April 14, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This proposed rule would update the prospective payment rates, the outlier threshold, and the wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPF), which include psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an Inpatient Prospective Payment System hospital or critical access hospital. In addition, this proposed rule would adopt the most recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) statistical area delineations, and apply a 2-year transition for all providers negatively impacted by wage index changes. These changes would be effective for IPF discharges beginning during the FY from October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021 (FY 2021).

The Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) is publishing this interim final rule to update the regulatory requirements used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to test and approve air-purifying particulate respirators for use in the ongoing public health emergency. With this rulemaking, parallel performance standards are added to existing regulatory requirements for PAPRs to allow for the approval of respirators in a new class, PAPR100, that may be better suited to the needs of workers in the healthcare and public safety sectors currently experiencing a shortage of air-purifying particulate respirators due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This rulemaking also consolidates the technical standards for all types of air-purifying particulate respirators into one subpart, and standards pertaining to obsolete respirators designed for dust, fume, and mist; pesticide; and paint spray are removed from the regulation entirely. This rulemaking will have no substantive impact on the continued certification testing and approval by the NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory of existing PAPR class HE (high-efficiency series) respirators or non-powered air-purifying particulate respirators, including N95 filtering facepiece respirators, currently in demand by healthcare workers and emergency responders. NIOSH expects that the addition of PAPR100 devices to the marketplace will help to relieve the current high demand for possibly hundreds of thousands of additional particulate filtering facepiece respirators needed specifically for healthcare and emergency medical response settings.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all PZL [Sacute]widnik S.A. Model PZL W-3A helicopters. This AD was prompted by a report of a cracked nose landing gear (NLG) bellcrank assembly. This AD requires a one-time inspection of the NLG bellcrank assembly for discrepancies and replacement if necessary. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Federal Communications Commission (Commission) published a document in the Federal Register on March 31, 2020, seeking comment on a proposed a framework to provide state and federal agencies with access to outage information to improve their situational awareness while preserving the confidentiality of this data. The document contained an incorrect URL link to the full text of the proposal available on the Commission's website. This document corrects the URL link.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is extending the comment period on EPA's proposal to establish a federal Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) permit program. The notice announcing this proposal was published on February 20, 2020, and the public comment period was scheduled to end on April 20, 2020. However, a number of public interest groups have requested additional time to develop and submit comments on the proposal. In response to the request for additional time, EPA is extending the comment period through May 20, 2020.

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA), on February 5, 2020, issued a final rule amending its regulations to reflect changes in FCA's organizational structure and to correct the mailing address for the McLean office. In accordance the law, the effective date of the rule is no earlier than 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register during which either or both Houses of Congress are in session.

We are approving specifications for the 2020 Atlantic deep-sea red crab fishery, including an annual catch limit and total allowable landings limit and are clarifying the specifications process. This action establishes the allowable 2020 harvest levels, consistent with the Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery Management Plan. This action is necessary to establish allowable red crab harvest levels that will prevent overfishing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received a complete Underground Injection Control (UIC) program revision package from the State of Wyoming requesting approval of a revision to the State's Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) section 1422 UIC program to include Class VI injection well primary implementation and enforcement authority (primacy). The EPA proposes to approve the application from Wyoming under the SDWA to implement a UIC program for Class VI injection wells located within the State, except those on Indian country. This revision would allow the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to issue UIC permits for geologic carbon sequestration facilities as Class VI wells and ensure compliance of Class VI wells with applicable requirements under the UIC program. The EPA is requesting public comments and announcing that any member of the public may request a public hearing.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to implement statutory provisions that guide the way in which OPM must compute annuities of certain career civilian United States Senate Restaurants employees of the Architect of the Capitol and United States House Food Service employees who were permitted to retain Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) coverage after they became employees of a private contractor when food services operations were converted to a private contract.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for certain waters of the Upper Potomac River. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters of the Washington Channel adjacent to The Wharf DC, Washington, DC, for recurring fireworks displays from April 4, 2020, through December 31, 2020. This regulation prohibits persons and vessels from being in the safety zone unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Maryland- National Capital Region or a designated representative.