Agencies and Commissions December 8, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, ``Nuclear Regulatory Commission Acquisition Regulation (NRCAR).''

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of December 11, 2017, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on September 27, 2017. This direct final rule amended the NRC's spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System (NUHOMS[supreg] System) listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to renew, for an additional 40-year period, the initial certificate and Amendment Nos. 1 through 11 and 13, Revision 1, and Amendment No. 14 of Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1004. These changes require, among other things, that all future amendments and revisions to this CoC include evaluations of the impacts to aging management activities (i.e., time-limited aging analyses (TLAAs) and aging management programs (AMPs)) to ensure that they remain adequate to timely identify any changes to spent fuel storage cask systems, structures, and components (SSCs) within the scope of the renewal.

The Committee is proposing to delete products from the Procurement List that that were previously furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (``Board'') is proposing to amend its Regulation A to; revise the provisions regarding the establishment of the primary credit rate in a financial emergency, and to delete the provisions relating to the use of credit ratings for collateral for extensions of credit under the former Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). The proposed amendments are intended to allow the regulation to address circumstances in which the Federal Open Market Committee has established a target range for the federal funds rate rather than a single target rate, and to reflect the expiration of the TALF program.

The Commission hereby gives notice of the institution of investigations and commencement of preliminary phase antidumping and countervailing duty investigation nos. 701-TA-591 and 731-TA-1399 (Preliminary) pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930 (``the Act'') to determine whether there is a reasonable indication that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an industry in the United States is materially retarded, by reason of imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China, provided for in subheadings 7606.11.30, 7606.11.60, 7606.12.30, 7606.12.60, 7606.91.30, 7606.91.60, 7606.92.30, and 7606.92.60 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, that are alleged to be sold in the United States at less than fair value and alleged to be subsidized by the Government of China. The Commission must reach a preliminary determination in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations in 45 days, or in this case by January 16, 2018. The Commission's views must be transmitted to Commerce within five business days thereafter, or by January 23, 2018.

The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is holding a public workshop relating to its December 7, 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') announcing proposed changes to the Contact Lens Rule. The workshop will explore issues relating to competition in the contact lens marketplace, consumer access to contact lenses, prescription release and portability, and other issues raised in comments received in response to the NPRM.

The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) published an interim final Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) rule in the Federal Register on September 29, 2017. This final rule confirms that the interim final rule is adopted as final without change.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) eliminates the rule that requires each AM, FM, and television broadcast station to maintain a main studio located in or near its community of license. The FCC also eliminates existing requirements associated with the rule, including the requirement that the main studio have full-time management and staff present during normal business hours, and that it have program origination capability.