Department of Commerce May 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Arctic has profound significance for climate and functioning of ecosystems around the globe. The region is particularly vulnerable and prone to rapid change. Increasing air and ocean temperatures, thawing permafrost, loss of sea ice, and shifts in ecosystems are evidence of widespread and dramatic ongoing change. As a result, critical environmental, economic, and national security issues are emerging, many of which have significant impacts for human lives, livelihoods, and coastal communities. Though NOAA has numerous and diverse capabilities that support these emerging issues, a strategic approach that leverages NOAA's existing priorities and strengths, as well as those of our national and international partners, is needed. This document provides a high-level framework and six strategic goals

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announces its intent to award a grant to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), a private, nonprofit corporation whose members are America's public television stations. The PBS mission is to acquire and distribute quality children's, cultural, educational, history, nature, news, public affairs and science television programming and related services to 356 noncommercial stations serving all 50 states and the U.S. territories through a satellite interconnection system. This grant will support development of the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS), a national system to distribute emergency alert messages to the American public via commercial mobile service (CMS) devices (e.g., cellular telephones).

We, NMFS, have determined that the largetooth sawfish (Pristis perotteti) qualifies as a ``species'' for listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and propose listing the species as endangered. This proposed rule also constitutes the 12-month finding on the petition to list the largetooth sawfish throughout its range and designate critical habitat for the species. We are not proposing to designate critical habitat. This proposed rule to list the species as endangered is based on the status review of the species (NMFS, 2010), and the best available scientific and commercial data. We also solicit information that may be relevant to the status and conservation of the species.

On January 29, 2010, in response to a request from an interested party, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published a notice of initiation of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on carbazole violet pigment 23 (CVP 23) from India for the period of December 1, 2008, through November 30, 2009. Because the party withdrew its request for an administrative review in a timely manner the Department is rescinding this review.

On March 18, 2010, we, NMFS, announced the release of the Draft Recovery Plan for Central California Coast coho salmon (Draft

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites interested parties to attend a one-day High Strength Fiber and Body Armor Research Needs Meeting. The Meeting will provide a forum to discuss test methods, technologies, and R&D that can significantly improve ballistic protection through the examination of such issues as material longevity, new materials, and improved testing methodologies for body armor (e.g., improved blunt trauma measurement and correlation to injury).

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 SEDAR 24 assessment of the South Atlantic stock of red snapper will consist of a series of workshops and webinars: a Data Workshop, a series of Assessment webinars, and a Review Workshop. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

Export Trading Company Affairs (``ETCA'') of the International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, has received an application to amend an Export Trade Certificate of Review (``Certificate''). This notice summarizes the proposed amendment and requests comments relevant to whether the amended Certificate should be issued.

NMFS has received an application from Neptune LNG LLC (Neptune) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to port commissioning and operations, including maintenance and repair activities, at its Neptune Deepwater Port. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to Neptune to take, by Level B harassment only, several species of marine mammals during the specified activity. NMFS is also requesting comments on its intent to promulgate regulations governing the take of marine mammals over a 5-year period incidental to the same activities described herein.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') preliminarily determines that certain coated paper suitable for high-quality print graphics using sheet-fed presses (``coated paper'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''), as provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice. Pursuant to requests from interested parties, we are postponing the final determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month period to not more than six months. Accordingly, we will make our final determination not later than 135 days after publication of the preliminary determination.

On December 23, 2009, the Department of Commerce (``Department'') published in the Federal Register the preliminary results of the seventh administrative review, covering the period December 1, 2007, through November 30, 2008, of the antidumping duty order on honey from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'').\1\ We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on the Preliminary Results. After reviewing interested parties' comments, we made no changes for the final results of review. The final antidumping duty margins for this review are listed in the ``Final Results of Review'' section below.

NMFS issues this emergency rule to close a portion of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to all fishing, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The closure was applicable May 2, 2010, and will remain in effect for 10 days, unless conditions allow NMFS to terminate it sooner. NMFS will continue to monitor and evaluate the oil spill and its impacts on Gulf fisheries and will take immediate and appropriate action to extend or reduce this closed area. This closure is implemented for public safety.

The Department of Commerce (Department) is conducting a new shipper review (NSR) of Qingdao Sea-line International Trade Co. Ltd. (Qingdao Sea-line) under the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from the People's Republic of China (PRC) covering the period of review (POR) of November 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009. As discussed below, we preliminarily determine that Qingdao Sea-line has made sales in the United States at prices below normal value (NV). Qingdao Sea-line has participated fully in the review and has demonstrated its eligibility for a separate rate in this NSR. The dumping margin is set forth in the ``Preliminary Results of the Review'' section below. If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results of review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess antidumping duties on entries of subject merchandise during the POR for which importer-specific assessment rates are above de minimis. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results. See ``Comments'' section below.

By this final rule, NMFS establishes fishery management measures for the 2010 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California and the 2011 salmon seasons opening earlier than May 1, 2011. Specific fishery management measures vary by fishery and by area. The measures establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) (3-200 NM) off Washington, Oregon, and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indian, non- treaty commercial, and recreational fisheries. The measures are also intended to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries in order to provide for spawning escapement and to provide for inside fisheries (fisheries occurring in state internal waters).

On February 17, 2010, the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative (the USTR) renewed the charters of the 16 Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs) and the Committee of Chairs of the ITACs for a four-year term to expire on February 17, 2014. The ITACs provide detailed policy and technical advice, information, and recommendations to the Secretary and the USTR regarding trade barriers, negotiation of trade agreements, and implementation of existing trade agreements affecting industry sectors; and perform other advisory functions relevant to U.S. trade policy matters as may be requested by the Secretary and the USTR or their designees. There are currently opportunities for membership on each ITAC. Nominations will be accepted for current vacancies and those that occur throughout the remainder of the charter term, which expires on February 17, 2014.

The Fisheries Finance Program (FFP or the Program) provides long-term financing to the commercial fishing and aquaculture industries for fishing vessels, fisheries facilities, aquaculture facilities, and individual fishing quotas (IFQs). The Program became a direct loan program, as a result of legislation in 1996, replacing a guaranteed loan program. The FFP collects loan principal and interest from loan recipients and fees from applicants in order to repay monies borrowed from the U.S. Treasury. It maintains fixed interest rates that are comparable to those of private sector lenders, however the FFP allows borrowers to prepay without penalty, and may carry longer repayment periods that are more advantageous to borrowers. The FFP does not make loans for new vessel construction or for vessel refurbishments that would increase harvesting capacity. Since the publication of its current regulations on May 1, 1996, the Program's authorizing statutes have been amended several times. However, the current regulations implementing the FFP have not been amended since 1996. Prior to the 2006 amendments to the FFP's statutory authorization, the 1996 rules for the Program were sufficient to implement the statute. The 2006 statutory changes have necessitated the current rules. In this action, NMFS amends our regulations to reflect the statutory changes to the Program, and to provide regulations for two additional lending products.

The i6 Challenge is a new, multi-agency innovation competition led by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and its Economic Development Administration (EDA). EDA intends to fund implementation grants for technical assistance through its Economic Adjustment Assistance Program under the i6 Challenge. The DOC and EDA will coordinate this funding opportunity with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to leverage federal resources and maximize available funding to i6 Challenge winners. The i6 Challenge is designed to encourage and reward innovative, ground-breaking ideas that will accelerate technology commercialization and new venture formation across the United States, for the ultimate purpose of helping to drive economic growth and job creation. To accomplish this, the i6 Challenge targets sections of the research-to-deployment continuum that are in need of additional support, in order to strengthen regional innovation ecosystems. Applicants to the i6 Challenge are expected to propose mechanisms to fill in existing gaps in the continuum or leverage existing infrastructure and institutions, such as economic development organizations, academic institutions, or other non-profit organizations, in new and innovative ways to achieve the i6 objectives.