July 27, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA issued a notice in the Federal Register of May 29, 2015, concerning EPA's Proposal to Mitigate Exposure to Bees from Acutely Toxic Pesticide Products and a second notice on extending the comment period to July 29, 2015. This document extends the comment period for an additional 30 days, from July 29, 2015 to August 28, 2015. The Agency has received additional requests from multiple stakeholders to extend the comment period to allow them to adequately develop comments on this complex and important issue. EPA is granting the extension.

The Coast Guard is establishing a safety zone in the navigable waters of Mt. Hope Bay and the Taunton River in the vicinity of Fall River, MA, during the Fall River Grand Prix marine event from August 14-16, 2015. This safety zone is intended to safeguard mariners from the hazards associated with high-speed, high-performance motorboats competing in the event. Vessels are prohibited from entering into, transiting through, mooring, or anchoring within this safety zone during periods of enforcement unless authorized by the Captain of the Port (COTP), Southeastern New England or the COTP's designated representative.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its medical regulations that govern reimbursement of emergency treatment provided by non-VA medical care providers. VA proposes to clarify its regulations insofar as it involves the reimbursement of medications prescribed or provided to the veteran during the episode of non-VA emergency treatment.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or ``Commission'') is issuing a final rule to specify that extension cords (both indoor and outdoor use extension cords) that do not contain one or more of five applicable readily observable characteristics set forth in the rule, as addressed in a voluntary standard, are deemed a substantial product hazard under the Consumer Product Safety Act (``CPSA'').

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA, we, Agency or our) amended our regulations to clarify and enhance Farm Credit System (Farm Credit or System) bank and association stockholder voting procedures for tabulating votes, the use of tellers committees, and other items as identified. In accordance with the law, the effective date of the rule is no earlier than 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register during which either or both Houses of Congress are in session.

This rule identifies communities where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation that the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice of this will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date. Also, information identifying the current participation status of a community can be obtained from FEMA's Community Status Book (CSB). The CSB is available at https:// www.fema.gov/fema/csb.shtm.

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 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is proposing to amend its regulation on Annual Financial and Actuarial Information Reporting to codify provisions of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act and the Highway Transportation and Funding Act of 2014 and related guidance that affect reporting under ERISA section 4010. In addition, PBGC is proposing to limit the reporting waiver under the current regulation tied to aggregate plan underfunding of $15 million or less to smaller plans and to add reporting waivers for plans that must file solely on the basis of either a statutory lien resulting from missed contributions over $1 million or outstanding minimum funding waivers exceeding the same amount (provided the missed contributions or funding waivers were previously reported to PBGC). The proposed rule also makes some technical changes.

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 final rule makes non-substantive technical, organizational, and conforming amendments to existing regulations throughout Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations. These changes provide the public with more accurate and current regulatory information, but they do not change the impact on the public of any Coast Guard regulation.