May 4, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Since the enactment of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the ``Dodd-Frank Act'') on July 21, 2010, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') has published in the Federal Register a significant number of notices of proposed rulemaking to implement the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that establish a comprehensive new framework for the regulation of swaps. In order to provide interested parties with an additional opportunity to participate in these Dodd-Frank Act rulemakings and comment on the proposed new regulatory framework, the Commission is reopening or extending the comment period for many of its proposed rulemakings. The Commission is also requesting comment on the order in which it should consider final rulemakings made under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is extending the comment period for a release proposing a new rule and rule amendments to implement the provisions of Section 952 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which added Section 10C to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``Exchange Act''). [Release No. 33-9199; 76 FR 18966 (April 6, 2011)]. The original comment period for Release 33-9199 is scheduled to end on April 29, 2011. The Commission is extending the time period in which to provide the Commission with comments on that release to May 19, 2011. This action will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the issues and prepare their comments.

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. For Model A310 and A300-600 series airplanes, the MCAI describes the unsafe condition as:

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted Amendments 38 and 39 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/ Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (FMP) to NMFS for review. If approved, Amendment 38 would establish a mechanism in the FMP to specify annual catch limits and accountability measures for each crab stock. This action is necessary to account for uncertainty in the overfishing limit and prevent overfishing. If approved, Amendment 39 would modify the snow crab rebuilding plan to define the stock as rebuilt the first year the stock biomass is above the level necessary to produce maximum sustainable yield. Amendments 38 and 39 are intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will hold four public hearings on the Agency's proposed rules for Examinations of Work Areas in Underground Coal Mines (Examinations of Work Areas) and for Pattern of Violations. Each hearing will cover the major issues raised by commenters in response to the respective proposed rules.

These special conditions are issued for the Gulfstream Aerospace LP (GALP) model G250 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with dynamic test requirements for side-facing, single-occupant seats. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issues a final rule amending the existing test procedures for fluorescent lamp ballasts at Appendix Q and establishing a new test procedure at Appendix Q1. The amendments to appendix Q update a reference to an industry test procedure. The new test procedure at Appendix Q1 changes the efficiency metric to ballast luminous efficiency (BLE), which is measured directly using electrical measurements instead of the photometric measurements employed in the test procedure at Appendix Q. The calculation of BLE includes a correction factor to account for the reduced lighting efficacy of low frequency lamp operation. The test procedure specifies use of a fluorescent lamp load during testing, allowing ballasts to operate closer to their optimal design points and providing a better descriptor of real ballast performance compared to resistor loads. If DOE determines that amendments to the fluorescent lamp ballast energy conservation standards are required, they will be issued or published by June 30, 2011, and use of the test procedures at Appendix Q1 will be required on the compliance date of the amendments. Until that time, manufacturers must use the procedures at Appendix Q to certify compliance.

EPA is proposing to revoke certain tolerances in follow-up to canceled uses for chlorpyrifos, chloroneb, clofencet, endosulfan, ethyl parathion, methidathion, methyl parathion, and N,N-diethyl-2-(4- methylbenzyloxy)ethylamine, modify certain tolerances for atrazine, establish tolerances for endosulfan, and make minor revisions to tolerance expressions for a few of the aforementioned pesticide ingredients. Also, EPA will be removing currently expired tolerances for methidathion, and ethyl and methyl parathion.

This proposed rule would implement provisions of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) affecting the eligibility, benefits, certification, and employment and training (E&T) requirements for applicant or participant households in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The rule would amend the SNAP regulations to: Exclude military combat pay from the income of SNAP households; raise the minimum standard deduction and the minimum benefit for small households; eliminate the cap on the deduction for dependent care expenses; index resource limits to inflation; exclude retirement and education accounts from countable resources; permit States to expand the use of simplified reporting; permit States to provide transitional benefits to households leaving State-funded cash assistance programs; allow States to establish telephonic signature systems; permit States to use E&T funds to provide post-employment job retention services; and limit the E&T funding cycle to 15 months. These provisions are intended to increase SNAP benefit levels for certain participants, reduce barriers to participation, and promote efficiency in the administration of the program.

This establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.