April 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Occupational Safety and Health State Plans,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use, without change, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement concerning schedules for construction contracts. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 81 FR 7799 on February 16, 2016. No comments were received.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that it is renewing the charter for the United States Strategic Command Strategic Advisory Group (``the Group'').

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of its information collection titled, ``Interagency Guidance on Asset Securitization Activities.''

On Wednesday, April 20, 2016 (81 FR 23279-23280), the Department of Defense published a notice titled Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records. Subsequent to the publication of the notice, DoD discovered an error in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. This notice corrects the error.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement concerning extraordinary contractual action requests. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 81 FR 7798 on February 16, 2016. No comments were received.

In compliance with Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the review and approval period.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9750) that published in the Federal Register on Thursday, February 18, 2016 (81 FR 8149). The final regulations relates to information reporting by brokers for transactions involving debt instruments and options, including the reporting of original issue discount (OID) on tax-exempt obligations, the treatment of certain holder elections for reporting a taxpayer's adjusted basis in a debt instrument, and transfer reporting for section 1256 options and debt instruments.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Pratt & Whitney Division (PW) PW4000-94 inch and PW4000-100 inch model turbofan engines. This AD was prompted by a report of a crack found in the high-pressure compressor (HPC) 10th stage disk. This AD requires performing an ultrasonic inspection (USI) or an eddy current inspection (ECI) of the HPC 10th stage disk. We are issuing this AD to prevent failure of the HPC 10th stage disk, uncontained disk release, damage to the engine, and damage to the airplane.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 111 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). This final rule reduces bycatch limits, also known as prohibited species catch (PSC) limits, for Pacific halibut in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) groundfish fisheries by specific amounts in four groundfish sectors: The Amendment 80 sector (non-pollock trawl catcher/processors); the BSAI trawl limited access sector (all non-Amendment 80 trawl fishery participants); the non-trawl sector (primarily hook-and-line catcher/ processors); and the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program (CDQ Program). This final rule establishes the following halibut PSC limits: 1,745 mt for the Amendment 80 sector; 745 mt for the BSAI trawl limited access sector; 710 mt for the BSAI non-trawl sector; and 315 mt for the CDQ Program. This results in an overall BSAI halibut PSC limit of 3,515 mt. This action is necessary to minimize halibut bycatch in the BSAI groundfish fisheries to the extent practicable and to achieve, on a continuing basis, optimum yield from the BSAI groundfish fisheries. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have reconsidered whether designating critical habitat for the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) is prudent. We have determined that such a designation is not prudent. We listed the northern long- eared bat as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), on April 2, 2015. At the time the species was listed, we determined that designation of critical habitat was prudent, but not determinable. Since that time, information has come available that demonstrates that designating the wintering habitat as critical habitat for the bat would likely increase the threat from vandalism and disturbance, and could, potentially, increase the spread of white-nose syndrome. In addition, designating the summer habitat as critical habitat would not be beneficial to the species, because there are no areas within the summer habitat that meet the definition of critical habitat. Thus, we have determined that the designation of critical habitat is not prudent for the northern long-eared bat.

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2014-12- 06, for certain Airbus Model A300 B4-600, B4-600R, and F4-600R series airplanes, and Model A300 C4-605R Variant F airplanes (collectively called Model A300-600 series airplanes); and Airbus Model A310 series airplanes. AD 2014-12-06 currently requires inspections of the external area of the aft cargo door sill beam for cracking, and repair if necessary. Since we issued AD 2014-12-06, we have determined it is necessary to require that high frequency eddy current (HFEC) inspections be performed repetitively. This proposed AD would mandate the previously optional terminating HFEC inspection, and require that it be done repetitively. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the cargo door sill beam, lock fitting, and torsion box plate. Failure of one or more of these components could result in the loss of the door locking function and, subsequently, complete loss of the cargo door in flight with the risk of rapid decompression.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to designate one dredged material disposal site, the Eastern Long Island Sound Disposal Site (ELDS) located offshore from New London, Connecticut, for the disposal of dredged material from harbors and navigation channels in eastern Long Island Sound in the states of Connecticut and New York. This action is necessary to provide a long- term, open-water dredged material disposal site as an alternative for the possible future disposal of such material. This disposal site designation is subject to various restrictions designed to support the goal of reducing or eliminating the disposal of dredged material in Long Island Sound. While EPA is currently proposing to designate the ELDS as its preferred alternative, EPA also has concluded, based on the analysis in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Designation of Dredged Material Disposal Site(s) in Eastern Long Island Sound, Connecticut and New York (DSEIS), that two other alternatives, the Niantic Bay and Cornfield Shoals disposal sites (NBDS and CSDS), or portions thereof, could potentially be designated in addition to, or instead of, the ELDS. EPA is not currently recommending the NBDS and CSDS as preferred alternatives, but is inviting public comments on the option of designating one or both of these sites instead of, or as a complement to, the ELDS.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will file the plat of survey of the lands described below in the BLM Montana State Office, Billings, Montana, on May 27, 2016.

We are proposing to revise the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals to implement changes arising from our continuing experience with these systems for FY 2017. Some of the proposed changes would implement certain statutory provisions contained in the Pathway for Sustainable Growth (SGR) Reform Act of 2013, the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014, the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implications for Care Eligibility Act of 2015, and other legislation. We also are providing the estimated market basket update to apply to the rate-of-increase limits for certain hospitals excluded from the IPPS that are paid on a reasonable cost basis subject to these limits for FY 2017. We are proposing to update the payment policies and the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) for FY 2017. In addition, we are proposing to make changes relating to direct graduate medical education (GME) and indirect medical education (IME) payments to hospitals with rural track training programs. We are proposing to establish new requirements or revise requirements for quality reporting by specific providers (acute care hospitals, PPS- exempt cancer hospitals, LTCHs, and inpatient psychiatric facilities) that are participating in Medicare, including related provisions for eligible hospitals and critical care hospitals (CAHs) participating in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. We are proposing to update policies relating to the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, and the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program. We also are proposing to: Implement statutory provisions that require hospitals and CAHs to furnish notification to Medicare beneficiaries, including Medicare Advantage enrollees, when the beneficiaries receive outpatient observation services for more than 24 hours; announce the implementation of the Frontier Community Health Integration Project Demonstration; and make technical corrections and changes to regulations relating to costs to organizations and Medicare cost reports.

HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.