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

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), on behalf of the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), will hold a workshop on October 6-7, 2009, to provide an open forum to discuss the state-of-the-art of the science related to environmental, health, and safety aspects of nanomaterials in two areas: Nanomaterials and the Environment & Instrumentation, Metrology, and Analytical Methods. These are two of the five environmental, health, and safety research categories identified in the NSET Subcommittee document Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research (https://www.nano.gov/NNI_ EHS_Research_Strategy.pdf), which was released February 14, 2008.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning pollution prevention and right-to-know information. A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 74 FR 32163 on July 7, 2009. No comments were received.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning value engineering requirements. A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 74 FR 32166, on July 7, 2009. No comments were received.

The Commission grants a petition for rulemaking filed by WHDH- TV, the licensee of station WHDH-TV, channel 7, Boston, Massachusetts, requesting the substitution of its pre-transition DTV channel 42 for its post-transition DTV channel 7 at Boston.

The Postal Service has prepared, and the Commission has approved, a special program offering reduced rates on certain presorted

The Federal Salary Council will meet on October 19, 2009, at the time and location shown below. The Council is an advisory body composed of representatives of Federal employee organizations and experts in the fields of labor relations and pay policy. The Council makes recommendations to the President's Pay Agent (the Secretary of Labor and the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management) about the locality pay program for General Schedule employees under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code. The Council's recommendations cover the establishment or modification of locality pay areas, the coverage of salary surveys, the process of comparing Federal and non-Federal rates of pay, and the level of comparability payments that should be paid.

The Enforcement Bureau (the ``Bureau'') debars Mr. Frankie Logyang Wong from the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism (or ``E-Rate Program'') for a period of three years. The Bureau takes this action to protect the E-Rate Program from waste, fraud and abuse.

The Enforcement Bureau (the ``Bureau'') debars Mr. Steven Newton from the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism (or ``E-Rate Program'') for a period of three years based on his conviction of wire fraud, aiding and abetting, and collusion in connection with his participation in the program. The Bureau takes this action to protect the E-Rate Program from waste, fraud and abuse.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') is concerned that the exception for flash orders from quoting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act''), which originated in the context of manual trading floors for quotations that were considered ``ephemeral,'' is no longer necessary or appropriate in today's highly automated trading environment. Accordingly, the Commission is proposing to amend Rule 602 of Regulation NMS under the Exchange Act to eliminate an exception for the use of flash orders by equity and options exchanges. In general, flash orders are communicated to certain market participants and either executed immediately or withdrawn immediately after communication. If the proposed amendment were adopted, the Commission would apply Rule 301(b) of Regulation ATS under the Exchange Act in a consistent manner with regard to the use of flash orders by alternative trading systems. The Commission also would apply the restrictions on locking or crossing quotations in Rule 610(d) of Regulation NMS in a consistent manner to prohibit the practice of displaying marketable flash orders.