Department of Commerce May 3, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the Smithsonian National Zoological Park (SNZP), 3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 (John Berry, Responsible Party), has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddelliis) and import and re-export marine mammal specimens for scientific research.

The Secretary of Commerce issued an Export Trade Certificate of Review to Aires Group, Ltd., on July 10, 1984. Because this Certificate Holder has failed to file an annual report as required by law, the Secretary is revoking the certificate. This notice summarizes the notification letter sent to Aires Group, Ltd.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that there will be a meeting of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award on June 7, 2006. The Board of Overseers is composed of eleven members prominent in the field of quality management and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, assembled to advise the Secretary of Commerce on the conduct of the Baldrige Award. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and review information received from the National Institute of Standards and Technology with the members of the Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The agenda will include: Discussions on the Nonprofit Pilot Program, Baldrige Collaborative Marketing and Research Activities, Applicant Input for the Award Process and NIST Director's Funding Competition, a Program Update and Issues from June 6 Judges' Meeting.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) hereby publishes a list of scope rulings completed between January 1, 2006, and March 31, 2006. In conjunction with this list, the Department is also publishing a list of requests for scope rulings and anticircumvention determinations pending as of March 31, 2006. We intend to publish future lists after the close of the next calendar quarter.

NMFS has received two applications from Shell Offshore, Inc. and WesternGeco, Inc. (Shell) for Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting a marine geophysical program, including deep seismic surveys, on oil and gas lease blocks located on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) waters in the mid- and eastern-Beaufort Sea and on pre-lease areas in the Northern Chukchi Sea. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue a single IHA to Shell to take, by Level B harassment, small numbers of several species of marine mammals between July and November, 2006 incidental to conducting seismic surveys.