January 9, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is correcting an airworthiness directive (AD) that was published in the Federal Register. That AD applies to Turbomeca Arriel 1 series turboshaft engines. The AD number is incorrect in the preamble and in the Regulatory text. This document corrects those errors. In all other respects, the original document remains the same.

EPA is approving portions of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Colorado for the purpose of addressing the ``good neighbor'' provisions of Clean Air Act (``Act'' or ``CAA'') section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (``NAAQS'' or ``standards'') and the 1997 fine particulate matter (``PM2.5'') NAAQS. This SIP revision addresses the requirement that the State of Colorado's SIP (``Interstate Transport SIP'') have adequate provisions to prohibit air emissions from adversely affecting another state's air quality through interstate transport. In this action, EPA is approving the Colorado Interstate Transport SIP provisions that address the requirement of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) that emissions from Colorado sources do not significantly contribute to nonattainment of the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS in any other state, interfere with maintenance of the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS by any other state, or interfere with any other state's required measures to prevent significant deterioration of air quality for the 1997 PM2.5 and 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also approving certain revisions to Colorado Regulation No. 3 submitted by the State of Colorado in separate prior submissions. This action is being taken under section 110 of the CAA.

This document corrects amendments contained in a direct final rule published in the Federal Register on October 18, 2011, and involves only that portion of the rule related to acquiring a lease non-competitively for offshore renewable energy projects.

This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) intends to change its current process for filing and adjudication of certain applications for waivers of inadmissibility filed in connection with an immediate relative immigrant visa application. Specifically, USCIS is considering regulatory changes that will allow certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to request provisional waivers under section 212(a)(9)(B)(v) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (INA or Act), 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(v), prior to departing the United States for consular processing of their immigrant visa applications. An alien would be able to obtain such a waiver only if a Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-130, is filed by a U.S. citizen on his or her behalf and that petition has been approved, thereby classifying the alien as an ``immediate relative'' for purposes of the immigration laws, and he or she demonstrates that the denial of the waiver would result in extreme hardship to the alien's U.S. citizen spouse or parent ``qualifying relative.'' The qualifying relative for purposes of the waiver is not necessarily the immediate relative who filed the immigrant visa petition on the alien relative's behalf.

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. That AD currently requires initial and repetitive borescope inspections of the head section and meterpanel assembly of the combustion liner, and replacement if necessary. This new AD requires those same inspections, and replacement. This AD also expands the applicability to include part numbers (P/N) of additional combustion liners. This AD was prompted by an inquiry submitted by an operator, which resulted in RR performing a complete review of the affected front combustion liner part numbers. We are issuing this AD to prevent deterioration of the engine combustion liner, which can result in combustion liner breakup, case burn-through, engine fire, and damage to the airplane.

The Coast Guard is amending the Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) in the navigable waters of the Arthur Kill in New York and New Jersey. The amendment allows the Coast Guard to suspend enforcement of some RNA requirements when they are found to be impracticable and unnecessary for the maintenance of safety.

Under the Clean Air Act Section 211(o), the Environmental Protection Agency is required to set the renewable fuel standards each November for the following year. In general the standards are designed to ensure that the applicable volumes of renewable fuel specified in the statue are used. However, the statute specifies that EPA is to project the volume of cellulosic biofuel production for the upcoming year and must base the cellulosic biofuel standard on that projected volume if it is less than the applicable volume set forth in the Act. EPA is today finalizing a projected cellulosic biofuel volume for 2012 and annual percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and renewable fuels that will apply to all gasoline and diesel produced or imported for domestic use in year 2012. In the NPRM we also proposed an applicable volume of 1.28 billion gallons for biomass-based diesel for 2013. The statute specifies that the minimum volume of biomass-based diesel for years 2013 and beyond must be at least 1.0 billion gallons. We are continuing to evaluate the many comments on the NPRM from stakeholders, and will issue a final rule setting the applicable biomass-based diesel volume for calendar year 2013 as expeditiously as practicable. This action also presents a number of changes to the RFS2 regulations that are designed to clarify existing provisions and to address several unique circumstances that have come to light since the RFS2 program became effective on July 1, 2010. Finally, today's rule also makes a minor amendment to the gasoline benzene regulations regarding inclusion of transferred blendstocks in a refinery's early benzene credit generation calculations.

With this notice of proposed rulemaking, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposes to modify its regulations on Specifications for Medical Examinations of Underground Coal Miners. Existing regulations establish specifications for providing, interpreting, classifying, and submitting film-based roentgenograms (now commonly called chest radiographs or X-rays) of underground coal miners for the surveillance of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung) under the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program, administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The current standards specify requirements that permit the use of film- based radiography systems only; proposed amendments would retain those standards (with minor modifications that reflect more commonly-used terms) and add a parallel set of standards to specify requirements that would permit the use of digital radiography systems. An additional proposed amendment would require coal mine operators to provide NIOSH with employee rosters to assist the Program in improving participation by miners.

This action proposes editorial and technical corrections necessary for source testing of emissions and operations. The revisions include the addition of alternative equipment and methods as well as corrections to technical and typographical errors. We also solicit public comment on potential changes to the current procedures for determining emission stratification.