June 5, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is revising its regulations that govern VA's Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) to relax the requirement for in-person home visits during the National Emergency related to Coronavirus Disease- 2019 (COVID-19). This change is required to ensure the safety and well- being of veterans, caregivers, and VA clinical staff.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is adding regulations to implement Executive Order 13894 of October 14, 2019 (``Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Syria''). OFAC intends to supplement these regulations with a more comprehensive set of regulations, which may include additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, and statements of licensing policy.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions and renumbering submitted by the State of Colorado on May 8, 2019. Specifically, the EPA is proposing to approve amendments to Colorado's Stationary Source Permitting and Air Pollution Emission Notice Requirements in 5 CCR 1001-5, Regulation Number 3. The EPA is taking this action pursuant to sections 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

We are reopening the comment period for our proposed rule that would amend the domestic quarantine regulations for pale cyst nematode by adding procedures to allow persons to review and comment on the protocols for regulating and deregulating infested and associated areas. We are taking this action to allow persons to comment on the science on which we have established our infested and associated field protocols and on the sources we have used to develop the protocol principles and methods currently used. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

On December 21, 2018, DoD published a final rule to implement sections of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, including a section that added Australia and the United Kingdom to the definition of the ``National Technology and Industrial Base.'' This action corrects several sections of the regulations where the revised definition of the ``National Technology and Industrial Base'' was inadvertently not implemented. This document corrects the final regulations in order to acquire from Australia or the United Kingdom, without waiver, certain naval vessel components.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to implement a section of the United States Code that requires the collection of data on certain DoD service contracts.

DoD is making needed technical amendments to update the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).

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 2020.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement several sections of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to address how contracting officers may require the offeror to submit relevant information to support market research for price analysis, and allow an offeror to submit information relating to the value of a commercial item to aid in the determination of the reasonableness of the price of such item.

On April 5, 2016, BOEM published a proposed rule that would amend the regulations related to air quality measurement, evaluation, and control for oil, gas, and sulfur operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The rule proposed significant revisions to existing regulations. This final rule amends the air quality management regulations applicable to activities that BOEM authorizes on the OCS of the United States in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) west of 87.5 degrees longitude and adjacent to the North Slope Borough of the State of Alaska. The air quality regulatory program (AQRP) is a component of the review and approval of plans for the exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and sulfur on the OCS to comport with the Secretary of the Interior's separate and distinct statutory authority governing air quality. This final rule implements the Secretary of the Interior's statutory responsibility to ensure that conventional energy activities authorized under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) do not preclude compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to the extent those activities significantly affect the air quality of any State.

The NCUA Board (Board) proposes to amend its share insurance regulation governing the requirements for a share account to be separately insured as a joint account by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). Specifically, the proposed rule would provide an alternative method to satisfy the membership card or account signature card requirement necessary for insurance coverage (signature card requirement). Under the proposal, even if an insured credit union cannot produce membership cards or account signature cards signed by the joint accountholders, the signature card requirement could be satisfied by information contained in the account records of the insured credit union establishing co-ownership of the share account. For example, the signature card requirement could be satisfied by the credit union having issued a mechanism for accessing the account, such as a debit card, to each co-owner or evidence of usage of the joint share account by each co-owner.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is adopting a final rule to strengthen and modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) by clarifying and expanding the activities that qualify for CRA credit; updating where activities count for CRA credit; creating a more consistent and objective method for evaluating CRA performance; and providing for more timely and transparent CRA-related data collection, recordkeeping, and reporting.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement statutory and regulatory changes regarding joint ventures made by the Small Business Administration (SBA) in its final rule published in the Federal Register on July 25, 2016, and to clarify that 8(a) joint ventures are not certified into the 8(a) program and that 8(a) joint venture agreements need only be approved by the SBA prior to contract award.

Due to the receipt of adverse comments, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is withdrawing the April 6, 2020 direct final rule approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of New Hampshire. New Hampshire's SIP revision provided a negative declaration for EPA's 2016 Control Technique Guideline for the oil and gas industry. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.

This final rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding nine entities to the Entity List. These nine entities have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United States and will be listed on the Entity List under the destination of the People's Republic of China (China). This rule also modifies two entries and revises one entry on the Entity List under the destination of China.

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, establishes certain protections for consumers sending international money transfers, or remittance transfers. The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection's (Bureau) remittance rule in Regulation E (Remittance Rule or Rule) implements these protections. The Bureau is amending Regulation E and the official interpretations of Regulation E to provide tailored exceptions to address compliance challenges that insured institutions may face in certain circumstances upon the expiration of a statutory exception that allows insured institutions to disclose estimates instead of exact amounts to consumers. That exception expires on July 21, 2020. In addition, the Bureau is increasing a safe harbor threshold in the Rule related to whether a person makes remittance transfers in the normal course of its business.

This document proposes to amend the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations by modernizing the customs brokers regulations to coincide with the development of CBP trade initiatives including, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (Centers). Specifically, CBP proposes to transition all brokers to national permits and to eliminate broker districts and district permits. CBP is also proposing, among other changes, to update the responsible supervision and control oversight framework, ensure that customs business is conducted within the United States, and require that the customs broker have direct communication with the importer. Additionally, CBP proposes to raise the broker license application fees to recover some of the costs associated with reviewing the customs broker license application and conducting the necessary vetting for individuals and business entities (i.e., corporations, partnerships, and associations). The Department of the Treasury retains authority over CBP regulations relating to customs revenue in accordance with the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Accordingly, CBP is publishing a concurrent notice of proposed rulemaking to eliminate all references to customs broker district permit fees (See ``Removal of References to Customs Broker District Permit Fee'' RIN 1515-AE43).