April 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is finalizing approval of a revision to the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District's portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision was proposed in the Federal Register on October 5, 2010, and concerns emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) from the landfill gas flare at the Kiefer Landfill in Sacramento, California. We are approving portions of a Permit to Operate that limit NOX emissions from this facility under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Three Forks springsnail (Pyrgulopsis trivialis) and the San Bernardino springsnail (Pyrgulopsis bernardina) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to these species. We also propose to designate critical habitat for both species under the Act. In total, approximately 4.5 hectares (11.1 acres) are being proposed for designation as critical habitat for Three Forks springnail in Apache County, and approximately 0.815 hectares (2.013 acres) for San Bernardino springsnail in Cochise County, Arizona. We seek information and comments from the public regarding the Three Forks and San Bernardino springsnails and this proposed rule.

On March 31, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a Decision and Order in the Federal Register which granted 27 companies submitting petitions before the required date (i.e., by February 17, 2011), a 180-day extension of the compliance date for recent amendments to the DOE test procedure for residential furnaces and boilers related to the standby mode and off mode energy consumption of these products. Recently, DOE received a petition dated February 17, 2011 from a 28th manufacturer, Viessmann Manufacturing Company, Inc., in which the manufacturer also requested the above-referenced 180-day extension. Although DOE received this petition well after February 17, 2011, the Department believes a number of factors, including international postal handling and Federal mail security screening, contributed to the delay in receipt of this petition. After review, DOE has decided to grant the petition. However, DOE was not able to include its determination regarding this petition in its March 31, 2011 Decision and Order, because publication was already underway. Through this correction notice, DOE is modifying its Decision and Order to add Viessmann Manufacturing Company, Inc., to the list of companies to whom the extension of the compliance date has been granted.

Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (``CPSIA'') requires the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC,'' ``Commission,'' or ``we'') to promulgate consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products. These standards are to be ``substantially the same as'' applicable voluntary standards or more stringent than the voluntary standard if the Commission concludes that more stringent requirements would further reduce the risk of injury associated with the product. The Commission is proposing a more stringent safety standard for portable bed rails that will further reduce the risk of injury associated with these products.\1\

This document contains a final regulation that applies to a controlled group of corporations. The regulation clarifies that a corporation that satisfies the controlled group rules for stock ownership and qualification is a member of such group, without regard to its status as a component member.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau published a final rule revising its distilled spirits plant regulations in the Federal Register of February 16, 2011 (76 FR 9080). That final rule contained several typographical and textual errors. This document corrects those errors.

The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Padanaram Bridge at mile 1.0 across the Apponagansett River, at Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The deviation is necessary to facilitate electrical maintenance. This deviation allows the bridge to remain in the closed position for five days.

The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the 103rd Street (Wards Island) Pedestrian Bridge, mile 0.0, across the Harlem River at New York City, New York. The deviation is necessary to facilitate bridge rehabilitation. This deviation allows the bridge to remain in the closed position for 70 days.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is promulgating this interim-final rule for its International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP) in order to remove a regulatory limitation on the discretion of the Director of OVC to accept claims filed more than three years after the date that an incident is designated as an incident of international terrorism.

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), designate critical habitat for the Cook Inlet beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) distinct population segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Two areas are designated, comprising 7,800 square kilometers (3,013 square miles) of marine habitat. In developing this final rule we considered public and peer review comments, as well as economic impacts and impacts to national security. We have decided in the final rule to exclude the Port of Anchorage (POA) in consideration of national security interest. Additionally, consistent with the proposed rule, portions of military lands were determined to be ineligible for designation as critical habitat. We solicited comments from the public on all aspects of the proposed rule, and conducted four public hearings on the action. Along with the proposed rule, we published a draft economic impacts analysis, entitled ``Draft RIR/4(b)(2) Preparatory Assessment/IFRA for the Critical Habitat Designation of Cook Inlet Beluga Whale.'' This economic analysis has been completed to support the final designation. See ``Final RIR/4(b)(2) Preparatory Assessment/ FRFA for the Critical Habitat Designation of Cook Inlet Beluga Whale'' for a discussion of these topics.

The Federal Maritime Commission is correcting a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on March 2, 2011, exempting licensed non-vessel-operating common carriers that enter into negotiated rate arrangements from the tariff rate publication requirements of the Shipping Act of 1984. This correction clarifies that the negotiated rate arrangement must be agreed to prior to receipt of the cargo and removes the requirement that non-vessel-operating common carriers indicate their intention to move cargo under negotiated rate arrangements on their Form FMC-1 on file with the Commission.

This regulation replaces the established tolerance for residues of glyphosate in or on sweet corn, grain with corn, sweet, kernel plus cob with husk removed and reduces the established tolerance for residues of glyphosate and N-acetyl-glyphosate in or on poultry, meat. Monsanto Company requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

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: * * * * * A report has been received of an incident where one of the two bolts attaching the actuator mounting bracket to the MLG [main landing gear] Shock Strut was found loose, leading to failure of the other attachment bolt, subsequently resulting in failure of the bracket. This condition, if not detected and corrected, could prevent the MLG to extend to the full down-and-locked position, possibly resulting in MLG collapse upon landing or during roll-out, with consequent damage to the aeroplane and injury to the occupants. * * * * * The proposed AD would require actions that are intended to address the unsafe condition described in the MCAI.

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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter the Service or we) proposes to establish annual hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds for the 2011-12 hunting season. We annually prescribe outside limits (frameworks) within which States may select hunting seasons. This proposed rule provides the regulatory schedule, describes the proposed regulatory alternatives for the 2011-12 duck hunting seasons, requests proposals from Indian Tribes that wish to establish special migratory game bird hunting regulations on Federal Indian reservations and ceded lands, and requests proposals for the 2013 spring and summer migratory bird subsistence season in Alaska. Migratory game bird hunting seasons provide opportunities for recreation and sustenance; aid Federal, State, and Tribal governments in the management of migratory game birds; and permit harvests at levels compatible with migratory game bird population status and habitat conditions.

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act) involving endocrine disorders in adults and children. The revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, advances in medical knowledge, information from medical experts, and comments we received from the public in response to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), and at an outreach policy conference.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued regulatory guidance to agencies to establish requirements for Federal financial assistance applicants, recipients, and sub-recipients that are necessary for the implementation of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (the Transparency Act). OMB's regulations require agencies that make awards of Federal financial assistance subject to the Transparency Act to include the requirements identified in each regulation that has application or plan due dates after October 1, 2010. The Watershed Operations and Flood Prevention Program, Emergency Watersheds Protection Program, Healthy Forests Reserve Program, Agricultural Management Assistance Program, and the Conservation Stewardship Program have application or plan due dates after October 1, 2010, and therefore, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is incorporating the Transparency Act's recipient registration and reporting requirements into these programs' regulations. These changes, the terms of which are not subject to agency discretion, are mandatory.

The Secretary proposes to amend the regulations implementing section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act, which is also known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (FERPA). These proposed amendments are necessary to ensure that the Department's implementation of FERPA continues to protect the privacy of education records, as intended by Congress, while allowing for the effective use of data in statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS) as envisioned in the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (COMPETES Act) and furthermore supported under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Improved access to data contained within an SLDS will facilitate States' ability to evaluate education programs, to build upon what works and discard what does not, to increase accountability and transparency, and to contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement in education. These proposed amendments would enable authorized representatives of State and local educational authorities, and organizations conducting studies, to use SLDS data to achieve these important outcomes while protecting privacy under FERPA through an expansion of the requirements for written agreements and the Department's enforcement mechanisms.

EPA is streamlining the process by which manufacturers of clean alternative fuel conversion systems may demonstrate compliance with vehicle and engine emissions requirements. Specifically, EPA is revising the regulatory criteria for gaining an exemption from the Clean Air Act prohibition against tampering for the conversion of vehicles and engines to operate on a clean alternative fuel. This final rule creates additional compliance options beyond certification that protect manufacturers of clean alternative fuel conversion systems against a tampering violation, depending on the age of the vehicle or engine to be converted. The new options alleviate some economic and procedural impediments to clean alternative fuel conversions while maintaining environmental safeguards to ensure that acceptable emission levels from converted vehicles are sustained.

At the request of the New England Fishery Management Council (Council), this notification announces that the Council and NMFS is considering and seeking public comment on, potential changes to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan that would be implemented through proposed rulemaking, under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act), to limit the accumulation of excessive control or ownership of fishing privileges in the NE multispecies groundfish fishery. The date of publication of this notification, April 7, 2011, shall be known as the ``control date,'' and may be used as a reference date for future management measures related to such rulemaking. In particular this notification is intended to promote awareness of this possible rulemaking; provide notice to the public that any current or future accumulation of fishing privilege interests in the NE multispecies fishery may be affected, restricted, or even nullified; and to discourage speculative behavior in the market for fishing privileges while the Council considers whether and how such limitations on accumulation of fishing privileges should be developed. This notification also gives the public notice that interested participants should locate and preserve records that substantiate and verify their ownership or control of groundfish permits and other fishing privileges in the NE multispecies fishery in Federal waters.

EPA is proposing to approve a portion of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Oregon for the purpose of addressing the interstate transport provisions of Clean Air Act (CAA) section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or standards) and the 1997 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) NAAQS. Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) of the CAA requires that each State have adequate provisions to prohibit air emissions from adversely affecting air quality in other States through interstate transport. EPA is proposing to approve Oregon's SIP revision for the 1997 8-hour ozone and 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS as meeting the requirements of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) to prohibit emissions that will contribute significantly to nonattainment of the these standards in any other State and to prohibit emissions that will interfere with maintenance of these standards by any other State.

The Department of Labor is reviewing the use of electronic media by employee benefit plans to furnish information to participants and beneficiaries covered by employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). In 2002, the Department adopted standards for the electronic distribution of plan disclosures required under ERISA. The purpose of the review is to explore whether, and possibly how, to expand or modify these standards taking into account current technology, best practices and the need to protect the rights and interests of participants and beneficiaries. This request for information (RFI) solicits views, suggestions, and comments from plan participants and beneficiaries, employers and other plan sponsors, plan administrators, plan service providers, health insurance issuers, and members of the financial community, as well as the general public, on this important issue.

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance relating to the reduction of the number of separate foreign tax credit limitation categories under section 904(d) of the Internal Revenue Code. Changes to the applicable law were made by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA) reducing the number of section 904(d) separate categories from eight to two, effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2006. The final regulations provide guidance needed to comply with these changes and affect individuals and corporations claiming foreign tax credits.

In this action, EPA proposes to make a finding that the coal- fired Portland Generating Station (Portland Plant) in Upper Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, is emitting air pollutants in violation of the interstate transport provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). Specifically, EPA is proposing to find that emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from the Portland Plant significantly contribute to nonattainment and interfere with maintenance of the 1-hour SO2 national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) in New Jersey. This finding is proposed in response to a petition submitted by the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) on September 17, 2010. In this action, EPA is also proposing emission limitations and compliance schedules to ensure that the Portland Plant will no longer significantly contribute to nonattainment, and no longer interfere with maintenance of the 1- hour SO2 NAAQS, thereby permitting continued operation of the Portland Plant beyond the 3-month limit established by the CAA for sources subject to such a finding.