September 10, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to disapprove an element of State Implementation Plan (SIP) submissions from Wisconsin regarding the infrastructure requirements of section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 2006 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The infrastructure requirements are designed to ensure that the structural components of each state's air quality management program are adequate to meet the state's responsibilities under the CAA. This action pertains specifically to an infrastructure requirement for states to correctly address oxides of nitrogen (NOX) as a precursor to ozone in their respective prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) programs.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces public meetings and webinars for the Central Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps Working Group. The Federal Advisory Committee Act requires that agencies publish notice of an advisory committee meeting in the Federal Register.

On February 14, 2012, the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-95), was issued which contains provisions in section 336 related to model aircraft operations. AC 91-57 contains provisions that are inconsistent with section 336 and therefore the Advisory Circular is being revised. The FAA refers model aircraft users to section 336 of Public Law 112-95 for information regarding model aircraft operations.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher/ processors using trawl gear in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to fully use the 2015 total allowable catch apportioned to catcher/processors using trawl gear in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Coast Guard announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the amendment of an existing collection of information, as requested by the Coast Guard and described in the final rule published on July 16, 2013. The final rule revised safety regulations for facility and vessel vapor control systems (VCSs) to promote safe VCS operation in an expanded range of activities now subject to current Federal and State environmental requirements, reflect industry advances in VCS technology, and codify the standards for the design and operation of a VCS at tank barge cleaning facilities. The revised regulations increase operational safety by regulating the design, installation, and use of VCSs, but they do not require anyone to install or use VCSs. The OMB must approve any regulatory provisions that constitute a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act, before an agency can enforce those provisions. Having received OMB's approval, the Coast Guard will now enforce collection of information requirements in the final rule. This rulemaking promotes the Coast Guard's maritime safety and stewardship missions.

This rule implements Section 4112 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. Section 4112 amended Section 6(k) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to define the terms ``fleeing'' and ``actively seeking'' to ensure that State agencies use consistent procedures regarding the disqualification of a fleeing felon from eligibility for SNAP benefits when the individual is fleeing to avoid prosecution, custody or confinement after conviction for committing a crime or attempting to commit a crime that is a felony under the law of the place from which the individual is fleeing (or a high misdemeanor in New Jersey) or is violating a condition of probation or parole under Federal or State law.

PHMSA is adopting regulations to include the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and criteria used to evaluate applications for special permits and approvals. This rulemaking addresses issues identified in the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2012 related to the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety's Approvals and Permits Division. In addition, this rulemaking also provides clarity regarding what conditions need to be satisfied to promote special permit application completeness. An application that contains the required information reduces processing delays by reducing the number of applications rejected due to incompleteness. Through public notice and comment, this final rule is required to establish SOPs to support the administration of the special permit and approval programs, and objective criteria to support the evaluation of special permit and approval applications. These amendments do not change previously established policies, to include but not limited to any inspection activities subsequent to issuance, modification or renewal of a special permit and approval.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is correcting the final guidance that appeared in the Federal Register on September 14, 2010 (75 FR 55673) and December 26, 2013 (78 FR 78589). OMB is amending the guidance to make technical corrections where needed. The final guidance is revised to remove references to the ``System of Award Management'' and replace them with the correct term ``System for Award Management''. With respect to the technical corrections to the final guidance, these corrections are included only where it has come to the attention of the Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR) that particular language in the final guidance did not match with the COFAR's intent and would result in an erroneous implementation of the guidance. These technical corrections will go into effect at the time of issuance. Guidance on effective/applicability date is revised to allow a grace period of two fiscal years for non-Federal entities to implement changes to their procurement policies and procedures in accordance with guidance on procurement standards. Other requirements in the section remain as originally published. Technical corrections are made to eliminate conflicting or unclear language and grammatical inconsistencies or citation errors throughout.

We are proposing to amend the scrapie regulations by changing the risk groups and categories established for individual animals and for flocks, increasing the use of genetic testing as a means of assigning risk levels to animals, reducing movement restrictions for animals found to be genetically less susceptible or resistant to scrapie, and simplifying, reducing, or removing certain recordkeeping requirements. We also propose to provide designated scrapie epidemiologists with more alternatives and flexibility when testing animals in order to determine flock designations under the regulations. We propose to change the definition of high-risk animal, which will change the types of animals eligible for indemnity, and to pay higher indemnity for certain pregnant ewes and early maturing ewes. The proposed changes would also make the identification and recordkeeping requirements for goat owners consistent with those for sheep owners. These changes would affect sheep and goat producers, persons who handle sheep and goats in interstate commerce, and State governments.