2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program), providers of services and suppliers that participate in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) continue to receive traditional Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) payments under Parts A and B, but the ACO may be eligible to receive a shared savings payment if it meets specified quality and savings requirements. The policies included in this final rule provide a new direction for the Shared Savings Program by establishing pathways to success through redesigning the participation options available under the program to encourage ACOs to transition to two-sided models (in which they may share in savings and are accountable for repaying shared losses). These policies are designed to increase savings for the Trust Funds and mitigate losses, reduce gaming opportunities, and promote regulatory flexibility and free-market principles. This final rule also provides new tools to support coordination of care across settings and strengthen beneficiary engagement; and ensure rigorous benchmarking. In this final rule, we also respond to public comments we received on the extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policies for the Shared Savings Program that were used to assess the quality and financial performance of ACOs that were subject to extreme and uncontrollable events, such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and the California wildfires, in performance year 2017, including the applicable quality data reporting period for performance year 2017.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amounts of Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) from vessels using jig gear, catcher/ processors using hook-and-line gear, and catcher vessels using trawl gear to catcher vessels less than 50 feet length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line gear, catcher vessels greater than or equal to 50 feet LOA using hook-and-line gear, vessels using pot gear, and catcher/ processors using trawl gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to allow the 2018 TAC of Pacific cod in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA to be harvested.

The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Department of Interior will hold a public meeting of the 41st U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF).

This document corrects technical and typographical errors in the final rule with comment period that appeared in the November 21, 2018 Federal Register titled ``Changes to Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs.''

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the Chicago Area Waterway System Dredged Material Management Plan Study. The study is sponsored by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) on behalf of the City of Chicago. The purpose of the EIS is to assess the likely social, economic, and environmental effects of a range of potential alternative plans to ensure that maintenance dredging activities are performed in an environmentally acceptable manner, use sound engineering techniques, are economically warranted, and provide sufficient confined disposal capacity, as needed, for at least the next 20 years. Based on stakeholder and public concerns voiced throughout the process of preparing an Environmental Assessment, the Corps has determined that an EIS is warranted for the study.

This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the State of Oklahoma dated 12/20/2018. Incident: Tornadoes, Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds. Incident Period: 11/30/2018 through 12/01/2018.

Each year, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) conducts a Special 301 review to identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. Based on this review, the United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative) determines which, if any, of these countries to identify as Priority Foreign Countries. USTR requests written comments that identify acts, policies, or practices that may form the basis of a country's identification as a Priority Foreign Country or placement on the Priority Watch List or Watch List. USTR also requests notices of intent to appear at the public hearing.

This document provides the public with notice that on August 9, 2018, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) submitted its Positive Train Control Safety Plan (PTCSP) Revision 0, dated July 17, 2018, to FRA via the Secure Information Repository. Amtrak asks FRA to approve its PTCSP and issue a Positive Train Control System Certification for Amtrak's Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS).

This notice contains the text of the report required by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, as submitted by the Secretary of State pursuant to Executive Order 13818.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is soliciting information and public comments regarding potential impacts (including impacts on future use of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)) related to decommissioning-in-place (DIP) of certain pipeline-related infrastructure in deepwater (i.e., depths of at least 600 feet) on the OCS. Responses to this Request for Information (RFI) will help identify technical, safety and environmental factors, as well as potential impacts to other uses of the OCS, that will inform BSEE's consideration of requests to allow DIP of such pipeline-related infrastructure in deepwater in lieu of decommissioning by removal. BSEE intends to make any written comments or other information submitted in response to this RFI publicly available on www.regulations.gov.