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

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, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

The Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR) was originally codified March 30, 1984, and amended by subsequent regulations published in the Federal Register. The Department of Commerce (DOC) proposes to update the entire CAR through FAC-2005-21. This proposed rule will bring the CAR in alignment with the FAR through FAC 2005-21 and streamline DOC internal policy and guidance.

On April 10, 2009, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on purified carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) from Mexico. See Purified Carboxymethylcellulose From Mexico: Notice of Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 74 FR 16359 (April 10, 2009) (Preliminary Results). The review covers one producer/exporter, Quimica Amtex, S.A. de C.V. (Amtex). The period of review (POR) is July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008. We invited interested parties to comment on our Preliminary Results. The Department received comments concerning our Preliminary Results from respondents only. Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made certain changes in the margin calculations. Therefore, the final results differ from the Preliminary Results. The final weighted-average dumping margin for the reviewed firm is listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of Review.''

Notice is hereby given that Daniel P. Costa, Ph.D., Long Marine Laboratory, University of California at Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, California 95060, has been issued a minor amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 87-1743.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks comments on draft NISTIR 7628, Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements. This initial draft of the document contains the overall security strategy for the Smart Grid. Contents include: Development of vulnerability classes, identification of well-understood

NMFS is opening directed fishing for Atka mackerel in the Eastern Aleutian District and the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) for vessels participating in the BSAI trawl limited access fishery. This action is necessary to fully use the 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of Atka mackerel in these areas specified for vessels participating in the BSAI trawl limited access fishery.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has prepared interim examination instructions for evaluating patent subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. 101 (Interim Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Examination Instructions) pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappos, and invited the public to submit written comments on the Interim Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Examination Instructions. The USPTO is extending the comment period to ensure that members of the public have sufficient opportunity to submit comments on the Interim Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Examination Instructions. The USPTO will revise the instructions as appropriate based on comments received.

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), designate critical habitat for the threatened Southern distinct population segment of North American green sturgeon (Southern DPS of green sturgeon) pursuant to section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Specific areas proposed for designation include: Coastal U.S. marine waters within 60 fathoms (fm) depth from Monterey Bay, California (including Monterey Bay), north to Cape Flattery, Washington, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington, to its United States boundary; the Sacramento River, lower Feather River, and lower Yuba River in California; the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun, San Pablo, and San Francisco bays in California; the lower Columbia River estuary; and certain coastal bays and estuaries in California (Humboldt Bay), Oregon (Coos Bay, Winchester Bay, Yaquina Bay, and Nehalem Bay), and Washington (Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor). This rule designates approximately 515 kilometer (km) (320 miles (mi)) of freshwater river habitat, 2,323 km\2\ (897 mi\2\) of estuarine habitat, 29,581 km\2\ (11,421 mi\2\) of marine habitat, 784 km (487 mi) of habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and 350 km\2\ (135 mi\2\) of habitat within the Yolo and Sutter bypasses (Sacramento River, CA) as critical habitat for the Southern DPS of green sturgeon.

On September 24, 2009, the Department of Commerce published in the Federal Register the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon- quality steel plate from the Republic of Korea for the period of review February 1, 2008, through January 31, 2009. The notice contained two incorrect citations to memoranda. The correct citations are indicated below.

Notice is hereby given that the Oregon Coast Aquarium, 2820 S.E. Ferry Slip Road, Newport, OR 97365, has applied in due form for a permit to import up to eight non-releasable harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) for the purposes of public display.

The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seats on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Agriculture, At-Large (2), Business/Industry, Commercial Fishing, Recreation (Non extractive), Recreational Fishing, Research, and Conservation. 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 2013.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Enforcement Consultants Committee (EC) will hold a working meeting, which is open to the public.

The Department of Commerce (``Department''') has a longstanding practice of calculating expected non-market economy (``NME'') wages for use as the surrogate value for direct labor in antidumping proceedings involving NME countries. These expected NME wages are calculated annually in accordance with the Department's regulations, see 19 CFR 351.408(c)(3). This notice constitutes the Department's 2009 expected NME wages, which were calculated from 2007 data made available in 2009 according to the Department's revised methodology described in the Federal Register notice entitled Antidumping Methodologies: Market Economy Inputs, Expected Non-Market Economy Wages, Duty Drawback; and Request for Comments, 71 FR 61716, Oct. 19, 2006 (hereafter, the Antidumping Methodologies notice). The Department further provides the public with an opportunity to comment on potential clerical errors in the calculation. Id.

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(b)(2), Zhucheng Taisheng Chemcial Co., Ltd. (``Zhucheng Taisheng''), submitted a timely request for an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on chlorinated isocyanurates from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') purporting to be a producer and exporter of subject merchandise. We initiated this review on July 29, 2009. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation in Part, 74 FR 37690 (July 29, 2009) (``Initiation Notice''). In a letter dated August 24, 2009, Zhucheng Taisheng explained that, in the process of preparing the section A questionnaire response for this review, it discovered that the actual producer and exporter of the subject merchandise was Zhucheng Taisheng Angmu Chemical Co., Ltd. (``Zhucheng Taisheng Angmu''), with whom Zhucheng Taisheng claims to be affiliated.\1\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(b)(2), only a producer or an exporter of the subject merchandise may request an administrative review. Because Zhucheng Taisheng is not an exporter or producer of subject merchandise, we intend to rescind the administrative review for Zhucheng Taisheng.

NMFS issues 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 removes the requirement for notarized signatures for all crab non-permanent leases of individual fishing quota and individual processor quota and removes unnecessary quota share price- related questions. The purpose of this action is to reduce paperwork burdens on the fishing industry by providing the option of electronic transfer through the Internet. This action allows 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 removes detailed description of information required on application forms from regulatory text; removes detailed NMFS mail, fax, and delivery

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain lined paper products (CLPP) from India. For the period September 1, 2007, through August 31, 2008, we have preliminarily determined that U.S. sales have been made below normal value (NV) by Navneet Publications (India) Limited (Navneet) and Blue Bird India Ltd. (Blue Bird). Because Blue Bird is a selected mandatory respondent and was not responsive to the Department's requests for information, we have preliminarily assigned to Blue Bird a margin based on adverse facts available (AFA). If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess antidumping duties based on the difference between the export price (EP) and NV. See ``Preliminary Results of Review'' section of this notice. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

NMFS announces the closure of the scup commercial coastwide fishery from Maine through North Carolina for the remainder of the Summer 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 2009 Summer quota period (through October 31, 2009).

NMFS apportions amounts of the non-specified reserve to the initial total allowable catch (ITAC) of Greenland turbot in the Aleutian Islands subarea. This action is necessary to allow the fisheries to continue operating. It is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan for the BSAI.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 630 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock for Statistical Area 630 in the GOA.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) will host a half-day ``Energy for Manufacturing Roundtable'' on October 20, 2009. This event is intended for members of the manufacturing industry and energy suppliers to the manufacturing industry. Participants will learn about and discuss the consequences that energy consumption and workforce education have on competitiveness; how energy efficiency models can strengthen competition and innovation; and how energy consumption patterns are spurring greater implementation of industrial energy efficient technologies. U.S. leadership in industrial energy efficiency technologies being deployed worldwide will be highlighted.

NMFS is closing the commercial sandbar shark research fishery. This action is necessary because NMFS estimated that landings in this fishery have exceeded 80 percent of the available quota.