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

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Red Crab Committee in August, 2010 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this joint group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council (Council) will convene public informational scoping meetings in Guam and CNMI to solicit comments on the management of the bottomfish fishery within the EEZ of the Mariana Islands. The scope meeting will, among other things, describe the existing federal management regime for bottomfish species, examine the current performance of the fishery and consider the need for potential regulatory changes.

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 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.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 86 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. This proposed action would add a Pacific cod endorsement on licenses issued under the License Limitation Program (LLP) in specific management areas if those licenses have been used on vessels that met minimum recent landing requirements using non-trawl gear, commonly known as fixed gear. This proposed action would exempt vessels that use jig gear from the requirement to hold an LLP license, modify the maximum length designation on a specific set of fixed gear licenses, and allow entities representing specific communities to receive a limited number of fixed-gear licenses with Pacific cod endorsements. This proposed action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Fishery Management Plan, and other applicable law.

NMFS is correcting a temporary rule to adjust the 2010 fishing year (FY) Trimester 2 and 3 Loligo squid quotas. The rule contained a numerical error in the metric value of the revised Trimester 3 quota. The correct value for the revised Trimester 3 quota of 23,743,619 lb is 10,770 mt.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Whiting Advisory Panel in August, 2010 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.

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (the Department) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the Department is issuing a countervailing duty order on certain steel grating (steel grating) from the People's Republic of China (PRC).

On March 22, 2010, the Department of Commerce (``Department'') published its Preliminary Results for the July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009, administrative review of saccharin from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'').\1\ We invited interested parties to comment on our Preliminary Results, but no parties submitted comments. Therefore, the Preliminary Results are hereby adopted as the final results.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a meeting of the Ad Hoc Data Collection Advisory Panel.

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') and the International Trade Commission (``ITC''), the Department is issuing an antidumping duty order on certain potassium phosphate salts from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'').

NMFS has received a complete and adequate application from the Exploratorium for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to pile driving during the Exploratorium's relocation project. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is proposing to issue an IHA to the Exploratorium to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, four species of marine mammals during the specified activity within a specific geographic area and is requesting comments on its proposal.

In response to requests from the M&B Metal Products Co., Inc. (``Petitioner''), the Department of Commerce (``Department'') is initiating an anti-circumvention inquiry to determine whether certain imports of steel wire garment hangers from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam'') are circumventing the antidumping duty order on steel wire garment hangers (``hangers'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). See Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Steel Wire Garment Hangers from the People's Republic of China, 73 FR 58111 (October 6, 2008) (``Hangers Order'').

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. This action is necessary because the directed harvest allocation total for the second seasonal period (July 1 - September 14) is projected to be reached by the effective date of this rule. From the effective date of this rule until September 15, 2010, Pacific sardine can only be harvested as part of the live bait fishery or incidental to other fisheries; the incidental harvest of Pacific sardine is limited to 30-percent by weight of all fish per trip. Fishing vessels must be at shore and in the process of offloading at 12:01 am Pacific Daylight Time on date of closure.

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.

NMFS announces a 5-year review of the Baiji/Chinese River Dolphin/Yangtze River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). A 5-year review is a periodic process conducted to ensure that the listing classification of a species is accurate and it is based on the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review; therefore, we are requesting submission of any such information on the Baiji/Chinese River Dolphin/Yangtze River Dolphin that has become available. Based on the results of this 5-year review, we will make the requisite finding under the ESA.

NMFS is prohibiting retention of Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the 2010 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA has been reached.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch by catcher/processors participating in the rockfish limited access fishery in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2010 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch allocated to catcher/processors participating in the rockfish limited access fishery in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on this proposed information, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).