July 6, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 11 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Amendment 11), incorporating the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), for review by the Secretary of Commerce and is requesting comments from the public.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Cape Fear River Memorial Bridge across the Cape Fear River, mile 26.8, and the Isabel S. Holmes Bridge across Northeast Cape Fear River, at mile 1.0, both in Wilmington, NC. The deviation restricts the operation of the draw spans to accommodate the 29th Annual Wilmington Family YMCA Tri-Span race.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District has issued a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the Walnut Street Bridge, across the Christina River, at mile 2.8, in Wilmington, DE. The deviation restricts the operation of the draw span in order to facilitate the inspection of the operational equipment.

Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and modified BFEs are made final for the communities listed below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that each community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The Coast Guard is establishing fourteen temporary special local regulations and safety zones for marine events and fireworks displays within the Captain of the Port (COTP) Long Island Sound Zone. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the events. Entry into, transit through, mooring or anchoring within these zones is prohibited unless authorized by the COTP Sector Long Island Sound.

This document corrects the preamble to a direct final rule (DFR) which was published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2011, regarding the Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Furnaces and Residential Central Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps. This correction revises the DFR's discussion of review under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) in section V, ``Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review.''

The National Park Service (NPS) proposes to designate routes where off-road vehicles (ORVs) may be used within Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore), North Carolina. Under NPS general regulations, the operation of motor vehicles off of roads within areas of the national park system is prohibited unless otherwise provided for by special regulation. The proposed rule would authorize ORV use at the Seashore, manage it to protect and preserve natural and cultural resources and natural processes, and provide a variety of safe visitor experiences while minimizing conflicts among various users.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Act), transfers to the OCC the functions of the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) relating to Federal savings associations and also transfers to the OCC rulemaking authority of the OTS and the Director of the OTS, respectively, relating to all savings associations. Functions of the OTS relating to State savings associations are transferred to the FDIC. Section 316(c) of the Act requires the OCC and the FDIC, after consultation with one another, to identify those regulations of the OTS that are continued under Section 316(b) of the Act that the OCC, with respect to Federal savings associations, and the FDIC, with respect to State savings associations, will enforce, and to publish a list of those regulations in the Federal Register. This joint notice sets out the required lists of both the OCC and the FDIC.

The Department of the Treasury announces the availability of its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules and invites interested members of the public to submit comments on the plan. Issued pursuant to Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' Treasury developed its preliminary plan to facilitate the review of existing regulations through the use of retrospective review.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing final and temporary regulations that remove any reference to, or requirement of reliance on, credit ratings in regulations under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and provide substitute standards of credit-worthiness where appropriate. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires each Federal agency to take such actions regarding its regulations. These regulations affect persons subject to various provisions of the Code. The text of the temporary regulations published in the Rules and Regulations section of the Federal Register also serves as the text of the proposed regulations.

DEA proposes adjusting the fee schedule for DEA registration and reregistration fees necessary to recover the costs of its Diversion Control Program relating to the registration and control of the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, importation and exportation of controlled substances and List I chemicals as mandated by the Controlled Substances Act.

This document contains corrections to a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-101826-11) that was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 (76 FR 32882) modifying the new markets tax credit program to facilitate and encourage investments in non-real estate businesses in low-income communities.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is amending its regulations which currently contain TVA's procedures for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Privacy Act, and the Government in the Sunshine Act. TVA is adding procedures related to classified national security information.

The Department of Homeland Security is giving concurrent notice of a newly established system of records pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 for the ``Department of Homeland Security/ALL030 Use of the Terrorist Screening Database System of Records'' and this proposed rulemaking. In this proposed rulemaking, the Department proposes to exempt portions of the system of records from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements.

The Postal Service will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM[supreg]) 604.4, 604.8, and 604.10, to implement revenue protection procedures for mailpieces entered with shortpaid and unpaid Information Based Indicia (IBI) postage payment and to implement revenue protection procedures for shortpaid Express Mail[supreg] postage.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District (ICAPCD), Kern County Air Pollution Control District (KCAPCD), and Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from architectural coating operations. We are approving local rules that regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

We are superseding an existing emergency airworthiness directive (EAD) for the specified Schweizer model helicopters that was previously sent to all known U.S. owners and operators. That EAD currently requires removing each locknut and verifying sufficient drag torque and retorquing, or if the locknut does not have sufficient drag torque, replacing the locknut with an airworthy locknut. This AD retains the existing EAD requirements but also requires within a specified time, modifying the expandable bolts and installing a cotter pin. This AD is prompted by a locknut working loose from a bolt attaching the tailboom support strut at the aft cluster fitting because the locknut installed on the expandable bolt did not have the proper threads. We are issuing this AD to modify each expandable bolt to allow adding a cotter pin to prevent the strut and driveshaft separating from the helicopter and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

The United States International Trade Commission (``Commission'') proposes to amend its rules of practice and procedure concerning rules of general application, safeguards, antidumping and countervailing duty, and adjudication and enforcement. The amendments are necessary to implement a new Commission requirement for electronic filing of most documents with the agency. The intended effects of the proposed amendments are to increase efficiency in processing documents filed with the Commission, reduce Commission expenditures, and conform agency processes to Federal Government initiatives.

NMFS has received a request from BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (BP) for authorization for the take of marine mammals incidental to operation of offshore oil and gas facilities in the U.S. Beaufort Sea, Alaska, for the period 2011-2016. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is proposing to issue regulations to govern that take and requesting information, suggestions, and comments on these proposed regulations. These regulations, if issued, would include required mitigation measures to ensure the least practicable adverse impact on the affected marine mammal species and stocks.

This final rule amends regulations of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) related to direct investment surveys. Specifically, BEA is eliminating reporting requirements for several direct investment surveys that are no longer necessary because the information is collected on other surveys of direct investment conducted by BEA. The surveys that are eliminated from the regulations are: A survey of foreign direct investment in the U.S. seafood industry, two schedules of expenditures for property, plant, and equipment of U.S. direct investment abroad, and two industry classification questionnaires. In addition, BEA is eliminating the reporting requirements for two surveys of new foreign direct investment in the United States. BEA suspended collection of these surveys in 2009 in order to align its international survey program with available resources. BEA is also making other minor revisions to its regulations to eliminate outdated information.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are issuing a joint final rule establishing new requirements for the fuel economy and environment label that will be posted on the window sticker of all new automobiles sold in the U.S. The labeling requirements apply for model year 2013 and later vehicles with a voluntary manufacturer option for model year 2012. The labeling requirements apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium duty passenger vehicles such as larger sport-utility vehicles and vans. The redesigned label provides expanded information to American consumers about new vehicle fuel economy and fuel consumption, greenhouse gas and smog-forming emissions, and projected fuel costs and savings, and also includes a smartphone interactive code that permits direct access to additional Web resources. Specific label designs are provided for gasoline, diesel, ethanol flexible fuel, compressed natural gas, electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This rulemaking is in response to provisions in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that imposed several new labeling requirements and new advanced-technology vehicles entering the market. NHTSA and EPA believe that these changes will help consumers to make more informed vehicle purchase decisions, particularly as the future automotive marketplace provides more diverse vehicle technologies from which consumers may choose. These new label requirements do not affect the methodologies that EPA uses to generate consumer fuel economy estimates, or the automaker compliance values for NHTSA's corporate average fuel economy and EPA's greenhouse gas emissions standards. This action also finalizes a number of technical corrections to EPA's light-duty greenhouse gas emission standards program.