January 19, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document affirms as final, with changes, a final rule with request for comments that implemented portions of the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006. This law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to verify ownership and control of veteran-owned small businesses, including service- disabled veteran-owned small businesses. This final rule rescinds the requirement that eligible owners work full-time in the business for which they have applied for acceptance in the Verification Program and that limits participants to a single business. It formally changes the time period for issuance of reconsideration decisions from 30 to 60 days and changes the distribution of profits for limited liability companies and employee stock ownership plans.

This action changes the effective date for the establishment of Class E airspace at Port Clarence Coast Guard Station (CGS) Airport, Port Clarence, AK. The charting of this airspace has been delayed; therefore the effective date of the establishment of the Class E airspace area also must be delayed. A minor correction to a geographic coordinate also will be made.

This final rule is implementing verbatim sections 8102 and 8104 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) by adding regulations regarding special closures to provide for closure of National Forest System lands to protect the privacy of tribal activities for traditional and cultural purposes and by adding definitions for ``Indian tribe'' and ``traditional and cultural purpose.'' FCEA authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure access to National Forest System lands, to the maximum extent practicable, by Indians and Indian tribes for traditional and cultural purposes, in recognition of the historic use of National Forest System lands by Indians and Indian tribes.

In this document, EPA is making available its proposed resolution of objections and a stay request with regard to sulfuryl fluoride and fluoride tolerances promulgated in 2004 and 2005 under section 408(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). The objections and stay request were filed by the Fluoride Action Network, the Environmental Working Group, and Beyond Pesticides. Notwithstanding the fact that this document is a proposed resolution, and regulatory assessment requirements do not apply, EPA is inviting public comment on all aspects of the proposed resolution of objections, including the underlying scientific evaluations.

This final rule establishes a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 226, ``Ejection Mitigation,'' to reduce the partial and complete ejection of vehicle occupants through side windows in crashes, particularly rollover crashes. The standard applies to the side windows next to the first three rows of seats, and to a portion of the cargo area behind the first or second rows, in motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 4,536 kilogram (kg) or less (10,000 pounds (lb) or less). To assess compliance, the agency is adopting a test in which an impactor is propelled from inside a test vehicle toward the windows. The ejection mitigation safety system is required to prevent the impactor from moving more than a specified distance beyond the plane of a window. To ensure that the systems cover the entire opening of each window for the duration of a rollover, each side window will be impacted at up to four locations around its perimeter at two time intervals following deployment. The agency anticipates that manufacturers will meet the standard by modifying existing side impact air bag curtains, and possibly supplementing them with advanced glazing. The curtains will be made larger so that they cover more of the window opening, made more robust to remain inflated longer, and made to deploy in both side impacts and in rollovers. In addition, after deployment the curtains will be tethered near the base of the vehicle's pillars or otherwise designed to keep the impactor within the boundaries established by the performance test. This final rule adopts a phase-in of the new requirements, starting September 1, 2013. This final rule advances NHTSA's initiatives in rollover safety and also responds to Section 10301 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). That section directs NHTSA to initiate and complete rulemaking to reduce complete and partial ejections of vehicle occupants from outboard seating positions, considering various ejection mitigation systems.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list two freshwater mussels, the spectaclecase mussel (Cumberlandia monodonta) and sheepnose (Plethobasus cyphyus) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to these species throughout their ranges, including sheepnose in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, and spectaclecase in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. We determined that critical habitat for these species is prudent, but not determinable at this time. The Service seeks data and comments from the public on this proposed listing rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to delist Oenothera californica (avita) subsp. eurekensis (Eureka Valley evening-primrose) and Swallenia alexandrae (Eureka Valley dunegrass), and reclassify the tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), Acmispon dendroideus (Lotus scoparius subsp.) var. traskiae (San Clemente Island broom), Malacothamnus clementinus (San Clemente Island bush-mallow), and Castilleja grisea (San Clemente Island Indian paintbrush) from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating status reviews of these taxa to determine if the respective actions of delisting and reclassifying are warranted. Section 4(c)(2)(A) of the Act also requires a status review of listed species at least once every 5 years. We are therefore electing to conduct these reviews simultaneously. To ensure that these status reviews are comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding these species and subspecies. Based on these status reviews, we will issue 12-month findings on the petition, which will address whether the petitioned actions are warranted under section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.

The Coast Guard will enforce the Blair Waterway security zone in Commencement Bay, WA from 12:01 a.m. on January 6, 2011, through 11:59 p.m. on January 29, 2011. This action is necessary for the security of Department of Defense assets and military cargo during loading and off- loading operations taking place within the Blair Waterway, Commencement Bay, WA. During periods of enforcement, no person or vessel operator may enter the security zone unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, Puget Sound or Designated Representative.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of fluazinam in or on multiple commodities which are identified and discussed later in this document. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The Environmental Protection Agency is publishing this Call for Information to solicit quality-assured emissions and process data that are relevant to developing emissions-estimating methodologies for animal feeding operations. EPA may use the data to supplement the emissions and process data collected under the National Air Emission Monitoring Study for animal feeding operations.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for sculpins, sharks, squid, and octopus in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2011 total allowable catch (TAC) of sculpins, sharks, squid, and octopus in the GOA.