Department of Commerce 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS is closing the U.S. pelagic longline fishery for bigeye tuna in the western and central Pacific Ocean as a result of the fishery reaching the 2009 catch limit.

This announcement provides notice that Chicago Deer River Properties, LLC, d/b/a Theodore Industrial Port (Theodore Industrial Port), has filed an administrative appeal with the Department of Commerce (Department), asking that the Secretary override an objection by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (Alabama) to the proposed filling of a tidal pond at Theodore Industrial Port facilities in Theodore, Alabama, near Mobile Bay.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on honey from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''), covering the period of review (``POR'') of December 1, 2007, through November 30, 2008. As discussed below, we have preliminarily determined to rescind this administrative review because we have found the sales made by Dongtai Peak Honey Industry Co., Ltd. (``Dongtai Peak'') that entered during the POR were not bona fide. In addition, we have preliminarily determined to apply adverse facts available (``AFA'') with respect to the PRC-wide entity which includes Anhui Native Produce Import and Export Corp. (``Anhui Native''), as it failed to cooperate to the best of its ability and impeded the proceeding. We are also preliminarily finding that Qinhuangdao Municipal Dafeng Industrial Co., Ltd. (``QMD''), Inner Mongolia Youth Trade Development Co., Ltd. (``Inner Mongolia''), and Wuhu Qinshgi Tangye (``Wuhu Qinshgi'') did not demonstrate their eligibility for a separate rate and thus are considered to be part of the PRC-wide entity. If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results of this review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on appropriate entries of subject merchandise during the POR for which importer- specific assessment rates are above de minimis. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

In response to requests from interested parties, the Department of Commerce (the Department) initiated an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on polyethylene retail carrier bags from the People's Republic of China. The period of review is August 1, 2008, through July 31, 2009. The Department is rescinding this review.

This final rule amends title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 701, which implements Section 309 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (``Section 309''), as amended. The Bureau of Industry and Security (``BIS'') is amending part 701 to update and provide clarification with regard to the information U.S. firms are required to submit each year to BIS to support BIS's preparation of the annual report to Congress on offsets in defense trade.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is publishing this final rule to amend certain requirements in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that apply to Albania and Croatia. These changes are based upon the accession of Albania and Croatia to formal membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on April 1, 2009. Consistent with the EAR license requirements and licensing policies that apply to members of NATO, this final rule amends the EAR to remove certain crime control (CC), national security (NS), and regional stability (RS) license requirements for these two countries. A license continues to be required for exports and reexports to Albania or Croatia of items on the Commerce Control List (CCL) controlled for national security or regional stability reasons that are identified as requiring a license to destinations indicated under NS Column 1 (also NS Column 2, for Albania) or RS Column 1, respectively, on the Commerce Country Chart. Certain restraint devices, discharge type arms, and related technology described on the CCL continue to require a license for crime control reasons to Albania or Croatia. A license also continues to be required for specially designed implements of torture described on the CCL. Furthermore, this rule does not affect any license requirements that apply to these countries based on other reasons for control identified in the EAR. This final rule also removes the EAR prohibition that applied to certain in transit shipments through Albania, removes Albania from Country Group D, and adds Albania to Country Group B. Croatia has already been designated in the EAR as a Country Group B country. In addition, this rule amends the provisions of License Exception APR (Additional Permissive Reexports) that apply to reexports of certain thermal imaging cameras to include Albania and Croatia among the list of eligible destinations. Finally, this rule amends the definition of ``NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)'' in the EAR to include Albania and Croatia.

In response to a request from an interested party, the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on carbazole violet pigment 23 from India. The review covers one manufacturer/exporter, Alpanil Industries. The period of review is December 1, 2007, through November 30, 2008. We have preliminarily determined that Alpanil Industries made sales below normal value. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') has preliminarily determined that the respondents in this review, for the period December 1, 2007, through November 30, 2008, have made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value. If these preliminary results are adopted in the final results of this review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries.

NMFS is prohibiting the incidental harvest of Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. This action is necessary because the incidental set aside for the third allocation period of the 2009 Pacific sardine season has been reached. From the effective date of this rule until January 1, 2010, Pacific sardine can only be harvested as part of the live bait fishery.

This action serves as a notice that NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), has determined that in the Pacific Region, the canary rockfish stock, as well as the Queets coho stock and the Western Straights of Juan de Fuca coho stocks, have been determined to be in an overfished condition. In addition, the Gulf of Mexico stock of gag grouper has been determined to be in an overfished condition. Finally, the Mid-Atlantic stock of black sea bass was found to be experiencing overfishing in 2007. However, since this determination, an updated assessment using 2008 data has been completed and NMFS has determined that overfishing is no longer occuring.

On behalf of the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), 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.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold three public hearings to solicit comment on Draft Amendment 4 and a Draft Environmental Assessment to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

The New England Fishery Management Council's (Council) Interspecies Committee will meet to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Notice is hereby given of a public meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force. The meeting will be held in Washington, DC. This meeting, the 23rd bi-annual meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, provides a forum for coordinated planning and action among Federal agencies, State and territorial governments, and nongovernmental partners. Please register in advance by visiting the Web site listed below. This meeting has time allotted for public comment. All public comment must be submitted in written format. A written summary of the meeting will be posted on the Web site within two months of its occurrence.

NMFS has received an application from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to the Antioch Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to Caltrans to incidentally harass, by Level B Harassment only, 10 harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and 10 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) during the specified activity.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NMFS is issuing a revised notice to advise the public of our intent, in coordination with the Santa Clara Valley Water District (District), to conduct public scoping necessary to gather information to prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/ EIR). The EIS/EIR will analyze the environmental effects of the proposed issuance of 50-year incidental take permits under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, (ESA), for a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) within a portion of the Coyote Creek, Guadalupe River, and Stevens Creek watersheds (Three Creeks) and proposed modifications of the District's appropriative water rights by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to settle litigation against the District concerning alleged impacts of its operations on fish, wildlife, water quality and other beneficial uses. The first NOI to prepare an EIS/EIR was published in the Federal Register on August 4, 2005, but since that time changes to the scope of the proposed action have occurred. NMFS provides this notice to (1) describe revisions to the proposed action; (2) describe Federal lead and cooperating agency roles; (3) update other Federal and State agencies and the public of the revised scope of the environmental review for this EIS/EIR; and (4) obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues and alternatives to be included in the EIS/EIR.

This document announces the reapportionment of 1,325 mt of Pacific whiting from the shore-based sector to the catcher/processor sector.

The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (ACEHR or Committee), will hold a conference call meeting on Tuesday, January 5, 2010, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The primary purpose of this meeting is to review the Committee's draft letter to the NIST Director on achieving national resilience. 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 invention listed below is jointly owned by the U.S. Government, as represented by the Department of Commerce, and the University of California, Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Colorado, and Protiro. The Department of Commerce's interest in the invention is available for licensing in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 and 37 CFR part 404 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice on Legal Framework for Electronic Filing System-Web (EFS-Web) to set forth the current policy and procedure for using EFS- Web and to permit a holder of a public key infrastructure (PKI) certificate to designate a single employee of a contractor who may use the PKI certificate under the direction and control of the holder. The USPTO received many suggestions and inquiries from users of EFS-Web and the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. In response to the suggestions, the USPTO is expanding the procedure for PKI certificates to permit a holder of a PKI certificate to designate more than one employee to use the PKI certificate under the direction and control of the holder in accordance with the revised PKI subscriber agreement and the rules and policies of the USPTO.

Notice is hereby given that Llewellyn Ehrhart, University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 162368, Orlando, Florida 32816, has applied in due form for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.