Agencies and Commissions March 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Oregon (FEMA-1824-DR), dated 03/02/2009.

By petition dated April 21, 2008 (Petition), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME), a registered derivatives clearing organization (DCO), and the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. (CBOT), a designated contract market, requested permission to clear certain over-the counter (OTC) swap agreements (swaps) in corn, wheat, and soybeans. Authority for granting this request is found in Section 4(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act (Act).\1\ The Petition also requested permission pursuant to Section 4d of the Act \2\ to allow CME and futures commission merchants (FCMs) clearing through CME to commingle positions in those cleared-only OTC swaps (cleared-only contracts) and funds associated with those positions with positions and funds otherwise required to be held in a customer segregated account. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) has reviewed public comments and the entire record in this matter and it has determined to issue an order granting the requested permission, subject to certain terms and conditions.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would define the New Haven-Hartford and New London, CT, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas by county rather than by city and town boundaries. Defining the New England FWS wage areas by primarily considering county boundaries would provide greater consistency in how OPM defines FWS wage areas and would improve the ability to make direct data comparisons with Census Bureau data. The proposed rule would define the New Haven-Hartford wage area to include Hartford and New Haven Counties, CT, as the survey area and Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, and Tolland Counties, CT, as the area of application and the New London wage area to include New London County, CT, as the survey area and Windham County, CT, as the area of application.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended, (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and NASA's NEPA policy and procedures (14 CFR Part 1216, subpart 1216.3), NASA intends to prepare an EIS for the implementation of a long-term SRIPP at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, have been asked to participate as Cooperating Agencies as they possess both regulatory authority and specialized expertise pertaining to the Proposed Action. MMS has recently accepted NASA's request and will serve as a Cooperating Agency in the preparation of this EIS.

The NRC invites public comment about our intention to request the OMB's approval for renewal of an existing information collection that is summarized below. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

This notice announces that seven information collection requests contained among the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), Labor Management Corporation Program have come up for renewal. FMCS will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review of these seven forms: Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424), Request for Advance or Reimbursement SF-270 (LM-6), Project Performance (LM-8), Financial Status Report SF-269a (LM-7), Grants Program Grantee Evaluation Questionnaire (agency form LM-9), and Accounting System and Financial Capability Questionnaire (LM-3). The request seeks OMB approval for a three-year extension with an expiration date of March 12, 2012, for forms SF-424, SF-270 (LM-6), (LM-8), SF-269a, (LM-7), (LM-9) and (LM-3). FMCS is soliciting comments on aspects of the collection as described below.

The Copyright Office makes royalty rate adjustments for satellite carriers based upon changes in the Consumer Price Index. This year, the change in the Consumer Price Index for the relevant time period was 0.03%, a change so small that the rates remain unaffected for the 2009 licensing period.

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid control number. Comments are requested concerning (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

This final rule delays the March 31, 2009, implementation date for certain amendments to the Board's capital adequacy guidelines for bank holding companies on trust preferred securities and the definition of capital published by the Board in the Federal Register on March 10, 2005. Due to the continuing stressed conditions in the financial markets and in order to promote stability in the financial markets and the banking industry as a whole, the Board has decided to delay until March 31, 2011, the implementation date of new requirements that: limit the aggregate amount of cumulative perpetual preferred stock, trust preferred securities, and minority interests in the equity accounts of most consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, restricted core capital elements) included in the tier 1 capital of all bank holding companies; require bank holding companies to deduct goodwill, less any associated deferred tax liability, from the sum of core capital elements in calculating the amount of restricted core capital elements that may be included in tier 1 capital; and impose further limits on the amount of restricted core capital elements that internationally active bank holding companies may include in tier 1 capital.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has reviewed the per diem rates for certain locations in the States of Idaho and Maryland and determined that they are inadequate. GSA has also reviewed and is amending the county boundaries of Columbia, South Carolina.