2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard proposes to establish a regulated navigation area (RNA) on the navigable waters of the Thames River in New London Harbor, New London, CT. The proposed RNA would establish speed and wake restrictions as well as allow the Coast Guard to prohibit all vessel traffic through the RNA during degaussing range replacement operations, both planned and unforeseen, that could pose an imminent hazard to persons and vessels operating in the area. This rule is necessary to provide for the safety of life on the navigable waters during the replacement of the degaussing range and its supporting system.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Eagle Lake rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aquilarum) as an 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 indicating that listing the Eagle Lake rainbow trout may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a review of the status of the subspecies to determine if listing the Eagle Lake rainbow trout is warranted. To ensure that this status review is comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding this 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.

This document contains proposed regulations on allocating costs to certain property produced by the taxpayer or acquired by the taxpayer for resale. The proposed regulations affect taxpayers that are producers or resellers of property that are required to capitalize certain costs to the property and that allocate costs under the simplified production method or the simplified resale method. The proposed regulations provide rules for the treatment of negative additional costs.

EPA is finalizing approval of revisions to the Operating Permits (Title V) programs of the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District (MBUAPCD), San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (SLOCAPCD), Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD), South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), and Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD). We proposed these program revisions in the Federal Register on March 21, 2012. These revisions require sources with the potential to emit (PTE) of greenhouse gases (GHGs) above the thresholds in EPA's Tailoring Rule, which have not been previously subject to Title V for other reasons, to obtain a Title V permit. See ``Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule; Final Rule,'' (the Tailoring Rule) (75 FR 31514, June 3, 2010).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) is amending its regulations governing the operations and activities of commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs) in order to have those regulations reflect changes made to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).

In this document, the Commission takes further steps to remove regulatory barriers and lowering costs for the wireless microwave backhaul facilities that are an important component of many mobile wireless networks. The steps we take will remove regulatory barriers that today limit the use of spectrum for wireless backhaul and other point-to-point and point-to-multipoint communications. This will also facilitate better use of Fixed Service (FS) spectrum and provide additional flexibility to enable FS licensees to reduce operational costs and facilitate the use of wireless backhaul in rural areas. By enabling more flexible and cost-effective microwave services, the Commission can help foster deployment of broadband infrastructure across America. In addition, a number of parties sought reconsideration of the Backhaul Report and Order, and we address those requests and deny reconsideration, for the most part.

This final rule adopts the standard for a national unique health plan identifier (HPID) and establishes requirements for the implementation of the HPID. In addition, it adopts a data element that will serve as an other entity identifier (OEID), or an identifier for entities that are not health plans, health care providers, or individuals, but that need to be identified in standard transactions. This final rule also specifies the circumstances under which an organization covered health care provider must require certain noncovered individual health care providers who are prescribers to obtain and disclose a National Provider Identifier (NPI). Lastly, this final rule changes the compliance date for the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD- 10-CM) for diagnosis coding, including the Official ICD-10-CM Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, and the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) for inpatient hospital procedure coding, including the Official ICD-10-PCS Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, from October 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014.

This rule would implement an amended Record of Decision for the 2011 Winter Use Plan/Environmental Impact Statement and would govern winter visitation and certain recreational activities in Yellowstone National Park for the 2012-2013 winter season. The rule proposes to retain, for one additional year, the regulation and management framework that have been in place for the past three winter seasons (2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012). Specifically, the rule would retain provisions that require most recreational snowmobiles operating in the park to meet certain National Park Service air and sound emissions requirements; require snowmobiles and snowcoaches in Yellowstone to be accompanied by a commercial guide; set daily entry limits on the numbers of snowmobiles (up to 318) and snowcoaches (up to 78) that may enter the park; and prohibit traveling off designated oversnow routes.

The Postal Service proposes to revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM[supreg]) 602.5.0 to terminate the use of FASTforward[supreg] technology as a Move Update option for commercial First-Class Mail[supreg], First-Class Package ServiceTM, Standard Mail[supreg], and Parcel Select LightweightTM mailings.

The Minority Business Development Administration publishes this notice to extend the date on which it plans to make its decision on a petition from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee requesting formal designation from August 30, 2012 to November 30, 2012.

This rule identifies communities where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation that the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice of this will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date. Also, information identifying the current participation status of a community can be obtained from FEMA's Community Status Book (CSB). The CSB is available at https:// www.fema.gov/fema/csb.shtm.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the filing notice for a food additive petition filed by Nexira proposing that the food additive regulations be amended to provide for the expanded safe use of acacia gum (gum arabic) in foods.

This document proposes revisions to the rules of practice of the Judicial Officer in proceedings relative to administrative offsets initiated against former employees of the Postal Service. These revisions would update the rules to reflect changes in the Postal Service's debt collection regulations and procedures. This document also proposes minor revisions to eliminate outdated provisions and conform the rules to the Judicial Officer's existing practice.

Based on available data, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (the Commission, the CPSC, or we) has determined preliminarily that there may be an unreasonable risk of injury associated with children ingesting high-powered magnets that are part of magnet sets. These magnet sets are aggregations of separable, permanent, magnetic objects intended or marketed by the manufacturer primarily as a manipulative or construction desk toy for general entertainment, such as puzzle working, sculpture building, mental stimulation, or stress relief. In contrast to ingesting other small parts, when a child ingests a magnet, the magnetic properties of the object can cause serious, life-threatening injuries. When children ingest two or more of the magnets, the magnetic forces pull the magnets together, and the magnets pinch or trap the intestinal walls or other digestive tissue between them, resulting in acute and long-term health consequences. Although magnet sets have only been available since 2008, we have determined that an estimated 1,700 ingestions of magnets from magnet sets were treated in emergency departments between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011. To address the unreasonable risks of serious injury associated with these magnet sets, the Commission is issuing this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR), which would prohibit such magnet sets. Under the proposal, if a magnet set contains a magnet that fits within the CPSC's small parts cylinder, magnets from that set would be required to have a flux index of 50 or less, or they would be prohibited. The flux index would be determined by the method described in ASTM F963-11, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety. The Commission solicits written comments concerning the risks of injury associated with these magnet sets, the regulatory alternatives discussed in this NPR, other possible ways to address these risks, and the economic impacts of the various regulatory alternatives. This proposed rule is issued under the authority of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA).

EPA is making a final determination that the Tacoma, Pierce County nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as ``Tacoma, Pierce County'' or ``the area'') has clean data for the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This determination is based upon complete, quality- assured, quality-controlled, and certified ambient air monitoring data showing that the area has monitored attainment of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS based on the 2009-2011 data available in EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) database. EPA's determination relieves the area from the requirements to submit an attainment demonstration, associated reasonably available control measures, a reasonable further progress plan, contingency measures, and other planning State Implementation Plans (SIPs) related to attainment of the standard for so long as the area continues to meet the 24-hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (``EEOC'' or ``Commission'') proposes to revise its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations in order to implement the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007 (OPEN Government Act) and the Electronic FOIA Act of 1996 (E-FOIA Act); to reflect the reassignment of FOIA responsibilities in the Commission's field offices from the Regional Attorneys to the District Directors; and to consolidate Commission public reading areas in offices where there are adequate FOIA personnel to provide satisfactory service.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the mardon skipper (Polites mardon) as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the mardon skipper is not warranted at this time. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the threats to the mardon skipper or its habitat at any time. At our discretion, after additional review of the subspecies Polites mardon mardon and Polites mardon klamathensis, we find that listing for these subspecies is also not warranted at this time.

This final rule specifies the Stage 2 criteria that eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) must meet in order to qualify for Medicare and/or Medicaid electronic health record (EHR) incentive payments. In addition, it specifies payment adjustments under Medicare for covered professional services and hospital services provided by EPs, eligible hospitals, and CAHs failing to demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology (CEHRT) and other program participation requirements. This final rule revises certain Stage 1 criteria, as finalized in the July 28, 2010 final rule, as well as criteria that apply regardless of Stage.

This document provides notice that, due to the complex issues raised in both the petitions for reconsideration of the final rule published November 30, 2011, and the comments received on the petitions, FRA continues to formulate an appropriate response to the petitions and comments. FRA's response will be published as soon as practicable and will be filed in the same docket.

NMFS is adjusting the Atlantic tunas General category daily Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) retention limit from one to three large medium or giant BFT for the September, October, November, and December time periods of the 2012 fishing year, based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. This action applies to Atlantic tunas General category permitted vessels and to Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels when fishing commercially for BFT.

We are revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-600, -700, -700C, -800, - 900, and -900ER series airplanes. That NPRM proposed to require checking the escape slide girt for serviceability, and replacement if necessary; modifying the cable routing provision; replacing the regulator padding; modifying the aspirator orientation; and modifying the valise. That NPRM also proposed to require, for certain airplanes, modifying or replacing the Vespel piston, modifying the pilot valve regulator, installing a new firing cable and safety pin, and modifying the slide valise. That NPRM was prompted by reports of escape slides failing to deploy from the forward and aft right-hand doors during scheduled maintenance slide deployments. This action revises that NPRM by adding airplanes to the applicability of that NPRM and specifying revised service information. We are proposing this supplemental NPRM to prevent failure of an escape slide to deploy, which could result in the slide being unusable during an emergency evacuation and increased likelihood of injury to passengers or crewmembers due to the difficulty in evacuating the airplane. Since these actions impose an additional burden over that proposed in the NPRM, we are reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these proposed changes.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on Lake Erie and Cleveland Harbor at Burke Lakefront Airport, Cleveland, OH. This safety zone is intended to restrict vessels from a portion of Lake Erie and Cleveland Harbor (near Burke Lakefront Airport). This temporary safety zone is necessary to protect participants, spectators, and vessels from the hazards associated with aerial insertions and aircraft maneuvers.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all TAE 125-02-99 and TAE 125-02-114 reciprocating engines. This proposed AD was prompted by an in-flight shutdown of an airplane equipped with a TAE 125-02-99 engine. This proposed AD would require inspection of the oil filler plug vent hole at the next scheduled maintenance or within 110 flight hours after the effective date of this AD. If chips are found to be blocking the vent hole, additional corrective action is required before next flight. We are proposing this AD to prevent engine in-flight shutdown or power loss, possibly resulting in reduced control of the airplane.

In this document, a Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's Rulemaking proceeding by Ryan M.F. Baron on behalf of the Orange County, California Sheriff's Department.