December 8, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In the Federal Register of October 25, 2017, EPA published both a direct final rule and proposed rule to update the voluntary consensus standards that originally published in the Toxics Substances Control Act (TSCA) Title VI formaldehyde emission standards for composite wood products final rule on December 12, 2016. In addition, in the direct final rule and proposed rule the EPA amended the testing requirements for panel producers and third-party certifiers establishing correlation between approved quality control test methods and either the ASTM E1333-14 test chamber, or, upon showing equivalence, the ASTM D6007-14 test chamber. As noted in the direct final rule, if EPA received adverse comment on the proposed amendments, the Agency would publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the direct final action will not take effect. The Agency did receive adverse comment on the proposed rule amendments, and is therefore withdrawing the direct final rule and will instead proceed with a final rule based on the proposed rule after considering all public comments.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of sedaxane in or on grain, cereal, forage, fodder and straw, group 16; grain, cereal, group 15; peanut; and peanut, hay. Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of indoxacarb in or on corn, field, forage; corn, field, stover; corn, field, grain. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of December 11, 2017, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on September 27, 2017. This direct final rule amended the NRC's spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System (NUHOMS[supreg] System) listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to renew, for an additional 40-year period, the initial certificate and Amendment Nos. 1 through 11 and 13, Revision 1, and Amendment No. 14 of Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1004. These changes require, among other things, that all future amendments and revisions to this CoC include evaluations of the impacts to aging management activities (i.e., time-limited aging analyses (TLAAs) and aging management programs (AMPs)) to ensure that they remain adequate to timely identify any changes to spent fuel storage cask systems, structures, and components (SSCs) within the scope of the renewal.

NMFS closes the General category fishery for large medium and giant (i.e., measuring 73 inches curved fork length or greater) Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) for the December subquota time period and thus for the remainder of 2017. The intent of this closure is to prevent overharvest of the available December subquota of 12.7 mt and the adjusted 2017 General category quota of 688.7 metric tons (mt).

NMFS proposes 2018 and 2019 harvest specifications, apportionments, and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management area. This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2018 and 2019 fishing years, and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the BSAI in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

NMFS proposes 2018 and 2019 harvest specifications, apportionments, and Pacific halibut prohibited species catch limits for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2018 and 2019 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

The Coast Guard has issued a temporary deviation from the operating schedule that governs the San Joaquin County (Bacon Island Road) highway Drawbridge across the Middle River, mile 8.6, between Bacon Island and Lower Jones Tract, CA. The deviation is necessary to allow the bridge owner to make emergency structural repairs. This deviation allows the bridge to remain in the closed-to-navigation position during the deviation period.

The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is holding a public workshop relating to its December 7, 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') announcing proposed changes to the Contact Lens Rule. The workshop will explore issues relating to competition in the contact lens marketplace, consumer access to contact lenses, prescription release and portability, and other issues raised in comments received in response to the NPRM.

The Department of Defense is removing its regulations regarding procedures for the conduct of military commissions to try certain terror suspects for war crimes because the subchapter, which contains eleven parts, is outdated and no longer in force.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to find that the St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, Missouri-Illinois (MO-IL) area, ``the St. Louis area,'' is attaining the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard) based on 2014-2016 monitoring data. EPA is further proposing to redesignate the Illinois portion of the St. Louis area, ``the Metro-East area,'' to attainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS because the Metro-East area meets the statutory requirements for redesignation under the Clean Air Act (CAA). (EPA will address the Missouri portion of the St. Louis area in a separate rulemaking action.) The St. Louis area includes Madison, Monroe and St. Clair Counties in Illinois (the Metro-East area), and Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis Counties and the City of St. Louis in Missouri. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) submitted a request to redesignate the Metro-East area on May 8, 2017. EPA is also proposing to approve, as a revision to the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP), the State's plan for maintaining the 2008 ozone standard through 2030 in the St. Louis area. Finally, EPA finds adequate and is proposing to approve, as a SIP revision, the State's 2030 volatile organic compound (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for the Metro- East area.

Due to the receipt of an adverse comment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is withdrawing the October 18, 2017, direct final rule approving the State of Ohio's request to redesignate the Fulton County nonattainment area (Fulton County) to attainment of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for lead.

Due to the receipt of an adverse comment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is withdrawing the October 18, 2017, direct final rule approving the Illinois regional haze progress report under the Clean Air Act as a revision to the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP).

Due to the receipt of an adverse comment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is withdrawing the October 20, 2017, direct final rule approving the Wisconsin regional haze progress report under the Clean Air Act as a revision to the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan (SIP).

Due to adverse comments, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is withdrawing the direct final rule for ``Approval of Missouri Air Quality Implementation Plans; Infrastructure SIP Requirements for the 2010 Nitrogen Dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard'' published in the Federal Register on October 11, 2017. The direct final rule was an approval of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision from the State of Missouri for the 2010 Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). Section 110 of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each new or revised NAAQS promulgated by EPA. These SIPs are commonly referred to as ``infrastructure'' SIPs. 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.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is promulgating a final rule (2017 final delay rule) to temporarily suspend or delay certain requirements contained in the rule published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2016, entitled, ``Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation'' (2016 final rule) until January 17, 2019. The BLM has concerns regarding the statutory authority, cost, complexity, feasibility, and other implications of the 2016 final rule, and therefore intends to avoid imposing likely considerable and immediate compliance costs on operators for requirements that may be rescinded or significantly revised in the near future. The 2017 final delay rule does not substantively change the 2016 final rule, but simply postpones implementation of the compliance requirements for certain provisions of the 2016 final rule for 1 year.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating the materials that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the Alaska State Implementation Plan (SIP). The regulations affected by this format change have all been previously submitted by Alaska and approved by the EPA. In this action, the EPA is also notifying the public of corrections to typographical errors, and minor formatting changes to the IBR tables. This update affects the SIP materials that are available for public inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the EPA Regional Office.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) eliminates the rule that requires each AM, FM, and television broadcast station to maintain a main studio located in or near its community of license. The FCC also eliminates existing requirements associated with the rule, including the requirement that the main studio have full-time management and staff present during normal business hours, and that it have program origination capability.