Department of Commerce January 16, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that the Advanced Technology Program Advisory Committee, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will meet Tuesday, January 30, 2007 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Advanced Technology Program Advisory Committee is composed of ten members appointed by the Director of NIST; who are eminent in such fields as business, research, new product development, engineering, education, and management consulting. The purpose of this meeting is to review and make recommendations regarding general policy for the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), its organization, its budget, and its programs within the framework of applicable national policies as set forth by the President and the Congress. The agenda will include an ATP Update, presentations on ``Public-Private Partnerships'', ``The Network-Centric Innovation Imperative: How Manufacturers Work with Their Suppliers to Develop New Products'' and ``Benchmarking Regional Innovation Capacity: A Regional Innovation Index.'' A discussion scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and to end at 3:30 p.m. on January 30, 2007, on ATP budget issues will be closed. Agenda may change to accommodate Committee business.

On December 27, 2006, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published a modification concerning the calculation of the weighted-average dumping margin in antidumping investigations (71 FR 77722). The Department is delaying the effective date of the modification until January 23, 2007.

NMFS proposes to approve and implement changes to the Pacific Halibut Catch Sharing Plan (Plan) for the International Pacific Halibut Commission's (IPHC or Commission) regulatory Area 2A off Washington, Oregon, and California (Area 2A). NMFS proposes to implement the portions of the Plan and management measures that are not implemented through the IPHC, which includes the sport fishery management measures for Area 2A. NMFS also proposes to revise the Area 2A non-treaty commercial fishery closed areas, codified at 50 CFR part 300, subpart E. These actions are intended to enhance the conservation of Pacific halibut, to provide greater angler opportunity where available, to protect yelloweye rockfish and other overfished groundfish species from incidental catch in the halibut fisheries, and to ensure consistency between Federal groundfish and halibut regulations and between State and Federal regulations.

On November 15, 2006, NMFS proposed to revise the regulations implementing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) by expanding the southeast U.S. restricted area to include waters out to 35 nautical miles from the South Carolina coast and modifying regulations pertaining to gillnetting within the southeast U.S. restricted area. The proposed action was determined to be necessary to protect northern right whales from serious injury or mortality from entanglement in gillnet gear in their calving area in Atlantic Ocean waters off the Southeastern U.S. With this notice, NMFS is reopening the public comment period for 15 days beginning January 16, 2007.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) has established a 21st Century Strategic Plan to transform the Office into a more quality-focused, highly productive, responsive organization supporting a market-driven intellectual property system. One goal of the 21st Century Strategic Plan is the electronic exchange of information and documents between intellectual property offices. Consistent with this goal, the Office is revising the rules of practice to provide for the electronic transfer of certified copies of applications for which priority is claimed under the Paris Convention (priority applications) from other intellectual property offices with which the Office has negotiated priority document exchange agreements. The Office is also revising the rules of practice to permit applicants to request that the Office permit other participating intellectual property offices to electronically retrieve certified copies of United States patent applications without payment of a fee. This electronic exchange of copies of priority documents will benefit applicants by reducing the cost of ordering paper certified copies of priority applications for filing in other participating intellectual property offices, and will benefit participating intellectual property offices by reducing the administrative costs associated with handling paper copies of priority documents and scanning them into their electronic image record management systems.

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS or sanctuary) is seeking applicants for the following vacant seats on its Sanctuary Advisory Council (council): At-Large (two seats), Agriculture, Business/Industry, Commercial Fishing, Recreational Fishing, Recreation, Research, and Conservation. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve 3-year terms, pursuant to the council's Charter.