Department of Homeland Security August 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice amends the notice of a major disaster declaration for the State of New Hampshire (FEMA-1782-DR), dated August 11, 2008, and related determinations.

This notice amends the notice of a major disaster declaration for the State of Wisconsin (FEMA-1768-DR), dated June 14, 2008, and related determinations.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of New Mexico (FEMA-1783-DR), dated August 14, 2008, and related determinations.

This notice amends the notice of a major disaster declaration for the State of Texas (FEMA-1780-DR), dated July 24, 2008, and related determinations.

The Management Cost Interim Rule implemented the management cost provisions in section 324 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is reopening the public comment period on its Management Cost Interim Rule. FEMA is taking this action to solicit data from grantees and subgrantees to use in reevaluating the fixed management cost rates established in the rule.

This rule identifies communities, where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation proving the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date.

This document informs owners and operators of facilities located within Captain of the Port Zones Baltimore, Delaware Bay, Mobile, Lower Mississippi River, Ohio Valley, Pittsburgh, and San Diego that they must implement access control procedures utilizing TWIC no later than December 30, 2008.

This notice amends the notice of a major disaster declaration for the State of Iowa (FEMA-1763-DR), dated May 27, 2008, and related determinations.

The Coast Guard proposes to temporarily change the enforcement period for special local regulations during the ``Cambridge Offshore Challenge'', a marine event held annually on the waters of Choptank River near Cambridge, Maryland. Special local regulations are necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the event. This action is intended to restrict vessel traffic in portions of the Choptank River during the event.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issues this notice of the date for the beginning of the initial enrollment for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) for the Port of Guam.

This document announces Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) plan to conduct a National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test concerning Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Entry Summary, Accounts and Revenue (ESAR) capabilities. These new capabilities will include functionality specific to the filing and processing of formal consumption entries and informal entries. This entry summary processing will include Automated Broker Interface (ABI) Census Warning Overrides and issuance of certain CBP forms through the ACE Portal. Other new functionality will enhance Portal Account Management and allow for ACE Secure Data Portal reporting. In addition to announcing new functionality, this notice invites public comment concerning any aspect of the planned test, describes the eligibility, procedural, and documentation requirements for voluntary participation in the test, and outlines the development and evaluation methodology to be used in the test. This notice will be referred to as the ESAR II Notice.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is expanding its Direct Mail Program to include Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative, and Form I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country. Applicants must submit Forms I-800, I-800A, and all related supplements and forms to the USCIS Chicago Lockbox facility located in Illinois, for initial processing. Applicants were previously required to file at a USCIS field office with jurisdiction over their place of current residence. The Direct Mail Program allows USCIS to process applications more efficiently by eliminating duplicative work, maximizing staff productivity, and introducing better information management tools.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) will hold a public meeting on issues related to proposed amendments to the Convention of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO). Background documentation may be found on the Department of State's Web site: https://www.state.gov/e/eeb/cip/imso/.

This document establishes an importer declaration requirement pursuant to section 15422(a) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to assist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in gathering information for all goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on the transaction valuation of goods imported into the United States. Effective for a one-year period beginning August 20, 2008, all importers will be required to provide a declaration to CBP at the time of filing a consumption entry when, in a series of sequential sales, the transaction value of the imported merchandise is determined on the basis of the ``first or earlier sale'' of goodsthe first sale in which the goods are ``sold for exportation to the United States'' or any other sale earlier than the last sale prior to the introduction of the merchandise into the United States. CBP will then report the frequency of the use of the ``first sale'' rule and other associated data to the International Trade Commission (ITC) on a monthly basis.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has submitted the following information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission describes the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e., the time, effort and resources used by respondents to respond) and cost, and includes the actual data collection instruments FEMA will use. FEMA is revising this collection to include the increase in public assistance requests anticipated due to the increase in number and scope of disaster declarations.

The Coast Guard is establishing a 420-foot radius safety zone on the Chesapeake Bay in the vicinity of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, Virginia Beach, VA in support of the American Music Festival Fireworks event. This action is intended to protect mariners from the hazards associated with fireworks displays by restricting vessel traffic movement in the vicinity of the event.

The Coast Guard will enforce the ``Oregon Symphony Celebration Fireworks Display safety zone on the Willamette River''; from 8:30 p.m. through 11:30 p.m. on August 28, 2008. This action is necessary to provide a safe display for the public and to keep them clear of the fall out area of the fireworks. During the enforcement period, no person or vessel may enter the safety zone without permission of the Captain of the Port Portland or his designated representative.

The Lower Mississippi River Waterway Safety Advisory Committee will meet in New Orleans to discuss various issues relating to navigational safety on the Lower Mississippi River and related waterways. This meeting will be open to the public.

The Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC) will meet in Nashville, TN, to discuss various issues relating to the training and fitness of merchant marine personnel. These meetings will be open to the public.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Gilmerton (U.S. 13/460) Lift Bridge, at AIWW mile 5.8, across the Elizabeth River (Southern Branch) in Chesapeake, VA. This deviation is necessary to facilitate structural repairs and allows the bridge to remain closed to navigation during the specified dates and times to facilitate structural repairs.

The Department of Homeland Security is proposing to amend its regulations affecting temporary non-agricultural workers within the H- 2B nonimmigrant classification and their U.S. employers. This proposed rule would modify current limitations with respect to petitions for unnamed H-2B workers and the period of time that an H-2B worker must remain outside the United States before he or she would be eligible to seek certain nonimmigrant status again. In addition, to better ensure the integrity of the H-2B program, this rule proposes to: Require employer attestations; preclude the imposition of fees by employers on prospective H-2B workers; require reimbursement of fees paid by H-2B workers to recruiters; preclude the change of the employment start date after the grant of the temporary labor certification; eliminate the process whereby H-2B petitions may be approved notwithstanding the absence of a valid temporary labor certification; require employer notifications when H-2B workers fail to show up for work, are terminated, or abscond from the worksite; require certain H-2B workers departing the United States to participate in a temporary worker visa exit pilot program; delegate authority to enforce the terms of the H-2B petition to the Secretary of Labor (in the event the Department and the Department of Labor (DOL) work out a mutually agreeable delegation of enforcement authority from the Department to DOL); and bar nationals of countries consistently refusing or unreasonably delaying repatriation of their nationals from obtaining H-2B status. This rule also proposes to change the definition of ``temporary employment'' to recognize that such employment could last up to three years. This proposed rule would encourage and facilitate the lawful employment of eligible foreign temporary non-agricultural workers, while continuing to safeguard the rights of workers.

The Coast Guard proposes to create a permanent regulated navigation area on a portion of the Thea Foss and Wheeler-Osgood Waterways, Commencement Bay, Tacoma, Washington. This regulated navigation area would be used to preserve the integrity of a clean sediment cap placed over certain areas of the Thea Foss and Wheeler- Osgood Waterways as part of the remediation process of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Commencement Bay Nearshore/ Tideflats superfund cleanup site. This regulated navigation area would prohibit activities that would disturb the seabed, such as anchoring, dragging, trawling, spudding, or other activities that involve disrupting the integrity of the cap. It would not affect transit or navigation of the area.

The Department of Homeland Security is concurrently establishing a new system of records pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 entitled the Technical Fraud Detection and National Security Data System (FDNS-DS). The USCIS has developed the Fraud Detection and National Security Data System (FDNS-DS), a case management system used to record, track, and manage immigration inquiries, investigative referrals, law enforcement requests, and case determinations involving benefit fraud, criminal activity, public safety and national security concerns. In this proposed rulemaking, the Department proposes to exempt portions of this system of records from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements.