June 2, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA) requires HUD to publish Fair Market Rents (FMRs) periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on October 1 of each year. Some examples of uses of FMRs are to determine payment standard amounts for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, to establish a limit on the amount of rent to owner for project-based vouchers, to determine initial and renewal rents for some new and expiring project-based Section 8 contracts, to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment (HAP) contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program (Mod Rehab), and to serve as a rent ceiling in the HOME rental assistance program. This document announces HUD's intention to amend HUD's FMR regulations applicable to the HCV program (24 CFR part 888) to provide HCV tenants with subsidies that better reflect the localized rental market, including subsidies that would be relatively higher if they move into areas that potentially have better access to jobs, transportation, services, and educational opportunities. Specifically, this document requests public comments on the use of small area FMRs (SAFMRs) for the HCV program within certain metropolitan areas. Small areas FMRs vary by ZIP code and support a greater range of payment standards than can be achieved under existing regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received requests for an extension of the period for providing comments on the proposed rule entitled ``Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category,'' published in the Federal Register on April 7, 2015. EPA extends the comment period in order to provide the public additional time to submit comments and supporting information.

The Coast Guard is establishing 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, June 13, 2015. The safety zone will encompass all waters of the New River between Esplanade Park and the west side of the Florida East Coast Railroad Bridge. Approximately 100 participants will attend the race. The safety zone is necessary to ensure the safety of 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.

On March 11, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) that proposes to revise its test procedure for residential furnaces and boilers established under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (80 FR 12876). DOE published this NOPR so stakeholders can review and provide input on these proposed revisions. The comment period for the NOPR pertaining to the subject residential furnaces and boilers test procedure was scheduled to end May 26, 2015. After receiving a request for additional time to comment, DOE has decided to reopen the comment period for the NOPR pertaining to the test procedure for residential furnaces and boilers until July 10, 2015.

NMFS proposes to approve an Omnibus Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the Northeastern United States to simplify vessel baselines. This Omnibus Amendment to Simplify Vessel Baselines, which was submitted by the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils, would eliminate the one-time limit on vessel upgrades and remove gross and net tonnages from the vessel baseline specifications that are considered when determining a vessel's baseline for replacement purposes. Implementing these measures would reduce the administrative burden to permit holders and NMFS and would have little effect on fleet capacity. This proposed rule would also remove the requirement for vessels to send in negative fishing reports (i.e., ``did not fish'' reports) during months or weeks when fishing did not occur. NMFS no longer needs these reports due to improved trip-level matching. Therefore, NMFS is proposing to remove this requirement to simplify the regulations and reduce reporting burdens for the industry.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulations to clarify that the Agency will provide an opportunity for an informal hearing in connection with a proposed rule to ban a device with a special effective date. This action is being taken to align the regulations with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act).

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) amends this part to partially exempt a new Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) system of records entitled ``Treasury/CC .800Office of Inspector General Investigations System'' from certain provisions of the Privacy Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving revisions to the Part 3 rules into the Michigan State Implementation Plan (SIP). On December 13, 2013, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) submitted to EPA for approval revisions to Part 3, Emission Limitations and ProhibitionsParticulate Matter (PM), for open burning and electro-static precipitators (ESPs). The revisions for open burning eliminate specific provisions to allow household waste burning, and add a provision to allow for burning of fruit and vegetable storage bins for pest or disease control with specific location limitations. The SIP request also removes rule 330 dealing with operation parameters for electrostatic precipitators because of redundancy, and rule 349 dealing with compliance dates for coke ovens because it is now obsolete. EPA is approving this SIP revision because it will not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS).

Idaho has applied to the EPA for final authorization of certain changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended. RCRA allows the EPA to authorize State hazardous waste management programs if the EPA finds that such programs are equivalent to and consistent with the Federal program and provide adequate enforcement of compliance. The EPA has reviewed Idaho's application, has preliminarily determined these changes satisfy all requirements needed to qualify for final authorization, and is proposing to authorize the State's changes.

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2014-14- 02, which applies to certain Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (P&WC) PW120, PW121, PW121A, PW124B, PW127, PW127E, PW127F, PW127G, and PW127M turboprop engines. AD 2014-14-02 requires removal of the O-ring seal from the fuel manifold fitting. Since we issued AD 2014-14-02, we received reports of fuel seepage past the metal-to-metal sealing surfaces of the fuel nozzle and fuel manifold flow adapter. This proposed AD would require replacement of the fuel nozzle and the fuel manifold flow adapter. We are proposing this AD to prevent in-flight fuel leakage, engine fire, damage to the engine, and damage to the airplane.