2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Navy (DoN) is amending its certifications and exemptions under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (72 COLREGS), to reflect that the Deputy Assistant Judge Advocate General (DAJAG) (Admiralty and Maritime Law) has determined that certain vessels of the PC-1 Class are vessels of the Navy which, due to their special construction and purpose, cannot fully comply with certain provisions of the 72 COLREGS without interfering with their special functions as naval ships. The intended effect of this rule is to warn mariners in waters where 72 COLREGS apply.

EPA is approving Michigan's request to redesignate the Allegan County, Michigan nonattainment area to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard because the request meets the statutory requirements for redesignation under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) submitted this request on May 12, 2010, and supplemented it on June 16, 2010. This approval involves several related actions. EPA is making a determination under the CAA that the Allegan County area has attained the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This determination is based on three years of complete, quality-assured and certified ambient air quality monitoring data for the 2007-2009 ozone seasons that demonstrate that the 8-hour ozone NAAQS has been attained in the area. Preliminary data available for 2010 is consistent with continued attainment. EPA is also approving, as a revision to the Michigan State Implementation Plan (SIP), the State's plan for maintaining the 8-hour ozone NAAQS through 2021 in the area. EPA is approving the 2005 emissions inventory submitted with the redesignation request as meeting the comprehensive emissions inventory requirement of the CAA for the Allegan County area. Finally, EPA found adequate and is approving the State's 2021 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for the Allegan County area.

This notice lists CMS manual instructions, substantive and interpretive regulations, and other Federal Register notices that were published from April through June 2010, relating to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This notice provides information on national coverage determinations (NCDs) affecting specific medical and health care services under Medicare. Additionally, this notice identifies certain devices with investigational device exemption (IDE) numbers approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that potentially may be covered under Medicare. This notice also includes listings of all approval numbers from the Office of Management and Budget for collections of information in CMS regulations and a list of Medicare- approved carotid stent facilities. Included in this notice is a list of the American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data registry sites, active CMS coverage-related guidance documents, and special one-time notices regarding national coverage provisions. Also included in this notice is a list of National Oncologic Positron Emissions Tomography Registry sites, a list of Medicare-approved ventricular assist device (destination therapy) facilities, a list of Medicare-approved lung volume reduction surgery facilities, a list of Medicare-approved clinical trials for fluorodeoxyglucose positron emissions tomogrogphy for dementia, and a list of Medicare-approved bariatric surgery facilities. Section 1871(c) of the Social Security Act requires that we publish a list of Medicare issuances in the Federal Register at least every 3 months. Although we are not mandated to do so by statute, for the sake of completeness of the listing, and to foster more open and transparent collaboration efforts, we are also including all Medicaid issuances and Medicare and Medicaid substantive and interpretive regulations (proposed and final) published during this 3-month time frame.

This notice announces that a public meeting of the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) (``Committee'') will be held on Wednesday, November 17, 2010. The Committee generally provides advice and recommendations concerning the adequacy of scientific evidence needed to determine whether certain medical items and services can be covered under the Medicare statute. This meeting will focus on the currently available evidence regarding the clinical benefits and harms of on-label and off-label use of Autologous Cellular Immunotherapy Treatment of Metastatic Prostate Cancer. This meeting is open to the public in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2, section 10(a)).

This notice announces a meeting of the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education (the Panel) in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Panel advises and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of consumer education strategies concerning the Medicare program. This meeting is open to the public.

The Board proposes to amend Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), and the staff commentary to the regulation, as part of a comprehensive review of TILA's rules for home- secured credit. This proposal would revise the rules for the consumer's right to rescind certain open-end and closed-end loan secured by the consumer's principal dwelling. In addition, the proposal contains revisions to the rules for determining when a modification of an existing closed-end mortgage loan secured by real property or a dwelling is a new transaction requiring new disclosures. The proposal would amend the rules for determining whether a closed-end loan secured by the consumer's principal dwelling is a ``higher-priced'' mortgage loan subject to the special protections in Sec. 226.35. The proposal would provide consumers with a right to a refund of fees imposed during the three business days following the consumer's receipt of early disclosures for closed-end loans secured by real property or a dwelling. The proposal also would amend the disclosure rules for open- and closed-end reverse mortgages. In addition, the proposal would prohibit certain unfair acts or practices for reverse mortgages. A creditor would be prohibited from conditioning a reverse mortgage on the consumer's purchase of another financial or insurance product such as an annuity, and a creditor could not extend a reverse mortgage unless the consumer has obtained counseling. The proposal also would amend the rules for reverse mortgage advertising.

The Board is publishing final rules amending Regulation Z (Truth in Lending). The final rule implements Section 131(g) of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), which was enacted on May 20, 2009, as Section 404(a) of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. TILA Section 131(g) became effective immediately upon enactment and established a new requirement for notifying consumers of the sale or transfer of their mortgage loans. Consistent with the statute, the final rule requires a purchaser or assignee that acquires a loan to provide the disclosures in writing no later than 30 days after the date on which the loan was sold, transferred or assigned. Certain exceptions may apply if the covered person transfers or assigns the loan to another party on or before the 30th day.

The Secretary of Education (Secretary) amends the final requirements for the Teacher Incentive Fund program to authorize the Department to select more than sixteen high-need schools per local educational agency (LEA) for participation in the Congressionally mandated TIF national evaluation.

In response to incidents involving radioactive contamination of groundwater wells and soils at nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) convened a Groundwater Task Force (GTF) in March 2010 to determine whether past, current, and planned actions should be augmented. The GTF, in its final report dated June 2010, determined that the NRC is meeting its mission of protecting public health, safety, and the environment. However, in view of stakeholder concerns, the GTF recommended that the NRC consider changes to its oversight of licensed material outside of its designed confinement. The NRC established a senior management review group to evaluate the GTF report, identify next steps, and make recommendations to the Commission about potential policy changes. The NRC will host a meeting with the public to discuss and solicit input on the potential policy changes being considered. The meeting will serve as a forum for members of the public to provide oral comments. The NRC is also requesting written comments on the potential policy issues, particularly for those members of the public unable to attend the meeting. The potential policy issues can be found in Section C, ``Topics for Discussion: Potential Policy Issues,'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

This notice announces receipt of and publishes the General Electric Company (GE) petition for waiver (hereafter, ``petition'') from specified portions of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure for determining the energy consumption of clothes washers. Today's notice also grants an interim waiver of the clothes washer test procedure. Through this notice, DOE also solicits comments with respect to the GE petition.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Model 737-600, -700, -700C, -800, and -900 series airplanes. This proposed AD would require inspecting for part numbers of the operational program software of the flight control computers, and doing corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD results from reports of erroneous undetected output from a single radio altimeter channel, which resulted in premature autothrottle retard during approach. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct erroneous output from a radio altimeter channel, which could result in premature autothrottle landing flare retard and the loss of automatic speed control, and consequent loss of control of the airplane.

The Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel (SECNAV Advisory Panel) will deliberate the findings and recommendations for the Department of the Navy's Energy program and Asia/Pacific Engagement topic.

The Commission is noticing a recently-filed Postal Service request to add three Global Expedited Package Services 3 contracts to the competitive product list. This notice addresses procedural steps associated with this filing.