April 21, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) launched the new National Levee Safety Program, authorized by the National Levee Safety Act of 2007, in the fall of 2021. This program is different from the USACE Levee Safety Program. The purpose of the National Levee Safety Program is to improve the way levees are managed throughout the United States and its territories to reduce the impact of flooding and improve the resilience of communities behind levees. There are four major components that are intended to work together to accomplish the goals of the program: National Levee Safety Guidelines; Integrated Levee Management; National Levee Database and Data Collection; and Implementation Support. This notice announces the start of Phase 2 which is the solicitation of input on draft products and resources developed based on input received during Phase 1 stakeholder engagement activities.

This action revokes Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface for Causey Airport, Liberty, NC, as all instrument approaches to the airport have been canceled.

This action corrects a typographical error in the final rule published in the Federal Register on March 31, 2023, amending Class D airspace, Class E airspace designated as an extension to a Class D surface area, and Class E airspace at Key West International Airport and Key West Naval Air Station (NAS), FL.

This notice announces allotments for PY 2023 for WIOA Title I Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker Activities programs; allotments for Employment Service (ES) activities under the Wagner-Peyser Act for PY 2023 and the allotments of Workforce Information Grants to States for PY 2023.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its medical regulations to add chiropractic services to the definitions of medical services and preventive care. VA will further revise the definition of medical services to include rehabilitative services consistent with its statutory definition and to reflect changes made in other VA medical regulations and in prior legislation not previously codified. The amendments will make the amended regulations consistent with current practices, prior changes in law and other VA medical regulations, and changes in law made by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. These amendments will not substantively change the current administration of medical benefits to veterans.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is considering modifications to the rules of practice for inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) to better align the practices with the USPTO's mission to promote and protect innovation and investment in the same, and with the congressional intent behind the American Invents Act (AIA) to provide a less-expensive alternative to district court litigation to resolve certain patentability issues while also protecting against patentee harassment. The USPTO is considering promulgating rules the Director, and by delegation the Board, will use to exercise the Director's discretion to institute IPRs and PGRs; to provide a procedure for separate briefing on discretionary denial that will allow parties to address relevant issues for discretionary denial without encroaching on the pages they are afforded to address the merits of a case; to provide petitioners the ability to pay additional fees for a higher word-count limit; and to clarify that all settlement agreements, including pre-institution settlement agreements, are required to be filed with the Board.

OCSE proposes to eliminate the non-Federal share of program expenditures requirement for Tribal child support enforcement programs including the 90/10 and 80/20 cost sharing rates. Based upon the experiences of and consultations with Tribes and Tribal organizations, we have determined that the non-Federal share requirement limits growth, causes disruptions, and creates instability.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator signed an Order dated March 14, 2023, denying an August 6, 2021, Petition from Cass County Citizens Coalition (the Petitioner). The Petition requested that EPA object to a Clean Air Act (CAA) title V operating permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), to Waelz Sustainable Products, LLC (WSP), located in Cass County, Indiana.

The Postal Service revises Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail (Pub 52) to incorporate new requirements, for mailers to use unique service type codes and extra service codes within the tracking barcodes and electronic data submission for package shipments containing hazardous materials (HAZMAT) or dangerous goods (DG). This rule standardizes the acceptance and handling of package shipments containing HAZMAT/DG by collecting electronic data to ensure these items are handled appropriately with regards to the category of HAMZAT/DG contained within the package and to create electronic manifests for the Postal Service's air carrier suppliers. The Postal Service also amends the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) to alter refund eligibility of Priority Mail Express containing HAZMAT.

The Department of Defense (DoD or Department) is amending its Privacy Program regulation to add four routine uses to its list of blanket routine uses. These new blanket routine uses will support necessary information sharing from DoD Privacy Act systems of records in the event of a data breach, and support sharing with other government agencies for counterterrorism purposes. This rule is being published as a direct final rule as the Department does not expect to receive any adverse comments. If such comments are received, this direct final rule will be withdrawn and a proposed rule for comments will be published.

This action closes the White Hake Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool vessels fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear, except for Handgear A and B permitted vessels using handgear or tub trawl, through April 30, 2023. The closure is required because the common pool fishery is projected to have caught over 90 percent of its Trimester 3 quota for white hake. This closure is intended to prevent an overage of the common pool's quota for this stock.

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.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is issuing this direct final rule to remove references to SBA Form 990A in the regulations of the Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program. SBA Form 990A is obsolete and has been discontinued.

This document provides the public with notice that, on April 7, 2023, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) submitted a request for amendment (RFA) to its FRA-certified positive train control (PTC) system in order to support the implementation of PTC on its commuter rail network. On MBTA's North Side, the PTC System in the area is being reconfigured and must be taken out of service during the recommissioning of Automatic Train Control (ATC) and the subsequent recommissioning of MBTA's Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System II (ACSES II). FRA is publishing this notice and inviting public comment on the railroad's RFA to its PTC system.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Indiana (FEMA-4704-DR), dated 04/15/2023. Incident: Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes. Incident Period: 03/31/2023 through 04/01/2023.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Arkansas (FEMA- 4698-DR), dated 04/13/2023. Incident: Severe Storms and Tornadoes. Incident Period: 03/31/2023.

The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the increase in the Post-9/11 GI Bill maximum tuition and fee amounts payable and the increase in the amount used to determine an individual's entitlement charge for reimbursement of a licensing, certification, or national test for the 2023-2024 academic year (AY), effective August 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections.

The FHWA is extending the comment period for a request for comments on its existing general applicability waiver for manufactured products under FHWA's Buy America waiver authorities, which was published on March 17, 2023, in the Federal Register. The comment period is currently set to close on April 17, 2023. The extension is based on concern expressed by a number of stakeholders that the original comment period was inadequate to meaningfully review the request for comments, analyze the impact of any possible changes to the existing general applicability waiver for manufactured products, gather information, and provide comprehensive comments. The FHWA recognizes that others interested in commenting may have similar concerns and agrees that the comment period should be extended. Therefore, the comment period is reopened and the closing date for comments is May 22, 2023, which will provide stakeholders and others interested in commenting additional time to submit responses to the docket.

This notice announces the availability of the new North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83)-based Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) official protraction diagrams (OPDs) and official protraction aliquot diagrams (OPADs) depicting geographic areas in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). These diagrams may be used for the description of potential renewable energy and mineral lease sales in the geographic areas that the diagrams represent.

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Chrome Finishing Industry Data Collection (EPA ICR Number 2723.01, OMB Control Number 2040-NEW) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a request for approval of a new collection. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on November 16, 2022 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.