November 5, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all General Electric Company (GE) CF6-80C2A1, CF6-80C2A2, CF6- 80C2A3, CF6-80C2A5, CF6-80C2A5F, and CF6-80C2A8 model turbofan engines with an installed left-hand rear mount link assembly, part number (P/N) 1846M23G01. This proposed AD was prompted by the manufacturer reducing the life limit for the affected left-hand rear mount link assembly. This proposed AD would require revising the Airworthiness Limitations section (ALS) of the GE CF6-80C2 Engine Manual, GEK92451, and the operator's existing approved continuous airworthiness maintenance program (CAMP). The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Department of State (Department) is amending its regulation governing nonimmigrant visas by amending its rules to remove references to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and replace them with references to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a revision to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning particulate matter (PM) emissions from heavy-duty (HD) diesel vehicles. We are proposing to approve state rules to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

On October 6, 2021, GSA published a final rule to amend the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to correct clause and provision designation and prescription errors, correct deviations and alternate identification issues, and to make other updates to the GSAR related to identification and incorporation of GSAR provisions and clauses. This document makes editorial corrections in that rule.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing an interim rule, with an opportunity for comment, to amend its career and career- conditional employment regulations. The revision is necessary to implement the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, which requires OPM to issue regulations, in interim final form, establishing hiring authorities for college graduates into positions at specified grades in the competitive service. The intended effect of the authority is to provide additional flexibility in hiring eligible and qualified individuals.

This interim final rule with comment period revises the requirements that most Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. These changes are necessary to help protect the health and safety of residents, clients, patients, PACE participants, and staff, and reflect lessons learned to date as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency. The revisions to the requirements establish COVID-19 vaccination requirements for staff at the included Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers.

In this document, the Commission seeks comment on: potential improvements to the voluntary Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework (Framework), including evaluating what triggers its activation, its scope of participants, whether existing Framework elements can be strengthened, any gaps that need to be addressed, and whether the public would benefit from codifying some or all of the Framework; ways to enhance the information available to the Commission through the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) and Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) during disasters and network outages to improve situational awareness; and communications resiliency strategies for power outages, including improved coordination between communications service providers and power companies and deploying onsite backup power or other alternative measures to reduce the frequency, duration, or severity of power-related disruptions to communications services.

The National Labor Relations Board (``NLRB,'' ``Agency,'' or ``Board'') seeks public input on the use of videoconference technology to conduct, in whole or in part, all aspects and phases of unfair labor practice and representation case hearings and on potential amendments to its procedural rules regarding the use of videoconference technology. The Board's current Rules and Regulations provide for the taking of a single witness's testimony via video in an unfair labor practice proceeding upon a showing of good cause based on compelling circumstances. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board, through adjudication, sanctioned entirely remote hearings in both unfair labor practice and representation cases. The Board has no intention to permanently replace in-person hearings with virtual hearings. To the contrary, once conditions permit, the Board intends to resume conducting in-person hearings. But, based on the Board's experience during the pandemic, the Board is considering whether to retain virtual hearings as an option for future use. Accordingly, the Board solicits responses to targeted questions regarding, among other things, stakeholders' experiences with remote hearings during the pandemic; the benefits and/or drawbacks of using videoconference technology to conduct remote hearings; and the need for, and content of, potential amendments to the Board's rules regarding use of videoconference technology to conduct remote hearings.