Agencies and Commissions January 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action deletes products from the Procurement List previously furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is required to amend its regulations annually to adjust for inflation the maximum civil penalty for failure to provide certain notices or other material information and for failure to provide certain multiemployer plan notices.

This final rule amends the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulation on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single- Employer Plans to prescribe interest assumptions under the regulation for valuation dates in February 2018. The interest assumptions are used for paying benefits under terminating single-employer plans covered by the pension insurance system administered by PBGC.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is publishing the Chairman's agenda of rulemaking actions pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (Pub. L. 96-354, 94 Stat. 1164) (Sep. 19, 1980). The items listed in the Regulatory Flexibility Agenda for autumn 2017 reflect only the priorities of the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and do not necessarily reflect the view and priorities of any individual Commissioner. Information in the agenda was accurate on October 6, 2017, the date on which the Commission's staff completed compilation of the data. To the extent possible, rulemaking actions by the Commission since that date have been reflected in the agenda. The Commission invites questions and public comment on the agenda and on the individual agenda entries. The Commission is now printing in the Federal Register, along with our preamble, only those agenda entries for which we have indicated that preparation of an RFA analysis is required. The Commission's complete RFA agenda will be available online at www.reginfo.gov.

The Board is issuing this agenda under the Regulatory Flexibility Act and the Board's Statement of Policy Regarding Expanded Rulemaking Procedures. The Board anticipates having under consideration regulatory matters as indicated below during the period November 1, 2017, through April 30, 2018. The next agenda will be published in spring 2018.

In this document, the Commission publishes its semiannual regulatory flexibility agenda. In addition, this document includes an agenda of regulatory actions that the Commission expects to be under development or review by the agency during the next year. This document meets the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866. The Commission welcomes comments on the agenda and on the individual agenda entries.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission''), in accordance with the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, is publishing a semiannual agenda of rulemakings that the Commission expects to propose or promulgate over the next year. The Commission welcomes comments from small entities and others on the agenda.

This semiannual Regulatory Agenda (Agenda) is a summary of current and projected regulatory and deregulatory actions and completed actions of the Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA expects that this summary information will enable the public to be more aware of, and effectively participate in, SBA's regulatory and deregulatory activities. SBA invites the public to submit comments on any aspect of this Agenda.

Publication of the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions and the Regulatory Plan represent key components of the regulatory planning mechanism prescribed in Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' Executive Order 13771, ``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' January 30, 2017, and Executive Order 13777, ``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,'' February 24, 2017. The fall editions of the Unified Agenda include the agency regulatory plans required by E.O. 12866, which identify regulatory priorities and provide additional detail about the most important significant regulatory actions that agencies expect to take in the coming year. In addition, the Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies publish semiannual ``regulatory flexibility agendas'' describing regulatory actions they are developing that will have significant effects on small businesses and other small entities (5 U.S.C. 602). The Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), published in the fall and spring, helps agencies fulfill all of these requirements. All federal regulatory agencies have chosen to publish their regulatory agendas as part of this publication. The complete Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan can be found online at https://www.reginfo.gov and a reduced print version can be found in the Federal Register. Information regarding obtaining printed copies can also be found on the Reginfo.gov website (or below, VI. How Can Users Get Copies of the Plan and the Agenda?). The fall 2017 Unified Agenda publication appearing in the Federal Register includes the Regulatory Plan and agency regulatory flexibility agendas, in accordance with the publication requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Agency regulatory flexibility agendas contain only those Agenda entries for rules that are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities and entries that have been selected for periodic review under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The complete fall 2017 Unified Agenda contains the Regulatory Plans of 30 Federal agencies and 60 Federal agency regulatory agendas.

The following public hearing on proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure has been canceled: Bankruptcy Rules Hearing on January 30, 2018, in Pasadena, CA.

This is a notice of an administrative declaration of a disaster for the state of Connecticut dated 01/02/2018. Incident: Stonewood Condominiums Fire. Incident Period: 12/11/2017.

In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 and further amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvement Act of 2015, this final rule incorporates the penalty inflation adjustments for the civil monetary penalties set forth in the United States Code, as codified in our regulations.

This is a notice of the presidential declaration of a major disaster for public assistance only for the state of California (FEMA- 4353-DR), dated 01/02/2018. Incident: Wildfires. Incident Period: 12/04/2017 and continuing.

This is a notice of the presidential declaration of a major disaster for public assistance only for the state of New Hampshire (FEMA-4355-DR), dated 01/02/2018. Incident: Severe Storm and Flooding. Incident Period: 10/29/2017 through 11/01/2017.

This staff accounting bulletin modifies portions of the interpretive guidance included in the Staff Accounting Bulletin Series in order to make the relevant interpretive guidance consistent with authoritative accounting guidance and Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations. Specifically, the staff is updating the Series in order to bring existing guidance into conformity with the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 321, InvestmentsEquity Securities.

The Commission is noticing a recent filing requesting that the Commission initiate an informal rulemaking proceeding to consider revisions to the periodic reporting requirements codified at 39 CFR part 3050. This document informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an exemption from certain power reactor financial protection requirements in response to a September 16, 2015, request from the Southern California Edison Company (the licensee). The exemption would permit the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 2 and 3 (SONGS), to reduce the required level of primary financial protection from $450 million to $100 million, as well as to withdraw from participation in the secondary layer of financial protection effective immediately.