Department of Commerce April 6, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In response to a request from Companhia Sider[uacute]rgica Nacional (CSN), the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon quality steel products from Brazil (A-351-828). This administrative review covers imports of subject merchandise produced and exported by CSN. The period of review (POR) is March 1, 2003, through February 29, 2004. We preliminarily find that during the POR, CSN did not make sales of the subject merchandise at less than normal value (NV). However, since the subject merchandise was further manufactured in the United States by CSN LLC, and affiliated party, and sold to an unaffiliated U.S. customer as a galvanized product outside the scope of the antidumping order, we intend to verify the further manufacturing costs and sales information reported by CSN LLC for the final results. The briefing schedule will be extended accordingly. If these preliminary results are adopted in the final results of this administrative review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to liquidate appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results, including the Department's analysis regarding the date of sale. Parties who submit argument in this proceeding are requested to submit with the argument: 1) a statement of the issues, 2) a brief summary of the argument, and 3) a table of authorities.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Ad Hoc Groundfish Trawl Individual Quota Committee (TIQC) will hold a working meeting which is open to the public.

We, the NMFS, have completed an update of an Endangered Species Act (ESA) status review for the North American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris; hereafter ``green sturgeon''). After reviewing new and updated information on the status of green sturgeon and considering whether green sturgeon is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, or is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range, we confirm our earlier determination that the species is comprised of two distinct population segments (DPSs) that qualify as species under the ESA, the Northern and Southern DPSs. We reaffirm our earlier determination that the Northern DPS does not warrant listing as threatened or endangered at this time, and we will maintain the DPS on the Species of Concern List due to remaining uncertainties about its status and threats. We revise our previous ``not warranted'' finding for the Southern DPS and propose to list it as threatened. This revision is based on: new information showing that the majority of spawning adults are concentrated into one spawning river (i.e., Sacramento River), thus increasing the risk of extirpation due to catastrophic events; threats that have remained severe since the last status review and have not been adequately addressed by conservation measures currently in place; fishery-independent data exhibiting a negative trend in juvenile green sturgeon abundance; and new information showing evidence of lost spawning habitat in the upper Sacramento and Feather Rivers. We will reevaluate the status of the Northern DPS in 5 years. If the proposed listing is finalized, a recovery plan will be prepared and implemented for the Southern DPS. Protective regulations under ESA section 4(d) and critical habitat will be proposed in a subsequent Federal Register notice.