April 11, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Public meeting: U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

On January 27, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a notice and request for comments entitled ``Initial Proposals for Updating OMB's Race and Ethnicity Statistical Standards.'' OMB is extending the public comment period announced in that notice, which currently closes on April 12, 2023, by 15 days. The comment period will now remain open until April 27, 2023, to allow additional time for the public to review and comment on the initial proposals.

This is an announcement of a meeting of the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) Federal Advisory Committee (GAC) to discuss the Global Initiative, as described at https:// bja.ojp.gov/program/it/global. This meeting will be held in Grand Ballroom at the Bureau of Justice Assistance, 810 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20531.

The Coast Guard is establishing a safety zone around the Lucius Spar, located in Keathley Canyon Block 875 on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico. The purpose of this rule is to protect the facility from all vessel traffic operating outside the normal shipping channels and fairways that are not providing service to or working with the facility. Establishing a safety zone around the facility will significantly reduce the threat of allisions, collisions, security breaches, oil spills, releases of natural gas, and thereby protect the safety of life, property, and the environment.

FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2023-02 to emphasize significant concerns related to train makeup and to ensure that all railroads exercise due diligence and recognize the importance of taking proactive measures to address potential safety risks related to operating train builds with varying configurations, load and empty placement, distributed power arrangements, and other factors. FRA has noticed a rising trend in recent incidents where train build and makeup have been identified as a potential cause or contributing factor. In response, FRA incorporates train simulations into its investigative process when it is suspected that high in-train forces may have contributed to train accidents. To address these concerns, FRA is providing recommendations for freight railroads to improve the safety of their train build processes and practices.

We, NMFS, will hold two public hearings related to our March 16, 2023, proposed rule to list the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving State Implementation Plan (SIP) rule revisions submitted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA or Illinois) on April 13, 2021, and supplemented by a Clean Air Act (CAA) section 110(l) demonstration submitted on October 6, 2022. Illinois requests that EPA approve rule revisions related to control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from aerospace manufacturing and rework facilities into Illinois' SIP. These rule revisions are consistent with the Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) for Aerospace Manufacturing and Rework Operations published by EPA in 1997, generally used to meet Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements, and serve as SIP strengthening measures for aerospace facilities located in the Illinois portion of the St. Louis nonattainment area (Metro-East area). The Metro-East area consists of Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois. EPA proposed to approve this action on January 10, 2023, and received no adverse comments.

This final rule approves 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, this final rule implements management measures governing the 2023 recreational fisheries that are not implemented through the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Management measures include the recreational fishery seasons and subarea allocations for Area 2A. These actions are intended to conserve Pacific halibut and provide angler opportunity where available.

This document contains proposed regulations regarding supervisory approval of certain penalties assessed by the IRS. The proposed regulations are necessary to address uncertainty regarding various aspects of supervisory approval of penalties that have arisen due to recent judicial decisions. The proposed regulations affect the IRS and persons assessed certain penalties by the IRS.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to remove the Colorado hookless cactus (Sclerocactus glaucus) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants (List) due to recovery. Recent taxonomic studies have indicated that the currently listed entity is actually two species: Sclerocactus glaucus and Sclerocactus dawsonii. We find that neither species should be listed as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Our review of the best available scientific and commercial data indicates that the threats to the species have been eliminated or reduced to the point that these species no longer meet the definition of a threatened or endangered species under the Act. We request information and comments from the public regarding this proposed rule and the draft post-delisting monitoring (PDM) plan for Colorado hookless cactus (S. glaucus and S. dawsonii). If this proposal is finalized, Colorado hookless cactus will be removed from the List and the prohibitions and conservation measures provided by the Act, particularly through sections 7 and 9, will no longer apply to the species.

The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') proposes to revise its regulations regarding procedures for calculating a value for the petroleum-equivalent fuel economy of electric vehicles (or ``EVs'') for use in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program administered by the Department of Transportation (DOT). This Notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR'') also grants a petition for rulemaking submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Sierra Club and responds to comments submitted on that petition.

The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') is publishing a final rule to amend its test procedure for computer room air conditioners (``CRACs''). DOE is incorporating by reference the latest version of the relevant industry consensus test standard, AHRI 1360-2022. DOE is also adopting the net sensible coefficient of performance (``NSenCOP'') metric in its test procedures for CRACs. Additionally, DOE is amending certain provisions for representations and enforcement.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (``EPCA''), authorizes the Secretary of Energy to classify additional types of consumer products as covered products upon determining that: classifying the product as a covered product is necessary for the purposes of EPCA; and the average annual per-household energy use by products of such type is likely to exceed 100 kilowatt-hours per year (``kWh/yr''). In a final determination published on July 15, 2022, DOE determined that classifying air cleaners as a covered product is necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of EPCA, and that the average U.S. household energy use for air cleaners is likely to exceed 100 kWh/yr. In this notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR''), DOE proposes new energy conservation standards for air cleaners identical to those set forth in a direct final rule published elsewhere in this Federal Register. If DOE receives adverse comment and determines that such comment may provide a reasonable basis for withdrawal, DOE will publish a notice withdrawing the direct final rule and will proceed with this proposed rule.