January 11, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule proposes to amend regulations for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). The changes are intended to simplify and improve the administration of and expand access to FDPIR, and promote conformity with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). First, the Department proposes an amendment that would eliminate household resources from consideration when determining FDPIR eligibility. Second, to more closely align FDPIR and SNAP regulations, the Department proposes to expand the current FDPIR income deduction for Medicare Part B Medical Insurance and Part D Prescription Drug Coverage premiums to include other monthly medical expenses in excess of $35 for households with elderly and/or disabled members. This rule also proposes to establish an income deduction for shelter and utility expenses. Finally, the Department proposes verification requirements related to the proposed income deductions and revisions to the household reporting requirements that will more closely align FDPIR and SNAP regulations.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Agusta S.p.A. (Agusta) Model A109, A109A, A109A II, A109C, A109K2, A109E, A109S, and A119 helicopters. This proposed AD is prompted by a mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) AD issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Community. The MCAI AD states that a Model A109E helicopter has experienced a failure of the tail rotor pitch control link assembly caused by a production defect. The proposed actions are intended to prevent failure of a tail rotor pitch control link and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

This rulemaking would allow qualified operators to conduct lower than standard instrument flight rules (IFR) airport operations at military airports or outside the United States when authorized to do so by their operations specifications. This action is necessary because the current regulatory section limits certain operators to a takeoff minimum visibility of 1 mile, and a landing minimum visibility of \1/2\ mile when conducting IFR operations at those airports, even when the operator has demonstrated the ability to safely conduct operations in lower visibility. The intended effect of this final rule is to bring the identified regulatory section into alignment with other sections of the regulations that currently permit lower than standard IFR operations at domestic civilian, foreign, and military airports when authorized to do so.

These special conditions are issued for the Boeing Model 767- 300 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with seats with inflatable lapbelts. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. 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.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of the Treasury gives notice of an amendment to update its Privacy Act regulations to add an exemption from certain provisions of the Privacy Act for a system of records related to the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity.

This document contains a correction to the final rule that was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 197 on January 3, 2012. An applicability date to the rule was inadvertently omitted.

NASA is proposing to revise the NASA Grant & Cooperative Agreement Handbook to prohibit the payment of profit or fee on Federal Financial Assistance awards, i. e. grants and cooperative agreements. This is an extension of the currently existing prohibition on payment of profit or fee to commercial entities under Federal Financial Assistance awards.

On April 4, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to amend the test procedure for automatic commercial ice makers (ACIM). That NOPR serves as the basis for today's action. This final rule amends the current test procedure for automatic commercial ice makers. The changes include updating the incorporation by reference of industry test procedures to the most current published versions, expanding coverage of the test procedure to all batch type and continuous type ice makers with capacities between 50 and 4,000 pounds of ice per 24 hours, standardizing test results based on ice hardness for continuous type ice makers, clarifying the test methods and reporting requirements for automatic ice makers designed to be connected to a remote compressor rack, and discontinuing the use of a clarified energy use equation.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for various aircraft equipped with Rotax Aircraft Engines 912 A series engine. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as a deviation in the manufacturing process of certain part number 888164 crankshafts that may cause cracks on the surface of the crankshaft on the power take off side, which could lead to failure of the crankshaft support bearing and possibly result in an in-flight engine shutdown and forced landing. We are issuing this AD to require actions to address the unsafe condition on these products.