May 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning arbitrage restrictions on tax-exempt bonds.

Under the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received a petition for reinstatement from Ridgeland Wyoming Inc. for competitive oil and gas lease WYW177172 for land in Converse County, Wyoming. The petition was filed on time and was accompanied by all the rentals due since the date the lease terminated under the law.

The Coast Guard proposes to temporarily change the enforcement location of a safety zone for one specific recurring fireworks display in the Fifth Coast Guard District. This regulation applies to only one recurring fireworks event, held adjacent to the Currituck Sound, Corolla, North Carolina. The fireworks display previously originated from a barge but will this year originate from a location on land; the safety zone is necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the event. This action is intended to restrict vessel traffic in a portion of the Currituck Sound, Corolla, NC, during the event.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 712, Life Insurance Statement.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning 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; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 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 ways to further reduce the information collection burden on 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 control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA that does not display a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (Council) announces the availability of its hearing procedures (Council Hearing Procedures) for hearings conducted by the Council under Title I and Title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd- Frank Act). The Council invites comments to be submitted on the Council Hearing Procedures.

On April 5, 2010, PHMSA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register [75 FR 17111] under Docket No. PHMSA-2009-0241 (HM-242) soliciting comments on whether PHMSA should consider harmonization of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-180) applicable to the transportation of combustible liquids with the UN Recommendations, while maintaining an adequate level of safety, and posed a series of questions. The major issues being examined and addressed are: Safety (hazard communication and packaging integrity); International commerce (frustration/delay of international shipments in the port area); Increased burden on domestic industry (elimination of domestic combustible liquid exceptions); and Driver Eligibility (exception from placarding which would exempt seasonal workers from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and Hazmat Endorsement requirements, and the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) fingerprinting and background check provisions). PHMSA also addressed three petitions for rulemaking in the April 5 ANPRM; two suggesting that domestic requirements for the transportation of combustible liquids should be harmonized with International standards, and one suggesting that the HMR should include more expansive domestic exceptions for shipments of combustible liquids. The issuance of this notice constitutes a decision by PHMSA to withdraw the April 5, 2010 ANPRM, and to deny the International Vessel Operators Dangerous Goods Association (IVODGA) petition, P-1498, the Dangerous Goods Advisory Council (DGAC) petition, P- 1531, and the U.S. Customer Harvesters, Inc. petition, P-1536.

Pursuant to subsection (e)(4) of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) proposes to add a new system of records, FCC/OMD-30, ``FCC Visitors Database.'' The FCC's Security Operations Center (SOC) in the Office of Managing Director (OMD) will use the information contained in FCC/OMD-30 to cover the personally identifiable information (PII) that all visitors to the FCC, including but not limited to U.S. citizens, permanent residents (i.e., green card holders), and foreign nationals, must provide to the SOC to gain admittance to the FCC headquarters buildings and other FCC facilities.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled ``Pathologic Complete Response in Neoadjuvant Treatment of High-Risk Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Use as an Endpoint to Support Accelerated Approval.'' FDA's accelerated approval regulations permit approval of a new drug to treat a serious disease on the basis of an effect on a surrogate endpoint reasonably likely to predict the clinical benefit of the drug. This draft guidance is intended to assist applicants in designing trials to support marketing approval of drugs to treat breast cancer in the neoadjuvant (preoperative) setting using pathologic complete response (pCR) as a surrogate endpoint that could support approval under the accelerated approval regulations. Despite advances in systemic therapy of early-stage breast cancer over the past few decades, there remains a significant unmet medical need for certain high-risk or poor prognosis populations of early-stage breast cancer patients. This guidance is intended to encourage industry innovation and expedite the development of breakthrough therapies to treat high- risk early-stage breast cancer.

In this notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to update its test procedures for showerheads, faucets, water closets, and urinals. Specifically, DOE proposes to incorporate by reference the American Society of Mechanical Engineers/American National Standards Institute (ASME/ANSI) Standard A112.18.1-2011 test procedure for faucets and showerheads, which would replace the 1996 version currently referenced by DOE in its test procedure. DOE also proposes to incorporate by reference ASME/ANSI Standard A112.19.2-2008 procedure for water closets and urinals, which would replace the 1995 version currently referenced by DOE in its test procedure. These updates fulfill DOE's obligation under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to review its test procedures for covered products at least once every 7 years and either amend the applicable test procedures or publish a determination in the Federal Register not to amend them. DOE also expects that incorporation of the updated procedures will bring DOE's testing requirements more closely in line with current industry practices, reduce the burden associated with testing and reporting test results for these products, and improve the accuracy of test results. For commercial prerinse spray valves, DOE has preliminarily determined that no changes are needed to the existing DOE test procedure in order to accurately measure the water consumption of these products, and proposes to retain the existing procedure without change. However, since the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) reapproved this standard in 2009 as F2324-03 (2009), DOE is proposing to incorporate by reference this most recent version. This action would also satisfy the EPCA requirement for DOE to review the test procedures for these products at least once every 7 years. This notice also announces a public meeting to receive comments on these proposed amendments to the test procedures.

This document contains proposed regulations relating to property transferred in connection with the performance of services under section 83 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These proposed regulations affect certain taxpayers who received property transferred in connection with the performance of services.

On November 18, 2011, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') published in the Federal Register a final rule and interim final rule, which establish a position limits regime for 28 exempt and agricultural commodity futures and options contracts and the physical commodity swaps that are economically equivalent to such contracts. In response to a petition for exemptive relief under the Commodity Exchange Act and certain comments to the Commission's interim final rule for spot-month limits for cash-settled contracts, this notice proposes certain modifications to the Commission's policy for aggregation under the position limits regime in CFTC regulations.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including residential dishwashers. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this direct final rule, DOE is adopting amended energy conservation standards for residential dishwashers. DOE has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified. A notice of proposed rulemaking that proposes identical energy efficiency standards is published elsewhere in today's Federal Register. If DOE receives adverse comment and determines that such comment may provide a reasonable basis for withdrawing the direct final rule, this final rule will be withdrawn and DOE will proceed with the proposed rule.

This notice announces that the period for submitting comments on the Department of Energy's (DOE) request for information (RFI) issued as part of its implementation of Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' is extended to June 19, 2012.