Department of Commerce May 26, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) publishes this notice to request public comments on proposed categorical exclusions of actions that the agency has determined do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and, thus, should be categorically excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (NEPA).

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory entities will hold public meetings.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') is conducting a new shipper review of BIM Seafood Joint Stock Company (``BIM Seafood'') and the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam''). See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 70 FR 5152 (February 1, 2005) (``Shrimp Order.'') We preliminarily found that BIM Seafood did not sell subject merchandise at less than normal value (``NV'') and thus assigned a zero margin for the period of review (``POR''), February 1, 2007, through January 31, 2008. See Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Preliminary Results of the Second New Shipper Review, 74 FR 4924 (January 28, 2009) (``Preliminary Results''). Based upon our analysis of the comments and information received, we made changes to the margin calculations for the final results. The final margin is listed below in the section entitled, ``Final Results of the Review.''

NMFS has received an application from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), a part of the University of California San Diego (UCSD), for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting a marine seismic survey in the Northeast Pacific Ocean during July 2009. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS requests comments on its proposal to authorize SIO to incidentally take, by Level B harassment only, small numbers of marine mammals during the aforementioned activity.

In response to a request from petitioner Aqualon Company, a division of Hercules Incorporated (Aqualon), a U.S. manufacturer of purified carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), and respondent CP Kelco B.V. (CP Kelco), the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on purified CMC from the Netherlands. This administrative review covers imports of subject merchandise produced and exported by CP Kelco (formerly known as Noviant B.V.).\1\ The period of review (POR) is July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008.

NMFS proposes regulations to provide harvesting cooperatives, crab processing quota share holders, and Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups with the option to make intercooperative transfers, crab individual processing quota transfers, and inter-group transfers through an automated, web-based process. To facilitate web- based transfers, NMFS would remove the requirement for notarized signatures for all crab non-permanent leases of individual fishing quota and individual processor quota and remove unnecessary quota share price-related questions. The purpose of this action is to reduce paperwork burdens placed on the fishing industry by providing the option of electronic transfer through the Internet. This action would allow cooperatives, processors, and CDQ groups to shorten response time to management, market, weather, and other fishery and operational conditions and to increase harvesting and processing efficiency. This action also proposes a variety of ``housekeeping'' but necessary regulatory amendments including: removing detailed description of applications from regulatory text; removing detailed NMFS mail, fax,