2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule corrects 2024 harvest specifications for several species of groundfish where the numerical values were mathematically calculated incorrectly and do not accurately reflect the harvest policy recommendations of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council). These harvest specifications are for groundfish caught in the U.S. exclusive economic zone seaward of Washington, Oregon, and California, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP). This rule revises harvest limits or allocations that were previously calculated based on incorrect annual catch limits (ACLs). This action implements corrected numerical values that align with the Council's intended harvest policy decisions and considers the most recent fishery information available at the time those policies were recommended.

This rulemaking amends Marketing Order 905, which regulates the handling of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and pummelos grown in Florida. The amendments reduce the size of the Citrus Administrative Committee (Committee), lower the quorum requirements, revise the nomination and selection processes, and remove the requirement to allocate committee seats based on volume from each district. A new section will provide the Committee authority to receive voluntary contributions for promotion and research projects. Also, conforming changes were made to help align the marketing order with the amendments.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the California Date Administrative Committee (Committee) to decrease the assessment rate established for the 2023-2024 and subsequent crop years. The proposed assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopts as final, without changes, an interim final rule that amended the regulation governing the bilateral factor for diseases and injuries of both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles.

DoD published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on November 17, 2023, seeking public input on a proposed revision to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement certain elements of sections of the National Defense Authorization Acts for Fiscal Years 2012, 2017, and 2021, which establish contract requirements that enable modular open system approaches. The deadline for submitting comments is being extended to provide additional time for interested parties to provide comments.

DoD published a proposed rule on November 17, 2023, proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement sections of the National Defense Authorization Acts for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 regarding applicability of certain solicitation provisions and contract clauses to contracts and subcontracts for commercial products, commercial services, and commercially available off-the-shelf items. The deadline for submitting comments is being extended to provide additional time for interested parties to provide comments.

This action amends Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface for Thomasville Regional Airport, Thomasville, GA. This action increases the existing radius, adds an extension to the northeast, and updates the airport's name.

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA, we, or our) is amending regulations governing young, beginning, and small farmers and ranchers (YBS). The final rule clarifies the responsibilities of funding banks in the review and approval of direct lender association YBS programs, strengthens funding bank internal controls, and bolsters YBS business planning.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD) portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern a rule that includes definitions for certain terms that are necessary for the implementation of local rules that regulate sources of air pollution. We are proposing to approve the rule under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amount of Pacific cod from catcher vessels using trawl gear to vessels using jig gear, catcher/processors using trawl gear, and catcher vessels greater than or equal to 50 feet (15.2 meters (m)) length overall using hook-and- line gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to allow the 2023 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod to be harvested.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) is announcing the availability of a guidance for industry entitled ``Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements: Presentation of the Major Statement in a Clear, Conspicuous, and Neutral Manner in Advertisements in Television and Radio Format Final Rule: Questions and Answers.'' We are issuing this small entity compliance guide (SECG) in accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act to help small businesses understand and comply with the ``Direct-to- Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements: Presentation of the Major Statement in a Clear, Conspicuous, and Neutral Manner in Advertisements in Television and Radio Format Final Rule'' (CCN Final Rule). The CCN Final Rule modifies FDA regulations to reflect the requirement in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) that human prescription drug advertisements presented directly to consumers (DTC) in television or radio format and stating the name of the drug and its conditions of use (DTC TV/radio ads) present the major statement relating to side effects and contraindications (major statement) in a clear, conspicuous, and neutral manner and establishes standards to help ensure this requirement is met. The term ``drugs'' in this guidance refers to prescription human drug and biological products.

This final rule is being issued to adjust for inflation each civil monetary penalty (CMP) provided by law within the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Commerce (Department of Commerce). The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 and the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, required the head of each agency to adjust for inflation its CMP levels in effect as of November 2, 2015, under a revised methodology that was effective for 2016 which provided for initial catch up adjustments for inflation in 2016, and requires adjustments for inflation to CMPs under a revised methodology for each year thereafter. The Department of Commerce's 2024 adjustments for inflation to CMPs apply only to CMPs with a dollar amount, and will not apply to CMPs written as functions of violations. The Department of Commerce's 2024 adjustments for inflation to CMPs apply only to those CMPs, including those whose associated violation predated such adjustment, which are assessed by the Department of Commerce after the effective date of the new CMP level.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (``EPCA''), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including consumer water heaters. On July 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'' or ``the Department'') proposed amended energy conservation standards for certain consumer water heaters, including circulating water heaters, along with supporting definitions. In this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (``SNOPR'') DOE proposes to amend the definition for circulating water heaters and clarify that circulating water heaters would be subject to the proposed energy conservation standards for storage-type water heaters. DOE requests comment on these proposed definitions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve, through parallel processing, state implementation plan (SIP) revisions from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District (YSAQMD or ``District'') to address Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') requirements related to the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or ``standards''). These revisions concern emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) from biomass boilers, and also address reasonably available control technology (RACT) requirements for major sources of NOX in the portion of the Sacramento Metro, CA, nonattainment area that is subject to YSAQMD jurisdiction. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is amending a provision of the recently finalized Technology Transitions Program under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act). This action allows one additional year, until January 1, 2026, solely for the installation of new residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump systems using components manufactured or imported prior to January 1, 2025. The existing January 1, 2025, compliance date for the installation of certain residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump systems may result in significant stranded inventory that was intended for new residential construction. EPA is promulgating this action to mitigate the potential for significant stranded inventory in this subsector. In addition, EPA is clarifying that residential ice makers are not included in the household refrigerator and freezer subsector under the Technology Transitions Rule and are not subject to the restrictions for that subsector. EPA is requesting comments on all aspects of this rule.

On November 16, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) published a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing to amend its implementing procedures (regulations) governing compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). DOE requested public comments by January 2, 2024. DOE is now extending the comment period until January 16, 2024, to allow the public additional review and submission time for any comments on the proposed changes.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher/processors using hook-and-line (HAL) gear in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2023 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) apportioned to catcher/processors using HAL gear in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

This action proposes to amend Class D airspace and E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface for Tri-State/Milton J. Ferguson Field, Huntington, WV, and removes unnecessary verbiage from the descriptor header.

This document contains proposed regulations relating to the credit for production of clean hydrogen (clean hydrogen production credit) and the energy credit, as established and amended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, respectively. The proposed regulations would provide rules for: determining lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions rates resulting from hydrogen production processes; petitioning for provisional emissions rates; verifying production and sale or use of clean hydrogen; modifying or retrofitting existing qualified clean hydrogen production facilities; using electricity from certain renewable or zero-emissions sources to produce qualified clean hydrogen; and electing to treat part of a specified clean hydrogen production facility instead as property eligible for the energy credit. The proposed regulations would affect all taxpayers who produce qualified clean hydrogen and claim the clean hydrogen production credit, elect to treat part of a specified clean hydrogen production facility as property eligible for the energy credit, or produce electricity from certain renewable or zero-emissions sources used by taxpayers or related persons to produce qualified clean hydrogen. This document also provides notice of a public hearing on the proposed regulations.

This final rule extends the region-wide moratorium on the harvest of gold corals in the U.S. Pacific Islands through June 30, 2028. NMFS intends this final rule to prevent overfishing and to stimulate research on gold corals.

The General Services Administration is proposing to amend the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to add a new provision and clause to identify single-use plastic free (SUP-free) packaging availability for products under the Federal Supply Schedules with the goal of reducing single-use plastic packaging.

DoD is proposing to establish requirements for a comprehensive and scalable assessment mechanism to ensure defense contractors and subcontractors have, as part of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program, implemented required security measures to expand application of existing security requirements for Federal Contract Information (FCI) and add new Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) security requirements for certain priority programs. DoD currently requires covered defense contractors and subcontractors to implement the security protections set forth in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171 Rev 2 to provide adequate security for sensitive unclassified DoD information that is processed, stored, or transmitted on contractor information systems and to document their implementation status, including any plans of action for any NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2 requirement not yet implemented, in a System Security Plan (SSP). The CMMC Program provides the Department the mechanism needed to verify that a defense contractor or subcontractor has implemented the security requirements at each CMMC Level and is maintaining that status across the contract period of performance, as required.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all The Boeing Company Model 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report indicating that the oxygen supply tubing can become kinked when certain passenger service unit (PSU) oxygen panel assemblies are installed in the forward-most position of a center stow bin. This proposed AD would require a one- time inspection of the affected PSU oxygen panel assemblies and applicable on-condition actions. This proposed AD would also prohibit the installation of affected parts. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Bombardier, Inc., Model BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by the discovery that existing maintenance tasks do not detect the potential failure of the passenger door detent mechanism because there is no procedure for inspecting the passenger door locking mechanism. This proposed AD would require revising the maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to require use of a certain aircraft maintenance manual (AMM) task during accomplishment of a specified maintenance check. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement a section of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 that clarifies the data to be provided for certain procurements related to major weapon systems.