February 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the NEA is soliciting comments concerning the proposed collection of subgrantee information for the ArtsHERE grant program. A copy of the current information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the address section of this notice.

The U.S. Department of Education (we or the Department) proposes to rescind regulations related to religious student organizations at certain public institutions of higher education (IHEs) that prescribe a novel role for the Department in enforcing grant conditions related to religious student organizations. These regulations apply to public IHEs that receive a direct grant from the Department or a subgrant from a State-administered formula grant program of the Department. The Department proposes to rescind the regulations because they are not necessary to protect the First Amendment right to free speech and free exercise of religion; have created confusion among institutions; and prescribe an unduly burdensome role for the Department to investigate allegations regarding IHEs' treatment of religious student organizations.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission seeks comments concerning FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) financial and technical assistance programs; specifically, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM), the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, BRIC Direct Technical Assistance (DTA), and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission seeks comments concerning information collected for the selling and servicing of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies by FEMA's direct servicing agent, NFIP Direct.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is announcing that FHFA will review all Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) members subject to community support review in 2023 under FHFA's community support requirements regulation. This Notice invites the public to comment on the community support performance of members subject to the review.

STRLs may implement a direct hire authority for students and recent graduates for occupations which do not require expertise in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). The Professional, Administrative, Assistant, Clerical and Technician Student Employment Program (PAACTSEP) is a student program which permits appointment and noncompetitive conversion to the competitive service for qualified candidates who are enrolled in a qualifying educational institution.

GSA is hosting a virtual High-Performance Computing (HPC) Summit to bring together the Federal and industry communities for a series of panel discussions covering HPC implementation progress, opportunities, and best practices.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

On January 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') published a notice of proposed rulemaking and announcement of public meeting (``NOPR'') proposing amended energy conservation standards for distribution transformers, and also to announce a public meeting to receive comment on the proposed standards and associated analyses and results. The notice provided an opportunity for submitting written comments, data, and information by March 13, 2023. DOE received a request from Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc.; a joint request from the American Public Power Association (APPA), Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA); and a request from the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) to extend the written comment period. DOE has reviewed these requests and is granting an extension of the comment period for 14 days to allow public comments to be submitted until March 27, 2023.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering a proposal and invites public comment on the application for release of approximately 158-acres more or less of property from federal Grant Assurance obligations and land exchange at Tucson International Airport, Tucson, Arizona. Tucson Airport Authority (TAA) is requesting a total release from federal obligations on approximately 158-acres more or less of TAA property, and to authorize a land exchange of approximately 61.4-acres more or less [and cash] between TAA and the United States Air Force (USAF). The release property is comprised of a portion of two parcels along the southern boundary of the abandoned Hughes Access Road, adjacent to the main airport airfield and campus.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission will describe the nature of the information collection, the categories of the respondents, the estimated burden (i.e., the time, effort and resources used by respondents to respond) and cost, and the actual data collection instruments FEMA will use.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission seeks comments concerning the removal of use of the FEMA Form FF-USFA-FY-21-108 (formerly 119-17-2), Request for Use of National Emergency Training Center Facilities, due to its antiquated information collection method and requirement. There is no longer a need to formally require the use of this form in order for a requestor to receive support for special groups using the National Emergency Training Center.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission seeks comments concerning the collection of information related to the flood insurance claims process and the housing inspection damage assessment process.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission seeks comments concerning changes to modernize and simplify the disaster assistance registration. The changes will reduce the burden on survivors by only requiring them to answer questions based on the type of assistance they need. This will also reduce the amount of time it takes for survivors to apply either online, or through a call center, therefore allowing call center agents to assist survivors more quickly. The notice also includes FEMA documenting all post-registration contacts, including callouts, casework, and auto-dialers performed for the purpose of determining whether disaster assistance applicants have unmet needs and may be eligible for additional assistance and/or share the results of those contacts directly with external stakeholders, such as state or local government partners, who can potentially assist those same applicants with assistance or services not provided by FEMA through specific programs directly targeted to disaster survivors.