Department of Commerce September 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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)).

NMFS proposes to amend the regulations governing how fishing net mesh size is measured in the Northeast. This proposed change would increase the weight used to measure mesh larger than 120 mm (4.72 inches) in all fisheries. The intent of this proposed rule is to ensure consistent and accurate measurements of fishing net mesh size.

A Biological Review Team (BRT) consisting of biologists from the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, Penobscot Indian Nation, NMFS, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have completed a Status Review of Atlantic salmon (Status Review for Anadromous Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)) in the United States.

On September 1, 2006, the United States Court of International Trade affirmed in part and struck in part the Department of Commerce's redetermination on remand of the final results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on ball bearings and parts thereof from France. See SKF USA Inc., SKF France S.A., and Sarma v. United States, Court No. 03-00490, slip op. 06-133 (CIT 2006). The Department is now issuing this notice of court decision not in harmony with the Department's determination.

NMFS is adjusting the 2006 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) amount in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). This action is necessary to allow harvest of Pacific cod that will not be harvested under the State of Alaska's guideline harvest level (GHL) for the Aleutian Islands subarea state waters Pacific cod fishery. This action is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the BSAI (FMP).

The Department of Commerce (Department) proposes to remove its regulations implementing the government-wide common rule on nonprocurement debarment and suspension, currently codified at Title 15, and to adopt the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance at Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) published in the Federal Register on August 31, 2005. This proposed regulatory action would implement the OMB's initiative to streamline and consolidate all federal regulations on nonprocurement debarment and suspension into one part of the CFR. The Department does not intend to modify any of its current policy.

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, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 13C to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). Amendment 13C establishes management measures to end overfishing of snowy grouper, golden tilefish, vermilion snapper, and black sea bass and measures to allow moderate increases in recreational and commercial harvest of red porgy consistent with the rebuilding program for that stock. For the commercial fisheries, this final rule establishes restrictive quotas for snowy grouper, golden tilefish, vermilion snapper, and black sea bass and, after the quotas are met, prohibits all purchase and sale of the applicable species and restricts all harvest and possession to the applicable bag limit; establishes restrictive trip limits for snowy grouper and golden tilefish; requires at least 2-inch (5.1-cm) mesh in the back panel of black sea bass pots; requires black sea bass pots to be removed from the water after the quota is reached; changes the fishing year for black sea bass; increases the trip limit for red porgy; establishes a red porgy quota that would allow a moderate increase in harvest; and, after the red porgy quota is reached, prohibits all purchase and sale and restricts all harvest and possession to the bag limit. For the recreational fisheries, this final rule reduces the bag limits for snowy grouper, golden tilefish, and black sea bass; increases the minimum size limit for vermilion snapper and black sea bass; changes the fishing year for black sea bass; and increases the bag limit for red porgy. The intended effects of this final rule are to eliminate or phase out overfishing of snowy grouper, golden tilefish, vermilion snapper, and black sea bass; and increase red porgy harvest consistent with an updated stock assessment and rebuilding plan to achieve optimum yield. Finally, NMFS informs the public of the approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this final rule and publishes the OMB control numbers for those collections.

On June 22, 2006, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published in the Federal Register the notice of intent to rescind the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) from Japan. This review covers four manufactures/ exporters: JFE Steel Corporation (JFE), Nippon Steel Corporation (Nippon), NKK Tubes (NKK) and Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. (SMI). The period of review (POR) covers sales of subject merchandise to the United States during the period August 1, 2004 throughJuly 31, 2005. We provided interested parties with an opportunity to comment on the notice of intent to rescind this administrative review. However, we received no comments from interested parties. Consequently, no changes have been made to the preliminary results of the review.

Notice is hereby given that The Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, 500 Wildlife Parkway, P.O. Box 1060, Columbia, SC 29202-1060 [Charles Scott Pfaff, Responsible Party] has applied in due form for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of enhancement.

In recent months, the International Trade Administration has completed a number of investigations into charges that the terms of administrative protective orders issued in connection with antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings have been violated. The results of these investigations are summarized below.

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 invention listed below is jointly owned by the U.S. Government, as represented by the Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Navy. The Department of Commerce's interest in the invention is available for non-exclusive licensing, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 and 37 CFR Part 404 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development.

NMFS will host a half-day meeting with the Atlantic Regional Fishery Management Council Chairs and Executive Directors in October 2006. The intent of this meeting is to discuss science, coordination, and communication issues related to Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS).

The 93rd meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council's (Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will convene Tuesday, October 3, 2006, through Thursday October 5, 2006. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific times, dates, and agenda items.