Department of the Interior March 19, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

BOEM has proposed to add a new subpart G to its regulations on Oil Spill Financial Responsibility (OSFR) for Offshore Facilities designed to increase the limit of liability for damages applicable to offshore facilities under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 1990, and to establish a methodology BOEM would use to periodically adjust for inflation the OPA offshore facility limit of liability. BOEM is publishing this update to its regulations and is soliciting public comments on the method of updates, the clarity of the rule and any other pertinent matters. The Department originally limited the rulemaking comment period to 30 days since it did not anticipate receiving significant comments on this rulemaking. Since the publication of this proposed rule on Monday, February 24, 2014 (79 FR 10056), numerous comments have been received and various groups have requested that additional time be provided for them to review and analyze the implications of this proposed rule. For that reason, the comment period is being extended by an additional 30 days. The new comment period will elapse 60 days from February 24, 2014, the original date of publication of the proposed rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (Act) prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.