in the Small Business Administration Regulations since January 1, 2009, and the FAR is being updated to conform to these regulations. This revision changes the location for submitting offering letters to SBA for a construction requirement for which a specific offeror is nominated and impacts internal procedures that the contracting officer is now required to follow.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Executive Order 13513, issued on October 1, 2009, entitled ``Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging while Driving.'' This Executive Order was issued to demonstrate Federal leadership in improving safety on the nation's roads and highways, and to enhance the efficiency of Federal contracting. The purpose of this policy is to prevent the unsafe practice of text messaging by Federal contractors while driving in connection with Government business. This policy further promotes economy and efficiency in Federal procurement, and seeks to prohibit the disruption of Government business and Federal procurement, as a result of unsafe text messaging practices.

This action amends Class E airspace at Johnston County Airport, Smithfield, NC, by correcting an omission of the geographic coordinates of the Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Special Standard Instrument Approach Procedure (SIAP) serving the Johnston Memorial Hospital to aid in the navigation of our National Airspace System.

EPA and NHTSA are announcing the location addresses for the public hearings to be held for ``Revisions and Additions to Motor Vehicle Fuel Economy Label,'' published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2010. The goal of a revised label will be to provide consumers with simple, straightforward comparisons across all vehicles types, including electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles. NHTSA and EPA are proposing these changes in compliance with the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, which imposes several new labeling requirements. Also, the agencies believe that the current labels can be improved to help consumers make more informed vehicle purchase decisions and to address the entrance of advanced technology vehicles into the U.S. market. The new labels are proposed to be displayed on new vehicles beginning with the 2012 model year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has submitted the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission describes the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e., the time, effort and resources used by respondents to respond) and cost, and the actual data collection instruments FEMA will use.

Housing Urban Development (HUD) proposes to establish a new Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), SORN. The proposed new system of record is the Rapid Re-Housing for Homeless Families Data (RRHFD) Files. The records system will be used by HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) to evaluate the effectiveness of the RRHFD Program, which is a demonstration program that was authorized by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub. L. 110- 161). Refer to the ``Objective'' caption to obtain detailed information about the purpose of this study. Comments Due Date: October 28, 2010.

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce has approved the revised management plans of the Arraigns Bay, RI National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Tijuana River, CA National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Arraigns Bay, RI Reserve plan calls for an expansion to their boundary and the Tijuana River, CA Reserve plan calls for a reduction to their boundary. The revised management plan for the Arraigns Bay, RI National Estuarine Research Reserve outlines the administrative structure; the education, training, stewardship, and research goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility development to support reserve operations. The objectives described in this plan are designed to address the most critical coastal issues in Arraigns Bay such as wastewater and storm water management, coastal and watershed development, and invasive species management. Since the last approved management plan in 1998, the reserve has become fully staffed; added a coastal training program that delivers science-based information to key decision makers; and added significant monitoring of invasive species, water quality, fish and bird populations. In addition to programmatic and staffing advances, the reserve upgraded visiting research facilities, space available for education and storage, and has increased the availability of dock space for research and educational programming. This management plan calls for a boundary expansion of 156 acres. The lands consist of one 128 acre parcel on the northern end of Prudence Island that is adjacent to current reserve property and the addition of the 28 acre Dyer Island. Dyer Island habitats include coastal brush, salt marsh, cobble beaches, and both hard and soft substrate submerged lands. The island is considered a critical bird rookery and hosts an unusual amount of macro algal diversity and rare examples of un ditched salt marsh habitat. The 128 acre Ballard Property on Prudence Island consists of forested land with early succession al shrub land and grassland communities as well as an important freshwater creek and the associated wetlands. The Dyer Island property will provide opportunities for research and passive recreation while the easily accessed Prudence Island parcel will be appropriate for education, recreation, and upland research purposes. This plan can be accessed at https://www.nbnerr.org or nerrs.noaa.gov. The revised management plan for the Tijuana River, CA National Estuarine Research Reserve outlines a framework of overarching goals and program specific objectives that will guide the education, training, stewardship, and research programs of the reserve; updates the reserve boundary; proposes criteria for boundary expansion activities through acquisition and/or mitigation; as well as outlines plans for facility use and development to support reserve operations. The goals described in this plan are designed to provide a framework that supports program integration for collaborative management in a highly urbanized bi-national watershed. Since the last approved management plan in 2000, the reserve has become fully staffed; added a coastal training program that delivers science-based information to key decision makers; developed a robust volunteer program that provides broad support to Reserve programs; added a bi-nationally focused Watershed Program; completed habitat restoration projects to improve estuary function; improved management of sediment delivery to the estuary; and constructed facilities to support essential functions of the reserve including interpretive structures, staff offices, and an on-site laboratory. This management plan amends the boundary of the reserve to be 2,293 acres, 238 acres less, in part as a result of excluding the Border Infrastructure System completed since the last approved management plan. This plan can be accessed at trnerr.org/visitorscenter.html or nerrs.noaa.gov.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, determine endangered status for the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. This final rule implements the Federal protections provided by the Act for this species.

We (NMFS) announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list warsaw grouper (Epinephelus nigritus) as threatened or endangered under the ESA. We find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.

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).

On March 26, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency published final changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007. In the preamble to the final rule, EPA indicated that it had not completed the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions impact analysis for several specific biofuel production pathways but that this work would be completed through a supplemental final rulemaking process. This supplemental final rule describes a final GHG analysis for canola oil biodiesel. It also finalizes our regulatory determination that canola oil biodiesel meets the biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuel GHG reduction thresholds of 50% as compared to the baseline petroleum fuel it will replace, petroleum diesel. This final rules will allow producers or importers of canola oil biodiesel fuel to generate biomass-based diesel Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), providing that the fuel meets other definitional criteria for renewable fuel (e.g., produced from renewable biomass as defined in the RFS2 regulations, and used to reduce or replace petroleum-based transportation fuel, heating oil or jet fuel). In addition, this rule includes a new regulatory provision establishing a temporary and limited means for producers or importers of canola oil biodiesel to generate RINs for qualifying biofuel produced or imported between July 1, 2010, and the effective date of this rule.

EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period and a public listening session for the external review draft human health assessment titled, ``Toxicological Review of Urea: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' [EPA/ 635/R-10/005]. The draft assessment was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD). EPA is releasing this draft assessment solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. This draft assessment has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. After public review and comment, an EPA contractor will convene an expert panel for independent external peer review of this draft assessment. The public comment period and external peer review meeting are separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the assessment. The external peer review meeting will be scheduled at a later date and announced in the Federal Register. Public comments submitted during the public comment period will be provided to the external peer reviewers before the panel meeting and considered by EPA in the disposition of public comments. Public comments received after the public comment period closes will not be submitted to the external peer reviewers and will only be considered by EPA if time permits. The listening session will be held on November 16, 2010, during the public comment period for this draft assessment. The purpose of the listening session is to allow all interested parties to present scientific and technical comments on draft IRIS health assessments to EPA and other interested parties attending the listening session. EPA welcomes the comments that will be provided to the Agency by the listening session participants. The comments will be considered by the Agency as it revises the draft assessment after the independent external peer review. If listening session participants would like EPA to share their comments with the external peer reviewers, they should also submit written comments during the public comment period using the detailed and established procedures described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.