2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice lists communities where the addition or modification of Base Flood Elevations (BFEs), base flood depths, Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) boundaries or zone designations, or the regulatory floodway (hereinafter referred to as flood hazard determinations), as shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), and where applicable, in the supporting Flood Insurance Study (FIS) reports, prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for each community, is appropriate because of new scientific or technical data. The FIRM, and where applicable, portions of the FIS report, have been revised to reflect these flood hazard determinations through issuance of a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR), in accordance with Federal Regulations. The LOMR will be used by insurance agents and others to calculate appropriate flood insurance premium rates for new buildings and the contents of those buildings. For rating purposes, the currently effective community number is shown in the table below and must be used for all new policies and renewals.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration, pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations implementing procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Department's own implementing regulations, provides the Department's final determination that the proposed disposal of a 91-acre area of excess property at the Atterbury Job Corps Center, and that this project will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) has adopted revised Submission Guidelines related to tree preservation and replacement on federal development sites. Federal and non-federal agency applicants whose development proposals and plans are subject to statutory mandated Commission plan and project review must submit their proposals to the Commission following a process laid out in the Submission Guidelines. The adopted Submission Guidelines support the adopted revised Federal Environment Element of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital, Section G: Federal Elements which NCPC also adopted on November 5, 2020.

A notice of availability was published in the Federal Register by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on October 2, 2020 for the Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries, Texas Resiliency Study (BBTRS) notifying the public an Interim Report was available for review and comment. The notice indicated the review period was to conclude on November 2, 2020. Four virtual public meetings were held in October 2020 in an effort to provide the public with an overview of Interim Report and answer questions about the study and alternatives considered. In response to several requests for extension, this notice announces an extension of the public comment period to November 20, 2020. No additional public meetings have been scheduled during the extension period.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission will conduct its regular business meeting on December 11, 2020, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Details concerning the matters to be addressed at the business meeting are contained in the Supplementary Information section of this notice. Also the Commission published a document in the Federal Register on October 7, 2020, concerning its public hearing on November 5, 2020, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on April 23, 2020. The collection involves a lienholder returning an AC Form 8050-41, Notice of RecordationAircraft Security Conveyance with Part IIRelease completed to the Civil Aviation Registry, Aircraft Registration Branch (Registry), to release a recorded lien. This information is necessary to show satisfaction of a recorded lien.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, CNCS is proposing to renew an information collection.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule to confirm that its health care professionals may practice their health care profession consistent with the scope and requirements of their VA employment, notwithstanding any State license, registration, certification, or other requirements that unduly interfere with their practice. Specifically, this rulemaking confirms VA's current practice of allowing VA health care professionals to deliver health care services in a State other than the health care professional's State of licensure, registration, certification, or other State requirement, thereby enhancing beneficiaries' access to critical VA health care services. This rulemaking also confirms VA's authority to establish national standards of practice for health care professionals which will standardize a health care professional's practice in all VA medical facilities.

This document sets forth final regulations providing guidance relating to the life expectancy and distribution period tables that are used to calculate required minimum distributions from qualified retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and annuities, and certain other tax-favored employer-provided retirement arrangements. These regulations affect participants, beneficiaries, and plan administrators of these qualified retirement plans and other tax- favored employer-provided retirement arrangements, as well as owners, beneficiaries, trustees and custodians of individual retirement accounts and annuities.

The final rules set forth requirements for group health plans and health insurance issuers in the individual and group markets to disclose cost-sharing information upon request to a participant, beneficiary, or enrollee (or his or her authorized representative), including an estimate of the individual's cost-sharing liability for covered items or services furnished by a particular provider. Under the final rules, plans and issuers are required to make this information available on an internet website and, if requested, in paper form, thereby allowing a participant, beneficiary, or enrollee (or his or her authorized representative) to obtain an estimate and understanding of the individual's out-of-pocket expenses and effectively shop for items and services. The final rules also require plans and issuers to disclose in-network provider negotiated rates, historical out-of- network allowed amounts, and drug pricing information through three machine-readable files posted on an internet website, thereby allowing the public to have access to health coverage information that can be used to understand health care pricing and potentially dampen the rise in health care spending. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also finalizes amendments to its medical loss ratio (MLR) program rules to allow issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage to receive credit in their MLR calculations for savings they share with enrollees that result from the enrollees shopping for, and receiving care from, lower-cost, higher-value providers.

This advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) informs of and seeks public comment on changes that HUD is considering for the minimum payments that HUD distributes to states that participate in the Manufactured Housing Program as State Administrative Agencies (SAAs). HUD is considering two changes intended to achieve more equitable payments that more appropriately reflect state responsibilities and to incentivize continued and new state partnerships: First, HUD is considering payment to each SAA for its participation as partners in each of the various program elements, including SAA roles, participation in joint monitoring, and for administering installation and dispute resolution programs. Second, HUD is considering a change in annual funding from minimum end of Fiscal Year lump sum payments to payments for each operational element at the end of each Fiscal Year, and a sunset provision for states to strategize and plan for this change. HUD is seeking public comment on questions related to these changes and will consider the comments in developing a proposed rule to further streamline and enhance the minimum payment formula. This ANPR will also be shared with the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC) and the relevant MHCC subcommittee and all state partners for feedback and comments prior to moving forward in the rulemaking process. A Proposed Rule developed in consideration of this ANPR will also be shared with the MHCC prior to moving forward in the rulemaking process in accordance with statutory requirements.

NMFS, upon request from the U.S. Navy (Navy), issues these regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the training and testing activities conducted in the Northwest Training and Testing (NWTT) Study Area. The Navy's activities qualify as military readiness activities pursuant to the MMPA, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (2004 NDAA). These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species and their habitat, and establish requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.

This direct final rule makes nonsubstantive changes to add the NASA Graphics Standards Manual and make other administrative updates.

In this document, the Commission revises the regulations governing the notices that cable operators must provide subscribers and local franchise authorities (LFAs) regarding rate and service changes. Specifically, document amends the rules to clarify that when service changes occur due to retransmission consent or program carriage negotiations that fail within the last 30 days of a contract, cable operators must provide notice to subscribers ``as soon as possible,'' rather than 30 days in advance. The document also eliminates the requirement that cable operators not subject to rate regulation provide 30 days' advance notice to LFAs of rate or service changes. Finally, it eliminates the requirement that cable operators provide notice of any significant change to the information required in the certain annual notices, as well as adopts several non- substantive revisions that clarify the rules and eliminate redundant provisions. The Commission concludes that these changes will make consumer notices more meaningful and accurate, reduce consumer confusion, better ensure that subscribers receive the information they need to make informed choices about their service options, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens.

The Copyright Office is amending its regulations to make electronic-only books published in the United States subject to the Copyright Act's mandatory deposit provisions if they are affirmatively demanded by the Office. The final rule largely adopts the language set forth in the Office's June 2020 notice of proposed rulemaking, with one additional clarification regarding the rule's applicability to print- on-demand books.

This document contains proposed regulations relating to the foreign tax credit, including guidance on the disallowance of a credit or deduction for foreign income taxes with respect to dividends eligible for a dividends-received deduction; the allocation and apportionment of interest expense, foreign income tax expense, and certain deductions of life insurance companies; the definition of a foreign income tax and a tax in lieu of an income tax; transition rules relating to the impact on loss accounts of net operating loss carrybacks allowed by reason of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; the definition of foreign branch category and financial services income; and the time at which foreign taxes accrue and can be claimed as a credit. This document also contains proposed regulations clarifying rules relating to foreign-derived intangible income. The proposed regulations affect taxpayers that claim credits or deductions for foreign income taxes, or that claim a deduction for foreign-derived intangible income.

On November 5, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education published a 60-day comment period notice in the Federal Register with FR DOC# 2020-24608 (Page 70596, First Column, Second Column; Page 70597, First Column) seeking public comment for an information collection entitled, ``Evaluating the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program After the 2017 Reauthorization.'' The docket number is incorrect. The correct docket number is ED-2020-SCC-0173. The PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance, Office of the Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, hereby issues a correction notice as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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 (the 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 60 days for public comment on the proposed action. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding our burden estimates 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.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance entitled ``Regulatory Considerations for Microneedling Products.'' This guidance is being issued to assist industry in understanding when a microneedling product is a device as defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). This document also provides information on the regulatory pathway to market for microneedling devices for aesthetic use.