2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule amends FRA's regulations on railroad police officers to implement certain provisions of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Consistent with the FAST Act, FRA is amending its regulations to allow: Railroads to hire contractors as railroad police officers; railroad police officers to transfer from one state to another without immediately needing to be commissioned or certified in the new state; and a state to recognize an officer's training at another state's recognized police academy or at a Federal law enforcement training center as meeting the state's basic police officer certification or commissioning requirements.

Workplace violence against employees providing healthcare and social assistance services is a serious concern. Evidence indicates that the rate of workplace violence in the industry is substantially higher than private industry as a whole. OSHA is considering whether a standard is needed to protect healthcare and social assistance employees from workplace violence and is interested in obtaining information about the extent and nature of workplace violence in the industry and the nature and effectiveness of interventions and controls used to prevent such violence. This RFI provides an overview of the problem of workplace violence in the healthcare and social assistance sector and the measures that have been taken to address it. It also seeks information on issues that might be considered in developing a standard, including scope and the types of controls that might be required.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is withdrawing its final rule to amend its test procedure for commercial packaged boilers which published in the Federal Register on Thursday, November 10, 2016. The final rule published on November 10, 2016 contained errors. Therefore, DOE is withdrawing the final rule in its entirety and will republish the final rule amending its test procedure for commercial packaged boilers.

This document contains proposed Income Tax Regulations under section 901(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) with respect to transactions that generally are treated as asset acquisitions for U.S. income tax purposes and either are treated as stock acquisitions or are disregarded for foreign income tax purposes. In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, temporary regulations are being issued under section 901(m) (the temporary regulations), the text of which serves as the text of a portion of these proposed regulations. These regulations are necessary to provide guidance on applying section 901(m). These regulations affect taxpayers claiming foreign tax credits.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (Airbus Helicopters) Model MBB- BK117 C-2 helicopters. This proposed AD would require inspecting the pilot collective wiring harness. This proposed AD is prompted by a report that a heat-shrinkable sleeve prevented the twist grip on the collective from being fully engaged during a flight test. The proposed actions are intended to prevent failure of the hoist or emergency landing gear flotation systems due to chafing of wiring caused by an incorrectly installed heat-shrinkable sleeve.

This rule amends the definition of immediate family for purposes of A, C-3, G, and NATO visa classifications in two ways: It revises the eligibility requirements for unmarried adult sons and daughters age 21 or older for these visa classifications, and clarifies for purposes of G-4 visa classification that the international organization employing the principal alien must recognize an individual as immediate family to be eligible for derivative U.S. visa status. Furthermore, this rule permits qualified immediate family members of A- 1, A-2, G-1, G-2, G-3, and G-4 nonimmigrants to be independently classified as NATO-1, NATO-2, NATO-3, NATO-4, NATO-5, and NATO-6.

In this final rule, OIG amends the safe harbors to the anti- kickback statute by adding new safe harbors that protect certain payment practices and business arrangements from sanctions under the anti-kickback statute. The OIG also amends the civil monetary penalty (CMP) rules by codifying revisions to the definition of ``remuneration,'' added by the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (ACA). This rule updates the existing safe harbor regulations and enhances flexibility for providers and others to engage in health care business arrangements to improve efficiency and access to quality care while protecting programs and patients from fraud and abuse.

The NCUA Board is comprehensively amending its chartering and field of membership rules to maximize access to federal credit union services to the extent permitted by law, and to organize the rules in a more efficient framework. The amendments will implement changes in policy affecting: The definition of a local community, a rural district, and an underserved area; the chartering and expansion of a multiple common bond credit union; the expansion of a single common bond credit union that serves a trade, industry or profession; and the process for applying to charter, or to expand, a federal credit union.

This final rule amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect an extension of import restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnological materials from the Plurinational State of Bolivia (``Bolivia''). The restrictions, which were originally imposed by Treasury Decision (T.D.) 01-86 and last extended by CBP Dec. 11-24, are due to expire on December 4, 2016. The Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, has determined that conditions continue to warrant the imposition of import restrictions. Accordingly, these import restrictions will remain in effect for an additional five years, and the CBP regulations are being amended to reflect this extension through December 4, 2021. These restrictions are being extended pursuant to determinations of the United States Department of State made under the terms of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act in accordance with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. T.D. 01-86 contains the Designated List of archaeological and ethnological materials from Bolivia to which the restrictions apply.

On or about November 30, 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made available for public comment its proposed adjudicatory determination that the GHG standards currently in place for MY2022-2025 remain appropriate under the Clean Air Act and therefore should not be amended to be either more or less stringent. EPA made this Proposed Determination as part of its Midterm Evaluation of light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for model years (MY) 2022-2025, as required under its regulations. The Proposed Determination follows a Draft Technical Assessment Report (TAR) issued jointly by EPA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in July 2016. In the Draft TAR, the agencies examined a wide range of issues relevant to the appropriateness of the GHG emissions standards for MY2022-2025, and shared with the public its initial technical analyses of those issues. The Draft TAR was required by EPA's regulations as the first step in the Midterm Evaluation process. For the next step, the Proposed Determination, EPA has considered public comments submitted on the Draft TAR as well as other information, and has updated its analyses where appropriate. EPA will again consider public comments received on the Proposed Determination as it proceeds with the final step in the Midterm Evaluation, a Final Determination regarding the appropriateness of the MY2022-2025 standards.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection on April 10, 2013, and supplemented on March 25, 2016. The SIP revision and supplement address the interstate transport requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) with respect to the 2008 ozone (O3) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). The EPA's rationale for proposing to approve Nevada's April 10, 2013 SIP revision and March 25, 2016 supplement is described in this notice.

This notice corrects the SUMMARY section to a notice published on November 25, 2016, which contained incorrect information about what will be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC). This correction sets out the SUMMARY in full to make it clear that the members will discuss and finalize recommendations on issues and priorities that should be addressed by the incoming Administration.

In accordance with section 122(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement, embodied in an Agreement and Order on Consent (Agreement), between the United States on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Planetary Ventures, LLC (PV), a Delaware Limited liability company. PV represents that, as a lessee from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the Moffett Field Leasehold within the former NAS Moffett Field Superfund site in Santa Clara County, California, it is a bona fide prospective purchaser, as described by CERCLA section 101(40), 42 U.S.C. 9601(40) and through the Agreement would maintain that status. Under the Agreement, PV agrees to perform a pilot study for evaluating alternatives for abating contaminants in the coating and paint in the superstructure of Hangar One, and, if selected by NASA, to conduct a non-time critical removal action at Hangar One. The Agreement also requires PV to pay EPA oversight costs for this work, and includes a covenant not to sue PV pursuant to sections 106 or 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606 or 9607(a).

On November 16, 2016, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council) amended its Initial Funded Priorities List (FPL) to change the Responsible Council Member of the FPL activity entitled ``GOMA Coordination'' from the State of Alabama to the Department of Commerce.

The Commission is noticing recent Postal Service filings for the Commission's consideration concerning negotiated service agreements. This notice informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the final document titled Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter (IRP). The IRP presents the planned approach and anticipated schedule for the review of the air quality criteria for particulate matter (PM) and the primary and secondary national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for PM. The primary and secondary NAAQS for PM are set to protect the public health and public welfare, respectively, from exposures to PM in ambient air.

The Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the USDA Grain Inspection Advisory Committee (Advisory Committee). The Advisory Committee meets twice annually to advise GIPSA on the programs and services it delivers under the U.S. Grain Standards Act (USGSA). Recommendations by the Advisory Committee help GIPSA better meet the needs of its customers who operate in a dynamic and changing marketplace.