Agencies and Commissions May 9, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an environmental assessment (EA) prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and NRC's regulations. This EA summarizes the results of the NRC staff's environmental review, which evaluates the potential environmental impacts of granting exemptions from NRC regulations in response to a request from STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC, the licensee) for Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-76 and NPF-80, for South Texas Project (STP), Units 1 and 2, respectively, located in Matagorda County, Texas. The regulatory exemptions, if granted, allow STPNOC to change the licensing basis loss-of-coolant accident analysis identified in the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report to use a risk-informed approach to address safety issues discussed in Generic Safety Issue (GSI)-191 and to close Generic Letter (GL) 2004-02.

This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the Resighini Rancheria (FEMA- 4312-DR), dated 05/02/2017. Incident: Flooding Incident Period: 02/08/2017 through 02/11/2017 Effective Date: 05/02/2017 Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/03/2017 Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 02/02/2018

We are proposing to amend the definition of a venture capital fund (rule 203(l)-1) and the private fund adviser exemption (rule 203(m)-1) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the ``Advisers Act'') in order to reflect changes made by title LXXIV, sections 74001 and 74002 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (the ``FAST Act''), which amended sections 203(l) and 203(m) of the Advisers Act. Title LXXIV, section 74001 of the FAST Act amended the exemption from investment adviser registration for any adviser solely to one or more ``venture capital funds'' in Advisers Act section 203(l) by deeming ``small business investment companies'' to be ``venture capital funds'' for purposes of the exemption. Accordingly, we are proposing to amend the definition of a venture capital fund to include ``small business investment companies.'' Title LXXIV, section 74002 of the FAST Act amended the exemption from investment adviser registration for any adviser solely to ``private funds'' with less than $150 million in assets under management in Advisers Act section 203(m) by excluding the assets of ``small business investment companies'' when calculating ``private fund assets'' towards the registration threshold of $150 million. Accordingly, we are proposing to amend the definition of ``assets under management'' in the private fund adviser exemption to exclude the assets of ``small business investment companies.''

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting comment on the preliminary draft regulatory analysis to support a rulemaking that would amend the NRC's regulations for the decommissioning of nuclear power reactors. The NRC's goals in amending the regulations would be to provide for an efficient decommissioning process; reduce the need for exemptions from existing regulations; address other decommissioning issues deemed relevant by the NRC; and support the principles of good regulation, including openness, clarity, and reliability. The NRC plans to hold a public meeting in spring 2017 to discuss the draft regulatory basis that was previously published in the Federal Register and the preliminary draft regulatory analysis to facilitate the development of public comments on those documents.

The U.S. Copyright Office is announcing a pilot program that will allow for the bulk submission of claims to copyright in certain limited types of literary works. Specifically, at this time, the pilot program is limited to claims to single literary works that have a single author, where all content that appears in the work was created and is owned solely by that single author. Applicants that participate in the pilot will be required to provide author, title, and other pertinent information for each work they submit. And they will be required to upload a copy of each work and pay the appropriate filing fee. But they will be able to bypass the Office's online interface and transmit their claims directly into the electronic registration system, instead of filing them on an individual basis. To participate in the pilot, applicants would have to comply with certain technical requirements, which are discussed below. The Office is offering this pilot as part of its continuing effort to increase the efficiency of the registration system for both applicants and the Office alike.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement concerning preaward survey forms (Standard Forms 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406, 1407, and 1408). A notice was published in the Federal Register on November 8, 2016. No comments were received.