Department of Homeland Security December 18, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard has issued a temporary deviation from the operating schedule that governs the Jackson Street Drawbridge across the Red River, mile 88.6, at Alexandria, Louisiana. The deviation is necessary to allow the bridge owner to install four new pinion gears that are essential to the continued safe operation of the drawbridge. This deviation allows the bridge to remain in the closed-to-navigation position and not open to vessel traffic.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection notice was previously published in the Federal Register on October 9, 2014, at 79 FR 61090, allowing for a 60-day public comment period. USCIS did receive 3 comments in connection with the 60-day notice.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed extension of a currently approved collection of information. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the information collection notice is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments regarding the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e. the time, effort, and resources used by the respondents to respond), the estimated cost to the respondent, and the actual information collection instruments.

On September 19, 2013, FEMA published in the Federal Register a proposed flood hazard determination notice at 78 FR 57646 for Harris County, Texas, and Incorporated Areas. The table published in this notice provides corrected or updated information regarding the proposed flood hazard determinations for affected communities in Harris County, Texas, and Incorporated Areas.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announces that as of February 17, 2015, USCIS will begin requiring the filing of an Application for Travel Document (Form I-131) and payment of its associated fee or approval of a fee waiver request from individuals who are applying for the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program on behalf of a beneficiary in Cuba. No form or fee is currently required for the CFRP Program. Under the CFRP Program, USCIS offers certain beneficiaries of approved family- based immigrant petitions the opportunity to be paroled into the United States to apply for lawful permanent resident status, rather than remain in Cuba waiting for their immigrant visas to become available. The purpose of the program is to expedite family reunification through safe, legal, and orderly channels of migration to the United States and to discourage irregular and inherently dangerous maritime migration. This notice is intended to: Make the CFRP Program application and adjudication processes consistent with those for most other requests for parole filed on behalf of individuals outside the United States; facilitate centralized filing and more standardized processing of parole applications; and, recover costs incurred by USCIS to adjudicate and provide CFRP Program travel documents. This notice will affect only those individuals who receive a written invitation to apply to the CFRP Program from the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC) which is dated on or after February 17, 2015. This notice will not affect existing CFRP Program beneficiaries or individuals who received a notice of program eligibility from the NVC predating the publication of this notice and who submitted to the NVC the complete documentation required to apply for the program prior to February 17, 2015 (referred to as `grandfathered' cases). Grandfathered cases will continue to be processed without form or fee.