Department of Commerce 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule corrects inadvertent errors and omissions found in the April 27, 2004, final rule implementing Amendment 13 and the November 19, 2004, interim final rule implementing Framework Adjustment (Framework) 40-A to the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This rule also clarifies specific regulations to maintain consistency with, and to accurately reflect, the intent of Amendment 13 and Framework 40-A to the FMP. Finally, this rule revises the process for selecting total allowable catch (TAC) allocations for the U.S./ Canada Management Areas pursuant to a court order. This action is being taken by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

In response to a request from Anvil International, Inc. and Ward Manufacturing, Inc., domestic producers and interested parties in this proceeding, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain malleable iron pipe fittings (``MPF'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The period of review (``POR'') is December 2, 2003, through November 30, 2004. We have preliminarily determined that sales were made below normal value (``NV''). If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results of review, the Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries of MPF during the POR for which the importer-specific assessment rates are above de minimis. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

The Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee (ETTAC) will hold a plenary meeting on January 13, 2006, at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230, in Room 4830. The ETTAC will discuss global climate change mitigation initiatives, the European Union's electronic and other waste initiatives, updated negotiations in the World Trade Organization's environmental goods and services trade liberalization, the Export-Import Bank's environmental exports program, U.S. EPA's Environmental Technologies Verification (ETV) Program, the USG role in the Asia-Pacific Partnership, and an overview of the U.S. International Trade Commission's environmental services sector market analysis. The meeting is open to the public and time will be permitted for public comment. Written comments concerning ETTAC affairs are welcome anytime before or after the meeting. Minutes will be available within 30 days of this meeting. 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 Ellen Bohon, Office of Energy and Environmental Technologies Industries (OEEI), International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce at (202) 482-0359. This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to OEEI at (202) 482-5225.

Notice is hereby given that the Museum of Natural History Collections, Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 [Principal Investigator: Tonya Haff], has been issued an amendment to scientific research.

The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performances of the Ashepoo-Combahee-Edisto (ACE) Basin (South Carolina) National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Jobos Bay (Puerto Rico) National Estuarine Research Reserve, the North Carolina Coastal Management Program, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Coastal Management Program. The Coastal Zone Management Program evaluations will be conducted pursuant to section 312 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (CZMA) and regulations at 15 CFR Part 923, Subpart L. The National Estuarine Research Reserve evaluations will be conducted pursuant to sections 312 and 315 of the CZMA and regulations at 15 CFR Part 921, Subpart E and Part 923, Subpart L. The CZMA requires continuing review of the performance of states with respect to coastal program implementation. Evaluation of Coastal Management Programs and National Estuarine Research Reserves requires findings concerning the extent to which a state has met the national objectives, adhered to its Coastal Management Program document or Reserve final management plan approved by the Secretary of Commerce, and adhered to the terms of financial assistance awards funded under the CZMA. Each evaluation will include a site visit, consideration of public comments, and consultations with interested Federal, state, and local agencies and members of the public. A public meeting will be held as part of the site visit. Notice is hereby given of the dates of the site visits for the listed evaluations, and the dates, local times, and locations of the public meeting during the site visits. The ACE Basin (South Carolina) National Estuarine Research Reserve evaluation site visit will be held January 30-February 3, 2006. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. at the Edisto Interpretive Center, Edisto Beach State Park, 8377 State Cabin Road, Edisto Island, South Carolina. The Jobos Bay (Puerto Rico) National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) evaluation site visit will be held January 30-February 3, 2006. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 1, 2006, at 5 p.m. at the Jobos Bay NERR Visitors' Center, Road 705, Kilometer 2.3, Main Street, Aguirre, Puerto Rico. The North Carolina Coastal Management Program evaluation site visit will be held February 6-10, 2006. Three public meetings will be held during the week. The first public meeting will be held on Monday, February 6, 2006, at 6 p.m. at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Wilmington Regional Office, Room 200, 127 Cardinal Drive Extension, Wilmington, North Carolina. The second public meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 2006, at 6 p.m. at the Carteret County Courthouse, Commissioners Boardroom, One Courthouse Square, Beaufort, North Carolina. The third public meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 8, 2006, at 6 p.m. at the Dare County Commissioners Office, 204 Ananias Dare Street, Manteo, North Carolina. The CNMI Coastal Management Program evaluation site visit will be held February 13-17, 2006. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 14, 2006, at 5 p.m. at the Coastal Resource Management Office, First Floor Conference Room, Morgen Building, San Jose, Saipan. Copies of states' most recent performance reports, as well as OCRM's evaluation notification and supplemental information request letters to the states, are available upon request from OCRM. Written comments from interested parties regarding these Programs are encouraged and will be accepted until 15 days after the public meeting held for a Program. Please direct written comments to Ralph Cantral, Chief, National Policy and Evaluation Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOS/NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, 10th Floor, N/ORM7, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. When the evaluations are completed, OCRM will place a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Evaluation Findings. Notice is hereby given of the availability of the final evaluation findings for the Hawaii and Louisiana Coastal Management Programs (CMPs); and the Great Bay (New Hampshire) and Hudson River (New York) National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs). Sections 312 and 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA), as amended, require a continuing review of the performance of coastal states with respect to approval of CMPs and the operation and management of NERRs. The states of Hawaii and Louisiana were found to be implementing and enforcing their federally approved coastal management programs, addressing the national coastal management objectives identified in CZMA Section 303(2)(A)-(K), and adhering to the programmatic terms of their financial assistance awards. The Great Bay (New Hampshire) and Hudson River (New York) NERRs were found to be adhering to programmatic requirements of the NERR System. Copies of these final evaluation findings may be obtained upon written request from: Ralph Cantral, Chief, National Policy and Evaluation Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOS/NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, 10th Floor, N/ORM7, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, or Ralph.Cantral@noaa.gov.

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') and the International Trade Commission (``ITC'') that revocation of the antidumping duty orders on granular polytetrafluoroethylene resin (``PTFE Resin'') from Italy and Japan would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping, and to material injury to an industry in the United States, the Department is publishing notice of continuation of these antidumping duty orders.

The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on porcelain-on- steel cooking ware from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The Department has preliminarily determined that Shanghai Watex Metal Products Co. Ltd. (``Watex''), the only respondent in this review, is not entitled to a separate rate. In addition, the Department has determined to apply adverse facts available to Watex. If these preliminary results are adopted in the final results of this review, the Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on entries of subject merchandise during the period of review (``POR''). Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results. See the ``Preliminary Results of Review'' section of this notice.

NMFS announces the time and location for the large coastal shark (LCS) stock assessment workshop, the second of three workshops for the LCS stock assessment to be conducted in 2005/2006.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), 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 the revision of a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a public meeting of the Shrimp Advisory Panel (AP).

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)).

This final rule amends the Department of Commerce's Freedom of Information Act regulations (15 CFR part 4) by adding an official authorized To deny requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act, and requests for correction or amendment under the Privacy Act, for the Technology Administration.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) advise interested parties of their intent to conduct public scoping under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to gather information to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) related to a permit application from the Port of Vancouver, Washington, for the incidental take of listed species. The permit application would be associated with the Port of Vancouver Columbia Gateway Site Habitat Conservation Plan adjacent to the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Department), pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), has determined that revocation of the antidumping duty order on certain cased pencils (pencils) from the People's Republic of China (PRC) would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping. On December 6, 2005, the International Trade Commission (ITC), pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act, determined that revocation of the antidumping duty order on pencils from the PRC would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States within a reasonably foreseeable time. Therefore, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.218(f)(4), the Department is publishing notice of the continuation of the antidumping duty order on pencils from the PRC.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has, in response to recent case law, revised its guidelines to be used by USPTO personnel in their review of patent applications to determine whether the claims in a patent application are directed to patent eligible subject matter. The USPTO is requesting comments from the public regarding these interim examination guidelines. Comment Deadline Date: To be ensured of consideration, written comments must be received on or before June 30, 2006. No public hearing will be held.

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 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.

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.

NMFS issues a final rule to implement measures to further reduce the incidental catch of seabirds in the Hawaii-based longline fishery. Depending on the fishing method and area where the vessels operate, owners and operators of longline fishing vessels must either side-set (deploy longline gear from the side of the vessel rather than from the stern) or use a combination of other seabird mitigation measures to prevent seabirds from being accidentally hooked, entangled, and killed during fishing operations. NMFS also announces the availability of the ROD for the ``Final Environmental Impact Statement, Seabird Interaction Avoidance Methods under the Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region and Pelagic Squid Fishery Management under the Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region and the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act'' (FEIS). The ROD announces that NMFS selects the Preferred Alternative of the FEIS, modified slightly, to cost-effectively further reduce the potentially harmful effects of the Hawaii-based longline fishery on seabirds.

NMFS proposes a rule to implement revisions to the 2006 commercial and recreational groundfish fishery management measures for groundfish taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Proposed management measures that are new for 2006 are intended to: achieve but not exceed optimum yields (OYs); prevent overfishing; rebuild overfished species; and reduce and minimize the bycatch and discard of overfished and depleted stocks. NMFS additionally proposes to revise the 2006 darkblotched rockfish OY, at the request of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council), and under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act). These actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the Magnuson-Stevens Act, are intended allow fisheries to access more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks. Finally, NMFS announces with this Federal Register document that the coastwide lingcod stock is no longer considered overfished and is fully rebuilt.