January 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed extension of a currently approved collection of information or new collection of information]. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the information collection notice is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments regarding the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e. the time, effort, and resources used by the respondents to respond), the estimated cost to the respondent, and the actual information collection instruments.

The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to add a domestic shipping services contract to the list of Negotiated Service Agreements in the Mail Classification Schedule's Competitive Products List.

The Commission is adjusting its approach to issuing a report on the Postal Service's Performance Report and Performance Plan. Previously, the Commission has included its report as part of the Annual Compliance Determination. Starting with FY 2013, the Commission will issue this report as a separate document. This order addresses related administrative steps and invites public comments.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection notice was previously published in the Federal Register on September 20, 2013, at 78 FR 57869, allowing for a 60-day public comment period. USCIS received comments from one commenter in connection with the 60-day notice.

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).

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).

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).

This rule identifies communities where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation that the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice of this will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date. Also, information identifying the current participation status of a community can be obtained from FEMA's Community Status Book (CSB). The CSB is available at https:// www.fema.gov/fema/csb.shtm.

This notice provides the names, addresses, professional affiliations, and selected biographical data of persons recently nominated to serve on the Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) established under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The Agency, at this time, anticipates selecting two new FIFRA SAP members to serve, as a result of membership terms that expire in 2014. Public comments on the current nominations are invited. These comments will be used to assist the Agency in selecting the new FIFRA SAP members.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements specified in the Gear Certification Standard (29 CFR part 1919).

In the 2013 Special 301 Report (www.ustr.gov), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that, in order to monitor progress on specific intellectual property rights (IPR) issues, an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) would be conducted for El Salvador and Spain. USTR requests written submissions from the public concerning any act, policy, or practice that is relevant to the decision regarding whether Spain should be identified under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242).

In this document, the Commission seeks comment on its proposal to eliminate the sports blackout rules. Elimination of the sports blackout rules alone likely would not end sports blackouts, but it would leave sports carriage issues to private solutions negotiated by the interested parties in light of current market conditions and eliminate unnecessary regulation.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the State of North Carolina's April 12, 2013, State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision to its approved maintenance plan for the Greensboro/ Winston-Salem/High Point 1997 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Area (Triad). Specifically, North Carolina's SIP revision, including updated modeling, shows that the Triad Area would continue to maintain the 1997 8-hour ozone standard if the currently applicable Federal Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) standard for gasoline of 7.8 pounds per square inch (psi) were modified to 9.0 psi for four portions (Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford and Davie Counties) of the ``Triad Area'' during the high- ozone season. The State has included a technical demonstration with the SIP revision to demonstrate that a less-stringent RVP standard of 9.0 psi in these portions of this area would not interfere with continued maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) or any other applicable standard. Approval of this SIP revision is a prerequisite for EPA's consideration of an amendment to the regulations to remove the aforementioned portions of the Triad Area from the list of areas that are currently subject to the Federal 7.8 psi RVP requirements. In addition, the revised on-road mobile and non-road mobile source emissions modeling associated with the requested modification to the RVP standard utilizes the updated Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES) and NONROAD2008 models which are the most current versions of modeling systems available for these sources. EPA has determined that North Carolina's April 12, 2013, SIP revision with respect to the revisions to the modeling and associated technical demonstration associated with the State's request for the removal of the Federal 7.8 psi RVP requirements, and with respect to the updated on-road mobile, non-road mobile and area source emissions, is consistent with the applicable provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). Should EPA decide to remove the subject portions of the Triad Area from those areas subject to the 7.8 psi Federal RVP requirements, such action will occur in a subsequent rulemaking.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements specified in the Standard on Ethylene Oxide (EtO) (29 CFR 1910.1047). The standard protects workers from adverse health effects from occupational exposure to ethylene oxide.

The Coast Guard is adding a permanent security zone, which will be enforced 2 weeks each year, on the Detroit River, Detroit, Michigan. This security zone is intended to restrict vessels from a portion of the Detroit River in order to ensure the safety and security of participants, visitors, and public officials at the Annual North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), which is held at Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit, MI.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is proposing changes to the rules of practice to facilitate the examination of patent applications and to provide greater transparency concerning the ownership of patent applications and patents. This initiative is one of a number of executive actions issued by the Administration that are designed to ensure the highest-quality patents, enhance competition by providing the public with more complete information about the competitive environment in which innovators operate, enhance technology transfer and reduce the costs of transactions for patent rights by making patent ownership information more readily and easily available, reduce abusive patent litigation by helping the public defend itself against frivolous litigation, and level the playing field for innovators. The Office is proposing in this document to require that the attributable owner, including the ultimate parent entity, be identified during the pendency of a patent application and at specified times during the life of a patent. The Office is specifically proposing that the attributable owner be identified on filing of an application (or shortly thereafter), when there is a change in the attributable owner during the pendency of an application, at the time of issue fee and maintenance fee payments, and when a patent is involved in supplemental examination, ex parte reexamination, or a trial proceeding before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The Office is also seeking comments on whether the Office should enable patent applicants and owners to voluntarily report licensing offers and related information to the Office, which the Office will then make available to the public in an accessible online format.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve the State of West Virginia's requests to redesignate to attainment the Charleston nonattainment area for the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). EPA is also proposing to determine that the Charleston Area continues to attain both the1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. In addition, EPA is proposing to approve as a revision to the West Virginia state implementation plan (SIP), the associated maintenance plans to show maintenance of the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS through 2025 for the Charleston Area. As part of the maintenance plan, EPA is proposing to approve a 2008 emissions inventory for the Charleston Area for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA is proposing that the 2008 emissions inventory for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ammonia (NH3), in conjunction with inventories for nitrogen oxides (NOx), direct PM2.5, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) meet the comprehensive emissions inventory requirement of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. West Virginia's maintenance plans include insignificance findings for the mobile source contribution of PM2.5 and NOx emissions for the Charleston Area for both the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA agrees with these insignificance findings, and is proposing approval of such findings for transportation conformity purposes. In this rulemaking action, EPA also addresses the effects of two decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit Court): The DC Circuit Court's August 21, 2012 decision to vacate and remand the Cross-State Air Pollution Control (CSAPR); and the DC Circuit Court's January 4, 2013 decision to remand to EPA two rules implementing the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. This rulemaking action to propose approval of the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS redesignation requests and associated maintenance plans for the Charleston Area is based on EPA's determination that the Area has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment specified in the CAA for both the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.

On June 21, 2012, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, through Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD), submitted a request to redesignate the Rome, Georgia, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ``Rome Area'' or ``Area'') to attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan for the Rome Area. The Rome Area is comprised of Floyd County in Georgia. EPA is proposing to approve the redesignation request and the related SIP revision for the Rome Area, including GA EPD's plan for maintaining attainment of the PM2.5 standard in the Area. EPA is also proposing to approve into the Georgia SIP, the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOx) and PM2.5 for the year 2023 for the Rome Area that are included as part of Georgia's maintenance plan for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS.

In accordance with the Prospective Purchaser Agreement, notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement concerning the PCC Validation Site in Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan with the following settling party: M1 Concourse, LLC. The settlement requires the Settling Party to execute and record a Declaration of Restrictive Covenant; provide access to the Property and exercise due care with respect to existing contamination. The settlement includes a covenant not to sue the Settling Party pursuant to Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or Resource Conservation and Recovery Act with respect to the Existing Contamination. Existing Contamination is defined as any Waste Material present or existing on or under the Property as of the Effective Date of the Settlement Agreement; any Waste Material that migrated from the Property prior to the Effective Date; and any Waste Material presently at the Site that migrates onto, on, under, or from the Property after the Effective Date. For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the settlement. The Agency will consider all comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments received disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. The Agency's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at the EPA, Region 5, Records Center, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., 7th Fl., Chicago, Illinois 60604.

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Consumer Products, CFR 40 Part 59, Subpart C (Renewal),'' (EPA ICR Number 1764.06, OMB Control number 2060-0348) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through April 30, 2014. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The Department of the Interior (Department) gives notice that the Assistant SecretaryIndian Affairs (AS-IA) proposes to determine that the petitioner known as the ``Meherrin Indian Tribe'' (MTB), Petitioner 119b, is not an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This notice is based on an investigation which determined that the petitioner does not satisfy criterion 83.7(e) as set forth in the applicable regulations, and therefore, does not meet the requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

The Department of the Interior (Department) gives notice that the Assistant SecretaryIndian Affairs (AS-IA) proposes to determine that the petitioner known as the Pamunkey Indian Tribe (Petitioner 323), 331 Pocket Road, King William, VA 23086, c/o Mr. Kevin M. Brown, is an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This notice is based on a proposed finding (PF) that the petitioner satisfies the seven mandatory criteria for acknowledgment set forth in the applicable regulations, and thus, meets the requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.