June 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to request approval of this collection. In accordance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing opportunity for public comment on this action. After obtaining and considering public comment, NSF will prepare the submission requesting OMB clearance of this collection for no longer than 3 years.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to continue the implementation of the requirements of section 803 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. The proposed rule seeks public comments on applying section 803 with respect to that provision's expansion with respect to contracts that had been awarded by DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard before the date of enactment of section 803 (which was December 31, 2011) of the application of the senior executive compensation benchmark amount. Section 803 expands to a broader group of contractor employees the limitation on reimbursing compensation costs. As section 803 provides, this proposed rule would apply section 803 retroactively to contracts awarded before December 31, 2011, with respect to the contractor compensation costs incurred after January 1, 2012. In addition, also as part of the implementation in the FAR of section 803, DoD, GSA and NASA are separately issuing an interim rule (FAR Case 2012-017) that addresses the prospective application of section 803 to contracts awarded on or after December 31, 2011.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 803 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. In accordance with section 803, the interim rule expands the application to a broader group of contractor employees on contracts awarded by DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard of the senior executive compensation benchmark amount which limits the reimbursement of compensation costs. This interim rule applies section 803 prospectively to contracts awarded on or after (but not before) the date of enactment of section 803 (which was December 31, 2011), to the contractor compensation costs incurred after January 1, 2012. In addition, also as part of the implementation in the FAR of section 803, DoD, GSA and NASA are separately issuing a proposed rule (FAR Case 2012-025) that addresses the retroactive application of section 803 to contractor compensation costs incurred after January 1, 2012, under contracts that had been awarded before December 31, 2011.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces the availability of $917,221 in grant funds to be competitively awarded for the Household Water Well System (HWWS) Grant Program for fiscal year 2013 (FY 2013). RUS will make grants to qualified private non-profit organizations to establish lending programs for homeowners to borrow up to $11,000 to construct or repair household water wells for an existing home. The HWWS Grant Program is authorized under 7 USC 1926e. Regulations may be found at 7 CFR part 1776. Of particular note this year, the RUS, in an effort to address the extreme drought conditions in rural areas, will assign administrative discretion points to applications proposing to serve areas with severe, extreme or exceptional drought, as reported by the U.S. Drought Monitor located at https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/.

This document requests public comment on the agency's planned update to the U.S. New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). This update would enhance the program's ability to recommend to motor vehicle consumers various vehicle models that contain rearview video systems that would substantially enhance the driver's ability to avoid backover crashes. For many years, NCAP has provided comparative information on the safety of new vehicles to assist consumers with vehicle purchasing decisions. NCAP was most recently upgraded for model year 2011 to include recommended crash avoidance technologies. Including this information in NCAP not only allows consumers to better determine which vehicle models have advanced crash avoidance safety features but also which of these advanced features are best able to help them avoid crashes.

The proposed information collection described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended). The Tennessee Valley Authority is soliciting public comments on this proposed collection as provided by 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1). Requests for information, including copies of the information collection proposed and supporting documentation, should be directed to the Agency Clearance Officer: Mark Winter, Tennessee Valley Authority, 1101 Market Street (MP-3C), Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402-2801; (423) 751-6004. Comments should be sent to the Agency Clearance Officer no later than July 26, 2013.

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. 209 and 37 CFR part 404 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.

In this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau adds two new virtual workshop discussion topics, entitled ``Community Anchor Institutions'' and ``Business Locations'' to seek public input.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is announcing a public meeting to seek public input and comment on how certain provisions of the HHS requirements related to the protection of human subjects should be applied to research studying one or more interventions which are used as standard of care treatment in the non- research context. HHS specifically is requesting input regarding how an institutional review board (IRB) should assess the risks of research involving randomization to one or more treatments within the standard of care for particular interventions, and what reasonably foreseeable risks of the research should be disclosed to research subjects in the informed consent process. HHS is seeking participation in the meeting and written comments from all interested parties, including, but not limited to, IRB members, IRB staff, institutional officials, research institutions, investigators, research subject advocacy groups, ethicists, and the regulated community at large. This meeting and the written comments are intended to assist HHS, through the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), in developing guidance regarding what constitutes reasonably foreseeable risk in research involving standard of care interventions such that the risk is required to be disclosed to research subjects. HHS is seeking input on a number of specific questions but is interested in any other pertinent information participants in the public meeting would like to share.

EPA is announcing the availability of a final document titled, ``Integrated Science Assessment for Lead'' (EPA/600/R-10/075F). The document was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development as part of the review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for lead (Pb).

This action establishes Class E airspace at Jefferson County International Airport, Port Townsend, WA, to accommodate aircraft using a new Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) standard instrument approach procedures at Jefferson County International Airport. This improves the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

Pursuant to Sec. 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190, as amended) and the regulations promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1505.2), the Department of the Interior, National Park Service has prepared and approved a Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the relocation of the Cattle Point Road at San Juan Island National Historical Park. The requisite no-action ``wait period'' was initiated on October 5, 2012, with the Environmental Protection Agency's publication of the Federal Register notice of the filing of the Final EIS. Decision: As soon as practical San Juan Island National Historical Park will begin to implement design and initiate construction of the Cattle Point Road relocation project, in concert with the Federal Highway Administration and San Juan County. Duration of the construction phase is expected to last approximately two years. The park will undertake construction as detailed in the Preferred Alternative (Alternative B) in the Final EIS (which includes realignment of 4,950 feet of roadway approximately 300 feet upslope of the current location, which will subsequently be restored to a natural appearance). There are no substantive changes from the course of action as presented in the Draft EIS. The full range of foreseeable environmental consequences was assessed, and appropriate mitigation measures are included in the approved project. Both a No Action alternative and two additional alternatives were identified and analyzed in the Draft and Final EIS. Alternative B was deemed to be the ``environmentally preferred'' course of action. Copies: Interested parties desiring to review the Record of Decision may obtain a copy by contacting the Superintendent, San Juan Island National Historical Park, Box 429, Friday Harbor, Washington, 98250 or via telephone request at (360) 378-2240.

EPA is finalizing significant new use rules (SNURs) under section 5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 17 chemical substances which were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs). Fifteen of these chemical substances are subject to TSCA section 5(e) consent orders issued by EPA. This action would require persons who intend to manufacture, or process any of these 17 chemical substances for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this proposed rule to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The required notification would provide EPA with the opportunity to evaluate the intended use and, if necessary, to prohibit or limit that activity before it occurs.

We, NMFS, announce proposed revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to clarify and update the descriptions of species under NMFS' jurisdiction that are currently listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Revisions include format changes to our lists of threatened and endangered species, revisions to regulatory language explaining our lists, updates to the descriptions of certain listed West Coast salmonid species to add or remove hatchery stocks consistent with our recently completed five-year reviews under ESA section 4(c)(2), and corrections to regulatory text to fix inadvertent errors from previous rulemakings and update cross-references. We do not propose to add or remove any species to or from our lists, change the status of any listed species, or add or revise any critical habitat designation.