2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

This final rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding four entities to the Entity List. These four entities have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States and will be listed on the Entity List under the destinations of Israel, Russia, and Singapore.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are proposing to renew an information collection.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the State of California dated 10/29/2021. Incident: Brannan Island Fire. Incident Period: 10/11/2021.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Honda Aircraft Company LLC (Honda) Model HA-420 airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report that the flap pushrod assemblies are susceptible to corrosion. This AD requires removing and cleaning the inner diameter of the flap control pushrods and repetitively applying corrosion inhibiting compound (CIC) to this area. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice of country-by-country reallocations of the fiscal year (FY) 2021 in-quota quantity of the World Trade Organization (WTO) tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for imported raw cane sugar.

The U.S. Department of Commerce Trade Finance Advisory Council (TFAC or the Council) will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday, December 2, 2021. The meeting is open to the public with registration instructions provided below.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approved the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona Residential Leasing Ordinance under the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act of 2012 (HEARTH Act). With this approval, the Tribe is authorized to enter into residential leases without further BIA approval.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approved the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, California Business Site Leasing Ordinance under the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act of 2012 (HEARTH Act). With this approval, the Tribe is authorized to enter into business leases without further BIA approval.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that sales of carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod (wire rod) from Mexico were made at less than normal value during the period of review (POR), October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020. Further, Commerce is rescinding the administrative review, in part. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of stainless steel flanges from India during the period of review, January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) has determined the regulatory review period for AKLIEF and is publishing this notice of that determination as required by law. FDA has made the determination because of the submission of applications to the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Department of Commerce, for the extension of a patent which claims that human drug product.