January 28, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to continue efforts to reach out to the Cuban people in support of their desire to freely determine their country's future. These amendments implement policy changes announced by the President on January 14, 2011, designed to increase people-to-people contact, support civil society in Cuba, enhance the free flow of information to, from, and among the Cuban people, and help promote their independence from Cuban authorities. To implement these policy changes, OFAC is taking steps that build upon the President's April 2009 initiative to, among other things, allow for greater licensing of travel to Cuba for educational, cultural, religious, and journalistic activities and expand licensing of remittances to Cuba. These amendments also modify regulations regarding authorization of transactions with Cuban national individuals who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba, as well as implement certain technical and conforming changes.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by George S. Flinn, Jr., the licensee of station WWJX-DT, channel 51, Jackson, Mississippi, requesting the substitution of channel 23 for channel 51 at Jackson.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is amending the Farm Loan Programs (FLP) direct loan servicing regulations to implement provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill). This rule implements four amendments to the direct loan servicing regulations. The first amendment further emphasizes transitioning borrowers to private sources of credit in the shortest time practicable. The second amendment amends the Homestead Protection lease regulations by extending the right to purchase the leased property to the lessee's immediate family when the lessee is a member of a socially disadvantaged group. The third amendment amends the account liquidation regulations to suspend certain loan acceleration and foreclosure actions, including suspending interest accrual and offsets, if a borrower has filed a claim of program discrimination that has been accepted as valid by USDA and the borrower's account is at the point of acceleration or foreclosure. The fourth amendment amends the supervised bank account regulations to make the FSA regulations on insurable account limits consistent with the regulations of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

EPA is providing notice of, and soliciting written comments on, a tentative determination to deny an administrative petition submitted by the Sierra Club under RCRA section 7004. EPA issued an earlier notice denying this same petition in November 2008. However, the Agency at that time failed to comply with notice and comment provisions in its regulations. Accordingly, we are now giving the public the opportunity to provide comments on this tentative decision. This petition requests EPA to reconsider the final rule, ``Regulation of Oil-Bearing Hazardous Secondary Materials from the Petroleum Refining Industry Processed in a Gasification System to Produce Synthesis Gas,'' published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2008. The EPA considered the petition, along with information contained in the rulemaking docket, and has tentatively decided to deny the petition. In a letter from EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus dated January 21, 2011, EPA provided the petitioner with its tentative decision to deny the petition for reconsideration. The letter explains EPA's reasons for tentatively deciding to deny the petition. After evaluating all public comments, as well as any other information in the rulemaking record, EPA will publish either a final denial of the petition or issue a proposed rule to amend or repeal the regulation.

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for Pratt & Whitney (PW) JT8D-1, -1A, -1B, -7, -7A, -7B, -9, -9A, -11, -15, -15A, -17, -17A, -17R, and -17AR series turbofan engines. That AD currently requires revisions to the engine manufacturer's time limits section (TLS) to include enhanced inspection of selected critical life- limited parts at each piece-part opportunity. This AD modifies the TLS of the manufacturer's engine manual and an air carrier's approved continuous airworthiness maintenance program to incorporate additional inspection requirements and reduce the model applicability. This AD was prompted by PW developing, and the FAA approving, improved inspection procedures for the critical life-limited parts. The mandatory inspections are needed to identify those critical rotating parts with conditions which, if allowed to continue in service, could result in uncontained failures. We are issuing this AD to prevent critical life- limited rotating engine part failure, which could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) of Canada, under international agreement, jointly publish and presently administer the St. Lawrence Seaway Regulations and Rules (Practices and Procedures in Canada) in their respective jurisdictions. Under agreement with the SLSMC, the SLSDC is amending the joint regulations by updating the Seaway Regulations and Rules in various categories. The proposed changes will update the following sections of the Regulations and Rules: Condition of Vessels, and Preclearance and Security for Tolls. These proposed amendments are necessary to take account of updated procedures and will enhance the safety of transits through the Seaway. Several of the proposed amendments are merely editorial or for clarification of existing requirements.

EPA is proposing to grant a petition submitted by Gulf West Landfill, TX, LP. (Gulf West) to exclude (or delist) the landfill leachate generated by Gulf West in Anahuac, Texas from the lists of hazardous wastes. EPA used the Delisting Risk Assessment Software (DRAS) Version 3.0 in the evaluation of the impact of the petitioned waste on human health and the environment.

Due to the receipt of an adverse comment, EPA is withdrawing the December 15, 2010 (75 FR 78164), direct final rule making determinations under the Clean Air Act that the Milwaukee-Racine and Sheboygan, Wisconsin areas have attained the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard. The Milwaukee-Racine area includes Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, Waukesha, and Kenosha Counties. The Sheboygan area includes Sheboygan County. In the direct final rule, EPA stated that if adverse comments were submitted by January 14, 2011, the rule would be withdrawn and not take effect. On January 14, 2011, EPA received a comment. EPA believes this comment is adverse and, therefore, EPA is withdrawing the direct final rule. EPA will address the comment in a subsequent final action based upon the proposed action also published on December 15, 2010 (75 FR 78197. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this action.

This rule implements the authority added by the SSI Extension for Elderly and Disabled Refugees Act of 2008 (``2008 Act''), as amended by the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 (2010 Act'') to offset overpayments of Federal taxes (referred to as ``tax refund offset'') to collect delinquent State unemployment compensation debts. The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) will incorporate the procedures necessary to collect State unemployment compensation debts as part of the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), a centralized offset program operated by the Financial Management Service (FMS), a Treasury bureau. FMS has promulgated a rule governing the offset of federal tax refunds to collect delinquent State income tax obligations. This rule amends FMS regulations to include unemployment compensation debts among the types of State debts that may be collected by tax refund offset. This rule does not affect any of the requirements or procedures for collecting delinquent State income tax obligations.

We are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Maryland program (the ``Maryland program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act) (Administrative Record No. 588.00). Maryland added provisions to regulate coal combustion byproducts (CCBs) and to establish requirements pertaining to the generation, storage, handling, processing, disposal, recycling, beneficial use, or other use of CCBs within the State. In total these regulations pertain to all CCB activities in the State, not just surface coal mining and reclamation operations. However, a section of the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) specifically pertains to the surface coal mining and reclamation operations. The regulation specific to surface coal mining and reclamation operations is a new regulation, Regulation .08 under COMAR 26.20.24, Special Performance Standards. Maryland is requesting approval of this section that it submitted as an amendment on June 24, 2010. This document gives the times and locations that the Maryland submittal are available for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written comments, and the procedures that we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.