January 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s). Comments are requested concerning: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) ways to further reduce the information burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid OMB control number.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s). Comments are requested concerning: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) ways to further reduce the information burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid OMB control number.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), are sponsoring a public meeting on February 28, 2012. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States (U.S.) positions that will be discussed at the 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Budapest, Hungary, March 5-9, 2012. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 33rd Session of the CCMAS and to address items on the agenda.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is amending the contract threshold amounts that require borrowers to use certain prescribed agency contract forms and the contract dollar amounts that require RUS review of contracts prior to the contract being effective. Also, RUS is raising the threshold amounts requiring RUS borrowers to use certain required procurement methods for materials, equipment and contract services that otherwise would require RUS prior approval. The changes in the threshold amounts will reduce the number of contracts reviewed by the RUS.

In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) announces the following proposed reinstatement of a public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) announces the following proposed new public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Acquisition of a Natural Gas Pipeline and Natural Gas Utility Service at the Hanford Site, Richland, Washington (Natural Gas Pipeline or NGP EIS), and initiate a 30-day public scoping period. DOE will prepare the NGP EIS in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations that implement NEPA and DOE implementing procedures. DOE is inviting public comment on the proposed scope of the NGP EIS, including the alternatives and environmental issues to be evaluated. DOE proposes to make natural gas available to facilities located on the Central Plateau of its Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, to help meet its objectives to reduce fuel costs, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and dependence on foreign fuel sources. Because natural gas is not currently available on the Central Plateau of the Site, this action would involve entering into a contract with a licensed natural gas utility supplier to construct, operate, and maintain a natural gas pipeline and deliver natural gas utility service to DOE. The proposed pipeline would begin from a new interconnect tap on the existing Williams Northwest Pipe transmission line in Franklin County, north of the Pasco, Washington, airport, and then run westerly across non-DOE lands and under the Columbia River onto the Hanford Site 300 Area, before turning northwest and paralleling Route 4S. The pipeline would terminate at facilities in the 200 East Area of the Central Plateau. The length of the proposed pipeline is estimated at about 30 miles.

In connection with a study regarding financial literacy among investors as mandated by Section 917 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the ``Dodd-Frank Act''), the Securities and Exchange Commission is requesting public comment on the following: methods to improve the timing, content, and format of disclosures to investors with respect to financial intermediaries, investment products, and investment services; the most useful and understandable relevant information that retail investors need to make informed financial decisions before engaging a financial intermediary or purchasing an investment product or service that is typically sold to retail investors, including shares of registered open-end investment companies; and methods to increase the transparency of expenses and conflicts of interests in transactions involving investment services and products, including shares of registered open-end investment companies.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the ``Corporation'' or ``FDIC'') requests comment on this proposed rule that implements the requirements in Section 165(i) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the ``Dodd-Frank Act'') regarding stress tests (``proposed rule''). This proposed rule would implement section 165(i)(2) by requiring state nonmember banks and state savings associations supervised by the Corporation with total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion to conduct annual stress tests in accordance with the proposed rule, report the results of such stress tests to the Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (``Board'') at such time and in such a form containing the information required by the Corporation, and publish a summary of the results of the required stress tests.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for General Electric Company (GE) CF34-10E series turbofan engines. This AD was prompted by a report of heavy wear found on the seating surface of the center vent duct (CVD) (commonly referred to as center vent tube) support ring and on the inside diameter of the fan drive shaft at the mating location. This AD requires removing from service all CVD support assemblies and any fan drive shaft on the affected engines if wear is found on either the CVD support ring or the fan drive shaft. We are issuing this AD to prevent fan drive shaft failure, leading to uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.

EPA is proposing to make two determinations regarding the Philadelphia-Wilmington fine particle (PM2.5) nonattainment area (the Philadelphia Area). EPA is proposing to make a determination that the Philadelphia Area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) by its attainment date of April 5, 2010. EPA is also proposing to make a clean data determination, finding that the Philadelphia Area has attained the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, based on ambient air monitoring data for the 2007-2009 and 2008-2010 monitoring periods. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is making these determinations as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule and in the Technical Support Document (TSD) prepared in support of this rulemaking action. A copy of the TSD is available, upon request, from the EPA Regional Office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document. 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.

The FAA hereby provides notice of intent to release certain airport properties 0.55 acres at the Fort Myers International Airport, Fort Myers, FL from the conditions, reservations, and restrictions as contained in all grant agreements between the FAA and the Lee County Port Authority. The release of property will allow the Lee County Port Authority, owner of Fort Myers International Airport, to dispose of the property for other than aeronautical purposes. The property is located north of Daniels Parkway and Chana Court, near the intersection of Chamberlin Parkway, in Fort Myers, Florida. The parcels are currently designated as non-aeronautical use. The property will be released of its federal obligations to transfer ownership to Lee County. The release of the airport properties will facilitate the construction of a new direct interchange access to the airport from Interstate 75. Lee County will also transfer ownership of 1.93 acres of property north of Daniels Parkway and Chana Court to be used for drainage for the airport access road. The airport parcels to be released have an appraised Fair Market Value of $41,622. The value of the parcel to be received is $5,000, and the value of the proposed airport access improvement is estimated to be $500,620. Documents reflecting the Sponsor's request are available, by appointment only, for inspection at the Fort Myers International Airport and the FAA Airports District Office.

This amendment adopts miscellaneous amendments to the required IFR (instrument flight rules) altitudes and changeover points for certain Federal airways, jet routes, or direct routes for which a minimum or maximum en route authorized IFR altitude is prescribed. This regulatory action is needed because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System. These changes are designed to provide for the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace under instrument conditions in the affected areas.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Searchlight Wind Energy Project and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period. Publication of this notice also serves to segregate the identified lands from appropriation under the public land laws for a period of 2 years, including location under the Mining Law, but not the Mineral Leasing Act or the Materials Act, subject to valid existing rights.

This document contains notices of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of proposed exemptions from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). This notice includes the following proposed exemptions: D-11655, Renaissance Technologies, Inc. (Renaissance or the Applicant); D-11677, Weyerhaeuser Company (Weyerhaeurser) and Federalway Asset Management LP (collectively the Applicants); and D-11680, Citigroup Inc. (Citigroup); et al.)

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

Section 401(a) of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), Public Law 111-3, amended the Social Security Act (the Act) to enact section 1139A (42 U.S.C. 1320b- 9a). Section 1139A(b) charged the Department of Health and Human Services with improving pediatric health care quality measures. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is soliciting the submission of instruments or domains (for example, key concepts) measuring aspects of families' experience with the quality of inpatient medical and surgical hospital care from all researchers, vendors, hospitals, stakeholders, and other interested parties. The survey development team of Children's Hospital Boston Center of Excellence for Pediatric Quality Measurement (CEPQM), is one of the CHIPRA Pediatric Quality Measures Program (PQMP) Centers of Excellence, which were created pursuant to an interagency agreement between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and AHRQ, and are funded through cooperative agreement awards with AHRQ. AHRQ is interested in instruments and items through which families of pediatric patients assess the care their child receives during the child's inpatient stay. The goal is to develop a standardized instrument for use in the public reporting of family experience of pediatric inpatient care. The CEPQM team is collaborating with the CAHPS 3 Consortium to develop this instrument. The survey will be developed in accordance with CAHPS Survey Design Principles and will develop implementation instructions based on those for CAHPS instruments (https://www.cahps.AHRQ.gov/About- CAHPS/principles.aspx.) All CAHPS surveys are available to users free of charge and are published on the AHRQ Web site. This notice is republished because of technical clarification.

This notice announces a meeting of the Advisory Panel on Outreach and Education (APOE) (the Panel) in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Panel advises and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of consumer education strategies concerning Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This meeting is open to the public.