March 16, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This regulation extends a temporary exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of Bacillus thuringiensis eCry3.1Ab protein in corn or on the food and feed commodities of corn; corn, field; corn, sweet; and corn, pop, when used as a plant- incorporated protectant in accordance with the terms of Experimental Use Permit (EUP) No. 67979-EUP-8. Syngenta Seeds, Inc. submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), requesting to extend the temporary tolerance exemption that was set to expire on June 1, 2012. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of Bacillus thuringiensis eCry3.1Ab protein in corn. The temporary tolerance exemption now expires on March 1, 2013.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a request to renew an existing approved Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This ICR, entitled: Worker Protection Standard Training and Notification and identified by EPA ICR No. 1759.06 and OMB Control No. 2070-0148, is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2011. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection.

EPA is proposing to withdraw Federal aquatic life water quality criteria for chronic and acute copper and nickel, and chronic endrin and selenium applicable to certain waters of the Great Lakes in Wisconsin. Wisconsin's revised and EPA-approved criteria adequately protect all waters of the State designated for aquatic life use at a level consistent with the Federal requirements. Once finalized, the withdrawal will enable Wisconsin to implement its EPA-approved aquatic life criteria.

This document establishes Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations regarding the payment of a monthly assistance allowance to veterans training to make the United States Paralympics team, as authorized by section 703 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. The rule requires submission of an application to establish eligibility for the allowance and certification by the United States Paralympics. VA will pay the allowance to a veteran with a service- connected or nonservice-connected disability if the veteran is competing for a slot on or selected for the United States Paralympics team or is residing at a United States Paralympics training center.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is making available for public comment a modification of the proposed information collection request (ICR) related to the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME) published on December 1, 2008. In the comments on the NPRM, a commenter inquired as to what a motor carrier had to do to verify that a medical examiner's certificate had been issued to a commercial motor vehicle driver by a medical examiner listed on the proposed NRCME. In response to this and other comments, FMCSA is considering whether to require employers to verify that the medical examiner is listed and to place a record of such verification in the driver qualification file. This document is to inform the public that a modified ICR that includes this verification requirement under consideration is available for public comment. The other information collection requirements were made available for public comments at the same time as the NPRM. Therefore, comments will only be considered in response to this document with respect to the information collection aspects of the verification requirements under consideration by the Agency. Comments on the other information collection requirements proposed with the NPRM will not be considered.

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of requests for amendments by registrants to delete uses in certain pesticide registrations. Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA provides that a registrant of a pesticide product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations be amended to delete one or more uses. FIFRA further provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any request in the Federal Register.

This document makes amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulations in order to make editorial changes.

DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to align it with a Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Board clause, Disclosure and Consistency of Cost Accounting Practices-Foreign Concerns.

DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 868 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. Section 868 provides that the FAR shall be amended with respect to the procurement of commercial services, specifically services that are not offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, but are of a type offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace. These services may be considered commercial items only if the contracting officer has determined in writing that the offeror has submitted sufficient information to evaluate, through price analysis, the reasonableness of the price for such services. The rule details the information the contracting officer may consider in order to make this determination.

DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, with changes, the interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 826, Market Research, of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. Section 826 requires the head of an agency to take appropriate steps to ensure that any prime contractor of a contract (or task order or delivery order) in an amount in excess of $5 million for the procurement of items other than commercial items engages in market research as necessary before making purchases.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 863 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. Section 863, entitled ``Requirements for Purchase of Property and Services Pursuant to Multiple-Award Contracts,'' mandates enhanced competition for orders placed under multiple-award contracts, including GSA's Federal Supply Schedules (FSS). If an individual order over the simplified acquisition threshold does not follow the section 863 competitive procedures, section 863 requires that a notice of, and the determination to waive competition for, the order be published in FedBizOpps within 14 days after award. These FAR changes support the Administration's commitment to strengthened competition and increased transparency.

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by DoD, GSA, and NASA in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-50. A companion document, the Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.