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

NMFS adjusts the 2010 Fishing Year (FY) Trimester 2 and 3 Loligo squid quotas. This action complies with the 2010 Specifications and Management Measures for the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries Management Plan, which modified accounting procedures for underages of Trimester 1 quota in the Loligo fishery.

The Bureau of Industry and Security proposes to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 6A981 to the Commerce Control List (CCL) to control passive infrasound sensors because of their military and commercial utility. Items under this new ECCN will be controlled for Regional Stability (RS) and Anti-Terrorism (AT) reasons. In addition, BIS proposes to control technology and software for the development, production, or use of these items for RS and AT reasons under revised ECCNs 6D991 and 6E991, respectively.

NMFS proposes to open a portion of the Georges Bank (GB) Closed Area to the harvest of Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs, which has been closed since 1990 due to the presence of toxins known to cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has indicated that recent testing of clams collected from this portion of the GB Closed Area, known as Cultivator Shoal, has demonstrated that PSP toxin levels are well below the regulatory limit established for public health safety. As a result, the FDA has determined that harvesting of surfclams and ocean quahogs for human consumption, within this portion of the GB Closed Area, is safe.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council will hold public hearings to obtain input from fishers, the general public, and the local agencies representatives on the Public Hearing Draft Document for Amendment 2 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Queen Conch Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and Amendment 5 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (with Draft Environmental Impact Statement).

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 revision of a currently approved 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 that Colleen Reichmuth, Ph.D., University of California at Santa Cruz, Long Marine Laboratory, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA, has applied in due form for an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 14535.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 94 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). Amendment 94, if approved, would require the use of modified nonpelagic trawl gear to directed fish for flatfish in the Bering Sea subarea and would change the boundaries of the Northern Bering Sea Research Area to establish the Modified Gear Trawl Zone and to expand the Saint Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area. The amendment also would make several minor technical changes to the FMP. This action is necessary to reduce the potential adverse effects of nonpelagic trawl gear on benthic habitat, to protect additional blue king crab habitat near St. Matthew Island, to provide for efficient flatfish harvest under changing ocean conditions, and to revise the FMP by removing errors and ensuring program descriptions are consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws. Comments from the public are encouraged.

The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') has completed its administrative review of the countervailing duty (``CVD'') order on certain pasta from Italy for the period January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2008. On April 13, 2010, we published the Preliminary Results of this review. See Certain Pasta From Italy: Preliminary Results of the 13th (2008) Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 18806 (April 13, 2010) (``Preliminary Results''). We did not receive any comments on the Preliminary Results and have made no revisions. We find that Pastificio Lucio Garofalo S.p.A. (``Garofalo'') received countervailable subsidies and that F.lli De Cecco di Filippo Fara San Martino S.p.A. (``De Cecco Pastificio'')/Molino e Pastificio De Cecco S.p.A. (``De Cecco Pescara''), members of the De Cecco group of companies, received de minimis countervailable subsidies. The final net subsidy rates for Garofalo and De Cecco Pastificio/De Cecco Pescara are listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of Review.''

On December 29, 2009, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the 2007-2008 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on carbazole violet pigment 23 (CVP 23) from the People's Republic of China (PRC). See Carbazole Violet Pigment 23 From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 74 FR 68780 (December 29, 2009) (Preliminary Results). This administrative review covers one exporter of the subject merchandise, Trust Chem Co., Ltd. (Trust Chem). We invited interested parties to comment on our Preliminary Results. Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made one change to the margin calculation for Trust Chem. The final dumping margin for this review is listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of Review.''

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (``Department'') and the International Trade Commission (``ITC'') that revocation of the antidumping duty order on barium chloride from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury to an industry in the United States, the Department is publishing a notice of continuation of the antidumping duty order.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of the next meeting of the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC). The members will discuss issues outlined in the following agenda.

This rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding twenty-four persons to the Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744) on the basis of Section 744.11 of the EAR. The persons who 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. These persons will be listed under the following nine destinations on the Entity List: Belarus, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa and United Kingdom.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') has determined that a request for a new shipper review (``NSR'') of the antidumping duty order on diamond sawblades and parts thereof (``diamond sawblades'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''), received on April 30, 2010, meets the statutory and regulatory requirements for initiation. The period of review (``POR'') for the NSR is January 23, 2009, through April 30, 2010.

The New England Fishery Management Council's (Council) Groundfish/Scallop Advisory Panel will meet to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that the Panel of Judges of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will meet on Tuesday, September 7, 2010. The Panel of Judges is composed of twelve members prominent in the fields of quality, innovation, and performance management and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, assembled to advise the Secretary of Commerce on the conduct of the Baldrige Award. The purpose of this meeting is to review applicant consensus scores and select applicants for site visit review. The applications under review by Judges contain trade secrets and proprietary commercial information submitted to the Government in confidence.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is clarifying the procedure for seeking review of a determination that a substantial new question of patentability (SNQ) has been raised in an ex parte reexamination proceeding. This notice clarifies that while issues related to a SNQ determination are procedural, the Chief Judge of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) has been delegated the authority to review issues related to the examiner's determination that a reference raises a SNQ in an ex parte reexamination proceeding. The Chief Judge of the BPAI may further delegate that authority to the panel of Administrative Patent Judges who are deciding the appeal in an ex parte reexamination proceeding. This clarification of procedure will facilitate more efficient resolution of SNQ issues.

In December 2009, the Governments of the United States and Turkey agreed to establish a U.S.-Turkey Business Council. This notice announces the opportunity for appointment as private sector members to the U.S. Section of the Council.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR or Regulations) to modify the requirements of License Exception ENC, ``Encryption Commodities, Software and Technology,'' and the requirements for qualifying an encryption item as mass market. BIS is also amending specific license requirements for encryption items. With respect to encryption products of lesser national security concern, this rule replaces the requirement to wait 30 days for a technical review before exporting such products and the requirement to file semi-annual post-export sales and distribution reports with a provision that allows immediate authorization to export and reexport these products after electronic submission to BIS of an encryption registration. A condition of this new authorization for less sensitive products is submission of an annual self-classification report on these commodities and software exported under License Exception ENC. With respect to most mass market encryption products, this rule similarly replaces the requirement to wait 30 days for a technical review before exporting and reexporting such products with a provision that allows immediate authorization to export and reexport these products after electronic submission to BIS of an encryption registration, subject to annual self-classification reporting for exported encryption products. Only a few categories of License Exception ENC and mass market encryption products will continue to require submission of a 30-day classification request. Encryption items that are more strictly controlled continue to be authorized for immediate export and reexport to most end-users located in close ally countries upon submission of an encryption registration and classification request to BIS. This rule also eases licensing requirements for the export and reexport of many types of technology necessary for the development and use of encryption products, except to countries subject to export or reexport license requirements for national security reasons or anti-terrorism reasons, or that are subject to embargo or sanctions. This rule also removes the requirement to file separate encryption classification requests (formerly encryption review requests) with both BIS and the ENC Encryption Request Coordinator (Ft. Meade, MD).

Notice is hereby given that Sea World LLC, 9205 South Park Center Loop, Suite 400, Orlando, FL 32819 [Brad Andrews, Responsible Party] has been issued an enhancement permit to maintain non-releasable stranded Guadalupe fur seals (Arctocephalus townsendi).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register providing an additional temporary basis (the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan) under which a small entity applicant may have an application accorded special status for examination if the applicant expressly abandons another copending unexamined application. The Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan allows small entity applicants having multiple applications currently pending before the USPTO to have greater control over the priority with which their applications are examined while also stimulating a reduction of the backlog of unexamined patent applications pending before the USPTO. The USPTO is expanding the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan to permit all applicants to participate by eliminating the small entity status requirement and adding a few new requirements in view of the expansion. The program is also being extended until December 31, 2010, or the date that 10,000 applications have been accorded special status for examination under the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan, whichever occurs earlier. These changes allow more applicants to take advantage of the program.

The final revised management plan for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) has been approved and is now available. This plan is the result of a multi-year review at the SBNMS and ONMS, and included extensive public, as well as state, local and other Federal agency involvement. The plan is available for download on the Web site: https://stellwagen.noaa.gov. For a hard copy or data CD of the plan contact the sanctuary office at the contact number identified below.