2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document cancels a public hearing on proposed regulations that provide the method to be used to adjust the applicable Federal rates (AFRs) under section 1288 of the Internal Revenue Code (adjusted AFRs) for tax-exempt obligations and the method to be used to determine the long-term tax-exempt and the adjusted Federal long-term rate under section 382.

This final rule amends the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulations on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single- Employer Plans and Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans to prescribe interest assumptions under the benefit payments regulation for valuation dates in July 2015 and interest assumptions under the asset allocation regulation for valuation dates in the third quarter of 2015. The interest assumptions are used for valuing and paying benefits under terminating single-employer plans covered by the pension insurance system administered by PBGC.

This action reopens the comment period for the regulatory evaluation associated with the FAA's January 13, 2015 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Reciprocal Waivers of Claims for Licensed or Permitted Launch and Reentry Activities. The FAA has discovered that this regulatory evaluation was not posted to the docket prior to the close of the NPRM's comment period. Therefore, the FAA is reopening the comment period to allow the public the opportunity to adequately analyze the full regulatory evaluation for the NPRM. The FAA will accept comment on the regulatory evaluation only, and not on the regulatory changes proposed in the NPRM.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the Terrorism List Governments Sanctions Regulations to replace the list of countries designated as supporting international terrorism with information on the availability of state sponsor of terrorism determination and rescission decisions in the Federal Register and the availability of a current list of state sponsors of terrorism maintained on the Web site of the Department of State. A conforming amendment is made to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania). These revisions consist of an update to the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOX) for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) maintenance SIP for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 1997 8- Hour Ozone NAAQS Maintenance Area (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area or Area). These SIP revisions also include general conformity budgets for the construction of the Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant. In addition, these SIP revisions include updated point and area source inventories for NOX. EPA is approving these revisions to the Pennsylvania SIP in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is amending its regulations concerning the Voluntary Labeling Program for Biobased Products, to incorporate statutory changes to section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (the 2002 Farm Bill) that went into effect when the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill) was signed into law on February 7, 2014.

The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement announces priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria under the Charter Schools Program (CSP) Grants to State Educational Agencies (SEAs). The Assistant Deputy Secretary may use one or more of these priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2015 and later years.

This action withdraws the NPRM published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2014, proposing to amend Class E airspace in the State of South Dakota. The FAA has determined that withdrawal of the NPRM is warranted as additional analysis is needed.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 777-200 and -300 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of fatigue cracking of a certain chord of the pivot bulkhead. This proposed AD would require repetitive inspections for cracking of the left side and right side forward outer chords of the pivot bulkhead, and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD provides a modification of the pivot bulkhead, which would terminate the repetitive inspections. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the outer flanges of the left and right side forward outer chords of the pivot bulkhead, which could result in a severed forward outer chord and consequent loss of horizontal stabilizer control.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A330-200 Freighter, A330-200, A330-300, A340-200, and A340-300 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports that the inner bore of some main landing gear (MLG) unit bogie beams were insufficiently re-protected against corrosion after inspection or maintenance actions were accomplished. This proposed AD would require, for certain MLG units, determining which revision of the component maintenance manual (CMM) was used to accomplish the most recent MLG unit overhaul; a detailed inspection for missing or damaged paint, and if necessary, a detailed inspection of the cadmium plating for discrepancies, measurement of the depth of the cadmium plating, a general visual inspection of the base metal for corrosion or damage, a detailed inspection of repaired areas for cracking or corrosion; and corrective actions if necessary. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct corrosion in the bore of each MLG unit bogie beam, which could result in collapse of a MLG unit, and subsequent damage to the airplane and injury to occupants.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to amend the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise requirements for special contracting methods and updates eliminating out of date references and reorganizes the text to align with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). This second proposed rule incorporates many of the changes of the proposed rule and makes additional modifications to the text.

At various times throughout the month of July, the Coast Guard will enforce certain safety zones that are codified in regulation. This action is necessary and intended for the safety of life and property on navigable waters during this event. During each enforcement period, no person or vessel may enter the respective safety zone without the permission of the Captain of the Port Buffalo.

The Coast Guard will enforce the safety zone in Milwaukee Harbor, Milwaukee, WI for annual fireworks displays in the Captain of the Port Lake Michigan zone at specified times from June 6, 2015 until September 12, 2015. This action is necessary and intended to ensure safety of life on the navigable waters immediately prior to, during, and immediately after fireworks displays. During the aforementioned periods, the Coast Guard will enforce restrictions upon, and control movement of, vessels in the safety zone. No person or vessel may enter the safety zone while it is being enforced without permission of the Captain of the Port Lake Michigan.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will consider in the rulemaking process three issues raised in a petition for rulemaking (PRM), PRM-37-1, submitted by Anthony Pietrangelo, on behalf of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI or the petitioner). The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to clarify and expand current exemptions for when the physical protection measures for category 1 and category 2 quantities of radioactive material do not apply to a licensee.

This document contains final and temporary regulations that prevent a corporate partner from avoiding corporate-level gain through transactions with a partnership involving equity interests of the partner. These regulations affect partnerships and their partners. The text of these temporary regulations serves as the text of proposed regulations (REG-149518-03) published in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS and the Treasury Department are issuing temporary regulations that prevent a corporate partner from using a partnership to avoid corporate level gain required to be recognized. These regulations affect partnerships and their partners. The text of the temporary regulations in this issue of the Federal Register also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve the portions of the state implementation plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of South Carolina, through South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on August 8, 2014, and August 22, 2014, that address the base year emissions inventory and emissions statements requirements for the State's portion of the bi- state Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill North Carolina-South Carolina 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) nonattainment area. Annual emissions reporting (i.e., emissions statements) and a base year emissions inventory are required for all ozone nonattainment areas. The Area is comprised of the entire county of Mecklenburg and a portion of Cabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Rowan, Union Counties in North Carolina and a portion of York County in South Carolina. EPA has published proposed and direct final actions on the emissions inventory and emissions statements requirements for the North Carolina portion of the bi-state Charlotte Area in separate rulemaking documents.

This action establishes Class E airspace at Tribune, KS. Controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) at Tribune Municipal Airport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations for SIAPs at the airport.

This final rule conforms Federal Aviation Administration regulations to International Civil Aviation Organization standards and the Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act, both of which no longer contain a pilot pairing requirement. Accordingly, this final rule removes the requirement for a pilot in command who has reached age 60 to be paired with a pilot under age 60 in international commercial air transport operations by air carriers conducting flag and supplemental operations, as well as for other pilots serving in certain international operations using civil airplanes on the U.S. registry. The removal of this restriction will allow all pilots serving on airplanes in international commercial air transport with more than one pilot to serve until age 65 without a requirement to be paired with a pilot under age 60.

This document updates the Federal Communications Commission's (the Commission) radiofrequency (RF) equipment authorization program. The rules adopted by the Commission build on the success realized by our use of Commission-recognized Telecommunication Certification Bodies (TCBs) and will facilitate the continued rapid introduction of new and innovative products to the market while ensuring that these products do not cause harmful interference to each other or to other communication devices and services.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing new rules and forms as well as amendments to its rules and forms to modernize the reporting and disclosure of information by registered investment companies. The Commission is proposing new Form N-PORT, which would require certain registered investment companies to report information about their monthly portfolio holdings to the Commission in a structured data format. In addition, the Commission is proposing amendments to Regulation S-X, which would require standardized, enhanced disclosure about derivatives in investment company financial statements, as well as other amendments. The Commission is also proposing new rule 30e-3, which would permit but not require registered investment companies to transmit periodic reports to their shareholders by making the reports accessible on a Web site and satisfying certain other conditions. The Commission is proposing new Form N-CEN, which would require registered investment companies, other than face amount certificate companies, to annually report certain census-type information to the Commission in a structured data format. Finally, the Commission is proposing to rescind current Forms N-Q and N-SAR and to amend certain other rules and forms. Collectively, these amendments would, among other things, improve the information that the Commission receives from investment companies and assist the Commission, in its role as primary regulator of investment companies, to better fulfill its mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation. Investors and other potential users could also utilize this information to help investors make more informed investment decisions.

On May 26, 2015, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the seventh meeting of the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program negotiated rulemaking committee. The notice advised the public that the seventh meeting of the IHBG negotiated rulemaking committee will be held on Tuesday, August 11, 2015, Wednesday, August 12, 2015, and Thursday, August 13, 2015. The published notice incorrectly listed the location for the meeting. This document corrects the address and location for the meeting.