Department of Commerce January 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued scientific research Permit 15390 to the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains (RCD), in southern California.

NMFS announces that it is establishing a new control date to control future access to the snapper-grouper fishery operating in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. If changes to the management regime are developed and implemented under the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), a control date could be used to further limit the number of participants in the fishery. This announcement is intended, in part, to promote awareness of the potential eligibility criteria for future access so as to discourage speculative entry into the fishery while the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS consider whether and how access to the snapper-grouper fishery should be controlled.

In response to a timely request from NEP Tianjin Machinery Company (``NEP Tianjin'') the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') is conducting the 2009-2010 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on non-malleable cast iron pipe fittings (``pipe fittings'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The Department has reviewed shipments of subject merchandise made by NEP Tianjin and has determined that NEP Tianjin made sales below normal value (``NV'') during the period of review (``POR''). If the 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 the importer-specific assessment rates are above de minimis. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results of review. Parties who submit comments are requested to submit with each argument a statement of the issue and a brief summary of the argument. We intend to issue the final results no later than 120 days from the date of publication of this notice.

NMFS announces that the Delmarva Scallop Access Area will close to LAGC IFQ scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2010 fishing year. Therefore, as of the effective date, no scallop vessel fishing under LAGC IFQ regulations may declare its intent to enter, or fish in the Delmarva Scallop Access Area. This action is based on the determination that 714 general category scallop trips into the Delmarva Access Area are projected to be taken as of 0001 hours, January 29, 2011. This action is being taken to prevent the allocation of LAGC IFQ trips in the Delmarva Scallop Access Area from being exceeded during the 2010 fishing year, in accordance with the regulations implementing Framework 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received an application for a permit to conduct research for scientific purposes from Stillwater Sciences (Stillwater) in Arcata, California. The requested permit would affect the endangered Southern California (SC) Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The public is hereby notified of the availability of the permit application for review and comment before NMFS either approves or disapproves the application.

The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') has received requests to conduct administrative reviews of various antidumping and countervailing duty orders and findings with December anniversary dates. In accordance with our regulations, we are initiating those administrative reviews.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) will convene a meeting of the Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel (EAS), which is open to the public.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS intend to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze management alternatives to be included in an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Amendment 6), an amendment to the FMP for Corals and Reef Associated Plants and Invertebrates of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Amendment 3), an amendment to the FMP for the Spiny Lobster Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Amendment 5), and an amendment to the FMP for the Queen Conch Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Amendment 3). These alternatives will consider measures to revise management reference points and status determination criteria, implement annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) to prevent overfishing in both the commercial and recreational sectors, revise management of aquarium trade species, establish recreational bag limits, establish exclusive economic zone sub-boundaries for purposes of applying accountability measures, and establish frameworks to adjust management measures as needed to constrain harvest to specified ACLs. The purpose of this notice of intent is to solicit public comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the DEIS.

The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') seeks public comment on its proposed methodological change to reduce the export price or constructed export price in certain non-market economy (``NME'') antidumping proceedings by the amount of an export tax, duty, or other charge, pursuant to section 772(c)(2)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.

On January 18, 2011, the binational panel issued its decision in the review of the United States International Trade Commission's (the Commission) final injury determination in Certain Welded Large Diameter Line Pipe from Mexico (NAFTA Secretariat File Number USA-MEX- 2007-1904-03). The binational panel remanded the Commission's determination. The Commission is directed to issue its determination on remand on or before March 22, 2011. Copies of the panel's decision are available from the U.S. Section of the NAFTA Secretariat.

On January 6, 2011, the United States Court of International Trade (``CIT'') sustained the Department of Commerce's (``the Department'') results of redetermination, which construed the scope of the Order \1\ as excluding carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') used in structural applications, pursuant to the CIT's remand order in King Supply Co. LLC, d/b/a King Architectural Metals v. United States, Slip Op. 10-111, Court No. 09-00477 (September 30, 2010) (``King Supply I''). See Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Remand, Court No. 09-00477, dated December 1, 2010; King Supply Co. LLC, d/b/a King Architectural Metals, v. United States, Slip Op. 11-2, Court No. 09-00477 (January 6, 2011) (``King Supply II''). Consistent with the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (``CAFC'') in Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (``Timken''), as clarified by Diamond Sawblades Mfrs. Coalition v. United States, 626 F.3d 1374 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (``Diamond Sawblades''), the Department is notifying the public that the final judgment in this case is not in harmony with the Department's final scope ruling and is amending its final scope ruling on carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from the PRC used in structural applications. See Memorandum from Edward C. Yang, Senior NME Coordinator for Import Administration to John M. Andersen, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, Final Scope Ruling: Antidumping Duty Order on Carbon Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic of China, dated October 20, 2009 (``Final Scope Ruling'').

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, and implementing regulations, notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued a letter of authorization (LOA) to the U.S. Navy (Navy) to take marine mammals incidental to Navy training, maintenance, and research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) activities to be conducted within the Atlantic Fleet Active Sonar Training (AFAST) Study Area for the period of January 22, 2011, through January 21, 2012. NMFS also provides notice that the Integrated Comprehensive Management Program (ICMP) Plan, which is intended for use as a planning tool to focus Navy monitoring priorities pursuant to the MMPA and Endangered Species Act (ESA), has been updated for 2010. NMFS encourages the public to review this document and provide comments, information, and suggestions on the ICMP Plan.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by non- American Fisheries Act (AFA) crab vessels that are subject to sideboard limits harvesting 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 A season allowance of the 2011 Pacific cod sideboard limit established for non-AFA crab vessels harvesting Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NMFS, (Assistant Administrator) has issued a 5-year affirmative finding for the Government of Guatemala under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This affirmative finding will allow yellowfin tuna harvested in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) in compliance with the International Dolphin Conservation Program (IDCP) by Guatemalan-flag purse seine vessels or purse seine vessels operating under Guatemalan jurisdiction to be imported into the United States. The affirmative finding was based on review of documentary evidence submitted by the Government of Guatemala and obtained from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the U.S. Department of State.

This annual report is submitted in accordance with Section 1866 of the Trade and Globalization Adjustment Assistance Act (TGAAA) of 2009, which was included as subtitle I (letter ``I'') of title I of Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5, 123 Stat. 115, at 367). Section 1866 of the TGAAA directs the Secretary of Commerce to submit to Congress an annual report on the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) Program by the 15th of December each year. The TAAF Program is one of four Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Programs authorized by the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2341 et seq.) (Trade Act). Administered by the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA), the goal of the TAAF Program is to help economically distressed U.S. businesses develop strategies to compete in the global economy. In general, the program provides cost-sharing technical assistance to eligible businesses to create and implement targeted business recovery plans, called Adjustment Proposals under the program. Firms contribute a matching share to create and implement their plan. Technical assistance is provided through a nationwide network of eleven EDA-funded Trade Adjustment Assistance Centers (TAACs), which are either non-profits or university-affiliated. The TAACs provide assistance to firms petitioning EDA for certification of eligibility under the program and in the development and implementation of business recovery plans. Firms that completed the TAAF Program in FY 2008 report that at completion, average sales were $10.3 million, average employment was 73, and average productivity was $140,977 (sales per employee). One year after completing the program (FY 2009), firms report that average sales increased by one percent, average employment decreased by 10 percent, and average productivity increased by 11 percent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nationwide for the manufacturing industry in FY 2009, average employment decreased 12 percent and average productivity increased by 4 percent. Two years after completing the program (FY 2010), firms report that average sales decreased by 14 percent, average employment decreased by 16 percent, and average productivity increased by 3 percent. BLS reported that nationwide for the manufacturing industry in FY 2010, average employment decreased 12 percent and average productivity increased by 9 percent. Overall, there has been an increase in the demand for the TAAF Program in FY 2010, as demonstrated by the increase in the number of petitions for certification and Adjustment Proposals submitted to EDA for approval. In FY 2010, EDA approved an additional 114 petitions, a 53 percent increase as compared to FY 2009; and approved an additional 93 Adjustment Proposals, a 54 percent increase as compared to FY 2009. The addition of TAAF staff resources facilitated EDA's ability to improve processing time for petitions and Adjustment Proposals in FY 2010. Although there was a spike in petitions and Adjustment Proposals, EDA successfully met the 40-day processing deadline to make a final determination for petitions accepted for filing; and the 60-day processing deadline for approval of Adjustment Proposals as required in the TGAAA. In fact, the average processing time for petitions has started to decline below the 40-day requirement and the average processing time for Adjustment Proposals is below 30 days.

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 has received an application from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to pile driving activities as part of a test pile program. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to the Navy to take, by Level B Harassment only, five species of marine mammals during the specified activity.