Office of the Secretary April 25, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended) and the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended) the Department of Defense announces the following Federal advisory committee meeting of the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (Hereafter referred to as ``the Committee'').

As part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the process to seek feedback from the public on service delivery, the Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting a Generic Information Collection Request (Generic ICR): ``DOL Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq.).

This rule updates policies and responsibilities for controlling Department of Defense (DoD) Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information (UCNI) in accordance with the provisions of current U.S. Code. This revision streamlines and reflects current practices within the Department of Defense.

The Department of Defense is updating the Defense Logistics Agency Privacy Act Program Rules, by adding the exemption rules (j)(2), (k)(2), (k)(3), (k)(4), (k)(5), (k)(6), and (k)(7) for S510.30, Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Requests and Administrative Appeal Records to accurately describe the basis for exempting the records. The S510.30 system of records notice was printed on January 22, 2009 in the Federal Register. This direct final rule makes nonsubstantive changes to the Defense Logistics Agency Privacy Program rules. These changes will allow the Department to exempt records from certain portions of the Privacy Act. This will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of DoD's program by preserving the exempt status of the records when the purposes underlying the exemption are valid and necessary to protect the contents of the records. This rule is being published as a direct final rule as the Department of Defense does not expect to receive any adverse comments, and so a proposed rule is unnecessary.

The Department of Transportation is issuing a final rule to improve the air travel environment for consumers by: Increasing the number of carriers that are required to adopt tarmac delay contingency plans and the airports at which they must adhere to the plan's terms; increasing the number of carriers that are required to report tarmac delay information to the Department; expanding the group of carriers that are required to adopt, follow, and audit customer service plans and establishing minimum standards for the subjects all carriers must cover in such plans; adding carriers to those required to include their contingency plans and customer service plans on their websites; increasing the number of carriers that must respond to consumer complaints; enhancing protections afforded passengers in oversales situations, including increasing the maximum denied boarding compensation airlines must pay to passengers bumped from flights; strengthening, codifying and clarifying the Department's enforcement policies concerning air transportation price advertising practices; requiring carriers to notify consumers of optional fees related to air transportation and of increases in baggage fees; prohibiting post- purchase price increases; requiring carriers to provide passengers timely notice of flight status changes such as delays and cancellations; and prohibiting carriers from imposing unfair contract of carriage choice-of-forum provisions. The Department is taking this action to strengthen the rights of air travelers in the event of oversales, flight cancellations and delays, ensure that passengers have accurate and adequate information to make informed decisions when selecting flights, prohibit unfair and deceptive practices such as post-purchase price increases and contract of carriage choice-of-forum provisions, and to ensure responsiveness to consumer complaints.