July 2, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains final regulations that clarify the employment tax treatment of partners in a partnership that owns a disregarded entity. These regulations affect partners in a partnership that owns a disregarded entity.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is issuing a final rule to amend its regulations regarding internal agency supervisory review of certain decisions related to devices regulated by the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH or the Center) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) to conform to the applicable provisions in the FD&C Act, as amended by the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) and the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act). This final rule codifies the procedures and timeframes for supervisory review of significant decisions pertaining to devices within CDRH. FDA is also finalizing regulations to provide new procedural requirements for requesting internal agency supervisory review within CDRH of other types of decisions made by CDRH not addressed in FDASIA and the Cures Act. This action is also part of FDA's implementation of Executive Orders (EOs) 13771 and 13777. Under these EOs, FDA is comprehensively reviewing existing regulations to identify opportunities for repeal, replacement, or modification that will result in meaningful burden reduction, while allowing the Agency to achieve its public health mission and fulfill statutory obligations.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) amends the Rules of Practice in Trademark Cases, the Rules of Practice in Filings Pursuant to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, and the rules regarding Representation of Others Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office to require applicants, registrants, or parties to a trademark proceeding whose domicile is not located within the United States (U.S.) or its territories (hereafter foreign applicants, registrants, or parties) to be represented by an attorney who is an active member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state in the U.S. (including the District of Columbia or any Commonwealth or territory of the U.S.). A requirement that such foreign applicants, registrants, or parties be represented by a qualified U.S. attorney will instill greater confidence in the public that U.S. trademark registrations that issue to foreign applicants are not subject to invalidation for reasons such as improper signatures and use claims and enable the USPTO to more effectively use available mechanisms to enforce foreign applicant compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements in trademark matters.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for navigable waters of Yaquina Bay near Newport, OR. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters during a fireworks display on July 4, 2019. This regulation prohibits persons and vessels from being in the safety zone unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Columbia River or a designated representative.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for certain waters of the Columbia River near Kennewick, WA. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters during a fireworks display on July 4, 2019. This regulation will prohibit persons and vessels from being in the safety zone unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Columbia River or a designated representative.

This action proposes special conditions for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (Gulfstream) Model GVII series airplane. These airplanes, as modified by Gulfstream, will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport-category airplanes. This design feature is electro-hydraulically actuated seats equipped with backup power supply. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

The Department of Justice (Department) is publishing this final rule (``final rule'' or ``rule'') to amend the regulations regarding the administrative review procedures of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board). This final rule sets forth the Department's longstanding position that the regulations providing for an affirmance without opinion (AWO), a single-member opinion, or a three-member panel opinion are not intended to create any substantive right to a particular manner of review or decision. The final rule also clarifies that the BIA is presumed to have considered all of the parties' relevant issues and claims of error on appeal regardless of the type of the BIA's decision, and that the parties are obligated to raise issues and exhaust claims of error before the BIA. In addition, the final rule codifies standards for the BIA's consideration in evaluating whether to designate particular decisions as precedents. Finally, the final rule provides clarity surrounding precedent decisions in the context of decisions from the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) regarding the recognition of organizations and the designation of accredited representatives.

The Coast Guard will enforce certain safety zones located in federal regulations for Annual Events in the Captain of the Port Buffalo Zone. This action is necessary and intended for the safety of life and property on navigable waters during these events. During each enforcement period, no person or vessel may enter the respective safety zone without the permission of the Captain of the Port Buffalo or a designated representative.

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2017-15-04, which applies to certain The Boeing Company Model 787-8 and 787-9 airplanes. AD 2017-15-04 requires replacement of affected electromechanical actuators (EMAs). Since AD 2017-15-04 was issued, the FAA has determined that discrepant EMAs may have been installed on airplanes outside the original applicability of AD 2017-15-04. This proposed AD would retain the requirements of AD 2017-15-04, expand the applicability to include all The Boeing Company Model 787 series airplanes, and add a new requirement to identify, for certain airplanes, the part number of EMAs and replace affected EMAs. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve revisions to the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD or ``District'') portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wood products coating operations and organic solvent degreasing operations. We are approving local rules to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are also approving revisions to a definitions rule. Finally, we are converting the partial conditional approval of the District's reasonably available control technology (RACT) SIPs for the 1997 and 2008 ozone standards, as it applies to VOC emissions from wood products coating operations and organic solvent degreasing operations, to a full approval.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is issuing this final rule to adjust a civil monetary penalty under the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1922 to account for inflation. This action is mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act), which requires agencies to adjust the levels of civil monetary penalties with an initial ``catch-up'' adjustment followed by annual adjustments for inflation.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve two State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submissions from the State of Missouri. In these submissions, the State requested that two rules relating to the sales of fuel and coal washing be rescinded from the Missouri SIP. The EPA received both submissions on December 4, 2018, and received supplemental information for both submissions on May 6, 2019. The EPA reviewed the submissions and supplemental information and determined that rescission of these rules from the SIP does not impact the stringency of the SIP or air quality and is proposing to rescind the rules from the Missouri SIP. Approval of the submissions will ensure consistency between state and federally approved rules and is being done in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) proposes to amend its regulations governing Tribal Energy Resource Agreements (TERAs) between the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) and Indian Tribes. Tribes, at their discretion, may apply for TERAs. TERAs allow Tribes to enter into leases, business agreements, and rights-of-way for energy resource development on Tribal land without the Secretary's review and approval. This proposed rule would update the regulations to incorporate changes recently made by Congress to the Act authorizing TERAs. This proposed rule would also establish how Tribal Energy Development Organizations (TEDOs) may obtain certification, as an alternative to a TERA.

The Secretary is issuing this rule to align the regulations with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).