September 14, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement an Executive order (E.O.) addressing domestic preferences in Government procurement.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing rules that would allow agencies to make term appointments in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) occupations; positions needed to stand-up, operate, and close-out time-limited organizations which have a specific statutory appropriation; and time-limited projects which have been funded through specific appropriation; for up to 10 years. OPM is proposing this rule to provide agencies with greater flexibility to staff foreseeably long-term projects of a STEM nature when the need for the work is not permanent, and other time- limited work when authorized by specific funding by Congress. The intended effect of this change is to allow agencies the flexibility and discretion to hire individuals with knowledge, skills and abilities tailored to a specific project or Congressional funded work that may not be required on a permanent basis or transferable to other functions of the agency. This longer term appointment may also assist agencies in recruiting individuals with specialized STEM knowledge who prefer the opportunity to work on a project-by-project basis to build their resumes and maintain current skills.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for the navigable waters of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel within the Inner Harbor from position 27[deg]49'7.80'' N, 097[deg]28'28.69'' W to position 27[deg]49'0.12'' N, 097[deg]27'54.09'' W. The safety zone is needed to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from potential hazards created by the salvage of the Dredge WAYMON BOYD adjacent to the channel. Entry of vessels into this zone is permitted with restrictions: Vessels shall not over take or pass other vessels within the zone, and vessels must operate at a slowbell only.

The Coast Guard is changing the operating schedule that governs the State Route 70 pontoon bridge across Belle River, mile 23.8, at Pierre Part, Assumption Parish, Louisiana. During June, July and August this bridge will open on signal on the hour from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. This rule is being changed to decrease vehicle congestion during the summer.

This final rule sets forth the National Endowment for the Humanities' (NEH) internal policies and procedures governing the issuance of guidance documents as required by Executive Order 13891, ``Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents'' (E.O. 13891).

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, an information collection associated with the rules for the Connect America Fund Phase II and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auctions contained in the Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Order, FCC 20-5. This document is consistent with the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of the new information collection requirements.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy in connection with the Presidential Memorandum regarding ``The Mexico City Policy,'' dated January 23, 2017.

In this document, the Commission adopts two safe harbors for voice service providers that block calls in certain situations, and adopts certain measures to ensure that erroneous blocking is quickly remedied. Specifically, the Commission adopts a safe harbor from liability under the Communications Act and the Commission's rules for terminating voice service providers that block calls on an opt-out basis based on reasonable analytics designed to identify unwanted calls, so long as those take into account information provided by caller ID authentication where available for a particular call. Second, the Commission adopts a safe harbor enabling voice service providers to block traffic from bad-actor upstream voice service providers that continue to allow unwanted calls to traverse their networks. Finally, the Commission requires that blocking providers furnish a single point of contact to resolve unintended or inadvertent blocking, and emphasizes that, when blocking, they should make all reasonable efforts to ensure that critical calls, such as those from Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), are not blocked and that they should never block calls to 911. These rules both respond to voice service providers that seek assurance that their good-faith blocking will not result in liability if they inadvertently block wanted calls and implement the call blocking provisions of the TRACED Act, and provide safeguards against erroneous blocking.

The NCUA Board (Board) is amending its chartering and field of membership (FOM) rules with respect to applicants and existing federal credit unions (FCUs) seeking a community charter approval, expansion, or conversion, in response to an August 2019 opinion and order issued by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. First, the Board is re-adopting a provision to allow an applicant to designate a Combined Statistical Area (CSA), or an individual, contiguous portion thereof, as a well- defined local community (WDLC), provided that the chosen area has a population of 2.5 million or less. Second, with respect to communities based on a Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA), or a portion thereof, the Board is providing additional explanation to support its decision to eliminate the requirement to serve the CBSA's core area as provided for in its comprehensive 2016 FOM rulemaking known as FOM1. Third, the Board is clarifying existing requirements and adding an explicit provision to its rules regarding potential discrimination in the FOM selection for CSAs and CBSAs.

This notice of proposed rulemaking provides rules concerning the limitation on the deduction for business interest expense after amendment of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) by the provisions commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted on December 22, 2017, and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which was enacted on March 27, 2020. Specifically, these proposed regulations address application of the limitation in contexts involving passthrough entities, regulated investment companies (RICs), United States shareholders of controlled foreign corporations, and foreign persons with effectively connected income in the United States. These proposed regulations also provide guidance regarding the definitions of real property development, real property redevelopment, and a syndicate. These proposed regulations affect taxpayers that have business interest expense, particularly passthrough entities, their partners and shareholders, as well as foreign corporations and their United States shareholders and foreign persons with effectively connected income. These proposed regulations also affect RICs that have business interest income, RIC shareholders that have business interest expense, and members of a consolidated group.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is adopting a final rule (``Final Rule'') addressing the cross-border application of certain swap provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA or ``Act''), as added by Title VII of the Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act''). The Final Rule addresses the cross-border application of the registration thresholds and certain requirements applicable to swap dealers (``SDs'') and major swap participants (``MSPs''), and establishes a formal process for requesting comparability determinations for such requirements from the Commission. The Final Rule adopts a risk-based approach that, consistent with the applicable section of the CEA, and with due consideration of international comity principles and the Commission's interest in focusing its authority on potential significant risks to the U.S. financial system, advances the goals of the Dodd-Frank Act's swap reforms, while fostering greater liquidity and competitive markets, promoting enhanced regulatory cooperation, and improving the global harmonization of swap regulation.