August 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulation on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single- Employer Plans to prescribe interest assumptions under the regulation for valuation dates in September 2016. The interest assumptions are used for paying benefits under terminating single-employer plans covered by the pension insurance system administered by PBGC.

This action amends the Syracuse Hancock International Airport, NY, Class C airspace by removing a cutout from the surface area that was incorporated to accommodate operations at an airport that has permanently closed.

This action modifies the Peoria, General Downing-Peoria International Airport, IL, Class C airspace area by amending the legal description to contain the current airport name and updated airport reference point (ARP) information. This action does not change the boundaries, altitudes, or operating requirements of the Class C airspace area.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of New Hampshire on October 4, 2012. The revision clarifies Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements as they apply to minor core activities of volatile organic compound (VOC) sources. The intended effect of this action is to propose approval of these requirements into the New Hampshire SIP. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.

This action proposes to modify Class E airspace at Albany Municipal Airport, Albany, OR. Advances in Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping accuracy and a reliance on precise geographic coordinates to define airport and airspace reference points have made airspace redesign necessary for the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace designated as an extension to a Class D or E surface airspace area, and Class E airspace upward from 700 feet above the surface at Mahlon Sweet Field Airport, Eugene, OR, to accommodate airspace redesign. Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Mahlon Sweet Field Airport also would be amended to remove reference to the Corvallis Municipal Airport by creating a stand-alone airspace designation for Corvallis Municipal Airport. Additionally, this proposal would update the airport reference points for these airports in Class D and E airspace, as well as remove the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) requirement noted in Class E surface area airspace. Airspace redesign is necessary for the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations within the National Airspace System.

This proposed rule addresses the hospital-specific limitation on Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments under section 1923(g)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (Act), and the application of such limitation in the annual DSH audits required under section 1923(j) of the Act, by clarifying that the hospital-specific DSH limit is based only on uncompensated care costs. Specifically, this rule would make clearer in the text of the regulation an existing interpretation that uncompensated care costs include only those costs for Medicaid eligible individuals that remain after accounting for payments received by hospitals by or on behalf of Medicaid eligible individuals, including Medicare and other third party payments that compensate the hospitals for care furnished to such individuals. As a result, the hospital-specific limit calculation would reflect only the costs for Medicaid eligible individuals for which the hospital has not received payment from any source (other than state or local governmental payments for indigent patients).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve the Iowa State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted to EPA by the State of Iowa on July 19, 2013, documenting that the State's existing plan is making adequate progress to achieve visibility goals by 2018. The Iowa SIP revision addressed the Regional Haze Rule (RHR) requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) to submit a report describing progress in achieving reasonable progress goals (RPGs) to improve visibility in Federally designated areas in nearby states that may be affected by emissions from sources in Iowa. EPA is taking final action to approve Iowa's determination that the existing Regional Haze (RH) SIP is adequate to meet the visibility goals and requires no substantive revision at this time.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2016-13-10, for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-300, -400, and -500 series airplanes. AD 2016-13-10 required repetitive external detailed inspections and nondestructive inspections to detect cracks in the fuselage skin along the chem-mill steps at stringers S-1 and S-2R, between station (STA) 400 and STA 460, and repair if necessary. AD 2016-13-10 also required a preventive modification of the fuselage skin at crown stringers S-1 and S-2R. This AD requires the same actions as AD 2016-13-10, and clarifies certain regulatory text. This AD was prompted by the determination that certain regulatory text in AD 2016- 13-10 requires clarification. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the fuselage skin panels at the chem-mill steps, which could result in sudden fracture and failure of the fuselage skin panels, and consequent rapid decompression of the airplane.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to amend the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) to change the definition of ``payment in kind.'' As proposed, the new definition would provide that a full or partial waiver of registration fees by an organizing entity of a meeting or similar function is not considered a payment in kind to the agency when employees speak, participate in a panel, or present at the meeting or similar function in their official capacities, and registration fees are waived for all speakers, panelists, or presenters. This proposed amendment would also make miscellaneous related corrections.

In this action, the Administrator finds that elevated concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations within the meaning of section 231(a)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act (CAA, or Act). She makes this finding specifically with respect to the same six well-mixed greenhouse gasescarbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride that together were defined as the air pollution in the 2009 Endangerment Finding under section 202(a) of the CAA and that together constitute the primary cause of the climate change problem. The Administrator also finds that emissions of those six well-mixed greenhouse gases from certain classes of engines used in certain aircraft are contributing to the air pollutionthe aggregate group of the same six greenhouse gasesthat endangers public health and welfare under CAA section 231(a)(2)(A).

We are amending the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), its auxiliary provisions, and the indemnity regulations for the control of H5 and H7 low pathogenic avian influenza. Specifically, we are clarifying who may participate in the NPIP, amending participation requirements, amending definitions for poultry and breeding stock, amending the approval process for new diagnostic tests, and amending slaughter plant inspection and laboratory inspection and testing requirements. These changes will align the regulations with international standards and make them more transparent to Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service stakeholders and the general public. The changes in this final rule were voted on and approved by the voting delegates at the Plan's 2014 National Plan Conference.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is proposing to amend certain provisions of its regulations concerning Chief Compliance Officers (``Proposal''). The regulation that is the subject of the Proposal addresses chief compliance officers (``CCOs'') of futures commission merchants (``FCMs''), swap dealers (``SDs''), and major swap participants (``MSPs'') (collectively, ``Registrants''). The proposed amendments would: Codify existing no- action relief regarding the timing of when a Registrant must furnish its CCO annual report to the Commission; clarify filing requirements for Registrants located in a jurisdiction for which the Commission has issued a comparability determination; and delegate to the Director of the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (``DSIO'') authority to grant extensions to the CCO annual report filing deadline.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), proposed in an earlier document this year to establish annual hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds for the 2017-18 hunting season. This supplement to that proposed rule provides the regulatory alternatives for the 2017-18 duck hunting seasons, announces the Service Migratory Bird Regulations Committee (SRC) and Flyway Council meetings, and provides Flyway Council recommendations resulting from their March meetings.

The Coast Guard has issued a temporary deviation from the operating schedule that governs the Marine Parkway Bridge across the Rockaway Inlet, mile 3.0, at Queens, New York. This deviation is necessary to allow the bridge owner to replace span guide rollers, counterweight guide shoes and trunnion journal at the bridge.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is disapproving the portion of a Louisiana State Implementation Plan (SIP) submittal pertaining to interstate transport of air pollution which will significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance of the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in other states. Disapproval will establish a 2-year deadline, under Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 110(c), for the EPA to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for Louisiana to address the CAA interstate transport requirements pertaining to significant contribution to nonattainment and interference with maintenance of the 2008 ozone NAAQS in other states, unless the EPA approves a SIP that meets these requirements. Disapproval does not start a mandatory sanctions clock for Louisiana.

This final rule amends the Dairy Promotion and Research Order (Dairy Order). The amendment modifies the number of National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (Dairy Board) importer members. The total number of importer members would be reduced from 2 members to 1 member, and the domestic Dairy Board members would remain the same at 36. The Dairy Order requires that at least once every three years, after the initial appointment of importer members on the Dairy Board, the Secretary shall review the average volume of domestic production of dairy products compared to the average volume of imports of dairy products into the United States during the previous three years, and, on the basis of that review, if warranted, reapportion the importer representation on the Dairy Board to reflect the proportional shares of the United States market served by domestic production and imported dairy products.

The Jackson Steel Superfund site (Site), located in the Village of Mineola, Nassau County, New York, contains a building formerly used as a metal-forming facility. The Site is bordered to the north by commercial spaces and single-family dwellings, to the east by a two-story apartment complex, to the south by a daycare center and to the west by an office building and restaurant. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2 is publishing this direct final Notice of Deletion (NOD) of the Site from the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL, promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). This direct final deletion is being published by EPA with the concurrence of the State of New York, through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), because EPA has determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been completed at the Site and that the soil on the Site and the groundwater beneath the Site no longer pose a threat to public health or the environment. Because elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present under the slab of the vacant Jackson Steel building and the occupied daycare center, operation and maintenance of the subslab vapor intrusion mitigation systems under the daycare center, periodic vapor intrusion monitoring, and five-year reviews will continue. The deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to amend its Procedural Rules for DOE Nuclear Activities to clarify that the Department may assess civil penalties against certain contractors and subcontractors for violations of the prohibition against retaliating against an employee who reports violations of law, mismanagement, waste, abuse, or dangerous/unsafe workplace conditions, among other protected activities, concerning nuclear safety (referred to as ``whistleblowers''). Specifically, this proposed rule would clarify that the prohibition against whistleblower retaliation is a DOE Nuclear Safety Requirement to the extent that it concerns nuclear safety. The proposed rule would also explain the circumstances under which DOE would investigate alleged violations of this prohibition. The proposed rule would also delineate which DOE regulations are DOE Nuclear Safety Requirements.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) proposes to amend the regulations requiring lessees and owners of operating rights to submit summaries of actual decommissioning expenditures incurred for certain decommissioning activities related to oil and gas and sulfur operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The proposed rule would expand the scope of the current regulations to require lessees, owners of operating rights, and right-of-way (ROW) holders to submit summaries of actual expenditures incurred for pipeline decommissioning activities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve State Implementation Plan revisions submitted by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) on July 11, 2016. The revisions update the incorporation by reference of Federal provisions cited in Ecology's general air quality regulations. The revisions also reflect changes to the primary and secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone, promulgated since Ecology's last update. Ecology also made minor corrections to typographical errors and non-substantive edits for clarity, such as standardizing the citation format.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is partially approving and partially disapproving elements of State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission from Wisconsin regarding the infrastructure requirements of section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The infrastructure requirements are designed to ensure that the structural components of each state's air quality management program are adequate to meet the state's responsibilities under the CAA. This action pertains specifically to infrastructure requirements concerning interstate transport provisions for which Wisconsin made a SIP submission that, among other things, certified that the existing SIP was sufficient to meet the interstate transport requirements for the 2008 ozone NAAQS.

This action establishes Class E en route domestic airspace in the Harvey, ND, area for Harvey Municipal Airport. Controlled airspace is necessary to facilitate vectoring of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) aircraft under control of Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). This action enhances the safety and efficiency of aircraft operations within the National Airspace System.

This action removes Class D Airspace at North, SC, as the North Air Force Auxiliary Field Air Traffic Control Tower is no longer staffed, and the controlled Class D airspace area is no longer required.