August 4, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Bombardier, Inc. Model BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11 airplanes. This AD was prompted by a design review, which found that the burst pressure of the flexible hose used to vent oxygen from the high-pressure relief valve of the oxygen cylinder overboard is lower than the opening pressure of the high-pressure relief valve. This AD requires replacement of flexible relief hoses for the crew oxygen bottles with new metal design relief hoses. We are issuing this AD to prevent the accumulation of excess oxygen in an enclosed space, which could, if near a source of ignition, cause an uncontrolled oxygen-fed fire.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A330-200 Freighter, -200, and -300 series airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report of a manufacturing defect that affects the durability of affected parts in the cargo and cabin compartment. This AD requires an inspection of affected structural parts in the cargo and cabin compartments to determine if proper heat treatment has been done, and replacement if necessary. We are issuing this AD to prevent crack initiation and propagation, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the fuselage.

This proposed rule invites comments on a proposed amendment to Marketing Orders, which regulates the handling of cranberries grown in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York. The Cranberry Marketing Committee (Committee), which is responsible for the local administration of the order and is comprised of growers of cranberries operating within the production area, recommended adding authority to accept donations from domestic contributors. Contributed funds would be used solely for research and development activities authorized under the regulation of the order and would be free from any encumbrances as to their usage by the donor.

The Board and the Bureau are proposing to amend the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies' regulations that implement the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended the CLA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Board and Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. The proposal would memorialize this as well as the agencies' calculation method for determining the adjustment in years following a year in which there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W. Because the Dodd-Frank Act also requires similar adjustments in the Truth in Lending Act's threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions, the Board and the Bureau are proposing similar amendments to the commentaries to each of their respective regulations implementing the Truth in Lending Act elsewhere in the Federal Register.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to revise its regulations to collect certain data for analytics and surveillance purposes from market-based rate (MBR) sellers and entities trading virtual products or holding financial transmission rights and to change certain aspects of the substance and format of information submitted for MBR purposes. The revisions proposed herein include new requirements for those entities to report certain information about their legal and financial connections to other entities to assist the Commission in its analytics and surveillance efforts. The Commission previously proposed to require certain market participants in the Commission-jurisdictional organized wholesale electric markets to file similar information about their financial and legal connections in the Collection of Connected Entity Data from Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in Docket No. RM15-23-000 (Connected Entity NOPR). However, as described herein, this proposal presents substantial revisions from what the Commission proposed in the Connected Entity NOPR, including, among other things: A different set of filers; a reworked and substantially narrowed definition of Connected Entity; and a different submission process. With respect to the MBR program, the proposals include: Adopting certain changes to reduce and clarify the scope of ownership information that MBR sellers must provide, similar to the notice of proposed rulemaking issued in Docket No. RM16-3-000 (Ownership NOPR); reducing the information required in asset appendices; and collecting currently-required MBR information and certain new information in a consolidated and streamlined manner. The Commission proposes all of these changes in order to eliminate duplication, ease compliance burdens, modernize its data collections, and render information collected through its programs usable and accessible for the Commission and its staff. In furtherance of this effort, in orders being issued concurrently with the instant NOPR, the Commission withdraws the Connected Entity NOPR issued in Docket No. RM15-23-000 and the Ownership NOPR issued in Docket No. RM16-3-000.\1\ The Commission also proposes to eliminate the requirement that MBR sellers submit corporate organizational charts adopted in Order No. 816 in Docket No. RM14-14-000.

We are proposing amendments to certain of our disclosure requirements that may have become redundant, duplicative, overlapping, outdated, or superseded, in light of other Commission disclosure requirements, U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (``U.S. GAAP''), International Financial Reporting Standards (``IFRS''), or changes in the information environment. We are also soliciting comment on certain Commission disclosure requirements that overlap with, but require information incremental to, U.S. GAAP to determine whether to retain, modify, eliminate, or refer them to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (``FASB'') for potential incorporation into U.S. GAAP. The proposed amendments are intended to facilitate the disclosure of information to investors, while simplifying compliance efforts, without significantly altering the total mix of information provided to investors. These proposals are part of an initiative by the Division of Corporation Finance to review disclosure requirements applicable to issuers to consider ways to improve the requirements for the benefit of investors and issuers. We are also issuing these proposals as part of our efforts to implement title LXXII, section 72002(2) of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act.