2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commission is acknowledging a recent filing requesting the Commission initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider changes to analytical principles relating to periodic reports (Proposal Eight). This document informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

The Coast Guard will enforce a safety zone in the navigable waters of Suisun Bay, off Concord, CA, in support of explosive handling operations at Military Ocean Terminal Concord (MOTCO) on November 26, 2023, through December 3, 2023. This safety zone is necessary to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from potential explosion within the explosive arc. The safety zone is open to all persons and vessels for transitory use, but vessel operators desiring to anchor or otherwise loiter within the safety zone must obtain the permission of the Captain of the Port (COTP) San Francisco or a designated representative.

Under this proposed rule, when tenants who reside in public housing or in properties receiving project-based rental assistance (PBRA) face eviction for nonpayment of rent, public housing agencies (PHAs) and owners would need to provide those tenants with written notification at least 30 days prior to the commencement of a formal judicial eviction procedure for lease termination. For purposes of this proposed rule, PBRA includes projects in the following programs: Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, Section 202/162 Project Assistance Contract, Section 202 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC), Section 811 PRAC, Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Program (811 PRA), and Senior Preservation Rental Assistance Contract Projects (SPRAC). This proposed rule would curtail preventable and unnecessary evictions by providing tenants with time and information to help cure nonpayment violations.

The EPA is proposing amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for the oil and gas industry issued under the Clean Air Act. Specifically, the EPA is proposing to remove the affirmative defense provisions of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for both the Oil and Natural Gas Production source category and the Natural Gas Transmission and Storage source category.

This proposed rule is the Secretary's final decision in this proceeding and recommends amendments to the transportation credit balancing fund provisions for the Appalachian and Southeast Federal milk marketing orders, and establishment of distributing plant delivery credits in the Appalachian, Florida, and Southeast Federal milk marketing orders. AMS will determine whether producers approve of the proposed amended orders, as required by regulation.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Bombardier, Inc., Model CL-600-2B16 (604 Variant) airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports from the supplier that sensing elements of the bleed air leak detection system were manufactured with insufficient salt fill, which can result in an inability to detect hot bleed air leaks. This AD requires testing of all affected overheat detection sensing elements of the bleed air leak detection system, and replacement if necessary. This AD also prohibits the installation of affected parts. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Processed Pear Committee (Committee) to increase the assessment rate established for the 2023-2024 fiscal period and subsequent fiscal periods. The proposed assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

This action proposes to amend the Class E airspace at Park River, ND. The FAA is proposing this action due to the development of new public instrument procedures and to support instrument flight rule (IFR) operations. The name of the airport would also be updated to coincide with the FAA's aeronautical database.

This action proposes to establish Class E airspace at Mott, ND. The FAA is proposing this action due to the development of new public instrument procedures and to support instrument flight rule (IFR) operations.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with rules for notifications related to access stimulation adopted in the Second Report and Order, FCC 23-31 (April 21, 2023) (Access Arbitrage Second Report and Order), which was summarized in a document published on June 1, 2023. This document is consistent with the Access Arbitrage Second Report and Order and its summary.

FinCEN is amending the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule (the ``Reporting Rule'') to extend the filing deadline for certain BOI reports. Under the Reporting Rule prior to this amendment, entities created or registered on or after the rule's effective date of January 1, 2024, had to file initial BOI reports with FinCEN within 30 calendar days of notice of their creation or registration. This amendment extends that filing deadline from 30 calendar days to 90 calendar days for entities created or registered on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2025, to give those entities additional time to understand the new reporting obligation and collect the necessary information to complete their filings. Entities created or registered on or after January 1, 2025, will continue to have 30 calendar days to file their BOI reports with FinCEN.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for certain navigable waters in the Laguna Madre. The safety zone is needed to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from potential hazards created by a firework display launched from a stationary barge in the Laguna Madre, South Padre Island, Texas. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone or remaining in the zone when it is in effect is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port Sector Corpus Christi or a designated representative.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the Agency) is adopting a final rule that amends several provisions in the Enterprise Regulatory Capital Framework (ERCF) for the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac, and with Fannie Mae, each an Enterprise). The final rule includes modifications related to guarantees on commingled securities, multifamily mortgage exposures secured by government-subsidized properties, and derivatives and cleared transactions, among other items.

On November 27, 2020, we, NMFS, published in the Federal Register a proposal to designate 17 island units of critical habitat in the Pacific Islands Region for 7 Indo-Pacific coral species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Based on public comments and new information regarding the interpretation of the records of the listed corals and application to critical habitat, a substantial revision of the proposed rule is warranted. Accordingly, we are withdrawing the 2020 proposed rule and publishing this new proposed rule. We propose to designate critical habitat for five of the seven coral species that were addressed in the 2020 proposed rule: Acropora globiceps, Acropora retusa, Acropora speciosa, Euphyllia paradivisa, and Isopora crateriformis. Proposed critical habitat includes 16 island units encompassing approximately 251 square kilometers ((km\2\); 97 square miles (mi\2\)) of marine habitat. Several areas are ineligible for critical habitat because of final Department of Defense Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans that we have determined will benefit the listed corals. We have considered economic, national security, and other relevant impacts of the proposed designations, but are not proposing to exclude any areas from the critical habitat designations due to anticipated impacts.

BSEE proposes to incorporate documents by reference (Production Measurement Industry Standards and Safety Industry Standards, including one International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission standard) into the regulations governing oil, gas, and sulfur operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Incorporation of these documents by reference would provide industry with up-to-date, minimum requirements for measuring oil and gas production volumes and enhancing safety. This would reduce uncertainty in the measurement of oil and gas production and update the minimum standards in the safety regulations.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in the royalty rates that commercial and noncommercial noninteractive webcasters pay for eligible transmissions pursuant to the statutory licenses for the public performance of and for the making of ephemeral reproductions of sound recordings.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, Agency, or we) is proposing to require the filing of a premarket approval application (PMA) for certain solid wound dressings; wound dressings formulated as a gel, cream, or ointment; and liquid wound washes containing antimicrobials with a high level of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) concern (i.e., medically important antimicrobials) acting as either protectants or preservatives, which are unclassified, preamendments devices. FDA is summarizing its proposed findings regarding the degree or risk of illness or injury designed to be eliminated or reduced by requiring the devices to meet the PMA requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the benefits to the public from the use of the devices.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG (RRD) Model RB211-Trent 800 engines. This AD is prompted by reports of cracks on certain intermediate-pressure compressor (IPC) rotor shaft balance lands. This AD requires initial and repetitive on-wing or in-shop borescope inspections (BSIs) of certain IPC rotor shaft balance lands for cracks, dents, and nicks, and replacement of the IPC rotor shaft if necessary, and would prohibit the installation of a certain IPC rotor shaft on any engine, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is incorporated by reference (IBR). The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

On October 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of State (Department of State) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Exchange Visitor ProgramAu pair category. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking provided a deadline for submitting comments by December 29, 2023. The Department of State received a request from the Alliance for International Exchange seeking an extension of the public comment period. The Department of State has reviewed this request and is announcing an extension of the public comment period for 30 days to allow public comments to be submitted on or before January 28, 2024.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 3.2% in the royalty rates satellite carriers pay for a compulsory license under the Copyright Act. The COLA is based on the change in the Consumer Price Index from October 2022 to October 2023.

This final rule announces routine inseason adjustments to management measures in commercial and recreational groundfish fisheries for the 2024 fishing year. This action is intended to allow commercial and recreational fishing vessels to access more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks.

The FDIC is adopting a final rule to implement a special assessment to recover the loss to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF or Fund) arising from the protection of uninsured depositors following the closures of Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, CA, and Signature Bank, New York, NY. The FDIC will collect the $16.3 billion special assessment at a quarterly rate of 3.36 basis points, multiplied by an insured depository institution's (IDI) estimated uninsured deposits, reported for the quarter that ended December 31, 2022, adjusted to exclude the first $5 billion in estimated uninsured deposits from the IDI, or for IDIs that are part of a holding company with one or more subsidiary IDIs, at the banking organization level. The FDIC will collect the special assessment over eight quarterly assessment periods, although the collection period may change due to updates to the estimated loss pursuant to the systemic risk determination or if assessments collected change due to corrective amendments to the amount of uninsured deposits reported for the December 31, 2022, reporting period.

The Board and the Bureau (collectively, the Agencies) are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations and commentary for the Agencies' regulations that implement the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended the CLA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer leases be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Under regulations adopted by the Agencies, if there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Agencies will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. Additionally, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted because the CPI-W decreased, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage change in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2023, the exemption threshold will increase from $66,400 to $69,500 effective January 1, 2024. Because the Dodd-Frank Act also requires similar adjustments in the Truth in Lending Act's threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions, the Agencies are making similar amendments to each of their respective regulations implementing the Truth in Lending Act elsewhere in the Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register.

The OCC, the Board, and the Bureau are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations for their regulations that implement section 129H of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Section 129H of TILA establishes special appraisal requirements for ``higher-risk mortgages,'' termed ``higher-priced mortgage loans'' or ``HPMLs'' in the agencies' regulations. The OCC, the Board, the Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (collectively, the Agencies) jointly issued final rules implementing these requirements, effective January 18, 2014. The Agencies' rules exempted, among other loan types, transactions of $25,000 or less, and required that this loan amount be adjusted annually based on any annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the OCC, the Board, and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. Additionally, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted because the CPI-W decreased, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the CPI-W in effect as of June 1, 2023, the exemption threshold will increase from $31,000 to $32,400, effective January 1, 2024.

The Board is amending Regulation D, Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions, to reflect the annual indexing of the reserve requirement exemption amount and the low reserve tranche for 2024. The annual indexation of these amounts is required notwithstanding the Board's action in March 2020 of setting all reserve requirement ratios to zero. The reserve requirement exemption amount for 2023 will remain $36.1 million, unchanged for 2024, consistent with the Federal Reserve Act (the ``Act''). The Board is amending Regulation D to set the amount of the low reserve tranche at $644.0 million (decreased from $691.7 million in 2023). The adjustment to the low reserve tranche is derived using a statutory formula specified in the Act. The annual indexation of the reserve requirement exemption amount and low reserve tranche is required by statute but will not affect depository institutions' reserve requirements, which will remain zero.