June 25, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action provides interested persons with the opportunity to comment on the FAA's interpretation of the special rule for model aircraft established by Congress in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. In this interpretation, the FAA clarifies that: Model aircraft must satisfy the criteria in the Act to qualify as model aircraft and to be exempt from future FAA rulemaking action; and consistent with the Act, if a model aircraft operator endangers the safety of the National Airspace System, the FAA has the authority to take enforcement action against those operators for those safety violations.

Section 243 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2014 (2014 Appropriations Act) authorizes HUD to implement certain statutory changes to the United States Housing Act of 1937 made by the 2014 Appropriations Act through notice followed by notice and comment rulemaking. This notice establishes the terms and conditions by which HUD will implement changes to the statutory definition of a ``public housing agency'' (PHA), the frequency of housing inspections, the statutory definition of ``extremely low- income,'' and utility allowances for tenant-paid utilities.

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, we announce a priority for an RRTC on Employment for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend for this priority to contribute to improved employment outcomes of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing a direct final rule that would have revised its spent fuel storage regulations to include Amendment No. 3 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1029, Transnuclear, Inc. Standardized Advanced NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks.'' The NRC is taking this action because it has received at least one significant adverse comment in response to a companion proposed rule that was concurrently published with the direct final rule.

Pursuant to section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) approves Reliability Standard EOP-010-1 (Geomagnetic Disturbance Operations). The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization, submitted the Reliability Standard for Commission approval in response to a Commission directive in Order No. 779. Reliability Standard EOP-010-1 is designed to mitigate the effects of geomagnetic disturbances on the Bulk-Power System by requiring responsible entities to implement Operating Plans and Operating Procedures or Processes.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 747-400, 747-400D, 747-400F, 747-8F, and 747-8 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of very high temperatures, up to 67 degrees Celsius (152 degrees Fahrenheit), near the floor in the aft lower lobe cargo compartment. This proposed AD would require installing an additional zone temperature sensor (ZTS) in the aft cargo compartment. For certain airplanes, the proposed AD would first require installing tape and replacing the markers in the bulk cargo compartment, unless terminated by the early installation of the ZTS. We are proposing this AD to prevent overheating of the aft lower lobe cargo compartment, where, if temperature sensitive cargo is present, the release of flammable vapors could result in a fire or explosion if exposed to an ignition source.

These final rules explain how a claimant may object to appearing at a hearing via video teleconferencing, or to the time and place of a hearing. These final rules adopt, with further clarification regarding our good cause exception, the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that we published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2013. We expect that these final rules will have a minimal impact on the public, help ensure the integrity of our programs, and allow us to administer our programs more efficiently.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 97 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). If approved, Amendment 97 would limit Chinook salmon prohibited species catch (PSC) in Western and Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) non-pollock trawl catcher/processor (C/P) and catcher vessel (CV) fisheries. This action would establish separate annual Chinook salmon PSC limits for trawl catcher/processors (Trawl C/P Sector), trawl catcher vessels participating in the Central GOA Rockfish Program (Rockfish Program CV Sector), and trawl catcher vessels not participating in the Central GOA Rockfish Program (Non-Rockfish Program CV Sector) fishing for groundfish species other than pollock. If a sector reaches its Chinook salmon PSC limit, NMFS would prohibit further fishing for non-pollock groundfish by vessels in that sector. This action also would establish and clarify Chinook salmon retention and discard requirements for vessels, shoreside processors, and stationary floating processors participating in both the GOA pollock and non-pollock groundfish trawl fisheries. This action is necessary to minimize the catch of Chinook salmon to the extent practicable in the GOA non-pollock trawl fisheries. Amendment 97 is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the FMP, and other applicable laws.

The United States International Trade Commission (``Commission'') amends its Rules of Practice and Procedure concerning rules of general application, and provisions concerning the conduct of antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and reviews. The amendments are designed to increase efficiency in processing and reviewing documents filed with the Commission and reduce Commission expenditures.

HERA, enacted into law on July 30, 2008, made comprehensive and significant reforms to several HUD programs, including HUD's Public Housing, Section 8 Tenant-Based Voucher, and Project-Based Voucher programs. On November 24, 2008, HUD published a notice that provided information about the applicability of certain HERA provisions to these programs. The notice identified: those statutory provisions that are self-executing and required no action on the part of HUD for the program changes made by HERA to be implemented; and those statutory provisions that require new regulations or regulatory changes by HUD for the HERA provisions to be implemented. The notice also offered the opportunity for public comment on the guidance provided. HUD followed the November 2008 notice with a May 15, 2012, rule that proposed to establish, in regulation, the reforms made by HERA solely to the Section 8 Tenant-Based Voucher and Project-Based Voucher programs as discussed in the November 2008 notice, to make other related changes to the regulations, and to further solicit public comment. This final rule conforms the regulations of the Section 8 Tenant-Based Voucher and Project-Based Voucher programs to the statutory program changes made by HERA, makes other related changes to these regulations as discussed in the May 2012 proposed rule, and makes further changes to the two voucher program regulations as a result of issues raised by public comment or as a result of further consideration by HUD of issues pertaining to these programs.

This rule proposes to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA) pertaining to small business size. Specifically, the rule proposes to amend the Small Business Administration's (SBA or Agency) program regulations to implement statutory provisions establishing a safe harbor from fraud penalties for individuals or firms that misrepresent business concerns as being small for purposes of Federal procurement opportunities if they acted in good faith reliance upon small business status advisory opinions received from Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) or Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs). The rule also proposes to amend SBA's regulations to establish the criteria small business status advisory opinions must meet in order to be deemed adequate and specify the review process for such opinions. Finally, the proposed rule would amend SBA's regulations to update the circumstances under which SBA may initiate a formal size determination.