Department of Commerce 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC) Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee, Scup Monitoring Committee, Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committee, and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Council's and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Advisors will hold public meetings.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee on Thursday, November 12, 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.

Notice is hereby given that Ronald Smolowitz, Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc., 277 Hatchville Road, East Falmouth, MA 02536, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

On November 17, 2006, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NMFS and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced our intent to prepare a DPEIS that would describe and analyze the potential significant environmental impacts related to reasonably foreseeable proposed geophysical exploration using seismic surveys in the waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. A Notice of Availability (NOA) for the DPEIS and a schedule of public hearings was published on April 6, 2007. Since that date, new information has become available that may affect aspects of the analysis in the DPEIS and potentially the document's scope and range of alternatives. Therefore, NMFS and MMS are withdrawing the 2007 DPEIS and initiating a new NEPA process that will consider and incorporate this new information.

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.

On September 8, 2009, the U.S. Department of Commerce (the Department) published in the Federal Register its preliminary results of the administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products (CORE) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) for the period of review (POR) January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2007. See Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products from the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 74 FR 46100 (September 8, 2009) (Preliminary Results). We preliminarily found that Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. (Dongbu), Hyundai HYSCO Ltd. (HYSCO), and Pohang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (POSCO) received de minimis countervailable subsidies during the POR. We did not receive any comments on our Preliminary Results, and we have made no revisions.

NMFS continues the management measures implemented by the April 13, 2009, interim rule (as modified by the July 8, 2009 interim rule), which is scheduled to expire on October 28, 2009. Specifically, this temporary rule maintains the current interim commercial and recreational management measures intended to reduce overfishing on certain stocks managed by the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), for the remainder of the 2009 fishing year (FY)(i.e., through April 30, 2010).

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch by vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery in the Central Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2009 Pacific ocean perch allocation specified for vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery in the Central Aleutian District of the BSAI.

This Legal Framework provides guidance on the background statutes, regulations and policies that support the Electronic Filing SystemWeb (EFS-Web) project. The document is provided as a reference for applicants, parties in reexamination proceedings, attorneys, and agents, as well as their employees using the system.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to Shell Offshore Inc. and Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc., collectively known as Shell, to take, by harassment, small numbers of 12 species of marine mammals incidental to an open-water marine survey program, which includes shallow hazards and site clearance work and strudel scour surveys, in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska, during the 2009/2010 Arctic open-water season.

NMFS solicits nominations for the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Advisory Panel (AP). NMFS consults with and considers the comments and views of the AP when preparing and implementing Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) or FMP amendments for Atlantic tunas, swordfish, sharks, and billfish. Nominations are being sought to fill one-third (10) of the seats on the HMS AP for a 3-year appointment. Individuals with definable interests in the recreational and commercial fishing and related industries, environmental community, academia, and non-governmental organizations will be considered for membership in the AP.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), 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 this extension of a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC). This will be the second meeting to be held in the calendar year 2009. Agenda topics are provided under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice. All full Committee sessions will be open to the public.

This proposed regulatory amendment would authorize the NMFS Northeast Regional Administrator (RA), or the RA's designee, to issue a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to eligible researchers on board federally permitted fishing vessels that plan to temporarily possess fish in a manner not compliant with applicable fishing regulations, for the purpose of collecting scientific data on catch. Currently, federally permitted fishing vessels that carry research personnel during commercial fishing trips for the purpose of collecting catch data before discarding fish that otherwise could not be retained are required to obtain an exempted fishing permit (EFP) in order to conduct their sampling work, which is administratively burdensome and has resulted in the delay and lost opportunity to conduct important fishery research.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), 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 the continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (``Office'') is revising the Trademark Rules of Practice to set forth the requirements for signature of documents filed in the Office, recognition of representatives, and establishing and changing the correspondence

The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seat on the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: The Conservation/Environmental seat. ONMS is seeking both a primary member and an alternate for this seat. The selected applicants will serve out the remainder of the current terms which expire December 31, 2011. 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 as members should expect to serve 3-year terms, pursuant to the council's Charter.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary determination that the subject EFP application submitted by Wallace and Associates contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. The proposed EFP would extend the previously authorized EFP for an additional year, to continue testing the safety and efficacy of harvesting surfclams and ocean quahogs from the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog Georges Bank (GB) Closure Area using a harvesting protocol developed by state and Federal regulatory agencies and endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Assistant Regional Administrator has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog regulations and Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator proposes to recommend that an EFP be issued that would allow one commercial fishing vessel to conduct fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP would allow for an exemption from the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog GB Closure Area. Regulations under the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.