March 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are announcing receipt of a request to remove a required amendment to the Pennsylvania regulatory program (the ``Pennsylvania program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). In response to a required program amendment codified in the Federal regulations, Pennsylvania has submitted rationale that it believes supports its position that current program provisions are sufficient to render its program no less effective than the Federal requirements and, therefore, no amendment is necessary. The required amendment pertains to regulatory exemptions for coal extraction incidental to the extraction of other minerals. This document gives the times and locations that the Pennsylvania program and this 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.

On December 30, 2010, the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register and invited comment. The Board's proposed rule would amend the substantive and procedural rules for the authorization of Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZs or zones) and the regulation of zone activity. Specifically, the proposed rule contains changes related to manufacturing and value-added activity in zones, as well as new rules designed to address compliance with the Act's requirement that a grantee provide uniform treatment for all users of a zone. The current comment period is open through April 8, 2011. The Board hereby extends the comment period to May 26, 2011. Additionally, the Board will accept reply comments that are filed by June 27, 2011.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are approving an amendment to the Louisiana regulatory program and abandoned mine land reclamation plan under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Louisiana proposed revisions to its regulations regarding: Definitions; lands eligible for remining; general provisions for review of permit application information and entry of information into Applicant Violator System (AVS); review of applicant, operator, and ownership and control information; review of permit history; review of compliance history; permit eligibility determination; unanticipated events or conditions at remining sites; eligibility for provisionally issued permits; written findings for permit application approval; initial review and finding requirements for improvidently issued permits; suspension or rescission requirements for improvidently issued permits; who may challenge ownership or control listings and findings; how to challenge an ownership or control listing or finding; burden of proof for ownership or control challenges; written agency decision on challenges to ownership or control listings or findings; post-permit issuance requirements for regulatory authorities and other actions based on ownership, control, and violation information; post-permit issuance information requirements for permittees; transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights; certifying and updating existing permit application information; providing applicant and operator information; providing permit history information; providing violation information; backfilling and grading: previously mined areas; cessation orders; and contractor eligibility. Louisiana revised its regulatory program to be no less effective than the corresponding Federal regulations, and its abandoned mine land reclamation plan to be consistent with the Federal regulations.

NMFS closes the commercial sector for vermilion snapper in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. This closure is necessary to protect the vermilion snapper resource.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in the West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2011 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock in the West Yakutat District of the GOA.

The EPA proposes interim approval of the Title V Operating Permits Program submitted by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe (Tribe). The Tribe's Title V Operating Permit Program (Title V Program) was submitted for the purpose of administering a tribal program for issuing operating permits to all major stationary sources, and certain other sources on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation (Reservation).

This document announces the second meeting of the Wholesale Pork Reporting Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (Committee). The primary purpose of the Committee is to develop proposed language to amend the Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) regulations to implement mandatory pork price reporting, as directed by the Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-239).

EPA is taking direct final action to promulgate amendments to a final rule that provided national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for existing stationary spark ignition reciprocating internal combustion engines. The final rule was published on August 20, 2010. This direct final action amends certain regulatory text to clarify compliance requirements related to continuous parameter monitoring systems. EPA is also correcting minor typographical errors in the regulatory text to the August 20, 2010, action.

This is one of several releases that the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') will be considering relating to the use of credit ratings in our rules and forms. In this release, we are proposing a new rule as well as rule and form amendments under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940 to implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act''). The Commission is proposing amendments to two rules and four forms under the Investment Company Act and the Securities Act that contain references to credit ratings. The proposed amendments would give effect to provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that call for the amendment of Commission regulations that contain credit rating references. In addition, the Commission is proposing a new rule under the Investment Company Act to establish a standard of credit-worthiness in place of a statutory reference to credit ratings in that Act that the Dodd-Frank Act removes.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing a proposed rule to reclassify benzocaine from its previously proposed monograph status (category I) for over-the-counter (OTC) weight control use to nonmonograph status. Although, in the Federal Register of February 26, 1982, an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) included the recommendation of an Advisory Panel, consisting of health care providers from outside FDA, recommended that benzocaine should be generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE) for weight control, this document includes our first evaluation of benzocaine for this use. Based on our evaluation of the available data and information, we have tentatively concluded that the data are not sufficient to support the safety and effectiveness of benzocaine for this use. This proposed rule, if finalized, would require an approved new drug application (NDA) or abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for the marketing of OTC weight control products containing benzocaine.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of fomesafen in or on pepper (bell and non-bell), potato, and tomato. Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is amending its test procedures for microwave ovens under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to provide for the measurement of standby mode and off mode power use by microwave ovens. These amendments incorporate into the DOE test procedure provisions from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard 62301, ``Household electrical appliances Measurement of standby power,'' First Edition 2005-06 (IEC Standard 62301 (First Edition)). In addition, these amendments adopt in the DOE test procedure definitions of modes based on the relevant provisions from the IEC Standard 62301 Second Edition, Final Draft International Standard (IEC Standard 62301 (FDIS)), as well as language to clarify application of these provisions for measuring standby mode and off mode power consumption in microwave ovens.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) hereby proposes regulations to further implement new statutory provisions enacted by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) regarding registration of intermediaries. Specifically, the Commission proposes certain conforming amendments to the Commission's regulations regarding the registration of intermediaries, consistent with other Commission rulemakings issued pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act; and other modernizing and technical amendments to the regulations.

This document publishes in the Federal Register an amendment adopting airworthiness directive (AD) 2011-04-09 that was sent previously by individual notices to the known U.S. owners and operators of affected airplanes identified above. This AD requires modifying the chemical oxygen generators in the lavatory. This AD was prompted by reports that the current design of these oxygen generators presents a hazard that could jeopardize flight safety. We are issuing this AD to eliminate this hazard.

This action proposes to introduce low altitude helicopter RNAV routes into the United States domestic Air Traffic Service (ATS) route structure to be used by suitably equipped helicopters having IFR- approved Global Positioning System (GPS)/Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) equipment. Additionally, the FAA is proposing to establish two such routes in the northeast corridor between the Washington, DC and New York City metropolitan areas. The FAA is proposing this action to enhance safety and to improve the efficient use of the navigable airspace for en route IFR helicopter operations.

The FAA is withdrawing the Notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on September 3, 2010, to remove VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) Federal airway V-284, which extends between Sea Isle, NJ and Cedar Lake, NJ. Upon further consideration, the FAA has determined that an operational requirement for the airway still exists; therefore, withdrawal of the proposed rule is warranted.

This document contains corrections to the final rule that implemented Amendment 17B to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 17B), which was published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2010.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 m) length overall (LOA) using jig or hook-and-line gear in the Bogoslof Pacific cod exemption area of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the limit of Pacific cod for catcher vessels less than 60 ft LOA using jig or hook-and-line gear in the Bogoslof Pacific cod exemption area in the BSAI.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) amends its rules governing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to provide for national EAS testing and collection of data from such tests. This will help determine whether the EAS functions as intended to deliver a national Presidential alert.

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision, submitted by the State of Oregon on December 20, 2010, with supplemental information submitted February 1, 2011, as meeting the requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA) section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) as it applies to visibility for the 1997 8-hour ozone and 1997 particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). EPA is also proposing to approve a portion of the SIP submittal, as meeting certain requirements of the regional haze program, including the Federal regulations for best available retrofit technology (BART).

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') is reopening the period for public comment on proposed Regulation MC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act''), which is designed to mitigate potential conflicts of interest at clearing agencies that clear security-based swaps (``security-based swap clearing agencies''), security-based swap execution facilities (``SB SEFs''), and national securities exchanges that post or make available for trading security-based swaps (``SBS exchanges''). The proposal was originally published in Securities Exchange Act Release No. 63107 (October 14, 2010), 75 FR 65882 (October 26, 2010) (``Regulation MC Proposing Release''). The Commission is reopening the period for public comment to solicit further comment on Regulation MC in light of other more recent proposed rulemakings that concern conflicts of interest at security-based swap clearing agencies and SB SEFs.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated 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:

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated 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:

The FAA proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain Boeing Model 737-200, -200C, - 300, -400, and -500 series airplanes. The existing AD currently requires repetitive inspections to find fatigue cracking of certain upper and lower skin panels of the fuselage, and follow-on and corrective actions if necessary. The existing AD also includes a terminating action for the repetitive inspections of certain modified or repaired areas only. This proposed AD would add new inspections for cracking of the fuselage skin along certain chem-milled lines, and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD would also reduce certain thresholds and intervals required by the existing AD. This proposed AD results from reports of new findings of vertical cracks in the fuselage skin along the chem-milled steps adjacent to the butt joints. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the skin panels, which could result in sudden fracture and failure of the skin panels of the fuselage, and consequent rapid decompression of the airplane.

We are revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. That NPRM proposed to require installation of an automatic shutoff system for the center tank fuel boost pumps, installation of a placard in the airplane flight deck if necessary, and concurrent modification of the P5-2 fuel control module assembly. That NPRM also proposed to require revisions to the Limitations and Normal Procedures sections of the airplane flight manual to advise the flightcrew of certain operating restrictions for airplanes equipped with an automated center tank fuel pump shutoff control. Additionally, that NPRM proposed to require a revision to the Airworthiness Limitations (AWL) section of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) to incorporate AWL No. 28-AWL-19 and No. 28-AWL-23. That NPRM further proposed to require installation of a secondary control relay for the electrical control circuit of each of the two center tank fuel boost pumps. That NPRM was prompted by fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer. This action revises that NPRM by adding airplanes, adding additional operational testing of the automatic shutoff system for certain airplanes, removing the requirement for incorporating AWL No. 28-AWL-19 into the AWL section of the ICA, and adding an option of installation and maintenance of universal fault interrupters using a certain supplemental type certificate. We are proposing this supplemental NPRM to prevent center tank fuel pump operation with continuous low pressure, which could lead to friction sparks or overheating in the fuel pump inlet that could create a potential ignition source inside the center fuel tank. These conditions, in combination with flammable fuel vapors, could result in a center fuel tank explosion and consequent loss of the airplane. Since these actions impose an additional burden over those proposed in the NPRM, we are reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these proposed changes.