July 12, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the availability, and opportunity for public review and comment, of a draft environmental assessment (EA), that examines the impacts of a proposal by the GSA. The EA considers proposed renovation and demolition actions at the Page Federal Complex in Overland, Missouri. The EA identifies, evaluates, and documents the effects of the GSA renovating the Charles F. Prevedel Building, including the replacement of mechanical systems to meet high performance green building standards, and making needed improvements in parking, security setbacks, and the like; and demolishing Buildings 100,101, and 102 at the Page Federal Complex, which are no longer needed.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NHTSA plans to analyze the potential environmental impacts of the agency's rulemaking to implement the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010. The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act mandates a rulemaking to establish a standard requiring electric and hybrid vehicles to be equipped with a pedestrian alert sound system that would activate in certain vehicle operating conditions to aid visually-impaired and other pedestrians in detecting the presence, direction, location, and operation of those vehicles. Under NEPA, once an agency determines the purpose and need of the proposed federal action, it engages in scoping. This is the process by which the scope of the issues and the alternatives to be examined are determined. This notice initiates the scoping process by inviting comments from Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian Tribes, and the public to help identify the environmental issues and reasonable alternatives to be examined under NEPA. This notice also provides guidance for participating in the scoping process and additional information about the alternatives NHTSA expects to consider in its NEPA analysis.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is revising its interim Enforcement Policy on enforcement discretion for certain fire protection issues to extend the enforcement discretion to correspond with a submittal schedule for new license amendment requests (LARs). This interim policy affects licensees that are transitioning to use the National Fire Protection Association Standard 805, ``Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants'' (NFPA 805).

PHMSA is issuing this document to notify operators of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities of the creation of a dedicated ``Presiding Official'' for informal pipeline enforcement hearings and the process operators can expect when requesting an informal hearing. Hearings in pipeline safety enforcement cases are conducted by a hearing officer in accordance with certain procedures designed to ensure a fair and impartial decision on the merits. This document explains those procedures and includes a description of the dedicated hearing officer's roles and responsibilities, the process for requesting a hearing, and the manner in which a case will proceed once a hearing has been requested.

In order to help assess and ensure the accuracy of the trademark register, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO'') proposes to revise the Trademark Rules of Practice and the Rules of Practice for Filings Pursuant to the Madrid Protocol to provide for the USPTO to require: any information, exhibits, and affidavits or declarations deemed reasonably necessary to examine an affidavit or declaration of continued use or excusable nonuse in trademark cases, or for the USPTO to assess the accuracy and integrity of the register; and upon request, more than one specimen in connection with a use-based trademark application, an allegation of use, an amendment to a registered mark, or an affidavit or declaration of continued use in trademark cases. A lack of ability to rely on the trademark register as an accurate reflection of marks that are actually in use in the United States for the goods/services identified in the registration imposes costs and burdens on the public. The proposed rules will allow the USPTO to require additional proof of use of a mark to verify the accuracy of claims that a trademark is in use on particular goods/services. The USPTO anticipates issuing requirements for such proof in a relatively small number of cases to assess the accuracy of the identifications. The proposed rules will facilitate an assessment of the reliability of the trademark register in this regard, so that the USPTO and stakeholders may determine whether and to what extent a general problem may exist and consider measures to address it, if necessary.

This proposed rule would revise the Medicaid home health service definition as required by section 6407 of the Affordable Care Act to add a requirement that physicians document the existence of a face-to-face encounter (including through the use of telehealth) with the Medicaid eligible individual within reasonable timeframes. This proposal would align the timeframes with similar regulatory requirements for Medicare home health services in accordance with section 6407 of the Affordable Care Act and reflects CMS' commitment to the general principles of the President's Executive Order 13563 released January 18, 2011, entitled ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' In addition, this rule proposes to amend home health services regulations to clarify the definitions of included medical supplies, equipment and appliances, and clarify that States may not limit home health services to services delivered in the home, or to services furnished to individuals who are homebound.