2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action establishes Class D airspace and amends Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface for Auburn University Regional Airport, Auburn, AL, as a new air traffic control tower services the airport. Controlled airspace is necessary for the safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations in the area.

The Food and Nutrition Service is correcting a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on November 18, 2024. The document implements statutory requirements and policy improvements to strengthen the employment and training (E&T) program through the collection of information to determine the overall effectiveness of the E&T program in reaching the goal of assisting participants in obtaining the skills necessary to obtain and retain employment.

The National Park Service (NPS) revises regulations governing the application, processing, and issuance of right-of-way (ROW) permits for lands and waters administered by the NPS. A ROW permit authorizes the use of such lands and waters for the operation and maintenance of infrastructure associated with utilities such as fiber, water lines, power lines, and cellular antennas. The revisions align NPS processes more closely with those of other Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus by allowing for a pre-application meeting, identifying a common standard application form, and broadening methods the NPS can use to determine fair market value. This rule clarifies the process for permitting construction related to a ROW permit, makes updates that reflect current technology and standard practices, and integrates applicable laws that have been implemented since the regulations were first promulgated in 1980.

In this final rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding 140 entities to the Entity List. These entries are listed on the Entity List under the destinations of China, People's Republic of (China), Japan, South Korea, and Singapore and have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. This final rule also modifies 14 existing entries on the Entity List, consisting of revisions to 14 entries under China. This final rule publishes concurrently with BIS's interim final rule, "Foreign-Produced Direct Product Rule Additions, and Refinements to Controls for Advanced Computing and Semiconductor Manufacturing Items" (0694-AJ74), which makes additional changes to the EAR controls on advanced computing items and semiconductor manufacturing items. This final rule is part of this larger effort to ensure that appropriate EAR controls are in place on these items, including in connection with transactions destined to or otherwise involving the entities being added to the Entity List, as well as for existing entries on the Entity List that are being modified. All of these entities (those newly added and those being modified) are involved with the development and production of "advanced-node integrated circuits" ("advanced-node ICs") and/or semiconductor manufacturing items, and/or have supported the Chinese government's Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) Development Strategy. Additionally, this final rule designates nine of these entities being added and seven of the entries being modified as entities for which entity-specific restrictions involving foreign-produced items apply. This final rule also amends the EAR by removing three entities from the Validated End- User (VEU) Program.

This rule finalizes revisions to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) regulations proposed on February 23, 2024. This final rule requires state title IV-E agencies to collect and report to ACF additional data related to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) for children in the AFCARS Out-of-Home Care Reporting Population.

The FAA issues this document to assess interest in and invite public comment on the possible expansion of FAA's delegation program to include new certification tasks that might be accomplished by individual designees or Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) holders. The expanded tasks being considered are certification of all commuter and on-demand operator types, excluding 10 or more passenger operations. The effort may require the FAA to initiate rulemaking corresponding with additional certification tasks for individual designees and a revision to policy for additional ODA authorized functions.

This final rule amends Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's Privacy Act regulation to exempt a system of records that supports law enforcement investigations through legal case management.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all General Electric Company (GE) Model CT7-2E1 engines. This proposed AD was prompted by a revised analysis using an updated stress model, which calculated that the actual life limit of the CT7-2E1 stage 2 turbine aft cooling plate is less than the current life limit. This proposed AD would require revision of the airworthiness limitations section (ALS) of the existing CT7-2E1 engine maintenance manual (EMM) and the operator's existing approved maintenance program or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate a reduced life limit for this part. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

This action amends the Class D and Class E airspace and establishes Class E airspace at Flagstaff Pullman Airport, Flagstaff, AZ. This action is the result of a biennial airspace review. This action brings the airspace into compliance with FAA orders and supports instrument flight rule (IFR) procedures and operations.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of cyazofamid in or on multiple crops listed later in this document. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

NMFS announces that the 2024 summer flounder commercial quota allocated to the State of Rhode Island has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Rhode Island for the remainder of calendar year 2024, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to advise Rhode Island that the quota has been harvested, and to advise vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no Federal commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in Rhode Island.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA or Act) authorizes the Secretary of Labor to issue certificates allowing employers to pay productivity-based subminimum wages to workers with disabilities, but only where such certificates are necessary to prevent the curtailment of opportunities for employment. Employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities have vastly expanded in recent decades, in part due to significant legal and policy developments. Based on that evidence, the Department has tentatively concluded that subminimum wages are no longer necessary to prevent the curtailment of employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and thus proposes to phase out the issuance of section 14(c) certificates.

This final rule describes a new mandatory alternative payment model, the Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model (IOTA Model), that will test whether performance-based upside risk payments or downside risk payments paid to or owed by participating kidney transplant hospitals increase access to kidney transplants for patients with end- stage renal disease (ESRD) while preserving or enhancing the quality of care and reducing Medicare expenditures. This final rule also adopts standard provisions that will apply to the Radiation Oncology Model, the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Treatment Choices Model, and mandatory Innovation Center models, including the IOTA Model, whose first performance period begins on or after January 1, 2025. The finalized standard provisions relate to beneficiary protections; cooperation in model evaluation and monitoring; audits and records retention; rights in data and intellectual property; monitoring and compliance; remedial action; model termination by CMS; limitations on review; miscellaneous provisions on bankruptcy and other notifications; and the reconsideration review process.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve revisions to the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD or "District") portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern recodification of prohibitory and administrative rules used by the District to regulate air pollutants under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and particulate matter (PM). The intended effect is to update the California SIP to reflect the recodified rules.

The USPTO is withdrawing the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal Register on May 10, 2024, that proposes to add a new requirement for an acceptable terminal disclaimer filed to obviate (that is, overcome) nonstatutory double patenting.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Far West Spearmint Oil Administrative Committee (Committee) to revise the quantity of Class 3 (Native) spearmint oil that handlers may purchase from, or handle on behalf of, producers in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon and parts of Nevada and Utah (Far West) for the 2024-2025 marketing year, which began on June 1, 2024. This action would increase the 2024-2025 marketing year Native spearmint oil salable quantity from 678,980 pounds to 731,220 pounds, and the allotment percentage from 26 percent to 28 percent.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) that seeks comment on the implementation of the Alaska Connect Fund (ACF) for mobile service from the period January 1, 2030 through December 31, 2034 for areas where more than one mobile provider had been receiving support for overlapping service areas, or duplicate- support areas (ACF Mobile Phase II). This includes comment on the methodology to determine support amounts in duplicate-support areas and the competitive or alternative mechanism to distribute support, which would result in support to a single mobile provider in duplicate- support areas after ACF Mobile Phase I (mobile support provided from January 1, 2027 to December 31, 2029) ends. The Commission also seeks comment on how to distribute support in unserved areas, Tribal consent requirements for the ACF, and other additional issues that would impact the ACF.

This proposed rule would amend the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to allow States to waive the hazardous materials (HM) endorsement requirement for holders of Class A commercial driver's licenses (CDL) who transport no more than 1,000 gallons of aviation grade jet fuel in support of seasonal agricultural operations.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), proposes to update and streamline the Single-Family Housing (SFH) Self-Help Technical Assistance Grant Program. The Self-Help Program has evolved, and the current regulations as codified restrict the Agency's ability to be flexible with market changes. The intent of this proposed rule is to reduce the regulatory burdens in the current regulation, to assist the Agency to better achieve the program objectives, streamline administrative regulatory requirements and make the program more effective in serving rural Americans by increasing decent, safe, and sanitary housing stock across the Nation.

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 certain rules adopted in a Report and Order, FCC 24-28, in GN Docket No. 23-65 and IB Docket No. 22-271 (SCS Report and Order) for space station and earth station applicants wishing to provide supplemental coverage from space (SCS). The SCS Report and Order stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of rules which were delayed indefinitely. With this document, the Commission is announcing the effective date of the rules applicable to space station and earth station applicants.

NMFS proposes 2025 and 2026 harvest specifications, apportionments, and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management area. This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2025 and 2026 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). The 2025 harvest specifications supersede those previously set in the final 2024 and 2025 harvest specifications, and the 2026 harvest specifications will be superseded in early 2026 when the final 2026 and 2027 harvest specifications are published. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the BSAI in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The Coast Guard will enforce the special local regulation to provide for the safety and security of certain navigable waterways of Charleston Harbor during the Charleston Parade of Boats. Our regulation for marine events within the Captain of the Port Charleston identifies the regulated area for this event in Charleston Harbor, SC. During the enforcement periods, no person or vessel may enter, transit through, anchor in, or remain within the designated area unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Charleston (COTP) or a designated representative.

The Coast Guard is establishing an anchorage ground near Port Westward, Oregon on the Columbia River. The purpose of this rule is to improve safety of navigation by providing additional safe anchorages for commercial vessels in the navigable waters of the Columbia River.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for certain waters of Long Island Sound in the vicinity of the Glen Island Approach Bridge, New Rochelle, NY, for construction vessels and machinery involved in the rehabilitation project of the bridge. The safety zone is needed to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from potential hazards associated with the bridge construction between December 2, 2024, through May 27, 2027. When enforced, this regulation prohibits persons and vessels from being in the safety zone unless authorized by the Captain of the Port New York or a designated representative.

This document sets forth proposed regulations relating to the definition of qualified nonpersonal use vehicles. Qualified nonpersonal use vehicles are excepted from the substantiation requirements that apply to certain listed property. These proposed regulations add unmarked vehicles used by firefighters or members of a rescue squad or ambulance crew as a new type of qualified nonpersonal use vehicle. These regulations affect governmental units that provide firefighter or rescue squad or ambulance crew member employees with unmarked qualified nonpersonal use vehicles and the employees who use those vehicles.