February 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 13 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these exemption renewals will provide a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

FMCSA announces its decision to exempt fifteen individuals from its rule prohibiting persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) from operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. The exemptions will enable these individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

This document corrects the docket number for FMCSA's notice of application for exemption on Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Brakes; Application for Exemption From Innovative Electronics published in the Federal Register of February 10, 2011.

This document affirms as final an interim final rule that froze until January 1, 2012, the copayment required for certain medications. Under those amendments, the copayment amount for veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system, enrollment priority categories 2 through 6, will remain at $8 and the copayment amount for veterans in enrollment priority categories 7 and 8 will remain at $9. The maximum annual copayment amount will also not increase. On January 1, 2012, the copayment amounts will increase based on the prescription drug component of the Medical Consumer Price Index (CPI-P). When the copayment increases, the maximum annual copayment amount automatically increases in turn.

On December 10, 2010, we, NMFS, published a proposed rule to list the Arctic (Phoca hispida hispida), Okhotsk (Phoca hispida ochotensis), Baltic (Phoca hispida botnica), and Ladoga (Phoca hispida ladogensis) subspecies of the ringed seal as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). As part of that proposal, we announced a public comment period to end on February 8, 2011, and then extended the comment period to March 25, 2011. NMFS has received requests for public hearings on this issue. In response, we announce that public hearings will be held at three locations in Alaska (Anchorage, Barrow, and Nome) to provide additional opportunities and formats to receive public input.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels harvesting Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2011 Pacific total allowable catch (TAC) apportioned to vessels harvesting Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component of the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Department of State has submitted the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Title of Information Collection: Refugee Biographic Data OMB Control Number: 1405-0102 Type of Request: Extension of a Currently Approved Collection Originating Office: Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, PRM/A Form Number: N/A Respondents: Refugee applicants for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program Estimated Number of Respondents: 75,000 Estimated Number of Responses: 75,000 Average Hours Per Response: one-half hour Total Estimated Burden: 37,500 hours Frequency: once per respondent Obligation to Respond: required to obtain a benefit

The Department of State gives notice of the availability of two draft Comprehensive Environmental Evaluations (CEEs) for activities proposed to be undertaken in Antarctica. Interested members of the public are invited to submit comments relative to these CEEs.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeks information related to potential technical improvements its energy conservation standards rulemaking analysis, and requests comment on corresponding revisions to the analysis for energy conservation standards for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and freezers.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (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 collection and the estimated burden and cost.

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.

The Coast Guard published a document in the Federal Register of February 9, 2011, concerning the expiration of temporary rules. The document contained an incorrect docket number.

On January 7, 2011, FEMA published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that included an erroneous Base Flood Elevation (BFE) for the Skykomish River in Snohomish County, Washington. The BFE currently in effect for the location approximately 216 feet downstream of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway should have been listed as 355 feet, referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988.

This notice announces the broadly applicable alternative test method approval decisions that EPA has made under and in support of New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) in 2010.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is publishing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to seek comments from interested parties on possible EPA actions to address water quality conditions affecting aquatic resources in the San Francisco Bay/ Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay Delta Estuary) in California. EPA is asking the public to consider broadly whether EPA should be taking new or different actions under its programs to address recent significant declines in multiple aquatic species in the Bay Delta Estuary. EPA is not limiting its request to actions that would require rulemaking. There may be a range of changes in EPA's activities in the Bay Delta Estuary that would be constructive, including enforcement, research, revisions to water quality standards, etc. EPA will consider all comments before deciding what changes, if any, should be pursued. After reviewing the comments and completing its evaluation, EPA will provide the results of its review and any proposed next steps to the public. This ANPR identifies specific issues on which EPA solicits comment, including potential site-specific water quality standards and site-specific changes to pesticide regulation. In addition to the specific issues on which EPA solicits comments, EPA is interested in comments on any other aspects of EPA's programs affecting Bay Delta Estuary aquatic resources. This notice contains a summary version of the ANPR. Information on accessing the unabridged version is included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

EPA is taking final action to approve a revision to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for Kansas, submitted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to EPA on October 4, 2010, for parallel processing. KDHE submitted the final version of this SIP revision on December 23, 2010. The SIP revision, which incorporates updates to KDHE's air quality regulations, includes two significant changes impacting the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) under Kansas's New Source Review (NSR) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. First, the SIP revision provides the State of Kansas with authority to issue PSD permits governing GHGs. Second, the SIP revision establishes emission thresholds for determining which new stationary sources and modification projects become subject to Kansas's PSD permitting requirements for their GHG emissions. The first provision is required under the GHG PSD SIP call, which EPA published on December 13, 2010, and which required the state of Kansas to apply its PSD program to GHG-emitting sources. The second provision is consistent with the thresholds EPA established in the Tailoring Rule, published on June 3, 2010. EPA is approving this SIP revision because this SIP revision meets the requirements of the GHG PSD SIP Call. In addition, as a result of this approval, EPA is rescinding the Federal implementation plan (FIP)as it relates to Kansas onlythat had previously been imposed on December 30, 2010.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hereby granting a nationwide limited waiver of the Buy American requirements of section 1605 of the Recovery Act under the authority of Section 1605(b)(2) (iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality) with respect to (1) two-stage, steam heated absorption chillers rated at 500-1,500 tons; (2) single wall evacuated tube collectors for solar thermal systems (when used in an educational context for the purposes of comparing relative efficiency of solar thermal technologies); (3) 2-ton adsorption chillers (for educational purposes, or where alternative technologies are not serviceable); (4) LED Lamp and controller for studio lights in a television broadcast studio (where a CRI (Color Rendition Index) sufficient to render accurate flesh tones and natural colors and a precise color tuning control to dial in exact color temperature for accurate colors under multiple lighting setups are required); (5) Global Positioning System (GPS) Time Source Modules (to serve as direct communication link between a county or city's Traffic Management System (TMS) and the Caltrans Traffic Signal Management and Surveillance System (CTNET)); and (6) elongated wall-hung rear spud toilets (bowl and hardware) that will be used on eligible EERE Recovery Act-funded projects.

This notice announces a meeting of the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.