April 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 767 airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of cracking in the upper wing skin at the fastener holes common to the pitch load fittings of the inboard and outboard front spar, which could result in the loss of the strut-to-wing upper link load path and possible separation of a strut and engine from the airplane during flight. This AD requires repetitive inspections to detect fatigue cracking in the wing skin, and corrective actions if necessary. We are issuing this AD to correct the unsafe condition on these products.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) notify the public that we are making changes to our proposed rule of June 2, 2011, to revise the special rule for the Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens). We are reopening the comment period because we are making substantive changes and one addition to our proposed rule based on public and peer review comments received. Comments previously submitted will be considered and do not need to be resubmitted now. However, we invite comments on the new information presented in this announcement relevant to our consideration of these changes, as described below. We encourage those who may have commented previously to submit additional comments, if appropriate, in light of this new information. We are also making available for public review the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) on our proposed actions, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-100, -200, -200C, -300, -400, and -500 series airplanes equipped with analog transient suppression devices (ATSDs) installed in accordance with Supplemental Type Certificate ST00146BO. This AD was prompted by multiple reports of corrosion on ATSDs. This AD requires revising the maintenance program to incorporate certain limitations. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct corrosion on ATSDs, which could result in the loss of high voltage transient protection (e.g., lightning protection) in the fuel tanks and consequent fuel tank explosion and loss of the airplane.

EPA is taking final action to approve a revision to the South Dakota State Implementation Plan (SIP) addressing regional haze submitted by the State of South Dakota on January 21, 2011, along with an amendment submitted on September 19, 2011. EPA has determined that the plan submitted by South Dakota satisfies the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) and our rules that require states to prevent any future and remedy any existing man-made impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I areas caused by emissions of air pollutants from numerous sources located over a wide geographic area (also referred to as the ``Regional Haze program'').

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) amends its Rules of Practice for Motor Carrier, Intermodal Equipment Provider, Broker, Freight Forwarder, and Hazardous Materials proceedings. The Agency clarifies that paying the full proposed civil penalty in an enforcement proceeding, either in response to a Notice of Claim (NOC) or later in the proceeding, does not allow respondents to unilaterally avoid an admission of liability for the violations charged. Additionally, the Agency establishes procedures for issuing out-of- service orders to motor carriers, intermodal equipment providers, brokers, and freight forwarders it determines are reincarnations of other entities with a history of failing to comply with statutory or regulatory requirements; these procedures will provide for an administrative review before the out-of-service order takes effect. Finally, the Agency establishes a process for consolidating Agency records of reincarnated companies with their predecessor entities.

EPA is making an interim final determination to stay the imposition of offset sanctions and to defer the imposition of highway sanctions based on a proposed approval of revisions to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) published elsewhere in this Federal Register. The revisions concern SJVUAPCD Rule 4352, Solid Fuel Fired Boilers, Steam Generators and Process Heaters.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list Aliciella formosa (Aztec gilia) as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and designate critical habitat. Based on our review, we find that the petition does not present substantial information indicating that listing Aztec gilia may be warranted. Therefore, we are not initiating a status review in response to this petition. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats to, Aztec gilia or its habitat at any time.

The Coast Guard proposes to establish a temporary safety zone on the waters of Lake Erie in the vicinity of East Harbor State Park, OH, from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. on September 9, 2012. This proposed safety zone is intended to restrict vessels from portions of Lake Erie during the Jet Express Triathlon. This proposed safety zone is necessary to protect participants, spectators and vessels from the hazards associated with triathlon event.

This rule identifies communities where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation that the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice of this will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date.

In order to better inform the public and NMFS, a conference call that is open to the public will be held to discuss historical and future data collection in the U.S. recreational yellowfin tuna fishery and the relationship to international yellowfin tuna management (e.g., quota establishment or tracking landings).

This final rule announces an inseason change to management measures in the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries. This action, which is authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), is intended to allow fisheries to access more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks. This rule also implements changes to the incidental retention allowance for halibut in the primary sablefish fishery under the authority of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are publishing for comment proposed rates and terms for use of certain works in connection with noncommercial broadcasting for the period commencing January 1, 2013, and ending on December 31, 2017.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with the Commission's document Implementing the Provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, as Enacted by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, (Report and Order). This notice is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules.

Under section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) approves eight modified Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards, CIP-002-4 through CIP-009-4, developed and submitted to the Commission for approval by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Electric Reliability Organization certified by the Commission. The CIP Reliability Standards provide a cybersecurity framework for the identification and protection of ``Critical Cyber Assets'' to support the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System. Reliability Standard CIP-002-4 requires the identification and documentation of Critical Cyber Assets associated with ``Critical Assets'' that support the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System and introduces ``bright line'' criteria for the identification of Critical Assets. The Commission approves the related Violation Risk Factors, Violation Severity Levels with modifications, implementation plan, and effective date proposed by NERC.

This document withdraws a notice of proposed rulemaking relating to withholding by government entities on payments to persons providing property or services. The proposed regulations are withdrawn because Public Law 112-56, ``The 3% Withholding Repeal and Job Creation Act,'' repealed the provision of the Internal Revenue Code underlying the proposed rules. The guidance affects government entities that would have been required to withhold and report tax from payments to persons providing property or services and also affects the persons receiving payments for property or services from these government entities.

We are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the North Dakota regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``North Dakota program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (``SMCRA'' or ``the Act''). North Dakota proposes changes to the North Dakota Administrative Code to address letter of credit provisions in the collateral bond rule under Administrative Code Section 69-5.2-12-04. The changes involve the financial information and notices that banks issuing a letter of credit must provide to the North Dakota Public Service Commission (hereinafter, the ``Commission''). This document gives the times and locations that the North Dakota program and proposed amendment to that program are available for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

In this Notice of Inquiry, the Commission seeks comment on open access and priority rights for capacity on interconnection facilities.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is confirming the effective date of May 2, 2012, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on February 17, 2012. This direct final rule amends the NRC's spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Holtec International HI-STORM 100 System listing within the ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) Number 1014.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Turbomeca S.A. Arriel 2B and 2B1 turboshaft engines. This AD was prompted by the discovery of non-conformities of certain power turbine (PT) blade fir-tree roots. This AD requires removing the affected PT blades from service on or before reaching a new reduced life limit for those certain PT blades. We are issuing this AD to prevent PT blade rupture, which could result in an uncommanded in-flight engine shutdown, forced autorotation landing, or accident.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) is interested in learning about how States deliver Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) assistance to beneficiaries, whether States have implemented policies and practices to prevent electronic benefit transfer transactions involving TANF assistance in liquor stores, casinos, gambling casinos, or other gaming establishments, and retail establishments which provide adult-oriented entertainment in which performers disrobe or perform in an unclothed state for entertainment; what the States' experiences have been in implementing such policies and practices; and whether States place other similar types of restrictions on assistance usage. OFA also is interested in learning about States' current approaches to ensuring that recipients have adequate access to their cash assistance, including policies that provide access to assistance with no fees or charges or current approaches to imposing fees or charges in connection with receipt of assistance, along with other information relevant to considering what might be minimal fees or charges. Additionally, OFA is interested in hearing the perspectives of vendors, consumer advocates, and any other individuals or entities that have information that could be relevant to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to prevent electronic benefit transfer transactions in certain establishments, and to ensuring access to cash assistance with minimal fees or charges, including opportunities to access assistance without fees or charges. The information provided will be used to inform OFA as it develops regulations to implement Section 4004 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-96), which, among other things, requires States to prevent the use of TANF assistance in electronic benefit transfer transactions at specified locations.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revises its rules to establish general guidelines for how BEA will collect data on international trade in services and direct investment surveys, which are provided for by the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (the Act). In addition to the Act, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 authorizes BEA to conduct international trade in services surveys. Currently, international trade in services and direct investment surveys are promulgated through separate rulemaking actions. This final rule modifies BEA's regulations to allow BEA to issue surveys through notices rather than through notice and comment rulemaking. It also provides a more general framework for how BEA collects data on these surveys that are required, or provided for, by the statutes. This rule will simplify and generalize existing regulations governing the procurement of information on international trade in services and direct investment.

This final rule corrects the provisions for calculating the annual operating cost of residential clothes washers. In the final rule establishing new and amended test procedures for residential clothes washers, published in the Federal Register on March 7, 2012, and effective as of April 6, 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) erroneously referenced the new test procedure, rather than the currently effective test procedure, in one section of the provisions for calculating annual operating cost.

EPA is making an administrative change to update the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to reflect a change made to the Georgia State Implementation Plan (SIP) on November 5, 2009, as a result of EPA's concurrence on a substitute transportation control measure (TCM) for the Atlanta portion of the Georgia SIP. On February 5, 2010, the State of Georgia, through the Environmental Protection Division (EPD), submitted a revision to the Georgia SIP requesting that EPA update its SIP to reflect a substitution of a TCM. The substitution was made pursuant to the TCM substitution provisions contained in Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA concurred on this substitution on November 5, 2009. In this administrative action, EPA is updating the non-regulatory provisions of the Georgia SIP to reflect the substitution. In summary, the substitution that EPA concurred on was a conversion of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to high occupancy toll lanes (HOT). EPA has determined that this action falls under the ``good cause'' exemption in the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) which, upon finding ``good cause,'' authorizes agencies to dispense with public participation which allows an agency to make an action effective immediately (thereby avoiding the 30-day delayed effective date otherwise provided for in the APA).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is proposing to amend its regulations to incorporate by reference the business practice standards adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) that pertain to the measurement and verification of demand response and energy efficiency resources participating in organized wholesale electricity markets. NAESB adopted the measurement and verification of demand response standards in response to the Commission's findings in Order No. 676-F.

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Sicma Aero Seat Model 9401, 9402, 9404, 9505, 9406, 9407, 9408, and 9409 series passenger seat assemblies, installed on, but not limited to, ATRGIE Avions de Transport R[eacute]gional Model ATR42 and ATR72 airplanes. That AD currently requires repetitive detailed inspections for cracking of the central and lateral spreaders of the affected seats, and repair or replacement of the spreader if necessary. This AD was prompted by a determination that the existing AD included Model 9505 series passenger seat assemblies in the applicability instead of Model 9405 series passenger seat assemblies. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracking of the central and lateral spreaders, which could lead to further cracking of the seat spreaders, causing injury to passengers or crew members during heavy turbulence in flight or in the event of an emergency landing.