June 17, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS issues this final rule to implement the annual catch limit (ACL), harvest guideline (HG), and associated annual reference points for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013. These specifications were determined according to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 2013 maximum HG for Pacific sardine is 66,495 metric tons (mt). The initial overall commercial fishing HG, which has been distributed across the three allocation periods for sardine management, is 57,495 mt. This amount has been divided across the three seasonal allocation periods for the directed fishery the following way: January 1-June 3019,123 mt; July 1-September 1421,998 mt; and September 15- December 3113,374 mt with an incidental set-aside of 1,000 mt for each of the three periods. This rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.

NMFS issues regulations to implement Amendment 42 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (FMP). These regulations revise the annual economic data reports (EDRs) currently required of participants in the Crab Rationalization Program (CR Program) fisheries. The EDRs include cost, revenue, ownership, and employment data the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS use to study the economic impacts of the CR Program on harvesters, processors, and affected communities. This action is necessary to eliminate redundant reporting requirements, standardize reporting across participants, and reduce costs associated with the data collection. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the FMP, and other applicable laws.

NMFS proposes regulations that would implement Amendment 89 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) and that would revise current regulations governing the configuration of modified nonpelagic trawl gear. First, this proposed rule would establish a protection area in Marmot Bay, northeast of Kodiak Island, and close that area to fishing with trawl gear except for directed fishing for pollock with pelagic trawl gear. The proposed closure would reduce bycatch of Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi) in Gulf of Alaska (GOA) groundfish fisheries. Second, this proposed rule would require that nonpelagic trawl gear used in the directed flatfish fisheries in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA be modified to raise portions of the gear off the sea floor. The proposed modifications to nonpelagic trawl gear used in these fisheries would reduce the unobserved injury and mortality of Tanner crab, and would reduce the potential adverse impacts of nonpelagic trawl gear on bottom habitat. Finally, this proposed rule would make a minor technical revision to the modified nonpelagic trawl gear construction regulations to facilitate gear construction for those vessels required to use modified nonpelagic trawl gear in the GOA and Bering Sea groundfish fisheries. This proposed rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable law.

These special conditions are issued for the Boeing Model 717- 200 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with seats with inflatable lapbelts. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

DoD has adopted as final, with changes, the interim rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement requirements of the Treaty Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Concerning Defense Trade Cooperation (the U.S.-U.K. DTC Treaty) and the Security Cooperation Act of 2010 regarding export control regulations between the United States and the United Kingdom. The final rule also implements the Treaty Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Australia Concerning Defense Trade Cooperation.

Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and modified BFEs are made final for the communities listed below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that each community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

In this document, a Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's Rulemaking proceeding by Dennis P. Corbett on behalf of Council Tree Investors, Inc. and Bethel Native Corporation.

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is incorporated in our regulations, approved by the Federal Highway Administration, and recognized as the national standard for traffic control devices used on all streets, highways, bikeways, and private roads open to public travel. Consistent with Executive Order 13563, and in particular its emphasis on burden-reduction and on retrospective analysis of existing rules, a Request for Comments was published on January 11, 2013, to solicit input on potential formats for restructuring the MUTCD into two documents, one that would be subject to rulemaking and one that would contain supplemental information that is not subject to rulemaking. One hundred and sixty-nine unique letters were received and this document provides a summary of the input from these letters. Given the lack of support from the MUTCD user community, the FHWA will not proceed with restructuring the MUTCD into two documents at this time.

This document corrects a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) final rule that governs ``Payment or Reimbursement for Emergency Services for Nonservice-Connected Conditions in Non-VA Facilities'' regulations to conform with a statutory change that expanded veterans' eligibility for reimbursement. This document corrects a typographical error without making any substantive change to the content of the final rule.

The Coast Guard will enforce a segment of the Safety Zone; Brandon Road Lock and Dam to Lake Michigan including Des Plaines River, Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Chicago River, Calumet-Saganashkee Channel on all waters of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal from Mile Marker 302.6 to Mile Marker 302.8 from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. on June 18, 2013. This action is necessary to protect the waterways, waterway users, and vessels from the hazards associated with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) dive operations. During the enforcement period listed below, entry into, transiting, mooring, laying-up or anchoring within the enforced area of this safety zone by any person or vessel is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, Lake Michigan, or his or her designated representative.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of fenpyroximate in or on multiple commodities identified and discussed later in this document. In addition, this regulation removes an established tolerance for a certain commodity superseded by this action. The Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment. Microwave ovens are covered products under EPCA, although there are no existing microwave oven standards. DOE has already previously determined that active mode standards are not warranted. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) amended EPCA to require any final rule adopted after July 1, 2010 establishing or revising energy conservation standards for covered products, including microwave ovens, to address standby mode and off mode energy use. In this final rule, DOE is only adopting energy conservation standards for microwave oven standby mode and off mode. It has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for these products in standby mode and off mode would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

EPA and NHTSA, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, are each adopting corrections to provisions in our respective Medium- and Heavy-Duty Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency final rule issued on September 15, 2011. These amendments eliminate duplicative reporting requirements, reduce inadvertent minor differences between the EPA and NHTSA programs regarding such matters as voluntary early model year compliance, better align testing procedures to market realities, and reduce unnecessary testing burdens. This action also separately amends several regulations exclusive to EPA by: adjusting the provisions of the replacement engine exemption, expanding EPA's discretion to allow greater flexibility under the Transition Program for Equipment Manufacturers related to the Tier 4 standards for nonroad diesel engines, specifying multiple versions of the applicable SAE standard for demonstrating that fuel lines for nonroad spark-ignition engines above 19 kilowatts meet permeation requirements, and allowing for the use of the ethanol-based test fuel specified by the California Air Resources Board for nonroad spark-ignition engines at or below 19 kilowatts. Some of the individual EPA-only provisions of this action may have minor impacts on the costs and emission reductions of the underlying regulatory programs amended in this action, though in most cases these are simple technical amendments. For those provisions that may have a minor impact on the costs or benefits of the amended regulatory program, any potential impacts would be small and we have not attempted to quantify the potential changes.