June 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Copyright Office is issuing a revised proposed rule to make electronic-only books published in the United States subject to the Copyright Act's mandatory deposit provisions if they are affirmatively demanded by the Office. In response to comments received in response to the Office's April 16, 2018 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the revised proposed rule makes additional clarifying edits to the definition of an ``electronic-only book'' and adjusts the requirements related to employment of technological protection measures. This document also updates the public on developments subsequently announced by the Library of Congress related to certain questions raised in public comments with respect to its digital collection strategy and information technology security matters.

The Coast Guard will enforce the Dutch Shoe Marathon special local regulation on the waters of San Diego Bay, California on July 17, 2020. These special local regulations are necessary to provide for the safety of the participants, crew, spectators, sponsor vessels, and general users of the waterway. During the enforcement period, persons and vessels are prohibited from anchoring, blocking, loitering, or impeding within this regulated area unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, or his designated representative.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection requirements associated with the Local Telephone Competition and Broadband Reporting, Report and Order, FCC Form 477. This document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the effective date of the information collection requirements.

This interpretive rule construes the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection's (Bureau's) Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The Bureau produces annually a list of rural and underserved counties and areas that is used in applying various Regulation Z provisions, such as the exemption from the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan and the ability to originate balloon-payment qualified mortgages. Regulation Z states that an area is ``underserved'' during a calendar year if, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for the preceding calendar year, it is a county in which no more than two creditors extended covered transactions, as defined in Regulation Z, secured by first liens on properties in the county five or more times. The official commentary provides an interpretation relating to this standard that refers to certain data elements from the previous version of the Bureau's Regulation C, which implements HMDA, that were modified or eliminated in the 2015 amendments to Regulation C. The Bureau is issuing this interpretive rule to supersede that now outdated interpretation, specifically by describing below the HMDA data that will instead be used in determining that an area is ``underserved.''

On April 2, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) posted on its website an interim final rule relating to the implementation of sections 1102 and 1106 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or the Act) (published in the Federal Register on April 15, 2020). Section 1102 of the Act temporarily adds a new product, titled the ``Paycheck Protection Program,'' to the SBA's 7(a) Loan Program. Subsequently, SBA and Treasury issued additional interim final rules implementing the Paycheck Protection Program. On June 5, 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (Flexibility Act) was signed into law, amending the CARES Act. This interim final rule revises interim final rules posted on SBA's and the Department of the Treasury's websites on May 22, 2020 (published on June 1, 2020, in the Federal Register), by changing key provisions to conform to the Flexibility Act. Several of these amendments are retroactive to the date of enactment of the CARES Act, as required by section 3(d) of the Flexibility Act.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection associated with rules governing information to be provided to the Reassigned Numbers Database in the 2018 Second Report and Order, FCC 18-177, in CG Docket No. 17-59. The Commission also announces that compliance with the rules for aging numbers and maintaining records of the most recent date of permanent disconnection is now required. The Commission will publish another document in the Federal Register announcing the compliance date for reporting the information. This document is consistent with the 2018 Second Report and Order, which states the Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing a compliance date for the rule sections and revise the rules accordingly.

This action proposes to amend VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) Federal airway V-63 due to the planned decommissioning of the VOR portion of the Texoma, OK, VOR/Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR/DME) navigation aid (NAVAID). The Texoma VOR provides navigation guidance for a portion of V-63 and is being decommissioned as part of the FAA's VOR Minimum Operational Network (MON) program.

This action amends VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) Federal airways V-128 and V-144 in the vicinity of Kankakee, IL. The FAA is taking this action due to the planned decommissioning of the VOR portion of the Kankakee, IL, VOR/Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR/DME) navigation aid (NAVAID), which provides navigation guidance for portions of the affected air traffic service (ATS) routes. The Kankakee VOR is being decommissioned as part of the FAA's VOR Minimum Operational Network (MON) program.

On November 14, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would modify DHS's regulations governing asylum applications, interviews, and eligibility for employment authorization based on a pending asylum application. This final rule implements the proposed rule, with some amendments based on public comments received.

This action amends VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) Federal airway V-52 due to the planned decommissioning of the VOR portion of the Bowling Green, KY, VOR/Tactical Air Navigation (VORTAC) navigation aid (NAVAID). The Bowling Green VOR is being decommissioned in support of the FAA's VOR Minimum Operational Network (VOR MON) program.

This action amends VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) Federal airways V-59, V-92, V-115, and V-117 in the vicinity of Newcomerstown, OH. These modifications are necessary due to the planned decommissioning of the VOR portion of the Newcomerstown, OH (CTW), VOR/ Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR/DME) navigation aid (NAVAID), which provides navigation guidance for portions of the affected air traffic service (ATS) routes. The Newcomerstown VOR is being decommissioned in support of the FAA's VOR Minimum Operational Network (MON) program and due to service availability issues.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co KG (RRD) Trent 1000-D2, Trent 1000- J2, and Trent 1000-K2 model turbofan engines with fuel pump, part number G5030FPU01, installed. This AD requires removal and replacement of the fuel pump with a part eligible for installation. This AD was prompted by the manufacturer's investigation into an unexpected reduction in fuel pump performance in certain high life fuel pumps. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposes to establish the approximately 58,000-acre ``Tehachapi Mountains'' viticultural area in Kern County, California. The proposed viticultural area is not located within, nor does it contain, any established viticultural area. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase. TTB invites comments on this proposed addition to its regulations.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the Little Rock, Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The final rule will redefine the Fort Chaffee portion of Franklin County, AR, to the Tulsa wage area. This change is based on a consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC).

In accordance with Executive Orders 13771 and 13777, which direct federal agencies to review and eliminate outdated and unnecessary regulations, the Department of State (Department) is removing a regulation related to issuance of immigrant visas to women expatriates who lost citizenship as the result of marrying an alien prior to 1922.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is issuing this final rule to revise the component designations of three agencies for purposes of the one-year post-employment conflict of interest restriction for senior employees. Specifically, based on the recommendations of the agencies concerned, OGE is designating two new components in appendix B to 5 CFR part 2641, and correcting an inadvertent error in the current appendix B listing of a previously- designated component.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the Limited Maintenance Plan (LMP) for the Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Libby nonattainment areas (NAAs) and the State's request to redesignate the Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Libby NAAs from nonattainment to attainment for the 1987 24-hour particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers (PM10) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). Additionally, the EPA is determining that the Libby and Kalispell NAAs have attained the PM10 NAAQS based on monitoring data from calendar years 2016-2018. On January 31, 2011, the EPA determined that the Columbia Falls NAA attained the PM10 NAAQS. The EPA is also approving the Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Libby LMP as meeting the appropriate transportation conformity requirements. The EPA is taking this action pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This document makes non-substantive, editorial revisions to the Table of Frequency Allocations (Allocation Table) and to various other Commission rules. The purpose of this action is to update the International Table of Frequency Allocations (International Table) to reflect the decisions made at an international conference, to update the Federal Table of Frequency Allocations (Federal Table) within the Commission's rules in those frequency bands where such an action would have no substantive effect on non-Federal licensees, to remove outdated provisions from the Commission's rules, and to ensure that the Allocation Table and related rules are consistent with the Commission's decisions in recent rulemaking proceedings.

NMFS issues an emergency rule to modify the temporary transfer provision of the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program for the fixed- gear commercial Pacific halibut and sablefish fisheries for the 2020 IFQ fishing year. This emergency rule is intended to provide flexibility to quota share (QS) holders in 2020 while preserving the long-standing objective of maintaining an owner-operated IFQ fishery in future years. This emergency rule would not modify other provisions of the IFQ Program. This emergency rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the IFQ Program, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982, and other applicable laws.

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2018-07-15 for certain XtremeAir GmbH Model XA42 airplanes. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as cracking of the diagonal struts of the engine mount frame with potential detachment of the engine from the airplane. The FAA is issuing this AD to require actions to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Department of Education (Department) amends the regulations for the Indian Education Professional Development (PD) Program, under section 6122 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). This final rule provides additional time for participants in current PD grant-funded programs who are impacted by the extraordinary circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic to find qualifying employment or to complete their work- related payback obligation.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC or Commission) amends its regulations governing service contracts to eliminate the requirement that ocean carriers publish a concise statement of essential terms with each service contract. The rule will reduce regulatory burden.

NMFS issues a final rule to implement Amendment 109 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP) and a regulatory amendment to the regulations governing pollock fishing in the Gulf of Alaska. This final rule reduces operational and management inefficiencies in the Central Gulf of Alaska and Western Gulf of Alaska trawl catcher vessel pollock and Pacific cod fisheries by reducing regulatory time gaps between the pollock seasons, and changing Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod seasonal apportionments to allow greater harvest opportunities earlier in the year. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the GOA FMP, and other applicable laws.