July 9, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Taxpayer Burden Reduction Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing an order under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) debarring Glen R. Justice, M.D. from providing services in any capacity to a person that has an approved or pending drug product application for a period of 25 years. We base this order on a finding that Dr. Justice was convicted of five felony counts under Federal law for conduct involving health care fraud and that this pattern of conduct was sufficient to find that there is reason to believe he may violate requirements under the FD&C Act relating to drug products. Dr. Justice was given notice of the proposed debarment and an opportunity to request a hearing within the timeframe prescribed by regulation. Dr. Justice failed to respond. Dr. Justice's failure to respond constitutes a waiver of his right to a hearing concerning this action.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is extending the First Action Interview (FAI) Pilot Program while completing a comprehensive review of the program, deciding what, if any, adjustments should be made to the program, and whether the program should be extended further or made permanent. The program is intended to expedite disposition of an application by enhancing communication between an applicant and an examiner at the beginning of the examination process. Specifically, the program allows an applicant to conduct an interview with an examiner prior to the issuance of an Office action, but after receiving the examiner's search results and initially identified issues. During its review, the Office will consider feedback from both internal and external stakeholders. Accordingly, in addition to announcing the extension of the program, the Office is requesting comments on the program.

The Federal Trade Commission seeks public comments in connection with a workshop to examine competition and consumer protection issues in the pet medications industry. The workshop will consider how current industry distribution and other business practices affect consumer choice and price competition for pet medications; the ability of consumers to obtain written, portable prescriptions that they can fill wherever they choose; and the ability of consumers to verify the safety and efficacy of pet medications that they purchase. The workshop will also examine the extent to which recent changes to restricted distribution and prescription portability practices in the contact lens industry might yield lessons applicable to the pet medications industry. The Commission seeks the views of consumers, veterinarians, business representatives, economists, lawyers, academics, and other interested parties on these issues. This notice poses a series of questions relevant to those issues about which the Commission seeks comment. After conducting the workshop and reviewing comments, the Commission may prepare a report discussing these issues.

The NTSB is announcing that it will submit an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This ICR proposes voluntary completion of a form to collect contact information of victims of transportation accidents, and/or victims' family members and friends. The NTSB will transmit either a paper copy or an electronic copy of the form to victims' family members and friends. This Notice informs the public that they may submit comments concerning the NTSB's proposed collection of information to the NTSB Desk Officer at the OMB.

The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on the proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection of data of the approved information collection, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 1205- 0310, containing Form ETA 9035Labor Condition Application for Nonimmigrant Workers; Form ETA 9035ELabor Condition Application for Nonimmigrants (electronic version); Form ETA 9035CPGeneral Instructions for the 9035 & 9035E; and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Form WH-4Nonimmigrant Worker Information Form, which expire on March 31, 2015. In order to meet its statutory responsibilities under the INA, the Department is revising the existing collection of information pertaining to employers seeking to apply for labor condition applications to allow them to bring foreign labor to the U.S. on a temporary basis. The Secretary uses the collected information to determine if employers are meeting their statutory and regulatory obligations.

The Department of the Treasury is amending the Department of the Treasury Acquisition Regulation (DTAR) to implement use of the Internet Payment Platform, a centralized electronic invoicing and payment information system, and to change the definition of bureau to reflect the consolidation on July 21, 2011 of the Office of Thrift Supervision with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. This final rule follows publication of a February 23, 2012, notice of proposed rulemaking. After careful consideration of the public comments, the Department is adopting the proposed rulemaking without change.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to revise certain aspects of its current market-based rate regulations, ancillary services requirements under the pro forma open-access transmission tariff (OATT), and accounting and reporting requirements. Specifically, the Commission proposes to revise its Avista Corp.\1\ policy governing the sale of ancillary services at market-based rates to public utility transmission providers and reflect such reforms in Parts 35 and 37 of the Commission's regulations. The Commission also proposes to require each public utility transmission provider to include provisions in its OATT explaining how it will determine Regulation and Frequency Response reserve requirements in a manner that takes into account the speed and accuracy of resources used. Finally, the Commission proposes to revise the accounting and reporting requirements under its Uniform System of Accounts for public utilities and licensees and its forms, statements, and reports, contained in FERC Form No. 1, Annual Report of Major Electric Utilities, Licensees and Others, FERC Form No. 1-F, Annual Report for Nonmajor Public Utilities and Licensees, and FERC Form No. 3-Q, Quarterly Financial Report of Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies, to better account for and report transactions associated with the use of energy storage devices in public utility operations.