2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard is establishing temporary safety zones around the following four vessels: the motor vessel Daniel Foss, IMO 7638454, the motor vessel Washington, IMO 8207733, the motor vessel George W, IMO 9153329, and the motor vessel Connor Foss, Official 1238813. These safety zones apply while these vessels are located on the waters of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, and only while they are engaged in transferring persons to or from grain-shipment vessels, and/or assisting grain-shipment vessel movements. These safety zones extend to waters 50 yards ahead of these vessels and 50 yards abeam and astern of these vessels. These safety zones are being established to ensure that protest activities relating to a labor dispute do not create hazardous navigation conditions for any vessel or other river user in the vicinity of the safety zones.

The Coast Guard is changing the operating schedule governing the Freeport Drawbridge, mile 46.0, over the Sacramento River. The bridge owner proposed to change the ``on demand'' bridge opening hours and dates, due to a documented decrease in drawbridge openings compared to other nearby bridges. The change is to address the issue of misalignment between drawbridge staffing and actual drawbridge operation, resulting in unnecessary staffing of the drawbridge during periods of navigational inactivity.

The Coast Guard is establishing a safety zone one mile north and one mile south of the East Jefferson Street Railroad Bridge, Mantua Creek, Paulsboro, New Jersey, due to a train derailment resulting in the release of hazardous materials into Mantua Creek and the surrounding air. This regulation is necessary to provide for the safety of life on the navigable waters of the Mantua Creek. This safety zone is intended to restrict vessel traffic movement to protect mariners from the hazards associated with an ongoing recovery operation to remove the derailed train cars and address hazardous material release.

On December 10, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') published a document in the Federal Register to amend its regulations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act'') to extend the dates with respect to the requirements that designated clearing agencies for which the Commission is the supervisory agency file advance notices and clearing agencies file security-based swap submissions with the Commission in an electronic format to dedicated email addresses to December 10, 2013, and amend the General Instructions to Form 19b-4 to clarify the process for submitting advance notices and security-based swap submissions to the Commission. The document contained an error with respect to the placement and numbering of a footnote.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled ``Certification Process for Designated Medical Gases.'' This draft guidance describes the new certification process created by the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) for certain medical gases and explains how FDA plans to implement that process.

New or modified Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs), base flood depths, Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) boundaries or zone designations, and/or the regulatory floodway (hereinafter referred to as flood hazard determinations) as shown on the indicated Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) for each of the communities listed in the table below are finalized. Each LOMR revises the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), and in some cases the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) reports, currently in effect for the listed communities. The flood hazard determinations modified by each LOMR will be used to calculate flood insurance premium rates for new buildings and their contents.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Notices and Correspondence 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.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Taxpayer Assistance Center Improvements 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.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Taxpayer Communications 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.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking reconsideration of the FAA's decision to deny a petition for an exemption from specified requirements of 14 CFR. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

The FDIC originally promulgated the Statement of Policy for Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (SOP) in December 1998. The FDIC, in 2007, issued a clarification to the SOP based on the 2006 amendment to Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, which addressed institution-affiliated parties (IAPs) participating in the affairs of Bank Holding Companies, or Savings and Loan Holding Companies. The FDIC, in 2011, clarified the SOP as to: (i) The applicability of section 19 on bank and thrift holding company institution-affiliated parties; (ii) the term ``complete expungement;'' and (iii) the factors for considering de minimis convictions. The FDIC is restating the full SOP, including previous changes, and modifying what the FDIC views as the definition of de minimis offenses.

The FDIC, 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 renewal of an existing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Currently, the FDIC is soliciting comment on revision of the information collection described below.

We are advising the public that we have determined that the Italian Regions of Lombardia, Emilio-Romagna, Veneto, and Piemonte and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano are free of swine vesicular disease. This determination is based on our review of the documentation submitted by the Government of Italy in support of its request and the findings of our own animal health risk evaluation. We are making our determination, as well as the evaluation we have prepared in connection with this action, available for review and comment.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) is amending the Notice and Call for Applications for the International Buyer Program (IBP) for calendar year 2014 (January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014) published at 77 FR 61,740 (Oct. 11, 2012) to extend the deadline for receipt of applications from December 10, 2012 to December 21, 2012. The IBP was established in the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-418, codified at 15 U.S.C. 4724) to bring international buyers together with U.S. firms by promoting leading U.S. trade shows in industries with high export potential. The IBP emphasizes cooperation between the DOC and trade show organizers to benefit U.S. firms exhibiting at selected events and provides practical, hands-on assistance such as export counseling and market analysis to U.S. companies interested in exporting. Specifically, through the IBP, the DOC selects domestic trade shows which will receive DOC assistance in the form of global promotion in foreign markets, providing export counseling to exhibitors, and providing export counseling and matchmaking services at the trade show. This notice covers selection for IBP participation during calendar year 2014. It also extends the deadline for applications to a new pilot initiative for the IBP, which will allow up to 20% of the 2014 IBP shows to be preselected for IBP participation in calendar year 2015 (January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015) without having to reapply for the second year. Eligibility for this pilot initiative is limited to annual trade shows that participated in the IBP in calendar years 2011 or 2012. Applicants interested in being considered for this pilot must indicate so in the application. For more information about the IBP, including eligibility, participation fees, the responsibilities of the show organizers and the DOC, and how to apply, please see the prior notice, which is also available on the IBP Web site https:// www.export.gov/IBP.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is proposing a rule that addresses an order by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida from February 18, 2012, which remanded to EPA two portions of its numeric water quality standards for nutrients in Florida that were promulgated and published on December 6, 2010. For this proposal, EPA is re-proposing the same numeric nutrient criteria for total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) for Florida streams not covered by EPA-approved State rulemaking, as included in EPA's final rule, with further explanation of how the proposed numeric streams criteria will ensure the protection of the Florida's Class I and III designated uses. EPA is also proposing default approaches available for use when modeling cannot be performed to derive downstream protection values (DPVs) that will ensure the attainment and maintenance of the numeric nutrient criteria that protect Florida's lakes. The default approaches would be applicable to streams that flow into unimpaired lakes, but could also be used for streams that flow into impaired lakes.