February 1, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations by incorporating provisions contained in certain widely used or longstanding cargo tank special permits that are granted to multiple parties and have established safety records. Special permits allow a company or individual to package or ship a hazardous material in a manner that varies from the regulations provided an equivalent level of safety is maintained. The revisions are intended to provide wider access to the regulatory flexibility offered in the special permits and eliminate the need for numerous renewal requests, thereby facilitating commercial activity and reducing paperwork burdens while continuing to maintain an appropriate level of safety.

On December 28, 2010, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published a proposed rule and proposed modification in the Federal Register requesting comments regarding the calculation of the weighted average dumping margin and antidumping duty assessment rate in certain antidumping duty proceedings. The Department has decided to extend the comment period, making the new deadline for submission of public comment February 18, 2011.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce that leads the Federal economic development agenda by making strategic grants-based investments. EDA's regulations provide the framework through which the agency administers its economic development assistance programs. EDA is beginning the process of updating the agency's regulations and is committed to ensuring that public feedback helps shape the revised regulations. As part of the Administration's commitment to open government and in response to Executive Order 13563 ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review'', EDA requests input from the public on any obstacles created by EDA's current regulations and ways to improve them to help the agency better advance innovative economic development in the 21st century. EDA expects that this process will result in an updated rulemaking that reflects current economic development practice to advance an innovative economy.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announces the availability of the Environmental Assessment (EA) prepared for the proposed contract to secure additional inmate bed space for the BOP's growing inmate population. As part of an initiative known as the Criminal Alien Requirement, the BOP has identified a specific requirement to confine a population of approximately 3,000 low-security adult male inmates (with one year or less remaining to serve) that are primarily criminal aliens. The BOP is seeking to reduce prison overcrowding by requesting additional contract beds. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, the Council of Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and the Department of Justice procedures for implementing NEPA (28 CFR part 61), the BOP has prepared an EA to evaluate the proposed action of contracting with one or more private contractors to house approximately 3,000 federal, low-security, adult male, criminal aliens at one or more privately owned and operated correctional facility(s). The BOP's EA evaluates the potential environmental consequences of three action alternatives and the No Action Alternative. Natural, cultural, and socioeconomic resource impacts associated with the implementation of the proposed action at each of the proposed alternative locations were analyzed to determine how these resources may be affected by the proposed action. The alternatives considered in the EA include the use of the following privately-owned and operated facilities: Diamondback Correctional Center, Watonga, Oklahoma; Great Plains Correctional Facility, Hinton, Oklahoma; and Willacy County Processing Center, Raymondville, Texas. Inmates housed in these facilities would be criminal aliens who have less than one year remaining to serve of their sentences.

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued 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: