March 11, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard announces a public meeting to receive comments on a notice of proposed rulemaking entitled, ``Requirements for MODUs and Other Vessels Conducting Outer Continental Shelf Activities With Dynamic Positioning Systems.'' The proposed regulations would establish minimum design, operation, training, and manning standards for mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) and other vessels using dynamic positioning systems to engage in Outer Continental Shelf activities.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amounts of the Community Development Quota pollock directed fishing allowances from the Aleutian Islands subarea to the Bering Sea subarea. This action is necessary to provide opportunity for harvest of the 2015 total allowable catch of pollock, consistent with the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9708) that were published in the Federal Register on December 31, 2014 (79 FR 78954). The final regulations provide guidance regarding the requirements for charitable hospital organizations added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the black pinesnake (Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi) under the Endangered Species Act (Act). In total, approximately 338,100 acres (136,824 hectares) in Forrest, George, Greene, Harrison, Jones, Marion, Perry, Stone, and Wayne Counties, Mississippi, and in Clarke County, Alabama, fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) of the proposed critical habitat designation. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to this species' critical habitat. In addition, we announce the reopening of the public comment period on the October 7, 2014, proposed rule to list the black pinesnake as a threatened species under the Act. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the proposed listing rule as well as this proposed critical habitat rule and its associated DEA. Comments previously submitted on the proposed listing rule need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of that final rule.

On October 8, 2014, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to transfer existing parts of the Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) regulations to the FHFA regulations. These rules address Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) capital stock and capital plans. FHFA did not propose to make any substantive changes to these requirements, but proposed to delete certain provisions that applied only to the one-time conversion of Bank stock to the new capital structure required by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act) and to make certain other clarifying changes. FHFA is now adopting the proposed rule as a final rule without change.

PHMSA is amending the pipeline safety regulations to make miscellaneous changes that update and clarify certain regulatory requirements. These amendments address several subject matter areas including the performance of post-construction inspections, leak surveys of Type B onshore gas gathering lines, qualifying plastic pipe joiners, regulation of ethanol, transportation of pipe, filing of offshore pipeline condition reports, and calculation of pressure reductions for hazardous liquid pipeline anomalies. The changes are addressed on an individual basis and, where appropriate, made applicable to the safety standards for both gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. Editorial changes are also included.