February 12, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), Application for Reference and Equivalent Method Determination'' (EPA ICR No. 0559.14, OMB Control No. 2080-0005) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through June 20, 2021. An Agency may not conduct, or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The Library of Congress is adopting amendments to its regulations regarding loans of library materials for blind and other print-disabled persons, as authorized by Title XIV of the Library of Congress Technical Corrections Act of 2019, to amend terminology, the description of services, and certification requirements, and to memorialize existing practices in the Library of Congress's National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS).

Pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed an Order, dated December 11, 2020, granting a petition to object to a state operating permit issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). The Order responds to a February 4, 2019 petition, relating to the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority's Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility (MCRRF), a municipal solid waste resource recovery facility located in Montgomery County, Maryland. The petition was submitted by the Environmental Integrity Project and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (the Petitioners). This Order constitutes final action on that petition requesting that the Administrator object to the issuance of the proposed CAA title V permit.

NMFS proposes to approve changes to the Pacific Halibut Catch Sharing Plan for the International Pacific Halibut Commission's regulatory Area 2A off of Washington, Oregon, and California. In addition, NMFS proposes to implement management measures governing the 2021 recreational fisheries that are not implemented through the International Pacific Halibut Commission. These measures include the recreational fishery seasons, allocations, and management measures for Area 2A. These actions are intended to conserve Pacific halibut and provide angler opportunity where available.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is issuing this direct final rule amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to make a needed technical amendment. This technical amendment is to correct the Code of Federal Regulations and remove erroneous guidance on the illustration of forms.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. (Pilatus) Model PC-7 airplanes. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as a missing release bar retaining screw on a Harley-type buckle assembly installed on a harness shoulder strap. This condition, if not corrected, could lead to loss of pilot restraint and consequently loss of airplane control or injuries to the crew. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR or Wisconsin) on December 13, 2019. Wisconsin requests that EPA approve rules related to control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from offset lithographic printing operations into Wisconsin's SIP. These revisions include amendments to the Wisconsin Administrative Code (WAC), Chapter NR 422. These revisions are approvable because they are consistent with the latest Control Techniques Guideline (CTG) for Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing, published by EPA in 2006, and such revisions clarify and streamline the VOC reasonably available control technology (RACT) requirements for lithographic printing facilities located in nine counties in Wisconsin (Kenosha, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington, and Waukesha). EPA proposed to approve this action on September 25, 2020 and received no comments.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is adopting a final rule that codifies the Interagency Statement Clarifying the Role of Supervisory Guidance, issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Bureau (collectively, the agencies) on September 11, 2018 (2018 Statement). By codifying the 2018 Statement, with amendments, the final rule confirms that the Bureau will continue to follow and respect the limits of administrative law in carrying out its supervisory responsibilities. The 2018 Statement reiterated well-established law by stating that, unlike a law or regulation, supervisory guidance does not have the force and effect of law. As such, supervisory guidance does not create binding legal obligations for the public. Because it is incorporated into the final rule, the 2018 Statement, as amended, is binding on the Bureau. The final rule adopts the rule as proposed without substantive change.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces the operational date of certain rules for funding year 2020.

This document contains corrections to the final regulations (Treasury Decision 9933) that published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. The final regulations provide guidance on how an exempt organization subject to the unrelated business income tax determines if it has more than one unrelated trade or business, and, if so, how the exempt organization calculates unrelated business taxable income.

On November 30, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'' or the ``Commission'') published a ``Swap Execution Facilities and Trade Execution Requirement'' notice of proposed rulemaking (``NPRM'') in the Federal Register. While the Commission has adopted certain proposals from the NPRM, in light of feedback the Commission received in response to the remaining proposals in the NPRM, the Commission has determined to not proceed with those unadopted proposals relating to the regulation of swap execution facilities (``SEFs'') and the trade execution requirement (``Determination''). In separate final rules, the Commission adopted the following portions of the NPRM: Two exemptions, pursuant to Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA'') section 4(c), from the trade execution requirement in CEA section 2(h)(8); and final rules related to audit trail requirements for post- trade allocations, SEF financial resource requirements, and SEF chief compliance officer requirements (collectively, the ``Final Rules''). As such, this withdrawal does not impact or alter any of those sections of the NPRM that are being adopted in the Final Rules. In light of the Determination, the Commission has decided to withdraw the unadopted portions of the NPRM.

In this Report and Order (Order), the Federal Communications Commission declines to adopt rules proposed in the Commission's 2015 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 30 FCC Rcd 6711 (2015) (2015 NPRM) in this proceeding and, therefore, terminates the proceeding. While the Commission continues to support unlicensed white space devices and wireless microphone user operations and continues to believe they serve important interests, based on the record of this proceeding and in light of other actions it has taken during the years since the rules were proposed, coupled with the increased burden that its 2015 proposal would place on the use by broadcasters of spectrum in the more consolidated TV band that now exists following the Incentive Auction, the Commission finds that the rules proposed in the 2015 NPRM would not serve the public interest. In reaching this conclusion, the Commission finds other actions it has taken since the 2015 NPRM to support white space devices and wireless microphones are the preferred avenues for the continued support of these services. Accordingly, the Commission terminates this docket.