March 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action proposes special conditions for the Bombardier Aerospace Models BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes. This design feature is a fly-by-wire electronic flight control system that provides an electronic interface between the pilot's flight controls and the flight control surfaces for both normal and failure states. The system generates the actual surface commands that provide for stability augmentation and control about all three airplane axes. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

NMFS announces final 2015 and 2016 harvest specifications and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2015 and 2016 fishing years, and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the BSAI (FMP). The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the BSAI in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

This document provides the final text of regulations governing employee protection (retaliation or whistleblower) claims under section 806 of the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, Title VIII of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbanes-Oxley or Act), which was amended by sections 922 and 929A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank), enacted on July 21, 2010. An interim final rule (IFR) governing these provisions and request for comment was published in the Federal Register on November 3, 2011. Five comments were received. This rule responds to those comments and establishes the final procedures and time frames for the handling of retaliation complaints under Sarbanes- Oxley, including procedures and time frames for employee complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), investigations by OSHA, appeals of OSHA determinations to an administrative law judge (ALJ) for a hearing de novo, hearings by ALJs, review of ALJ decisions by the Administrative Review Board (ARB) (acting on behalf of the Secretary of Labor), and judicial review of the Secretary of Labor's final decision. It also sets forth the Secretary of Labor's interpretations of the Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower provision on certain matters.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the Tennessee state implementation plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) on January 5, 2015, to address the emissions statement requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The revision affects Davidson, Rutherford, Shelby, Sumner, Knox, Blount, Anderson, Williamson, and Wilson Counties. Annual emissions statements are required for certain sources in all ozone nonattainment areas. These changes address requirements for the Knoxville, Tennessee 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS nonattainment area (hereinafter referred to as the Knoxville Area) and the Tennessee portion of the Memphis, Tennessee-Arkansas-Mississippi 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS nonattainment area (hereinafter referred to as the Memphis Area). The Knoxville Area is comprised of Knox and Blount County, and a portion of Anderson County, Tennessee, and the Tennessee portion of the Memphis Area is comprised of Shelby County, Tennessee. Davidson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, Wilson and the remaining portion of Anderson County are not part of an ozone nonattainment area.

The NCUA Board (Board) proposes to amend Interpretive Ruling and Policy Statement (IRPS) 87-2, as amended by IRPS 03-2 and 13-1. The amended IRPS would increase the asset threshold used to define small entity under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) from $50 million to $100 million and, thereby, provide transparent consideration of regulatory relief for a greater number of credit unions in future rulemakings. The proposed rule and IRPS also make a technical change to NCUA's regulations in connection with NCUA's procedures for developing regulations.

The Coast Guard is establishing safety zones for all waters of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) from mile 38.0 to 46.0 and from mile 78.0 to 81.0. These safety zones are needed to protect persons, property, and infrastructure from potential damage and safety hazards associated with subsurface rock removal in the Upper Mississippi River. Any deviation from the conditions and requirements put into place are prohibited unless specifically authorized by the cognizant Captain of the Port (COTP) Ohio Valley or his designated representatives.

This document announces a meeting of the Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee (ASRAC).

The Coast Guard is adding a special operating regulation governing the State Route 3090 (SR 3090) swing span bridge across the Chevron Oil Company Canal, mile 0.05, at Fourchon, Louisiana. Since construction of the bridge in 1972, the bridge has operated on a customary schedule requiring a one-hour advance notice without having a special operating regulation in place. This rule codifies the current custom and operating schedule of the bridge as a special operating regulation.

The Coast Guard will enforce the special local regulations on the waters of Oceanside Harbor, California during the California Ironman Triathlon from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on March 28, 2015. These special local regulations are necessary to provide for the safety of the participants, crew, spectators, sponsor vessels of the triathlon, and general users of the waterway. During the enforcement period, persons and vessels are prohibited from entering into, transiting through, or anchoring within this regulated area unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, or his designated representative.

The Department of the Treasury is amending the Department of the Treasury Acquisition Regulation (DTAR) in order to make editorial changes. These editorial changes are in response to updates made to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Treasury bureau organizational restructuring, and other internal updates that have occurred since the 2013 edition.

This document contains proposed regulations under section 6041 regarding the filing of information returns to report winnings from bingo, keno, and slot machine play. The proposed regulations affect persons who pay winnings of $1,200 or more from bingo and slot machine play, $1,500 or more from keno, and recipients of such payments. This document also provides a notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with the Commission's Report and Order (Order) WC Docket No. 13-39, FCC 13-135. This document is consistent with the Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the effective date of the requirements.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) and the operating permits program for the State of Missouri which were received on November 6, 2013, November 20, 2014, March 27, 2014, July 7, 2014, and July 14, 2014. The revisions submitted by the state include amendments to rules relating to reference methods, definitions and common reference tables, ambient air quality standards, and a rule rescission related to air quality control measures for sources clustered in small land areas. Many of the revisions are administrative in nature and either incorporate by reference or update state rules to match Federal regulations. Some are more substantive, but are non- controversial. In addition, they provide more clarity for the regulated public. This direct final action will amend the SIP to include revised regulations which will then be more consistent with Federal regulations. These revisions do not have an adverse effect on air quality. EPA's proposed approval of these rule revisions is being done in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's request to redesignate to attainment the Reading, Pennsylvania Nonattainment Area (Reading Area or Area) for the 1997 annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). EPA has determined that the Reading Area attained the standard and that it continues to attain the standard. In addition, EPA is approving, as a revision to the Pennsylvania State Implementation Plan (SIP), the Reading Area maintenance plan to show maintenance of the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS through 2025 for the Area. The maintenance plan includes the 2017 and 2025 PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NOX) mobile vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the Reading Area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, which EPA is approving and finding adequate for transportation conformity purposes. EPA is also approving the comprehensive emissions inventory for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS for the Reading Area. These actions are being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The General Services Administration (GSA) announces a public meeting and request for comment on its proposal to amend the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to include clauses that would require vendors to report transactional data from orders and prices paid by ordering activities. This includes orders placed against both Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract vehicles and GSA's non-FSS contract vehiclesGovernmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) and Governmentwide Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quality (IDIQ) contracts. For FSS vehicles, the clause would be introduced in phases, beginning with a pilot for select products and commoditized services. The new clause will be paired with changes to the basis of award monitoring requirement of the existing price reductions clause, resulting in a burden reduction for participating FSS contractors. This rulemaking does not apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) FSS contract holders. GSA is interested in conducting a dialogue with industry and interested parties in Government about the proposed change. GSA is seeking feedback on potential impacts to agency customers and contractors alike. Feedback will be used to help inform the revisions to the proposed clauses, provisions, and prescriptions and other guidance to implement the proposed rule.

The Coast Guard proposes to establish a temporary safety zone on the waters of the New River in Fort Lauderdale, Florida during the Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale New River Raft Race, on Saturday, April 18, 2015. The safety zone will encompass the waters between Esplanade Park to just east of the Southeast 3rd Avenue Bridge. Approximately 100 participants will attend the race. The safety zone is necessary to ensure the safety of the participants, participant vessels, and the general public during the event. Persons and vessels, except those participating in the event, are prohibited from entering, transiting through, anchoring in, or remaining within the regulated area unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Miami or a designated representative.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of metaldehyde in or on multiple commodities which are identified and discussed later in this document. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). This regulation additionally removes the established tolerances in or on fruit, citrus group 10 and tomato as the tolerances will be superseded by tolerances established by this action.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amends the maintenance regulations for domestic, flag, and supplemental operations, and for commuter and on-demand operations for aircraft type certificated with a passenger seating configuration of 10 seats or more (excluding any pilot seat). The new rules require affected air carriers and operators to develop policies, procedures, methods, and instructions for performing contract maintenance that are acceptable to the FAA, and to include them in their maintenance manuals. The rules also require the air carriers and operators to provide a list to the FAA of all persons with whom they contract their maintenance. These changes are needed because contract maintenance has increased to over 70 percent of all air carrier maintenance, and numerous investigations have shown deficiencies in maintenance performed by contract maintenance providers. These rules will help ensure consistency between contract and in-house air carrier maintenance and enhance the oversight capabilities of both the air carriers and the FAA.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Rolls-Royce plc (RR) RB211 Trent 875-17, 877-17, 884-17, 884B-17, 892- 17, 892B-17, and 895-17 turbofan engines. This AD requires modification of the engine by installing upgraded software in the electronic engine control (EEC) or by removing any EEC that incorporates a software standard prior to B7.2 and installing an EEC eligible for installation. This AD was prompted by failure of the intermediate pressure (IP) turbine disk drive arm and subsequent overspeed and burst of the IP turbine disk on an RR RB211 Trent turbofan engine. We are issuing this AD to prevent overspeed of the IP turbine disk, resulting in failure of the turbine blades or the IP turbine disk and subsequent uncontained release of the turbine disk and/or blades, which could lead to damage to the engine and damage to the airplane.

We, NMFS, announce the 90-day finding for a petition to list the common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus) as either endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) either worldwide or as one or more distinct population segments (DPSs) identified by the petitioners. We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted for the species worldwide. We find that the petition fails to present substantial scientific or commercial information to support the identification of DPSs of the common thresher suggested by the petitioners, and, as such, we find that the petitioned action of listing one or more of these DPSs is not warranted. Accordingly, we will initiate a review of the status of the common thresher shark at this time. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information regarding this species.

We, NMFS, have completed a comprehensive status review under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the African coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) in response to a petition to list that species. We have determined that, based on the best scientific and commercial data available, and after taking into account efforts being made to protect the species, L. chalumnae does not meet the definition of a threatened or endangered species when evaluated throughout all of its range. However, we determined that the Tanzanian population of the taxon represents a significant portion of the taxon's range, is threatened across that portion, and is a valid distinct population segment (DPS). Therefore, we propose to list the Tanzanian DPS of L. chalumnae as a threatened species under the ESA. We are not proposing to designate critical habitat for this DPS because the geographical areas occupied by the population are entirely outside U.S. jurisdiction, and we have not identified any unoccupied areas that are essential to the conservation of the DPS. We are soliciting comments on our proposal to list the Tanzanian DPS of the coelacanth as threatened under the ESA.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod, except for the Community Development Quota program (CDQ), in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the non-CDQ allocation of the 2015 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the BSAI.

On February 3, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) published a Request for Information (RFI) in response to Executive Order 13563 on improving regulation and regulatory review, and Executive Order 13610 on identifying and reducing regulatory burden. The RFI invited public comment on how the Department can improve any of its significant regulations by modifying, streamlining, expanding, or repealing them, and the comment period ended on February 25, 2015. This extension reopens and extends the date to comment on the RFI.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection requirements associated with the Commission's Report and Order, IB Docket No. 12-299, FCC 14-48. This notice is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the effective date of the requirements.