September 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Secretary of Education (Secretary) established requirements for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) program in a notice of final requirements, definitions, and approval criteria published in the Federal Register on November 12, 2009 (November 2009 Notice). In this notice, the Secretary proposes to revise some of those requirements. In a separate notice of interim final requirement, the Secretary is extending to January 31, 2012, the deadline by which a State must collect and publicly report data and information under the SFSF program. In addition, the Secretary proposes in this notice to establish a priority that the U.S. Department of Education (Department) may use, as appropriate, in any future discretionary grant competitions. The Department would give a priority to States that have developed and implemented the statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) required under SFSF Indicator (b)(1) on or before the applicable deadline. Through this notice, we also remind grantees that under its current authority, the Department may identify grantees as high risk and impose sanctions on them for failing to meet programmatic requirements. In addition, the Department is proposing that it may take enforcement action against a State educational agency (SEA) under certain circumstances where a State fails to meet the requirements of Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12).

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 third element of the interstate transport provisions of Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or standards) and the 1997 and 2006 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) NAAQS. The third element of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) requires that a State not interfere with any other State's required measures to prevent significant deterioration (PSD) of its air quality. EPA is also proposing to approve numerous revisions to the Oregon SIP that were submitted to EPA by the State of Oregon on October 8, 2008; October 10, 2008; March 17, 2009; June 23, 2010; December 22, 2010 and May 5, 2011. The revisions include updating Oregon's new source review (NSR) rules to be consistent with current Federal regulations and streamlining Oregon's air quality rules by clarifying requirements, removing duplicative rules, and correcting errors. The revisions were submitted in accordance with the requirements of section 110 and part D of the Act).

EPA is proposing to approve State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Delaware. The SIP revision adds section 4.0, under Regulation 1141, relating to the control of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the manufacture, sale, use, or application of adhesives, sealants, primers, and solvents. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

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 opening directed fishing for shallow-water species by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to fully use the fourth seasonal apportionment of the 2011 Pacific halibut bycatch allowance specified for the trawl shallow-water species fishery in of the GOA.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC,'' ``Commission,'' or ``we'') is amending its standard for the flammability of mattresses and mattress pads to revise the ignition source specification in that standard.\1\ The ignition source cigarette specified for use in the mattress standard's performance tests is no longer produced. The Commission is requiring a standard reference material cigarette, which was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, as the ignition source for testing to the mattress standard.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is revising the rules of practice governing inter partes reexamination to implement a transition provision of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act that changes the standard for granting a request for inter partes reexamination. The Office is also revising the rules governing inter partes reexamination to reflect the termination of inter partes reexamination effective September 16, 2012, which is provided for in the Act. The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act replaces inter partes reexamination by a new inter partes review process effective one year after the date of enactment of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (i.e., September 16, 2012), and provides that any request for inter partes reexamination filed on or after September 16, 2011, will not be granted unless the information presented in the request establishes that there is a reasonable likelihood that the requester will prevail with respect to at least one of the claims challenged in the request. This replaces the prior standard for granting a request for inter partes reexamination that required a substantial new question of patentability (SNQ) affecting any claim of the patent raised by the request. The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act does not revise the SNQ standard for granting an ex parte reexamination request.

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:

On November 12, 2009, the Secretary of Education (Secretary) published in the Federal Register a notice of final requirements, definitions, and approval criteria for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) program (November 2009 Notice). In that notice, the Secretary established September 30, 2011 as the deadline by which States had to collect and publicly report data and other information on various SFSF indicators and descriptors. Since publication of the November 2009 notice, States have faced many challenges and competing priorities in trying to meet the requirements of some of the SFSF indicators by the September 30, 2011 deadline. As a result, a number of States will be unable to comply fully with the SFSF requirements by the September 30, 2011 deadline. Accordingly, in this interim final requirement, the Secretary extends that deadline to January 31, 2012.

This action amends the Class E airspace areas at Burlington, VT, to accommodate the additional airspace needed for the Standard Instrument Approach Procedures developed for Burlington International Airport. This action enhances the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations within the National Airspace System. This action also makes a minor adjustment to the geographic coordinates of the airport and recognizes the name change of the Burlington VOR/DME.

The FAA is correcting an airworthiness directive (AD) that published in the Federal Register. That AD applies to RR RB211-Trent 875-17, RB211-Trent 877-17, RB211-Trent 884-17, RB211-Trent 884B-17, RB211-Trent 892-17, RB211-Trent 892B-17, and RB211-Trent 895-17 turbofan engines. The compliance instructions in the regulatory section paragraphs (e)(3) and (e)(5) are partially correct and do not fully meet our original intent. This document corrects those errors. In all other respects, the original document remains the same.

This Report and Order establishes protections for broadband service to preserve and reinforce Internet freedom and openness. The Commission adopts three basic protections that are grounded in broadly accepted Internet norms, as well as our own prior decisions. First, transparency: fixed and mobile broadband providers must disclose the network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms of their broadband services. Second, no blocking: fixed broadband providers may not block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices; mobile broadband providers may not block lawful Web sites, or block applications that compete with their voice or video telephony services. Third, no unreasonable discrimination: fixed broadband providers may not unreasonably discriminate in transmitting lawful network traffic. These rules, applied with the complementary principle of reasonable network management, ensure that the freedom and openness that have enabled the Internet to flourish as an engine for creativity and commerce will continue. This framework thus provides greater certainty and predictability to consumers, innovators, investors, and broadband providers, as well as the flexibility providers need to effectively manage their networks. The framework promotes a virtuous circle of innovation and investment in which new uses of the networkincluding new content, applications, services, and deviceslead to increased end-user demand for broadband, which drives network improvements that in turn lead to further innovative network uses.

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:

Consistent with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as amended by the ``Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007,'' and Executive Orders 13526 and 13392, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has undertaken and completed a review of its public FOIA regulations that govern certain aspects of its processing of FOIA requests. As a result of this review, the Agency proposes to revise its FOIA regulations to more clearly reflect the current CIA organizational structure, record system configuration, and FOIA policies and practices and to eliminate ambiguous, redundant and obsolete regulatory provisions. As required by the FOIA, the Agency is providing an opportunity for interested persons to submit comments on these proposed regulations.

Consistent with the Privacy Act (PA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has undertaken and completed a review of its public PA regulations that govern certain aspects of its processing of PA access and amendment requests. As a result of this review, the Agency proposes to revise its PA regulations to more clearly reflect the current CIA organizational structure and policies and practices, and to eliminate ambiguous, redundant and obsolete regulatory provisions. As required by the PA, the Agency is providing an opportunity for interested persons to submit comments on these proposed regulations.

Consistent with Executive Order 13526, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has undertaken and completed a review of its public Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) regulations that govern certain aspects of its processing of MDR requests. As a result of this review, the Agency has revised its MDR regulations to more clearly reflect the current CIA organizational structure and policies and practices, and to eliminate ambiguous, redundant and obsolete regulatory provisions. This rule is being issued as a final rule without prior notice of proposed rulemaking as allowed by the Administrative Procedure Act for rules of agency procedure and interpretation.

EPA is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove submittals from the state of Texas pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) that address the infrastructure elements specified in the CAA section 110(a)(2), necessary to implement, maintain, and enforce the 1997 8-hour ozone and 1997 and 2006 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or standards). We are proposing to find that the current Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) meets the infrastructure requirements for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS at 110(a)(2)(A), (B), (E), (F), (G), (H), (K), (L), (M), and portions of (C), (D)(ii) and (J). We are proposing to find that the current Texas SIP does not meet the infrastructure requirements for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS at 110(a)(2) for portions of (C), (D)(ii) and (J) because Texas has stated it cannot issue permits for and does not intend to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. (See letter from Bryan W. Shaw and Greg Abbott to Lisa Jackson and Al Armendariz, dated August 2, 2010, in the docket for this rulemaking). EPA is also proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove SIP revisions submitted by the state of Texas for the purpose of addressing the ``good neighbor'' provisions of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. These SIP revisions address the requirement that the Texas SIP have adequate provisions to prohibit air emissions from adversely affecting another state's air quality through interstate transport. In this action, EPA is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove the provisions of these SIP submissions that emissions from sources in Texas do not interfere with measures required in the SIP of any other state under part C of the CAA to prevent significant deterioration of air quality, with regard to the 1997 8- hour ozone NAAQS and the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. The partial disapproval is again because Texas cannot issue permits for emissions of GHG. For purposes of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, EPA is also proposing to approve SIP revisions that modify the Texas SIP for Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) to include nitrogen oxides (NOx) as an ozone precursor. This action is being taken under section 110 and part C of the Act.

The Federal Trade Commission published a final amended Telemarketing Sales Rule in the Federal Register on August 10, 2010 (75 FR 48458), with new provisions to address the telemarketing of debt relief services. This document makes technical corrections in that final rule.

This action amends Class E airspace for the Wrightstown, NJ, area, by changing Allaire Airport to Monmouth Executive Airport, Belmar, NJ. This action also updates the airspace descriptions to be in concert with the FAAs aeronautical database.

This action proposes to amend Class E Airspace in the Springfield, TN area. Aydelotte Airport has been abandoned and controlled airspace is no longer needed. Airspace reconfiguration is necessary for the continued safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations within the Springfield, TN airspace area.

The Commission proposes to eliminate the semi-annual storage reporting requirements for Interstate and Intrastate Natural Gas Companies that are currently codified in our regulations. The Commission finds that the reports now proposed for elimination are largely duplicative with other reporting requirements.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine endangered status for Casey's June beetle (Dinacoma caseyi) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are also designating approximately 587 acres (237 hectares) of land as critical habitat for the species in Riverside County, California.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the extension of the public comment period on the proposed rule to amend the regulations that implement the Endangered Species Act (Act) by removing inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers (i.e., specimens not identified or identifiable as members of the Bengal, Sumatran, Siberian, or Indochinese subspecies) from the list of species that are exempt from registration under the captive-bred wildlife regulations. We are extending the comment period by 30 days to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment on the proposed rule.

This rule identifies communities, where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation that the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice of this will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date.

Modified Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) are finalized for the communities listed below. These modified BFEs will be used to calculate flood insurance premium rates for new buildings and their contents.