2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

National Toxicology Program (NTP) Office of the Report on Carcinogens (ORoC) and Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT) request information on nine substances, mixtures, and exposure circumstances (collectively referred to as ``substances''). Six substances are nominated for possible review for future editions of the Report on Carcinogens (RoC). Three substances are being considered by OHAT for evaluation of non-cancer health outcomes.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), this notice announces that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Department of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of information abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden and includes the actual data collection instrument.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is requesting comments from all interested individuals and organizations on an extension of a currently approved information collection associated with the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) of 1978.

NASA is issuing a final rule amending the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) to remove requirements related to the discontinued Space Flight Mission Critical Systems Personnel Reliability Program and to revise requirements related to contractor drug and alcohol testing.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving elements of State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions from the State of North Dakota to demonstrate the State meets infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (Act, CAA) for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) promulgated for ozone on March 12, 2008; lead (Pb) on October 15, 2008; and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on January 22, 2010. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Rhode Island on June 26, 2014, with supplemental submittals on March 25, 2015 and August 28, 2015. This SIP revision includes a regulation that has been revised to require a lower sulfur content for petroleum-based distillate and residual fuel oils. In addition, outdated provisions in the regulation have been removed. The intended effect of this action is to approve this regulation into the Rhode Island SIP. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.

The Bureau of Reclamation, in collaboration with other federal agencies (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) is announcing a prize competition for seeking a way to economically detect, count, and identify zooplankton and drift invertebrates in river and estuary systems. Problems identified that prevent the simple transfer of oceanographic techniques to rivers and streams are higher water velocities, turbidity, higher surface/depth ratio, and costs (time and money).

This document provides the reasons for EPA's denial of a petition it received under section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) from the Center for Biological Diversity and Donn J. Viviani, Ph.D. The petitioners requested EPA to initiate rulemaking under TSCA to address risks related to carbon dioxide emissions, particularly those associated with ocean acidification, or, in the alternative, that EPA initiate rulemaking under TSCA to require testing to determine toxicity, persistence, and other characteristics of carbon dioxide emissions that affect human health and the environment. After careful consideration, EPA denied the TSCA section 21 petition for the reasons discussed in this document.

FMCSA proposes to amend the regulations for ``Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation,'' and ``Inspection, Repair and Maintenance,'' of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) in response to several petitions for rulemaking from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and the American Trucking Associations (ATA), and two safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Specifically, the Agency proposes to add a definition of ``major tread groove;'' revise the rear license plate lamp requirement to provide an exception for truck tractors registered in States that do not require tractors to have a rear license plate; provide specific requirements regarding when violations or defects noted on a roadside inspection report need to be corrected; amend Appendix G to the FMCSRs, ``Minimum Periodic Inspection Standards,'' to include provisions for the inspection of antilock braking systems (ABS), automatic brake adjusters, and brake adjustment indicators, speed-restricted tires, and motorcoach passenger seat mounting anchorages; and amend the periodic inspection rules to eliminate the option for motor carriers to use a violationfree roadside inspection report as proof of completing a comprehensive inspection at least once every 12 months. In addition, the Agency proposes to eliminate introductory text from Appendix G to the FMCSRs because the discussion of the differences between the North American Standard Inspection out-of-service criteria and FMCSA's periodic inspection criteria is unnecessary.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the headwater chub (Gila nigra) and a distinct population segment (DPS) of the roundtail chub (Gila robusta) from the lower Colorado River basin as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (Act). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to this species and DPS.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), will hold a 30-day comment period, including two public meetings, to obtain comments on providing public access to the Rattlesnake Mountain Unit, including the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain, within the Hanford Reach National Monument (Monument). In Section 3081 of the Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, the Service is directed to ensure public access to the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain (a.k.a., Laliik) for educational, recreational, historical, scientific, cultural, and other purposes, including motor vehicle access, and pedestrian and other nonmotorized access.

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy gives notice that during January 2015, it issued orders granting authority to import and export natural gas, and to import and export liquefied natural gas (LNG). These orders are summarized in the attached appendix and may be found on the FE Web site at https:// energy.gov/fe/downloads/listing-doefe-authorizationsorders-is sued-2015. They are also available for inspection and copying in the Office of Fossil Energy, Office of Oil and Gas Global Security and Supply, Docket Room 3E-033, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9478. The Docket Room is open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4), this notice announces the appointment of members of the Combined Performance Review Board (CPRB) for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the United States Mint (USM), the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (FS), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The CPRB reviews the performance appraisals of career senior executives below the level of the bureau head and principal deputy in each bureau represented by the CPRB. The CPRB makes recommendations regarding proposed performance appraisals, ratings, bonuses, pay adjustments, and other appropriate personnel actions. Membership is effective on October 6, 2015. Composition of the Treasury Department CPRB, including names and titles, is as follows:

Notice is hereby given of the following determinations: Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), Executive Order 12047 of March 27, 1978, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 6501 note, et seq.), Delegation of Authority No. 234 of October 1, 1999, Delegation of Authority No. 236-3 of August 28, 2000 (and, as appropriate, Delegation of Authority No. 257 of April 15, 2003), I hereby determine that objects to be included in multiple exhibitions of the Keir Collection of Art of the Islamic World, imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, are of cultural significance. The objects are imported pursuant to a loan agreement with the foreign owner or custodian. I also determine that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, and at possible additional exhibitions or venues yet to be determined, from on about December 17, 2016, until on or about October 13, 2020, is in the national interest. I have ordered that Public Notice of these Determinations be published in the Federal Register.

This document amends Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect the extension of import restrictions on certain categories of archaeological material from the Pre-Hispanic cultures of the Republic of Nicaragua. The restrictions, which were originally imposed by Treasury Decision (T.D.) 00-75 and extended by CBP Decision (CBP Dec.) 05-33 and CBP Dec. 10-32 are due to expire on October 20, 2015. The Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, has determined that factors continue to warrant the imposition of import restrictions and no cause for suspension exists. Accordingly, these import restrictions will remain in effect for an additional 5 years, and the CBP regulations are being amended to reflect this extension until October 20, 2020. These restrictions are being extended pursuant to determinations of the United States Department of State made under the terms of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act that implemented the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. T.D. 00-75 contains the Designated List of archaeological material representing Pre-Hispanic cultures of Nicaragua to which the restrictions apply.

The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA) provided for publication of patent applications at eighteen months from the earliest filing date for which a benefit is claimed. Thus, the patent laws and regulations require that foreign priority or domestic benefit claims, specifying the application number, country (or intellectual property authority), and filing date of any foreign application for which priority is claimed and the application number of any domestic application for which benefit is claimed, be submitted in a timely manner to allow for publication at eighteen months from the earliest filing date for which a benefit is claimed. It has been United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) practice to require that any correction of the application number in a domestic benefit claim after the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim be via a petition to accept an unintentionally delayed benefit claim, but to permit correction of the application number in a foreign priority claim after the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim without such a petition. This dissimilar treatment of the correction of foreign priority claims and domestic benefit claims results in the publication of a corrected patent application publication reflecting the accurate domestic benefit claim information whenever an applicant corrects the application number in a domestic benefit claim in a pending application, but not whenever an applicant corrects the application number of the foreign application in a foreign priority claim. The rationale for the practice of permitting correction of the application number in a foreign priority claim without a petition was because the filing date of a prior foreign patent application did not affect the effective prior art date of a U.S. patent application publication and because the USPTO schedules publication of an application with the filing date provided by applicant in a foreign priority claim. The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), however, now provides that the filing date of an earlier foreign patent application may now be the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in a U.S. patent or a U.S. patent application publication. Therefore, U.S. patent application publications should reflect accurate foreign priority information to minimize the burden on examiners and members of the public in assessing the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in such U.S. patent application publications. The USPTO will thus now require that any correction of the identification of the foreign application (by application number, country (or intellectual property authority), and filing date) in a foreign priority claim after the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim be via a petition to accept an unintentionally delayed priority claim, and once the petition is granted in a pending application, will now publish a corrected patent application publication reflecting the accurate foreign priority claim information. Requiring a petition and publishing a corrected patent application publication whenever an applicant corrects the application number in a foreign priority claim or a domestic benefit claim will provide for common treatment of the correction of the identification of a foreign or domestic application in a priority or benefit claim. The publication of a corrected patent application publication by the USPTO will result in corrected patent application publications with accurate foreign priority information which will benefit examiners, applicants and members of the public in assessing the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in a U.S. patent application publication.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the ninety-fourth Special Committee 159 meeting.

In this notice, OSHA announces the application of Canadian Standards Association for expansion of its recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) and presents the Agency's preliminary finding to grant the application.