April 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commission is inviting the public to submit information in writing in connection with the preparation of its 22nd report under section 215 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2704), which requires the Commission to report biennially to the Congress and the President by September 30 of each reporting year on the economic impact of the Act on U.S. industries and U.S. consumers and on the economy of the beneficiary countries. The report is being prepared under Commission investigation No. 332-227, Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act: Impact on U.S. Industries and Consumers and on Beneficiary Countries. The report will cover trade during calendar years 2013 and 2014, and will be transmitted to the Congress and the President by September 30, 2015.

This notice sets forth the schedule and agenda of the meeting of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI Commission). The notice also describes the functions of the Commission. Notice of the meeting is required by Sec. 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and is intended to notify the public of its opportunity to attend.

In accordance with statutory requirements, PHMSA is publishing a notice of delay in processing the American Trucking Associations, Inc.'s (ATA) application for a preemption determination concerning requirements of the New York City Fire Department for a permit to transport certain hazardous materials by motor vehicle through New York City, or for transshipment from New York City, and the fee for the permit. PHMSA is conducting fact-finding and legal analysis in response to the request, and is delaying issuance of its determination in order to allow time for appropriate consideration of the issues raised by the application.

In accordance with statutory requirements, PHMSA is publishing a notice of delay in processing the American Trucking Associations, Inc.'s (ATA) application for a preemption determination concerning requirements of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a permit to transport hazardous materials by motor vehicle and the fee to obtain the permit. PHMSA is conducting fact-finding and legal analysis in response to the request, and is delaying issuance of its determination in order to allow time for appropriate consideration of the issues raised by the application.

The Department of Defense is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the National Defense University Board of Visitors (BOV) will take place.

FRA is issuing this Emergency Order (E.O. or Order) to require that trains transporting large amounts of Class 3 flammable liquid through certain highly populated areas adhere to a maximum authorized operating speed limit. FRA has determined that public safety compels issuance of this Order. This Order is necessary due to the recent occurrence of railroad accidents involving trains transporting petroleum crude oil and ethanol and the increasing reliance on railroads to transport voluminous amounts of those hazardous materials in recent years. Under the E.O., an affected train is one that contains: (1) 20 or more loaded tank cars in a continuous block, or 35 or more loaded tank cars, of Class 3 flammable liquid; and, (2) at least one DOT Specification 111 (DOT- 111) tank car (including those built in accordance with Association of American Railroads (AAR) Casualty Prevention Circular 1232 (CPC-1232)) loaded with a Class 3 flammable liquid. Affected trains must not exceed 40 miles per hour (mph) in high-threat urban areas (HTUAs) as defined in 49 CFR 1580.3.

Recent derailments have occurred involving trains transporting large quantities of petroleum crude oil and ethanol. Preliminary investigation of one of these recent derailments involving a crude oil train indicates that a mechanical defect involving a broken tank car wheel may have caused or contributed to the incident. FRA is issuing this Safety Advisory to make recommendations to enhance the mechanical safety of the cars in trains transporting large quantities of flammable liquids. This Safety Advisory recommends that railroads use highly qualified individuals to conduct the brake and mechanical inspections and recommends a reduction to the impact threshold levels the industry currently uses for wayside detectors that measure wheel impacts to ensure the wheel integrity of tank cars in those trains.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9717) that were published in the Federal Register on Friday, April 3, 2015 (80 FR 18096). The final regulations are relating to the allocation of the credit for increasing research activities (research credit) to corporations and trades or businesses under common control (controlled groups).

OMB's Office of E-Government & Information Technology (E-Gov) is seeking public comment on draft guidance to implement the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA).

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2014-26-53 and AD 2015-03-02 for certain Airbus Model A319-115, A319-133, A320-214, A320-232, and A320-233 airplanes. AD 2014-26-53 required repetitive detailed visual inspections to detect discrepancies of the wing lower skin surface and inboard main landing gear (MLG) support rib lower flange location fasteners and, depending on findings, accomplishment of applicable corrective action(s). AD 2015-03-02 required repetitive detailed visual inspections of the outboard MLG support rib lower flange fasteners for discrepancies, and corrective actions if necessary. This new AD retains the repetitive detailed visual inspections to detect discrepancies of the fasteners located in the wing lower skin surface and inboard MLG support rib lower flange with extended compliance times and repetitive intervals, and accomplishment of applicable corrective actions. This new AD also retains the repetitive detailed visual inspections of the outboard MLG support rib lower flange fasteners for discrepancies, and corrective actions if necessary. In addition, this new AD adds airplanes to the applicability. This AD was prompted by a determination that certain airplanes were missing from the applicability of AD 2014-26-53 and AD 2015-03-02 and that those airplanes may be affected by the unsafe condition addressed in AD 2014-26-53 and AD 2015-03-02. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct discrepancies of the fasteners at the external surface of the lower wing skin and inboard and outboard MLG support rib lower flanges, which could result in an airplane not meeting its maximum loads expected in service. This condition could result in structural failure.

The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Advisory Council (Council) was established by the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-320) (Act) to receive reports and advise Federal agencies on implementing the Act. In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Bureau of Reclamation announces that the Council will meet as detailed below. The meeting of the Council is open to the public.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by WJAR Licensee, LLC (the Licensee), the licensee of WJAR(TV), channel 51, Providence, Rhode Island, requesting the substitution of channel 50 for channel 51 at Providence. While the Commission instituted a freeze on the acceptance of full power television rulemaking petitions requesting channel substitutions in May 2011, it subsequently announced that it would lift the freeze to accept such petitions for rulemaking seeking to relocate from channel 51 pursuant to a voluntary relocation agreement with Lower 700 MHz A Block licensees. The Licensee has entered into such a voluntary relocation agreement with T-Mobile USA, Inc. and states that operation on channel 50 would remove any potential interference with authorized wireless operations in the adjacent Lower 700 MHZ A Block.

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.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites nominations from a diverse range of qualified candidates with expertise in the area of human health risk assessment (hygienist) or in environmental epidemiology with expertise in exposure analysis to be considered for appointment to its Human Studies Review Board (HSRB) advisory committee. The anticipated vacancy will be filled by September 1, 2015. Sources in addition to this Federal Register document may also be utilized in the solicitation of nominees.

In this Notice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting comment on its analysis of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to the production and transport of Brassica carinata (carinata) oil feedstock for use in making biofuels such as biodiesel, renewable diesel, and jet fuel. This notice explains EPA's analysis of the production and transport components of the lifecycle GHG emissions of biofuel made from carinata oil, and describes how EPA may apply this analysis in the future to determine whether biofuels produced from carinata oil meet the necessary GHG reductions required for qualification as renewable fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard program. Based on this analysis, we anticipate that biofuels produced from carinata oil could qualify as advanced biofuel if typical fuel production process technology conditions are used.

This notice announces the renewal of the Advisory Panel (the Panel) on Hospital Outpatient Payment (HOP) charter. The charter was approved on November 6, 2014 for a 2-year period effective through November 6, 2016. This notice publicly announces the renewal of the HOP Panel for another 2-year period. The purpose of the Panel is to advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concerning the clinical integrity of the Ambulatory Payment Classification groups and their relative payment weights. The Panel also addresses and makes recommendations regarding supervision of hospital outpatient services. The advice provided by the Panel will be considered as we prepare the annual updates for the hospital outpatient prospective payment system.

This notice announces that a public meeting of the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) (``Committee'') will be held on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. This meeting will specifically focus on lower extremity peripheral artery disease. This meeting is open to the public in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2, section 10(a)).

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is publishing this notice of petitions received under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (the Program), as required by Section 2112(b)(2) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, as amended. While the Secretary of Health and Human Services is named as the respondent in all proceedings brought by the filing of petitions for compensation under the Program, the United States Court of Federal Claims is charged by statute with responsibility for considering and acting upon the petitions.