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

In compliance with Executive Order 12866 entitled ``Regulatory Planning and Review'' and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, as amended, the Department of Commerce (Department), in the spring and fall of each year, publishes in the Federal Register an agenda of regulations under development or review over the next 12 months. Rulemaking actions are grouped according to prerulemaking, proposed rules, final rules, long- term actions, and rulemaking actions completed since the spring 2010 agenda. The purpose of the agenda is to provide information to the public on regulations currently under review, being proposed, or issued by the Department. The agenda is intended to facilitate comments and views by interested members of the public.

NMFS publishes Fraser River salmon inseason orders to regulate salmon fisheries in U.S. waters. The orders were issued by the Fraser River Panel (Panel) of the Pacific Salmon Commission (Commission) and subsequently approved and issued by NMFS during the 2010 salmon fisheries within the U.S. Fraser River Panel Area. These orders established fishing dates, times, and areas for the gear types of U.S. treaty Indian and all citizen fisheries during the period the Panel exercised jurisdiction over these fisheries.

Notice is hereby given that Raymond Carthy, University of Florida, Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 117 Newins-Ziegler Hall, P.O. Box 110450, Gainesville, FL 32611, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 10022-01.

Notice is hereby given that Tom Savoy, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Marine Fisheries Division, P.O. Box 719, Old Lyme, CT 06371, has applied in due form for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon for purposes of scientific research.

This rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement additional changes to the Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744) on the basis of the annual review of the Entity List conducted by the End-User Review Committee (ERC). The changes from the annual review will be implemented in three rules. The first rule published on May 28, 2010 (75 FR 29884) implemented the results of the annual review for listed entities located in Canada, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The second rule, published today, implements the results of the annual review for entities located in China and Russia. This rule removes five entities from the Entity List under Russia and makes twenty-one modifications to the Entity List (consisting of modifications to eighteen Chinese entries and three Russian entries currently on the Entity List) by adding additional addresses, aliases and/or clarifying the names for these twenty-one entities. The third rule, which will likely be published in early 2011, will implement the remaining results of the annual review. The Entity List provides notice to the public that certain exports, reexports, and transfers (in-country) to entities identified on the Entity List require a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security and that availability of license exceptions in such transactions is limited.

In antidumping proceedings involving non-market economy (``NME'') countries,\1\ the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') has a rebuttable presumption that the export activities of all companies within the country are subject to government control and, thus, should be assessed a single antidumping duty rate (i.e., the NME- Entity rate). It is the Department's policy to assign to all exporters of merchandise subject to investigation in an NME country this single rate unless an exporter can demonstrate that it is sufficiently independent so as to be entitled to a ``separate rate'' (i.e., a dumping margin separate from the margin assigned to the NME-Entity). Exporters can demonstrate this independence through the absence of both de jure and de facto governmental control over their export activities.

NMFS issues these regulations pursuant to its authority under Chapter 537 of the Shipping Act, (formerly known as Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, as amended and codified), as well as the Magnuson-Stevens Act. These regulations revise the operating rules of the Fisheries Finance Program (FFP or Program) and set forth procedures, eligibility criteria, loan terms, and other requirements related to FFP lending to the commercial fishing and aquaculture industries. FFP assistance includes loans for fishing vessels, fish processing facilities, aquaculture facilities, individual fishing quota (IFQ) permits, and participants in community development quota (CDQ) programs.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Whiting Advisory Panel in January, 2011 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.

The SEDAR 21 assessments of the HMS of sandbar, dusky, and blacknose sharks will consist of a series of workshops and webinars: a Data Workshop, a series of Assessment webinars, and a Review Workshop. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS is exempting, through this emergency rule, trawl catcher/ processor vessels (C/Ps) that are not specified in regulation as American Fisheries Act (AFA) vessels, referred to throughout this rule as non-AFA trawl C/Ps, and Amendment 80 cooperatives from the groundfish retention standard (GRS) in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. The GRS was implemented to increase the retention and utilization of groundfish caught by the non-AFA trawl C/ Ps and to respond to bycatch reduction goals described in National Standard 9. NMFS recently discovered that the regulatory methodology used to calculate compliance with and to enforce the GRS percentages established for 2010 and 2011 effectively require the sector to meet GRS well above that considered by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council or that implemented by NMFS. As a result, the retention requirements are expected to impose significantly higher costs due to the increased level of retention and to generate an unanticipated level of noncompliance in the Amendment 80 fleet. Further, monitoring and enforcement of the GRS has proven far more complex, challenging, and potentially costly than anticipated by NMFS. This emergency rule is necessary to exempt non-AFA trawl C/Ps and Amendment 80 cooperatives from the regulatory provisions of the GRS program before the end of the 2010 fishing season and prior to the start of the 2011 fishing season. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, and other applicable law.

Notice is hereby given that Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, CA 93001 [Responsible Party: Daniel Richards] has been issued a permit to take black abalone for purposes of scientific research and enhancement.

On September 17, 2010, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published a notice of initiation of a changed circumstances review and consideration of revocation, in part, of the countervailing duty order on certain pasta from Italy. See Certain Pasta From Italy: Notice of Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review and Consideration of Revocation of Order, in Part, 75 FR 56992 (September 17, 2010) (``Initiation Notice''). The Department confirmed that New World Pasta Company, Dakota Growers Pasta Company, and American Italian Pasta Company (collectively ``Petitioners'') have no interest in countervailing duty relief from imports of gluten-free pasta. Therefore, we are notifying the public of our intent to revoke, in part, the countervailing duty order as it relates to imports of gluten-free pasta, as described below. The Department invites interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.\1\

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, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

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 is implementing Amendments 20 and 21 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which were partially approved by the Secretary on August 9, 2010. Amendment 20 establishes a trawl rationalization program for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery. Amendment 20's trawl rationalization program consists of: An individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the shorebased trawl fleet (including whiting and non-whiting sectors); and cooperative (coop) programs for the at-sea (whiting only) mothership and catcher/processor trawl fleets. Amendment 21 establishes fixed allocations for limited entry trawl participants. This final rule supplements the final rule published on October 1, 2010 (75 FR 60868), and provides additional program details, including: Program components applicable to IFQ gear switching, observer programs, retention requirements, equipment requirements, catch monitors, catch weighing requirements, coop permits, coop agreement requirements, first receiver site licenses, quota share (QS) accounts, vessel accounts, further tracking and monitoring components, and economic data collection requirements.

On August 10, 2010, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published its preliminary results in the antidumping duty administrative review of purified carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) from the Netherlands. See Purified Carboxymethylcellulose From the Netherlands; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 48310 (August 10, 2010) (Preliminary Results). The merchandise covered by the order is purified CMC, as described in the ``Scope of the Order'' section of this notice. The period of review (POR) is July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009. We afforded interested parties an opportunity to comment on the Preliminary Results. We received comments from interested parties on October 22, 2010, and, in light of these comments, have made changes to our margin calculations. Thus, the final results differ from those published in the Department's Preliminary Results. The final weighted-average dumping margins for the reviewed firms are listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of the Review.''

We (NMFS) announce a 90-day finding on two petitions to delist the eastern Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). We find that the petitions present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. We are continuing our status review of this DPS to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are again soliciting scientific and commercial information regarding this species from any interested party.