October 5, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing for public comment a notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking (PRM), dated May 5, 2011, and supplemented on August 3, 2011, which was filed with the NRC by Cheri Swensson (the petitioner), on behalf of the American Academy of Health Care Providers in the Addictive Disorders (the Academy). The petition was docketed by the NRC on September 9, 2011, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-26-7. The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to include the Academy as one of the organizations authorized to certify a substance abuse expert.

This notice announces the availability of the Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy (Preliminary) for public review and feedback. The document is available at https://www.regulations.gov in the docket identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2011-0798. President Barack Obama established the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (Task Force) on October 5, 2010 through Executive Order 13554 for the purpose of coordinating the long-term conservation and restoration of America's Gulf Coast. The Task Force is an intergovernmental advisory body comprised of senior officials from 11 federal cabinet level agencies and the Executive Office of the President, and one representative from each of the five Gulf Coast states, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The President charged the Task Force to work with state and federal agencies, tribes, communities, stakeholders and the public throughout the Gulf Coast to develop a Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Restoration Strategy. Additionally, the Task Force was instructed to build upon existing research and ecosystem restoration plans, and to learn from those who are actively involved in ecosystem restoration. Over the past year the Task Force has engaged with various stakeholders and the public as well as coordinated with other entities that share the Task Force's important goals. The Task Force held at least one public meeting in each of the five Gulf states, which included a public listening session to gather individual input from those most connected to the Gulf ecosystem. In addition to the listening sessions that took place during public meetings, the Task Force held multiple listening sessions throughout the Gulf in partnership with local government leadership, academics, and non- governmental organizations. The culmination of these efforts has led to the development of the Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy (Preliminary), which is being released for public review and feedback.

The Local Government Advisory Committee's Gulf Coast Restoration Workgroup will meet on Thursday, October 13, 2011, in New Orleans, LA. The Workgroup meeting will be located at the Sheraton Hotel, 500 Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130. The focus of the Gulf Coast Restoration Workgroup meeting is to engage local government officials in Gulf Coast Ecosystem restoration efforts and provide an opportunity for input to the full Committee as it develops recommendations for the Administrator in her role as Chair of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force. This is an open meeting and all interested persons are invited to attend. The Committee will hear comments from the public between 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. on Thursday, October 13, 2011. Individuals or organizations wishing to address the Workgroup meeting will be allowed a maximum of five minutes to present their point of view. Also, written comments should be submitted electronically to cook.rebecca@epa.gov. Please contact the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) at the number listed below to schedule agenda time. Time will be allotted on a first come first serve basis, and the total period for comments may be extended if the number of requests for appearances requires it.

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to Clean Water Act, Section 312(f)(3) (33 U.S.C. 1322(f)(3)), the State of New York has determined that the protection and enhancement of the quality of the New York State portions of Lake Ontario requires greater environmental protection, and has petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 2, for a determination that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for those waters, so that the State may completely prohibit the discharge from all vessels of any sewage, whether treated or not, into such waters. New York State (NYS or State) has proposed to establish a Vessel Waste No Discharge Zone (NDZ) for the New York State portion of Lake Ontario including the waters of the Lake within the New York State boundary, stretching from the Niagara River (including the Niagara River up to Niagara Falls) in the west, to Tibbetts Point at the Lake's outlet to the Saint Lawrence River in the east. The proposed No Discharge Zone encompasses approximately 3,675 square miles and 326 linear shoreline miles, including the navigable portions of the Lower Genesee, Oswego, Black Rivers and numerous other tributaries and harbors, embayments of the Lake including Irondequoit Bay, Sodus Bay, North/South Ponds, Henderson Bay, Black River Bay and Chautmont Bay, and abundance of formally designated habitats and waterways of local, state, and national significance.

NMFS has received an application for an incidental take permit (Permit) from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). As required by the ESA, NCDMF's application includes a conservation plan designed to minimize and mitigate take of endangered or threatened species. The permit application is for the incidental take of ESA- listed adult and juvenile sea turtles associated with otherwise lawful commercial gill net fisheries operating in inshore waters of North Carolina. The duration of the proposed permit is for 3 years. NMFS is providing this notice to allow other agencies and the public an opportunity to review and comment on the application and associated conservation plan. All comments received will become part of the public record and will be available for review.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activities. The ESA law requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

The Department of State is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the information collection described below. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment in the Federal Register preceding submission to OMB. We are conducting this process in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Title of Information Collection: Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration. OMB Control Number: 1405-0015. Type of Request: Revision of a Currently Approved Collection. Originating Office: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State (CA/VO). Form Number: DS-230. Respondents: Immigrant visa applicants. Estimated Number of Respondents: 672,000 per year. Estimated Number of Responses: 672,000 per year. Average Hours per Response: 2 hours. Total Estimated Burden: 1,344,000 hours per year. Frequency: Once per respondent. Obligation to Respond: Required to Obtain or Retain a Benefit.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is issuing final guidance to Executive Departments and agencies concerning the appointment of federally registered lobbyists to boards and commissions. On June 18, 2010, President Obama issued ``Lobbyists on Agency Boards and Commissions,'' a memorandum directing agencies and departments in the Executive Branch not to appoint or re-appoint federally registered lobbyists to advisory committees and other boards and commissions. The Presidential Memorandum further directed the Director of OMB to ``issue proposed guidance to implement this policy to the full extent permitted by law.'' Proposed guidance was posted on November 2, 2010 and the final guidance was formulated after review of the comments received to the proposed guidance. The Presidential Memorandum is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/ presidential-memorandum-lobbyists-agency-boards-and-commissio ns.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects to be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Proposed Collection: Title: STAR METRICS (Science and Technology for America's Reinvestment: Measuring the EffecTs of Research on Innovation, Competitiveness and Science). Type of Information Collection Request: Reinstatement of OMB number 0925-0616, expiration date 01/31/2011. Need and Use of Information Collection: The aim of STAR METRICS is twofold. The goal of STAR METRICS is to continue to provide mechanisms that will allow participating universities and Federal agencies with a reliable and consistent means to account for the number of scientists and staff that are on research institution payrolls, supported by Federal funds. In subsequent generations of the program, it is hoped that STAR METRICS will allow for measurement of science impact on economic outcomes (such as job creation), on knowledge generation (such as citations and patents) as well as on social and health outcomes. Frequency of Response: Quarterly. Affected Public: Universities and other research institutions. Type of Respondents: University administrators. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of Respondents: 100. Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 4. Average Burden Hours per Response: 2.5. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 1,315. The annualized cost to respondents is estimated to be $65,750. There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

The NTP announces the availability of the Draft NTP Monograph on the Health Effects of Low-level Lead (available at https:// ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/36639) that will be peer-reviewed by an NTP Peer Review Panel at a meeting on November 17-18, 2011. The meeting is open to the public with time scheduled for oral public comment. The NTP also invites written comments on the draft monograph (see Request for Comments below).