June 23, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The action amends the expiration date of the final rule requiring pilots flying civil helicopters under Visual Flight Rules to use the New York North Shore Helicopter Route when operating along the north shore of Long Island, New York. The current rule expires on August 6, 2014. The FAA finds it necessary to extend this rule for an additional two years to preserve the current operating environment in order to determine whether the mandatory use of this route should be made permanent. The FAA will conduct notice and comment rulemaking on the permanent use of this route. A limited extension of the current rule provides needed time to conduct the appropriate analysis to assess the rule's impact and proper rulemaking procedures.

This document contains corrections to the proposed rule (RM14-11-000) which published in the Federal Register of Friday, May 30, 2014 (79 FR 31061). The regulation proposed to amend regulations to waive the Open Access Transmission Tariff requirements, the Open Access Same-Time Information System requirements of its regulations, and the Standards of Conduct requirements of its regulations, for any public utility that is subject to such requirements solely because it owns, controls, or operates Interconnection Customer's Interconnection Facilities, in whole or in part, and sells electric energy from its Generating Facility, as those terms are defined in the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Procedures and the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Agreement and adopted in Order No. 2003. The Commission proposed to find that requiring the filing of an Open Access Transmission Tariff is not necessary to prevent unjust or unreasonable rates or unduly discriminatory behavior with respect to Interconnection Customer's Interconnection Facilities over which interconnection and transmission services can be ordered pursuant to sections 210, 211, and 212 of the Federal Power Act.

The Secretary proposes to amend the definition of ``reservation'' under the regulations governing the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) program in one of two ways. The first proposed amendment, ``Alternative A,'' would conform the definition to the Department's current interpretation and practices. In order to be eligible for a grant, a federally or State recognized tribe must be located on a Federal or State reservation. The statutory definition of ``reservation'' includes Federal or State Indian reservations; public domain Indian allotments; former Indian reservations in Oklahoma; and land held by incorporated Native groups, regional corporations, and village corporations under the provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The Department's ``Alternative A'' definition would also include as a reservation ``defined areas of land recognized by a State or the Federal Government where there is a concentration of tribal members and on which the tribal government is providing structured activities and services.'' The second proposed amendment to the regulatory definition of ``reservation,'' ``Alternative B,'' would limit the areas of land the Department considers to be reservations to those that are listed in the statutory definition of ``reservation'': Federal or State Indian reservations; public domain Indian allotments; former Indian reservations in Oklahoma; or land held by incorporated Native groups, regional corporations, and village corporations under the provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The Secretary seeks comment on both alternatives.

This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA and other Federal agencies that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to the New York Gateway Connections Improvement Project. Those actions grant approvals for the project.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2003-05-03 for Bell Model 407 helicopters. AD 2003-05-03 required preflight checking and repetitively inspecting for a crack in certain tailbooms that have been redesigned, replacing the tailboom if there is a crack, modifying and re-identifying certain tailbooms, installing an improved horizontal stabilizer assembly, and assigning a 5,000 hour time-in-service (TIS) limit. This new AD retains the requirements of AD 2003-05-03 and requires additional inspection requirements. This AD was prompted by additional reports of cracked tailboom skins. The actions in this AD are intended to prevent separation of the tailboom and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.