May 29, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on CMS' intention to collect information from the public. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information, and to allow a second opportunity for public comment on the notice. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, the accuracy of the estimated burden, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Office of Mission Support (OMS) gives notice that it proposes to create a new system of records for the Personnel Security System (PSS) 2.0. OMS is replacing the current PSS (1.0), which is a module of the Office of Administrative Services Information System (OASIS, EPA-41), with a new stand-alone system, PSS 2.0, outside of the OASIS portal. All exemptions and provisions included in the SORN for PSS 1.0 under the OASIS portal will transfer to the new SORN for PSS 2.0.

The FAA is revising an earlier proposal for certain Textron Aviation Inc. (Textron) Model 172N, 172P, 172Q, 172RG, F172N, F172P, FR172K, R172K, 182E, 182F, 182G, 182H, 182J, 182K, 182L, 182M, 182N, 182P, 182Q, 182R, T182, F182P, F182Q, F182RG, R182, TR182, 206, P206/ TP206, U206/TU206, 207/T207, 210-5 (205), 210-5A (205A), 210B, 210C, 210D, 210E, 210F, and T210F airplanes. This action revises the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) by modifying the estimated costs of the proposed AD, the repetitive inspection intervals, and the credit allowed for previous actions; clarifying the inspection instructions for airplanes with the service kit installed; correcting the contact information for obtaining the service information; and adding a reporting requirement to collect the inspection results. The FAA is proposing this airworthiness directive (AD) to address the unsafe condition on these products. Since these actions would impose an additional burden over those in the NPRM based on comments from commenters, the FAA is reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these changes.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD or District) and the Feather River Air Quality Management District (FRAQMD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) under the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). For the SJVUAPCD, these revisions concern a rule intended to track information related to emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM) from commercial charbroilers, and an administrative rule for the registration of certain emission units historically exempted from the SJVUAPCD's permit requirements. We are proposing to approve into the California SIP amendments to a SJVUAPCD local rule, which require owners and operators of commercial underfired charbroilers to submit a one-time information report and which subject certain underfired charbroilers to registration and weekly recordkeeping requirements. We are also proposing to approve a SJVUAPCD rule addressing registration requirements for these and certain other emission units. For the FRAQMD, these revisions concern a negative declaration for the Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry. We are proposing to approve the negative declaration into the California SIP. We are taking comments on this proposal to approve the two SJVUAPCD rules and the FRAQMD negative declaration. We plan to follow with a final action.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is correcting a proposed rule that appeared in the Federal Register on May 12, 2020. The NRC is proposing to amend its regulations to include new alternative emergency preparedness requirements for small modular reactors and other new technologies, such as non-light-water reactors and certain non-power production or utilization facilities. This action is necessary to correct a definition.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are proposing to amend their regulations concerning proxy distributions for unmatched royalties deposited pursuant to statutory license for the period 2010 through 2018.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to modify the boundaries of the existing EPA-designated Humboldt Open Ocean Disposal Site (referred to hereafter as HOODS) offshore of Humboldt Bay, California, pursuant to Section 102 of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, as amended (MPRSA). The primary purpose for the site modification is to enlarge the site to serve the long-term need for disposal of permitted, suitable material dredged from Humboldt Harbor and vicinity, in order to provide for continued safe navigation in the vicinity of Humboldt Bay. The modified site will be subject to monitoring and management to ensure continued protection of the marine environment.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing regulations which will modify the provisions governing the recruitment and employment of certain military spouses in Federal agencies to conform to statutory mandates affecting the rules governing this authority and to carry out certain provisions of Executive Order 13832 of May 9, 2018, Enhancing Noncompetitive Civil Service Appointments of Military Spouses. OPM is proposing to revise the current text to: Conform the eligibility criteria for appointment of military spouses to intervening statutory requirements and add agency reporting requirements.

We are proposing to revise the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals to implement changes arising from our continuing experience with these systems for FY 2021 and to implement certain recent legislation. We also are proposing to make changes relating to Medicare graduate medical education (GME) for teaching hospitals. In addition, we are providing the market basket update that will apply to the rate-of-increase limits for certain hospitals excluded from the IPPS that are paid on a reasonable cost basis, subject to these limits for FY 2021. We are proposing to update the payment policies and the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) for FY 2021. In this FY 2021 IPPS/LTCH PPS proposed rule, we are proposing changes to the new technology add-on payment pathway for certain antimicrobial products and other changes to new technology add-on payment policies, and to collect market-based rate information on the Medicare cost report for cost reporting periods ending on or after January 1, 2021, and requesting comment on a potential market based MS-DRG relative weight methodology beginning in FY 2024 that we may adopt in this rulemaking. We are proposing to establish new requirements or revise existing requirements for quality reporting by acute care hospitals and PPS- exempt cancer hospitals. We also are proposing to establish new requirements and revise existing requirements for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in the Medicare and Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Programs. We are providing estimated and newly established performance standards for the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program, and proposing updated policies for the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and the Hospital- Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program.