February 5, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule revises the regulations governing FHA's Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program (Section 242 program) for the purpose of codifying, in regulation, FHA's implementation of its authority to refinance existing loans of hospitals without FHA-insured mortgages, without conditioning the exercise of such authority on the expenditure of funds for construction or renovation. Hospitals with FHA's Section 242 mortgage insurance may refinance existing debt under section 223(a)(7) of the National Housing Act, and such refinancing under section 223(a)(7) is not conditioned upon the hospital undertaking new construction or renovation. When credit availability contracted considerably in 2008, FHA, in 2009, commenced the exercise of its authority to refinance the capital debt of hospitals without section 242 mortgage insurance. FHA exercised this authority through notices issued on July 1, 2009, and February 22, 2010. FHA initiated rulemaking to make this refinancing authority a permanent part of the Section 242 regulatory program through a January 29, 2010, proposed rule, which solicited comment on HUD's implementation of this refinancing authority to date. This final rule provides for codification in regulation of HUD's refinancing of existing debt and acquisitions for non-FHA insured loans of hospitals without conditioning such refinancing and acquisition on new construction or renovation. This rule makes certain changes to the regulations proposed January 2010 in response to public comments submitted on the proposed rule and further consideration of issues by HUD.

The SEDAR 31 assessment of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery will consist of a series of workshops and supplemental webinars. This notice is for webinars associated with the Assessment portion of the SEDAR process. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

This proposed rule would amend the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) to address recommendations submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) on November 5, 2009, and December 2, 2011. One recommendation addressed in this proposed rule pertains to amending the annotations for two exemptions (uses) for peracetic acid in organic crop production. Additional NOSB recommendations addressed in this proposed rule pertain to changing the annotations for three substances, potassium hydroxide, silicon dioxide, and beta-carotene extract color, which are currently allowed for use in organic handling. This proposed rule would also address the NOSB recommendation to remove the allowance on the National List for the use of nonorganic annatto extract color in organic handling.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces that the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will conduct a meeting on matters pertaining to management and protection of wild, free-roaming horses and burros on the Nation's public lands.

In this document, the Commission seeks comment on whether to make permanent, revise or eliminate its interim rules that: prohibit all referrals for rewards programs (as described in the synopsis below) and any other form of direct or indirect inducements, financial or otherwise, to subscribe to or use, or encourage subscription to or use of, Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS); require each IP CTS provider, in order to be eligible for compensation from the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund (Fund or TRS Fund) for providing service to new IP CTS users, to register each new IP CTS user, and as part of the registration process, to obtain from the user a certification that the user has a hearing loss that necessitates IP CTS to communicate in a manner that is functionally equivalent to communication by conventional voice telephone users; and require IP CTS providers to ensure that equipment and software used in conjunction with their service have a default setting of captions off at the beginning of each call. The Commission also seeks comment on the following additional matters: the likely reasons that IP CTS has been experiencing unprecedented and unusually rapid growth; whether to prohibit all provider programs that give away or loan equipment to potential or existing IP CTS users at no cost or below some specified cost level; whether to require each IP CTS provider, as a condition of continuing to offer service to existing IP CTS users, to obtain registration and certification information from each such user; and whether to adopt any requirements for IP CTS equipment to have labels informing consumers that IP CTS may be used only by persons with hearing disabilities. The proposed rules are intended to address certain practices related to the provision and marketing of IP CTS that appear to be contributing to a recent and dramatic spike in reimbursement requests to the TRS Fund of sufficient magnitude to constitute a serious threat to the Fund if not promptly and decisively addressed.

In this document, the Commission adopts a final interpretive rule modification to clarify its Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) payment rule to explicitly provide that the Interstate TRS Fund (Fund or TRS Fund) administrator shall not be obligated to pay any request for compensation until it has been established as compensable. The Commission's action is intended preserve the integrity and viability of the TRS Fund by ensuring that obligations are not incurred prior to the Fund administrator or the Commission has determined that requests for payment are compensable. Because this is an interpretive rule modification, it is not subject to notice and comment procedures.

This action amends Class D and Class E airspace and removes Class E airspace in the Tri-Cities, TN, area, to accommodate the new Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures at Tri-Cities Regional Airport. This action enhances the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations within the National Airspace System. This action also updates the geographic coordinates, airport name, and airspace designation. Also, this action corrects errors in the Class E descriptor.

This is Supplement No. 4 to the Treasury Department Circular 570, 2012 Revision, published July 2, 2012, at 77 FR 39322.

This document contains final regulations relating to the tax treatment of noncompensatory options and convertible instruments issued by a partnership. The final regulations generally provide that the exercise of a noncompensatory option does not cause the recognition of immediate income or loss by either the issuing partnership or the option holder. The final regulations also modify the regulations under section 704(b) regarding the maintenance of the partners' capital accounts and the determination of the partners' distributive shares of partnership items. The final regulations also contain a characterization rule providing that the holder of a noncompensatory option is treated as a partner under certain circumstances. The final regulations will affect partnerships that issue noncompensatory options, the partners of such partnerships, and the holders of such options.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering the (non- competitive) direct sale of 280 acres of public land in Carbon County, Utah, at not less than the appraised fair market value to Hunt Consolidated, Inc.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the public comment period on the August 16, 2012, proposed endangered status for six west Texas aquatic invertebrate species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce the reopening of comment on the August 16, 2012, proposed designation of critical habitat for the six west Texas aquatic invertebrate species and the availability of a draft economic analysis of the proposed designation and amended required determinations in the proposed rule. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the proposed rules, the associated draft economic analysis, and the amended required determinations. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of the final rules.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a source-specific federal implementation plan (FIP) requiring the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), located on the Navajo Nation, to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) under the Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) in order to reduce visibility impairment resulting from NGS at 11 National Parks and Wilderness Areas. NGS, which was built over 35 years ago, is the largest coal-fired power plant in the West in terms of generating capacity. It is central to the economies of the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe and supplies power to the states of Arizona, Nevada, and California. Electricity produced by NGS is also used to power the Central Arizona Project, which supplies surface water to three counties and numerous Indian tribes in Arizona. NGS is projected to continue operating at least until 2044. EPA is proposing to require NGS to achieve a nearly 80 percent reduction of its current overall NOX emission rate. Our analysis indicates that installation of controls to achieve this reduction would result in significant visibility improvement that is well-balanced with the cost of those controls. For a number of reasons, including the importance of NGS to numerous Indian tribes located in Arizona and the federal government's reliance on NGS to meet the requirements of water settlements with several tribes, EPA is proposing an alternative to BART that would provide flexibility to NGS in the schedule for the installation of new control equipment. We also describe other compliance schedules for consideration and comment. We recognize that there may be other approaches that could result in equivalent or better visibility benefits over time and that there may be changes in energy demand, supply or other developments over the next several decades that may change electricity generation on the Navajo Nation. EPA encourages a robust public discussion of our proposed BART determination and alternative, the additional alternatives described herein, and other possible approaches. EPA is prepared to issue a supplemental proposal if approaches other than the proposed BART determination or proposed alternative articulated in this notice are identified as satisfying the requirements of the Clean Air Act and meeting the needs of the stakeholders. EPA is committed to continuing to engage with stakeholders to develop a final FIP that maintains benefits to tribes and the regional economy while improving visibility in many of our nation's most treasured National Parks and Wilderness Areas.