⚓Amendments to Coast Guard Mariner Credentialing Regulations
This final rule amends the Coast Guard's mariner credentialing regulations by correcting inadvertent errors made within the November 2024 final rule. Within the 2024 final rule, the Coast Guard unintentionally deleted two existing paragraphs from the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) and accidently reverted language in other existing paragraphs to previous versions. This correcting amendment reverts the language and adds those paragraphs back into the CFR as they appeared before the accidental deletion, and as edited by subsequent regulatory changes. These corrections do not create, remove, or modify any obligation under these regulations.
Learn More🚧Temporary Safety Zone Regulations for Big Carlos Pass Bridge
The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for navigable waters within a 150-yard radius of the Big Carlos Pass Bridge. The safety zone is needed to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from potential hazards created by construction work on the bridge. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port Sector St. Petersburg or a designated representative.
Learn More⛷️USDA Forest Service Revises Ski Area Authorization Regulations
The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (Forest Service or Agency) is making purely technical, clarifying revisions to its existing regulations relating to the conversion of ski area authorizations on National Forest System lands (NFS) pursuant to the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986. The revisions remove the requirements for conversion of ski area authorizations because all ski area authorizations on NFS have been converted or issued under the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act, rendering this provision obsolete.
Learn More🌱Proposed Endangered Status for Ghost Orchid
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii), a flowering plant species found in the United States in southwestern Florida and in Cuba as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the ghost orchid. After a review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we find that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the ghost orchid as an endangered species under the Act. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants and extend the Act's protections to the species. We find that designating critical habitat for this species is not prudent.
Learn More⚓Impact of Security Zone Removal in Old Tampa Bay
The Coast Guard is disestablishing a security zone in old Tampa Bay, including on land portions of Chemical Formulators Chlorine Facility. The security zone is no longer needed since Chemical Formulators facility is no longer operating. This action will remove existing regulations that restrict vessel movement through the area.
Learn More🌫️Florida Haze Plan Approval & Business Compliance Implications
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a regional haze State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) on October 8, 2021, and supplemented on June 14, 2024, and October 28, 2024, as satisfying applicable requirements under the Clean Air Act ("CAA" or "Act") and EPA's Regional Haze Rule (RHR) for the program's second planning period. Florida's SIP submissions were submitted to address the requirement that states must periodically revise their long-term strategies for making reasonable progress toward the national goal of preventing any future, and remedying any existing, anthropogenic impairment of visibility, including regional haze, in mandatory Class I Federal areas (hereinafter referred to as "Class I areas"). These SIP submissions also address other applicable requirements for the second planning period of the regional haze program. EPA is taking this action pursuant to sections 110 and 169A of the Act.
Learn More💼Annual Civil Penalty Adjustments Impacting Tribal Businesses
This rule provides for annual adjustments to the level of civil monetary penalties contained in Bureau of Indian Affairs (Bureau) regulations to account for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance.
Learn More🚤Special Local Regulation for the Wyandotte Regatta on the Detroit River
The Coast Guard is establishing a special local regulation for certain waters of the Detroit River, Wyandotte, MI. This action is necessary to protect safety of life on navigable waters immediately prior to, during, and after the Wyandotte Regatta. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port Detroit or a designated representative.
Learn More🏢Updates to HUBZone Program Regulations and Business Implications
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is correcting a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2024. The rule clarified and improved policies surrounding a comprehensive revision to the HUBZone Program regulations published in 2019, among other changes. This document is making several technical corrections to the final regulations.
Learn More✈️Special Conditions for Lithium Battery Installations on Airplanes
These special conditions are issued for a supplemental type certificate (STC) to install non-rechargeable lithium batteries and battery systems on certain transport-category airplanes. These airplanes, as modified by Delta Flight Products, will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport-category airplanes. This design feature is non-rechargeable lithium batteries and battery system installed in emergency locator transmitters (ELTs). The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.
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