Department of Commerce August 30, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces that the State of Florida is transferring commercial bluefish quota to the State of New York from its 2006 quota. By this action, NMFS adjusts the quotas and announces the revised commercial quota for New York and Florida.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) has received requests to conduct administrative reviews of various antidumping and countervailing duty orders and findings with July anniversary dates. In accordance with the Department's regulations, we are initiating those administrative reviews. The Department also received requests to revoke one antidumping duty order in part.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a 3-day Council meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce has approved the revised management plan for the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve). The Reserve was designated in 1988 pursuant to Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1461 and has been operating under the management plan approved in 2000. Pursuant to 15 CFR Section 921.33(c), a state must revise its management plan every five years. The submission of this plan fulfills this requirement and sets a course for successful implementation of the goals and objectives of the Reserve. The mission of the Reserve management plan is to improve the stewardship of the region's estuarine and coastal watershed ecosystems. The management plan identifies the following priority issues facing the Reserve: Water quality/eutrophication/watershed land-use; climate change/sea level rise/shoreline change; and assessment of ecosystem response to natural variability and human impacts. The management plan identifies five goals that are addressed through active management. The goals are (l) improve the understanding of coastal ecosystems and the human influences on them, (2) improve environmental literacy in communities to enable environmentally- sustainable decision-making, (3) demonstrate sustainable stewardship of the land and water ecosystems within the Reserve to serve as a model for community stewardship in the region, (4) foster dialogue and development of coastal ecosystem management solutions through sustained community engagement, (5) improve operations, infrastructure and stature of the Reserve. The Reserve's management plan addresses these goals with specific programs for resource management and protection and stewardship, research and monitoring, education and training, public access and visitor use, program administration, and partnerships and regional coordination.

The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the Oregon Coastal Management Program. The Coastal Zone Management Program evaluation 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 CZMA requires continuing review of the performance of states with respect to coastal program implementation. Evaluation of a Coastal Management Program requires findings concerning the extent to which a state has met the national objectives, adhered to its Coastal Management Program document approved by the Secretary of Commerce, and adhered to the terms of financial assistance awards funded under the CZMA. The 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 date of the site visit for the listed evaluation, and the date, local time, and location of the public meeting during the site visit. Date and Time: The Oregon Coastal Management Program evaluation site visit will be held October 2-6, 2006. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 4, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. at the City of Newport Public Library, 35 NW Nye Street, Newport, Oregon. Copies of a state's most recent performance reports, as well as OCRM's evaluation notification and supplemental information request letters to the state, are available upon request from OCRM. Written comments from interested parties regarding this Program are encouraged and will be accepted until 15 days after the public meeting. 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 evaluation is completed, OCRM will place a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Evaluation Findings.

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)).

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce is announcing a thirty day public comment period on the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan Revision which will begin on the day this announcement is published. Comments should be sent within the comment period in hard copy or e- mail to Patricia Delgado at Patricia.Delgado@noaa.gov or NOAA's Estuarine Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in 1979 pursuant to Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1461. The Reserve has been operating under a management plan approved in 1985. Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), a state must revise its management plan every five years. The submission of this plan fulfills this requirement and sets a course for successful implementation of the goals and objectives of the reserve. This plan is a significant revision of the original management plan developed for the Reserve. For the revision, the Reserve used a collaborative approach, which focused on integrating the Reserve's programs in order to better achieve conservation success. The plan describes the Reserve's long-term conservation goals and details the process involved in identifying those goals. It also maps out the objectives and strategies that the Reserve will use over the next five years in order to move toward accomplishing its goals. The plan also provides an overview of the Reserve's research and monitoring, education, stewardship, coastal training, volunteer, and administration programs and describes the Reserve's plan for public access, acquisition, and facilities.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the C season allowances of the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock for Statistical Area 610 of the GOA.