2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As directed by the Music Modernization Act, the U.S. Copyright Office is conducting a study to evaluate best practices that the Mechanical Licensing Collective should implement in the following areas: (1) To identify and locate musical work copyright owners and unclaimed accrued royalties held by the collective; (2) to encourage musical work copyright owners to claim the royalties of those owners; and (3) to reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. To initiate this effort, the Office is holding a one-day symposium to provide an educational foundation and facilitate public discussion on issues relevant to the study. Following this symposium, the Office will separately issue Notices of Inquiry soliciting written comments and announcing roundtables, both of which will provide opportunities for public input on the Unclaimed Royalties Study.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Recordkeeping and Reporting Related to E15 (EPA ICR Number 2408.05, OMB Control Number 2060-0675) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through October 31, 2019. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on March 18, 2019 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. 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 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for the Manufacture of Amino/Phenolic Resins (EPA ICR Number 1869.10, OMB Control Number 2060- 0434) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through January 31, 2020. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on May 6, 2019 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. 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 Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that aluminum wire and cable from the People's Republic of China (China) is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV).

In response to a request from the Rebar Trade Action Coalition (RTAC), the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating an anti- circumvention inquiry to determine whether otherwise straight rebar bent at one or both ends produced and/or exported to the United States by Deacero S.A.P.I de C.V. (Deacero) is circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) order on rebar from Mexico.

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2018-19-26, which applies to all Dassault Aviation Model MYSTERE- FALCON 200 airplanes. AD 2018-19-26 requires revising the maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate new or more restrictive maintenance requirements and airworthiness limitations. Since the FAA issued AD 2018-19-26, the FAA determined that new or more restrictive airworthiness limitations are necessary. This proposed AD would require revising the existing maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate new or more restrictive airworthiness limitations. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of wear on fuel couplings, bonding springs, and sleeves as well as fuel tube end ferrules and fuel component end ferrules. This proposed AD would require repetitive inspections of certain parts for discrepancies that meet specified criteria, and replacement as necessary; repetitive inspections of certain parts for damage and wear, and rework of parts; and electrical bonding checks of certain couplings. This proposed AD would also require revising the existing maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate new or more restrictive airworthiness limitations. For certain airplanes, this proposed AD would allow a modification that would terminate the repetitive inspections. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus SAS Model A350-941 and -1041 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report indicating that during inspection of the installation of oxygen containers, certain fasteners of the oxygen containers and adjacent panels in the passenger supply channels (PSCs) were found damaged or unlocked, which could result in insufficient clearance between the oxygen container and adjacent panels. This proposed AD would require a one-time inspection of the oxygen containers and adjacent panels and applicable corrective actions, 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.

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is approving an amendment to the Montana coal regulatory program (the Montana program or the State program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). The proposed changes to the Montana program are in response to a 2011 state legislative change, which enacted a new State statutory provision under the Montana Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act (MSUMRA). The statutory change, directs the State Board to adopt rules governing underground mining that uses in situ coal gasification. Montana proposes to revise its State program to incorporate the addition and proposes changes to the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) pertaining to the regulation of in situ coal gasification operations.

The Office of Hearings and Appeals Procedural Regulations set forth the default procedures for appearance and practice before the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), the quasi-judicial branch of the Department of Energy (DOE). The procedures set forth in this regulation apply to all proceedings before the OHA where a comprehensive procedural scheme is not found in another DOE regulation. Through this rulemaking, the OHA simplified and modernized its procedures.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are publishing for comment proposed regulations governing the rates and terms for the digital performance of sound recordings by noncommercial educational webcasters and for the making of ephemeral recordings necessary for the facilitation of such transmissions for the period commencing January 1, 2021, and ending on December 31, 2025.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the ``Commission'') is proposing amending rule 0-5 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') to establish an expedited review procedure for applications that are substantially identical to recent precedent as well as a new rule to establish an internal timeframe for review of applications outside of such expedited procedure. In addition, the Commission is proposing amending rule 0-5 under the Act to deem an application outside of expedited review withdrawn when the applicant does not respond in writing to comments within 120 days.

The OCC, the Board, and the Bureau are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations for their regulations that implement section 129H of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Section 129H of TILA establishes special appraisal requirements for ``higher-risk mortgages,'' termed ``higher-priced mortgage loans'' or ``HPMLs'' in the agencies' regulations. The OCC, the Board, the Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (collectively, the Agencies) issued joint final rules implementing these requirements, effective January 18, 2014. The Agencies' rules exempted, among other loan types, transactions of $25,000 or less, and required that this loan amount be adjusted annually based on any annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the OCC, the Board, and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. However, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the CPI-W in effect as of June 1, 2019, the exemption threshold will increase from $26,700 to $27,200, effective January 1, 2020.

The Board and the Bureau are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies' regulations that implement the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended the CLA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer leases be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Board and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. However, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage change in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2019, the exemption threshold will increase from $57,200 to $58,300 effective January 1, 2020. Because the Dodd-Frank Act also requires similar adjustments in the Truth in Lending Act's threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions, the Board and the Bureau are making similar amendments to each of their respective regulations implementing the Truth in Lending Act elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.

The Department of Labor's (DOL's) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) published a document in the Federal Register of September 25, 2019, soliciting public comments on the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Efforts to Improve Outcomes Information Collection Request (84 FR 50475). The document contained an incorrect date by which written comments must be received.

EPA is announcing the availability of and soliciting public comment on the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation of Methylene Chloride (MC). The purpose of the risk evaluation process under TSCA is to determine, upon issuance of a final risk evaluation, whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment under the conditions of use, including an unreasonable risk to a relevant potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulation. EPA is also submitting the same document to the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review and is announcing that there will be an in-person public meeting of the TSCA SACC to consider and review the draft risk evaluation. Preceding the in-person meeting, there will be a preparatory virtual public meeting for the panel to consider the scope and clarity of the draft charge questions for the peer review.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Investor Advisory Committee, established pursuant to Section 911 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, is providing notice that it will hold a public meeting. The public is invited to submit written statements to the Committee.