July 7, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains proposed regulations relating to the compliance-monitoring duties of State or local housing credit agencies (Agencies) for purposes of the low-income housing credit under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These proposed regulations would relax the minimum compliance-monitoring sampling requirement for purposes of physical inspections and low-income certification review provided in the Amendments to the Low-Income Housing Credit Compliance- Monitoring Regulations (T.D. 9848) published in the Federal Register (84 FR 6076). The proposed regulations will affect owners of low-income housing projects, tenants in those low-income housing projects, and Agencies that administer the credit.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on June 8 2020, determining that the Salt Lake City, Utah and Provo, Utah Serious PM2.5 nonattainment areas had attained the 2006 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5 and this document corrects information displayed in a Table within that proposed rule.

The Coast Guard is proposing to establish a temporary special local regulation for all navigable waters of the Ohio River from mile marker (MM) 754 .0 to MM 759.0. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters near Owensboro, KY, during a high speed boat race on August 14, 2020 through August 16, 2020. This proposed rulemaking would prohibit persons and vessels from being in the regulated area unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Sector Ohio Valley or a designated representative. We invite your comments on this proposed rulemaking.

This document gives notice of a proposed class exemption from certain prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA and the Code generally prohibit fiduciaries with respect to employee benefit plans (Plans) and individual retirement accounts and annuities (IRAs) from engaging in self-dealing and receiving compensation from third parties in connection with transactions involving the Plans and IRAs. The provisions also prohibit purchasing and selling investments with the Plans and IRAs when the fiduciaries are acting on behalf of their own accounts (principal transactions). This proposed exemption would allow investment advice fiduciaries under both ERISA and the Code to receive compensation, including as a result of advice to roll over assets from a Plan to an IRA, and to engage in principal transactions, that would otherwise violate the prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA and the Code. The exemption would apply to registered investment advisers, broker- dealers, banks, insurance companies, and their employees, agents, and representatives that are investment advice fiduciaries. The exemption would include protective conditions designed to safeguard the interests of Plans, participants and beneficiaries, and IRA owners. The new class exemption would affect participants and beneficiaries of Plans, IRA owners, and fiduciaries with respect to such Plans and IRAs.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Textron Inc. (Bell) Model 214ST helicopters. This AD was prompted by the discovery of bolts with nonconforming external thread root radii. This AD requires removing the affected bolts from service and prohibits installing an affected bolt on any helicopter. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is interested in making sure it is aware of and understands the evolution of financial services, so it ensures the federal banking system continues to serve consumers, businesses, and communities effectively. Further, national banks and Federal savings associations (banks) must have a regulatory and supervisory framework that enables banks to adapt to rapidly changing trends and technology developments in the financial marketplace to meet customers' evolving needs while continuing to operate in a safe and sound manner. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is reviewing its regulations on bank digital activities to ensure that its regulations continue to evolve with developments in the industry. This advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) solicits public input as part of this review.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing updates to the regulations for the identification of ignitable hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and to modernize the RCRA test methods that currently require the use of mercury thermometers. These revisions provide greater clarity to hazardous waste identification, provide flexibility in testing requirements, improve environmental compliance, and, thereby, enhance protection of human health and the environment.

This action finalizes the residual risk and technology review (RTR) conducted for the Organic Liquids Distribution (Non-Gasoline) (OLD) source category regulated under National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing amendments to the storage tank requirements as a result of the RTR. In addition, we are taking final action to correct and clarify regulatory provisions related to emissions during periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM); add requirements for electronic reporting of performance test results and reports, performance evaluation reports, compliance reports, and Notification of Compliance Status (NOCS) reports; add operational requirements for flares; and make other minor technical improvements. We estimate that these amendments will reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) from this source category by 186 tons per year (tpy), which represents an approximate 8 percent reduction of HAP emissions from the source category.