2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to Michigan Air Pollution Control rules Part 2 Air Use Approval for inclusion in the Michigan State Implementation Plan (SIP).

This rule amends, suspends, or removes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide for the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a request from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for delegation of authority to implement and enforce the Federal Plan Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills that commenced construction on or before July 17, 2014, and have not been modified or reconstructed since July 17, 2014. On November 21, 2023, the NJDEP Assistant Commissioner signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) concerning the delegation of authority of the Federal Plan for existing MSW landfills to the NJDEP by the EPA. Subsequently, on November 28, 2023, the MoA became effective upon the EPA Region 2 Regional Administrator's signature. The signed MoA serves as the mechanism for the transfer of the EPA's authority to the NJDEP. The purpose of this delegation is to acknowledge the NJDEP's ability to implement the Federal Plan and to transfer primary implementation and enforcement responsibilities from the EPA to the NJDEP for existing sources of MSW landfills. This notice informs the public of the MoA, provides a copy of the signed document, and amends regulatory text to promulgate the delegation of authority.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) establishes the 36,467-acre "Yucaipa Valley" American viticultural area (AVA) in San Bernardino County, California. The Yucaipa Valley viticultural area is not located within, nor does it contain, any other established viticultural area. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

This amendment adopts miscellaneous amendments to the required IFR (instrument flight rules) altitudes and changeover points for certain Federal airways, jet routes, or direct routes for which a minimum or maximum en route authorized IFR altitude is prescribed. This regulatory action is needed because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System. These changes are designed to provide for the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace under instrument conditions in the affected areas.

On March 19, 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("Commission" or "CFTC") published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking ("Proposed Rule" or "NPRM") titled Requirements for Designated Contract Markets and Swap Execution Facilities Regarding Governance and the Mitigation of Conflicts of Interest Impacting Market Regulation Functions. The comment period for the Proposed Rule was set to close on April 22, 2024. The Commission is extending the comment period for this NPRM by an additional twenty-one days.

The Video Division, Media Bureau (Bureau), has before it a petition for rulemaking filed January 19, 2024 and amended on January 30, 2024, by Multimedia Holdings Corporation (Petitioner). The Petitioner requests the substitution of channel 33 for channel 13 at Jacksonville, Florida (Jacksonville), in the Table of TV Allotments.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for certain waters of the San Diego Bay. The safety zone is needed to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from potential hazards during the XPONENTIAL 2024 demonstration. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port Sector San Diego.

NMFS announces the closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Scallop Management Area for the remainder of the 2024 fishing year for Limited Access General Category vessels. Regulations require this action once NMFS projects that 100 percent of the Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside will be harvested. This action is intended to prevent the overharvest of the 2024 Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside.

The Department of State proposes to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) by increasing and specifying the fees required for registration with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).

The Department of the Interior (the Department or DOI), acting through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), is amending its risk management and financial assurance regulations. This final rule revises criteria for determining whether oil, gas, and sulfur lessees, right-of-use and easement (RUE) grant holders, and pipeline right-of- way (ROW) grant holders are required to provide financial assurance above the current minimum bonding levels to ensure compliance with their Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) obligations. This final rule streamlines the criteria for evaluating the financial health of lessees and grantees, codifies the use of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) probabilistic estimates of decommissioning costs in setting the level of demands for supplemental financial assurance, removes restrictive provisions for third-party guarantees and decommissioning accounts, adds new criteria for cancelling supplemental financial assurance, and clarifies bonding requirements for RUEs serving Federal leases. BOEM estimates that a total of $6.9 billion in new supplemental financial assurance will be required from lessees and grant holders under this final rule to cover potential costs of decommissioning activities. This final rule significantly increases the amount of financial assurance available to the U.S. Government in the case of a lessee default and meaningfully reduces the risk to the government and consequently to the U.S. taxpayer. This final rulemaking does not apply to renewable energy activities.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended ("EPCA"), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including dishwashers. In this direct final rule, the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") is adopting amended energy conservation standards for dishwashers. DOE has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

The NCUA Board (Board) is issuing this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit comments on ways the agency can improve and update its records preservation program regulation and accompanying guidelines in the NCUA regulations. The Board is particularly interested in obtaining stakeholder input on the content of the regulation, which has not been updated in 15 years and may be outdated or at odds with current best practices. The Board is also interested in feedback on the structure of the part which may be confusing as it currently contains a combination of regulatory requirements and guidance.

The Department of Justice ("Department") issues its final rule revising the regulation implementing title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") to establish specific requirements, including the adoption of specific technical standards, for making accessible the services, programs, and activities offered by State and local government entities to the public through the web and mobile applications ("apps").

This rulemaking proposes to update authorities and responsibilities for the Stars and Stripes Media Organization (often abbreviated as Stripes) to reaffirm its editorial independence in providing media products not only to military service members and DoD civilian employees, but to U.S. veterans, families of veterans and current service members, and contractor personnel, particularly those serving overseas, based on changes in the consumption of news and information in a digital age. It additionally proposes to remove internal operational procedures of the Stars and Stripes Media Organization that do not require rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.

This proposed rule would implement a set of management measures recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) to ensure fishery impacts on California Coastal (CC) Chinook salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, remain within the conservation objective in the Council's Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (Salmon FMP). Under the proposed rule, management tools (e.g., trip limits (also known as landing and possession limits) and inseason management) consistent with the provisions of the Salmon FMP would be used to provide greater certainty in avoiding exceedances of the conservation objectives for CC Chinook salmon.

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of cyclaniliprole in or on Vegetable, cucurbit, group 9. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This final rule revises HUD's regulations governing floodplain management and the protection of wetlands to implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) in accordance with the Executive Order titled "Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input." These revisions to HUD's regulations will improve the resilience of HUD-assisted or financed projects to the effects of climate change and natural disasters and provide for greater flexibility in the use of HUD assistance in floodways under certain circumstances. Among other revisions, this rule provides a process for determining the extent of the FFRMS floodplain, with a preference for a climate-informed science approach (CISA) to making this determination. The rule also revises HUD's floodplain and wetland regulations to streamline, improve overall clarity, and modernize standards. Also, this rule revises HUD's Minimum Property Standards for one-to-four-unit housing under HUD's mortgage insurance and low-rent public housing programs to require that the lowest floor in newly constructed structures located within the 1-percent-annual-chance (100-year) floodplain be built at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation (BFE) as determined by best available information. The rule also revises a categorical exclusion when HUD performs environmental reviews and updates various HUD environmental regulations to permit online posting of public notices.

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2022-13-11, which applies to all Airbus SAS Model A350-941 and -1041 airplanes. AD 2022-13-11 requires revising the existing airplane flight manual (AFM) for airplanes equipped with affected flight control units (FCUs) and replacing any affected FCU with a serviceable FCU. Since the FAA issued AD 2022-13-11, the FAA has determined that it is necessary to expand the applicability of the AFM revision requirement to all Model A350-941 and -1041 airplanes, including those equipped with serviceable FCUs. This proposed AD would continue to require certain actions in AD 2022-13-11, including replacing any affected FCU with a serviceable FCU, expand the requirement to revise the existing AFM for all airplanes, and prohibit the installation of affected parts, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is proposed for incorporation by reference (IBR). The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) in September 2023 to address the risk of death and injury associated with infant suffocations, entrapments, falls, and other hazards associated with nursing pillows. CPSC is announcing the availability of, and seeking comment on, details about incident data relevant to the rulemaking that are associated with infants and the use of nursing pillows. The Commission is also seeking comments on how a final rule should address nursing pillow covers.

On March 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of State (Department of State) published in the Federal Register an interim final rule with request for comment (2023 Interim Final Rule) for the Exchange Visitor Program regulations that apply to sponsors the Department of State designates to conduct international educational and cultural exchange programs. In this final rule, the Department of State responds to public comments submitted in response to the 2023 Interim Final Rule and makes minor revisions to the regulations.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission ("Commission") seeks comment on additional action it can take to help survivors of domestic violence access safe and affordable connectivity, particularly in the context of connected car services which may be used to stalk, harass, and revictimize survivors of domestic violence.

This rule amends the requirements for investing lenders and investing mortgagees to gain or maintain their status as a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) approved lender or mortgagee. This revision makes FHA's approval requirements consistent with investing mortgagees' and investing lenders' risk, reduces barriers to FHA approval for new investing mortgagees and investing lenders, and increases access to capital for all FHA-approved mortgagees and lenders. HUD is clarifying that the general annual certification requirement for lenders and mortgagees is applicable to investing lenders and investing mortgagees. HUD is also defining Government- Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) separately from other governmental-type entities to ensure that FHA requirements specific to loan origination do not apply to GSEs. Finally, HUD is eliminating obsolete language related to lender and mortgagee net worth requirements. This final rule adopts HUD's July 18, 2023, proposed rule with minor revisions.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted amendment 127 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI), amendment 115 to the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), amendment 56 to the FMP for BSAI King and Tanner Crabs, amendment 17 to the FMP for the Salmon Fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) Off Alaska, and amendment 3 to the FMP for Fish Resources of the Arctic Management Area (amendments) to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, these amendments would revise the FMPs by updating the description and identification of essential fish habitat (EFH) and updating information on adverse impacts to EFH based on the best scientific information available. These amendments are intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the FMPs, and other applicable laws.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District (AVAQMD) and the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning rules submitted to address section 185 of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) with respect to the 1979 1-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or standard). We are proposing action on these local rules that were submitted as equivalent alternatives to a statutory section 185 program. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.