February 25, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends Department of Homeland Security (``DHS'' or ``Department'') regulations by extending eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident (``LPR'') status. Such H-1B nonimmigrants must be the principal beneficiaries of an approved Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140), or have been granted H-1B status in the United States under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000, as amended by the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act. DHS anticipates that this regulatory change will reduce personal and economic burdens faced by H-1B nonimmigrants and eligible H-4 dependent spouses during the transition from nonimmigrant to LPR status. The final rule will also support the goals of attracting and retaining highly skilled foreign workers and minimizing the disruption to U.S. businesses resulting from H-1B nonimmigrants who choose not to pursue LPR status in the United States. By providing the possibility of employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses, the rule will ameliorate certain disincentives for talented H-1B nonimmigrants to permanently remain in the United States and continue contributing to the U.S. economy as LPRs. This is an important goal considering the contributions such individuals make to entrepreneurship and research and development, which are highly correlated with overall economic growth and job creation. The rule also will bring U.S. immigration policies concerning this class of highly skilled workers more in line with those of other countries that are also competing to attract and retain similar highly skilled workers.

This document contains a correction to the final rule to implement Amendment 20B to the Fishery Management Plan for the Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources in the exclusive economic zone of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region (Amendment 20B) that was published in the Federal Register January 27, 2015.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its adjudication regulation regarding certificates of eligibility for financial assistance in the purchase of an automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment. The amendment authorizes automatic issuance of a certificate of eligibility for financial assistance in the purchase of an automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment to all veterans with service-connected amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty with ALS.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) is issuing a proposed sunscreen order (proposed order) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act), as amended by the Sunscreen Innovation Act (SIA). The proposed order announces FDA's tentative determination that ecamsule (also known as terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid) at concentrations up to 10 percent is not generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE) and is misbranded when used in over-the-counter (OTC) sunscreen products because the currently available data are insufficient to classify it as GRASE and not misbranded, and additional information is needed to allow us to determine otherwise.

On December 12, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (the ``Position Limits Proposal'') to establish speculative position limits for 28 exempt and agricultural commodity futures and options contracts and the physical commodity swaps that are economically equivalent to such contracts. On November 15, 2013, the Commission published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (the ``Aggregation Proposal'') to amend existing regulations setting out the Commission's policy for aggregation under its position limits regime. The Commission's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee has scheduled a public meeting to be held on February 26, 2015, which will consider, among other matters, exemptions for bona fide hedging positions. In conjunction with the meeting of the Commission's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee, the Commission will post an agenda and associated materials, if any, on the Commission's Web site; additionally, access to a video webcast of the meeting will be added to the Web site. In addition, and in connection with the meeting, the Commission is providing counts of the unique persons over percentages of the 28 proposed position limit levels (currently provided in Table 11 of the Position Limits Proposal based on counts from the period of January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2012 period) in a new table, Table 11a, based on counts from the period of January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014. To provide commenters with a sufficient period of time to respond to questions raised and points made at the Energy and Environmental Markets Committee meeting, as well as to provide an opportunity to comment on Table 11a, the Commission will reopen the comment periods for an additional 30 days. The Commission is providing notice that comments may be made on the issues addressed at the meeting or in the associated materials posted to the Commission's Web site, as they pertain to energy commodities. Furthermore, comments may be made on Table 11a, showing counts of the unique persons over percentages of the 28 proposed position limit levels based on counts from the period of January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) proposes to replace the General Administrative RegulationSubpart VSubmission of Policies, Provisions of Policies and Rates of Premium. The intended effect of this action is to incorporate legislative changes to the Federal Crop Insurance Act (Act) stemming from the Agricultural Act of 2014, clarify existing regulations, lessen the burden of submitters of crop insurance policies, provisions of policies, or rates of premium under section 508(h) of the Act, provide guidance on the submission and payment for concept proposals under section 522 of the Act, and to incorporate changes that are consistent with those made in the Common Crop Insurance Policy Basic Provisions (Basic Provisions).

The Department of Labor's (Department) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) revises the regulation defining ``spouse'' under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA or the Act) in light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor, which found section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to be unconstitutional.