Department of Commerce February 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces free Atlantic Shark Identification Workshops and Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshops to be held in April, May, and June of 2009. Certain fishermen and shark dealers are required to attend a workshop to meet regulatory requirements and maintain valid permits. Specifically, the Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop is mandatory for all federally permitted Atlantic shark dealers. The Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop is mandatory for vessel owners and operators who use bottom longline, pelagic longline, or gillnet gear, and have also been issued shark or swordfish limited access permits. Additional free workshops will be held in 2009 and announced in the Federal Register.

NMFS closes the commercial hook-and-line fishery for king mackerel in the southern Florida west coast subzone. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf king mackerel resource.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Atka mackerel for vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access A season fishery in the Eastern Aleutian District and Bering Sea Subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2009 Atka mackerel allowable catch (TAC) specified for vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery in the Eastern Aleutian District and Bering Sea Subarea of the BSAI.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod apportioned to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component of the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (ACEHR or Committee), will hold a meeting on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The primary purpose of this meeting is to review and finalize the Committee's draft reauthorization letter to the Interagency Coordinating Committee (ICC). The draft letter will be posted on the NEHRP Web site at https://nehrp.gov/. Interested members of the public will be able to participate in the meeting from remote locations by calling into a central phone number.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Rural Development, and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host a public meeting on March 10, 2009, in connection with the Broadband Initiatives funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law No. 111-5.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene its Law Enforcement Advisory Panel (LEAP).

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') and the International Trade Commission (``ITC''), the Department is issuing an antidumping duty order on small diameter graphite electrodes from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'').

On January 9, 2009, the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') published a notice of initiation and preliminary results of antidumping duty (``AD'') changed circumstances review with intent to revoke, in part, the AD order on wooden bedroom furniture from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). See Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People's Republic of China: Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent to Revoke Order in Part, 74 FR 886 (January 9, 2009) (``Initiation and Preliminary Results''). We are now revoking this order in part, with regard to the following product: toy boxes, as described in the relevant footnote (footnote 15 in this document) of the ``Scope of the Order'' section of this notice, based on the fact that domestic parties have expressed no further interest in the relief provided by the order with respect to the imports of these toy boxes, as so described. In its November 25, 2008, submission, the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade and its individual members (the ``AFMC'' or ``petitioners'') stated that they no longer have any interest in seeking antidumping relief from imports of such toy boxes as defined in the ``Scope of the Order'' section below.

NMFS has requested the Center for Independent Experts (CIE) to conduct a peer review of the agency's stock assessment of Alaskan sablefish. CIE is a group affiliated with the University of Miami that provides independent peer reviews of NMFS science nationwide, including reviews of stock assessments for fish and marine mammals. The Alaska sablefish stock assessment is an area-wide model that includes the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands. The CIE review will examine whether the assessment incorporates the best available scientific information and provides a reasonable approach to understanding the population dynamics and stock status of sablefish in Alaska. The public is invited to attend and observe the presentations and discussions between the CIE panel and the NMFS scientists who collected and processed the data, and designed the underlying model.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for the A season allowance of the 2009 Pacific cod sideboard limits apportioned to non- American Fisheries Act (AFA) crab vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2009 Pacific cod sideboard limits apportioned to non-AFA crab vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

This notice is to remind the public that U.S. firms are required to report annually to the Department of Commerce (Commerce) on contracts for the sale of defense-related items or defense-related services to foreign countries or foreign firms that are subject to offsets agreements exceeding $5,000,000 in value. U.S. firms are also required to report annually to Commerce on offsets transactions completed in performance of existing offsets commitments for which offsets credit of $250,000 or more has been claimed from the foreign representative. Such reports must be submitted to Commerce no later than June 15, 2009.

Notice is hereby given that Janice Straley, University of Alaska, 1332 Seward Ave, Sitka, AK 99835, has been issued an amendment to Permit No. 473-1700-01 to conduct research on marine mammals.

NMFS is announcing the opening and closing dates of the Atka mackerel directed fisheries within the harvest limit area (HLA) in Statistical Area 542. This action is necessary to fully use the 2009 A season HLA limits of Atka mackerel in Statistical Area 542 of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

This rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by removing a person from the Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744). This person is being removed from the Entity List because the End-User Review Committee (ERC) decided to approve this person's request for removal from the Entity List. This rule also makes a clarification for two persons that were listed on the Entity List prior to this rule being published to revise the addresses provided for these listed persons. This rule updates the address information for these two persons by replacing incorrect information. The Entity List provides notice to the public that certain exports and reexports to parties identified on the Entity List require a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and that availability of License Exceptions in such transactions is limited.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will begin holding meetings with interested parties on Monday, March 2, 2009, in connection with the broadband grant programs described in the Broadband Data Services Improvement Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (collectively, ``Broadband Grant Programs''). All interested parties are invited to schedule a meeting.

In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11), the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is issuing notice of its intent to delete the system of records entitled ``Permits and Registrations for Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the Coast of Alaska.'' This system of records has been superseded by COMMERCE/NOAA-19 (73 FR 20914); Permits and Registrations for United States Federally Regulated Fisheries, which became effective on June 11, 2008 (73 FR 33065).