June 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is proposing to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the State of Mississippi, through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), as meeting certain requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by the EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP. Mississippi certified that the Mississippi SIP contains provisions that ensure that the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are implemented, enforced, and maintained in Mississippi (hereafter referred to as ``infrastructure submission''). EPA is proposing to determine that Mississippi's infrastructure submissions, provided to EPA on December 7, 2007, and on October 6, 2009, addressed all the required infrastructure elements for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS with the exception of sections 110(a)(2)(E)(ii) and 110(a)(2)(G), both of which will be addressed in a separate action.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 747-400, -400D, and -400F series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of crown frame web cracking at left buttock line (LBL) 15.0, station (STA) 320. This proposed AD would require a measurement of the web at STA 320 and, depending on findings, various inspections for cracks and missing fasteners, web and fastener replacement, and related investigative and corrective actions. We are proposing this AD to prevent complete fracture of the crown frame assembly, and consequent damage to the skin and in-flight decompression of the airplane.

EPA is taking final action on revisions to the final Transport Rule (Federal Implementation Plans: Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone and Correction of SIP Approvals, published August 8, 2011). EPA is revising the 2012 and 2014 state budgets for Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, and revising the new unit set-asides for Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri. These revisions are in addition to the revisions to the final Transport Rule published on February 21, 2012.

EPA is proposing to approve the State Implementation Plans (SIPs), submitted by the State of Florida, through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), as demonstrating that the State meets the requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by the EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP. Florida certified that the Florida SIP contains provisions that ensure the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are implemented, enforced, and maintained in Florida (hereafter referred to as ``infrastructure submission''). EPA is proposing to determine that Florida's infrastructure submissions, provided to EPA on April 18, 2008, and on September 23, 2009, addressed all the required infrastructure elements for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. As discussed further below, final action to approve elements 110(a)(2)(C), (E)(ii), and (J) is contingent upon the Agency first taking final action on submitted SIP revisions associated with these elements. Final action on those SIP revisions will be addressed in a separate action.

This document contains final regulations regarding whether a foreign corporation is treated as a surrogate foreign corporation. The final regulations affect certain domestic corporations and partnerships (and certain parties related thereto), and foreign corporations that acquire substantially all of the properties of such domestic corporations or partnerships.

On May 30, 2012, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) published a notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments regarding a petition received on January 11, 2012 from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) requesting formal designation of Arab-Americans as a minority group that is socially or economically disadvantaged pursuant to 15 CFR part 1400. The Notice includes a thirty-day comment deadline of June 29, 2012, but also states that MBDA will make a decision on the petition no later than June 27, 2012. Due to the complexity of the subject matter, the Department finds that it is not practicable to complete an in depth review of the issues involved in the petition, give adequate consideration to all comments, and make a reasoned determination on the petition by June 27, 2012. Therefore, the Department has determined that it is necessary to extend the time in which it will make its decision on the petition until July 30, 2012. This extension will not prejudice the petitioner. The deadline for the comments on the petition remains unchanged, and continues to be June 29, 2012.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the navigable waters of Long Island Sound in the vicinity of Kings Point, NY for a fireworks display. This temporary safety zone is necessary to protect spectators and vessels from the hazards associated with fireworks displays. This rule is intended to restrict all vessels from a portion of Long Island Sound before, during, and immediately after the fireworks event.

FMCSA eliminates the requirement for drivers operating intermodal equipment (IME) to submitand intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) to retaindriver-vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs) when the driver has neither found nor been made aware of any defects in the IME. This responds to a joint petition for rulemaking from the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) and the Institute of International Container Lessors (IICL).

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Fokker Services B.V. Model F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of burned contacts in a certain production break plug and its corresponding receptacle. This proposed AD would require modifying galley power supply wiring by disconnecting it from the affected plug/receptacle and reconnecting the power supply wiring through splices. We are proposing this AD to prevent a high electrical load which may lead to overheating of the galley power supply wiring and/or the electrical connector and consequent smoke or fire in the galley area, which could result in damage to the airplane and injury to occupants.

The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the P.J. McArdle Bridge across the Chelsea River, mile 0.3, between Chelsea and East Boston, Massachusetts. This deviation allows the bridge to remain in the closed position to facilitate the Chelsea River Revel and 5K Road Race. Vessels that can pass under the draw without a bridge opening may do so at all times.

This proposed rule would amend the Lamb Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Order) to increase the assessment rate on all live ovine animals sold from $.005 per pound to $.007 per pound for producers, feeders, and seedstock producers, and from $.30 per head of ovine animals purchased for slaughter to $.42 per head for first handlers. The increase is provided for under the Order, which is authorized by the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (Act). The American Lamb Board (Board), which administers the Order, recommended this action to maintain and expand their promotional, research, advertising, and communications programs.

EPA is issuing two separate and independent final determinations related to the Baltimore 1-hour ozone nonattainment area. First, EPA is determining that the Baltimore area previously failed to attain the 1-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by its applicable attainment deadline of November 15, 2005 (based on complete, quality-assured and certified ozone monitoring data for 2003-2005). Second, EPA is also determining that the Baltimore area is currently attaining the now revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS based on complete, quality-assured and certified ozone monitoring data for 2008- 2010 and continuing for 2009-2011. Thus, quality-assured ozone monitoring data in the Air Quality System (AQS) show that the area has been attaining the revoked 1-hour ozone standard since 2008. EPA's determination that the area has attained the 1-hour ozone standard obviates the need for submission of any contingency measures for failure to attain that revoked standard.

On April 20, 2011, EPA published proposed standards for cooling water intake structures at all existing power generating, manufacturing, and industrial facilities as part of implementing section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). This notice presents a summary of new information EPA has developed since the rule proposal. The information results from a stated preference survey that EPA conducted after the proposed rule was published. Stated preference surveys are an attempt to determine the economic value of goods or services by means other than by assessing the effects of changes in the market for the goods and services. In this notice EPA solicits comment on the information presented in this notice and on what role, if any, it should play in EPA's assessment of the benefits of regulatory options for the final rule, pending completion of the survey and external peer review.

EPA is approving a request from the State of Illinois to redesignate the Illinois portion of the St. Louis, MO-IL area to attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard). The St. Louis area includes Jersey, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties in Illinois and St. Louis City and Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis Counties in Missouri. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) submitted this request on May 26, 2010, and supplemented its request on September 16, 2011. EPA proposed to approve this submission on December 22, 2011, and provided a 30-day review and comment period. On January 20, 2012, EPA extended the public comment period for an additional 30 days. The comment period closed on February 22, 2012. EPA received comments submitted on behalf of Sierra Club. In addition to approving the redesignation request EPA is taking several other related actions. EPA is approving, as a revision to the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP), the State's plan for maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone standard through 2025 in the area. EPA is approving the 2002 emissions inventory, submitted by IEPA on June 21, 2006, and supplemented on September 16, 2011, as meeting the comprehensive emissions inventory requirement of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the Illinois portion of the St. Louis area. Finally, EPA finds adequate and is approving the State's 2008 and 2025 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for the Illinois portion of the St. Louis area.

This final rule requires certain railroads to establish and maintain systems that allow members of the public to call the railroads, using a toll-free telephone number, and report an emergency or other unsafe condition at highway-rail and pathway grade crossings. The rule refers to such a system as an ``Emergency Notification System,'' and it consists of the following components: the signs, placed at the grade crossing, that display the information necessary for the public to report an unsafe condition to the appropriate railroad; the method that the railroad uses to receive and process a telephone call reporting the unsafe condition; the remedial actions that the appropriate railroad or railroads take to address the report of the unsafe conditions; and the related recordkeeping conducted by the railroad(s).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, designate critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog under the Endangered Species Act. In previous publications, we used the common name ``Mississippi gopher frog'' for this species. We are taking this action to fulfill our obligations under the Act. Land in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, and Forrest, Harrison, Jackson, and Perry Counties, Mississippi, is being designated under a court approved settlement agreement to finalize critical habitat for the species. The effect of this regulation is to conserve the habitat upon which dusky gopher frog depends.

EPA is proposing to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions, submitted by the State of Alabama, through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), as demonstrating that the State meets the requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by the EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP. Alabama certified that the Alabama SIP contains provisions that ensure the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are implemented, enforced, and maintained in Alabama (hereafter referred to as ``infrastructure submission''). EPA is proposing to determine that Alabama's infrastructure submissions, provided to EPA on July 25, 2008, and on September 23, 2009, addressed all the required infrastructure elements for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS with the exception of section 110(a)(2)(E)(ii) which will be addressed in a separate action.

On April 20, 2011, EPA published proposed standards for cooling water intake structures at all existing power generating facilities and existing manufacturing and industrial facilities as part of implementing section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). As a result of that notice, EPA received extensive comments on its proposal. These comments included a substantial amount of new information accompanied by reports, studies and other documents often supplemented with the substantiating data. In some cases, the materials may not have included the underlying data supporting the documents' conclusions. Consequently, in many circumstances, EPA contacted the commenters to obtain the raw data underlying the documents for EPA's use in further assessing its proposal. This notice presents a summary of the significant new information and data EPA has received since proposal and a discussion of possible revisions to the final rule that EPA is considering that were suggested by the data and comments. EPA solicits public comment on the data and possible revisions presented in this notice and the record supporting this notice.

This proposed rule would revise the limits on the number of swordfish that fishermen may possess or land during any given Hawaii- based deep-set longline-fishing trip north of the Equator. This proposed rule would also revise the definition of deep-set longline fishing to be consistent with the proposed swordfish retention limits. All other measures applicable to the deep-set fishery would remain unchanged. The proposed rule intends to reduce regulatory discards and optimize the yield of swordfish.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 24 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule establishes red grouper commercial and recreational sector annual catch limits (ACLs); establishes red grouper sector accountability measures (AMs); and removes the combined gag, black grouper, and red grouper commercial quota, and commercial and recreational sector ACLs and AMs. The intent of this final rule is to specify ACLs and AMs for red grouper while maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield (OY) for the red grouper resource. Additionally, Amendment 24 implements a rebuilding plan for red grouper in the South Atlantic.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction is issuing a final rule, revising its regulations establishing procedures for the public to obtain information from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act of 1974. These procedures will facilitate public interaction with SIGAR.

The Coast Guard will establish a Special Local Regulation for ``The Crossing'' swim event to be held on the waters of Lake Gaston, adjacent to the Eaton Ferry Bridge in Littleton, North Carolina. This Special Local Regulation is necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the event. This action is intended to restrict vessel traffic on Lake Gaston under the Eaton Ferry Bridge and within 100 yards west of the bridge during the swim event.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Western Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) by vessels participating in the BSAI trawl limited access fishery. This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2012 allocation of Pacific ocean perch in this area allocated to vessels participating in the BSAI trawl limited access fishery.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve changes to the Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) through the Division of Air Pollution Control to EPA on July 29, 2011. The July 29, 2011, SIP revision modifies Tennessee's New Source Review (NSR) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) programs. Tennessee's July 29, 2011, SIP revision proposes to incorporate, into the Tennessee SIP, NSR provisions for fine particulate matter (also known as PM2.5) as amended in EPA's 2008 NSR PM2.5 Implementation Rule (hereafter referred to as the ``NSR PM2.5 Rule''). EPA is proposing approval of the July 29, 2011, SIP revision because the Agency has preliminarily determined that the revision is consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) and EPA regulations regarding NSR permitting.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issues this final rule amending NRCS' informal appeal procedures as required by Title II of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (the 1994 Act). This final rule amends regulations promulgated by the interim final rule published on May 16, 2006, and also includes new language to address comments and make procedural and structural changes in relation to 6 years of implementation.