Agencies and Commissions September 10, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (Agency) proposes to amend its regulations to explain the Board's procedures for responding to tax levies and criminal restitution orders that comply with the statutory requirements.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish notice of permits issued under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. This is the required notice.

The OCC, Board, and FDIC (the Agencies) propose to clarify and supplement their Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment to address questions raised by bankers, community organizations, and others regarding the Agencies' Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. The Agencies propose to revise three questions and answers that address (i) alternative systems for delivering retail banking services and (ii) additional examples of innovative or flexible lending practices. In addition, the Agencies propose to revise three questions and answers addressing community development-related issues, including economic development, community development loans, and activities that are considered to revitalize or stabilize an underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geography. The Agencies also propose to add four new questions and answers, two of which address community development services, and two of which provide general guidance on responsiveness and innovativeness.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB) will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement regarding Preventing Personal Conflicts of Interest for Contractor Employees Performing Acquisition Functions. This request for extension relates to FAR case 2013-022, Extension of Limitations on Contractor Employee Personal Conflicts of Interest, proposed rule, which published updated burden hours in the Federal Register at 79 FR 18503 on April 2, 2014. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 79 FR 33557 on June 11, 2014. No comments were received.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined not to review an initial determination (``ID'') (Order No. 15) of the presiding administrative law judge (``ALJ'') granting an unopposed motion (1) to terminate the investigation as to respondent Tellabs, Inc. of Naperville, Illinois and (2) for leave to amend the complaint and notice of investigation to substitute Tellabs Operations, Inc. and Tellabs North America, Inc. both of Naperville, Illinois for Tellabs, Inc.

The public hearing in this investigation scheduled for September 10, 2014, has been cancelled. The two interested parties that filed requests to appear at the hearing have withdrawn their requests to appear.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) proposes to increase employee based small business size standards for 30 industries and three sub-industries (i.e., exceptions in SBA's table of size standards) and decrease them for three industries that are not part of North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Sector 31-33 (Manufacturing), Sector 42 (Wholesale Trade), or Sector 44-45 (Retail Trade). SBA also proposes to eliminate the Information Technology Value Added Resellers sub-industry or ``exception'' under NAICS 541519 (Other Computer Related Services) and its 150-employee size standard. Similarly, SBA proposes to eliminate the Offshore Marine Air Transportation Services sub-industry or ``exception'' under NAICS 481211 and 481212 and Offshore Marine Services sub-industry or ``exception'' under NAICS Subsector 483 and their $28 million receipts based size standard. This proposed change includes removing Footnote 15 and Footnote 18 from the table of size standards. As part of its ongoing comprehensive size standards review, SBA evaluated employee based size standards for 57 industries and five sub-industries that are not in NAICS Sectors 31-33, 42, or 44-45 to determine whether they should be retained or revised. This proposed rule is one of a series of proposed rules that will review size standards of industries grouped by NAICS Sector.