Department of Commerce September 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces proposed changes to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 201, Standard for Personal Identity Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors. The changes to Section 2.2, PIV Identify Proofing and Registration Requirements, and to Section 5.3.1, PIV Card Issuance, will clarify the identity proofing and registration process that departments and agencies should follow when issuing identity credentials. These changes are required to make FIPS 201 consistent with the Memorandum for All Departments and Agencies (M-05- 24), issued by the Office of Management and Budget on August 5, 2005, Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors. Before recommending these proposed changes to FIPS 201 to the Secretary of Commerce for review and approval, NIST invites comments from the public, users, the information technology industry, and Federal, State and local government organizations concerning the proposed changes.

On May 2, 2005, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') initiated a sunset review of the countervailing (``CVD'') duty order on structural steel beams from South Korea pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). See Initiation of Five-year (``Sunset'') Reviews, 70 FR 22632 (May 2, 2005). On the basis of a notice of intent to participate and an adequate substantive response filed on behalf of the domestic interested parties and inadequate response (in this case, no response) from respondent interested parties, the Department determined to conduct an expedited sunset review of this CVD order pursuant to section 751(c)(3)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.218(e)(1)(ii)(B). As a result of this sunset review, the Department finds that revocation of the CVD order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy at the level indicated in the ``Final Results of Review'' section of this notice.

In response to requests from petitioners, the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting the eleventh administrative review of the antidumping order on corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products (CORE) from Korea.\1\ This review covers five manufacturers and exporters (collectively, the respondents) of the subject merchandise: Dongshin Special Steel Co., Ltd., (Dongshin); Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. (Dongbu); Hyundai HYSCO (HYSCO); Pohang Iron & Steel Company, Ltd. and Pohang Coated Steel Co., Ltd. (POCOS), and Pohang Steel Industries Co., Ltd. (PSI) (collectively, the POSCO Group); and Union Steel Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Union). The period of review (POR) for this review is August 1, 2003, through July 31, 2004. We preliminarily determine that during the POR, Dongbu, the POSCO Group, and Union made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value (NV). However, we preliminary determine that HYSCO did not make sales of subject merchandise at less than NV (i.e., sales were made at ``zero'' or de minimis dumping margins). 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 assess HYSCO's appropriate entries at an antidumping liability of zero percent of the entered value and instruct CBP to assess Dongbu, Dongshin, the POSCO Group, and Union at the rates referenced in the ``Preliminary Results of the Review'' section of this notice.

On May 2, 2005, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') initiated the sunset review of the antidumping duty order on synthetic indigo from the People's Republic of China (``China'') pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). On the basis of a Notice of Intent to Participate, adequate substantive response filed on behalf of a domestic interested party, and lack of response from respondent interested parties, the Department conducted an expedited (120-day) sunset review. As a result of this sunset review, the Department finds that revocation of the antidumping duty order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping. The dumping margins likely to prevail if the order were revoked are identified in the Final Results of Review section of this notice.

On May 2, 2005, the Department of Commerce (the Department) initiated sunset reviews of the antidumping duty orders on certain large diameter carbon and alloy seamless standard, line and pressure pipe (Large Diameter SSLPP) from Japan and Mexico pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). On the basis of a notice of intent to participate and an adequate substantive response filed on behalf of domestic interested parties and no response from respondent interested parties, the Department conducted expedited (120- day) sunset reviews for these orders. As a result of these sunset reviews, the Department finds that revocation of the antidumping duty orders would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping. The dumping margins are identified in the Final Results of Reviews section of this notice.

Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, NMFS is cancelling two public hearings on the draft consolidated Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and proposed rule that were scheduled for September 6 and September 8, 2005, in Orange Beach, AL, and New Orleans, LA, respectively. NMFS intends to reschedule the September 6 Orange Beach and September 8 New Orleans public hearings at a later date. In addition, NMFS has changed the location and time of the public hearing that was scheduled to be held in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on October 3, 2005, at the African American Arts and Cultural Center Research Library. The draft consolidated HMS FMP and the proposed rule describe a range of management measures that could impact fishermen and dealers for all HMS fisheries.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Atka mackerel with gears other than jig in the Eastern Aleutian District and the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2005 total allowable catch (TAC) of Atka mackerel in these areas. NMFS is also announcing the opening and closure dates of the first and second directed fisheries within the harvest limit area (HLA) in Statistical Areas 542 and 543. These actions are necessary to prevent exceeding the HLA limits established for the Central (area 542) and Western (area 543) Aleutian Districts pursuant to the 2005 Atka mackerel TAC.

NMFS has received an application from Bay Marina Management Incorporated (BMMI) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to dredging on the west side of the Pier 39 Marina on the San Francisco waterfront, CA. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to BMMI for 1 year.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

The Department hereby solicits applications from persons (including firms, corporations, or other legal entities) who cut and sew men's and boys' worsted wool suits and suit-like jackets and trousers in the United States for an allocation of the 2006 tariff rate quotas on certain worsted wool fabric. Interested persons must submit an application on the form provided to the address listed below by October 3, 2005. The Department will cause to be published in the Federal Register its determination to allocate the 2006 tariff rate quotas and will notify applicants of their respective allocation as soon as possible after that date. Promptly thereafter, the Department will issue licenses to eligible applicants.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise the deep-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the fourth seasonal apportionment of the 2005 Pacific halibut bycatch allowance specified for the deep-water species fishery in the GOA has been reached.

This emergency action, implemented under the regulations for the Pacific Tuna Fisheries, will prevent overfishing of bigeye tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP), consistent with recommendations by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) that have been approved by the Department of State (DOS) under the Tuna Conventions Act. NMFS hereby closes the U.S. longline fishery directed at bigeye tuna in the Convention Area for the remainder of 2005 because the bigeye tuna catch in the Convention Area has reached the reported level of catch made in 2001. This action is intended to limit fishing mortality on bigeye tuna stock caused by longline fishing in the Convention Area and contribute to the long-term conservation of bigeye tuna stock at levels that support healthy fisheries.

The International Code Council (ICC), under whose auspices the International Codes (``I-Codes'') are developed, maintains a process for updating these model codes based on receipt of proposals from interested individuals and organizations. The ICC's 14 separately published codes are each comprehensively updated and re-published every three years with a supplement released between each edition. The most current versions of the I-Codes are the 2003 Editions and 2004 Supplements. The 2006 Editions will be released in March, 2006. The purpose of this notice is to invite public participation in the Final Action Hearings. At this session, public comments are reviewed and discussed and final voting is conducted to determine which proposals are adopted into the 2006 I-Codes. The publication of this notice by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on behalf of ICC is being undertaken as a public service; NIST does not necessarily endorse, approve, or recommend any of the codes or standards referenced in the notice. Session Dates: The Final Action Hearings of the 2004/2005 Code Development Cycle will occur between September 28 and October 2, 2005, at the COBO Center in Detroit, Michigan. Proposed changes approved during this cycle, in addition to changes published in the 2004 Supplement, will constitute the 2006 editions of the International Codes. The agenda for the hearing as well as updates to the schedule are also posted on the ICC Web site at: https://www.iccsafe.org.

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), are issuing a final rule designating critical habitat for 12 Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of West Coast salmon (chum, Oncorhynchus keta; sockeye, O. nerka; chinook, O. tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss) listed as of the date of this designation under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The specific areas designated in the rule text set out below include approximately 20,630 mi (33,201 km) of lake, riverine, and estuarine habitat in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as approximately 2,312 mi (3,721 km) of marine nearshore habitat in Puget Sound, Washington. Some of the areas designated are occupied by two or more ESUs. The annual net economic impacts of changes to Federal activities as a result of critical habitat designation (regardless of whether those activities would also change as a result of the ESA's jeopardy requirement) are estimated to be approximately $201.2 million. Fish and wildlife conservation actions for the Federal Columbia River Power System and other major hydropower projects in the Pacific Northwest are expected to generate another $500-700 million in annual costs, including forgone power revenues. While these hydropower projects are covered by ESA section 7, the conservation actions that generate these costs are imposed by a wide variety of laws. We solicited information and comments from the public in an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) and on all aspects of the proposed rule. This rule is being issued to meet the timeline established in litigation between NMFS and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA et. al v. NMFS (Civ. No. 03-1883)). In the proposed rule, we identified a number of potential exclusions we were considering including exclusions for federal lands subject to the Pacific Northwest Forest Plan, PACFISH and INFISH. We are continuing to analyze whether exclusion of those federal lands is appropriate.

In accordance with section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''), the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is automatically initiating five-year (``Sunset Reviews'') of the antidumping duty orders listed below. The International Trade Commission (``the Commission'') is publishing concurrently with this notice its notice of Institution of Five-year Review which covers these same orders.

The Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee (ETTAC) has elected to cancel its previously scheduled September 16, 2005 plenary meeting. The meeting will be rescheduled for a later time to be determined in 2005. The ETTAC is mandated by Public Law 103-392. It was created to advise the U.S. government on environmental trade policies and programs, and to help it to focus its resources on increasing the exports of the U.S. environmental industry. ETTAC operates as an advisory committee to the Secretary of Commerce and the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC). ETTAC was originally chartered in May of 1994. It was most recently rechartered until May 30, 2006. For further information phone Joseph Ayoub, Office of Energy and Environmental Technologies Industries (OEEI), International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce at (202) 482-5225 or Joseph.Ayoub@mail.doc.gov.

NMFS announces a regulatory modification in the recreational fishery from the U.S.-Canada Border to Cape Alava, WA (Neah Bay Subarea). Effective Tuesday, August 16, 2005, the Neah Bay Subarea was modified to a have a daily bag limit as follows: ``All salmon, two fish per day, and all retained coho must have a healed adipose fin clip.'' All other restrictions remain in effect as announced for 2005 Ocean Salmon Fisheries. This action was necessary to conform to the 2005 management goals, and the intended effect is to allow the fishery to operate within the seasons and quotas specified in the 2005 annual management measures.