Department of Homeland Security January 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission will describe 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 the actual data collection instruments FEMA will use.

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 purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments.

The U.S. Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone in the navigable waters of the Morro Bay Harbor Entrance. This temporary safety zone is being established to reduce significant hazards subject to the vessels, the harbor, and the public during periods of poor weather conditions. Entry of persons or vessels into this temporary safety zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port (COTP), Los Angeles-Long Beach, or her designated representative.

The Coast Guard is extending the duration of a temporary safety zone on the navigable waters of the Neches River extending 500- feet on either side of the Kansas City Southern Railroad Bridge that crosses the Neches River in Beaumont, TX. The safety zone is necessary to protect the bridge as well as persons and property on or near the bridge from potential damage from passing vessels until missing and/or damaged fendering systems are repaired or replaced. Entry of certain vessels or persons into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur or a designated representative.

The Coast Guard is establishing a regulated navigation area for certain waters of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of persons, vessels, and the marine environment on these navigable waters due to the high volume of vessels navigating the area. This rule will prohibit persons and vessels from loitering, anchoring, stopping, mooring, remaining, or drifting more than 100 feet from any river bank in the regulated navigation area unless authorized in order to reduce vessel congestion and provide for safe passage of transiting vessels in the center of the rivers. It will also prohibit persons and vessels from loitering, anchoring, stopping, mooring, remaining, or drifting in any manner that impedes the safe passage of another vessel to any launching ramp, marine, or fleeting area unless authorized.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Saybolt LP (Mobile, AL), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of May 15, 2019.

The Coast Guard is establishing four safety zones for certain waters of the Patapsco River, Chesapeake Bay, and Potomac River. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters at Baltimore Harbor Anchorage No. 5, between Belvidere Shoal and Kent Island, MD, between Point Lookout, MD, and St. George Island, MD, and between Possum Point, VA, and Cockpit Point, VA, during non-lethal signaling and warning device training conducted from on board U.S. Coast Guard vessels. This regulation prohibits persons and vessels from being in the safety zone unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Maryland-National Capital Region or a designated representative.

On March 21, 2019, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a final rule revising its regulations to update the factors it uses to determine whether to recommend provision of Individual Assistance during a major disaster. That final rule inadvertently failed to remove a table. This document corrects that error.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The information collection is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and must be submitted (no later than March 13, 2020) to be assured of consideration.

Comments are requested on proposed flood hazard determinations, which may include additions or modifications of any Base Flood Elevation (BFE), base flood depth, Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) boundary or zone designation, or regulatory floodway on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), and where applicable, in the supporting Flood Insurance Study (FIS) reports for the communities listed in the table below. The purpose of this notice is to seek general information and comment regarding the preliminary FIRM, and where applicable, the FIS report that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has provided to the affected communities. The FIRM and FIS report are the basis of the floodplain management measures that the community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of having in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In addition, the FIRM and FIS report, once effective, will be used by insurance agents and others to calculate appropriate flood insurance premium rates for new buildings and the contents of those buildings.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is announcing the implementation of the H-1B registration process for H-1B cap-subject petitions. The initial H-1B petition registration period will begin on March 1, 2020. Starting on that date, USCIS will require H-1B cap-subject petitioners, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, to first register electronically with USCIS and pay the associated H-1B registration fee before being eligible to properly file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B numerical allocations. USCIS intends to close the initial registration period on March 20, 2020 and will announce the actual end date on its website. After the initial registration period closes, USCIS will conduct the initial selection process, and petitioners with selected registrations will be eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for those selected registrations during the associated filing period.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the regulations implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the Coast Guard announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of replacing the existing BNSF bridge across the Missouri River at Bismarck, ND, or constructing a bridge adjacent to the existing bridge. CEQ regulations require an early and open process for determining the scope of issues that the Coast Guard needs to address in an EIS (``scoping''). Scoping determines which issues to analyze in depth in the EIS and eliminates from detailed study the issues that are not significant or were covered in prior environmental reviews. This document invites the participation of affected federal, state, and local agencies, any affected Indian tribes and other interested persons in determining the appropriate issues for EIS analysis for this project.

DHS CISA CSD will submit the following Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. CISA previously published this ICR for a 60-day public comment period. No comments were received by CISA. Following the 60-day notice, CISA refined the reporter information section of the CISA Incident Reporting Form to improve the clarity, accuracy, and effectiveness of the data being collected. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments.

The Coast Guard is establishing three temporary safety zones in the navigable waters of the Sacramento River near River Walk Park and the Tower Bridge in Sacramento, CA in support of the Sacramento New Years Eve Fireworks Display on December 31, 2019. These safety zones are necessary to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from the dangers associated with pyrotechnics. Unauthorized persons or vessels are prohibited from entering into, transiting through, or remaining in the safety zones without permission of the Captain of the Port or a designated representative.

The Coast Guard is establishing two temporary regulated navigation areas and a safety zone for the navigable waters of the Hudson River, NY, surrounding the Tappan Zee Bridge from January 1, 2020 through July 1, 2020. This rule will prohibit all persons and vessel traffic from the safety zone and enforce speed and wake restrictions for the Eastern and Western regulated navigation areas unless exceptions are authorized by the First District Commander or a designated representative. These regulated navigation areas and safety zone continue to be necessary to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from potential hazards during the removal of the existing Tappan Zee Bridge and construction of a new bridge.

The Coast Guard is amending the Thea Foss and Wheeler-Osgood Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) for Commencement Bay to establish a permanent regulated navigation area within the Middle Waterway. This action is necessary to protect sediment cap areas in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Commencement Bay Nearshore-Tideflats Superfund Cleanup Site within the Middle Waterway. This RNA would prohibit certain activities that could disrupt the integrity of the engineered sediment caps placed within the Middle Waterway.

The Coast Guard will enforce a temporary safety zone between mile marker (MM) 94 and MM 95 above Head of Passes, Lower Mississippi River, LA. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters near New Orleans, LA, during a fireworks display on January 11, 2020. During the enforcement periods, the operator of any vessel in the regulated area must comply with directions from the Patrol Commander or any Official Patrol displaying a Coast Guard ensign.