Agencies and Commissions March 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA, we, or our) is proposing new regulations, and clarifying and enhancing existing regulations, related to the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac or Corporation) Board governance and standards of conduct, including director election procedures, conflict-of-interest, and risk governance. We also propose enhancements to existing disclosure and reporting requirements to remove repetitive reporting and allow for electronic filing of reports. In keeping with today's financial and economic environment, we believe it prudent and timely to undertake a review of our regulatory guidance on the identified areas. We also propose rules on the examination and enforcement authorities held by the FCA Office of Secondary Market Oversight (OSMO) over Farmer Mac.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment a draft NUREG, NUREG-2175, ``Guidance for Conducting Technical Analyses for 10 CFR part 61.'' The NRC is proposing to amend its regulations that govern low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal facilities to require new and revised site-specific technical analyses, to permit the development of site-specific criteria for LLRW acceptance based on the results of these analyses, and to facilitate implementation and better align the requirements with current health and safety standards. The NRC has prepared draft guidance to address the implementation of the proposed regulations. This notice is announcing the availability of the draft guidance for public comment.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment a draft plant-specific supplement to NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement [GEIS] for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants Regarding Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2, Supplement 55,'' regarding the renewal of operating licenses NPF-72 and NPF-77 for an additional 20 years of operation for Braidwood Station (Braidwood), Units 1 and 2. Braidwood is located in Will County, Illinois. Possible alternatives to the proposed action include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. The NRC staff plans to hold two public meetings during the public comment period to present an overview of the draft plant- specific supplement to the GEIS and to accept public comments on the document.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) seeks qualified candidates for the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS).

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected costs and burden.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a previously approved information collection requirement concerning U.S. Flag Air Carriers Statement.

In this document, the Commission grants a request to exempt package delivery notifications from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's (TCPA) restrictions on autodialed and prerecorded calls and messages to wireless telephone numbers, as long as consumers are not charged and may easily opt out of future messages if they wish, among other pro-consumer conditions. Congress gave the Commission the authority to exclude from this prohibition calls and texts that are not charged to the called party, subject to conditions necessary to protect the called party's privacy rights. This action is necessary to allow wireless consumers to receive package delivery notifications that will be welcome both as a convenience and as a way to guard against package theft.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) is granting an exemption to certain firms designated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) from the application of certain of the Commission's foreign futures and option regulations based upon substituted compliance with certain comparable regulatory and self-regulatory requirements of a foreign regulatory authority consistent with conditions specified by the Commission, as set forth herein. This Order is issued pursuant to Commission Regulation 30.10, which permits persons to file a petition with the Commission for exemption from the application of certain of the Regulations set forth in Part 30 and authorizes the Commission to grant such an exemption if such action would not be otherwise contrary to the public interest or to the purposes of the provision from which exemption is sought. The Commission notes that the relief granted by this Order is not applicable to any licensed corporation subject to joint oversight by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the HKSFC, or to any registered institution subject to oversight solely by the HKMA. Further, this Order does not pertain to any transaction in swaps, as defined in Section 1a(47) of the Commodity Exchange Act.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) is seeking comments on possible amendments to its Small Business Timber Set-Aside Program (the Program) regulations. The Small Business Timber Set-Aside Program is rooted in the Small Business Act, which tasked SBA with ensuring that small businesses receive a fair proportion of the total sales of government property. Several timber industry stakeholders have petitioned SBA to make changes to the Program because they believe that the current regulations do not provide adequate protections to ensure that small businesses maintain a fair share of the National Forest timber sale market. In response, SBA, in consultation with the United States Forest Service, is seeking comment on several issues to assist the agency in formulating potential regulatory proposals. SBA will share the comments received in response to this advance notice of proposed rulemaking with the United States Forest Service for their use in determining whether, and if so how, to make any corresponding changes to the United States Forest Service Handbook. First, SBA seeks comments on the possibility of including saw timber volume sold as part of a stewardship timber or stewardship services contract in the calculation of the timber sale share of small business. Second, SBA seeks comments on how timber sale appraisals should be performed for small business set aside sales and associated costs and benefits to stakeholders. The SBA is also seeking input on various policy options.

Notice is hereby given of the following hearing of the U.S.- China Economic and Security Review Commission. Name: William A. Reinsch, Chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The Commission is mandated by Congress to investigate, assess, and report to Congress annually on ``the national security implications of the economic relationship between the United States and the People's Republic of China.'' Pursuant to this mandate, the Commission will hold a public hearing in Washington, DC on April 01, 2015, on ``China's Offensive Missile Forces.'' Background: This is the third public hearing the Commission will hold during its 2015 report cycle to collect input from academic, industry, and government experts on national security implications of the U.S. bilateral trade and economic relationship with China. The hearing seeks to examine the drivers of China's engagement with Central Asia, its impacts on regional economic security and stability, and its implications for U.S. policy objectives in the region. The hearing will be co-chaired by Vice Chairman Dennis Shea and Commissioner Katherine Tobin Ph.D. Any interested party may file a written statement by April 01, 2015, by mailing to the contact below. A portion of each panel will include a question and answer period between the Commissioners and the witnesses. Location, Date and Time: Room: TBA. Wednesday, April 01, 2015, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. A detailed agenda for the hearing will be posted to the Commission's Web site at www.uscc.gov. Also, please check our Web site for possible changes to the hearing schedule. Reservations are not required to attend the hearing.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an exemption from certain power reactor liability insurance requirements in response to a request from Dominion Energy Kewaunee, Inc. (DEK or the licensee) dated March 20, 2014. This exemption would permit the licensee to reduce its primary offsite liability insurance and withdraw from participation in the secondary retrospective rating pool for deferred premium charges.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an exemption in response to a March 20, 2014, request from Entergy Operations, Inc. (Entergy or the licensee), from the requirements to use Charpy V-notch (CV) and drop weight-based methodology to determine initial nil-ductility reference temperature (RTNDT) for use in evaluating the integrity of Linde 80 weld materials in the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) beltline at Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO), Unit 1. This exemption would allow the licensee to use an alternate methodology to incorporate fracture toughness test data to determine RTNDT values for use in the evaluation of the RPV beltline weld material integrity in support of the development of updated pressure-temperature limit curves.