April 24, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains proposed regulations that provide guidance regarding when a foreign insurance company's income is excluded from the definition of passive income under section 1297(b)(2)(B). The proposed regulations affect the U.S. shareholders of foreign corporations. This document also invites comments from the public on all aspects of the proposed rules and provides the opportunity for the public to request a public hearing.

This rule amends the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations that specify the conservation compliance requirements that participants in USDA programs must meet to be eligible for certain USDA benefits. The USDA benefits to which conservation compliance requirements currently apply include marketing assistance loans, farm storage facility loans, and payments under commodity, disaster, and conservation programs. The conservation compliance requirements apply to land that is either highly erodible land (HEL) or that is wetlands. This rule amends the regulations to implement the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) provisions that: make the eligibility for Federal crop insurance premium subsidy benefits subject to conservation compliance requirements; and convert the wetland mitigation banking pilot to a program and authorizes $ 10 million for the Secretary to operate a wetland mitigation banking program. This rule specifies the conservation compliance requirements, exemptions, and deadlines that apply in determining eligibility for Federal crop insurance premium subsidy from the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC). This rule also modifies easement provisions relating to mitigation banks as specified in the 2014 Farm Bill, and clarifies provisions regarding the extent of agency discretion with respect to certain violations.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved on April 9, 2015, for a period for three years, an information collection for FCC Form 2100, Application for Media Bureau Audio and Video Service Authorization, contained in the Report and Order, FCC 14-50. This document 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.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone in the navigable waters of the San Francisco Bay near AT&T Park in support of Giants Enterprises Fireworks Display on May 22, 2015. This safety zone is established to ensure the safety of participants and spectators from the dangers associated with pyrotechnics. Unauthorized persons or vessels are prohibited from entering into, transiting through, or remaining in the safety zone without permission of the Captain of the Port or their designated representative.

The Coast Guard establishes a temporary moving safety zone on the waters of Tampa Bay in the vicinity of Tampa, Florida during the 24 Mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim. The 24 Mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim is scheduled to take place on April 25, 2015. Approximately 30 swimmers are anticipated to participate in the marathon swim event. No spectators are expected to be present during the event. The safety zone is necessary to provide for the safety of the participants, participant vessels, and the general public on the navigable waters of the United States during the event. The safety zone will establish a moving protective area around safety vessels including kayaks involved in the race. Persons and vessels, except those participating in the event, will be prohibited from entering, transiting through, anchoring in, or remaining within the regulated area unless authorized by the Captain of the Port St. Petersburg or a designated representative.

We are proposing to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of fresh peppers into the continental United States and the Territories from Peru. As a condition of entry, the fruit would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for fruit fly trapping, pre-harvest inspections, production sites, and packinghouse procedures designed to exclude quarantine pests. The fruit would also be required to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Peru with an additional declaration stating that the consignment was produced in accordance with the requirements of the systems approach. This action would allow for the importation of untreated fresh peppers from Peru while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the continental United States and the Territories.

With this final rule, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is revising its rule concerning restrictions on the sale of assets of a failed institution under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act in order to clarify the purpose, scope and applicability of that rule and to make that rule more consistent with the FDIC's rule concerning restrictions on the sale of assets of a covered financial company under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

On April 1, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking and public meeting for Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedure for Pumps. This document corrects terms in four equations.

Through this action NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. This action is necessary because the adjusted non-tribal directed harvest allocation of approximately 5084 metric tons (mt) for the third harvest allocation period from January 1, 2015, through June 30, 2015, is projected to be reached by the date of closure. From the effective date of this rule through June 30, 2015, Pacific sardine may be harvested only as part of either the live bait or tribal fishery or incidental to other fisheries; the incidental harvest of Pacific sardine is limited to 45-percent by weight of all fish per trip. Fishing vessels must cease fishing (be at shore and in the process of offloading) at or before the effective date of this closure.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is extending the comment period for the proposed rule that appeared in the Federal Register of February 6, 2015. In the proposed rule, FDA requested comments on its proposal to implement portions of Title XI of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), which amended provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) that govern the approval of 505(b)(2) applications and abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs). FDA also requested comment on its proposal to amend certain regulations regarding 505(b)(2) applications and ANDAs to facilitate compliance with and efficient enforcement of the FD&C Act. The Agency is taking this action in response to requests for an extension to allow interested persons additional time to submit comments.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising the format of materials submitted by the state of Montana that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into its State Implementation Plan (SIP). The regulations affected by this format change have all been previously submitted by Montana and approved by the EPA.

This action establishes Class E Airspace at West Creek, NJ, to accommodate new Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) serving Eagles Nest Airport. This action enhances the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations within the National Airspace System.

This action establishes Class E airspace at Cando, ND. Controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAP) at Cando Municipal Airport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations for SIAPs at the airport.

This action amends the legal description of the Baton Rouge, LA, VHF Omnidirectional Range/Tactical Air Navigation aid (VORTAC) located in Class E airspace at Baton Rouge, LA. The Baton Rouge VORTAC and Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, Ryan Field, have similar names and both share the same facility identifier but are not co-located. The FAA is renaming the Baton Rouge VORTAC as well as assigning a new facility identifier for the safety and management of aircraft operations within the Baton Rouge, LA, airspace area. This does not affect the boundaries or operating requirements of the airspace.

This action establishes Class E airspace at Cypress, TX. Controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate new Area Navigation (RNAV) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) at Dry Creek Airport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations for SIAPS at the airport.

This action proposes to amend Class E Airspace at Greenville, SC as new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures have been developed at Greenville Downtown Airport. This action would enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport. This action also would update the geographic coordinates of the airport.

This action proposes to establish Class E Airspace at Defuniak Springs, FL, to accommodate new Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) serving Defuniak Springs Airport. Controlled airspace is necessary for the safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action amends Class E Airspace at Zephyrhills, FL, as the Zephyrhills Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) has been decommissioned, requiring airspace redesign at Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. This action enhances the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport. This action also updates the geographic coordinates of the airport.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its medical regulations implementing section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, which directed VA to establish a program to furnish hospital care and medical services through eligible non-VA health care providers to eligible veterans who either cannot be seen within the wait-time goals of the Veterans Health Administration or who qualify based on their place of residence (hereafter referred to as the Veterans Choice Program, or the ``Program''). VA published an interim final rule implementing the Veterans Choice Program on November 5, 2014. Under current law, VA uses a straight-line or geodesic distance to determine eligibility based on place of residence. This interim final rule modifies how VA measures the distance from a veteran's residence to the nearest VA medical facility. This modified standard will consider the distance the veteran must drive to the nearest VA medical facility, rather than the straight-line or geodesic distance to such a facility.

In this Final Rule, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is revising its regulations to better coordinate the scheduling of wholesale natural gas and electricity markets in light of increased reliance on natural gas for electric generation, as well as to provide additional scheduling flexibility to all shippers on interstate natural gas pipelines. The revised regulations in this Final Rule modify the scheduling practices used by interstate pipelines to schedule natural gas transportation service and provide additional contracting flexibility to firm natural gas transportation customers through the use of multi-party transportation contracts. The revisions in this Final Rule, together with the Commission's action in certain related proceedings, will better ensure the reliable and efficient operation of both the interstate natural gas pipeline and electricity systems.