October 19, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Through this notice, the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development delegates to the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management authority for the management and oversight of the Department's field operations.

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 1041-QT, U.S. Income Tax Return for Qualified Funeral Trusts.

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 1000, Ownership Certificate.

The FDIC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the survey collection instrument for its third National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households (``Household Survey''), currently approved under OMB Control No. 3064- 0167, scheduled to be conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau as a supplement to its June 2013 Current Population Survey (``CPS''). The collection is a key component of the FDIC's efforts to comply with a Congressional mandate contained in section 7 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments Act of 2005 (``Reform Act'') (Pub. L. 109-173), which calls for the FDIC to conduct ongoing surveys ``on efforts by insured depository institutions to bring those individuals and families who have rarely, if ever, held a checking account, a savings account or other type of transaction or check cashing account at an insured depository institution (hereafter in this section referred to as the `unbanked') into the conventional finance system.'' Section 7 further instructs the FDIC to consider several factors in its conduct of the surveys, including: (1) ``What cultural, language and identification issues as well as transaction costs appear to most prevent `unbanked' individuals from establishing conventional accounts''; and (2) ``what is a fair estimate of the size and worth of the ``unbanked'' market in the United States.'' The household survey is designed to address these factors and provide a factual basis on the proportions of unbanked households. Such a factual basis is necessary to adequately assess banks' efforts to serve these households as required by the statutory mandate. To satisfy the Congressional mandate, the FDIC designed two complementary surveys: a survey of FDIC-insured depository institutions and a survey of households. The survey of FDIC-insured depository institutions, aimed at collecting data on their efforts to serve underbanked, as well as unbanked, populations (underbanked populations include individuals who have an account with an insured depository but also rely on non-bank alternative financial service providers for transaction services or high cost credit products), was conducted in mid-2007 and again in 2011. The results of the 2007 survey were released in February 2008 and the results of the 2011 survey are expected to be released in December 2012. The first survey of unbanked and underbanked households was conducted in January 2009 as a CPS supplement and the results were released to the public in December 2009. The second survey of unbanked and underbanked households was conducted in June 2011 and the results were released to the public in September 2012. The household survey seeks to estimate the proportions of unbanked and underbanked households in the U.S. and to identify the factors that inhibit the participation of these households in the mainstream banking system. The results of these ongoing surveys will help policymakers and bankers understand the issues and challenges underserved households perceive when deciding how and where to conduct financial transactions. This notice addresses the next Household Survey.

The Caregivers Video Challenge is an opportunity for members of the public to create short,

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 13441, Health Coverage Tax Credit Registration Form, and Form 13441-EZ.

The Cancer Care Video Challenge is an opportunity for members of the public to create short,

In compliance with section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Secretary (OS), Department of Health and Human Services, will submit an Information Collection Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR is for revision of the approved information collection assigned OMB control number 0955-0002, scheduled to expire on October 31, 2012. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public on this ICR during the review and approval period.

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C. Appendix), 41 CFR 102-3.55, and the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b), effective October 5, 2012 the Department of Defense gives notice that it is terminating the Department of Defense Historical Advisory Committee.

FRA is proposing to amend the Federal Track Safety Standards to promote the safety of railroad operations by enhancing rail flaw detection processes. In particular, FRA is proposing minimum qualification requirements for rail flaw detection equipment operators, as well as revisions to requirements for effective rail inspection frequencies, rail flaw remedial actions, and rail inspection records. In addition, FRA is proposing to remove regulatory requirements concerning joint bar fracture reporting. This rulemaking is intended to implement section 403 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration's (ASA) intention to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of the currently approved information collection for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1994 Tribal Scholars Program.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection hereinto referred to as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (``CFPB'' or the ``Bureau'') gives notice of the establishment of a modified Privacy Act System of Records.

The EPA is proposing to revise the deadlines established in the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) for the near-road component of the NO2 monitoring network and to implement a phased deployment approach. This approach would create a series of deadlines that would make the near- road NO2 network operational between January 1, 2014, and January 1, 2017. The EPA is also proposing to revise the approval authority for annual monitoring network plans for NO2 monitoring.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (``CFPB'' or the ``Bureau'') is proposing to amend its regulations to exempt portions of its system of records entitled ``CFPB.005Consumer Response System'' from certain provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (the ``Privacy Act'').