December 19, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) seek comment on the small business size standards to be used to determine an entity's eligibility for small business bidding credits in an auction of unassigned Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band.

NMFS proposes to implement management measures described in a framework action to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP), as prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). If implemented, this proposed rule would revise the commercial trip limit in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for greater amberjack. In addition, this proposed rule would revise the boundaries of several Gulf reef fish management areas to reflect a change in the seaward boundary of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi for purposes of management under the FMP to 9 nautical miles (nm). The purpose of this proposed rule and the framework action is to extend the commercial fishing season for greater amberjack by constraining the harvest rate while continuing to prevent overfishing and rebuild the stock in the Gulf, and to update the boundaries of reef fish management areas to reflect the current state boundaries.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce 90- day findings on two petitions to add species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that the petitions present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this document, we announce that we plan to initiate status reviews of the Bethany Beach firefly (Photuris bethaniensis) and Gulf Coast solitary bee (Hesperapis oraria) to determine whether the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that the status reviews are comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding the species and factors that may affect their status. Based on the status reviews, we will issue 12-month petition findings, which will address whether or not the petitioned actions are warranted, in accordance with the Act.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain ATR-GIE Avions de Transport R[eacute]gional Model ATR42-500 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of interference between bonding braid screws and pitch tab control rods on the ATR final assembly line. This proposed AD would require an inspection of the bonding braid screws for proper installation, a detailed inspection for damage to the pitch tab control rods if necessary, and replacement of the pitch tab control rods if necessary, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which will be incorporated by reference. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

This action revokes the Class E airspace designated as an extension to a Class C surface area at Lafayette Regional Airport/Paul Fournet Field, Lafayette, LA; amends the Class E airspace designated as a surface area at Lafayette Regional Airport/Paul Fournet Field; and amends the Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Lafayette Regional Airport/Paul Fournet Field and Acadiana Regional Airport, New Iberia, LA, which is contained within the Lafayette, LA, airspace legal description. This action is due to an airspace review caused by the decommissioning of the Acadi non- directional beacon (NDB), which provided navigation information for the instrument procedures at Acadiana Regional Airport, and the development of new instrument procedures at Lafayette Regional Airport/Paul Fournet Field. The geographic coordinates of the Lafayette Regional Airport/ Paul Fournet Field and the names of Lafayette Regional Airport/Paul Fournet Field, Acadiana Regional Airport, and Abbeville Chris Crusta Memorial Airport, Abbeville, LA, which is contained within the Lafayette, LA, airspace legal description, are also being updated to coincide with the FAA's aeronautical database.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), recently published a document proposing changes to our October 7, 2014, proposed rule to list the West Coast distinct population segment (DPS) of fisher (Pekania pennanti) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (Act) and proposing a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act for this DPS. We announced the opening of a 30-day public comment period on the revised proposed rule, ending December 9, 2019. We now reopen the public comment period for an additional 15 days, to allow all interested parties more time to comment on the revised proposed rule. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted and will be fully considered in preparation of the final determination.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is responding to objections that it received from the Center for Food Safety on the final rule entitled ``Listing of Color Additives Exempt from Certification; Soy Leghemoglobin,'' which published on August 1, 2019. The final rule amended the color additive regulations to provide for the safe use of soy leghemoglobin as a color additive in ground beef analogue products. After reviewing the objections, FDA has concluded that the objections do not raise issues of material fact that justify a hearing or otherwise provide a basis for revoking the amendment to the regulations. We are also providing notice that the administrative stay of the effective date for this color additive regulation is now lifted.

The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (collectively, ``the Departments'') propose to amend their respective regulations governing the bars to asylum eligibility. The Departments also propose to clarify the effect of criminal convictions and to remove their respective regulations governing the automatic reconsideration of discretionary denials of asylum applications.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is correcting a direct final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on November 1, 2019. The document is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the State of New Hampshire's Underground Storage Tank (UST) program submitted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES). This action also codifies EPA's approval of New Hampshire's state program and incorporates by reference those provisions of the State regulations that meet the requirements for approval.

Under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine threatened status for the Hawaiian goose (nene) (Branta sandvicensis). This rule changes the listing status of the nene from an endangered species to a threatened species on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. We call this ``reclassifying'' or ``downlisting'' the species. We are also adopting a rule under the authority of section 4(d) of the Act (a ``4(d) rule'') to enhance conservation of the species through range expansion and management flexibility. This final rule is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific data, which indicate that the threats to this species have been reduced to the point that it no longer meets the definition of endangered under the Act, but that it is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future. In addition, this rule corrects the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife to reflect that Nesochen is not currently a scientifically accepted generic name for this species, and acknowledges the Hawaiian name ``nene'' as an alternative common name.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising regulations that are designed to reduce the risk of accidental releases of hazardous chemicals. These regulations are part of the EPA's Risk Management Program (RMP), which the Agency established under authority in the Clean Air Act and recently amended on January 13, 2017. After a process of reconsidering several parts of the 2017 rule, EPA has concluded that a better approach is to improve the performance of a subset of facilities by achieving greater compliance with RMP regulations instead of imposing additional regulatory requirements on the larger population of facilities that is generally performing well in preventing accidental releases. For this and other reasons, EPA is rescinding recent amendments to these regulations that we no longer consider reasonable or practicable relating to safer technology and alternatives analyses, third-party audits, incident investigations, information availability, and several other minor regulatory changes. EPA is also modifying regulations relating to local emergency coordination, emergency response exercises, and public meetings. In addition, the Agency is changing compliance dates for some of these provisions.