January 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,'' published in the Federal Register on January 24, 2017 (the Memorandum), this action stays the final rule NMFS published on December 28, 2016, in order to delay its effective date.

In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,'' published in the Federal Register on January 24, 2017 (the Memorandum), this action stays the final rule NMFS published on December 29, 2016, in order to delay its effective date.

In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,'' published in the Federal Register on January 24, 2017 (the Memorandum), this action temporarily delays the effective date of the Final Rule entitled ``Regional Innovation Program'' (Final Rule or Rule) published in the Federal Register on January 11, 2017. The Final Rule implements the Regional Innovation Program of the Economic Development Administration (EDA or the Agency), U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and specifically focuses on outlining the regulatory structure of its centerpiece grant program, the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Program.

This document delays the effective date of a recently published final rule amending the energy conservation standards for ceiling fans.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2017 total allowable catch of pollock for Statistical Area 610 in the GOA.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of January 9, 2017, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on October 25, 2016. The direct final rule amended the NRC's spent fuel storage regulations by revising the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment No. 2 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1040 for the Holtec International HI-STORM UMAX Canister Storage System.

This regulation implements inflation adjustments to civil money penalties (CMPs) that the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) may impose or enforce pursuant to the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended (Farm Credit Act), and pursuant to the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended by the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 (Reform Act), and further amended by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Biggert-Waters Act).

On December 14, 2016, HUD published a final rule implementing changes to HUD's housing counseling statute to improve the effectiveness of housing counseling in HUD programs by, among other things: Establishing the Office of Housing Counseling and giving this office the authority over the establishment, coordination, and administration of all regulations, requirements, standards, and performance measures under programs and laws administered by HUD that relate to housing counseling; requiring that organizations providing housing counseling required under or in connection with HUD programs be approved to participate in the Housing Counseling Program (Housing Counseling Agencies, or HCAs) and have all individuals providing such housing counseling certified by HUD as competent to provide such services; prohibiting the distribution of housing counseling grant funds awarded to agencies participating in HUD's Housing Counseling Program that are found in violation of Federal election laws or that have employees found in violation of Federal election laws; and requiring the reimbursement to HUD of housing counseling grant funds that HUD finds were misused. After publication, HUD discovered an incorrect amendatory instruction. This document makes the necessary correction. The effective date for HUD's final rule of January 13, 2017 is unchanged.

On December 27, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register announcing amendments to CBP regulations relating to the importation into the United States of certain vehicles and engines under the Clean Air Act (CAA) in order to harmonize the documentation requirements applicable to different classes of vehicles and engines that are subject to the CAA's emission standards. That document further amended the regulations to permit importers to file the required U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Declaration Forms with CBP electronically, and amended non- substantive provisions to update regulatory citations and delete obsolete provisions. The changes announced in that Final Rule were to be effective January 26, 2017. This notice announces that the effective date of the Final Rule is delayed for 60 days from January 20, 2017.

This document provides an additional 60 days for interested parties to submit comments on the interim final rule that amended the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations establishing the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (``Centers'') as a permanent organizational component of the agency and transitioning certain additional trade functions to the Centers. The interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on December 20, 2016, with comments due on or before January 19, 2017. To have as much public participation as possible in the formulation of the final rule, CBP is extending the comment period to March 20, 2017.

The Drug Enforcement Administration proposes placing N-(1- amino-3-methyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-(cyclohexylmethyl)-1H-indaz ole-3- carboxamide (AB-CHMINACA), N-(1-amino-3-methyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1- pentyl-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (AB-PINACA) and [1-(5-fluoropentyl)- 1H-indazol-3-yl](naphthalen-1-yl)methanone (THJ-2201), including their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible, into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. This proposed scheduling action is pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act which requires that such actions be made on the record after opportunity for a hearing through formal rulemaking. If finalized, this action would continue to impose the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to schedule I controlled substances on persons who handle (manufacture, distribute, import, export, engage in research, conduct instructional activities or chemical analysis, or possess), or propose to handle AB-CHMINACA, AB-PINACA and THJ-2201.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is amending its rules of practice and procedure for national banks and its rules of practice and procedure in adjudicatory proceedings for Federal savings associations to adjust the maximum amount of each civil money penalty within its jurisdiction to administer to account for inflation. These actions implement the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.

In accordance with a January 20, 2017, memo from the White House, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are delaying the effective date of a rule we published on December 27, 2016.

On December 28, 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule to expand permitted investments in passive businesses and provide further clarification with regard to investments in such businesses for the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program, with an effective date of January 27, 2017. In the meantime, a memorandum dated January 20, 2017 from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review'' calls for agencies to temporarily postpone the effective date of rules not yet effective and invite new public comment. In view of this development, SBA is delaying the effective date of this rule until March 21, 2017, and is inviting additional public comment on the final rule. Any timely public comments received will be considered and any changes to the final rule will be published in the Federal Register.

On December 23, 2016, we published a final rule amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of lemons from northwest Argentina into the continental United States under certain conditions. In this document, we are issuing a stay of those regulations for 60 days.

This document denies a January 13, 2016 rulemaking petition jointly submitted by Consumer Watchdog, Center for Auto Safety, and Public Citizen. The petition requested NHTSA to begin a rulemaking proceeding to mandate that all light vehicles be equipped with three types of automatic emergency braking (AEB) technologies: Forward crash warning, crash imminent braking, and dynamic brake support. NHTSA is denying the petition because the Agency has already taken significant steps to incentivize the installation of these technologies in a way that allows for continued innovation and technological advancement. First, NHTSA has expanded its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) so that the NCAP information for a vehicle notes whether the vehicle is equipped with one or more of these technologies. Second, it has sought public comment on its plans to revise NCAP so that the presence and level of performance of these technologies affects the overall rating of light motor vehicles. To reinforce these improvements to the NCAP program, NHTSA encouraged and facilitated a process that resulted in 20 light vehicle manufacturers, representing more than 99 percent of light motor vehicle sales in the United States, committing to voluntarily installing forward crash warning and crash imminent braking. While NHTSA's actions will help create availability and market push for AEB technologies, private sector organizations such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Consumer Reports are helping to create market pull through a variety of outreach activities that are helping consumers understand the benefits of AEB as well as differences among various vehicle models. Together with NCAP, the industry commitment and the actions of other stakeholders will lead to the installation of a growing array of AEB technologies in substantially all light vehicles and will foster innovation and competition in this technologically dynamic area. As the manufacturers respond to NCAP and carry out their commitments, the Agency is continuously monitoring their efforts to assess whether additional steps, including the possibility of a rulemaking to establish a new standard, might be needed in the future to ensure realization of the potential benefits from the full array of automatic emergency braking technologies.

Pursuant to Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (``Dodd-Frank Act''), as amended by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (``FAST Act''), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is proposing amendments the Commission's regulations relating to access to swap data held by Swap Data Repositories. The proposed amendments would implement pertinent provisions of the FAST Act and make associated changes to the Commission's regulations governing the grant of access to swap data to certain foreign and domestic authorities by Swap Data Repositories and to certain other regulations unrelated to such access.

We announce the reduction of the commercial per-trip possession limits for the skate wing and skate bait fisheries for the remainder of the 2016 fishing year, through April 30, 2017. These possession limit reductions are necessary to prevent the seasonal skate wing and skate bait commercial quotas from being exceeded and still allow an opportunity for harvesting the annual total allowable landings. This announcement informs the public that the skate wing and skate bait possession limits are reduced.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the ``Board'') is issuing a final rule amending its rules of practice and procedure to adjust the amount of each civil money penalty (``CMP'') provided by law within its jurisdiction to account for inflation as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the AREVA Inc. (AREVA), Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Cask System listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to add Amendment No. 14, and Revision 1 to the Initial Certificate, Amendment Nos. 1 through 11, and Amendment No. 13 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1004. Amendment No. 14 proposes to revise multiple items in the technical specifications (TSs) for dry shielded canister (DSC) models listed under CoC No. 1004; most of these revisions involve changes to the authorized contents. The revisions to the Initial Certificate, Amendment Nos. 1 through 11, and Amendment No. 13 will remove language in the TSs that requires a transfer cask containing a DSC to be returned to the spent fuel pool following a drop of over 15 inches.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to adjust the maximum civil monetary penalties (CMPs) it can assess under statutes enforced by the agency. These changes are mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (FCPIAA), as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Improvements Act). The NRC is amending its regulations to adjust the maximum CMP for a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA), or any regulation or order issued under the AEA from $280,469 to $285,057 per violation, per day. Additionally, the NRC is amending provisions concerning program fraud civil penalties by adjusting the maximum CMP under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act from $10,781 to $10,957 for each false claim or statement.

This document provides guidance to nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations that hold certain financial products providing for payments that are contingent upon or determined by reference to U.S. source dividend payments. This document also provides guidance to withholding agents that are responsible for withholding U.S. tax with respect to a dividend equivalent, as well as certain other parties to section 871(m) transactions and their agents.

The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is confirming certain amendments made on an interim final basis to the civil penalty amounts within its jurisdiction in June 2016 and implementing further adjustments to the civil penalty amounts within its jurisdiction to account for inflation, as required by law.

The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC or the Commission) is establishing this rule in Chapter III of title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This rule describes the procedures and policies adopted by the Commission pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974. Under the Act, a Federal agency must publish notice, in the Federal Register, of any systems of records that it intends to create as well as procedures regarding the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of the records within those systems. The Commission previously published notice of the creation of two systems of records, namely the Indian Gaming Individuals Record System and the Management Contract Individuals Record System. The regulations set forth here update the Commission's previously published procedures and serve to streamline how the Commission processes its Privacy Act requests.

This document contains corrections to the final and temporary regulations (T.D. 9790) that were published in the Federal Register on Friday, October 21, 2016 (81 FR 72858). The regulations relate to the determination of whether an interest in a corporation is treated as stock or indebtedness for all purposes of the Internal Revenue Code.