2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of an exemption from certain emergency planning (EP) requirements for License No. DPR-7 held by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E, the licensee) for the possession of the Humboldt Bay Power Plant, Unit 3. PG&E is requesting the exemptions from specific emergency planning requirements by letter dated August 14, 2012.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is proposing to amend our regulations. Part 340 implements section 11(p) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Under section 11(p), individuals or entities whose acts or omissions have, or may have, contributed to the failure of an insured depository institution cannot buy the assets of that failed insured depository institution from the FDIC. The proposed revisions to part 340 will help to clarify its purpose, scope and applicability, and will make it more consistent in our regulations, the parallel provision in the FDIC's Orderly Liquidation Authority regulations that implements section 210(r) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by placing restrictions on sales of assets of a covered financial company by the FDIC. Sections of part 340 became effective on July 1, 2014.

The Committee is proposing to add products and a service to the Procurement List that will be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities, and deletes a product previously furnished by such agency.

On October 16, 2014, Grupo Simec, Orge S.A. DE C.V., and Orge S.A. DE C.V. (``Simec'') filed a First Request for Panel Review with the United States Section of the NAFTA Secretariat pursuant to Article 1904 of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Panel Review was requested of the U.S. Department of Commerce's final determination regarding Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Mexico: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances; July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013. This determination was published in the Federal Register (79 FR 54967), on September 15, 2014. The NAFTA Secretariat has assigned Case Number USA-MEX-2014-1904-01 to this request.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for the research community entitled ``Guidance on Disclosing Reasonably Foreseeable Risks in Research Evaluating Standards of Care.'' OHRP is specifically addressing what risks to subjects are presented by research evaluating or comparing risks associated with standards of care, and which of these risks are reasonably foreseeable and should be disclosed to prospective research subjects as part of their informed consent. OHRP is soliciting written comments from all interested parties, including, but not limited to IRB members, IRB staff, institutional officials, research institutions, investigators, research subject advocacy groups, ethicists, the regulated community, and the public at large. This draft guidance represents OHRP's current thinking on this topic. Certain treatments and procedures that are commonly used in health care for a given type of disease or condition have come to be known as ``standards of care.'' Multiple ``standards of care'' involving widely differing treatments and risks may be available for the same disease or medical condition. Where multiple ``standard of care'' options are available for a given disease or condition, the use of the term does not imply that the options will produce similar benefits or incur similar risks. Furthermore, patients may not find those options equally acceptable, nor do physicians always use them interchangeably. Importantly there is not necessarily a limit on how different the risks from two versions of a standard of care might be. For example, it may already be known that one of those versions imposes a significantly higher risk of death than the other. Adequate knowledge about the effectiveness and risks of standards of care and how these standards compare to each other is sometimes lacking. In recent years research studies designed to evaluate such treatments and procedures have become commonplace. These studies are often called ``comparative effectiveness research'' or ``standard of care research.'' As this type of research has become more common, so too have questions about how the HHS human subject protection regulations (45 CFR part 46) apply to such research. There is uncertainty in the research community about which risks of the research should be determined to be reasonably foreseeable risks of research and how they should be described to prospective subjects in the process of informed consent. OHRP's interpretation of the HHS research regulations has been that if people are being asked to undergo procedures in a research study that involve risks that they would not otherwise be exposed to, these are `research risks' that people must be informed about. Only in that way are they able to make a truly informed decision about whether they are willing to participate. For comparative effectiveness or standard of care research, OHRP's general position is that the reasonably foreseeable risks of research include already-identified risks of the standards of care being evaluated as a purpose of the research when the risks being evaluated are different from the risks subjects would be exposed to outside of the study. This guidance addresses these issues in the form of frequently asked questions. OHRP will consider comments received before issuing the final guidance document.

The Department of the Navy (DoN) announces its intent to prepare a Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (OEIS) for the Northwest Training and Testing (NWTT) Study Area. This Supplemental DEIS/OEIS will focus on substantial changes in the proposed action and significant new information relevant to environmental concerns per 40 Code of Federal Regulations CFR 1502.9. The Supplemental DEIS/OEIS will also provide additional updated information to further the purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

In accordance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which provides opportunity for public comment on new or revised data collections, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will publish periodic summaries of proposed data collections. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the RRB's estimate of the burden of the collection of the information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden related to the collection of information on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 1. Title and purpose of information collection: Railroad Service and Compensation Reports/System Access Application; OMB 3220-0008. Under Section 9 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) and Section 6 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) maintains for each railroad employee, a record of compensation paid to that employee by all railroad employers for whom the employee worked after 1936. This record, which is used by the RRB to determine eligibility for, and amount of, benefits due under the laws it administers, is conclusive as to the amount of compensation paid to an employee during such period(s) covered by the report(s) of the compensation by the employee's railroad employer(s), except in cases when an employee files a protest pertaining to his or her reported compensation within the statute of limitations cited in Section 9 of the RRA and Section 6 of the RUIA. To enable the RRB to establish and maintain the record of compensation, employers are required to file with the RRB, reports of their employees' compensation, in such manner and form and at such times as the RRB prescribes. Railroad employers' reports and responsibilities are prescribed in 20 CFR 209. The RRB currently utilizes Form BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable Compensation, and Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments, to secure the required information from railroad employers. Form BA-3 provides the RRB with information regarding annual creditable service and compensation for each individual who worked for a railroad employer covered by the RRA and RUIA in a given year. Form BA-4 provides for the adjustment of any previously submitted reports and also the opportunity to provide any service and compensation that had been previously omitted. Requirements specific to Forms BA-3 and BA-4 are prescribed in 20 CFR 209.8 and 209.9. Employers currently have the option of submitting BA-3 and BA-4 reports electronically by CD-ROM, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), secure Email, or online via the RRB's Employer Reporting System (ERS). The information collection also includes RRB Form BA-12, Application for Employer Reporting Internet Access, and Form G-440, Report Specifications Sheet. Form BA-12 is completed by railroad employers to obtain system access to ERS. Once access is obtained, authorized employees may submit reporting forms online to the RRB. The form determines what degree of access (view/only, data entry/ modification or approval/submission) is appropriate for that employee. It is also used to terminate an employee's access to ERS. Form G-440, Report Specifications Sheet, serves as a certification document for various RRB employer reporting forms (Forms BA-3, BA-4, Form BA-6a, BA- 6, Address Report (OMB 3220-0005), BA-9, Report of Separation Allowance or Severance Pay (OMB 3220-0173) and BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings (OMB 3220-0132)). It records the type of medium the report was submitted on, and serves as a summary recapitulation sheet for reports filed on paper. The RRB proposes minor non-burden impacting changes to Form BA-12 and G-440.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Innovative Public Transportation Workforce Development Program (Ladders of Opportunity Initiative). FTA has budgeted approximately $9 million for this solicitation. This NOFA solicits proposals that promote innovative nationally and regionally significant public transportation workforce development models and programs that invest in America's economic growth and help build ladders of opportunity into the middle class for American workers.

In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), DoD announces the proposed extension of a public information collection requirement and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. DoD invites comments on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of DoD, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved this information collection under Control Number 0704-0214 for use through January 31, 2015. DoD is proposing that OMB extend its approval for use for three additional years.

Because the 2014 catch limit of 500 metric tons is expected to be reached, NMFS is closing the U.S. pelagic longline fishery for bigeye tuna for vessels over 24 meters in overall length in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) through December 31, 2014. This action is necessary to prevent the fishery from exceeding the applicable catch limit established by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) in Resolution C-13-01, which governs tuna conservation in the EPO from 2014-2016.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Fiberglas-Technik Rudolf Lindner GmbH & Co. KG (type certificates formerly held by GROB-WERKE GMBH & CO KG and BURKHART GROB LUFT- UND RAUMFAHRT GmbH & CO KG) Models G102 STANDARD ASTIR III, G102 CLUB ASTIR III, G102 CLUB ASTIR IIIb, G103 TWIN II, G103A TWIN II ACRO, G103C TWIN III ACRO, and G 103 C Twin III SL gliders. This AD revises AD 2014-15- 02, which required inspection of the rudder control unit for installation of plastic cable pulleys and replacement of plastic cable pulleys with aluminum cable pulleys. This AD retains the actions of AD 2014-15-02 but clarifies the suffixes of serial numbers (S/Ns) in paragraph (c) Applicability. This AD was prompted by reports of plastic control cable pulleys developing cracks due to aging, which could lead to breaking of the pulley and potentially jamming the rudder control unit, possibly resulting in loss of control. We are issuing this AD to require actions to address the unsafe condition on these products.

Notice is hereby given that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (Corporation) has been appointed the sole receiver for the following financial institutions effective as of the Date Closed as indicated in the listing. This list (as updated from time to time in the Federal Register) may be relied upon as ``of record'' notice that the Corporation has been appointed receiver for purposes of the statement of policy published in the July 2, 1992 issue of the Federal Register (57 FR 29491). For further information concerning the identification of any institutions which have been placed in liquidation, please visit the Corporation Web site at www.fdic.gov/ bank/individual/failed/banklist.html or contact the Manager of Receivership Oversight in the appropriate service center.

Pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), as amended, notice is hereby given that the 70th meeting of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) will be held in the Monument Room, Occidental Hotel, 1475 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004. Ending time is approximate.