February 24, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reproposing to approve under the Clean Air Act an element of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision for attaining the 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO2) primary national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for the Southwest Indiana nonattainment area (including parts of Daviess and Pike Counties), based on revised limits for the Indianapolis Power and Light's Petersburg facility (IP&L-Petersburg) that Indiana submitted on September 18, 2019. Indiana's revised limits are based on the same dispersion modeling and the same 1-hour average emission rates that EPA proposed to conclude would result in attainment. However, the revised limits reflect revised calculations of the degree of adjustment needed for the 30-day average limits to be comparably stringent to 1-hour limits at the modeled emission rates. EPA is soliciting additional comments that may arise from these revisions.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the Florida bristle fern (Trichomanes punctatum ssp. floridanum) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. In total, approximately 1,624 hectares (4,014 acres) in Miami-Dade and Sumter Counties, Florida, fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to this subspecies' critical habitat. We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis of the proposed designation of critical habitat.

The U.S. Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulation governing the group registration option for newsletter issues. The proposed rule eliminates the requirement that newsletters must be published at least two days each week to qualify for a group registration. This will let a broader range of newsletter publishers register a month of issues, without imposing an administrative burden on the Office. In addition, the proposed rule updates the address where complimentary subscriptions should be sent for purposes of satisfying the mandatory deposit requirement for newsletters and other serials.

NMFS, upon request of the U.S. Navy (Navy), hereby issues regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to conducting construction activities related to development of a new ammunition pier at Seal Beach, California, over the course of five years. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified 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, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.

This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or removes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures (ODPs) 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 safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or we) is issuing this final rule, in accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance, to adjust for inflation the statutory civil monetary penalties that may be assessed for violations of Service-administered statutes and their implementing regulations. We are required to adjust civil monetary penalties annually for inflation according to a formula specified in the Inflation Adjustment Act. This rule replaces the previously issued amounts with the updated amounts after using the 2020 inflation adjustment multiplier provided in the OMB guidance.

FMCSA amends its Hazardous Materials Safety Permit regulations to incorporate by reference the April 1, 2019, edition of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) ``North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria and Level VI Inspection Procedures and Out-of- Service Criteria for Commercial Highway Vehicles Transporting Transuranics and Highway Route Controlled Quantities of Radioactive Materials as defined in 49 CFR part 173.403.'' The Out-of-Service Criteria provide uniform enforcement tolerances for roadside inspections to enforcement personnel nationwide, including FMCSA's State partners.

The Commission is updating the competitive product list. This action reflects a publication policy adopted by Commission order. The referenced policy assumes periodic updates. The updates are identified in the body of this document. The competitive product list, which is re-published in its entirety, includes these updates.

NMFS implements management measures described in the For-hire Reporting Amendment, as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (South Atlantic Council) and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council). This final rule establishes new, and revises existing, electronic reporting requirements for federally permitted charter vessels and headboats (for-hire vessels), respectively, in certain Atlantic fisheries. The purpose of this final rule is to increase and improve fisheries information collected from federally permitted for-hire vessels in the Atlantic. The information is expected to improve recreational fisheries management of the for-hire component in the Atlantic.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving revisions to the Iowa State Implementation Plan (SIP) to include recent changes to the Linn County Code of Ordinances. The revisions include updating definitions and references to the effective dates the Federal rules were approved into the State's SIP, revising methods and procedures for performance test/stack test and continuous monitoring systems, and updating the Linn County permits program. These revisions will not adversely impact air quality and will ensure consistency between the state and federally approved rules.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving revisions to the general air quality regulations submitted by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology). The four categories of revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) approved in this action are: revising the adoption by reference date for Federal regulations cross referenced in the State regulations; revising the definition of volatile organic compounds (VOC) to match changes to the Federal definition; updating public involvement procedures for the new source review air permitting program to reflect changes to the Federal requirements, allowing greater use of electronic notice and electronic access to information; and correcting typographical errors and minor wording changes for clarity.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the District of Columbia. This revision satisfies the nitrogen oxides (NOX) reasonably available control technology (RACT) requirements under the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (2008 ozone NAAQS). The District of Columbia's NOX RACT submittal for the 2008 ozone NAAQS: Amends existing regulatory provisions to add new or more stringent regulations or controls that represent RACT control levels for combustion turbines and associated heat recovery steam generators and duct burners, amends the applicability provisions of these regulations to include all combustion turbines and associated heat recovery steam generators and duct burners, and adds conforming definitions; includes a source specific NOX RACT determination for four specific emissions units at one major stationary source of NOX; includes a certification that, for other categories of sources, controls already approved by EPA into the District of Columbia's SIP to meet NOX RACT for previous ozone NAAQS are based on technically and economically feasible controls and continue to represent NOX RACT for 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS implementation purposes; and in an effort to clean-up its SIP, removes carbon monoxide (CO) emissions limits for combustion turbines that no longer exist in the District of Columbia. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).