Department of Commerce 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with 5 U.S.C., 4314(c)(4), DOC announces the appointment of persons to serve as members of the Office of the Secretary (OS) Performance Review Board (PRB). The OS/PRB is responsible for reviewing performance appraisals and ratings of Senior Executive Service (SES) members. The appointment of these members to the OS/PRB will be for a period of 24 months.

On August 30, 2006, the Department of Commerce (the Department) initiated an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on canned pineapple fruit (CPF) from Thailand. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Requests for Revocation in Part, 71 FR 51573 (August 30, 2006) (Initiation Notice). In that notice, the Department did not initiate a review of Tropical Food Industries Co. Ltd. (TROFCO) because the company's request for review was untimely filed. After considering the facts on the record, the Department is now initiating a review of TROFCO.

In response to requests by Dongkuk Steel Mill Co. Ltd. (DSM), a producer/exporter of the subject merchandise, and petitioners,\1\ the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) from the Republic of Korea (Korea). This review covers seven producers/exporters of the subject merchandise. The period of review (POR) is September 1, 2004, through August 31, 2005.

NMFS announces the end of the 2006 Pacific Whiting (whiting) Primary Season for the mothership sector at 9 p.m. local time (l.t.) September 29, 2006, because the allocation for the mothership sector is projected to be reached by that time. This action is intended to keep the harvest of whiting within the 2006 allocation levels.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amounts of the Aleut Corporation's pollock directed fishing allowance (DFA) and the Aleutian Islands pollock incidental catch allowance (ICA) from the Aleutian Islands subarea to the Bering Sea subarea directed fisheries. These actions are necessary to provide opportunity for harvest of the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock, consistent with the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP).

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 National Technical Information Service (NTIS) is seeking a qualified candidate to serve as one of the five members of the NTIS Advisory Board. NTIS Advisory Board will meet at least semiannually to advise the Secretary of Commerce, the Under Secretary for Technology, and the Director of NTIS on NTIS's mission, general policies and fee structure.

On June 1, 2006, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') initiated the second sunset reviews of the antidumping duty (``AD'') orders on oil country tubular goods (``OCTG'') from Argentina, Italy, Japan, and Korea pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). On the basis of notices of intent to participate, and adequate substantive responses filed on behalf of the domestic interested parties, and inadequate responses received from respondent interested parties, the Department has conducted expedited sunset reviews, pursuant to section 751(c)(3)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.218(e)(1)(ii)(C)(2). As a result of these sunset reviews, the Department finds that revocation of the AD orders would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping at the margins indicated in the ``Final Results of Review'' section of this notice.

On June 1, 2006, the Department of Commerce (the Department) initiated sunset reviews of the antidumping duty orders on certain small diameter carbon and alloy seamless standard, line, and pressure pipe (seamless line pipe) from Argentina, Brazil, and Germany pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). See Initiation of Five-year (``Sunset'') Reviews, 71 FR 31153 (June 1, 2006) (Sunset Initiation). On the basis of a notice of intent to participate and adequate substantive responses filed on behalf of domestic interested parties, and only one notice of intent to participate filed on behalf of a German respondent interested party, Benteler Stahl/Rohr GmbH (Benteler Stahl), the response for which was determined by the Department to be inadequate, the Department conducted expedited (120-day) sunset reviews. As a result of these sunset reviews, the Department finds that revocation of the antidumping duty orders would likely lead to the continuation or recurrence of dumping. The dumping margins are identified in the Final Results of Review section of this notice.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is publishing this proposed rule to amend the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR) to expedite the collection of information concerning the inspection status of plant sites that produce unscheduled discrete organic chemicals (UDOCs) subject to the declaration requirements of the CWCR, to clarify the scope of the CWCR records review and recordkeeping requirements, and to update the maximum civil penalty that may be imposed for violations of the CWCR restrictions on imports of CWC Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 chemicals. The CWCR include requirements to declare certain activities, involving scheduled chemicals and UDOCs, and to provide access for on-site verification by international inspectors of certain declared facilities in the United States. Specifically, this proposed rule would amend the CWCR by revising the annual declaration requirements for UDOCs to allow a ``declared'' plant site currently subject to inspection, which anticipates that its production of UDOCs during the current calendar year will be below the inspection threshold level indicated in the CWCR, to submit a Change in Inspection Status Form to BIS by December 15th of the current calendar year. In addition, any such UDOC plant site containing at least one plant that anticipates producing an individual PSF chemical (i.e., a UDOC containing the elements phosphorus, sulfur or fluorine) in quantities that exceed the declaration threshold for such chemicals would have the option of submitting its Annual Declaration on Past Activities, in lieu of a Change in Inspection Status Form, by December 15th of the current calendar year. Otherwise, the CWCR require that the Annual Declaration on Past Activities be submitted by February 28th of the following year. The information provided to BIS, as a result of this change, would ensure that the plant site would not be subject to inspection during the first 90 days of the next calendar year (i.e., the year after the UDOC activities took place), which is the period when the United States compiles its annual declaration on past activities for submission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). In addition, this information would strengthen the verification regime of the CWC by allowing the OPCW to schedule inspections, on a year-round basis, of those UDOC facilities in the United States that meet or exceed the inspection threshold level indicated in the CWCR. This proposed rule would also amend the CWCR by revising the records review provisions to clarify that a facility must provide the OPCW Inspection Team with access to all supporting materials and documentation used by the facility to prepare declarations and to otherwise comply with the CWCR, including records related to activities that have taken place at the facility since the beginning of the previous calendar year (i.e., up to and including the date of the inspection), even if the facility has not submitted its current year Annual Declaration on Past Activities to BIS at the time the inspection takes place. In addition, this rule would revise the CWCR records review and recordkeeping requirements to clarify that the types of records that are subject to these requirements include all supporting materials and documentation associated with the movement into, around, and from the facility of declared chemicals and their feedstock or any product chemicals formed from such chemicals and feedstock. The purpose of this clarification would be to ensure that the CWCR records review and recordkeeping requirements fully conform with the inspection aims described in the inspection provisions of the CWCR, which include verifying the absence of Schedule 1 chemicals and the non-diversion of Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 chemicals. Finally, this rule would amend the enforcement provisions of the CWCR to increase the maximum civil penalty that may be imposed for violations of the CWCR restrictions on imports of CWC Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 chemicals from $11,000 to $50,000 to reflect amendments to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) made by the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005, which was enacted on March 9, 2006.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene a public meeting of the Ad Hoc Grouper Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Advisory Panel (AHGIFQAP).

In response to a timely request by the petitioners,\1\ the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel wire rod (``SSWR'') from Sweden with respect to Fagersta Stainless AB (``FSAB''). The period of review (``POR'') is September 1, 2004, through August 31, 2005.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is proposing a draft revised management plan, revised Designation Document, and revised regulations for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS or Sanctuary). Changes to the Designation Document include expanding the boundaries to include the Davidson Seamount, changing the scope of regulations to include possession of a Sanctuary historical resource outside of the Sanctuary, and introduction of introduced species. The proposed regulations would revise and provide greater clarity to existing regulations.

NMFS closes the commercial fishery for king mackerel in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the western zone of the Gulf of Mexico. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf king mackerel resource.

The Minority Business Development Agency publishes this notice to re-open the competitive solicitation for the Minority Business Enterprise Center program for the Louisiana MBEC, covering the geographic service area of the State of Louisiana, and the Detroit MBEC, covering the geographic service area of the State of Michigan.

Notice is hereby given that South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), Marine Resources Division, P.O. Box 12559, Charleston, SC 29422-2559, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1540.

NMFS has received an application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting an acoustic calibration and seismic testing program in the northern Gulf of Mexico in Fall, 2006. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposed IHA for these activities.

This proposed rule would establish the 2007 first trimester season quotas for large coastal sharks (LCS), small coastal sharks (SCS), and pelagic sharks. The proposed rule also would modify the existing mid-Atlantic shark closed area in 2007. In addition, this rule proposes the opening and closing dates for the LCS fishery based on adjustments to the trimester quotas. The intended effect of these proposed actions is to provide advance notice of quotas and season dates for the Atlantic commercial shark fishery and address over- and underharvests that occurred in the Atlantic shark fishery in the first trimester of 2006.

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will publish North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) State Plane Coordinate (SPC) grid values in both meters and U.S. Survey Feet (1 ft = 1200/3937 m) in Idaho, for all well-defined geodetic survey control monuments maintained by NGS in the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) and computed from various geodetic positioning utilities. The adoption of this standard is implemented in accordance with NGS policy and a request from the Idaho Transportation Department, the Idaho Society of Professional Land Surveyors, and the Idaho Department of Administration GIS Coordinator.

On August 11, 2006, NOAA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to establish marine reserves and marine conservation areas within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (Sanctuary). The preamble of that rule contained inconsistent or inaccurate figures denoting the current size of the Sanctuary that need to be corrected. This document corrects and clarifies those figures.