February 20, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95). This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) of the Department of Labor (Department) is soliciting comments concerning the proposed extension of the collection of information requirements implementing Executive Order (E.O.) 13496: Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws. A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addresses section of this Notice.

NMFS proposes to approve and implement the measures of Framework Adjustment 30 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan that establishes scallop specifications and other measures for fishing years 2019 and 2020. This action is necessary to prevent overfishing and improve both yield-per-recruit and the overall management of the Atlantic sea scallop resource. The intended effect of this rule is to notify the public of these proposed measures and to solicit comment on the potential scallop fishery management changes.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to the State of Maryland's state implementation plan (SIP). The State of Maryland's SIP revision satisfies the volatile organic compound (VOC) reasonably available control technology (RACT) requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). The State of Maryland will address RACT for oxides of nitrogen (NOX) in another SIP submission. Maryland's VOC RACT submittal for the 2008 ozone NAAQS includes certification that previously adopted RACT controls in Maryland's SIP approved by EPA under the 1-hour ozone and 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS were reviewed based on the currently available technically and economically feasible controls, and that they continue to represent RACT; a negative declaration for certain control technique guideline (CTG) categories that no facilities exist in the State for these certain categories; and adoption of new or more stringent RACT determinations where necessary. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing this final rule to adopt as its own portions of the regulations of the Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) pertaining to the capital requirements for the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks). The final rule carries over most of the existing Finance Board regulations without material change, but substantively revises the credit risk component of the risk-based capital requirement, as well as the limitations on extensions of unsecured credit. The principal revisions to those provisions remove requirements that the Banks calculate credit risk capital charges and unsecured credit limits based on ratings issued by a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO), and instead require that the Banks use their own internal rating methodology. The final rule also revises the percentages used in the tables to calculate the credit risk capital charges for advances and non-mortgage assets. FHFA retains the percentages used in the existing table to calculate the capital charges for mortgage-related assets, but revises the approach to identify the appropriate percentage within the table. FHFA also has revised the table numbers in the final rule to align with the Federal Register's new formatting standards, which were revised after publication of the proposed rule.