February 28, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is confirming the interim final rule published on October 31, 2017, that delayed the deadline for Tribes to comply with Tribal Transportation Program requirements to collect data on proposed roads for the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory (NTTFI).

This amendment adopts miscellaneous amendments to the required IFR (instrument flight rules) altitudes and changeover points for certain Federal airways, jet routes, or direct routes for which a minimum or maximum en route authorized IFR altitude is prescribed. This regulatory action is needed because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System. These changes are designed to provide for the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace under instrument conditions in the affected areas.

NMFS is reducing the Atlantic mackerel possession limit for Federal limited access Atlantic mackerel permitted vessels based on a projection that the 2018 river herring and shad catch cap for that fishery has been reached. This action is necessary to comply with the regulations implementing the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan and is intended to limit the harvest of river herring and shad in the Greater Atlantic Region.

In response to a request, NHTSA is extending the comment period on the Removing Regulatory Barriers for Vehicles with Automated Driving Systems Request for Comment (RFC) to March 20, 2018. The RFC was published in the Federal Register on January 18, 2018. The comment period for the RFC was originally scheduled to end on March 5, 2018.

The Commission amends its hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules to enhance equal access to the national telecommunications network by people with hearing loss and implement the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. The changes incorporate by reference a revised technical standard for volume control for wireline telephones, expand the scope of the wireline HAC rules, add a volume control requirement for wireless handsets, and eliminate an outdated wireless technical standard.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to the Illinois state implementation plan (SIP) to amend requirements applicable to certain coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs). These amendments require the Will County 3 and Joliet 6, 7, and 8 EGUs to permanently cease combusting coal; allow other subject EGUs to cease combusting coal as an alternative means of compliance with mercury emission standards; allows the transfer of an existing sulfur dioxide (SO2) control technology requirement exemption from Joliet 6 EGU to Will County 4 EGU; require all subject EGUs to comply with a group annual nitrogen oxide (NOX) emission rate; and require only those subject EGUs that combust coal to comply with a group annual SO2 emission rate. EPA proposed this action on August 31, 2017, and received two public comments in response.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Bishop International Airport, Flint, MI, and establish separate Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Owosso Community Airport, Owosso, MI. The FAA is proposing this action due to the closure of the Athelone Williams Memorial Airport, Davison, MI, which is included in the Flint, MI, airspace description, and the cancellation of the instrument approach procedures at the Genesys Regional Medical Center, Grand Blanc, MI, also included in the Flint, MI, airspace description, and to update the Bishop International Airport airspace and the Owosso Community Airport airspace to comply with FAA Order 7400.2L, Procedures for Handling Airspace Matters. The geographic coordinates of the Bishop International Airport and Prices Airport, Linden, MI, would also be updated to coincide with the FAA's aeronautical database.