2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval and invites public comment. The FMCSA requests approval to revise an ICR titled, ``Motor Carrier Identification Report,'' which is used to identify FMCSA regulated entities, help prioritize the agency's activities, aid in assessing the safety outcomes of those activities, and for statistical purposes. This ICR is being revised due to a Final Rule titled, ``Unified Registration System (80 FR 63695) dated October 21, 2015, which changed the effective and compliance dates for the on- line Unified Registration System (URS) from October 23, 2015, in the URS Final Rule, (78 FR 52608) dated August 23, 2013, to September 30, 2016.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is issuing a final rule amending its Rules and Regulations to reflect the closure of the Atlanta, Georgia office of the Division of Judges.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish notice of permits issued under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. This is the required notice.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), will submit the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Pursuant to the terms of existing concession contracts, public notice is hereby given that the National Park Service intends to request a continuation of visitor services for the periods specified below.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (Agency) published a notice in the Federal Register of October 6, 2015 (80 FR 60349), announcing the acceptance of applications for funds available under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. The 2014 Farm Bill provides funding for the program for FY 2016. This notice provides an amendment to Section V. Application Review Information, subsection A. Evaluation Criteria, to allow points to be awarded if any of the criteria are met and to maintain consistency with other Rural Development programs on how poverty areas are defined.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection. Comments are requested concerning: Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and ways to further reduce the information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA that does not display a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

This notice publishes the liquor control ordinance of the Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California. The liquor control statute regulates and controls the possession, sale, manufacture, and distribution of alcohol in conformity with the laws of the State of California.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving under the Federal Clean Air Act (the Act) State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of Texas. These revisions pertain to contingency measures for particulate matter in the City of El Paso. The affected contingency measures are the paving of alleys and sweeping of streets.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving and announcing the availability of the latest version of the California EMFAC (short for EMission FACtor) model for use in state implementation plan (SIP) development and transportation conformity in California. EMFAC2014 is the latest update to the EMFAC model for use by California state and local governments to meet Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements. The new model, which is based on new and improved data, calculates air pollution emissions factors for passenger cars, trucks, motorcycles, motor homes and buses. Today's notice also sets the date after which EMFAC2014, rather than EMFAC2011, must be used to satisfy the requirement that conformity determinations be based on the latest emissions model available. This requirement can be met by using the most current version of the motor vehicle emissions model approved by the EPA. Since the EMFAC model is used only in California, the EPA's approval and the announcement of the availability of the model does not affect the applicability of the Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES) model for users in other states.

This notice helps to improve applicants' awareness of the Guarantee Fee Rates for Guaranteed Loans for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016; Maximum Portion of Guarantee Authority Available for FY 2016; Annual Renewal Fee for FY 2016 when applying for guaranteed loans under the Business and Industry (B&I) program. The Agency was authorized by the 2012 Appropriations Bill, and subsequent Appropriations Acts, to charge a maximum of 3 percent for its guarantee fee for FY 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The guarantee fee for FY 2016 will be 3 percent. The Agency has established that not more than 12 percent of the Agency's quarterly apportioned B&I guarantee authority will be reserved for loan requests with a reduced fee, and not more than 15 percent of the Agency's quarterly apportioned guarantee authority will be reserved for guaranteed loan requests with a guarantee percentage exceeding 80 percent. Once the respective quarterly limits are reached, all additional loans for that quarter will be at the standard fee and guarantee limits. The Agency is establishing the renewal fee rate at one-half of 1 percent for the B&I Guaranteed Loan Program. This rate will apply to all loans obligated in FY 2016 that are made under the B&I program.

This action proposes to modify Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Deer Lodge-City-County Airport, Deer Lodge, MT. After a review, the FAA found it necessary to amend the airspace area for the safety and management of standard instrument approach procedures for Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to amend its regulations with regard to compliance information, post-award compliance reviews, and complaint investigations. This proposed rule will improve the EPA's ability to ensure that recipients of federal financial assistance comply with their affirmative obligation under the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and other nondiscrimination statutes not to discriminate, while also ensuring that the EPA has sufficient flexibility and discretion to carry out its nondiscrimination compliance work.

Under section 211 of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set renewable fuel percentage standards every year. This action establishes the annual percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel that apply to all motor vehicle gasoline and diesel produced or imported in the years 2014, 2015, and 2016. The EPA is establishing a cellulosic biofuel volume for all three years that is below the applicable volume specified in the Act, and is also rescinding the cellulosic biofuel standard for 2011. Relying on statutory waiver authorities, the EPA is adjusting the applicable volumes of advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel for all three years. The 2016 standards are expected to spur further progress in overcoming current constraints in renewable fuel distribution infrastructure, which in turn is expected to lead to substantial growth over time in the production and use of renewable fuels. In this action, we are also establishing the applicable volume of biomass-based diesel for 2017. Finally, we are setting the compliance and attest reporting deadlines for the years 2013, 2014, and 2015, as well as finalizing regulatory amendments to clarify the scope of the existing algal biofuel pathway.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Montezuma Castle National Monument has corrected an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, published in a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register on April 1, 2015. This notice corrects the minimum number of individuals and number of associated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to Montezuma Castle National Monument. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA) requires the Secretary of HUD to publish FMRs periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on October 1 of each year. The primary uses of FMRs are to determine payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program; to determine initial renewal rents for some expiring project-based Section 8 contracts; to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program; and, to serve as rent ceilings for rental assistance units in the HOME Investment Partnerships program. FMRs are used in the calculation of maximum award amounts for Continuum of Care grantees and are used in the calculation of flat rents in Public Housing units. Today's notice provides final FY 2016 FMRs for all areas that reflect the estimated 40th and 50th percentile rent levels trended to FY 2016. The FY 2016 FMRs use rent data collected by Bureau of the Census by the American Community Survey (ACS). This rent data is collected over a five-year period, from 2009 through 2013. These data are updated by one-year 2013 ACS data for areas where statistically valid one-year ACS data is available. HUD continues to use ACS data in different ways according to the statistical reliability of rent estimates. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rent and utility indexes are used to further update the data to 2014. These values are then trended forward to FY 2016. Based on the comments received and as way to estimate FMRs more accurately, HUD has replaced the historical-based annualized change in gross rent trend factor with a forward-looking forecast for these final FY 2016 FMRs. The national trend factor for the final FY 2016 FMRs uses a model that forecasts national rent and utility CPI indices based on economic assumptions used in the formulation of the President's Budget. The FY 2016 FMRs incorporate a change in the level of statistical reliability that allowed for an ACS estimate to be used in the calculation of FMRs. Previously, if the error of the estimate was less than the estimate itself, HUD used the estimate. The FY 2016 FMRs use ACS estimates where the size of the error is limited to half of the estimate. An additional change to the FY 2016 FMRs is the incorporation of the February 28, 2013, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) metropolitan area definition update based on the 2010 Decennial Census data. The 2013 ACS data are the first to use the new area definitions in the compilation of the ACS data. Bedroom ratios (comparing zero-, one-, three- and four-bedroom rents to the two-bedroom base rent) were updated from the 2010 estimations using a three-year average of five- year ACS data.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

San Francisco State University, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, has determined that the cultural items in this notice meet the definition of sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony and repatriation to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural items may contact San Francisco State University.

The Field Museum of Natural History has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the Field Museum of Natural History. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization stated in this notice may proceed.

The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) is publishing this notice in accordance with section 9 of the Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-223) (Settlement Act). The publication of this notice causes the waivers and release of certain claims to become effective as required to implement the Settlement.