March 19, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) addresses several issues related to changes made to high- cost universal service support for rate-of-return carriers in the USF/ ICC Transformation Order, including granting in part requests to modify the high cost loop support (HCLS) benchmarks.

The Federal Communications Commission extends the deadline for filing reply comments on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), in this proceeding, which was published in the Federal Register at 78 FR 1188, January 8, 2013. Reply comments are now due on April 5, 2013.

On December 4, 2012, the FAA published a final rule; request for comments (77 FR 71691) to make the existing regulation consistent with the FAA's intent and with the certification practice both before and after the adoption of the existing rule. The 2012 final rule clarifies what an applicant must show regarding a ``changed product'' to comply with applicable standards and became effective on February 4, 2013. We sought public comment on that final rule even though it is only clarifying in nature. This action responds to the public comments the FAA received.

This action proposes to establish Class E airspace at the Tuba City VHF Omni-Directional Radio Range Tactical Air Navigational Aid (VORTAC), Tuba City, AZ to facilitate vectoring of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) aircraft under control of Denver, Albuquerque and Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs). The FAA is proposing this action to enhance the safety and management of aircraft operations within the National Airspace System.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is establishing a public docket to obtain input on recommendations for regulations on good manufacturing practice for tobacco products that were submitted to FDA by a group of 13 tobacco companies (tobacco companies' recommendations). FDA is establishing this docket to provide an opportunity for all interested parties to comment on the tobacco companies' recommendations and to share information that will improve FDA's understanding of the tobacco industry and its manufacturing operations.

This rule adopts, with technical changes, the interim rule that published February 18, 2011. That interim rule revised the requirements that a long-term care (LTC) facility must meet in order to qualify to participate as a skilled nursing facility (SNF) in the Medicare program, or a nursing facility (NF) in the Medicaid program. The requirements implemented section 6113 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to ensure that, among other things, in the case of an LTC facility closure, individuals serving as administrators of a SNF or NF provide written notification of the impending closure and a plan for the relocation of residents at least 60 days prior to the impending closure or, if the Secretary terminates the facility's participation in Medicare or Medicaid, not later than the date the Secretary determines appropriate.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the opening of an information gathering period regarding the status of the fisher (Martes pennanti) throughout the range of its West Coast distinct population segment (DPS) in the United States. The status review will include analysis of whether the West Coast DPS of the fisher warrants listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We encourage interested parties to provide us information regarding the status of, and any potential threats to, the West Coast DPS of the fisher.

EPA is proposing to approve the request by Ohio to revise the Cleveland-Akron-Lorain and Columbus, Ohio, 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance air quality State Implementation Plans (SIPs) under the Clean Air Act to replace the previously approved motor vehicle emissions budgets with budgets developed using EPA's Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES) emissions model. Ohio submitted the SIP revision requests to EPA on October 30, 2012, and December 12, 2012, respectively.

EPA is proposing to clarify the description of the Imperial Valley planning area, an area designated as nonattainment for the national ambient air quality standard for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of a nominal 10 microns or less (PM10). EPA is not proposing to change the boundaries of the PM10 area or the status of the area as a ``serious'' PM10 nonattainment area but is proposing to clarify the description of this partial county area in the Code of Federal Regulations.

On February 5, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed 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. EPA provided a 90-day public comment period for the proposed rule that is scheduled to close on May 6, 2013. The Navajo Nation and other stakeholders have submitted requests to extend the comment period an additional 90 days to allow time for interested parties to explore alternatives to BART that provide additional flexibility and also ensure greater reasonable progress than would be achieved under BART. In today's action, EPA is extending the comment period an additional 90 days.

USDA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on June 25, 2012, which would have mandated that weekly reporting for pork (fresh, chilled, or frozen muscle cuts/whether or not boxed) and distillers dried grain (DDG) be added to the Export Sales Reporting program (ESR). A final rule was issued to add pork to the ESR, but a decision on DDG was deferred. This document provides for an additional comment period regarding mandatory export sales reporting for DDG.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to establish security requirements for the use and transport of category 1 and category 2 quantities of radioactive material. The NRC considers these quantities to be risk significant and, therefore, to warrant additional protection. Category 1 and category 2 thresholds are based on the quantities established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, which the NRC endorses. The objective of this final rule is to provide reasonable assurance of preventing the theft or diversion of category 1 and category 2 quantities of radioactive material. The regulations also include security requirements for the transportation of irradiated reactor fuel that weighs 100 grams or less in net weight of irradiated fuel. The final rule affects any licensee that possesses an aggregated category 1 or category 2 quantity of radioactive material, any licensee that transports these materials using ground transportation, and any licensee that transports small quantities of irradiated reactor fuel. The rule also considers a petition for rulemaking (PRM-71-13) submitted by the State of Washington that requested that the NRC adopt the use of global positioning satellite tracking as a national requirement for vehicles transporting highly radioactive mobile or portable radioactive devices.

This document contains final and temporary regulations that apply to transfers of certain property by a domestic corporation to a foreign corporation in certain nonrecognition exchanges, or to distributions of stock of certain foreign corporations by a domestic corporation in certain nonrecognition distributions. The final regulations also establish reporting requirements for property transfers and stock distributions to which the final regulations apply. The regulations affect domestic corporations that transfer property to foreign corporations in certain nonrecognition transactions, or that distribute the stock of certain foreign corporations in certain nonrecognition distributions, and certain domestic shareholders of those domestic corporations.