April 26, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to abolish the Newburgh, New York, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and redefine Orange County, NY, to the New York, NY, survey area; Dutchess County, NY, to the New York area of application; Delaware and Ulster Counties, NY, to the Albany- Schenectady-Troy, NY, area of application; and Sullivan County, NY, to the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, area of application. These changes are based on a consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC) to best match the counties proposed for redefinition to nearby FWS survey areas.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to amend the Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) to address the applicability of Executive Order 13495 as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 22.12 to its management and operating contracts and subcontracts under such contracts. DOE is also proposing to increase dollar thresholds in its contractor purchasing system clause for management and operating contracts to conform to FAR subpart 28.1. Finally, DOE is revising the DEAR in accordance with a class deviation addressing Buy American Act non-availability determinations.

NMFS is issuing regulations under the Tuna Conventions Act to implement Recommendation C-12-11 of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) by revising the management regime for the area of overlapping jurisdiction between the IATTC and the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC). These regulations provide that the management measures of the IATTC no longer apply in the area of overlapping jurisdiction, with the exception of regulations governing the IATTC Regional Vessel Register. This rule is necessary for the United States to satisfy its obligations as a member of the IATTC.

The Coast Guard proposes to establish a temporary safety zone on the navigable waters of Shallowbag Bay, in Manteo, NC. This proposed safety zone would restrict vessel movement from a portion of Shallowbag Bay River during the Manteo July 4th Celebration Fireworks display. This action is necessary for the safety of life and property on the surrounding navigable waters during the fireworks display. The Coast Guard invites comments on this proposed rule.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9721) that were published in the Federal Register on Friday, February 19, 2016 (81 FR 8398). The final regulations are regarding the taxation of, and withholding on, foreign persons upon certain dispositions of, and distributions with respect to, United States real property interests (USRPIs).

The Coast Guard has issued a temporary deviation from the operating schedule that governs the upper deck of the Steel Bridge across the Willamette River, mile 12.1, at Portland, OR. The deviation is necessary to accommodate the route of the annual Starlight Parade event. This deviation allows the upper deck of the Steel Bridge to remain in the closed-to-navigation position to allow for the safe movement of event participants.

This rule implements a recommendation from the California Desert Grape Administrative Committee (Committee) to revise the administrative rules and regulations of the Federal marketing order for grapes grown in a designated area of southeastern California (order) and the table grape import regulation. The Committee locally administers the order and is comprised of producers and handlers of grapes grown in the production area. This rule allows handlers and importers to ship grapes that do not meet the minimum grade and size quality requirements to be donated to charitable organizations. Any such grapes shall not be used for resale. The import regulation is authorized under section 608e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 and regulates the importation of table grapes into the United States. This final rule provides an additional outlet for grapes regulated under the order and assists USDA's efforts to reduce food waste in support of the U.S. Food Waste Challenge.

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) revises the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (RDAP) regulations to allow greater inmate participation in the program and positively impact recidivism rates.

On July 15, 2015, the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), submitted a request for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to redesignate the Bristol, Tennessee 2008 lead nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ``Bristol Area'' or the ``Area'') to attainment for the 2008 lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and an associated State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan and a reasonably available control measures (RACM) determination for the Area. EPA is proposing to determine that the Bristol Area is continuing to attain the 2008 lead NAAQS; to approve the SIP revision containing the State's maintenance plan for maintaining attainment of the 2008 lead standard and the State's RACM determination; and to redesignate the Bristol Area to attainment for the 2008 lead NAAQS.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the 2011 base year inventories for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for the Allentown-Bethlehem- Easton, Lancaster, Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley, and Reading nonattainment areas, and the Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington- Atlantic City nonattainment area, submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a revision to the Pennsylvania State Implementation Plan (SIP). In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, EPA is approving Pennsylvania's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. The rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. More detailed descriptions of the state submittal and EPA's evaluation are included in Technical Support Documents (TSD) prepared in support of this rulemaking action. Copies of the TSDs are available, upon request, from the EPA Regional Office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document or are also available electronically within the Docket for this rulemaking action. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve portions of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission, submitted by the State of North Carolina, through the Department of Environmental Quality, formerly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Air Quality (DAQ), on March 18, 2014, for inclusion into the North Carolina SIP. This final action pertains to the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2010 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). The CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure SIP submission.'' DAQ certified that the North Carolina SIP contains provisions that ensure the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in North Carolina. EPA has determined that the North Carolina's infrastructure SIP submission, provided to EPA on March 18, 2014, satisfies certain required infrastructure elements for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS.

This final rule revises the regulations implementing the Black Lung Benefits Act to address certain procedural issues that have arisen in claim adjudications and other technical issues. To protect miners' health, assist parties without adequate legal representation, and enhance the accuracy of benefits entitlement decisions, the final rule includes a new provision that requires all parties to exchange with each other any medical information developed in connection with a claim for benefits and allows for the imposition of sanctions for failure to comply with the rule. The final rule also clarifies a liable coal mine operator's obligation to pay effective benefits awards by requiring payment before allowing the operator to challenge the award through the Act's modification procedures. In addition, the final rule resolves an ambiguity regarding how physicians' follow-up reports should be considered under the evidence-limiting rules, and allows the Department to fully participate in claims adjudications after the liable coal mine operator stops participating because of adverse financial developments, such as bankruptcy or insolvency.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Dassault Aviation Model FALCON 7X airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of multiple cases of ram air turbine (RAT) blade damage. This AD requires deployment of the RAT, replacement of the RAT placard with a new RAT placard, and re-identification of the RAT. We are issuing this AD to prevent blade damage to the RAT, which could prevent RAT deployment in flight during an emergency, possibly resulting in reduced control of the airplane.