March 20, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry describing the Agency's current thinking on how to determine the number of employees for purposes of the ``small business'' definition in the Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for human and animal food rules. The draft guidance, when finalized, will help industry subject to those rules determine the number of employees for purposes of the ``small business'' definition.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announces that on Thursday, April 5, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., the Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) will hold a public meeting in Overland Park, Kansas. At this meeting, the AAC will discuss items related to price discovery and risk management in agricultural markets.

The President has signed an Executive order to implement the January 2018 pay adjustments for certain Federal civilian employees. The Executive order authorizes a 1.4 percent across-the-board increase for statutory pay systems and locality pay increases costing approximately 0.5 percent of basic payroll, reflecting an overall average pay increase of 1.9 percent. This notice serves as documentation for the public record.

The Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee will meet via teleconference, to receive a brief out from the Subcommittee tasked to respond to the issuance of Executive Orders 13771, ``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs''; 13777, ``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda;'' and 13783, ``Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth.'' This teleconference will be open to the public.

The Coast Guard will enforce various safety zones within the Captain of the Port New York Zone on the specified dates and times. This action is necessary to ensure the safety of vessels, spectators and participants from hazards associated with fireworks. During the enforcement period, no person or vessel may enter the safety zones without permission of the Captain of the Port (COTP).

The Coast Guard proposes to establish a safety zone around the Appomattox Floating Production System (FPS) facility located in Mississippi Canyon Block 437 on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico. The purpose of the safety zone is to protect the facility from all vessels operating outside the normal shipping channels and fairways that are not providing services to or working with the facility. Placing a safety zone around the facility will significantly reduce the threat of allisions, collisions, oil spills, and releases of natural gas, and thereby protect the safety of life, property, and the environment. We invite your comments on this proposed rulemaking.

NMFS announces the receipt of five applications for exempted fishing permits (EFPs) from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR), Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD). If granted, the EFPs would authorize the applicants, with certain conditions, to set the season(s) for red snapper caught by the private angling component, the Federal charter vessel/headboat (for-hire) component, or both, as applicable, and landed in each respective state. The EFPs would do so by exempting persons from the annual closed Federal fishing seasons if they are landing red snapper in the participating states during the states' open seasons as set by those states, and described in more detail below. These annual closed Federal fishing seasons are the seasonal closure for red snapper which is January 1 through May 31 each year, and the closures that occur based on when NMFS projects that the red snapper annual catch targets will be reached. The private angling component includes state-permitted for-hire vessels and any red snapper landings by these for-hire vessels would be counted against the private angling component quota. However, these state-permitted for-hire vessels would not be able to fish in Federal waters. NMFS would set separate Federal seasons for Federally permitted for-hire vessels and private-anglers not covered by any EFP. Red snapper landings would be monitored by the respective states and the state seasons set under the EFPs would close when a state's assigned quota is reached, or projected to be reached. These studies, to be conducted in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf), are intended to test the effectiveness of Gulf state management of recreationally caught red snapper. This notice is republished in its entirety and serves to correct information previously published in the Federal Register on March 12, 2018, concerning FWC, ADCNR, and TPWD application details.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to the provisions of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (Commission), and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), that a planning meeting of the Rhode Island State Advisory Committee to the Commission will convene by conference call, on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT). The purpose of the meeting is to review and vote on the project proposal on predatory lending and to discuss and plan other civil rights projects.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of one or more persons that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting public comments on the following information collection was published on July 17, 2017 (Federal Register/Vol. 82, No. 135/pp. 32757-32758).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), announce receiving Arizona Electric Power Cooperative's (AEPCO; applicant) survival enhancement permit application, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The requested permit would authorize Sonoran desert tortoise incidental take resulting from conservation activities and ongoing lawful activities, should the species be listed as endangered or threatened in the future. The permit application includes a proposed candidate conservation agreement with assurances (CCAA) between AEPCO and the FWS for a 25-year period. In accordance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, we have determined that the proposed permit action qualifies under a categorical exclusion. We are accepting comments on the permit application, proposed CCAA, and draft NEPA screening form supporting using a categorical exclusion.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Board of Advisors to the Presidents of the Naval Postgraduate School and the Naval War College, Board of Advisors (BOA) to The President of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Subcommittee will take place.

The Department of Justice, Office of the Chief Information Officer, is submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The boundary of Congaree National Park is modified to include 100.77 acres of land immediately adjacent to the boundary of the national park. The United States will purchase, from a willing seller, a parcel containing 100.77 acres of land. The tract encompasses the north half of Bates Old River and northern uplands east of Highway 601.