June 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) to prescribe rules establishing procedures for the conduct of adjudication proceedings. On July 28, 2011, the Bureau published an interim final rule establishing these procedures with a request for comment. This final rule responds to the comments received by the Bureau and amends the Bureau's regulations accordingly.

The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA or the Act) requires agencies that conduct adversary adjudications to award attorney fees and other litigation expenses to certain parties other than the United States in certain circumstances. EAJA also requires agencies that conduct adversary adjudications to establish procedures for the submission and consideration of applications for the award of fees and other expenses. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) now issues an interim final rule establishing such procedures and seeks public comments.

FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new information collection, which is summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering a proposal to authorize the release of 11.92 acres of the airport property at the Chan Gurney Municipal Airport, Yankton, South Dakota. The proposal consists of the trade of unimproved land on the northwest side of the airport owned by the City of Yankton for an equal parcel of land located on the north central side of the airport. The acreage being released is not needed for aeronautical use as currently identified on the Airport Layout Plan. There are no impacts to the airport by allowing the City of Yankton to trade properties. Approval does not constitute a commitment by the FAA to financially assist in the disposal of the airport property nor a determination of eligibility for grant-in-aid funding from the FAA. In accordance with section 47107(h) of title 49, United States Code, this notice is required to be published in the Federal Register 30 days before modifying the land-use assurance that requires the property to be used for aeronautical purpose.

These special conditions are issued for the Gulfstream Aerospace LP, Model Gulfstream G280 airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features associated with connectivity of the passenger service computer systems to the airplane critical systems and data networks. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features. 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.

The FAA is issuing a SNPRM for the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on February 7, 2012, in order to elicit comments regarding removing reference to the navigation aid in the legal description of the Class E airspace area designated as an extension at Boise Air Terminal (Gowen Field), Boise, ID. The NPRM only proposed an amendment of Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at the airport, as well as adjusting the geographic coordinates of the airport. The FAA is proposing this amendment to enhance safety in the Boise, ID, airspace area.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the availability of up to $7 million in Fiscal Year 2012 for competitive grants to assist communities with extremely high energy costs. This grant program is authorized under section 19 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (RE Act) (7 U.S.C. 918a) and program regulations at 7 CFR part 1709. The grant funds may be used to acquire, construct, extend, upgrade, or otherwise improve energy generation, transmission, or distribution facilities serving communities in which the average residential expenditure for home energy exceeds 275 percent of the national average. Eligible applicants include persons, States, political subdivisions of States, and other entities organized under State law. Federally-recognized Indian Tribes and Tribal entities are eligible applicants. This notice describes the eligibility and application requirements, the criteria that will be used by RUS to award funding, and information on how to obtain application materials. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number for this program is 10.859. You may obtain the Application Guide and materials for the Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities Grant Program via the Internet at the following Web site: https://www.rurdev.usda.gov/UEP_Our_Grant_ Programs.html. You may also request the Application Guide and materials from RUS by contacting the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.

On June 6, 2012, AMS published a final rule to address substances due to sunset from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) in 2012. This final rule amended two listings for pectin on the National List effective June 27, 2012.

On June 11, 2012,\1\ the United States Court of International Trade (CIT) sustained the Department of Commerce's (the Department) results of redetermination \2\ pursuant to the CIT's Hejia Remand Order 2.\3\

Section 5207 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) established the Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative Research Program (STEP). The FHWA anticipates that the STEP or a similar program to provide resources for national research on issues related to planning, environment, and realty will be included in future surface transportation legislation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, the FHWA expects to seek partnerships with other Federal agencies and tribes, State and local governments, and nongovernmental transportation and environmental stakeholders that can leverage limited research funding in the STEP with other stakeholders and partners in order to increase the total amount of resources available to meet the Nation's surface transportation research needs. The purpose of this notice is to announce the STEP implementation strategy for FY 2013 and to request suggested lines of research for the FY 2013 STEP via the STEP Web site at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/step/index.htm in anticipation of future surface transportation legislation.

NMFS proposes a change in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's risk policy regarding stocks without an overfishing limit. The current risk policy does not allow increases of the acceptable biological catch for stocks that do not have an overfishing limit derived from the stock assessment. The modification will allow increases of the acceptable biological catch for stocks that have stable or increasing trends in abundance, and for which there is robust scientific information to suggest that an increased acceptable biological catch will not lead to overfishing.

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has taken final action in the following case: Mona Thiruchelvam, Ph.D., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey: Based on the report of an investigation conducted by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and additional analysis conducted by ORI in its oversight review, ORI found that Dr. Mona Thiruchelvam, former Assistant Professor, Department of Environment and Occupational Health Science Institute (EOHSI), UMDNJ, engaged in research misconduct in research supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants P30 ES05022, P30 ES01247, and R01 ES10791 and the intramural program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), NIH. ORI found that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by falsifying and fabricating cell count data that she claimed to have obtained through stereological methods in order to falsely report the effects of combined exposure of the pesticides paraquat and maneb on dopaminergic neuronal death and a neuroprotective role for estrogen in a murine model of Parkinson's disease. The Respondent provided to the institution corrupted data files as the data for stereological cell counts of nigrostriatal neurons in brains of several mice and rats by copying a single data file from a previous experiment and renaming the copies to fit the description of 13 new experiments composed of 293 data files when stereological data collection was never performed for the questioned research. The fabricated data, falsified methodology, and false claims based on fabricated and falsified data were reported in two NIEHS, NIH, grant applications, two publications, a poster, and a manuscript in preparation: R01 ES016277, ``Development Pesticide Exposure: The Parkinson's Disease Phenotype'' (Dr. Mona J. Thiruchelvam, Principal Investigator [P.I.]), submitted 1/26/2007 and funded. R01 ES015041, ``Gender and the Parkinson's Disease Phenotype'' (Dr. Mona J. Thiruchelvam, P.I.), submitted 12/19/05. Rodriguez, V.M., Thiruchelvam, M., & Cory-Slechta, D.A. ``Sustained Exposure to the Widely Used Herbicide, Atrazine: Altered Function and Loss of Neurons in Brain Monamine Systems.'' Environ Health Perspect. 113(6):708-715, 2005 (``EHP paper''). Thiruchelvam, M., Prokopenko, O., Cory-Slechta, D.A., Richfield, E.K., Buckley, B., & Mirochnitchenko, O. ``Overexpression of Superoxide Dismutase or Glutathione Peroxidase Protects against the Paraquat + Maneb-induced Parkinson Disease Phenotype.'' J. Biol. Chem. 280(23):22530-22539, 2005 (``JBC paper''). Harvey, K., Victor, A.I., Wang, Y., Kochar, Y., Cory- Slechta, D.A., & Thiruchelvam, M. ``Gene Delivery of GDNF Impedes Progressive Neurodegeneration in Paraquat and Maneb Exposure Model of Parkinson's Disease.'' Poster presentation, Neuroscience 2006 (``Neuroscience poster''). Thiruchelvam, M., Kochar, Y., Mehta, H., Prokopenko, O., Cory-Slechta, D.A., Richfield, E.K., & Mirochnitchenko, O. ``Mechanisms associated with gender difference in the paraquat and maneb animal model of Parkinson's disease, 2006 (``manuscript''). Specifically, ORI finds that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by knowingly and intentionally: Falsifying and fabricating summary bar graphs and methodology for stereological cell counts in a murine model of Parkinson's disease, when the stereological counts were never performed; Copying and altering in multiple ways a single stereology ``.dat'' computer file generated on August 18, 2002, and renaming it to generate 293 data files representing counts for 13 new experiments that were never performed, by altering the files to make them unreadable and claiming that these files were from valid stereological cell count experiments carried out at UMDNJ between 2004 and 2006; Falsifying a bar graph representing brain proteasomal activity, by selectively altering data for relative fluorescent unit (RFU) values to support the hypothesis that development of Parkinson's disease entails proteasomal dysfunction with a higher effect in males compared to females; By failing to perform stereological cell counts, the following figures of summary bar graphs, reported methodology, and related claims of the Respondent's JBC paper, EHP paper, a manuscript, a poster, and two grant applications were falsified:

This document provides notice of the continuation of the computer matching program between the Departments of Education (ED) and Defense (DoD). The continuation is effective on the date specified in paragraph 5.

Notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement concerning the Arkansas Waste to Energy Superfund Site, located in Osceola, Mississippi County, Arkansas. The settlement requires the settling party to pay a total of $50,000 as payment of response costs to the Hazardous Substances Superfund. The settlement includes a covenant not to sue pursuant to Section 107 of CERCLA. For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to this notice and will receive written comments relating to the settlement.

Louisiana has applied to the EPA for final authorization of the changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The EPA has determined that these changes satisfy all requirements needed to qualify for final authorization, and is authorizing the State's changes through this immediate final action. The EPA is publishing this rule to authorize the changes without a prior proposal because we believe this action is not controversial and do not expect comments that oppose it. Unless we receive written comments which oppose this authorization during the comment period, the decision to authorize Louisiana's changes to its hazardous waste program will take effect. If we receive comments that oppose this action, we will publish a document in the Federal Register withdrawing this rule before it takes effect, and a separate document in the proposed rules section of this issue of the Federal Register will serve as a proposal to authorize the changes.

The Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee is publishing Civilian Personnel Per Diem Bulletin Number 283. This bulletin lists revisions in the per diem rates prescribed for U.S. Government employees for official travel in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and Possessions of the United States. AEA changes announced in Bulletin Number 194 remain in effect. Bulletin Number 283 is being published in the Federal Register to assure that travelers are paid per diem at the most current rates.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR which is abstracted below describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR which is abstracted below describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Audit, Finance and Analysis Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC).