January 8, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS issues this final rule to change the management of the Pacific whiting at-sea sectors' (i.e., the Mothership [MS] and Catcher/ Processor [C/P] sectors) allocations for darkblotched rockfish and Pacific ocean perch (POP) by managing the allocations as set-asides rather than as total catch limits, under the authority of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This rule revises regulations in accordance with Amendment 21-3 to the FMP (see electronic access under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION) so that higher than anticipated harvest of darkblotched rockfish or POP that exceeds a sector's initial distribution of those species will not require automatic closure of one or more of the Pacific whiting at-sea sectors. This action is intended to reduce the risk of the Pacific whiting at-sea sectors not attaining their respective Pacific whiting allocations due to the incidental catch of darkblotched rockfish or POP causing early closure of those sectors. This action does not change or increase the risk of exceeding darkblotched rockfish or POP ACLs, because it also allows NMFS to close one or both of the Pacific whiting at-sea sectors via automatic action if the species-specific set-aside amounts plus the available reserve for unforeseen catch events, known colloquially as the ``buffer,'' are anticipated to be exceeded. This rule will ensure that the Pacific whiting fishery is managed in accordance with the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

In this document, the Commission invites comment on proposed changes to its rules. The Commission proposes rules regarding mechanisms to ensure that erroneously blocked calls can be unblocked as quickly as possible and without undue harm to callers and consumers. It also seeks comment on ways to measure the effectiveness of the Commission's robocalling efforts, as well as those of industry.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) published a final rule in the Federal Register on October 11, 2013, regarding Regulatory Capital Rules. This publication corrects a typographical error in those rules whereby a transition provision was unintentionally deleted. The Board also published inconsistent amendments to Regulation Q in final rules published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2014, and August 14, 2015, that pertain to firms identified as global systemically important bank holding companies (GSIBs). This publication resolves these inconsistencies.

We are extending for six months our rule authorizing attorney advisors to conduct certain prehearing proceedings and to issue fully favorable decisions. The current rule is scheduled to expire on February 5, 2018. In this final rule, we are extending the sunset date to August 3, 2018. We are making no other substantive changes.

In this document, the Commission adopts revisions to its rules governing the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (Committee or IAC), which advises the Commission on a range of telecommunications issues affecting local, county, state, and Tribal interests, to expand it from 15 members to 30 members. The IAC has been an important source of information and guidance to the Commission over the past 20 years. The rule change will enhance the IAC's role by allowing for a greater diversity of viewpoints representing our municipal, county, state, and Tribal partners throughout the country.

This document solicits comment on how to design and implement an incubator program to support the entry of new and diverse voices in the broadcast industry. It seeks comment on the structure, review, and oversight of such a program in order to help create new sources of financial, technical, operational, and managerial support for eligible broadcasters, thereby creating ownership opportunities for new entrants and small businesses and promoting competition and new voices in the broadcast industry.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a rule to implement section 425 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, which requires EPA to work with the Great Lakes States to establish public notification requirements for combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges to the Great Lakes. The requirements address signage, notification of local public health departments and other potentially affected public entities, notification to the public, and annual notice. The rule includes a two-stage approach with requirements that apply directly to existing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permittees authorized to discharge from a CSO to the Great Lakes Basin, beginning on August 7, 2018 and a requirement that the public notification provisions be incorporated into NPDES permits when these permits are issued or reissued after February 7, 2018, unless the permit has been proposed prior to February 7, 2018 in which case the requirements would be incorporated into the next permit renewal. This rule protects public health by ensuring timely notification to the public and to public health departments, public drinking water facilities and other potentially affected public entities, including Indian tribes. It provides additional specificity beyond existing public notification requirements to ensure timely and consistent communication to the public regarding CSO discharges to the Great Lakes Basin. Timely notice may allow the public and affected public entities to take steps to reduce the public's potential exposure to pathogens associated with human sewage, which can cause a wide variety of health effects, including gastrointestinal, skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic, and wound infections.