February 12, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS establishes the annual harvest guideline for the commercial lobster fishery in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) for calendar year 2020 at zero lobsters.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (``Board'') is amending Regulation D (Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions) to revise the rate of interest paid on balances maintained to satisfy reserve balance requirements (``IORR'') and the rate of interest paid on excess balances (``IOER'') maintained at Federal Reserve Banks by or on behalf of eligible institutions. The final amendments specify that IORR is 1.60 percent and IOER is 1.60 percent, a 0.05 percentage point increase from their prior levels. The amendments are intended to enhance the role of such rates of interest in maintaining the Federal funds rate in the target range established by the Federal Open Market Committee (``FOMC'' or ``Committee'').

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is publishing this final rule to amend its minimum safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities (UNGSFs). On December 19, 2016, PHMSA issued an interim final rule (IFR) establishing regulations in response to the 2015 Aliso Canyon incident and the subsequent mandate in section 12 of the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2016. The IFR incorporated by reference two American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practices (RPs): API RP 1170, ``Design and Operation of Solution-mined Salt Caverns Used for Natural Gas Storage'' (First Edition, July 2015); and API RP 1171, ``Functional Integrity of Natural Gas Storage in Depleted Hydrocarbon Reservoirs and Aquifer Reservoirs'' (First Edition, September 2015). The IFR required each provision in the API RPs to apply as mandatory (i.e., each ``should'' statement would apply as a ``shall'') unless an operator provides written justification for not implementing the practice, including an explanation for why it is impracticable and not necessary for safety. Based on the comments received to the IFR and a petition for reconsideration, PHMSA has determined that the RPs, as originally published, will provide PHMSA with a stronger basis upon which to base enforcement than the IFR. This final rule also addresses recommendations from commenters and a petition for reconsideration of the IFR by modifying compliance timelines, revising the definition of a UNGSF, clarifying the states' regulatory role, reducing recordkeeping and reporting requirements, formalizing integrity management practices, and adding risk management requirements for solution-mined salt caverns.