2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are amending our Tax Refund Offset (TRO) and Administrative Offset regulations. We are conforming our regulations to those of the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) for the following reasons: Treasury removed the 10-year limitation to collect delinquent debts owed the United States by reducing eligible Federal payments, and more States are participating in reciprocal agreements with Treasury to offset State payments, including tax refunds to reduce or extinguish a federally owed debt. These changes will allow us to collect additional Federal debt.

NMFS announces that the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted the Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment (Comprehensive ACL Amendment) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. The Comprehensive ACL Amendment amends the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region, the Golden Crab Fishery of the South Atlantic Region, the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery off the Atlantic States, and the Pelagic Sargassum Habitat of the South Atlantic Region. The Comprehensive ACL Amendment proposes actions to specify annual catch limits (ACLs), allowable biological catch (ABC), ABC control rules, and accountability measures (AMs) for species in the FMPs for Snapper- Grouper, Dolphin and Wahoo, Golden Crab, and Sargassum. The Comprehensive ACL Amendment proposes to specify ABC, and describe the current terminology and measures in place in the Sargassum FMP that are consistent with an ACL and AMs. For Sargassum, this amendment would not specifically set an ACL because there is currently a commercial quota in place which functions as an ACL, and there are commercial closure provisions in the event the quota is met or projected to be met which functions as an AM. Sector allocations, annual catch targets (ACTs), and management measures are also proposed for species in the Snapper- Grouper and Dolphin and Wahoo FMPs. In addition, the Comprehensive ACL Amendment proposes actions to the snapper-grouper fishery management unit (FMU), including the removal of some species, designation of ecosystem component (EC) species, and the development of species groups.

These special conditions are issued for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation Model GIV-X airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features associated with the architecture and connectivity capabilities of the airplane's computer systems and networks, which may allow access by external computer systems and networks. Connectivity by external systems and networks may result in security vulnerabilities to the airplane's systems. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

This document contains a correction to a notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of public hearing (REG-140280-09) that would modify existing regulations related to the tax return preparer penalties under section 6695 of the Internal Revenue Code. The document was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 (76 FR 62689).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect approval of a supplemental abbreviated new animal drug application (ANADA) filed by Ivy Laboratories, Division of Ivy Animal Health, Inc. The supplemental ANADA provides for use of increased dose levels of monensin in three-way, combination drug Type C medicated feeds for heifers fed in confinement for slaughter containing melengestrol acetate, monensin, and tylosin.

The Coast Guard is canceling a portion of an existing drawbridge operation regulation. The Baltimore County Revenue Authority (Dundalk Avenue) highway toll drawbridge across Bear Creek, mile 1.5, Sparrows Point, MD was replaced with a fixed bridge in 1998. Therefore, that portion of the operating regulation, as it pertains to the Dundalk Avenue highway toll drawbridge, is no longer applicable or necessary.

These special conditions are issued for the installation of a single-place side facing seat on Embraer S.A. EMB 500 aircraft. Side- facing seats are considered a novel design, and their installation in a part 23 airplane was not envisaged and is not adequately addressed in 14 CFR part 23. The FAA has determined that the existing regulations do not provide adequate or appropriate safety standards for occupants of single-place side-facing seats. In order to provide a level of safety that is equivalent to that afforded to occupants of forward and aft facing seating, additional airworthiness standards, in the form of special conditions, are necessary.

This final rule implements the Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (CFP), authorized by Section 8003 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The CFP legislation is an amendment to the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978. The CFP is a competitive grant program whereby local governments, Indian tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply for grants to establish community forests through fee-simple acquisition of private forest land. The program's two purposes are to provide public benefits to communities including economic benefits through sustainable forest management, environmental benefits including clean air, water, and wildlife habitat; benefits from forest-based educational programs; benefits from serving as models of effective forest stewardship; and recreational benefits secured with public access; and to acquire private forest lands that are threatened by conversion to nonforest uses. Existing provisions in Forest Service regulations pertaining to the Stewardship Incentive Program will be removed as deauthorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, and this final rule will be substituted in lieu thereof.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is issuing this interim final rule to implement section 358 of the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. That section requires that the DoD issue procedures addressing the impacts upon military operations of certain types of structures if they pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States. The structures addressed are those for which an application is required to be filed with the Secretary of Transportation. Section 358 also requires the designation of a lead organization to coordinate DoD review of applications for projects filed with the Secretary of Transportation and received by the Department of Defense from the Secretary of Transportation. Section 358 also requires the designation of certain officials by the Secretary of Defense to perform functions pursuant to the section and this implementing rule. Section 358 also requires the establishment of a comprehensive strategy for addressing military impacts of renewable energy projects and other energy projects, with the objective of ensuring that the robust development of renewable energy sources and the expansion of the commercial electrical grid may move forward in the United States, while minimizing or mitigating any adverse impacts on military operations and readiness. That requirement, however, is not required at this time and is not part of this rule. Other aspects of section 358 not required at this time, such as annual reports to Congress, are also not addressed in this rule. Nor does this rule deal with other clearance processes not included in section 358, such as those applied by the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to revise and expand reporting requirements for Government-furnished property to include items uniquely and non-uniquely identified and clarify policy for contractor access to Government supply sources.

The FAA proposes to amend the maintenance regulations by removing from the preventive maintenance category the task of updating databases used in self-contained, front-panel or pedestal-mounted navigation equipment. This change would allow pilots who operate certificated aircraft to update the specified databases and eliminate the requirement for certificated mechanics or repair stations to perform the update. The effect of this revision would be to ensure that pilots using specified navigation equipment have the most current and accurate navigational data and thereby increase aviation safety.

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:

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD would require revising the maintenance program to include new or more restrictive life-limits and inspections. This proposed AD was prompted by changes to the Airworthiness Limitations Section (ALS) of the maintenance manual, which adds life-limits, revises life-limits, or adds inspections not previously identified. We are proposing this AD to limit exposure of flight critical components to corrosion, cracking, or failure due to life-limits, which if not corrected, could result in loss of roll control, fatigue cracking, or loss of structural components.

We propose to supersede two existing airworthiness directives (ADs) that apply to General Electric Company (GE) CF6-45 and CF6-50 series turbofan engines with certain low-pressure turbine (LPT) rotor stage 3 disks installed. The existing ADs currently require inspections of high pressure turbine (HPT) and LPT rotors, engine checks, and surveys. Since we issued those ADs, GE has determined that the low- cycle fatigue (LCF) lives of the LPT rotor stage 3 disks affected by those ADs are below the current published engine manual life limits and has introduced a new LPT rotor stage 3 disk part number. This proposed AD would establish a new lower life limit for the LPT rotor stage 3 disks. We are proposing this AD to prevent critical life-limited rotating engine part failure, which could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the Illinois River near Morris, Illinois. This zone is intended to restrict vessels from a portion of the Illinois River due to the Truman-Hobbs alteration of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railroad Drawbridge. This temporary safety zone is necessary to protect the surrounding public and vessels from the hazards associated with the removal of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railroad Drawbridge's old bridge piers and pier protection cells.

This document contains final and temporary regulations relating to deductions for the cost of producing film and television productions. These temporary regulations reflect changes to the law made by the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008, and affect taxpayers that produce films and television productions within the United States. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

In this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) seeks comment on a proposal for disbursing Universal Service Fund low income support to eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) based upon claims for reimbursement of actual support payments made, instead of projected claims for support. Payment based on actual support payments would replace the current administrative process, under which the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) reimburses ETCs for low income support each month based on USAC's projection of payments and on a ``true-up'' calculated using an ETC's actual support payments. Among other things, we are seeking comment on a proposal that, if adopted, would require that the FCC Form 497 be filed monthly.

EPA proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The SIP revision amends existing regulation 9VAC5 Chapter 151 in order to incorporate federal revisions to transportation conformity requirements. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

EPA is approving, under the Clean Air Act (CAA), Ohio's and Indiana's requests to redesignate their respective portions of the Cincinnati-Hamilton nonattainment area (for Ohio: Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren Counties, Ohio; for IN: a portion of Dearborn County) to attainment for the 1997 annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) submitted its request on December 9, 2010, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) submitted its request on January 25, 2011. Kentucky's request to redesignate its portion of the Cincinnati-Hamilton area, submitted to EPA on January 27, 2011, will be addressed in a separate rulemaking action. EPA's approvals here involve several additional related actions. EPA has determined that the entire Cincinnati-Hamilton area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard. EPA is approving, as revisions to the Ohio and Indiana State Implementation Plans (SIPs), the states' plans for maintaining the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS through 2021 in the area. EPA is approving the 2005 emissions inventories for the Ohio and Indiana portions of the Cincinnati-Hamilton area as meeting the comprehensive emissions inventory requirement of the CAA. Finally, EPA finds adequate and is approving Ohio and Indiana's Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) and PM2.5 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for 2015 and 2021 for the Cincinnati-Hamilton area.

Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or ``we'') staff is considering the appropriate process and substance of a plan to review existing CPSC regulations. CPSC has conducted reviews of rules in the past and intends to build on that experience to develop a plan of review that also satisfies recent direction from President Obama, set forth in Executive Order 13579, ``Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies'' (76 FR 41587 (July 14, 2011)), which states that independent regulatory agencies should follow certain key principles when developing new regulations and should review existing significant regulations. To that end, Executive Order 13579 (``E.O. 13579'') emphasizes the importance of retrospective analysis of rules and the need to develop a plan under which the agency will conduct periodic reviews of existing regulations. We invite comments on the issues discussed in this document to help us formulate a plan that builds on our past review efforts while incorporating the principles outlined in E.O. 13579.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Model EMB-135ER, -135KE, -135KL, and -135LR airplanes; and Model EMB- 145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145MP, and -145EP airplanes. 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 United States International Trade Commission (``Commission'') amends its Rules of Practice and Procedure concerning rules of adjudication and enforcement. The amendments are necessary to gather more information on public interest issues arising from complaints filed with the Commission requesting institution of an investigation under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The intended effect of the amendments is to aid the Commission in identifying investigations that require further development of public interest issues in the record, and to identify and develop information regarding the public interest at each stage of the investigation.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Diamond Aircraft Industries Model H-36 ``DIMONA'' powered sailplanes. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Sicma Aero Seat 88xx, 89xx, 90xx, 91xx, 92xx, 93xx, 95xx, and 96xx series passenger seat assemblies, installed on various transport category airplanes. 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Bombardier, Inc. Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440); Model CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700, 701, & 702); Model CL-600- 2D15 (Regional Jet Series 705); and Model CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) airplanes. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by an airworthiness authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as: