November 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) is setting or adjusting certain trademark fees, as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), as amended by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018 (SUCCESS Act). The changes will allow the USPTO to continue to recover the prospective aggregate costs of strategic and operational trademark and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB or Board) goals (based on workload projections included in the USPTO fiscal year (FY) 2021 Congressional Justification), including associated administrative costs. They will also further USPTO strategic objectives by better aligning fees with costs, protecting the integrity of the trademark register, improving the efficiency of agency processes, and ensuring financial sustainability to facilitate effective trademark operations. USPTO has weighed carefully current economic conditions and the potential hardship that the fee increase could create for businesses and individuals. The Office paused development of the fee rule because of uncertainty about the economy earlier this year. The latest economic data point to continued recovery in many sectors of the economy. Because of this and the relatively small annual cost to businesses and individuals from USPTO's trademark applications and maintenance fees, the Office has decided to finalize the fee rule for implementation in January 2021.

The Federal Communications Commission published a document in the Federal Register on October 23, 2020, adopting rules concerning ancillary services charges associated with interstate inmate calling services. The document contained typos.

This rule replaces references to outdated position titles and office names with references to current positions and offices and corrects two typographical errors. These corrections will clarify the regulation, including clarifying that appeals of decisions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Regional Director made regarding Columbia River In-Lieu Fishing Sites go to the Assistant Secretary.

The Department of State (the Department) proposes regulations to continue a registration program and hand delivery procedures for courier companies used by applicants to transport their passport applications, and U.S. passports issued to them, to and from participating passport agencies. The purpose of these proposed rules is to continue the program that was established by policy, to maintain vigilance over the security of the passport application process, require companies to register with the Department prior to providing hand delivery services to certain applicants for U.S. passports, and to follow a uniform set of hand delivery procedures.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or we) is revising the migratory bird subsistence harvest regulations in Alaska. These regulations allow for the continuation of customary and traditional subsistence uses of migratory birds in Alaska and prescribe regional information on when and where the harvesting of birds may occur. These regulations were developed under a co-management process involving the Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Alaska Native representatives. This rule incorporates regulatory revisions requested by these partners.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), recently proposed to reclassify the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Dryobates borealis) as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. We announced a 60-day public comment period on the proposed rule, ending December 7, 2020. We now announce a public informational meeting and public hearing on the proposed rule.

This document announces the reapportionment of 40,000 metric tons of Pacific whiting from the tribal allocation to the non-tribal commercial fishery sectors via automatic action on September 16, 2020. This reapportionment is to allow full utilization of the Pacific whiting resource.

This temporary rule implements an interim catch limit (ICL) of 13,000 lb of American Samoa bottomfish for fishing years 2020 and 2021 during the effective period of the rule. NMFS will monitor catches, and if the fishery reaches the ICL within a fishing year, we will close the fishery in Federal waters through the end of the fishing year, or through the end of the effective period of this rule, whichever comes first. These interim management measures are necessary to reduce overfishing of American Samoa bottomfish while minimizing socio- economic impacts to fishing communities. This temporary rule supports the long-term sustainability of American Samoa bottomfish.

This final regulation establishes the requirements for registering with the Department of Labor as a ``pooled plan provider'' for ``pooled employer plans'' under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) provides that newly permitted pooled plan providers can begin offering pooled employer plans on January 1, 2021, but requires such persons to register with the Secretary of Labor before beginning operations. This final regulation also establishes a new formEBSA Form PR (Pooled Plan Provider Registration)as the required filing format for pooled plan provider registrations. The Form PR must be filed electronically with the Department of Labor. Filing the Form PR with the Department of Labor also satisfies the SECURE Act requirement to register with the Department of the Treasury. This final regulation affects persons wishing to serve as pooled plan providers, defined contribution pension benefit plans that are operated as pooled employer plans, employers participating in such plans, and participants and beneficiaries covered by such plans.

This action modifies the Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Bear Lake County Airport, Paris, ID, to accommodate new Area Navigation (RNAV) procedures at the airport. This action will ensure the safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations within the National Airspace System.

This rule revises National Park Service regulations to comply with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Sturgeon v. Frost. In the Sturgeon decision, the Court held that National Park Service regulations apply exclusively to public lands (meaning federally owned lands and waters) within the external boundaries of National Park System units in Alaska. Lands which are not federally owned, including submerged lands under navigable waters, are not part of the units subject to the National Park Service's ordinary regulatory authority.

This direct final rule removes information on NASA's Cooperative Agreements with Commercial Firms because this information is already available in another section of the Code of Federal Regulations and in NASA's Grant and Cooperative Agreements Manual (GCAM).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to find that five states failed to submit State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions required by the Clean Air Act (CAA) in a timely manner to address reasonably available control technology (RACT) requirements associated with the 2016 Oil and Natural Gas Industry Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) for reducing volatile organic compounds (VOC) in certain nonattainment areas for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and in states in the ozone transport region (OTR). The states that failed to submit the required SIP revisions to address the CTG-related RACT requirements are California, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. This action triggers certain CAA deadlines for the EPA to impose sanctions if a state does not submit a complete SIP addressing the outstanding requirements and for the EPA to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) if the EPA does not approve the state's SIP revision.

Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is notifying the public that we have received CAA section 111(d)/129 negative declarations from Arkansas, New Mexico, and Albuquerque-Bernalillo County, New Mexico, for existing incinerators subject to the Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration units (CISWI) emission guidelines (EG). These negative declarations certify that incinerators subject to CISWI EG and the requirements of sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA do not exist within the jurisdictions of Arkansas, New Mexico, and Albuquerque- Bernalillo County. The EPA is accepting the negative declarations and amending the CFR in accordance with the requirements of the CAA.

In this document, known as a Candidate Notice of Review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), present an updated list of domestic plant and animal species that we regard as candidates for or have proposed for addition to the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. This document also includes our findings on resubmitted petitions and describes our progress in revising the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (Lists) during the period October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2020. Combined with other decisions for individual species that were published separately from this CNOR in the past year, the current number of domestic species that are candidates for listing is 11. Identification of candidate species can assist environmental planning efforts by providing advance notice of potential listings, and by allowing landowners and resource managers to alleviate threats and thereby possibly remove the need to list species as endangered or threatened. Even if we subsequently list a candidate species, the early notice provided here could result in more options for species management and recovery by prompting earlier candidate conservation measures to alleviate threats to the species. This document also adds the Sonoran desert tortoise back to the candidate list as a result of an August 3, 2020, court-approved settlement agreement.

This document contains corrections to the final regulations (Treasury Decision 9909) that were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, August 27, 2020. Treasury Decision 9909 contained final regulations under sections 245A and 954 of the Internal Revenue Code (the ``Code'') that limit the deduction for certain dividends received by United States persons from foreign corporations under section 245A and the exception to subpart F income under section 954(c)(6) for certain dividends received by controlled foreign corporations.

This action allows States to use the Indefinite Delivery and Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) method of contracting, including job order contracting (JOC), on Federal-aid highway projects, under certain circumstances, on a permanent basis.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of the insecticide indoxacarb in or on Almond, hulls at 8 parts per million (ppm) and Nut, tree, group 14-12 at 0.08 ppm. FMC Corporation requested tolerances for these commodities under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

NMFS is closing the directed fishery for Herring Management Area 1A. This closure is required because NMFS projects that 92 percent of the catch amount for Management Area 1A has been caught. This action is intended to prevent overharvest of Atlantic herring in Management Area 1A, which will result in additional quota reductions next year.

This final rule amends the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulation on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single- Employer Plans to prescribe certain interest assumptions under the regulation for plans with valuation dates in December 2020. These interest assumptions are used for paying certain benefits under terminating single-employer plans covered by the pension insurance system administered by PBGC.

The FAA is correcting the airspace docket number listed in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that published in the Federal Register of November 5, 2020. That NPRM proposing to amend VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) Federal airways V-67, V-190, and V-429; establish Area Navigation (RNAV) route T-312; and remove VOR Federal airways V-125 and V-335 in the vicinity of Marion, IL. This action reflects the correct airspace docket number.

This action proposes to modify the Class E airspace, designated as an extension to a Class D or Class E surface area, at Palmdale USAF Plant 42 Airport. This action also proposes to modify the Class E airspace, extending upward from 700 feet above the surface. Additionally, this action proposes to revoke the Class E airspace, extending upward from 1,200 feet above the surface. Further, this action proposes to remove the Palmdale VORTAC from the Class E4 and the Class E5 legal descriptions. Also, this action proposes to remove the Lancaster, Gen. William J. Fox Airfield, CA, from the Class E5 legal description. Lastly, this action proposes several administrative corrections to the airspace legal descriptions. This action would ensure the safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

NMFS proposes specifications for the 2021 commercial golden tilefish fishery and projected specifications for 2022. This action also proposes to implement emergency measures for the golden tilefish fishery at the request of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The proposed action is intended to establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to prevent overfishing while allowing optimum yield, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. The proposed emergency measures would allow a limited one-time carryover of up to 5 percent of unharvested fishing quota from the 2020 fishing year into the 2021 fishing year. This action also informs the public of the proposed specifications and emergency measures and provides opportunity for public comment.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all The Boeing Company Model DC-10-10 and DC-10-10F airplanes, Model DC-10- 15 airplanes, Model DC-10-30 and DC-10-30F (KC-10A and KDC-10) airplanes, Model DC-10-40 and DC-10-40F airplanes, Model MD-10-10F and MD-10-30F airplanes, and Model MD-11 and MD-11F airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of cracked floor beams and floor beam supports in the area of the overwing exit doors located at certain stations (STA). This AD requires an inspection of the overwing floor beams for any repair, repetitive inspections of the overwing floor beams and floor beam supports at certain STA on the left and right sides for any crack, and applicable on-condition actions. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or removes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures (ODPs) for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.