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

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection. Comments are requested concerning: Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and ways to further reduce the information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. The Commission may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA that does not display a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

In this document, the Commission invites comment on proposed changes to its rules. The Commission proposes rules to ensure that one or more databases are available to provide callers with the comprehensive and timely information they need to discover potential number reassignments before making a call. It seeks comment on the specific information that callers need from a reassigned numbers database; and the best way to make that information available to callers that want it, as well as related issues.

The Postal Service will rezone Inbound Mail from APO/FPO/DPO ZIP Codes to coordinate the Origin/Destination ZIP Codes with the designated International Service Centers (ISC) through which each originating ZIP Code dispatches mail.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), the Federal Communications Commission announces that the charter for the Advisory Committee for the 2019 World Radio Conference (WRC-19 Advisory Committee) has been renewed by the General Services Administration (GSA) for a two-year period. The WRC-19 Advisory Committee is a federal advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) intends to request approval for the collection of information described below from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, requires federal agencies to publish a notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information before submission to OMB, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice complies with that requirement.

The Committee is proposing to add a product and services to the Procurement List that will be furnished by the nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities, and deletes products and services previously furnished by such agencies.

The Commission is noticing a recent Postal Service filing for the Commission's consideration concerning negotiated service agreements. This notice informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

The Federal Election Commission published a Notification of Availability in the Federal Register on March 21, 2018 regarding a Petition for Rulemaking it received on February 5, 2018. The petition asked the Commission to revise and amend the existing rules concerning the personal use of campaign funds, specifically to clarify the application of those rules to former candidates and officeholders. The published document contained errors in the ADDRESSES and SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION captions.

The Commission is noticing a recent Postal Service filing for the Commission's consideration concerning negotiated service agreements. This notice informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, federal departments and agencies made revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (hereafter the ``2018 Requirements''). The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same regulatory changes in a separate final rule published on September 18, 2017. The 2018 Requirements were scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of January 19, 2018 (with the exception of the revisions to the cooperative research provision). The departments and agencies listed in this document have also published an interim final rule delaying the effective date and general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for six months, to cover the time period of January 19, 2018 until July 19, 2018. As per the interim final rule, the effective date of the 2018 Requirements is now July 19, 2018. The departments and agencies listed in this document propose delaying the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for an additional six months, for the time period of July 19, 2018 until January 21, 2019. This proposed rule is intended to provide additional time to regulated entities for the preparations necessary to implement the 2018 Requirements. This proposed rule, if finalized, would require regulated entities to continue to comply with the requirements of the current Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (hereafter the ``pre-2018 Requirements'') until January 21, 2019. This proposal also takes comment on whether to permit institutions to implement, for certain research studies, the following provisions in the 2018 Requirements during the period from July 19, 2018, until January 21, 2019, that the general compliance date is delayed. Those three provisions, intended to reduce burdens on regulated entities, are the 2018 Requirements' definition of ``research,'' which deems certain activities not to be research, the allowance for no annual continuing review of certain categories of research, and the elimination of the requirement that institutional review boards (IRBs) review grant applications related to the research. The way that this option is proposed, regulated entities would be required to comply with all pre- 2018 Requirements during the period that the general compliance date is delayed, except for provisions substituted by the three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements. As described in section III, below, this flexibility is proposed only for studies for which an institution makes a choice to transition to comply with the 2018 Requirements, beginning on July 19, 2018. In order to clearly describe this proposed flexibility, including how it would impact institutions choosing to transition research to comply with the 2018 Requirements, this document proposes a redrafted transition provision.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued Revision 1 to NUREG-1556, Volume 6, ``Consolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses: Program-Specific Guidance About 10 CFR part 36 Irradiator Licenses,'' and Volume 7, ``Consolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses: Program-Specific Guidance About Academic, Research and Development, and Other Licenses of Limited Scope, Including Electron Capture Devices and X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzers.'' NUREG-1556 Volumes 6 and 7 have been revised to include information on updated regulatory requirements, safety culture, security of radioactive materials, protection of sensitive information, and changes in regulatory policies and practices. These volumes are intended for use by applicants, licensees, and the NRC staff.

The Commission hereby gives notice that it will proceed with a full review pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930 to determine whether revocation of the antidumping duty order on clad steel plate from Japan would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time. A schedule for the review will be established and announced at a later date.

The Commission is noticing a recent Postal Service filing for the Commission's consideration concerning negotiated service agreements. This notice informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are seeking comment on a proposal that would modify the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio standards for U.S. top-tier bank holding companies identified as global systemically important bank holding companies, or GSIBs, and certain of their insured depository institution subsidiaries. Specifically, the proposal would modify the current 2 percent leverage buffer, which applies to each GSIB, to equal 50 percent of the firm's GSIB risk-based capital surcharge. The proposal also would require a Board- or OCC-regulated insured depository institution subsidiary of a GSIB to maintain a supplementary leverage ratio of at least 3 percent plus 50 percent of the GSIB risk-based surcharge applicable to its top-tier holding company in order to be deemed ``well capitalized'' under the Board's and the OCC's prompt corrective action rules. Consistent with this approach to establishing enhanced supplementary leverage ratio standards for insured depository institutions, the OCC is proposing to revise the methodology it uses to identify which national banks and Federal savings associations are subject to the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio standards to ensure that they apply only to those national banks and Federal savings associations that are subsidiaries of a Board-identified GSIB. The Board also is seeking comment on a proposal to make conforming modifications to the GSIB leverage buffer of the Board's total loss- absorbing capacity and long-term debt requirements and other minor amendments to the buffer levels, covered intermediate holding company conformance period, methodology for calculating the covered intermediate holding company long-term debt amount, and external total loss-absorbing capacity risk-weighted buffer.