December 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) revised Circular A- 94 in 1992. With this action, OMB has revised the Circular and specified certain discount rates to be updated annually when the interest rate and inflation assumptions used to prepare the Budget of the United States Government were changed. These updated discount rates are found in Appendix C of the revised Circular and are to be used for cost-effectiveness analysis, including lease-purchase analysis, as specified in the revised Circular. These rates do not apply to regulatory analysis. The revised Circular can be accessed at https://www.whitehouse.gov/ wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Appendix-C.pdf.

Each year, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) conducts a Special 301 review to identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property (IP) rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on IP protection. Based on this review, the United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative) determines which, if any, of these countries to identify as Priority Foreign Countries. USTR requests written comments that identify acts, policies, or practices that may form the basis of a country's identification as a Priority Foreign Country or placement on the Priority Watch List or Watch List. USTR also requests notices of intent to appear at the public hearing.

This document contains corrections to the DATES caption of the notice of issuance of an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) for the take of marine mammals incidental to the Sand Island Pile Dike System Test Piles Project Near the Mouth of the Columbia River. This action is necessary to correct errors in the effective dates of the issued IHA. The scope of the activities and anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers have not changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remain the same.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is requesting written stakeholder input on the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program (FRTEP). The purpose of this Notice is to assist NIFA in developing the FY 2021 Request for Applications for the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program. NIFA plans to consider all stakeholder input received in response to this Notice.

The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to add a domestic shipping services contract to the list of Negotiated Service Agreements in the Mail Classification Schedule's Competitive Products List.

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 Information Collection for Tuberculosis Data from Referring Entities to CureTB, which enables CDC to coordinate continuity of care services for individuals with tuberculosis.

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 ``APPLETREE Performance Measures,'' which ATSDR will use to manage its next three-year cooperative agreement program under Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) No. CDC-RFA-TS20-2001.

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 ``Chronic Q Fever in the United States: Enhanced Clinical Surveillance.'' This enhanced medical surveillance for chronic Q fever will collect specific clinical data not otherwise collected during routine public health surveillance to allow for better characterization of the clinical presentation and risk factors of chronic Q fever in the United States.

NMFS is adjusting the 2020 total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) pollock and Pacific cod fishery. This action is necessary because NMFS has determined these TACs are incorrectly specified, and will ensure the GOA pollock and Pacific cod TACs are the appropriate amount based on the best available scientific information for pollock and Pacific cod in the GOA. This action is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska.

This rule amends, suspends, or removes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide for the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, Agency, or we) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled ``Importation of Certain FDA-Approved Human Prescription Drugs, Including Biological Products, under Section 801(d)(1)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.'' This draft guidance describes procedures to obtain a National Drug Code (NDC) for an FDA-approved prescription drug that is imported into the United States in compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), which would provide an additional avenue through which drugs could be sold at a lower cost in the U.S. market. This draft guidance is intended to address certain challenges in the private market faced by manufacturers seeking to sell their drugs at lower costs.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), concurrently with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is issuing final guidance document entitled, ``Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans and Preparedness in Support of Nuclear Power Plants; Rev. 2'' (NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, Rev. 2).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), concurrently with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), is issuing final guidance entitled ``Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans and Preparedness in Support of Nuclear Power Plants'' (NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, Rev. 2). This final guidance document focuses on preparedness for radiological incidents at commercial nuclear power plants that could impact public health and safety.

This regulation establishes a time-limited tolerance for residues of fenpropathrin in or on fuzzy kiwifruit. This action is in response to EPA's granting of an emergency exemption under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of the pesticide on fuzzy kiwifruit. This regulation establishes a maximum permissible level for residues of fenpropathrin in or on this commodity. The time-limited tolerance expires on December 31, 2022.

This rule revises the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) program regulations to incorporate legislative changes introduced in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 and to incorporate changes that conform the operation of the program to the requirements in the ``Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards'' (Uniform Guidance) and Federal grant-making best practices.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) is proposing revisions to the Commission regulation that exempts certain affiliated entities within a corporate group from the swap clearing requirement under the applicable provision of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA or Act). The revisions concern the anti-evasionary condition that swaps subject to the clearing requirement entered into with unaffiliated counterparties either be cleared or be eligible for an exception to or exemption from the clearing requirement. Specifically, the revisions would make permanent certain temporary alternative compliance frameworks intended to make this anti-evasionary condition workable for international corporate groups in the absence of foreign clearing regimes determined to be comparable to U.S. requirements.

Whenever a new or revised National Ambient Air Quality Standard is promulgated, the Clean Air Act requires states to submit plans for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of such standard, commonly referred to as infrastructure requirements. On October 25, 2018, the State of Alaska submitted such a plan for the ozone standard revised on October 1, 2015. In this action, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the Alaska plan as meeting applicable infrastructure requirements.

NMFS, upon request from the U.S. Navy (Navy), issues these regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the training and testing activities conducted in the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) Study Area over the course of seven years, effectively extending the time period from November 13, 2023, to November 13, 2025. In August 2018, the MMPA was amended by the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 to allow for seven-year authorizations for military readiness activities, as compared to the previously allowed five years. The Navy's activities qualify as military readiness activities pursuant to the MMPA as amended by the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2004. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOAs) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, and establish requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.

This notice announces actions taken by FHWA and other Federal agencies that are final. The actions relate to a proposed highway project for the construction of US-641/State Route (SR) 54 from just north of Puryear in Henry County, Tennessee to just south of Murray in Calloway County, Kentucky. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project. The FHWA's Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) provides details on the Selected Alternative for the proposed improvements.

On February 24, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board published in the Federal Register a comprehensive amendment of its procedural regulations that revised a section in its entirety, but inadvertently failed to include two paragraphs. This document corrects those regulations to include the paragraphs that were inadvertently repealed.