January 3, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS proposes to approve and implement the measures of the New England Fishery Management Council's Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment. This action would protect deep-sea corals from the impacts of commercial fishing gear on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. These proposed management measures are intended to reduce, to the extent practicable, impacts of fishing gear on deep-sea corals in New England while balancing their costs to commercial fisheries.

This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the final rule with comment period that appeared in the November 12, 2019, issue of the Federal Register titled ``Changes to Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs; Revisions of Organ Procurement Organizations Conditions of Coverage; Prior Authorization Process and Requirements for Certain Covered Outpatient Department Services; Potential Changes to the Laboratory Date of Service Policy; Changes to Grandfathered Children's Hospitals-Within-Hospitals; Notice of Closure of Two Teaching Hospitals and Opportunity to Apply for Available Slots.''

This document extends the comment period for the proposed rule entitled, ``Transparency in Coverage,'' that published in the November 27, 2019, issue of the Federal Register. The comment period for the proposed rule, which would close on January 14, 2020, is extended 15 days to January 29, 2020.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for all navigable waters of the Lower Mississippi River between Mile Marker (MM) 364.5 and MM 365.5, upriver of the Bienville Trace Scenic Byway/ US-425 Bridge in Vidalia, LA. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of persons, vessels, and the marine environment during a fireworks display. Entry of persons or vessels into this zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Sector Lower Mississippi River or a designated representative.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary security zone. This security zone is necessary to provide security and protection for visiting personnel during the events related to the College Football Playoff game. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port New Orleans or a designated representative.

The Coast Guard is amending the Thea Foss and Wheeler-Osgood Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) for Commencement Bay to establish a permanent regulated navigation area within the Middle Waterway. This action is necessary to protect sediment cap areas in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Commencement Bay Nearshore-Tideflats Superfund Cleanup Site within the Middle Waterway. This RNA would prohibit certain activities that could disrupt the integrity of the engineered sediment caps placed within the Middle Waterway.

The Coast Guard will enforce a temporary safety zone between mile marker (MM) 94 and MM 95 above Head of Passes, Lower Mississippi River, LA. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters near New Orleans, LA, during a fireworks display on January 11, 2020. During the enforcement periods, the operator of any vessel in the regulated area must comply with directions from the Patrol Commander or any Official Patrol displaying a Coast Guard ensign.

This final rule is being issued to adjust for inflation each civil monetary penalty (CMP) provided by law within the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Commerce (Department of Commerce). The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 and the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, required the head of each agency to adjust for inflation its CMP levels in effect as of November 2, 2015, under a revised methodology that was effective for 2016 which provided for initial catch up adjustments for inflation in 2016, and requires adjustments for inflation to CMPs under a revised methodology for each year thereafter. The 2019 adjustments for inflation to CMPs to the Department of Commerce's CMPs were published in the Federal Register on February 7, 2019, and became effective March 1, 2019. The annual methodology provides for the improvement of the effectiveness of CMPs and to maintain their deterrent effect. Agencies' annual adjustments for inflation to CMPs shall take effect not later than January 15. The Department of Commerce's 2020 adjustments for inflation to CMPs apply only to CMPs with a dollar amount, and will not apply to CMPs written as functions of violations. The Department of Commerce's 2020 adjustments for inflation to CMPs apply only to those CMPs, including those whose associated violation predated such adjustment, which are assessed by the Department of Commerce after the effective date of the new CMP level.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopts a rule that prospectively prohibits the use of Universal Service Fund (USF or the Fund) funds to purchase or obtain any equipment or services produced or provided by a covered company posing a national security threat to the integrity of communications networks or the communications supply chain. In doing so, the Report and Order initially designates Huawei Technologies Company (Huawei) and ZTE Corporation (ZTE) as covered companies for purposes of the rule and establish a process for designating additional covered companies in the future. To support the Commission's future efforts to protect the communications supply chain, the Information Collection Order (Order) directs the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) and Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), in coordination with USAC, to conduct an information collection to determine the extent to which potentially prohibited equipment exists in current networks and the costs associated with removing such equipment and replacing it with equivalent equipment.