August 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for emergency purposes for all waters of the Lower Mississippi River (LMR), between Mile Marker 618 and 622. The emergency safety zone is needed to protect persons, property, infrastructure, and the marine environment from the potential safety hazards associated with the Mat Sinking Unit effort in the vicinity of the Knowlton Revetment, AR. Deviation from the safety zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port Lower Mississippi River or a designated representative.

This action proposes to modify Class E airspace, designated as an extension to Class D or Class E surface airspace, at Truckee-Tahoe Airport. This action also proposes to modify Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface. Lastly, this action proposes an administrative correction to all of the airspace's legal descriptions. This action would ensure the safety and management of instrument flight rule (IFR) operations at the airport.

In the August 6, 2015 issue of the Federal Register, we published a final rule that provided hospice quality reporting program updates, including finalizing the proposal to codify the Hospice Quality Reporting Program Submission Extension and Exemption Requirements. The effective date of the final rule was October 1, 2015. This correcting amendment corrects an omission identified in the August 6, 2015 final rule.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) allows for specified persons to employ measures to deter marine mammals from damaging fishing gear and catch, damaging personal or public property, or endangering personal safety, as long as these measures do not result in death or serious injury of marine mammals. The MMPA directs the Secretary of Commerce, through NOAA's NMFS, to publish a list of ``guidelines'' for use in safely deterring marine mammals under NMFS' jurisdiction and to recommend ``specific measures,'' which may be used to nonlethally deter marine mammals listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). While the guidelines and specific measures are not mandatory, the MMPA provides protection from liability under the MMPA for take resulting from such deterrence measures by specifying that any actions taken to deter marine mammals that are consistent with the guidelines or specific measures are not a violation of the act. NMFS has not evaluated these deterrents for effectiveness. This rulemaking also includes prohibitions on certain deterrent methods that NMFS has determined, using the best available scientific information, would have a significant adverse effect on marine mammals.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to permit the use Defense Logistics Agency Energy as a source of fuel for contractors performing under certain contracts.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, which amended the statutory presumption of development exclusively at private expense for commercial items in the procedures governing the validation of asserted restrictions on technical data.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to remove a clause that is no longer necessary.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 that increases the micro-purchase threshold for DoD from $5,000 to $10,000 and repeals a section in the United States Code.

OSHA is amending its existing construction and shipyard standards for occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds to clarify certain provisions and simplify or improve compliance. These changes are designed to accomplish three goals: to more appropriately tailor the requirements of the construction and shipyards standards to the particular exposures in these industries in light of partial overlap between the beryllium standards' requirements and other OSHA standards; to aid compliance and enforcement across the beryllium standards by avoiding inconsistency, where appropriate, between the shipyards and construction standards and recent revisions to the general industry standard; and to clarify certain requirements with respect to materials containing only trace amounts of beryllium. This final rule does not affect the general industry beryllium standard.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve, through parallel processing, a draft source-specific State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality (DAQ) through a letter dated June 24, 2020. North Carolina's June 24, 2020, draft source-specific SIP revision requests that EPA incorporate into the SIP more stringent sulfur dioxide (SO2) permit limits than those currently contained in the SIP for the Blue Ridge Paper Products, LLC (also known as BRPP) facility located in the Beaverdam Township Area of Haywood County, North Carolina. Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve, into the SIP, specific SO2 permit limits and associated operating restrictions, monitoring, recordkeeping, reporting (MRR) and testing compliance requirements established in a BRPP title V operating permit as permanent and enforceable SO2 control measures. North Carolina submitted these limits to support its recommendation that EPA designate the Beaverdam Township Area as ``attainment/unclassifiable'' under the 2010 primary SO2 national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS or standard) (also referred to as the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS). The purpose of this rulemaking is not to take action on whether these SO2 emissions limits are adequate for EPA to designate the Beaverdam Township Area as attainment under the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. Instead, EPA will determine the air quality status and designate remaining undesignated areas for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, including the Beaverdam Township Area, in a separate action. This proposed SIP approval does not prejudge that future designation action.

EPA is proposing to correct an error in EPA's regulations for test procedures used in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program finalized in a 2012 rulemaking. EPA established the procedures under the general provisions of Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) which authorize EPA to establish test and calculation procedures for CAFE. The correction clarifies the method for how flex-fuel vehicles are accounted for in manufacturer fuel economy calculations in model years 2020 and later. This correction allows the program to be implemented as originally intended in the 2012 rule. This proposed action is not expected to result in any significant changes in regulatory burdens or costs. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, we are taking direct final action without a prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action on this proposed rule.

The NCUA Board (Board) proposes to amend its regulation governing assessment of an annual operating fee to federal credit unions (FCUs). First, for purposes of calculating the annual operating fee, the proposed rule would amend the current rule to exclude from total assets any loan an FCU reports under the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or similar future programs approved for exclusion by the NCUA Board. Second, the proposed rule would delete from the current regulation references to the Credit Union System Investment Program and the Credit Union Homeowners Affordability Relief Program, both of which no longer exist. Third, the proposed rule would amend the period used for the calculation of an FCU's total assets. Currently, total assets are calculated using the FCU's December 31st Call Report of the preceding year. Under the proposed rule, total assets would be calculated as the average total assets reported on the FCU's previous four Call Reports available at the time the NCUA Board approves the agency's budget for the upcoming year, adjusted for any excludable programs as determined by the Board. Finally, the proposed rule also would make some minor technical changes. The Board has separately published a document and requested public comment about the methodologies it uses for computing the Overhead Transfer Rate and setting the annual operating fee schedule for fees charged to FCUs. Members of the public are encouraged to comment about these methodologies by responding to the appropriate Federal Register document. The notice relating to National Credit Union Administration Overhead Transfer Rate Methodology and Operating Fee Schedule Methodology is published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.

The Agencies, in accordance with section 205(h) of the Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act''), are jointly adopting a final rule to implement provisions applicable to the orderly liquidation of covered brokers and dealers under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act (``Title II'').

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are opening, for the first time, eight National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) that were previously closed to hunting and sport fishing. In addition, we are opening or expanding hunting and sport fishing at 89 other NWRs and adding pertinent station-specific regulations for other NWRs that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing for the 2020-2021 season. We are also opening hunting or sport fishing on nine units of the National Fish Hatchery System (NFHs). We are also adding pertinent station-specific regulations that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing at these nine NFHs for the 2020-2021 season. Further, we are opening 41 limited-interest easement NWRs in North Dakota for upland and big game hunting and sport fishing in accordance with State regulations. Access to these NWRs is controlled by the current landowners, and, therefore, they are not open to the public unless authorized by the landowner. We are also making regulatory changes to existing station-specific regulations in order to reduce the regulatory burden on the public, increase access for hunters and anglers on Service lands and waters, and comply with a Presidential mandate for plain language standards. Lastly, we are prohibiting domestic sheep, goat, and camelid pack animals on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

We are adopting amendments to our rules and forms to improve their application, assist registrants in making more meaningful determinations of whether a subsidiary or an acquired or disposed business is significant, and to improve the disclosure requirements for financial statements relating to acquisitions and dispositions of businesses, including real estate operations and investment companies. The changes are intended to improve for investors the financial information about acquired or disposed businesses, facilitate more timely access to capital, and reduce the complexity and costs to prepare the disclosure.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface in Montezuma, GA, due to the decommissioning of the Montezuma non-directional beacon (NDB) and cancellation of the associated approach at Dr. CP Savage Sr. Airport. This action would also update the geographic coordinates of the airport. Controlled airspace is necessary for the safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations in the area.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus SAS Model A318-111, -112, -121, and -122 airplanes; Model A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, -131, -132, and -133 airplanes; Model A320-211, -212, -214, -216, -231, -232, and -233 airplanes; and Model A321-111, -112, -131, -211, -212, -213, -231, and -232 airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of fatigue cracks on continuity fittings at the lower framing of the front windshield on airplanes on which a certain production modification has been embodied. Additional analysis showed that certain certification requirements for damage tolerance and fatigue are not met on airplanes in a certain post- production modification configuration. This AD requires repetitive high frequency eddy current (HFEC) inspections of the central node windshield area for cracking, and applicable corrective actions if cracking is found, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is incorporated by reference. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

This action proposes to amend the Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Coffey County Airport, Burlington, KS. The FAA is proposing this action as the result of an airspace review caused by the decommissioning of the Boyd non- directional beacon (NDB) which provided navigation information to the instrument procedures at this airport.

To implement the executive order ``Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents,'' we are amending our regulations to set forth procedures for issuing guidance documents. The amendment defines ``guidance'' document and explains the procedures that the Railroad Retirement Board will follow in issuing a guidance document.

This document summarizes the procedures and deadlines for the upcoming auction of 3.7 GHz Service Licenses in the 3.7-3.98 GHz Band. The Auction 107 Procedures Public Notice summarized here is intended to familiarize applicants with the procedures and other requirements governing participation in Auction 107 by providing details regarding the procedures, terms, conditions, dates, and deadlines, as well as an overview of the post-auction application and payment processes.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing a final rule for the Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended (the 1985 Farm Bill). USDA published an interim rule, with request for comments, on December 7, 2018, to clarify how USDA delineates, determines, and certifies wetlands located on subject land in a manner sufficient for making determinations of ineligibility for certain USDA program benefits. USDA received comments from 65 commenters who provided 354 comments in response to the interim rule. Additionally, one of the 65 comments was submitted by an organization that submitted a spreadsheet of 15,094 substantively identical comments. This rule makes permanent many of the changes made in the interim rule, responds to comments received, and makes further adjustments in response to some of the comments received.

With certain exceptions, Regulation Z requires creditors to make a reasonable, good faith determination of a consumer's ability to repay any residential mortgage loan, and loans that meet Regulation Z's requirements for ``qualified mortgages'' (QMs) obtain certain protections from liability. Regulation Z contains several categories of QMs, including the General QM category and a temporary category (Temporary GSE QM loans) of loans that are eligible for purchase or guarantee by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) while they are operating under the conservatorship or receivership of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing this proposal to create a new category of QMs (Seasoned QMs) for first-lien, fixed-rate covered transactions that have met certain performance requirements over a 36-month seasoning period, are held in portfolio until the end of the seasoning period, comply with general restrictions on product features and points and fees, and meet certain underwriting requirements. The Bureau's primary objective with this proposal is to ensure access to responsible, affordable mortgage credit by adding a Seasoned QM definition to the existing QM definitions.

This proposed rule would revise regulations to delay implementation of the Electronic Monitoring (EM) Program for the West Coast Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Program. This action would delay implementation of the EM Program to January 1, 2022. NMFS is proposing this change to provide additional time for industry and prospective service providers to prepare for implementation, as it is expected to strengthen Council and industry support for the EM program and may increase participation when it is implemented in 2022.

This final rule refines how the Office of Head Start uses deficiencies, Classroom Assessment Scoring System: Pre-K (CLASS[supreg]) scores, and audit findings for designation renewal. It also streamlines and updates the regulatory provisions on designation renewal to make them easier to understand.

This rule prescribes special migratory bird hunting regulations for certain Tribes on Federal Indian reservations, off- reservation trust lands, and ceded lands. This rule responds to tribal requests for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter ``Service'' or ``we'') recognition of their authority to regulate hunting under established guidelines. This rule allows the establishment of season bag limits and, thus, harvest at levels compatible with populations and habitat conditions.