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

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Rural Community Outreach Committee will meet in Anchorage.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a meeting of its Habitat Advisory Panel in North Charleston, SC.

NMFS announces the availability of the draft Amendment 3 to the Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 3 examines different management alternatives available to rebuild blacknose sharks consistent with the 2007 small coastal shark (SCS) stock assessment, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and other applicable law. Amendment 3 also examines management alternatives to end overfishing of blacknose sharks and shortfin mako sharks, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and also proposes adding smooth dogfish under NMFS management. The proposed rule to implement Amendment 3 would, among other things, establish a quota for blacknose sharks and non-blacknose SCS, prohibit the use of gillnet gear to catch sharks from South Carolina south, prohibit the retention of blacknose sharks in recreational fisheries, take action at the international level to end overfishing of shortfin mako through participation in appropriate international fisheries organizations, such as International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), promote the live release of shortfin mako sharks, add smooth dogfish under NMFS management, establish a commercial quota for smooth dogfish, require smooth dogfish fishermen to obtain the appropriate Federal permit, and establish a mechanism for specifying Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Accountability Measures (AMs) for Atlantic sharks. These changes could affect all fishermen, commercial and recreational, who fish for sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

Notice is hereby given that Karen Terio, DVM, PhD, Zoological Pathology Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, LUMC Room 0745, Building 101, 2160 South First Street, Maywood, IL 60153, has been issued a scientific research permit to import marine mammal specimens for scientific research.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Sea Turtle Advisory Committee (STAC) in Honolulu, HI. A portion of the meeting will be closed to the public.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces that the Draft Southern California Steelhead Recovery Plan (Plan) is

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee (Committee), in August, 2009, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

This rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding thirteen additional persons to the Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744) on the basis of Section 744.11 of the EAR. The persons that are added to the Entity List have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. This rule also amends the Export Administration Regulations by removing three persons from the Entity List. BIS removes one of the three persons from the Entity List as a result of a determination made by the United States Government during the annual review of the Entity List conducted by the End-User Review Committee (ERC). The two remaining persons are removed from the Entity List in response to a request for removal. Finally,

The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') is rescinding the countervailing duty (``CVD'') changed circumstances review of stainless steel sheet and strip in coils (``S4'') from the Republic of Korea (``Korea''), as INI Steel Company (``INI'') was found to be the successor-in-interest to Inchon Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (``Inchon'') in other segments of this proceeding.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a document in the Federal Register on July 15, 2008 (73 FR 40500) setting forth modifications to its Alternative Personnel Management System (APMS). The document erroneously contained ``I'' in two places. The correction set forth in this notice clarifies that ``I'' is a unit of salary increase, not a percentage.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to amend the regulations implementing the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan

The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seats on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Education. 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 should expect to serve until February 2011.

NMFS issues a final rule to increase the number of times per year that a stationary floating processor (SFP) that is qualified under the American Fisheries Act (AFA) may move within State of Alaska waters in the Bering Sea (BS) subarea to process pollock harvested in the BS subarea directed pollock fishery. This action also requires AFA SFPs to process all Gulf of Alaska (GOA) pollock and GOA Pacific cod where they processed these species in 2002. This action is necessary to increase operational flexibility for AFA SFPs that process pollock caught in the BS subarea directed fishery while continuing to limit the competitive advantage of AFA SFPs in the GOA pollock and GOA Pacific cod fisheries. This final rule also is notification to the public of the approval of Amendment 62 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) and the approval of Amendment 62 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP). Amendments 62/62 revise the BSAI FMP description of the Catcher Vessel Operational Area and remove the obsolete sunset date for inshore/offshore sector allocations of pollock and Pacific cod in the GOA FMP. These actions are intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the GOA FMP, the BSAI FMP, and other applicable laws.

NMFS proposes to revise identification requirements for U.S. vessels that fish for pelagic management unit species on the high seas of the central and western Pacific. The new measures would require vessels to display their International Telecommunication Union Radio Call Sign (IRCS). If an IRCS has not been assigned to the vessel, the vessel would be required to display its official number, preceded by the characters ``USA ''. The intent of this proposed rule is to make existing Federal vessel identification requirements conform with other regulations being proposed to implement international requirements.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), a part of the University of California San Diego (UCSD), for the take of small numbers of marine mammals, by Level B harassment only, incidental to conducting a marine seismic survey in the Northeast Pacific Ocean during July 2009.

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 comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

NOAA is soliciting nominations for members of the NOAA Science Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB is the only Federal Advisory Committee with the responsibility to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator on long- and short-range strategies for research, education, and application of science to resource management and environmental assessment and prediction. The SAB consists of 15 members reflecting the full breadth of NOAA's areas of responsibility and assists NOAA in maintaining a complete and accurate understanding of scientific issues critical to the agency's missions. As a Federal Advisory Committee the SAB's membership is required to be balanced in terms of viewpoints represented and the functions to be performed as well as including the interests of geographic regions of the country and the diverse sectors of our society (business and industry, science, academia, and the public at large).