December 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Labor Relations Board (the Board or the NLRB) is revising its rules governing the processing of representation cases during periods when the Board lacks a quorum of Members. This revision is being adopted to facilitate, insofar as it is possible, the normal functioning of the Agency when the number of Board Members falls below three, the number required to establish a quorum of the Board. See 29 U.S.C. 153(b); New Process Steel v. NLRB, 130 S.Ct. 2635 (2010). The effect of the revision is to enable the Agency to process some representation cases to the certification of a representative or the certification of the results of the election, while deferring Board consideration of parties' requests for review until a quorum has been restored.

This is a notice of a waiver determination under Section 202(d)(4)(A)(ii) of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003, as amended by the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (the ``Leadership Act''). The Leadership Act requires that the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator withhold from the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund an amount equal to expenditures by the Global Fund in the previous fiscal year to governments of countries that have been determined to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism in accordance with section 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405 (j)(1)) (the ``6(j) list''). The government of the Republic of Sudan is designated on the ``6(j) list.'' Thus, Global Fund expenditures to the Government of the Republic of Sudan trigger a withholding requirement from the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund, subject to the waiver authority provided for Global Fund expenditures in Southern Sudan. During FY 2009, $1,162,902 was provided to government entities in Southern Sudan under HIV/AIDS grants, thus triggering a potential withholding requirement in this amount from the FY 2010 U.S. contribution to the Global Fund. These funds were used to support HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and surveillance activities under six active grants. Under the Leadership Act, the President has authority to waive the withholding requirement for assistance overseen by the Southern Sudan Country Coordinating Mechanism (SSCCM) if such an action is justified by the national interest or for humanitarian reasons. This authority has been delegated to the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. The United States places a high priority on ensuring appropriate disbursement and expenditure of foreign development and humanitarian funding. Following consultations with the relevant Congressional committees, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator has determined waiver of the withholding requirement for assistance by the Global Fund to the Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan through the Global Fund SSCCM is justified for humanitarian reasons. The application of the withholding requirement of Section 202(d)(4)(A)(ii) of the Act is hereby waived with respect to such assistance, allowing for the additional contribution of $1,162,902 to the Global Fund from the FY 2010 appropriations for the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund. This notice of waiver determination is published in the Federal Register in compliance with Section 202(d)(4)(A)(ii) of the Leadership Act.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act: the Small Vessel Reporting System (SVRS). CBP is proposing that the SVRS be established as a new collection of information. This document is published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register (76 FR 65206) on October 20, 2011, allowing for a 60- day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10.

The BOEM has prepared a Draft EIS on oil and gas lease sales tentatively scheduled in 2012-2017 in the WPA and CPA offshore the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Under the proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017 (5-Year Program), five annual areawide lease sales are scheduled for the WPA and five annual areawide lease sales are scheduled for the CPA. The proposed WPA lease sales are Lease Sale 229 in 2012, Lease Sale 233 in 2013, Lease Sale 238 in 2014, Lease Sale 246 in 2015, and Lease Sale 248 in 2016; the proposed CPA lease sales are Lease Sale 227 in 2013, Lease Sale 231 in 2014, Lease Sale 235 in 2015, Lease Sale 241 in 2016, and Lease Sale 247 in 2017.

This document publishes a summary of a decision issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') in response to a petition filed pursuant to section 177.13 of the CBP regulations requesting the reconciliation of inconsistent classification decisions issued by CBP under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') of a certain CN-9 solution, a hydrated ammonium calcium nitrate double salt that is primarily used as a fertilizer but is also used for waste water treatment. In the decision, CBP informed the party filing the petition that the correct classification of the subject CN-9 Solution is under subheading 3102.60.00, HTSUS.

The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') has received requests to conduct administrative reviews of various antidumping and countervailing duty orders and findings with November anniversary dates. In accordance with the Department's regulations, we are initiating those administrative reviews. The Department also received a request to revoke one antidumping duty order in part.

The EPA is taking action to propose amendments to the New Source Review (NSR) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program that would correct certain outdated language that currently limits EPA's ability to delegate the Federal PSD program to interested Indian tribes. This action proposes changes that would provide consistency with the current Federal PSD regulatory requirements by allowing the EPA to delegate the PSD program to interested tribes for their attainment areas. The regulations already authorize administrative delegation, and EPA has in the past delegated administration of the PSD program to states and local governments for their attainment areas. The EPA is proposing to delete a restriction on tribes' ability to take delegation of the PSD program and to include tribes, along with state and locals, in another section to make it clear that tribes may voluntarily take direct delegation of the NSR program in areas that are currently attaining the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The rule would not impose any new requirements. The EPA is also proposing to correct a minor typographical error.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide DG-4021, ``General Site Suitability Criteria for Nuclear Power Stations.'' This guide describes a method that the NRC staff considers acceptable to implement the site suitability requirements for nuclear power stations.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Model 737 airplanes. This proposed AD would incorporate design changes to improve the reliability of the cabin altitude warning system by requiring installation of a redundant switch of the cabin altitude pressure, replacing the aural warning module (AWM) with a new or reworked AWM, changing certain wire bundles, and connecting certain previously capped and stowed wires, as necessary. This proposed AD, for certain airplanes, would also require modifying the instrument panels, installing light assemblies, modifying the wire bundles, and installing a new circuit breaker, as necessary. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of a lack of cabin pressurization event caused by the flightcrew not receiving an aural warning because of the failure of the cabin altitude pressure switch. We are proposing this AD to prevent failure of the flightcrew to recognize and react to a lack of cabin pressurization, which could result in incapacitation of the flightcrew due to hypoxia (lack of oxygen in the body), and consequent loss of control of the airplane.

As part of the Transparency Initiative, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a report entitled ``Food and Drug Administration Report on Good Guidance Practices: Improving Efficiency and Transparency.'' This report was prepared in response to Action Item 11 in the Phase III Report (FDA Transparency Initiative: Improving Transparency to Regulated Industry, dated January 2011). In that action item, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (the Commissioner), Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, called for a cross- Agency working group to prepare a report identifying FDA's ``best practices'' and making recommendations to streamline the development of guidance documents, reduce the time between issuing draft and final guidance documents, and make it easier to find guidance documents on FDA's Web site.

On August 30, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) published a final rule requiring employers, including labor organizations in their capacity as employers, subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to post notices informing their employees of their rights as employees under the NLRA. (76 FR 54006, August 30, 2011.) On October 12, 2011, the Board amended that rule to delay the effective date from November 14, 2011, to January 31, 2012. (76 FR 63188, October 12, 2011.) The Board hereby further amends that rule to delay the effective date from January 31, 2012, to April 30, 2012. The purpose of this amendment is to facilitate the resolution of the legal challenges with respect to the rule.

This action modifies Class E airspace at Show Low Regional Airport, Show Low, AZ. Controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate aircraft using Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) standard instrument approach procedures at Show Low Regional Airport. This improves the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration is requesting public comment on the Erie Regional Airport Authority's request to release airport property for use by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to construct and maintain additional roadway and drainage facilities along the west side of Asbury Road. The request contains five (5) components consisting of a permanent release of land, release of land for drainage easement, release of land for temporary construction easement, release of land for substitute right-of-way, and release of land for permanent gas line easement.

Section 423(c) of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2703 note), requires the United States International Trade Commission to determine annually the amount (expressed in gallons) that is equal to 7 percent of the U.S. domestic market for fuel ethyl alcohol during the 12-month period ending on the preceding September 30. This determination is to be used to establish the ``base quantity'' of imports of fuel ethyl alcohol with a zero percent local feedstock requirement that can be imported from U.S. insular possessions or CBERA-beneficiary countries. The base quantity to be used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the administration of the law is the greater of 60 million gallons or 7 percent of U.S. consumption, as determined by the Commission. For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2011, the Commission has determined the level of U.S. consumption of fuel ethyl alcohol to be 12.955 billion gallons; 7 percent of this amount is 906.9 million gallons (these figures have been rounded). Therefore, the base quantity for 2012 should be 906.9 million gallons. The Commission's determination is based on official data of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Mass Layoff Statistics Program,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).