August 6, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) announce final distribution of a portion of cable and satellite royalty funds for the years 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. The determination results from agreement among the participants that claim shares of the funds to be allocated to the Devotional Claimant category. The Judges issued their initial determination to the participants on July 19, 2018.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 announces the deletion of the Frontier Hard Chrome, Inc. (FHC) Superfund Site (Site) located in Vancouver, Washington, from the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the State of Washington, through the Department of Ecology, have determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

The Acting Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The Exempted Fishing Permit would allow commercial fishing vessels to fish outside of scallop regulations in support of research conducted by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation. These exemptions would support research conducted on trips to test gear modifications for bycatch reduction in the scallop dredge fishery. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) previously issued to ADOT&PF to incidentally take nine species of marine mammal, by Level A and Level B harassment, during construction activities associated with the Sand Point City Dock Replacement Project in Sand Point, Alaska. ADOT&PF reported that the project has been delayed. The IHA issued on October 13, 2017 has effective dates of August 1, 2018 through July 31, 2019. ADOT&PF requested that a new IHA be issued to conduct their work between May 31, 2019 and May 30, 2020. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a second IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the first IHA. The authorized take numbers would be the same as authorized previously, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting would remain the same as authorized for the 2018 IHA referenced above. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is notifying the public about the issuance of an IHA to ADOT&PF to incidentally take marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment only, during the specified activity.

This action serves as a notice that NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), has found that the following stocks are overfished or subject to overfishing. Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon, Queets coho salmon, Juan de Fuca coho salmon, Snohomish coho salmon, and Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon are now overfished. Upper Columbia River summer-run Chinook salmon is now subject to overfishing. Thorny skate and the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico stock of sandbar shark are still overfished. The Gulf of Maine/Cape Hatteras Atlantic mackerel stock is now both overfished and subject to overfishing. NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary, notifies the appropriate fishery management council (Council) whenever it determines that overfishing is occurring, a stock is in an overfished condition or a stock is approaching an overfished condition.

FMCSA announces that it has received an application from Allied Beverage Group L.L.C. (Allied) for an exemption from the requirement that short-haul drivers utilizing the records of duty status (RODS) exception return to their normal work-reporting location within 12 hours of coming on duty. Allied requests that their company drivers be allowed to use the short-haul exception but return to their work-reporting location within 14 hours instead of the usual 12 hours. The requested exemption would apply to all of Allied's drivers who operate commercial motor vehicle (CMV) beverage trucks. FMCSA requests public comment on Allied's application for exemption.

The U.S. Coast Guard, as lead agency, announces the availability of a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the Polar Icebreaker Program's design and build of up to six polar icebreakers. The U.S. Coast Guard requests public comments on the draft EIS.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for certain waters off the Port of Rota. The Coast Guard believes this safety zone is necessary to protect all divers participating in this underwater military exercise from potential safety hazards associated with vessel traffic in the area. This safety zone will prohibit persons and vessels not involved in the exercise from being in the safety zone unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Guam (COTP) or a designated representative.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the FAR Council invites the public to comment upon a renewal concerning travel costs.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing funding availability and is soliciting letters of intent for loan applications under the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP), announcing the application process for those loans and deadlines for applications from eligible entities. These loans are made available under the authority of Section 6407 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, as amended, (Section 6407) and Title VII, Section 741 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. This notice describes the eligibility requirements, the application process and deadlines, the criteria that will be used by RUS to assess Applicants' creditworthiness, and how to obtain application materials. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 appropriated a budget authority of $8,000,000 and authorized that the Secretary may use this funding to allow eligible entities to offer energy efficiency loans to customers in any part of their service territory and may also use this funding for projects replacing manufactured housing units with another manufactured housing unit if the replacement would be more cost effective in saving energy. The Administrator may approve loans proposing to include these new eligible activities for entities currently in the queue provided they still meet the all application requirements, pursuant to this NOFA. The Agency encourages applications that will support recommendations made in the Rural Prosperity Task Force report to help improve life in rural America, See, www.usda.gov/ruralprosperity. Applicants are encouraged to consider projects that provide measurable results in helping rural communities build robust and sustainable economies through strategic investments in infrastructure, partnerships and innovation. Key strategies include: Achieving e-Connectivity for rural America, developing the rural economy, harnessing technological innovation, supporting a rural workforce, and improving quality of life.

The Department of Commerce is currently seeking nominations of individuals for consideration for up to 35 appointments by the Secretary of Commerce to serve as members of a new Central California District Export Council (CenCal DEC). The CenCal DEC is closely affiliated with the Fresno and Bakersfield U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEACs) of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (US&FCS), and will play a key role in the planning and coordination of export activities in Central California communities. As representatives of the local exporting community, DEC Members must reside in, or conduct the majority of their work in, the territory that the DEC covers which includes the counties of Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, and surrounding areas.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

This notice sets forth the proposed schedule and agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee's (MAFAC's) Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force (CBP Task Force). The CBP Task Force will discuss the issues outlined in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.