Visas: Ineligibility Based on Public Charge Grounds

Citation86 FR 64070
Record Number2021-25038
Published date17 November 2021
SectionRules and Regulations
CourtState Department
64070
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 17, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
1
The IFR is currently under a preliminary
injunction issued by the Southern District of New
York on July 29, 2020. See Make the Road New
York v. Pompeo, 475 F. Supp. 3d 232 (S.D.N.Y.
2020).
2
Cook County v. Wolf, 498 F. Supp. 3d 999 (N.D.
Ill. 2020), appeal dismissed, 2021 WL 1608766 (7th
Cir. Mar. 9, 2021).
3
See USCIS, ‘‘Inadmissibility on Public Charge
Grounds Final Rule: Litigation’’ https://
www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-
and-procedures/public-charge/inadmissibility-on-
public-charge-grounds-final-rule-litigation (last
visited Aug. 24, 2021).
4
Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility, 86 FR
47025 (Aug. 23, 2021).
revising items 4, 7, and 13 to read as
follows:
Appendix 1 to Subpart P of Part 404—
Listing of Impairments
* * * * *
4. Respiratory Disorders (3.00 and
103.00): December 12, 2025.
* * * * *
7. Genitourinary Disorders (6.00 and
106.00): December 12, 2025.
* * * * *
13. Mental Disorders (12.00 and
112.00): December 12, 2025.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2021–25026 Filed 11–16–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
22 CFR Part 40
[Public Notice: 11566]
RIN 1400–AE87
Visas: Ineligibility Based on Public
Charge Grounds
AGENCY
: State Department.
ACTION
: Interim final rule; reopening of
public comment period.
SUMMARY
: On October 11, 2019, the
Department of State (‘‘the Department’’)
published an interim final rule (‘‘IFR’’)
regarding visa ineligibility on public
charge grounds and accepted public
comments on the rule through
November 12, 2019. Given the many
changed circumstances since
publication of the IFR, the Department
is soliciting additional information from
the public by reopening the public
comment period for an additional 60
days.
DATES
: The Department of State will
accept comments until January 18, 2022.
ADDRESSES
: To provide comments go to
https://www.regulations.gov, enter
Docket DOS–2021–0034 and RIN 1400–
AE87. Alternatively, you may submit
comments by any of the following
methods:
Email: You may submit comments
via email to VisaRegs@state.gov. You
must include the RIN in the subject line
of your message.
Mail paper submissions: You may
submit comments via physical mail to
Regulatory Coordinator, Visa Services,
Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department
of State, 600 19th St. NW, Washington,
DC 20006. You must include the RIN in
the Attention Line in the address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Andrea B. Lage, Acting Regulatory
Coordinator, Visa Services, Bureau of
Consular Affairs, Department of State,
600 19th St. NW, Washington, DC
20006, (202) 485–7586, VisaRegs@
state.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
I. Public Participation
All interested parties are invited to
respond to this Reopening of Public
Comment Period by submitting written
views and comments on the IFR
regarding visa ineligibility on public
charge grounds. Comments must be
submitted in English or commenters
must submit an English translation.
Comments that will provide the most
assistance to the Department in
considering recommendations will
reference a specific existing regulation,
order, guidance, policy, or any other
similar agency action, explain the
reason for any recommended change,
and include information that supports
the recommended change.
II. Background
On August 14, 2019, the Department
of Homeland Security (‘‘DHS’’) issued a
final rule outlining its new
interpretation of the public charge
ground of inadmissibility. See
Inadmissibility on Public Charge
Grounds, 84 FR 41292, as amended on
October 2, 2019 by Inadmissibility on
Public Charge Grounds; Correction, 84
FR 52357 (‘‘DHS Public Charge Final
Rule’’). The Department issued an IFR
on October 11, 2019, amending 22 CFR
40.41 by prescribing how consular
officers determine whether a noncitizen
is ineligible for a visa under section
212(a)(4) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (‘‘INA’’), 8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(4), and 6 U.S.C. 236(b), because
they are likely at any time to become a
public charge. See Visas: Ineligibility
Based on Public Charge Grounds, 84 FR
54996.
The Department issued its IFR in
significant part to ensure that consular
officers were applying standards
consistent with the DHS Public Charge
Final Rule. Specifically, the IFR could
have helped avoid situations where a
consular officer evaluates a visa
applicant’s circumstances and
concludes that the applicant is not
likely at any time to become a public
charge, only for DHS to find the
applicant inadmissible on public charge
grounds under the same facts when they
seek admission to the United States.
See, e.g., 84 FR at 55011 (‘‘Coordination
of Department and DHS implementation
of the public charge inadmissibility
ground is critical to the Department’s
interest in preventing inconsistent
adjudication standards and different
outcomes between determinations of
visa eligibility and determinations of
admissibility at a port of entry.’’).
1
In the time since the Department first
issued the IFR, a court order vacating
the DHS Public Charge Final Rule
nationwide went into effect after the
government moved to voluntarily
dismiss an appeal of that order.
2
Due to
the vacatur of the DHS Public Charge
Final Rule, DHS immediately stopped
applying its Public Charge Final Rule to
all pending applications and petitions
that would have been subject to that
rule.
3
DHS is now implementing the
public charge inadmissibility statute
using the former-Immigration and
Nationalization Service’s 1999 Interim
Field Guidance on Deportability and
Inadmissibility on Public Charge
Grounds (64 FR 28689, May 26, 1999)
issued by the former Immigration and
Naturalization Service, which was in
place before the 2019 DHS Public
Charge Final Rule was implemented, for
immigration petitions, applications for
admission and adjustment of status. On
August 23, 2021, DHS published an
Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (‘‘ANPRM’’) and notice of
virtual public listening sessions to seek
broad public feedback on the public
charge ground of inadmissibility that
will inform its development of a future
regulatory proposal.
4
III. Change in Circumstances
With the vacatur of the 2019 DHS
Public Charge Final Rule the original
reason for the Department’s adoption of
the 2019 IFR may no longer apply.
Further, with the publication of the DHS
ANPRM, DHS has indicated an
intention to develop a new regulatory
proposal that may substantively differ
from the IFR.
Additionally, just months after the
Department issued its IFR, the COVID–
19 pandemic swept the globe. The
pandemic’s ongoing effects on public
health and economic conditions have
been vast and have underscored the
importance of ensuring that individuals
are able to access public health and
other programs for which they and their
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64071
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 17, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
5
Prior text of §40.41 available at https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2018-title22-
vol1/pdf/CFR-2018-title22-vol1-chapI-
subchapE.pdf, page 8.
family members are eligible, without
undue fear or confusion. The
Department welcomes comments on the
potential effects of the IFR on public
health measures in response to the
pandemic, as well as other ways that the
Department should consider the
intervening circumstances of the
COVID–19 pandemic in relation to the
IFR.
Consequently, the Department has
concluded that it should review the IFR
to determine (1) if the IFR should be
rescinded or revised, and (2) what final
rule should be adopted, if any. If the IFR
is rescinded, § 40.41 would logically
revert to its prior text pending any new
rulemaking; such an outcome would
likely be preferable to a regulatory void,
which the Department did not propose
in the 2019 IFR. See 22 CFR 40.41
(2018).
5
IV. Request for Public Comment
The Department invites comment on
any issues that may be pertinent to its
review of the IFR to determine (1) if the
IFR should be rescinded or revised, and
(2) what final rule should be adopted, if
any. Reopening the comment period
gives interested persons an opportunity
to comment on these issues.
Kevin E. Bryant,
Deputy Director, Office of Directives
Management, U.S. Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2021–25038 Filed 11–16–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710–06–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 165
[Docket No. USCG–2021–0854]
Safety Zone; Military Ocean Terminal
Concord Safety Zone, Suisun Bay,
Military Ocean Terminal Concord, CA
AGENCY
: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION
: Notification of enforcement of
regulation.
SUMMARY
: The Coast Guard will enforce
the safety zone in the navigable waters
of Suisun Bay, off Concord, CA, in
support of explosive off and on-loading
to Military Ocean Terminal Concord
(MOTCO). This safety zone is necessary
to protect personnel, vessels, and the
marine environment from potential
explosion within the explosive arc. The
safety zone is open to all persons and
vessels for transitory use, but vessel
operators desiring to anchor or
otherwise loiter within the safety zone
must obtain the permission of the
Captain of the Port San Francisco or a
designated representative. All persons
and vessels operating within the safety
zone must comply with all directions
given to them by the Captain of the Port
San Francisco or a designated
representative.
DATES
: The regulations in 33 CFR
165.1198 will be enforced from
November 15, 2021, from 12:01 a.m.
until November 19, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.,
or as announced via marine information
broadcasts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
: If
you have questions about this
notification of enforcement, call or
email LTJG William Harris, Sector San
Francisco Waterways Management, U.S.
Coast Guard; telephone 415–399–7443,
email SFWaterways@uscg.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: The Coast
Guard will enforce the safety zone in 33
CFR 165.1198 for the Military Ocean
Terminal Concord regulated area from
November 15, 2021, from 12:01 a.m.,
until November 19, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.
This safety zone is necessary to protect
personnel, vessels, and the marine
environment from potential explosion
within the explosive arc. Our regulation
for this safety zone, § 165.1198, specifies
the location of the safety zone which
encompasses the navigable waters in the
area between 500 yards of MOTCO Pier
2 in position 38°0330N, 122°0114W
and 3,000 yards of the pier. During the
enforcement periods, as reflected in
§ 165.1198(d), if you are the operator of
a vessel in the regulated area you must
comply with the instructions of the
COTP or the designated on-scene patrol
personnel. Vessel operators desiring to
anchor or otherwise loiter within the
safety zone must contact Sector San
Francisco Vessel Traffic Service at 415–
556–2760 or VHF Channel 14 to obtain
permission.
In addition to this notification of
enforcement in the Federal Register, the
Coast Guard plans to provide
notification of this enforcement period
via the Local Notice to Mariners, and
marine information broadcasts.
Dated: November 10, 2021.
Taylor Q. Lam,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the
Port San Francisco.
[FR Doc. 2021–25182 Filed 11–15–21; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 9110–04–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R09–OAR–2020–0238; FRL–8896–02–
R9]
Air Plan Approval; California; San
Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control
District; Stationary Source Permits
AGENCY
: Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION
: Final rule.
SUMMARY
: The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is taking final action to
approve a revision to the San Joaquin
Valley Air Pollution Control District
(SJVAPCD or ‘‘the District’’) portion of
the California State Implementation
Plan (SIP). This revision concerns the
District’s New Source Review
permitting program for new and
modified sources of air pollution under
section 110(a)(2)(C) of the Clean Air Act
(CAA); specifically our approval of Rule
2021: Experimental Research
Operations. We are finalizing our
proposed approval of Rule 2021 as part
of the District’s program to regulate the
modification and construction of
stationary sources within the areas
covered by the SIP as necessary to
assure attainment and maintenance of
the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards.
DATES
: This rule will be effective on
December 17, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: The EPA has established a
docket for this action under Docket No.
EPA–R09–OAR–2020–0238. All
documents in the docket are listed on
the https://www.regulations.gov
website. Although listed in the index,
some information is not publicly
available, e.g., Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information
the disclosure of which is restricted by
statute. Certain other material, such as
copyrighted material, is not placed on
the internet and will be publicly
available only in hard copy form.
Publicly available docket materials are
available through https://
www.regulations.gov, or please contact
the person identified in the
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT
section for
additional availability information. If
you need assistance in a language other
than English or if you are a person with
disabilities who needs a reasonable
accommodation at no cost to you, please
contact the person identified in the
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Laura Yannayon, EPA Region IX, Air-3–
1, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA
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