2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

A Notice of Application for Withdrawal was published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2016, for approximately 340,079 acres of National Forest System lands located in the Methow Valley, Okanagan National Forest. The purpose of this Notice is to announce the date, time, and location of a public meeting to be held in connection with the withdrawal application submitted by the US Forest Service to the Secretary of the Interior and to reopen the public comment period.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Las Vegas Field Office, has examined and found suitable for classification for lease and subsequent conveyance under the provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act and the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, (R&PP) as amended, approximately 15 acres of public land in the Las Vegas Valley, Clark County, Nevada. The Clark County School District proposes to use the land for an Elementary School that will help meet future expanding educational needs in the southwestern part of the Las Vegas Valley.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that the following federal advisory committee meeting of the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) will take place.

The Board, OCC, FDIC, FCA, and FHFA (each an Agency and, collectively, the Agencies) are adopting amendments to their rules establishing minimum margin requirements for registered swap dealers, major swap participants, security-based swap dealers, and major security-based swap participants (Swap Margin Rule). These amendments conform the Swap Margin Rule to rules recently adopted by the Board, the OCC, and the FDIC that impose restrictions on certain qualified financial contracts, including certain non-cleared swaps subject to the Swap Margin Rule (the QFC Rules). Specifically, the final amendments to the Swap Margin Rule conform the definition of ``Eligible Master Netting Agreement'' to the definition of ``Qualifying Master Netting Agreement'' in the QFC Rules. The amendment to the Swap Margin Rule ensures that netting agreements of firms subject to the Swap Margin Rule are not excluded from the definition of ``Eligible Master Netting Agreement'' based solely on their compliance with the QFC Rules. The amendment also ensures that margin amounts required for non-cleared swaps covered by agreements that otherwise constitute Eligible Master Netting Agreements can continue to be calculated on a net portfolio basis, notwithstanding changes to those agreements that will be made in some instances by firms revising their netting agreements to achieve compliance with the QFC Rules. In addition, for any non-cleared swaps that were ``entered into'' before the compliance dates of the Swap Margin Rulesand which are accordingly grandfathered from application of the rule's margin requirementsthe amendments state that any changes to netting agreements that are required to conform to the QFC Rules will not render grandfathered swaps covered by that netting agreement as ``new'' swaps subject to the Swap Margin Rule.

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations, notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations, notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein. Each mode of transportation for which a particular special permit is requested is indicated by a number in the ``Nature of Application'' portion of the table below as follows: 1 Motor vehicle, 2Rail freight, 3Cargo vessel, 4Cargo aircraft only, 5Passenger-carrying aircraft.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Pesticide Programs is announcing a public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) on October 31, 2018. This meeting is intended to provide advice and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on issues associated with pesticide regulatory development and reform initiatives, evolving public policy and program implementation issues, and science issues associated with evaluating and reducing risks from use of pesticides.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing removal of the outdated rules in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for the State of Oregon because they are duplicative or obsolete. Removal of such material from the air program subparts is designed to improve cost effectiveness and usability of the CFR. The EPA is also proposing to make non-substantive revisions to reflect updated citations and correct a typographical error. This proposed action makes no substantive changes to the Oregon State Implementation Plan and imposes no new requirements.

The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') is granting a waiver extension (Case Number 2018-008) to Panasonic Appliances Refrigeration Systems Corporation of America (``PAPRSA'') to waive the requirements of the DOE refrigerator and refrigerator-freezer test procedures for determining the energy consumption of combination cooler-refrigerator basic model PR5181JKBC. PAPRSA is required to test and rate this basic model in accordance with the applicable DOE test procedure, with the exception that it must calculate the specified basic model's energy consumption using a correction factor (``K-factor'') of 0.85, as specified in the Extension of Waiver.

This notice announces a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure (NACTTI).

This notice announces a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure (NACTTI).

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) publishes notice at least once monthly of certain Federal agency requests for records disposition authority (records schedules). Once approved by NARA, records schedules provide mandatory instructions on what happens to records when agencies no longer need them for current Government business. The records schedules authorize agencies to preserve records of continuing value in the National Archives of the United States and to destroy, after a specified period, records lacking administrative, legal, research, or other value. NARA publishes notice in the Federal Register for records schedules in which agencies propose to destroy records they no longer need to conduct agency business. NARA invites public comments on such records schedules.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) invites public comment on the renewal of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing collection of information. The information collection is entitled, ``NRC Form 398, `Personal Qualification StatementLicensee.'''

NMFS transfers 55 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) quota to the General category October through November 2018 subquota period (40 mt from the Harpoon category and 15 mt from the Reserve category) and closes the General category fishery for large medium and giant BFT until the General category reopens on December 1, 2018. The quota transfer is intended to provide additional fishing opportunities based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments and applies to Atlantic tunas General category (commercial) permitted vessels and Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT. Given that the adjusted quota is projected to be caught quickly, the closure is to prevent overharvest of the adjusted General category October through November 2018 BFT subquota.

The NRC invites public comment on the renewal of OMB approval for an existing collection of information. The information collection is entitled, ``10 CFR part 150 Exemptions and Continued Regulatory Authority in Agreement States and in Offshore Waters Under Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.''