April 8, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Rural-Business Cooperative Service (RBCS), Rural Housing Service (RHS), and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) agencies of the Rural Development mission area, hereinafter referred to as Agency, issued a notification in the Federal Register on March 31, 2020, that allows lenders with guaranteed loans with the Agency to unilaterally offer payment deferrals for the period specified in the notice to their customers who may be experiencing temporary cash flow issues due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This notification supplements the prior notification and includes additional servicing flexibilities regarding Agency guaranteed loan requirements as they relate to the new loans that are covered by Section 1102 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The U.S. Copyright Office is adopting technical amendments to allow electronic submission of materials in connection with certain Office services, and to allow the Office to respond to submitters electronically. These amendments are intended to facilitate the public's ability to access Office services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying Petition for Rulemaking (PRM)-50-115, ``Petition for RulemakingFire Protection Compensatory Measures,'' dated May 1, 2017, submitted by David Lochbaum and Paul Gunter (the petitioners) on behalf of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Beyond Nuclear, respectively. The petitioners request that the NRC issue regulations that establish acceptable conditions for the use of compensatory measures (e.g., fire watches, surveillance cameras) during periods when fire protection regulations are not met, as well as define the maximum duration that compensatory measures may be relied upon. The NRC staff concludes that the petitioners did not present sufficient new information or arguments to warrant the requested changes to the regulations in light of the NRC's relevant past decisions and current policies. Therefore, the NRC is denying PRM-50-115.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is issuing this final rule to implement the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, providing for streamlining the Agency's procedures for evaluating applications to locate or modify communications facilities on National Forest System (NFS) lands.

The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is extending the deadline for filing comments on its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (``the Endorsement Guides'').

The Coast Guard authorizes the Amtrak Railroad Bridge, mile 3.77, across the South Branch of the Chicago River, to be operated remotely and establish an intermediate opening position. The request was made by the bridge owner. This test deviation will test if the intermediate position improves vessel flow through the river. The bridge will continue to open on signal for commercial and recreational vessels.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving under the Clean Air Act (CAA) a request from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) to revise the Ohio State Implementation Plan (SIP) to incorporate revisions to Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) Chapter 3745-14 regarding the Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) SIP Call. This SIP revision approves additional monitoring options for certain covered sources for NOX SIP Call purposes.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to further implement 41 U.S.C. 1908, Inflation adjustment of acquisition-related dollar thresholds. This statute requires an adjustment every five years of acquisition-related thresholds for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, except for the Construction Wage Rate Requirements statute (Davis-Bacon Act), Service Contract Labor Standards statute, and trade agreements thresholds. DoD is also proposing to use the same methodology to adjust some nonstatutory DFARS acquisition-related thresholds in 2020.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to remove a provision that is no longer necessary, pursuant to action taken by the Regulatory Reform Task Force.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 that amends 10 U.S.C. 2307 to address the use of performance-based payments.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to modify the text of an existing DFARS clause to clarify its intent and conform its language to current DFARS terminology, pursuant to action taken by the Regulatory Reform Task Force.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to provide for expedited contract closeout through a waiver by the contractor and the Government of entitlement to any residual dollar amounts that are due to either party at the time of final contract closeout. The changes are necessary to establish an expedited contract closeout agreement that will save administrative costs for both the contractor and the Government.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on behalf of Allegheny County. These revisions include administrative amendments made to the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) Rules and Regulations, Article XXI, Air Pollution Control. Specifically, the revisions added a definition for ``County Council;'' deleted its current listing of ambient air quality standards and added, through incorporation by reference, all national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) promulgated by EPA; revised references to the ``Board of County Commissioners'' to ``County Executive'' or ``County Council;'' added the ``Manager of the Air Quality Program or their respective designee'' as a signatory for enforcement orders; and revised a reference from the ``Bureau of Environmental Quality Division of Air Quality'' to ``Air Quality Program of the Department.'' This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This document contains final regulations providing guidance regarding hybrid dividends and certain amounts paid or accrued pursuant to hybrid arrangements, which generally involve arrangements whereby U.S. and foreign tax law classify a transaction or entity differently for tax purposes. This document also contains final regulations relating to dual consolidated losses and entity classifications to prevent the same deduction from being claimed under the tax laws of both the United States and a foreign jurisdiction. Finally, this document contains final regulations regarding information reporting to facilitate the administration of certain rules in the final regulations. The final regulations affect taxpayers that would otherwise claim a deduction related to such amounts and certain shareholders of foreign corporations that pay or receive hybrid dividends.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (also, ``the Agency ``or ``we'' in this preamble) is taking final action to grant three petitions submitted jointly by Emerald Kalama Chemical, LLC (Emerald) and Fire Mountain Farms, Inc (FMF) (Petitioners), in Lewis County, Washington to exclude (or ``delist'') a one-time amount up to 20,100 cubic yards of U019 (benzene) and U220 (toluene) mixed material from the list of federal hazardous wastes as proposed on November 12, 2019. The EPA has decided to grant these petitions as proposed and under the same conditions based on an evaluation of waste-specific information provided by the Petitioners and a consideration of public comments received.