November 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces that the Farm Service Agency (FSA), on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), intends to complete a Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS) assessing the environmental impacts of potential changes to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), as required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The intent of this notice is to provide an initial summary introduction to the alternatives being considered for potential changes to CRP, and to request comments on these proposed alternatives. The input we receive as a result of this notice will enable us to refine the alternatives, begin to evaluate their impacts, and document results in the scoping report as required by NEPA.

This notice announces a Town Hall meeting in accordance with the Social Security Act (the Act) to discuss fiscal year (FY) 2015 applications for add-on payments for new medical services and technologies under the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS). Interested parties are invited to this meeting to present their comments, recommendations, and data regarding whether the FY 2015 new medical services and technologies applications meet the substantial clinical improvement criterion.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Joint Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment for the Soda Mountain Solar Project (Project), San Bernardino County, California, and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as lead agency, with the City of San Jacinto and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as cooperating agencies, intends to file a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) with the EPA for the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians' (Tribe) proposed fee-to-trust acquisition and hotel/casino project to be located in Riverside County, California. This notice also announces that the FEIS is now available for public review.

This document contains final regulations relating to the annual fee imposed on covered entities engaged in the business of providing health insurance for United States health risks. This fee is imposed by section 9010 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended. The regulations affect persons engaged in the business of providing health insurance for United States health risks.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for use to assist the homeless.

EPA has received a number of petitions for a waiver of the renewable fuel standards that would apply in 2014. The American Petroleum Institute (API) and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) submitted a joint petition to the Administrator, dated August 13, 2013, on behalf of their members requesting a partial waiver of the 2014 applicable volumes under the RFS. Subsequently, several refining companies submitted individual petitions to the Administrator that also request a waiver of the 2014 applicable volumes. Section 211(o)(7)(A) of the Clean Air Act allows the Administrator of the EPA to waive the national volume requirements of the renewable fuel standard program in whole or in part if the Administrator determines that implementation of those requirements would severely harm the economy or environment of a State, a region, or the United States, or that there is inadequate domestic supply. EPA is inviting comment on all issues relevant to the petitions for a waiver that have been submitted. Comments submitted in response to a related Federal Register notice proposing the 2014 volume requirements will be considered to also have been submitted to the docket for this notice.

The States of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska and the local agencies of Lincoln-Lancaster County, Nebraska, and the city of Omaha, Nebraska, have submitted updated regulations for delegation of EPA authority for implementation and enforcement of NSPS, NESHAP, and MACT standards. The submissions cover new EPA standards and, in some instances, revisions to standards previously delegated. EPA's review of the pertinent regulations shows that they contain adequate and effective procedures for the implementation and enforcement of these Federal standards. This action informs the public of delegations to the above-mentioned agencies.

Under section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to set the renewable fuel percentage standards each November for the following year. Today's action proposes the annual percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and renewable fuels that would apply to all motor vehicle gasoline and diesel produced or imported in the year 2014. For cellulosic biofuel, the statute specifies that EPA is to project the volume of production and must base the cellulosic biofuel standard on projected available volume if it is less than the applicable volume set forth in the Act. Today EPA is proposing a cellulosic biofuel volume for 2014 that is below the applicable volume specified in the Act. The statute also provides EPA the discretion to adjust the volumes of advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel under certain conditions. Relying on its Clean Air Act waiver authorities, EPA is proposing to adjust the applicable volumes of advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel to address projected availability of qualifying renewable fuels and limitations in the volume of ethanol that can be consumed in gasoline given practical constraints on the supply of higher ethanol blends to the vehicles that can use them and other limits on ethanol blend levels in gasoline. These adjustments are intended to put the program on a manageable trajectory while supporting growth in renewable fuels over time. Finally, the statute requires EPA to determine the applicable volume of biomass-based diesel to be used in setting annual percentage standards under the renewable fuel standard program for years after 2012. EPA is proposing the applicable volume of biomass-based diesel that would apply in 2014 and 2015. EPA is requesting comment on a variety of alternative approaches and on a range of inputs and methodologies relevant for setting the applicable standards.

This final rule is intended to further the safety of passenger train occupants through both enhancements and additions to FRA's existing requirements for emergency systems on passenger trains. In this final rule, FRA is adding requirements for emergency passage through vestibule and other interior passageway doors and enhancing emergency egress and rescue access signage requirements. FRA is also establishing requirements for low-location emergency exit path markings to assist occupants in reaching and operating emergency exits, particularly under conditions of limited visibility. Further, FRA is adding standards to ensure that emergency lighting systems are provided in all passenger cars, and FRA is enhancing requirements for the survivability of emergency lighting systems in new passenger cars. Finally, FRA is clarifying requirements for participation in debriefing and critique sessions following emergency situations and full-scale simulations.

The Board is adopting a final policy statement on the approach to scenario design for stress testing that will be used in connection with the supervisory and company-run stress tests conducted under the Board's regulations pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act or Act) and the Board's capital plan rule.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for The Boeing Company Model 747-8 and 747-8F series airplanes and Model 787-8 airplanes powered by GEnx engines. This AD requires revising the airplane flight manual to advise the flight crew of potential ice crystal icing (ICI) conditions at high altitudes, and to prohibit operation in moderate and severe ICI conditions. This AD also requires inspecting the engine after any ICI event is detected by the flight crew. This AD was prompted by reports of engine damage and thrust loss events as a result of flying in high altitude ICI conditions. We are issuing this AD to ensure that the flight crews have operating instructions to avoid flight into ICI conditions that can lead to engine damage and thrust loss events; unrecoverable thrust loss on multiple engines can lead to a forced landing.

On October 30, 2013, the United States Court of International Trade (CIT) entered final judgment sustaining a remand redetermination of the Department of Commerce (Department) relating to the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation on certain new pneumatic off- the-road tires (OTR tires) from the People's Republic of China.\1\ Consistent with the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (Timken), as clarified by Diamond Sawblades Mfrs. Coalition v. United States, 626 F.3d 1374 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (Diamond Sawblades), the Department is notifying the public that the final CIT judgment in this case is not in harmony with the Department's final affirmative determination in the CVD investigation of OTR tires from the PRC and is amending its final determination with respect to the total net countervailable subsidy rate calculated for Tianjin United Tire & Rubber International Co., Ltd. (TUTRIC).

Notice is hereby given of the appointment of members to the Performance Review Board of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces a public teleconference of the Great Lakes Advisory Board (GLAB). The purpose of the teleconference is to conclude discussions that will inform the development of a draft Great Lakes Restoration Initiative FY 2015-2019 Action Plan.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of etofenprox in or on multiple commodities which are identified and discussed later in this document. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

HUD has submitted the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public comment.

EPA is announcing for public review and comment draft Guidelines intended to provide a transparent, fair, and consistent approach to using non-governmental product environmental performance standards and ecolabels in Federal purchasing, consistent with Federal standards policy and sustainable acquisition mandates. These draft Guidelines have been developed in response to requests via a wide variety of stakeholder engagement channels from suppliers, manufacturers, environmental organizations, Federal purchasers, and other stakeholders over the last several years. Voluntary guidelines for standards and ecolabels would help agencies implement sustainable acquisition requirements of Executive Order 13514 and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 23.103 which requires 95% of the government's applicable contract actions to be sustainable. Specifically, the Guidelines for standards and ecolabels could provide clarity regarding the term ``environmentally preferable'' for purposes of the Executive Order. In addition to seeking input on the draft Guidelines themselves, EPA is seeking input on how standards and ecolabels should be assessed for conformance to such guidelines. The proposed draft Guidelines and supplementary information can be found in the docket and at https://www.epa.gov/epp/draftGuidelines.

In this notice, we announce the waivers that the U.S. Department of Education (Department) granted during calendar year 2010 under the waiver authority in section 9401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA).

Notice is hereby given of the following determinations: Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), Executive Order 12047 of March 27, 1978, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 6501 note, et seq.), Delegation of Authority No. 234 of October 1, 1999, Delegation of Authority No. 236-3 of August 28, 2000 (and, as appropriate, Delegation of Authority No. 257 of April 15, 2003), I hereby determine that the objects to be included in the exhibition ``Christopher Williams: The Product Line of Happiness,'' imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, are of cultural significance. The objects are imported pursuant to loan agreements with foreign owners or custodians. I also determine that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, from on or about January 25, 2014, until on or about May 18, 2014; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, from on or about August 2, 2014, until on or about November 2, 2014, and at possible additional exhibitions or venues yet to be determined, is in the national interest. I have ordered that Public Notice of these Determinations be published in the Federal Register.

Notice is hereby given of the following determinations: Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), Executive Order 12047 of March 27, 1978, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 6501 note, et seq.), Delegation of Authority No. 234 of October 1, 1999, Delegation of Authority No. 236-3 of August 28, 2000 (and, as appropriate, Delegation of Authority No. 257 of April 15, 2003), I hereby determine that the objects to be included in the exhibition ``Antonio Canova: The Seven Last Works,'' imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, are of cultural significance. The objects are imported pursuant to loan agreements with foreign owners or custodians. I also determine that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, from on or about January 22, 2014, until on or about April 27, 2014, and at possible additional exhibitions or venues yet to be determined, is in the national interest. I have ordered that Public Notice of these Determinations be published in the Federal Register.