April 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announces a forthcoming public advisory committee meeting of the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee. The general function of the committee is to provide advice and recommendations to FDA on regulatory issues. The meeting will be open to the public. FDA is establishing a docket for public comment on this document.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Florida Tomato Committee (Committee) to redistrict and reapportion producer representation on the Committee currently prescribed under the marketing order for tomatoes grown in Florida. This action would reduce the number of districts from four to two and reapportion producer membership on the Committee to provide equitable representation from both districts.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposes to update, reissue, and rename a previously published Department of Transportation (DOT) system of records titled, ``Department of TransportationDOT/ NHTSA 415 Artemis/Vehicle Owner Complaint Information.'' This system of records allows NHTSA to collect and retain complaints, letters communicating vehicle or equipment concerns, and supporting documentation which may include photos, videos, police accident reports, repair invoices or medical information (collectively, ``vehicle owner questionnaires'' or ``VOQs'') submitted by or on behalf of vehicle or equipment owners and lessees (consumers). NHTSA updated the notice with regards to: System Name to Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) System to appropriately identify the specific records maintained in the Artemis system covered by the Privacy Act; System Location to include NHTSA's current address and the location of the Federal disaster recovery facility in Stennis, MS; System Managers to update the name and contact information for the system's current points of contact; Authority for Maintenance of the System to reflect the system's underlying authority; Purposes to provide clarity and facilitate understanding of NHTSA investigation and recall processes; Categories of Records to provide greater clarity of the type of records and information included in the system; Record Source Categories to provide additional information about the mechanisms used by NHTSA for collecting records in the system; and Routine Uses to modify an existing routine use to permit sharing of records with manufacturers named in VOQs earlier in NHTSA's investigation and recall processes than permitted under the previously published system of records notice (SORN), unless a consumer ``opts-out'' at the time of collection, and to provide additional details and clarification about NTHSA referrals of complaints to other agencies; and Policies and Practices for Storage, Retrieval, Retention and Disposal of Records, respectively, to provide additional information about the location of the system, methods of retrieval, individuals permitted to retrieve records, and to specify the applicable NARA record retention schedule; Administration, Technical and Physical Safeguards to detail the privacy-risk mitigating controls applicable to the system. Additionally, this notice includes non-substantive changes to simplify and clarify the language, formatting, and text of the previously published notice to align with the requirements of Office of Management and Budget Memoranda A-108. This updated system, Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) System, will be included in the Department of Transportation's inventory of record systems.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve two revisions to the Jefferson County portion of the Kentucky State Implementation Plan (SIP), provided by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, through the Kentucky Division of Air Quality (KDAQ), through a letter dated March 15, 2018. The revisions were submitted by KDAQ on behalf of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District (LMAPCD) (also referred to herein as Jefferson County) and add a recordkeeping provision for certain sources of volatile organic compounds (VOC) along with other administrative changes. EPA is proposing to approve the changes because they are consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

The FHWA, on behalf of Caltrans, is issuing this notice to announce actions taken by Caltrans that are final. The actions relate to a proposed highway project, State Route 57 Northbound Improvement Project (PM 11.5-12.5) in the County of Orange, State of California. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the Office of the Chief Financial Officer intention to request an extension and revision of a currently approved collection.

This proposed rule would update the prospective payment rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) for federal fiscal year (FY) 2020. As required by the Social Security Act (the Act), this proposed rule includes the classification and weighting factors for the IRF prospective payment system's (PPS) case-mix groups (CMGs) and a description of the methodologies and data used in computing the prospective payment rates for FY 2020. We are proposing to rebase and revise the IRF market basket to reflect a 2016 base year rather than the current 2012 base year. Additionally, we are proposing to replace the previously finalized unweighted motor score with a weighted motor score to assign patients to CMGs and remove one item from the score beginning with FY 2020 and to revise the CMGs and update the CMG relative weights and average length of stay values beginning with FY 2020, based on analysis of 2 years of data (FY 2017 and FY 2018). We are proposing to update the IRF wage index to use the concurrent FY inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) wage index beginning with FY 2020. We are soliciting comments on stakeholder concerns regarding the appropriateness of the wage index used to adjust IRF payments. We are proposing to amend the regulations to clarify that the determination as to whether a physician qualifies as a rehabilitation physician (that is, a licensed physician with specialized training and experience in inpatient rehabilitation) is made by the IRF. For the IRF Quality Reporting Program (QRP), we are proposing to adopt two new measures, modify an existing measure, and adopt new standardized patient assessment data elements. We also propose to expand data collection to all patients, regardless of payer, as well as proposing updates related to the system used for the submission of data and related regulation text.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to convert its June 29, 2017 conditional approval of revisions to the New Mexico State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the City of Albuquerque- Bernalillo County minor New Source Review (NSR) program to full approval. The January 18, 2018 SIP submittal satisfies New Mexico's commitment which was the basis of our conditional approval of the minor NSR Preconstruction Permitting Program. Final approval of this SIP submittal will convert our earlier conditional approval to full approval. We are taking this action in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA, the Act) requirements.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that critical circumstances exist with respect to all imports of polyester textured yarn (yarn) from the People's Republic of China (China).

This document extends the comment period for the proposed rule entitled ``Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Interoperability and Patient Access for Medicare Advantage Organization and Medicaid Managed Care Plans, State Medicaid Agencies, CHIP Agencies and CHIP Managed Care Entities, Issuers of Qualified Health Plans in the Federally-facilitated Exchanges and Health Care Providers'' that appeared in the March 4, 2019 Federal Register. The comment period for the proposed rule, which would end on May 3, 2019, is extended 30 days to June 3, 2019. We additionally note that based on public comments received on this proposed rule, we will adjust the effective dates of our policies to allow for adequate implementation timelines, as appropriate.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced its general policy and application procedures for funding under the eConnectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect Program) in a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and solicitation of applications on December 14, 2018 in the Federal Register and amended the application window closing dates in a notice published on February 25, 2019 in the Federal Register. The Reconnect Program will provide loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas. This Notice announces the opening date for the ReConnect Program application windows.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) invites comments on this information collection for which RUS intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The NCUA Board (Board) is issuing this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit comments on ways to improve the agency's regulations limiting a credit union official's and employee's compensation in connection with loans to members and lines of credit to members. These regulations have generated confusion and are likely outdated, burdensome, and at odds with industry standards. The Board is particularly interested in obtaining commenter feedback on how it can provide flexibility with respect to senior executive compensation plans that incorporate lending as part of a broad and balanced set of organizational goals and performance measures.

The purpose of this notice is to announce the meeting of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Advisory Policy Board (APB). The CJIS APB is a federal advisory committee established pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). This meeting announcement is being published as required by Section 10 of the FACA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``EPA Application Materials for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act'' (EPA ICR No. 2549.02, OMB Control No. 2040-0292) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a request for approval of a renewal. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of government information, invites the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project titled National HIV Surveillance System (NHSS). This data collection is for continuation of the National HIV Surveillance System which provides the primary population-based data used to describe the epidemiology of HIV in the United States including adult/adolescent and pediatric HIV case reporting, case report evaluations and updates, laboratory updates, deduplication activities, investigation reporting and evaluation, cluster reporting, perinatal HIV exposure reporting, and annual reporting of the standards evaluation report.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), as part of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of government information, invites the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project titled ``Human health effects of drinking water exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): A multi-site cross-sectional study (The Multi-site Study).'' The purpose of this research is to use sound study methods to see if drinking water exposure to PFAS is related to health outcomes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of government information, invites the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project titled ``Extended Evaluation of the National Tobacco Prevention and Control Public Education Campaign.'' This information collection request will enable the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue to measure exposure and awareness of the Tips From Former Smokers[supreg] campaign (Tips[supreg]) and to evaluate its impact on campaign-targeted outcomes among smokers and nonsmokers in the United States.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requests information about possible changes to the Commission's Standard for the Flammability of Clothing Textiles to expand the list of fabrics that are exempt from testing under the standard. CPSC is particularly interested in receiving information about the possibility of adding spandex to the list of fabrics that are exempt from the testing requirements. CPSC also would like information about the equipment and procedures specified in the standard and possible ways to update those provisions to reduce the burdens associated with the testing requirements.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (``FY 2019 Appropriations Act'') appropriated $900 million to be awarded by the Department of Transportation (``DOT'') for National Infrastructure Investments. This appropriation stems from the program funded and implemented pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the ``Recovery Act'') and is known as the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or ``BUILD Transportation grants,'' program. Funds for the FY 2019 BUILD Transportation grants program are to be awarded on a competitive basis for surface transportation infrastructure projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. The purpose of this notice is to solicit applications for BUILD Transportation grants.

FMCSA corrects a notice that appeared in the Federal Register on April 15, 2019. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced its decision to grant a limited 5-year exemption to the Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference (AFTC) of American Trucking Associations (ATA) to allow certain alternate methods for the securement of agricultural commodities transported. The document contains an incorrect uniform resource locator (URL) where it is available on the FMCSA website.