April 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VBA), is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed revision of a currently approved collection, and allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice.

The Commission will provide a limited opportunity for members of the public to submit additional comments on certain petitions for duty suspensions and reductions. Under the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (the Act), the Commission must submit its preliminary report on the petitions for duty suspensions and reductions that have been filed with it to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance on June 9, 2020. In that report, the Commission must categorize each petition as either (a) a petition that meets the requirements of the Act with or without modification (Category I, II, III, or IV petitions), (b) a petition that does not contain the information required by the Act or that was not filed by a likely beneficiary (Category V petitions), or (c) a petition that the Commission does not recommend for inclusion in a miscellaneous tariff bill (Category VI petitions). The Commission has decided that it will accept additional comments from the public on any petitions that are listed as Category VI petitions for a ten-day period beginning on June 12, 2020, at 8:45 a.m. As provided below, all such comments must be submitted to the Commission electronically through the Commission website https://mtbps.usitc.gov. The Commission will not accept comments filed in paper form or in any other form or format.

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery (LNFH) Surface Water Intake Fish Screens and Fish Passage (SWISP) Project. Reclamation is requesting public and agency comment to identify significant issues or other alternatives to be considered in the EIS.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Record of Decision (ROD) to amend the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan for the Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area (HGLA) Project, and by this notice is announcing its availability. The decision amends the CDCA Plan to allow for geothermal leasing within approximately 22,800 acres, authorizes three geothermal lease applications for 4,460 acres of public lands within the HGLA, and modifies the management of four Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) to allow for surface occupancy of geothermal development. Part of this decision is subject to appeal under Departmental regulations.

As required by the Privacy Act of 1974, notice is hereby given that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending the system of records currently entitled, ``Education Debt Reduction Program-VA'' (115VA10). VA is amending the system of records by revising the System Number; System Location; System Manager; Record Source Categories; Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories of Users and the Purposes of Such Uses; Policies and Practices for Retention and Disposal of Records; Physical, Administrative and Procedural Safeguards; Record Access Procedure; and Notification Procedure. VA is republishing the system notice in its entirety.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) proposes a funding priority and definitions under the State Personnel Development Grants (SPDG) program, which assists States in reforming and improving their systems for personnel preparation and personnel development in order to improve results for children with disabilities. We take this action to focus attention on the need to improve results for children with disabilities by empowering personnel to select professional development activities to improve their ability to serve children with disabilities. The Department may use the proposed priority and definitions for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2020 and later years.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is initiating an effort to determine whether to amend the current energy conservation standards for single package vertical air conditioners (SPVACs) and single package vertical heat pumps (SPVHPs), collectively referred to as single package vertical units (SPVUs). This request for information (RFI) solicits information from the public to help DOE determine whether amended standards for SPVUs, a category of covered commercial equipment, would result in significant additional energy savings and whether such standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified. DOE welcomes written comments from the public on any subject within the scope of this document (including those topics not specifically raised in this RFI), as well as the submission of data and other relevant information.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice that it has responded to a petition for reconsideration of a rule published in the Federal Register on June 4, 2018 titled, ``Additional Air Quality Designations for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards,'' that promulgated initial ozone air quality designations for certain areas in the United States. The August 3, 2018, petition, submitted on behalf of Patel Industrial Park, requested that the EPA reconsider the nonattainment designation for the Uinta Basin, Utah area. The petition also requested that the EPA stay the designation rule as it applies to the Uinta Basin, Utah area, pending reconsideration. The EPA carefully considered the petition and supporting information, along with information contained in the rulemaking docket, in reaching its decision on the petition. The EPA denied the petition for reconsideration in a letter to the petitioner and the letter has been included in the rulemaking docket. The letter explains the EPA's basis for the denial. Because the EPA denied the reconsideration request, the EPA also denied the stay request.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is revising procedural requirements in regulations related to service of process of summonses, complaints, and subpoenas.

The plats of survey of the following described lands are scheduled to be officially filed in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado State Office, Lakewood, Colorado, 30 calendar days from the date of this publication. The surveys, which were executed at the request of the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM, are necessary for the management of these lands.

This notice lists the newspapers that will be used by all Ranger Districts, Forests, Grasslands, and the Regional Office of the Northern Region to publish legal notices for public comment and decisions subject to predecisional administrative review. The intended effect of this action is to inform interested members of the public which newspapers will be used to publish legal notices for public comment or decisions, thereby allowing them to receive constructive notice of a decision, to provide clear evidence of timely notice, and to achieve consistency in administering the objection processes.

On Wednesday, April 15, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a notice entitled, ``Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request.'' That notice invited public comments on two separate information collection requests specific to document identifiers: CMS- 10716 and CMS-R-262. Through the publication of this document, we are withdrawing the portion of the notice requesting public comment on the information collection request titled ``CMS Plan Benefit Package (PBP) and Formulary CY 2021.'' Form number CMS-R-262 (OMB control number 0938-0673).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing this notice of availability (NOA) for proposed limited modifications to the final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permits for discharges of stormwater from small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) in Massachusetts and New Hampshire under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The proposed modifications represent the results of mediation supervised by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Mediation Program between EPA and petitioners the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Massachusetts, Inc. (HBRAMA), the New Hampshire Home Builders Association (NHHBA), the Center for Regulatory Reasonableness (CRR), the Massachusetts Coalition for Water Resources Stewardship (MCWRS), the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts (Franklin), the City of Lowell, Massachusetts (Lowell), the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), and the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA). EPA and the petitioners have entered into settlement agreements that include commitments for EPA to propose certain modifications to the 2016 Massachusetts Small MS4 General Permit and the 2017 New Hampshire Small MS4 General Permit, and then to take final action on each proposal.

The DoD is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Defense Health Board (DHB) will take place.