2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of one or more persons that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office for Coastal Management will hold a public meeting and solicit written comments on the performance evaluation of the Illinois Coastal Management Program.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on CMS' intention to collect information from the public. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information, and to allow a second opportunity for public comment on the notice. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, the accuracy of the estimated burden, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

This final rule removes the DoD's regulation that prohibits members of the armed forces from being members of a ``military labor organization,'' which is an organization that engages or attempts to engage in negotiations or bargaining on behalf of service members concerning the terms or conditions of military service. The rule restates statute or otherwise contains internal DoD processes wholly contained within DoD internal guidance. Therefore, this part can be removed from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

This notice announces a meeting of the Drone Advisory Committee.

The plats of survey of lands described in this notice are scheduled to be officially filed in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Alaska State Office, Anchorage, Alaska. The surveys, which were executed at the request of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and BLM, are necessary for the management of these lands.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is rescinding the administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film from the People's Republic of China (China) for the period of review (POR) November 1, 2018 through October 31, 2019, based on the timely withdrawal of the request for review.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of mattresses from the People's Republic of China. The period of investigation is January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is correcting the antidumping duty orders on utility scale wind towers (wind towers) from Canada, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea (Korea), and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) to state the correct date on which the provisional measures expired.

Michigan State University has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to Michigan State University. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.