January 7, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In response to requests from interested parties, the Department of Commerce (``Department'') is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on honey from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The period of review (``POR'') is December 1, 2012, through November 30, 2013. As discussed below, during the review, because the single mandatory respondent, Kunshan Xinlong Food Co., Ltd. (``Kunshan Xinlong''), did not cooperate, the Department preliminarily determines to treat this company as part of the PRC-wide entity. If these preliminary results are adopted in the final results of review, the Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on entries of subject merchandise during the POR.

NMFS issues a proposed rule to implement cost recovery fee programs for the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program for groundfish and halibut, and three limited access privilege programs: The American Fisheries Act (AFA), Aleutian Islands Pollock, and Amendment 80 Programs. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) authorizes and requires the collection of cost recovery fees for the CDQ Program and limited access privilege programs. Cost recovery fees recover the actual costs directly related to the management, data collection, and enforcement of the programs. The Magnuson-Stevens Act mandates that cost recovery fees not exceed 3 percent of the annual ex-vessel value of fish harvested by a program subject to a cost recovery fee. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP), and other applicable laws.

The Secretary of the Treasury (the ``Secretary''), as Chairperson of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, is proposing rules (the ``Proposed Rules'') to implement the qualified financial contract (``QFC'') recordkeeping requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Act'' or the ``Dodd-Frank Act''). The Act provides that if the federal primary financial regulatory agencies do not prescribe joint final or interim final regulations requiring financial companies to maintain records with respect to QFCs to assist the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (``FDIC'') as receiver for a covered financial company to exercise its rights and fulfill its obligations under the Act within 24 months of the enactment of the Act, the Chairperson of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (the ``Council'') shall prescribe, in consultation with the FDIC, such regulations. The Secretary, as Chairperson of the Council, is proposing the Proposed Rules in consultation with the FDIC because the federal primary financial regulatory agencies did not so prescribe joint final or interim final regulations. The Proposed Rules would require recordkeeping with respect to positions, counterparties, legal documentation and collateral. This information is necessary to assist the FDIC as receiver to: Fulfill its obligations under the Dodd- Frank Act in deciding whether to transfer QFCs; assess the consequences of decisions to transfer, disaffirm or repudiate, or allow the termination of, QFCs with one or more counterparties; determine if any financial systemic risks are posed by the transfer, disaffirmance or repudiation, or termination of such QFCs; and otherwise exercise its rights under the Act. The Secretary is requesting comment on all aspects of the Proposed Rules.

The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule to amend the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program regulations to clarify the conditional nature of FEHB Program benefits and benefit payments under the plan's coverage as subject to a carrier's entitlement to subrogation and reimbursement recovery, and therefore, that such entitlement falls within the preemptive scope of the U.S.C. FEHB contracts must include a provision incorporating the carrier's subrogation and reimbursement rights and FEHB plan brochures must explain the carrier's subrogation and reimbursement policy.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to make changes to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Acquisition Regulation (FEHBAR). These changes would: Define which subscriber groups may be included for consideration as similarly sized subscriber groups (SSSGs); require the SSSG to be traditional community rated; establish that traditional community-rated Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plans must select only one rather than two SSSGs; and make conforming changes to FEHB contract language to account for the new medical loss ratio (MLR) standard for most community-rated FEHB plans.

The Coast Guard is establishing a Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) on the navigable waters of the Arthur Kill in New York and New Jersey. This RNA will allow the Coast Guard to enforce speed and wake restrictions and limit vessel traffic through the RNA during bridge replacement operations on the Goethals Bridge and during drilling, blasting, and dredging operations in support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channel deepening project, both planned and unforeseen, which could pose an imminent hazard to persons and vessels operating in the area. This rule is necessary to provide for the safety of life on the navigable waters during construction on the Goethals Bridge and the channel deepening project.