July 27, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve the State of Alabama's March 27, 2015, State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision, submitted by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. This SIP revision provides Alabama's state- determined allowance allocations for existing electric generating units (EGUs) in the State for the 2016 control periods and replaces the allowance allocations for the 2016 control periods established by EPA under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). The CSAPR addresses the ``good neighbor'' provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) that requires states to reduce the transport of pollution that significantly affects downwind nonattainment and maintenance areas. EPA is proposing to approve Alabama's SIP revision, incorporate the state-determined allocations for the 2016 control periods into the SIP, and amend the regulatory text of the CSAPR Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) to reflect approval and inclusion of the state-determined allocations. EPA is proposing to approve Alabama's SIP revision because it meets the requirements of the CAA and the CSAPR requirements to replace EPA's allowance allocations for the 2016 control periods. This action is being taken pursuant to the CAA and its implementing regulations. In the Final Rules Section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State's implementation plan revision as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces that the Draft Written Re-Evaluation of the O'Hare Modernization Environmental Impact Statement (Draft Re-Evaluation) for Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois is available for public review and comment. The Draft Re-Evaluation identifies the potential environmental impacts associated with the construction schedule modification that alters the timing for commissioning new Runway 10R/28L, new Runway 9C/ 27C, and the extension of Runway 9R/27L at O'Hare International Airport pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. The FAA will host Public Workshops on the Draft Re-Evaluation. The Public Workshops on the Draft Re-Evaluation will be held on the following dates: Monday, August 10, 2015, at White Eagle Banquets, 6839 North Milwaukee Avenue, Niles, Illinois 60714; Tuesday, August 11, 2015, at Taft High School, 6530 West Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60631; Wednesday, August 12, 2015, at Monty's Elegant Banquets, 703 South York Road, Bensenville, Illinois 60106; Thursday, August 13, 2015, at Belvedere Events and Banquets, 1170 West Devon Avenue, Elk Grove Village, Illinois 60007. Each Public Workshops will start at 1 p.m. (Central Standard Time), and registration to participate in the Public Workshops will conclude by 9 p.m. (Central Standard Time). Representatives of FAA and its consultants will be available to provide information about the Draft Re-Evaluation. Spanish language translators will be available at the Public Workshops. If you need the assistance of a translator, other than Spanish, please call Ms. Amy Hanson at (847) 294-7354 by August 3, 2015. The comment period is open as of Monday, July 27, 2015, and closes Wednesday, August 26, 2015. All comments are to be submitted to Amy Hanson of the FAA, at the address shown below. The comments must be postmarked and email must be sent by no later than midnight, Wednesday, August 26, 2015.

The Bureau of Reclamation, in collaboration with other Federal agencies (U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-National Marine Fisheries Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) are announcing a prize competition looking for detailed concepts for the next generation of fish tracking methods, beyond what is available and in the literature today. Emphasis is on accurate tracking of many fish, ease of use, longevity, and low cost.

This document contains notices of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of proposed exemptions from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). This notice includes the following proposed exemptions: D-11788, D-11789, D-11790, D-11791, and D-11792, The Les Schwab Tire Center of Washington, Inc., the Les Schwab Tire Centers of Idaho, Inc., and the Les Schwab Tire Centers of Portland, Inc.; L-11795, New England Carpenters Training Fund; D-11818, Virginia Bankers Association Defined Contribution Plan for First Capital Bank; D-11823, Idaho Veneer Company/Ceda-Pine Veneer, Inc. Employees' Retirement Plan; D-11835, United States Steel and Carnegie Pension Fund; D-11836, Roberts Supply, Inc. Profit Sharing Plan and Trust; D-11763, D-11764 and D-11765, Red Wing Shoe Company Pension Plan for Hourly Employees, The Red Wing Shoe Company Retirement Plan and the S.B. Foot Tanning Company Employees' Pension Plan; and D-11781, Frank Russell Company and Affiliates.

This final rule amends the regulation that provides for the issuance of licenses to import certain dairy articles under tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) as set forth in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. The three most significant changes to the rule are to suspend for an additional seven years the historical license reduction provision which was set to expire with the beginning of quota year 2016; to modify procedures for collecting licensing fees in order to better align the fee collection to the costs of administering the program; and to exclusively use electronic communications in the application, reporting and payment processes. The expected outcome from these changes is to allow license holders to adjust to changing market conditions impacting the dairy sector; increase the Department's ability to more closely align cost recovery with the actual costs of administering the program; and allow the Department to reduce lag times, minimize paper files, and increase the efficiency of the program operations.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is reopening, as to specific documents, the comment period regarding our proposed rule to revise the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts labels. We are reopening the comment period for 60 days for the sole purpose of inviting public comments on two consumer studies being added to the administrative record. The consumer studies pertained to proposed changes to the Nutrition Facts label formats.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE or OSM), are proposing to revise our regulations, based on, among other things, advances in science, to improve the balance between environmental protection and the Nation's need for coal as a source of energy. This proposed rule would better protect streams, fish, wildlife, and related environmental values from the adverse impacts of surface coal mining operations and provide mine operators with a regulatory framework to avoid water pollution and the long-term costs associated with water treatment. We propose to revise our regulations to clearly define ``material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area'' and require that each permit specify the point at which adverse mining-related impacts on groundwater and surface water would reach that level of damage; collect adequate premining data about the site of the proposed mining operation and adjacent areas to establish an adequate baseline for evaluation of the impacts of mining and the effectiveness of reclamation; adjust monitoring requirements to enable timely detection and correction of any adverse trends in the quality or quantity of surface water and groundwater or the biological condition of streams; ensure protection or restoration of perennial and intermittent streams and related resources; ensure that permittees and regulatory authorities make use of advances in science and technology; ensure that land disturbed by mining operations is restored to a condition capable of supporting the uses that it was capable of supporting before mining; and update and codify the requirements and procedures for protection of threatened or endangered species and designated critical habitat. The proposed changes would apply to both surface mines and the surface effects of underground mines. The majority of the proposed revisions update our regulations to incorporate or reflect the best available science and experience gained over the last 30 years. Approximately thirty percent of the proposed rule consists of editorial revisions and organizational changes intended to improve consistency, clarity, accuracy, and ease of use.

This action finalizes amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the Portland Cement Manufacturing Industry and Standards of Performance for Portland Cement Plants. On February 12, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized amendments to the NESHAP and the new source performance standards (NSPS) for the Portland cement industry. Subsequently, the EPA became aware of certain minor technical errors in those amendments, and thus issued a proposal to correct these errors on November 19, 2014 (79 FR 68821). The EPA received 3 comments on the proposal. In response to the comments received and to complete technical corrections, the EPA is now issuing final amendments. In addition, consistent with the U.S. Court of Appeals to the DC Circuit's vacatur of the affirmative defense provisions in the final rule, this action removes those provisions. These amendments do not affect the pollution reduction or costs associated with these standards.