Agencies and Commissions April 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a notification of inquiry regarding the Musical Works Modernization Act, title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. Title I establishes a blanket compulsory license, which digital music providers may obtain to make and deliver digital phonorecords of musical works. By statute, the blanket license, which will be administered by a mechanical licensing collective, will become available on January 1, 2021. The MMA specifically directs the Copyright Office to adopt a number of regulations to govern the new blanket licensing regime, including prescribing categories of information to be included in the mechanical licensing collective's musical works database, as well as rules related to the usability, interoperability, and usage restrictions of the database. Congress has indicated that the Office should exercise its general regulatory authority to, among other things, help ensure that the collective's policies and practices are transparent and accountable. The Office seeks public comment regarding the subjects of inquiry discussed in this notification, namely, issues related to ensuring appropriate transparency of the mechanical licensing collective itself, as well as the contents of the collective's public musical work database, database access, and database use. This notification is being published concurrently with a related notice of proposed rulemaking related to confidentiality considerations with respect to the operation and records of the collective.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the protection of confidential information by the mechanical licensing collective and digital licensee coordinator under title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. After soliciting public comments through a notification of inquiry, the Office is now proposing regulations identifying appropriate procedures to ensure that confidential, private, proprietary, or privileged information contained in the records of the mechanical licensing collective and digital licensee coordinator is not improperly disclosed or used. The Office solicits additional public comments on the proposed rule, including regarding the use of confidentiality designations and nondisclosure agreements.

The NCUA Board (Board) is temporarily modifying certain regulatory requirements to help ensure that federally insured credit unions (FICUs) remain operational and liquid during the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, the Board is temporarily raising the maximum aggregate amount of loan participations that a FICU may purchase from a single originating lender to the greater of $5,000,000 or 200 percent of the FICU's net worth. The Board is also temporarily suspending limitations on the eligible obligations that a federal credit union (FCU) may purchase and hold. In addition, given physical distancing policies implemented in response to the crisis, the Board is tolling the required timeframes for the occupancy or disposition of properties not being used for FCU business or that have been abandoned. These temporary modifications will be in place until December 31, 2020, unless extended.

This notice is provided in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations and Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). TVA has decided to adopt the Preferred Alternative identified in the Allen Fossil Plant (ALF) Ash Impoundment Closure Environmental Impact Statement. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was made available to the public on March 6, 2020. A Notice of Availability of the Final EIS was published in the Federal Register on March 13, 2020. The Preferred Alternative is ``Closure of the Metal Cleaning Pond, Closure-by-Removal of the East Ash Pond Complex and the West Ash Pond; Disposal of CCR in an Offsite Landfill Location.'' This alternative would achieve the purpose and need of the project to support the implementation of TVA's goal to eliminate all wet Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) storage at its coal plants; close CCR surface impoundments across the TVA system; comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's CCR Rule and other applicable federal and state statutes and regulations; and enhance future economic development in the greater Memphis area.

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

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined to extend postponement of all in-person hearings under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, until June 10, 2020.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is correcting its rule text in conjunction with the interagency interim final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on April 13, 2020, titled ``Regulatory Capital Rule: Paycheck Protection Program Lending Facility and Paycheck Protection Program Loans.'' This correction is necessary to conform the FDIC's rule text to the regulations of the other federal banking agencies that issued that interagency interim final rule.

Pursuant to section 189.a.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing this regular biweekly notice. The Act requires the Commission to publish notice of any amendments issued, or proposed to be issued, and grants the Commission the authority to issue and make immediately effective any amendment to an operating license or combined license, as applicable, upon a determination by the Commission that such amendment involves no significant hazards consideration (NSHC), notwithstanding the pendency before the Commission of a request for a hearing from any person. This biweekly notice includes all amendments issued, or proposed to be issued, from March 24, 2020, to April 6, 2020. The last biweekly notice was published on April 7, 2020.

In this document, the Commission adopts a rule that mandates that all originating and terminating voice service providers implement the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework in the internet Protocol (IP) portions of their networks by June 30, 2021. In establishing this requirement, the Report and Order both acts on the Commission's proposal to require voice service providers to implement the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework if major voice service providers did not voluntarily do so by the end of 2019, and implements Congress's direction in the recently enacted Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act to mandate STIR/SHAKEN not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of that Act. This action builds on the Commission's aggressive and multi-pronged approach to ending illegal caller ID spoofing.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) announces that on May 7, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee (EEMAC) will hold a public meeting. At this meeting, the EEMAC will hear remarks on the Commission's Position Limits for Derivatives proposed rule as approved by the Commission on January 30, 2020. The agenda for this meeting will be available to the public and posted on the Commission's website at https://www.cftc.gov. Instructions for public access to the live audio feed of the meeting will also be posted on the Commission's website. In the event that the time, date, or place of this meeting changes, an announcement of the change, along with the new time, date, or place of the meeting, will be posted on the Commission's website.