2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As part of the President's Export Control Reform effort, the Department of State proposes to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to revise Category IX (military training equipment) of the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to describe more precisely the materials warranting control on the USML. The revisions to this rule are part of the Department of State's retrospective plan under E.O. 13563 completed on August 17, 2011. The Department of State's full plan can be accessed at https:// www.state.gov/documents/organization/181028.pdf.

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of methyl bromide in or on cotton, undelinted seed under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) because there is a need for imported undelinted cottonseed for use as additional feed for dairy cattle in the United States.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from the manufacture of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene products. We are approving a local rule that regulates these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

We are extending the expiration dates of the following body systems in the Listing of Impairments (listings) in our regulations: Growth Impairment, Musculoskeletal System, Respiratory System, Cardiovascular System, Digestive System, Hematological Disorders, Skin Disorders, Neurological, and Mental Disorders. We are making no other revisions to these body system listings in this final rule. This extension will ensure that we continue to have the criteria we need to evaluate impairments in the affected body systems at step three of the sequential evaluation processes for initial claims and continuing disability reviews.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is requesting data and information about the impact of its recently amended energy conservation standards for residential electric water heaters on utility programs that use high-storage-volume (above 55 gallons) electric storage water heaters to reduce peak electricity demand. DOE amended its standards for residential water heaters on April 16, 2010, and compliance with the amended standards is required beginning on April 16, 2015. Of particular relevance, the amended standards for residential water heaters raised the minimum requirements for electric storage water heaters with storage volumes above 55 gallons to levels that are currently achieved through the use of heat pump water heater technology. Utilities have expressed concerns that the amended levels will negatively impact programs designed to reduce peak energy demand by heating water only during off-peak times and storing the water for use during peak demand periods. This request for information solicits feedback on the effects of the amended energy conservation standards for electric storage water heaters on such utility programs.

On March 23, 2012, the Coast Guard published in the Federal Register a Final Rule entitled ``Standards for Living Organisms in Ships' Ballast Water Discharged in U.S. Waters''. The rulemaking triggered new information collection requirements affecting vessel owners and their potential requests for an extension of the compliance date if they cannot practicably comply with the compliance date otherwise applicable to their vessels. This document announces that the request to revise the existing collection of information to add the new request for an extension provision has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and may now be enforced. The OMB control number is 1625-0069.

The Coast Guard will establish a special local regulation during the Chesapeake Bay Workboat Race, a series of boat races to be held on the waters of Back River, Poquoson, Virginia. Because this event will consist of approximately 75 powerboats conducting high-speed competitive races on the waters of Back River, this regulation is necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the event. This action is intended to restrict vessel traffic in portions of the Back River, Messick Point, Poquoson, Virginia during the event.

We are revising an earlier NPRM for Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam srl Model P2006T airplanes. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as cracking, bulging, deformation, or oil leakage in the lower lid of the landing gear emergency accumulator, which could result in decreasing the airplane's structural integrity and jeopardizing the landing gear emergency extension in case of system failure in normal mode. We are issuing this proposed AD to require actions to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, is proposing to supplement its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (36 CFR Part 220) with three new categorical exclusions for activities that restore lands negatively impacted by water control structures, natural and human caused events, and roads and trails. These categorical exclusions will allow the Forest Service to more efficiently analyze and document the potential environmental effects of soil and water restoration projects that are intended to restore the flow of waters into natural channels and floodplains by removing water control structures, such as dikes, ditches, culverts and pipes; restore lands and habitat to pre-disturbance conditions, to the extent practicable, by removing debris, sediment, and hazardous conditions following natural or human-caused events; and restore lands occupied by roads and trails to natural conditions. The proposed road and trail restoration category would be used for restoring lands impacted by non-system roads and trails that are no longer needed and no longer maintained. This category would not be used to make access decisions about which roads and trails are to be designated for public use.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that Gruma Corporation, Spina Bifida Association, March of Dimes Foundation, American Academy of Pediatrics, Royal DSM N.V., and National Council of La Raza have jointly filed a petition proposing that the food additive regulations be amended to provide for the safe use of folic acid in corn masa flour.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of killed, nonviable Streptomyces acidiscabies strain RL-110\T\ in or on all food commodities when applied as a pre- or post-emergent herbicide and used in accordance with good agricultural practices. Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of killed, nonviable Streptomyces acidiscabies strain RL-110\T\ under the FFDCA.

Title I of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 amended the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) to establish the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program. The WTC Health Program, which is administered by the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides medical monitoring and treatment to eligible firefighters and related personnel, law enforcement officers, and rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers who responded to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and to eligible survivors of the New York City attacks. In accordance with our regulations, which establish procedures for adding a new condition to the list of health conditions covered by the WTC Health Program, this proposed rule would add certain types of cancer to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions.

Section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) contains two directives to Federal agencies including the OCC. First, section 939A directs all Federal agencies to review, no later than one year after enactment, any regulation that requires the use of an assessment of creditworthiness of a security or money market instrument and any references to, or requirements in, such regulations regarding credit ratings. Second, the agencies are required to remove any references to, or requirements of reliance on, credit ratings and substitute such standard of creditworthiness as each agency determines is appropriate. The statute further provides that the agencies shall seek to establish, to the extent feasible, uniform standards of creditworthiness, taking into account the entities the agencies regulate and the purposes for which those entities would rely on such standards. On November 29, 2011, the OCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), seeking comment on a proposal to revise its regulations pertaining to investment securities, securities offerings, and foreign bank capital equivalency deposits to replace references to credit ratings with alternative standards of creditworthiness. The OCC also proposed to amend its regulations pertaining to financial subsidiaries of national banks to better reflect the language of the underlying statute, as amended by section 939(d) of the Dodd- Frank Act. Today, the OCC is finalizing those rules as proposed.

EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the applicable minor New Source Review (NSR) State Implementation Plan (SIP) for New Mexico submitted by the state of New Mexico on April 25, 2005, which incorporates a new regulation related to minor NSR preconstruction permitting for particulate matter emissions from cotton ginning facilities. The submitted Cotton Gin regulation provides an alternative preconstruction process for cotton ginning facilities that will emit no more than 50 tons per year of particulate matter. The new regulation prescribes, at a minimum, best technical control equipment standards, opacity limitations, and fugitive dust management plan requirements to minimize particulate matter emissions and establishes a minimum setback distance from the gin to the property line. EPA has determined that this SIP revision complies with the Clean Air Act and EPA regulations and is consistent with EPA policies. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Act.

Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is taking final action to approve certain revisions to the Arizona State Implementation Plan submitted by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. These revisions concern amendments to the statutory and regulatory provisions adopted by the State of Arizona to regulate volatile organic compound emissions from the transfer of gasoline from storage tanks to motor vehicle fuel tanks at gasoline dispensing sites, i.e., stage II vapor recovery. The revisions also amend the definition of ``gasoline'' to explicitly exclude E85 and thereby amend the requirements for fuels available for use in the Phoenix metropolitan area as well as the requirements for vapor recovery. In approving the revisions, EPA is taking final action to waive the statutory stage II vapor recovery requirements at E85 dispensing pumps within the Phoenix metropolitan area. Lastly, EPA is taking final action to correct an EPA rulemaking that approved a previous version of the Arizona rules regulating these sources and to thereby identify the appropriate regulatory agency and specific rules that were previously approved and incorporated by reference into the Arizona State Implementation Plan.

EPA is approving a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Arizona on June 13, 2007, to demonstrate attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in the Phoenix-Mesa nonattainment area by June 15, 2009. This action was proposed in the Federal Register on April 11, 2012. EPA is approving the submitted SIP revision based on our determination that it contains all of the SIP elements required for ozone nonattainment areas under title I, part D, subpart 1 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma regulatory program (Oklahoma program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Oklahoma proposes revisions to its regulations regarding: Definitions; review of permit applications; general provisions for review of permit application information and entry of information into AVS; review of applicant, operator, and ownership and control information; review of permit history; review of compliance history; permit eligibility determination; unanticipated events or conditions at remining sites; eligibility for provisionally issued permits; written findings for permit application approval; performance bond submittal; initial review and finding requirements for improvidently issued permits; notice requirements for improvidently issued permits; suspension or rescission requirements for improvidently issued permits; who may challenge ownership or control listings and findings; how to challenge an owner and controller listing or finding; burden of proof for ownership or control challenges; written agency decision on challenges to ownership or control listings or findings; post-permit issuance requirements for regulatory authorities and other actions based on ownership, control, and violation information; post-permit issuance information requirements for permittees; transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights; certifying and updating existing permit application information; providing applicant and operator information; providing permit history information; providing property interest information; providing violation information; facilities or structures used in common; hydrologic balancesiltation structures; cessation orders; alternative enforcementgeneral provisions; criminal penalties; and civil actions for relief. Oklahoma intends to revise its program to be no less effective than the Federal regulations and to improve operational efficiency. This document gives the times and locations that the Oklahoma program and this proposed amendment to that program are available for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

We are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Kentucky Regulatory Program (hereinafter, the ``Kentucky program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). On January 30, 2012, Kentucky submitted to OSM a proposed Kentucky Administrative Regulations (KAR) that authorizes electronic notification of enforcement documents.

We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of tomatoes from the member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, tomatoes from the ECOWAS will be subject to a systems approach that includes requirements for pest exclusion at the production site, fruit fly trapping and monitoring, and procedures for packing the tomatoes. The tomatoes will also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of the exporting country with an additional declaration that the tomatoes have been produced in accordance with these requirements. This action will allow for the importation of tomatoes from the ECOWAS into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

The ``FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012,'' enacted on February 14, 2012, in Section 305 of the Act, removed the line check performance evaluation requirements for pilots over 60 years of age that applied to air carriers engaged in part 121 operations. This technical amendment conforms to the FAA's regulations as a result of the Act.

EPA is proposing to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the State of Mississippi, through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), as meeting certain requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by the EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP. Mississippi certified that the Mississippi SIP contains provisions that ensure that the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are implemented, enforced, and maintained in Mississippi (hereafter referred to as ``infrastructure submission''). EPA is proposing to determine that Mississippi's infrastructure submissions, provided to EPA on December 7, 2007, and on October 6, 2009, addressed all the required infrastructure elements for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS with the exception of sections 110(a)(2)(E)(ii) and 110(a)(2)(G), both of which will be addressed in a separate action.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 747-400, -400D, and -400F series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of crown frame web cracking at left buttock line (LBL) 15.0, station (STA) 320. This proposed AD would require a measurement of the web at STA 320 and, depending on findings, various inspections for cracks and missing fasteners, web and fastener replacement, and related investigative and corrective actions. We are proposing this AD to prevent complete fracture of the crown frame assembly, and consequent damage to the skin and in-flight decompression of the airplane.

EPA is taking final action on revisions to the final Transport Rule (Federal Implementation Plans: Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone and Correction of SIP Approvals, published August 8, 2011). EPA is revising the 2012 and 2014 state budgets for Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, and revising the new unit set-asides for Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri. These revisions are in addition to the revisions to the final Transport Rule published on February 21, 2012.

EPA is proposing to approve the State Implementation Plans (SIPs), submitted by the State of Florida, through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), as demonstrating that the State meets the requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by the EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP. Florida certified that the Florida SIP contains provisions that ensure the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are implemented, enforced, and maintained in Florida (hereafter referred to as ``infrastructure submission''). EPA is proposing to determine that Florida's infrastructure submissions, provided to EPA on April 18, 2008, and on September 23, 2009, addressed all the required infrastructure elements for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. As discussed further below, final action to approve elements 110(a)(2)(C), (E)(ii), and (J) is contingent upon the Agency first taking final action on submitted SIP revisions associated with these elements. Final action on those SIP revisions will be addressed in a separate action.

This document contains final regulations regarding whether a foreign corporation is treated as a surrogate foreign corporation. The final regulations affect certain domestic corporations and partnerships (and certain parties related thereto), and foreign corporations that acquire substantially all of the properties of such domestic corporations or partnerships.