January 12, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On September 7, 2011, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on light-walled rectangular pipe and tube from Mexico.\1\ This administrative review covers two manufacturers/exporters and has a period of review (POR) from August 1, 2009, through July 31, 2010.

FEMA is suspending one community because it repealed its floodplain management regulations under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). If documentation is received from the community before the effective suspension date, indicating it has amended its floodplain management regulations in compliance with the NFIP requirements, FEMA will withdraw the suspension by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date.

Modified Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) are finalized for the communities listed below. These modified BFEs will be used to calculate flood insurance premium rates for new buildings and their contents.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission will describe the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e., the time, effort and resources used by respondents to respond) and cost, and the actual data collection instruments FEMA will use.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Humboldt marten (Martes americana humboldtensis) as endangered or threatened and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the Humboldt marten may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a review of the status of the Humboldt marten to determine if listing is warranted. To ensure that this status review is comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding the Humboldt marten. Based on the status review, we will issue a 12-month finding on the petition, which will address whether the petitioned action is warranted, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is amending its regulations to make them consistent with the inflationary adjustments that are already codified in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as they relate to the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program and the Simplified Acquisition Threshold. In addition, the SBA is amending its regulations pertaining to the WOSB Program protest procedures so that they are consistent with the protest procedures for SBA's other government contracting programs.

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Colorado on August 8, 2006. The August 8, 2006 revision updates Regulation Number 11, ``Motor Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program,'' by removing the light duty vehicle emission testing limits that went into effect on January 1, 2006 for 1996 and newer model year vehicles. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Clean Air Act.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a request to renew an existing approved Information Collection Request (ICR) for the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This ICR is scheduled to expire on February 29, 2012. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

This document grants in full the Fuji Heavy Industries U.S.A., Inc.'s (FUSA's) petition for exemption of the Subaru [confidential] vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard 49 CFR part 541, Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard. FUSA requested confidential treatment for specific information in its petition. The agency will address FUSA's request for confidential treatment by separate letter.

This document adopts as final, without change, the interim final rule amending regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reflect changes made by the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010, effective August 1, 2011, that affect payment of vocational rehabilitation benefits for certain service-disabled veterans. Pursuant to these changes, a veteran, who is eligible for a subsistence allowance under chapter 31 of title 38, United States Code, and educational assistance under chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code, may participate in a rehabilitation program under chapter 31 and elect to receive a payment equal in amount to an applicable military housing allowance payable under title 37, United States Code, instead of the regular subsistence allowance under chapter 31. In addition, payments of subsistence allowances during periods between school terms are discontinued, and payments during periods of temporary school closings are modified.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) proposal entitled ``Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program Reporting Requirements'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

In this action, we are proposing to approve South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule 317, ``Clean Air Act Non- Attainment Fee,'' as a revision to SCAQMD's portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). Rule 317 is a local rule submitted to address section 185 of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). We are proposing that Rule 317, an equivalent alternative program, is not less stringent than the program required by section 185, and, therefore, is approvable, consistent with the principles of section 172(e) of the Act. As part of this action, we are inviting public comment on whether it is appropriate for EPA to consider equivalent alternative programs, and, if so, whether Rule 317 would constitute an approvable equivalent alternative program. We are taking comments on these proposals and plan to follow with a final action.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to modify the scope of the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SPD Supplemental EIS, DOE/EIS-0283-S2) and to conduct additional public scoping. DOE issued its Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the SPD Supplemental EIS on March 28, 2007, and issued an Amended NOI on July 19, 2010. DOE now intends to further revise the scope of the SPD Supplemental EIS primarily to add additional alternatives for the disassembly of pits (a nuclear weapons component) and the conversion of plutonium metal originating from pits to feed material for the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), which DOE is constructing at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. Under the proposed new alternatives, DOE would expand or install the essential elements required to provide a pit disassembly and/or conversion capability at one or more of the following locations: Technical Area 55 (TA-55) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, H-Canyon/HB-Line at SRS, K-Area at SRS, and the MFFF at SRS. In addition, DOE has decided not to analyze an alternative, described in the 2010 Amended NOI, to construct a separate Plutonium Preparation (PuP) capability for non-pit plutonium because the necessary preparation activities are adequately encompassed within the other alternatives. The MOX fuel alternative is DOE's preferred alternative for surplus plutonium disposition. DOE's preferred alternative for pit disassembly and the conversion of surplus plutonium metal, regardless of its origins, to feed for the MFFF is to use some combination of facilities at TA-55 at LANL, K-Area at SRS, H-Canyon/HB-Line at SRS and MFFF at SRS, rather than to construct a new stand-alone facility. This would likely require the installation of additional equipment and other modifications to some of these facilities. DOE's preferred alternative for disposition of surplus plutonium that is not suitable for MOX fuel fabrication is disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico.