November 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FTC has completed its regulatory review of its Retail Food Store Advertising and Marketing Practices Rule (``Unavailability Rule'' or ``Rule''). After reviewing public comments regarding the Rule's overall costs, benefits, and regulatory and economic impact, the Commission retains the Rule. The Commission, however, takes this opportunity to issue guidance concerning the Rule's coverage. The Commission also corrects a typographical error, and ceases to publish dissents to the Rule's previous amendment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the State of West Virginia's request to redesignate to attainment the West Virginia portion of the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD nonattainment area (the Martinsburg Area or Area) for the 1997 annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). EPA is also approving as a revision to the West Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP) the associated maintenance plan to show maintenance of the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS through 2025 for the Area. As part of this action, EPA is making a determination that the Martinsburg Area continues to attain the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. The maintenance plan includes the 2017 and 2025 PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NOX) mobile vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for Berkeley County, West Virginia for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS which EPA is approving for transportation conformity purposes. Furthermore, EPA is approving, as a revision to the West Virginia SIP, the 2007 base year emissions inventory for the Area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. These actions are being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland. The revisions incorporate by reference (IBR) the requirements of the Federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program into the Maryland SIP. Additionally, the revisions will allow Maryland's PSD program to automatically update with any revisions to the Federal regulations. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing revisions and confidentiality determinations for the petroleum and natural gas systems source category and the general provisions of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule. These revisions include changes to certain calculation methods, amendments to certain monitoring and data reporting requirements, clarification of certain terms and definitions, and corrections to certain technical and editorial errors that have been identified during the course of implementation. This action also finalizes confidentiality determinations for new or substantially revised data elements contained in these amendments and revises the confidentiality determination for one existing data element.

This document makes amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in order to make editorial changes.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to delete obsolete regulations relating to the year 2000 compliance.

NMFS issues regulations to implement Steller sea lion protection measures to insure that groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI) off Alaska are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the western distinct population segment (WDPS) of Steller sea lions or destroy or adversely modify their designated critical habitat. These management measures disperse fishing effort temporally and spatially to provide protection from potential competition for important Steller sea lion prey species. This action is intended to protect the endangered Steller sea lions, as required by the Endangered Species Act, and to minimize, to the extent practicable, the economic impact of fishery management measures, as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-78. A companion document, the Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to further implement the inflation adjustment of acquisition-related dollar thresholds. A statute requires an adjustment every five years of acquisition-related thresholds for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, except for the Construction Wage Rate Requirements statute (Davis-Bacon Act), Service Contract Labor Standards statute, and trade agreements thresholds. DoD, GSA, and NASA are also proposing to use the same methodology to adjust nonstatutory FAR acquisition-related thresholds in 2015.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on Lake Michigan north of Navy Pier, Chicago, IL. This safety zone is intended to restrict vessels from a designated portion of Lake Michigan for salvage operations of a sunken barge. This temporary safety zone is necessary to protect the surrounding public and vessels from the hazards associated with salvage operations.

The Coast Guard has issued a temporary deviation from the operating schedule that governs the CSX Transportation Railroad Swing Span Bridge across Three Mile Creek, mile 0.3, at Mobile, Baldwin County, Alabama. This deviation is necessary to conduct maintenance to the bridge. This deviation allows the bridge to remain temporarily closed to navigation for twelve hours during one day and then operate during daylight hours only for eight consecutive days within a span of nine days.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule to implement modifications to the Multi-State Plan (MSP) Program based on the experience of the Program to date. OPM established the MSP Program pursuant to section 1334 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, referred to collectively as the Affordable Care Act. This proposed rule clarifies the approach used to enforce the applicable requirements of the Affordable Care Act with respect to health insurance issuers that contract with OPM to offer MSP options. This proposed rule amends MSP standards related to coverage area, benefits, and certain contracting provisions under section 1334 of the Affordable Care Act. This document also makes non-substantive technical changes.

BSEE is extending the public comment period on the ANPR on Helideck and Aviation Fuel Safety for Fixed Offshore Facilities, which was published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2014 (79 FR 57008). The original public comment period would end on November 24, 2014. However, BSEE has received a request from an offshore oil and gas industry association to extend the comment period. The BSEE has reviewed the extension request and determined that a 30-day comment period extensionto December 24, 2014is appropriate.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 29 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper- Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Amendment 29 proposes actions to update the Council's acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule to incorporate methodology for determining the ABC of unassessed species; adjust ABCs for 14 unassessed snapper-grouper species through application of the updated ABC control rule; adjust annual catch limits (ACLs) and recreational annual catch targets (ACTs)for four snapper- grouper species and three species complexes based on revised ABCs; and revise management measures for gray triggerfish to modify minimum size limits, establish a commercial split season, and specify a commercial trip limit.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action finding that the District of Columbia and seven states (Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont and Washington) have not submitted complete infrastructure State Implementation Plans (SIPs) that provide the basic Clean Air Act (CAA) program elements necessary to implement the 2010 nitrogen dioxide (NO2) primary national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). Three out of the seven states (Alaska, Arkansas and Vermont) have not made any submittals. The District of Columbia and the remaining four out of the seven states (Hawaii, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington) have made submittals that are partially incomplete due to the lack of complete SIP approved Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit programs. The purpose of an infrastructure SIP submission is to assure that a state, local or tribal air agency's SIP contains the necessary structural requirements for any new or revised NAAQS. The remaining 43 states have made complete submissions. Each finding of failure to submit a complete infrastructure SIP establishes a 24-month deadline for the EPA to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) to address the outstanding SIP elements unless, prior to the EPA promulgating a FIP, the affected air agency submits, and the EPA approves, a revised SIP that corrects the deficiency. In those areas without a state-adopted PSD permit program, the FIP obligation has already been met through federal regulations that govern PSD permits issued in some cases by the EPA and in other cases by state or local agencies under delegation agreements.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a Tribal implementation plan (TIP) submitted by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC or the Tribe). The SITC TIP regulates open burning practices and establishes a Tribal regulatory program applicable to all persons within the exterior boundaries of the Swinomish Reservation (Reservation). The SITC TIP was submitted to the EPA on June 28, 2012, and supplementary submittals were received on September 24, 2013, November 18, 2013, and January 28, 2014. This action makes the approved portions of the SITC TIP federally enforceable under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Upon the effective date of this action, the SITC TIP will replace the Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) provisions that regulate open burning within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation.

A petition for rulemaking was filed by ION Media Kansas City License, Inc. (``ION Media''), the licensee of KPXE-TV, channel 51, Kansas City, Missouri, requesting the substitution of channel 30 for channel 51 at Kansas City. ION Media filed comments reaffirming its interest in the proposed channel substitution and explained that the channel substitution will allow it to serve all viewers currently receiving digital service while eliminating any potential interference with wireless operations in the Lower 700 MHZ A Block located adjacent to channel 51 in Kansas City. ION Media states that it will file an application for a construction permit for channel 30 and implement the change in accordance with the Commission's rules upon adoption of the channel substitution.

On June 11, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule in the Federal Register concerning, in part, promulgation of a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) provision for regional haze in the State of Washington. This action identifies and corrects an error in that action by adding the factor to convert from tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) to pounds of SO2 that was inadvertently left out of the amendatory instructions for the FIP for the Alcoa Wenatchee Works.

We (NMFS) will hold a public hearing in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in December 2014 for the purpose of accepting public comments on the proposal to list the Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA).

On September 30, 2014, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published in the Federal Register with a 60-day comment period a proposed rule, to facilitate responsible solar and wind energy development and to receive fair market value for such development. (79 FR 59021) The proposed rule would promote the use of preferred areas for solar and wind energy development and establish competitive processes, terms, and conditions (including rental and bonding requirements) for solar and wind energy development rights-of-way both inside and outside these preferred areas. The proposed rule would also make technical changes, corrections, and clarifications to existing rights-of-way regulations. Some of these changes would affect all rights-of-way and some provisions would affect particular types of actions, such as transmission lines with a capacity of 100 Kilovolts (kV) or more, or pipelines 10 inches or more in diameter. The BLM received requests to extend the comment period of this proposed rule. In response to these requests, the BLM is extending the comment period for 15 days beyond the end of the initial comment period. As a result of this extension, the comment period will now close on December 16, 2014.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulation regarding the presence of animals on VA property. Current VA regulation authorizes the presence of seeing-eye dogs on VA property and other animals as authorized at the discretion of a VA facility head or designee. However, applicable Federal law authorizes the presence of guide dogs and other service animals when these animals accompany individuals with disabilities seeking admittance to buildings or property owned or operated by the Federal Government. This proposed rule would expand the current VA regulation to be consistent with applicable Federal law, and would clarify the authority of a VA facility head or designee to allow nonservice animals to be present on VA property.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the Corporation or FDIC) is issuing a final rule that implements proposed revisions to regulations regarding the annual stress testing requirements for state nonmember banks and state savings associations with total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion (covered banks). The regulations, which implement section 165(i)(2) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act), require covered banks to conduct annual stress tests, report the results of such stress tests to the Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board), and publicly disclose a summary of the results of the required stress tests. The final rule revises the 2016 stress test cycle and for years thereafter to begin on January 1 of the calendar year rather than October 1, as is provided for by the current rule. Additionally, the final rule modifies the ``as of'' dates for financial data (that covered banks will use to perform their stress tests) as well as the reporting dates and public disclosure dates of the annual stress tests for both $10 billion to $50 billion covered banks and over $50 billion covered banks.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to correct final rules pertaining to the State of Montana's State Implementation Plan (SIP). On February 13, 2012, EPA took final action to partially approve and partially disapprove SIP revisions and new rules as submitted by the State of Montana on June 25, 2010 and May 28, 2003. EPA subsequently discovered errors in our February 13, 2012 final action related to the materials incorporated by reference and the associated regulatory text that inadvertently reversed portions of our July 8, 2011 final action. EPA is taking final action, under section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

In this document, the Commission seeks comment on additional measures it could take to ensure that interstate and intrastate inmate calling services are provided consistent with the statute and the public interest and the Commission's authority to implement these measures. The Commission believes that additional action on inmate calling service will help maintain familial contacts stressed by confinement while still ensuring the critical security needs of correction facilities of various sizes.

This document initiates a proceeding to address how to accommodate the long-term needs of wireless microphone users. Wireless microphones play an important role in enabling broadcasters and other video programming networks to serve consumers, including as they cover breaking news and broadcast live sports events. They enhance event productions in a variety of settingsincluding theaters and music venues, film studios, conventions, corporate events, houses of worship, and internet webcasts. They also help create high quality content that consumers demand and value. Recent actions by the Commission, and in particular the repurposing of broadcast television band spectrum for wireless services set forth in the Incentive Auction R&O, will significantly alter the regulatory environment in which wireless microphones operate, which necessitates our addressing how to accommodate wireless microphone users in the future.