Department of Commerce April 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On November 27, 2006, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published a notice of preliminary results of the full sunset review of the antidumping duty order on steel concrete reinforcing bars (``rebar'') from Latvia pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). As a result of this review, the Department finds that revocation of the antidumping duty order would likely lead to the continuation or recurrence of dumping.

The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces the postponement of the previously scheduled Coastal Zone Management Act program evaluation of the U.S. Virgin Islands Coastal Management Program.

The Departments of Commerce and the Interior (the Departments) amend their regulations governing watch duty-exemption allocations and the watch and jewelry duty-refund benefits for producers in the United States insular possessions (the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). The rule amends certain regulations by updating the maximum total value of watch components per watch that are eligible for duty-free entry into the United States under the insular program, further clarifying the definition of creditable and non-creditable wages and fringe benefits, providing more details about the calculation of mid-year and annual duty-refund and verification process, and making minor editorial changes.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463 as amended by Pub. L. 94-409, Pub. L. 96-523, Pub. L. 97-375 and Pub. L. 105-153), we are announcing a meeting of the Bureau of Economic Analysis Advisory Committee. The meeting's agenda focuses on the various aspects involved with the measurement of health care in the national economic accounts.

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 revised Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan 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 Matthew Chasse at Matt.Chasse@noaa.gov or NOAA's Estuarine Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in February 1986 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 1998. 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. A boundary expansion, new facility and land acquisition plans, and updated programmatic objectives are notable revisions to the 1998 approved management plan. Since the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated, it has been managed by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Since that time, state responsibility for the management of the reserve has been transferred to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), State Lands Division. A revised MOU between NOAA and the State of Alabama was approved to reflect these changes. Under ADCNR, the revised management plan outlines the administrative structure; the education, stewardship, and research goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility development to support reserve operations. Three hundred and thirty three (333) acres of state-owned coastal and submerged lands adjacent to the reserve are incorporated through the boundary amendment in the management plan revision. The expansion provides a broader and more representative diversity of wetland and water habitats into the reserve boundary. The new boundary and will provide areas for reserve related research and education programs. The tidal freshwater riverine, emergent and forested wetland communities protected through this expansion further enhance the Weeks Bay reserve as an appropriate and ecologically representative site for long-term research and education.

Under the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces the establishment of a laboratory accreditation program and the availability of applications for accreditation for laboratories that perform testing of radiation detection instruments using standards developed by the American National Standards Institute, Homeland Security Instrumentation and Radiation Protection Instrumentation groups.

In accordance with section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''), the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is automatically initiating a five-year (``Sunset Review'') of the antidumping duty orders listed below. The International Trade Commission (``the Commission'') is publishing concurrently with this notice its notice of Institution of Five-year Review which covers the same orders.

On January 3, 2007, the Department published the Preliminary Results of the fourth administrative review of the antidumping duty order on honey from the People's Republic of China (PRC). See Honey from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 72 FR 102 (January 3, 2007) (Preliminary Results). This review covers five exporters or producer/exporters: (1) Anhui Honghui Foodstuff (Group) Co., Ltd. (Anhui Honghui); (2) Chengdu Waiyuan Bee Products Co., Ltd. (Chengdu); (3) Jiangsu Kanghong Natural Healthfoods Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu); (4) Kunshan Xin'an Trade Co., Ltd. (Kunshan Xin'an); and (5) Wuhan Shino-Food Trade Co., Ltd. (Shino-Food). The period of review (POR) is December 1, 2004, through November 30, 2005. In response to a request from the American Honey Producers Association and the Sioux Honey Association (collectively, petitioners), the Department is expediting the final results of this review for Chengdu, an uncooperative respondent, because of its extraordinary surge of exports and the significant difference between Chengdu's current cash deposit rate of 22.03 percent and Chengdu's preliminary cash deposit rate of 212.39 percent based on total facts available with adverse inference.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') has determined that three requests for a new shipper review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen fish fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam''), received on January 31, February 18 and February 28, 2007, respectively, meet the statutory and regulatory requirements for initiation. For reasons discussed below, the Department also determined that a fourth request for a new shipper review does not meet the requirements for initiation. The period of review (``POR'') for the three new shipper reviews which the Department is initiating is August 1, 2006, through January 31, 2007.