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

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2010 Pacific total allowable catch (TAC) apportioned to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component of the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

NMFS solicits nominations for the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Advisory Panel (AP). NMFS consults with and considers the comments and views of the HMS 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 (11) 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 HMS AP.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2010 Pacific total allowable catch (TAC) apportioned to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component of the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announces the availability of a draft Policy for the Assessment of Civil Administrative Penalties and Permit Sanctions (Penalty Policy) for public review and comment.

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)).

NMFS has received an application from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting training exercises at the Silver Strand Training Complex (SSTC) in the vicinity of San Diego Bay, California. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to the Navy to incidentally harass, by Level B Harassment only, four species of marine mammals during the specified activity.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of Hebei Starbright Tire Co., Ltd. (Starbright) under the countervailing duty order on certain new pneumatic off-the- road tires (OTR Tires) from the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the period December 17, 2007, through December 31, 2008. We preliminarily determine that subsidies are being provided to Starbright for the production and export of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires from the PRC. See ``Preliminary Results of Administrative Review'' section, below. If the final results remain the same as the preliminary results of this review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess countervailing duties at the rate indicated below. Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary results of this administrative review. See ``Disclosure and Public Comments'' section below.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) for 72 hours. This action is necessary to fully use the 2010 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock specified for Statistical Area 610 of the GOA.

In November 2010, we (NMFS) will hold a total of four public hearingsone in each of the following locations: Portland, ME; Stony Brook, NY; Wilmington, DE; and Newport News, VA. These hearings are to receive comments and answer questions on the proposal to list the Gulf of Maine (GOM) Atlantic sturgeon distinct population segment (DPS) as threatened and the New York Bight (NYB) and Chesapeake Bay (CB) DPSs as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended.

On April 14, 2010, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain hot-rolled, flat-rolled carbon quality steel products (hot-rolled steel) from Brazil. See Certain Hot- Rolled Flat-Rolled Carbon Quality Steel Products From Brazil: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Extension of Time Limit for the Final Results, 75 FR 19369 (April 14, 2010) (Preliminary Results). This review covers sales of subject merchandise made by Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais (USIMINAS) and Companhia Siderurgica Paulista (COSIPA) (collectively, USIMINAS) for the period March 1, 2008, to February 28, 2009. Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made changes to the margin calculation; therefore, the final results differ from the preliminary results. The final weighted-average dumping margin for the reviewed firms is listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of Review.''

NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to training activities conducted in the Gulf of Alaska (GoA) Temporary Maritime Activities Area (TMAA) for the period December 2010 through December 2015. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS proposes regulations to govern that take and requests information, suggestions, and comments on these proposed regulations. Specifically, we encourage the public to recommend effective, regionally specific methods for augmenting existing marine mammal density, distribution, and abundance information in the GoA TMAA and to prioritize the specific density and distribution data needs in the area (species, time of year, etc.). This information will ensure the design of the most effective Monitoring Plan with the resources available.

NMFS issues this proposed temporary rule that would implement interim measures to reduce overfishing of gag in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). This proposed rule would reduce the commercial quota for gag and, thus, the combined commercial quota for shallow-water grouper species (SWG), prohibit recreational harvest of gag, and suspend red grouper multi-use allocation in the Gulf grouper and tilefish individual fishing quota (IFQ) program, as requested by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). The intended effect of this proposed rule is to reduce overfishing of the gag resource in the Gulf.

On June 28, 2010, NMFS published in the Federal Register the final rule to implement Framework Adjustment 21 (Framework 21) to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (Scallop FMP), which established management measures for the 2010 scallop fishing year (FY). Following publication, NMFS identified errors, omissions, and possible need for clarification of some provisions. In addition to certain technical and wording clarifications, the Framework 21 final rule inadvertently did not incorporate a proposed regulatory provision pertaining to how scallop access area trip overages incurred during the interim period between the March 1, 2010, start of the fishing year (FY) and the implementation of Framework 21 FY 2010 management measures would be applied to FY 2011. This provision was described in the proposed rule and NMFS subsequently responded to specific comments on this provision and provided greater detail of this measure in the preamble of the final rule. However, the regulatory text was inadvertently excluded. In addition, the Framework 21 final rule inadvertently deleted regulations pertaining to limited access general category (LAGC) possession and landing limits promulgated in the final rule implementing Amendment 11 to the Scallop FMP that published in the Federal Register on April 24, 2008. This correcting amendment corrects these errors.