October 9, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an exemption in response to an April 7, 2020 request from Indiana Michigan Power Company (I&M, the licensee). The issuance of the exemption would permit I&M to align the regulatory requirements for reporting frequency with the current Final Safety Analysis Report update frequency for the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2.

Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) to meet the Reasonable Further Progress (RFP) requirements for the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) serious ozone nonattainment area for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve the RFP demonstration and associated motor vehicle emission budgets, contingency measures should the area fail to make RFP emissions reductions or attain the 2008 ozone NAAQS by the applicable attainment date, and a revised 2011 base year emissions inventory for the DFW area.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are reopening the public comment period and announcing a public hearing on our recently published proposed rule to amend our public use regulations for Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) to allow State-regulated trapping, harvest of brown bears over bait, discharge of firearms along the Kenai and Russian Rivers during certain times of the year in accordance with State law, increased access for the public using bicycles and game carts, and the use of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and utility task vehicles on certain lakes when there is adequate snow and ice cover. This action will provide all interested parties additional time and opportunity to comment on the proposed rule. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted and will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.

This notice announces actions taken by TxDOT and Federal agencies that are final. The environmental review, consultation, and other actions required by applicable Federal environmental laws for these projects are being, or have been, carried-out by TxDOT pursuant to an assignment agreement executed by FHWA and TxDOT. The actions relate to various proposed highway projects in the State of Texas. These actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the projects.

On September 24, 2020, HUD published a final rule amending HUD's disparate impact standard regulation. This document corrects an incorrect amendatory instruction.

EPA is proposing significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs). The SNURs require persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process any of these chemical substances for an activity that is proposed as a significant new use by this rule to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The required notification initiates EPA's evaluation of the use, under the conditions of use for that chemical substance, within the applicable review period. Persons may not commence manufacture or processing for the significant new use until EPA has conducted a review of the notice, made an appropriate determination on the notice, and has taken such actions as are required by that determination.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) of the State of West Virginia. This revision pertains to West Virginia's plan for maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) through June 7, 2027 for the West Virginia portion of the Parkersburg-Marietta, WV-OH Area comprising Wood County. EPA is approving these revisions to the West Virginia SIP in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This final rule updates the fees set forth in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) mineral resources regulations for the processing of certain minerals program-related actions. It also adjusts certain filing fees for minerals-related documents. These updated fees include those for actions such as lease renewals and mineral patent adjudications.

This document contains corrections to Treasury Decision 9902, which was published in the Federal Register on Thursday, July 23, 2020. Treasury Decision 9902 contained final regulations under the global intangible low-taxed income and subpart F income provisions of the Internal Revenue Code regarding the treatment of income that is subject to a high rate of foreign tax.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by removing forty (40) persons from the Unverified List (``UVL'') and adding twenty-six (26) persons to the UVL. The 40 persons are removed from the UVL on the basis that BIS was able to verify their bona fides (i.e., legitimacy and reliability relating to the end use and end user of items subject to the EAR) on the basis of a successful end-use check or because the companies are no longer registered to do business in the country of listing and are no longer involved in U.S. exports. The 26 persons are being added to the UVL on the basis that BIS could not verify their bona fides because an end-use check could not be completed satisfactorily for reasons outside the U.S. Government's control.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are adopting as final the revisions to the community bank leverage ratio framework made under two interim final rules issued in the Federal Register on April 23, 2020. The final rule adopts these interim final rules with no changes. Under the final rule, the community bank leverage ratio will remain 8 percent through calendar year 2020, will be 8.5 percent through calendar year 2021, and will be 9 percent thereafter. The final rule also maintains a two- quarter grace period for a qualifying community banking organization whose leverage ratio falls no more than 1 percentage point below the applicable community bank leverage ratio requirement.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing regulations that would allow for an exemption under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) for certain PIPs that are created in plants using biotechnology, as long as their pesticidal substances are found in plants that are sexually compatible with the recipient plant and meet the proposed exemption criteria, ensuring their safety. The current exemption for PIPs is limited to PIPs moved through conventional breeding. EPA's proposed rule would allow certain PIPs created through biotechnology to also be exempt under existing regulations, in cases where those PIPs pose no greater risk than PIPs that meet EPA safety requirements, and could have otherwise been created through conventional breeding. The proposed rule also includes a process through which developers of PIPs based on sexually compatible plants created through biotechnology submit either a self-determination letter or request for EPA confirmation that their PIP meets the criteria for exemption. For increased flexibility in bringing PIPs to market, a developer can also submit both. EPA anticipates several benefits that may result from exempting these PIPs. These include lower costs from reduced regulatory burden, increased research, development, and commercialization of pest control options for farmers, particularly in minor crops, and reduced use of conventional pesticides which could provide environmental benefits.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating part 52 of title 40, chapter 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to codify its findings that nine areas in four states attained the revoked 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (herein referred to as the 1997 ozone NAAQS) by the applicable attainment dates. In February 2019, EPA Regional Offices sent letters to the affected states to communicate the EPA's findings. The areas that timely attained the standards include the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area, and the Jefferson County, Poughkeepsie and Jamestown areas in the state of New York; the Shoreline Sheboygan County and Inland Sheboygan County areas in Wisconsin; the Denver-Boulder-Greeley-Ft. Collins-Loveland area in Colorado; and the San Francisco Bay and Ventura County areas in California. Publishing these determinations in part 52 will document for the public and state air agencies that these areas attained the standards by the applicable attainment dates and are therefore not subject to anti-backsliding consequences for failure to timely attain the standards.

The Commission is issuing an order designating the General Securities Representative license (Series 7), the Private Securities Offerings Representative license (Series 82), and the Investment Adviser Representative license (Series 65) as qualifying natural persons for accredited investor status.