Department of Commerce March 27, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) proposes to provide to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data collected from several surveys that it conducts on U.S. direct investment abroad, foreign direct investment in the United States, and U.S. international trade in services for statistical purposes exclusively. In accordance with the requirement of Section 524(d) of the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA), we are providing the opportunity for public comment on this data-sharing action. BEA will provide data collected in its surveys to link with data from BLS surveys, including the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, and the Mass Layoff Statistics survey. The linked data will be used for several purposes by both agencies, such as to develop detailed industry-level estimates of the employment, payroll, and occupational structure of foreign-owned U.S. companies or of U.S. companies that own foreign affiliates, and to assess the adequacy of current government data for understanding the international outsourcing activities of U.S. companies. Non-confidential aggregate data (public use) and reports that have cleared BEA and BLS disclosure review will be provided to the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) as potential inputs into a study of off-shoring authorized by a grant to NAPA under Public Law 108-447. Disclosure review is a process conducted to verify that the data to be released do not reveal any confidential information.

We preliminarily determine that imports of certain lined paper products (``CLPP'') are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value, as provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination. We will make our final determination within 75 days after the date of this preliminary determination.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this notice advises the public that NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) intends to gather the necessary information to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS will examine the proposed implementation of a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and issuance of one incidental take permit (ITP) in accordance the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), as amended. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will be participating as Federal cooperating agencies. The USFS manages land in close proximity to the project area and, therefore, has an interest is the analysis of the proposed action. The applicant may seek an ITP from the USFWS for coverage for species under its jurisdiction; therefore, the USFWS is participating in the scoping process for EIS development.

The SAFMC and GMFMC will hold a joint Scientific and Statistical Committees (SSC) ad hoc Sub-Committee meeting to determine appropriate king mackerel mixing rates for the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The meeting will be held in Atlanta, GA. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The SEDAR Steering Committee will meet to discuss the SEDAR schedule of events for 2006; composition of the SEDAR 10, gag grouper, Review Panel; and scheduling of management activities for 2006. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS proposes to close the Chiniak Gully region on the east side of Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) to all commercial trawl fishing and testing of trawl gear from August 1 to a date no later than September 20 from 2006 through 2010. NMFS plans to conduct controlled experiments on the effects of commercial fishing on pollock distribution and abundance, as part of a comprehensive investigation of Steller sea lion (SSL) and commercial fishery interactions. This action is needed to support the proposed experimental design by prohibiting commercial trawl fishing in the control site of Chiniak Gully. The proposed research could improve information on pollock movements and on the potential impacts of commercial pollock harvests on prey availability to SSLs. This action is intended to improve information used to evaluate fishery management actions to protect SSLs and their designated critical habitat.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is reopening the comment period for proposed changes to certain rules affecting practice before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that were published in the Federal Register January 17, 2006. Interested members of the public are invited to submit written comments on these proposed changes by the new deadline for comments.