Department of Commerce November 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 of laboratories that perform biometric testing including interoperability, performance, and conformance testing using internationally recognized standards developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), NIST, and by the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS). Additional standards may be identified throughout the development of the accreditation program technical requirements.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that there will be a meeting of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award on December 11, 2008. The Board of Overseers is composed of eleven members prominent in the fields of quality, innovation, and performance management and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, assembled to advise the Secretary of Commerce on the conduct of the Baldrige Award. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and review information received from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and from the Chair of the Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The agenda will include: Report from the Judges' Panel, Baldrige Program (BNQP) Update, BNQP Strategic Plan, Potential STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education Program, Use of the Consumer Price Index as an Inflator for the Baldrige Award Application fees, and Recommendations for the NIST Director.

The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI) Nomination Evaluation Committee will meet in closed session on Monday, December 15, 2008. The primary purpose of the meeting is the discussion of relative merits of persons and companies nominated for the NMTI award.

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.

Notice is hereby given that the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20008-2598 [Principal Investigator: Charles Potter], has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 764-1703-01.

NMFS announces the closure of the scup commercial coastwide fishery from Maine through North Carolina for the Winter II Period. Regulations governing the scup fishery require publication of this notification to advise the coastal states from Maine through North Carolina that this quota has been harvested and to advise Federal vessel permit holders and Federal dealer permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing scup in these states. Federally permitted commercial vessels may not land scup in these states for the remainder of the 2008 Winter II quota period (through December 31, 2008).

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for rock sole, flathead sole, and ``other flatfish'' by vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2008 halibut bycatch allowance specified for the trawl rock sole, flathead sole, and ``other flatfish'' fishery category by vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery in the BSAI.

NMFS announces that the 2008 summer flounder commercial quota allocated to the State of New Jersey has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in New Jersey for the remainder of calendar year 2008, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to advise New Jersey that the quota has been harvested and to advise vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in New Jersey.

NMFS proposes a regulatory amendment to revise the maximum retainable amounts (MRAs) of groundfish using arrowtooth flounder as a basis species in the Gulf of Alaska. This action would increase the MRAs from 0 percent to 20 percent for deep-water flatfish, rex sole, flathead sole, shallow-water flatfish, Atka mackerel, and skates; from 0 percent to 5 percent for aggregated rockfish; and from 0 percent to 1 percent for sablefish. The intended effect of this action is to reduce regulatory discards of otherwise marketable groundfish in the arrowtooth flounder fishery. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, and other applicable law.

On August 6, 2008, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published in the Federal Register, the preliminary results of this administrative review of Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip (PET Film). See Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip from India: Preliminary Results of and Partial Recession the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 73 FR 45699 (August 6, 2008) (Preliminary Results). The review covers one respondent, Jindal Poly Films Limited (Jindal). The period of review (POR) is July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007. We invited interested parties to submit comments on our Preliminary Results. Based on our analysis of the comment received, we have made a change to our calculations with respect to the treatment of duty drawback. For the final dumping margins see the ``Final Results of Review'' section below.

Congress amended the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) to require the Secretary of Commerce to approve the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program (CR Program). The CR Program allocates Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands crab resources among harvesters, processors, and coastal communities. Amendment 28 would modify the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (FMP) and the CR Program to allow unlimited post-delivery transfers of all classes of individual fishing quota and individual processing quota. This action is necessary to improve the flexibility to the fleet, reduce the number of violations for overages, reduce enforcement costs, and allow for more complete harvest of allocations. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere requested the NOAA Science Advisory Board (SAB) to obtain input from a standing working group, the Environmental Information Services Working Group (EISWG), as a mechanism to address interactions between NOAA and its Partners. The initial focus of the EISWG is to advise on issues raised and enhance effective collaboration between the National Weather Service and its partners. The composition of the Working Group will reflect those interests. The EISWG will be composed of 15-18 members, who, by reason of knowledge, experience or training, are especially qualified to represent users of NOAA environmental information services, including, but not limited to, the commercial weather industry (both value-added and end-users), academia, and the media. Membership may also include representatives of federal, state and regional government agencies and non-governmental agencies. NOAA is requesting nominations for membership in the SAB EISWG.

NMFS announces that the State of Connecticut, the State of Rhode Island, the State of Delaware, and the State of Maryland are transferring commercial bluefish quota to the State of New York from their 2008 quota. By this action, NMFS adjusts the quotas and announces the revised commercial quota for each state involved.

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') and the International Trade Commission (``ITC''), the Department is issuing antidumping duty orders on lightweight thermal paper (``LWTP'') from Germany and the People's Republic of China (``PRC'').

The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of certain tow-behind lawn groomers (lawn groomers) and certain parts thereof from the People's Republic of China (PRC). For information on the estimated subsidy rates, see the ``Suspension of Liquidation'' section of this notice. This notice also serves to align the final countervailing duty (CVD) determination in this investigation with the final determination in the companion antidumping duty investigation of lawn groomers from the PRC.

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

NOAA announces the availability for comment a joint Draft EIS/ EIR analyzing the environmental impacts of replacing its Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) near the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) within the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla, California. Publication of this notice is to request public comment on the Draft EIS/EIR and its associated environmental findings and to provide information as to how to participate.

On November 5, 2008, the United States Court of International Trade (``CIT'') sustained the remand redetermination issued by the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') pursuant to the CIT's remand order in the final results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on brake rotors from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). See Laizhou Auto Brake Equipment Co., et al. v. United States, Court No. 06-00430, Slip Op. 08-120 (CIT November 5, 2008) (``Laizhou II''). This case arises out of the Department's Final Results for the period of review (``POR'') April 1, 2005 through May 31, 2006. See Brake Rotors from the People's Republic of China: Final Results and Partial Rescission of the 2004/2005 Administrative Review and Notice of Rescission of 2004/2005 New Shipper Review, 71 FR 66304 (November 14, 2006) (``Final Results''). Consistent with the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (``CAFC'') in Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (``Timken''), the Department is notifying the public that Laizhou II is not in harmony with the Department's Final Results.

This final rule implements Amendment 13 to the Fishery Management Plan for Crustacean Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region (Crustacean FMP). The rule designates deepwater shrimp of the genus Heterocarpus as management unit species (MUS), and requires Federal permits and data reporting for deepwater shrimp fishing in Federal waters of the western Pacific. The final rule is intended to improve information on deepwater shrimp fisheries and their ecosystem impacts, and to provide a basis for future management of the fisheries, if needed.