February 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

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 revision of an existing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). On December 18, 2012 (77 FR 74847), the FDIC requested comment for 60 days on a proposal to revise its Purchaser Eligibility Certification information collection, which is currently approved under OMB Control No. 3064-0135. No comments were received on the proposal. The FDIC hereby gives notice of its plan to submit to OMB a request to approve revision of the collection.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing an extension of an existing information collection of a previously approved information collection.

This notice announces that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has forwarded the Information Collection Request (ICR), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number 1652-0027, abstracted below to OMB for review and approval of an extension of the currently approved collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. TSA published a Federal Register notice, with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments, of the following collection of information on October 22, 2012, 77 FR 64533. The collection involves applicant submission of biometric and biographic information for TSA's security threat assessment required before obtaining the hazardous materials endorsement (HME) on a commercial drivers license (CDL) issued by the States and the District of Columbia.

The Federal Maritime Commission amends its rules regarding the establishment of passenger vessel financial responsibility for nonperformance of transportation. The amount of coverage required for performance is modified to increase the cap on required performance coverage to $30 million over a two year period and thereafter adjust the cap every two years using the Consumer Price Index; adjust the amount of coverage required for smaller passenger vessel operators by providing for consideration of alternative forms of protection; remove the application form for issuance of certificates of financial responsibility from the Commission's regulations and make it available at its Web site; add an expiration date to the Certificate (Performance); and make technical adjustments to the regulations.

This notice announces the availability of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) first Rapid Ecoregional Assessment (REA) covering land in four western states. The Colorado Plateau REA includes parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. It has an area of 32,387 square miles and includes all or portions of 16 BLM field offices.

This document provides the interim final regulations governing the employee protection (whistleblower) provision of section 1558 of the Affordable Care Act, which added section 18C of the Fair Labor Standards Act, to provide protections to employees of health insurance issuers or other employers who may have been subject to retaliation for reporting potential violations of the law's consumer protections (e.g., the prohibition on denials of insurance due to pre-existing conditions) or affordability assistance provisions (e.g., access to health insurance premium tax credits). This interim rule establishes procedures and time frames for the handling of retaliation complaints under section 18C, including procedures and time frames for employee complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), investigations by OSHA, appeals of OSHA determinations to an administrative law judge (ALJ) for a hearing de novo, hearings by ALJs, review of ALJ decisions by the Administrative Review Board (ARB) (acting on behalf of the Secretary of Labor), and judicial review of the Secretary's final decision.

Many of the Coast Guard's regulations incorporate by reference consensus standards that are developed by organizations other than the Coast Guard. This final rule updates references to standards developed by ASTM International, that have been reapproved, without change, since their incorporation into Coast Guard regulation. This rule does not address standards that have changed substantively, and it will not have any substantive impact on the regulated public.

The Department of State is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are requesting comments on this collection from all interested individuals and organizations. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.