July 26, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this Final Rule, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) amends its regulations to incorporate by reference the latest version (Version 2.0) of certain business practice standards adopted by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant (WGQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) applicable to natural gas pipelines. In addition, based on the minor corrections and errata made by NAESB and reported to the Commission on May 4, 2012, the Commission will incorporate by reference certain standards that it earlier proposed not to incorporate, as the revised standards no longer conflict with Commission regulations. In this Final Rule, the Commission also provides guidance on the criteria the Commission will use in deciding whether to grant or deny requests for waivers or extensions of time and modifies the compliance filing requirements to add transparency as to where in the tariff incorporated standards may be found.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is publishing proposed examination guidelines concerning the first-inventor-to-file (FITF) provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). The AIA amends the patent laws pertaining to the conditions of patentability to convert the United States patent system from a ``first to invent'' system to a ``first inventor to file'' system, treats United States patents and United States patent application publications as prior art as of their earliest effective United States, foreign, or international filing date, eliminates the requirement that a prior public use or sale activity be ``in this country'' to be a prior art activity, and treats commonly owned or joint research agreement patents and patent application publications as being by the same inventive entity for purposes of novelty, as well as nonobviousness. The changes to the conditions of patentability in the AIA result in greater transparency, objectivity, predictability, and simplicity in patentability determinations. These guidelines will assist Office personnel in, and inform the public of how the Office is, implementing the FITF provisions of the AIA. The Office is concurrently proposing in a separate action (RIN 0651-AC77) published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register to amend the rules of practice in patent cases to implement the FITF provisions of the AIA.

This document is issued under the joint authority of DOD, GSA, and NASA. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in accordance with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of the rule appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-60, which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding this rule by referring to FAC 2005-60, which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at https:// www.regulations.gov.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to remove any reference to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 161 and codify requirements for standards already in use.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement sections of the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. These statutes extend the sunset date for protests against the award of task or delivery orders from May 27, 2011, to September 30, 2016.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are adopting as final, with changes, the interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 as amended by a section of the Government Funding Transparency Act of 2008, which requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish a free, public Web site containing full disclosure of all Federal contract award information. This rule requires contractors to report executive compensation, and first-tier subcontractor awards on contracts of $25,000 or more.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is adding five additional discrete geographical areas to the sanctuary and changing the name of the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary (FBNMS or sanctuary) to the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa (NMSAS). NOAA also is amending existing sanctuary regulations and applying these regulations to activities in the sanctuary.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is proposing new rules and related forms to enhance its identification of futures and swap market participants. The proposed rules would leverage the Commission's existing position and transaction reporting programs by requiring the electronic submission of trader identification and market participant data on amended Forms 102 and 40, and on new Form 71. The proposed rules also incorporate a revised approach to the Commission's previous initiative to collect ownership and control information, through a dedicated ownership and control report (``OCR''), for trading accounts active on reporting markets that are designated contract markets or swap execution facilities. The Commission welcomes public comment on all aspects of its proposal.