January 8, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule decreases the assessment rate established for the California Date Administrative Committee (Committee) for the 2012-13 and subsequent crop years from $1.00 to $0.90 per hundredweight of dates handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of dates grown or packed in Riverside County, California. Assessments upon date handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The crop year begins October 1 and ends September 30. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

In this document, the Commission proposes to create a new Citizens Broadband Radio Service under part 95 of its rules for shared small cell use in the 3550-3650 MHz band (3.5 GHz Band). The Commission seeks comment on other techniques that could be used to manage access within the 3.5 GHz band as well as protections for incumbent Department of Defense (DoD) and Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) users. The Commission also seeks comment on how the unique characteristics of small cells may help reduce the need for geographic protections and enable shared access of the 3.5 GHz Band across the widest possible geographic footprint. In addition, the Commission offers a supplemental proposal to integrate the 3650-3700 MHz band within the proposed Citizens Broadband Service, thereby encompassing an additional 50 megahertz of contiguous spectrum. This approach would leverage the benefits of small cell technology to enable widespread broadband access to the 3.5 GHz Band while minimizing the possibility of harmful interference to incumbent DoD and FSS users.

This rule amends the regulations governing noise certification standards for issuing type and airworthiness certificates for a new civil, hybrid airplane-rotorcraft known as the tiltrotor. This noise standard establishes new noise limits and procedures as the basis to ensure consistent aviation noise reduction technology is incorporated in tiltrotors for environmental protection. It provides uniform noise certification standards for tiltrotors certificated in the United States and harmonizes the U.S. regulations with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Annex 16.

On its own initiative, based on new information, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to reclassify membrane lung devices for long-term pulmonary support, a preamendments class III device, into class II (special controls) for conditions where imminent death is threatened by cardiopulmonary failure in neonates and infants or where cardiopulmonary failure results in the inability to separate from cardiopulmonary bypass following cardiac surgery. A membrane lung for long-term pulmonary support refers to the oxygenator component of an extracorporeal circuit used during long-term procedures, commonly referred to as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Because circuit components used with the oxygenator are to be subject to the same regulatory controls, all of the device components used in an ECMO procedure are being considered in the scope of this proposed order, and the title and identification of the regulation will be revised accordingly to include extracorporeal circuit and accessories for long- term pulmonary/cardiac support.

The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its third meeting. On July 5, 2012, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) established the advisory committee to make recommendations to the Board on matters associated with comments received and responses to questions included in a previously published Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards.

EPA is taking final action to approve, as a revision of the Nevada state implementation plan, the State's plan for maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone standard in Clark County for ten years beyond redesignation, and the related motor vehicle emissions budgets, because they meet the applicable requirements for such plans and budgets. EPA is also taking final action to approve a request from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection to redesignate the Clark County ozone nonattainment area to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard because the area meets the statutory requirements for redesignation under the Clean Air Act.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is issuing a draft regulatory basis document to support the potential amendment of its regulations concerning nuclear power plant licensees' onsite emergency response capabilities. The NRC is seeking public comments on this document. The issuance of this draft regulatory basis document is one of the actions stemming from the NRC's lessons-learned efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan.

On June 25, 2012, the NTSB published a request for information stating it was undertaking a review of all its regulations. 77 FR 37865. The NTSB indicated this review would occur as a result of Executive Order 13579, ``Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies,'' issued July 11, 2011, (76 FR 41587, July 14, 2011), which directs agencies to review all regulations to ensure they are up-to- date and comply with the principles articulated in Executive Order 13579. The NTSB stated it would specifically analyze all regulations within 49 CFR part 831, concerning accident investigation procedures, and publish a document setting forth its plan for proceeding with updates to its regulations. The NTSB collected comments from the public concerning its regulations, and herein notifies the public of its plan to update all NTSB regulations.