October 11, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Taxpayer Communications Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Taxpayer Assistance Center Improvements Project Committee will conduct an open meeting and will solicit public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

This notice lists the approved by rule projects rescinded by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission during the period set forth in DATES.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Toll-Free Phone Line Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

The Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries announces the renewal of the charter of the Advisory Committee on Actuarial Examinations.

On September 26, 2018, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce published a notice and request for public comments on ways to advance consumer privacy while protecting prosperity and innovation. Through this notice, NTIA is extending the deadline for comments from October 26, 2018, until November 9, 2018.

Pursuant to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018 and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), NMFS is proposing a Traceability Information Program for Seafood to establish registration, reporting and recordkeeping requirements for U.S. aquaculture producers of shrimp and abalone, two species subject to the Seafood Traceability Program, also known as the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). This proposed rule, if finalized, would provide traceability for these species from the point of production to entry into U.S. commerce. Collection of traceability information for U.S. aquacultured shrimp and abalone will be accomplished by electronic submission of data to NMFS. This rule would require owners or operators of U.S. inland, coastal and marine commercial aquaculture facilities (``producers'') to report information about production and entry into U.S. commerce of shrimp and abalone products. In addition, this rule would require producers to register with NMFS and retain records pertaining to the production of shrimp and abalone and entry of those products into U.S. commerce. This proposed rule serves as a domestic counterpart to the shrimp and abalone import requirements under SIMP, and will help NMFS verify that U.S. aquacultured shrimp and abalone were lawfully produced by providing information to trace each production event(s) to entry of the fish or fish products into U.S. commerce. The rule will also decrease the incidence of seafood fraud by requiring the reporting of this information to the U.S. Government at the point of entry into U.S. commerce so that the information reported (e.g., regarding species and harvest location) can be verified.

In accordance with the Privacy Act, we are issuing public notice of our intent to discontinue an existing system of records notice entitled, Optical System for Correspondence Analysis and Response, last published on January 11, 2006.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for all navigable waters within 500 yards of the McKinley Highway and Railroad Bridge located on the Upper Mississippi River at mile marker (MM) 182.5. The safety zone is needed to protect persons, vessels, and the marine environment from potential hazards created by the installation of electrical lines across the river. Entry of persons or vessels into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port Sector Upper Mississippi River or a designated representative.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement concerning delivery schedules.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on our March 11, 2015, proposed designation of critical habitat for the black pinesnake (Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are reopening the comment period to accept comments on our proposal, including revisions to proposed Units 7 and 8 that are described in this document. As a result of these revisions, we are now proposing to designate a total of 338,379 acres (136,937 hectares) as critical habitat for the black pinesnake across eight units within portions of Forrest, George, Greene, Harrison, Jones, Marion, Perry, Stone, and Wayne Counties in Mississippi, and Clarke County in Alabama. This is a small increase in acreage from the area we proposed to designate in our March 11, 2015, proposed rule but constitutes less privately owned lands. In addition, we announce two public informational meetings on the proposed rule. We are reopening the comment period on our March 11, 2015, proposed rule to allow all interested parties the opportunity to comment on the revised proposed rule. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO'' or ``Office'') revises the claim construction standard for interpreting claims in inter partes review (``IPR''), post-grant review (``PGR''), and the transitional program for covered business method patents (``CBM'') proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (``PTAB'' or ``Board''). In particular, the Office is replacing the broadest reasonable interpretation (``BRI'') standard such that claims shall now be construed using the same claim construction standard that is used to construe the claim in a civil action in federal district court. This rule reflects that the PTAB in an AIA proceeding will apply the same standard applied in federal courts to construe patent claims. The Office also amends the rules to add that any prior claim construction determination concerning a term of the claim in a civil action, or a proceeding before the International Trade Commission (``ITC''), that is timely made of record in an IPR, PGR, or CBM proceeding will be considered.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (South Atlantic Council) and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) (Councils) have submitted Amendment 31 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Coastal Migratory Pelagics (CMP) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and Atlantic Region (Amendment 31) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Amendment 31 would remove Atlantic migratory group cobia (Atlantic cobia) from Federal management under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act). At the same time, NMFS would implement comparable regulations under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (Atlantic Coastal Act) to replace the existing Magnuson-Stevens Act based regulations in Atlantic Federal waters. The purpose of Amendment 31 is to facilitate improved coordination of Atlantic cobia in state and Federal waters, thereby more effectively constraining harvest and preventing overfishing and decreasing adverse socio-economic effects to fishermen.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the Atlantic pigtoe (Fusconaia masoni) as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Atlantic pigtoe is a freshwater mussel native to Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. After review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the Atlantic pigtoe as a threatened species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list it as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule''). We also propose to designate critical habitat under the Act. In total, approximately 542 river miles (872 river kilometers) in Virginia and North Carolina fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. Finally, we announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) of the proposed designation of critical habitat.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland. The revision (Maryland SIP Revision #18-03) pertains to a new Maryland regulation that establishes ozone season nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions caps and other requirements for large non- electric generating units (non-EGU) in Maryland and includes associated revisions to two other Maryland regulations. The revision will enable Maryland to meet NOX reduction requirements related to interstate transport of pollution that contributes to other states' nonattainment or interferes with other states' maintenance of the ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). EPA is approving these revisions in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all The Boeing Company Model 737 airplanes, excluding Model 737-100, -200, - 200C, -300, -400, and -500 series airplanes; all Model 757-200, -200PF, -200CB, and -300 series airplanes; and all Model 767-200, -300, -300F, and -400ER series airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of latently failed motor-operated valve (MOV) actuators of the fuel shutoff valves. This AD requires replacing certain MOV actuators of the fuel shutoff valves for the left and right engines (on certain airplanes) and of the auxiliary power unit (APU) fuel shutoff valve (on Model 757 and Model 767 airplanes); and revising the maintenance or inspection program to incorporate certain airworthiness limitations (AWLs). We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.