December 4, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) announces additional meetings for the Indian Oil Valuation Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (Committee). The seventh through ninth meetings of the Committee will take place on January 15 and 16, March 5 and 6, and April 17 and 18, 2013, in Building 85 of the Denver Federal Center. The Committee membership includes representatives from Indian tribes, individual Indian mineral owner organizations, minerals industry representatives, and other Federal bureaus. The public will have the opportunity to comment between 3:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. Mountain Time on January 15, 2013; March 5, 2013; and April 17, 2013.

The FAA is revising a final rule published on June 7, 2000 (65 FR 36244). In that final rule, the FAA amended its regulations for the certification of changes to type-certificated products. That amendment was to enhance safety by applying the latest airworthiness standards, to the extent practical, for the certification of significant design changes of aircraft, aircraft engines, and propellers. The existing rule requires the applicant show that the ``changed product'' complies with applicable standards. This action revises that requirement so that an applicant is required to show compliance only for the change and areas affected by the change. The intended effect of this action is to make the regulation consistent with the FAA's intent and with the certification practice both before and after the adoption of the existing rule.

Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and modified BFEs are made final for the communities listed below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that each community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

NHTSA is proposing to restore the side marker lamp requirements, for vehicles that are over 80 inches wide, and also less than 30 feet in overall length, to the Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) on lamps, reflective devices and associated equipment. These requirements were modified when the agency published a final rule reorganizing the standard on December 4, 2007.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that DSM Nutritional Products has filed a petition proposing that the food additive regulations be amended to provide for the safe use of benzoic acid as a feed acidifier in swine feed.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the prairie gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus ocythous), the plains spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius interrupta), and a distinct population segment (DPS) of the Mearn's eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsi) in Illinois and western Indiana as endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information that listing the prairie gray fox and the plains spotted skunk may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we initiate a review of the status of the prairie gray fox and the plains spotted skunk to determine if listing either of these subspecies is warranted. To ensure that this status review is comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding these subspecies. Based on the status review, we will issue a 12-month finding on the petition, which will address whether the petitioned action is warranted, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act. We also evaluated whether the petition presents substantial information to indicate whether or not the Mearn's eastern cottontail in east-central Illinois and western Indiana qualifies as a DPS that may be warranted for listing. Based on our review, we conclude that the petition does not provide substantial information indicating that population of Mearn's eastern cottontail in east-central Illinois and western Indiana is a listable entity under the Act. Because the petition does not present substantial information indicating that the population of Mearn's eastern cottontail in east-central Illinois and western Indiana may be a listable entity, we did not evaluate whether or not the information contained in the petition regarding threats to that population was substantial. We are not initiating a status review in response to this petition for Mearn's eastern cottontail in east- central Illinois and western Indiana. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats to, the Mearn's eastern cottontail or its habitat at any time.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is proposing to revoke the standards of identity for artificially sweetened jelly, preserves, and jams. We are taking this action primarily in response to a citizen petition submitted by the International Jelly and Preserve Association (IJPA). We are taking this action because we tentatively conclude that these standards are both obsolete and unnecessary in light of our regulations for foods named by use of a nutrient content claim and a standardized term. We also tentatively conclude that this action will promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers.

We propose to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain Bombardier, Inc. Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. The existing AD currently requires a free-play check for excessive free-play of the shaft swaged bearing installed in the tailstock end of each elevator power control unit (PCU), and replacing any PCU on which the bearing exceeds allowable limits with a serviceable PCU. Since we issued that AD, we have determined that additional airplanes are affected by the identified unsafe condition. This proposed AD would add airplanes to the applicability in the existing AD. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct excessive freeplay of the swaged bearings, which could lead to excessive airframe vibrations and difficulties in pitch control, and consequent loss of controllability of the airplane.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing an interim regulation to amend regulations regarding the effect of any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation, or any court- approved property settlement agreement incident to any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation (hereinafter ``court order'') where the court order expressly provides that an individual receive Federal Employee's Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) benefits. The interim regulations will allow court orders submitted to the appropriate Federal agency before July 22, 1998 to be effective for providing FEGLI benefits if the court order was received in the appropriate office before the insured Federal employee's or annuitant's death. This revision does not affect the current statutory limitation that court orders apply only when FEGLI benefits are based on insured individuals who died after July 22, 1998.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) amends its rules to reassign to the Office of Managing Director (OMD) certain audit activities formerly assigned to the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The activities concern oversight of the annual audit of the Universal Service Administrative Corporation (USAC) required by the Commission's rules. In addition, the Commission delegates of authority to OMD, in consultation with the Office of General Counsel, to issue subpoenas concerning matters within its jurisdiction.

NMFS is broadening the scope of individuals and entities approved to complete vessel fish hold capacity certifications for vessels issued Tier 1 and 2 limited access Atlantic mackerel permits under the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan (MSB FMP). In addition, this rule extends the deadline to submit vessel fish hold capacity certifications from December 31, 2012, to December 31, 2013 or during a vessel replacement transaction, whichever comes first.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revision amends Regulation 1102PERMITS, Appendix A to provide permit exemptions for certain internal combustion engines. EPA is approving this revision in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This notice announces three fact-finding informal airspace meetings to solicit information from airspace users and others, concerning a proposal to revise the Class B airspace at Miami, FL, and the Class C airspace at Ft Lauderdale, FL. The purpose of these meetings is to provide interested parties an opportunity to present views, recommendations, and comments on the proposal. All comments received will be considered prior to any issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking.

The Department of Health and Human Services is correcting a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on October 5, 2012 (77 FR 61084). The document updated the list of HHS and overlap biological agents and toxins and designated certain select agents and toxins as Tier 1 agents.

The Department of Labor proposes to revise and reorganize the Rules of Practice and Procedure for Administrative Hearings Before the Office of Administrative Law Judges, from our regulations, which provide procedural guidance to administrative law judges, claimants, employers, and Department of Labor representatives seeking to resolve disputes under a variety of employment and labor laws. The Office of Administrative Law Judges promulgated these regulations in 1983. The regulations were modeled on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) and have proved extraordinarily helpful in providing litigants with familiar rules governing hearing procedure. Since 1983, the FRCP have been amended many times. Moreover, in 2007 the FRCP were given a complete revision to improve style and clarity. The nature of litigation has also changed in the past 28 years, particularly in the areas of discovery and electronic records. Thus, OALJ has revised its regulations to make the rules more accessible and useful to parties, and to harmonize administrative hearing procedures with the current FRCP. The goal in amending the regulations is to provide clarity through the use of consistent terminology, structure and formatting so that parties have clear direction when pursuing or defending against a claim. In addition to revising the regulations to conform to modern legal procedure, the rules need to be modified to reflect the types of claims now heard by OALJ. When the rules were promulgated in 1983, OALJ primarily adjudicated occupational disease and injury cases. Presently, and looking ahead to the future, OALJ is and will be increasingly tasked with hearing whistleblower and other workplace retaliation claims, in addition to the occupational disease and injury cases. These types of cases require more structured management and oversight by the presiding administrative law judge and more sophisticated motions and discovery procedures than the current regulations provide. In order to best manage the complexities of whistleblower and discrimination claims, OALJ needs to update its rules to address the procedural questions that arise in these cases.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection requirements (form revisions) associated with the Commission's rules contained in the Third Report and Order, FCC 11-190, pertaining to the policies to promote rural radio service and to streamline allotment and assignment procedures. This notice is consistent with the Third Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of these information collection requirements (form changes).