December 17, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act, and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces a meeting of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the ``Commission'') is issuing a final rule that amends the Commission's regulations to eliminate the provisions that set forth the procedures for the formulation, amendment, or repeal of rules or regulations. Because the Administrative Procedure Act (``APA'') governs the Commission's rulemaking process, the Commission believes that it is unnecessary to codify the rulemaking process in a Commission regulation. The amended regulation is comprised solely of the procedure for filing petitions for rulemakings, as the APA does not address this process.

The Commission is acknowledging a recent Postal Service filing of its intention to change prices not of general applicability to be effective January 1, 2020. This document informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

The Commission is noticing a recent Postal Service filing for the Commission's consideration concerning negotiated service agreements. This notice informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing to renew an information collection request with revisions.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Embraer S.A. Model ERJ 190-100 STD, -100 LR, -100 ECJ, -100 IGW, -200 STD, -200 LR, and -200 IGW airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of erroneous indications of certain engine parameters and reports of ``pitch up'' and ``pitch down'' uncommanded attitudes with autopilot engaged in cruise flight. This proposed AD would require installing updated PRIMUS EPIC LOAD software, as specified in an Ag[ecirc]ncia Nacional de Avia[ccedil][atilde]o Civil (ANAC) Brazilian AD, which will be incorporated by reference. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

This rule implements changes to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program identified during the Catch Share Program 5- Year Review. This action is intended to modify outdated regulations, complete outstanding program elements, and respond to problems identified following implementation of the Catch Share Program. This action revises regulations consistent with Amendment 21-4 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, and revises elements in four areas of the Catch Share Program.

Effective August 23, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative imposed additional duties on goods of China with an annual trade value of approximately $16 billion as part of the action in the Section 301 investigation of China's acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. The U.S. Trade Representative's determination included a decision to establish a product exclusion process. The U.S. Trade Representative initiated the exclusion process in September 2018, and stakeholders have submitted requests for the exclusion of specific products. In July, September and October 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative granted exclusion requests. This notice makes amendments to certain notes in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). The U.S. Trade Representative will continue to issue decisions as necessary.

Effective July 6, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative imposed additional duties on goods of China with an annual trade value of approximately $34 billion as part of the action in the Section 301 investigation of China's acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. The U.S. Trade Representative's determination included a decision to establish a product exclusion process. The U.S. Trade Representative initiated the exclusion process in July 2018, and stakeholders have submitted requests for the exclusion of specific products. In December 2018, and March, April, May, June, July, September, and October 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative granted exclusion requests. This notice announces the U.S. Trade Representative's determination to grant an additional exclusion request, as specified in the Annex to this notice, and makes amendments to certain notes in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). The U.S. Trade Representative will continue to issue decisions as necessary.

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (``FRTIB'') is proposing to amend its regulations to change the cost-of-living adjustment rate used to calculate the annual increase for annuities with an increasing payment option, effective January 18, 2020, and to clarify its requirements regarding identification verification and availability of announcements of meetings open to public observation.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Embraer S.A. Model ERJ 170 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of erroneous indications of certain engine parameters and reports of ``pitch up'' and ``pitch down'' uncommanded attitudes with autopilot engaged in cruise flight. This proposed AD would require installing updated PRIMUS EPIC LOAD software, as specified in an Ag[ecirc]ncia Nacional de Avia[ccedil][atilde]o Civil (ANAC) Brazilian AD, which will be incorporated by reference. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) is proposing to amend the medical device regulations regarding the procedures for the announcement of approvals and denials of premarket approval applications (PMAs) and humanitarian device exemption applications (HDEs). We are proposing to discontinue publishing in the Federal Register after each quarter a list of PMA and HDE approvals and denials announced in that quarter. We will continue to post approval and denial notices for PMAs and HDEs on FDA's home page on the internet and will also continue to make available on the internet and place on public display summaries of safety and effectiveness data (SSED) for PMAs and summaries of safety and probable benefit (SSPB) for HDEs. FDA is proposing to take this action to improve the efficiency of announcing approvals and denials of PMAs and HDEs and to eliminate duplication in the current process for announcing this information. We are also proposing to update Agency contact information and statutory references in certain sections of the PMA and HDE regulations for purposes of accuracy, clarity, and consistency.

This document contains final regulations relating to certain financial products providing for payments that are contingent upon or determined by reference to U.S. source dividend payments.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting comments and feedback on draft instructions for validation of refining processes as it pertains to the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (Standard).

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance relating to the determination of the foreign tax credit under the Internal Revenue Code. The guidance relates to changes made to the applicable law by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted on December 22, 2017. This document finalizes the proposed regulations published on December 7, 2018. This document also finalizes proposed regulations on overall foreign losses that were published on June 25, 2012, and finalizes certain portions of proposed regulations published on November 7, 2007, relating to a U.S. taxpayer's obligation to notify the IRS of a foreign tax redetermination.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing source category. The EPA is proposing decisions concerning the residual risk and technology review (RTR), including proposing amendments pursuant to the technology review for equipment leaks and heat exchange systems, and also proposing amendments pursuant to the risk review to specifically address ethylene oxide emissions from storage tanks, process vents, and equipment leaks. The EPA is also proposing amendments to correct and clarify regulatory provisions related to emissions during periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM), including removing general exemptions for periods of SSM, adding work practice standards for periods of SSM where appropriate, and clarifying regulatory provisions for certain vent control bypasses. Lastly, the EPA is proposing to add monitoring and operational requirements for flares that control ethylene oxide emissions and flares used to control emissions from processes that produce olefins and polyolefins; and add provisions for electronic reporting of performance test results and reports, performance evaluation reports, and compliance reports. We estimate that, if finalized, these proposed amendments (not including the potential excess emission reductions from flares) would reduce hazardous air pollutants (HAP) emissions from this source category by 116 tons per year (tpy) and would reduce ethylene oxide emissions from this source category by approximately 10 tpy.