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

NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) and Final Findings of Approvability (Findings) for OCRM's Approval of Amendments to the Washington Coastal Zone Management Program (WCZMP) final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). On October 6, 2004, OCRM received the State of Washington's request to incorporate the State's new Shoreline Master Program Guidelines (Guidelines), Chapter 173-26 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) as an amendment to the WCZMP. The new Guidelines replace the previously repealed Chapter 173-16 of the WAC, the Shoreline Management Act Guidelines for Development of Shoreline Master Programs. The final EIS was released to the public for a 45-day comment period after the publication of a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register on November 12, 2010 (75 FR 69434). The ROD documents the selection of Alternative 1 (the NOAA preferred alternative) in the final EIS. The Findings make a final determination that the WCZMP, as amended by the October 6, 2004 WCZMP Amendment Document, still constitutes an approvable program and that procedural requirements of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) and its implementing regulations have been met. The ROD and Findings were signed by the Assistant Administrator, National Ocean Service (NOS) on May 16, 2011. Federal consistency applies to the revised WCZMP enforceable policies as of May 16, 2011.

NMFS solicits nominations for the Advisory Panel (AP) and the Joint Management Committee (JMC) on Pacific Whiting called for in the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada on Pacific Hake/Whiting. Nominations are being sought for at least 6, but not more than 12 individuals on the AP and 1 individual on the JMC to serve as United States representatives.

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

Notice is hereby given that Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve (Responsible Party: Susan Boudreau; Principal Investigator: Christine Gabriele), Gustavus, AK, 99826, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), killer whales (Orcinus orca) and minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata).

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and its Research Set-Aside (RSA) Committee, its Ecosystems and Ocean Planning Committee, its Executive Committee, its Surfclam, Ocean Quahog, Tilefish Committee, its Visioning Committee, and its Squid, Mackerel, Butterfish (SMB) Committee will hold public meetings.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') has determined that Viet I-Mei Frozen Foods Co., Ltd. (``Viet I-Mei'') is the successor-in-interest to Grobest & I-Mei Industrial (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. (``Grobest & I-Mei''), and should be accorded the same antidumping duty treatment as the original company, Grobest & I-Mei for purposes of the antidumping duty order on frozen warmwater shrimp (``shrimp'') from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam'').

On February 14, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (``CAFC'') affirmed the United States Court of International Trade (``CIT'') decision sustaining the Department of Commerce (``Department'') redetermination on remand of the 2005-2006 administrative review of freshwater crawfish tail meat (``crawfish tail meat'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'').\1\ In this redetermination the Department applied total adverse facts available (``AFA'') and assigned the respondent, Xuzhou Jinjiang Foodstuffs Co., Ltd. (``Xuzhou''), an AFA rate of 188.52 percent. As there is now a final and conclusive court decision, the Department is amending its final results.

On February 1, 2011, the Department of Commerce (the Department) initiated a sunset review of the antidumping duty order on certain orange juice (OJ) from Brazil, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The Department has conducted an expedited (120-day) sunset review of this order pursuant to 19 CFR 351.218(e)(1)(ii)(C)(2). As a result of this sunset review, the Department finds that revocation of the antidumping duty order would be likely to lead to the continuation or recurrence of dumping.

In June 2009, pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS issued two 5-year final regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to Navy training activities conducted in the Virginia Capes (VACAPES) and Jacksonville (JAX) range complexes off the East Coast of the U.S. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of ``Letters of Authorization'' (LOAs) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the specified activities and described timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. These rules quantify the specific amounts of training activities involving underwater detonations that will occur over the course of the 5-year rules, and indicate that marine mammal take may only be authorized in an LOA incidental to the types and amounts of training activities and explosives described. No language was included expressly allowing for deviation from those precise levels of training activities and amounts of explosives even if the total number of takes remain within the analyzed and authorized limits. Since the issuance of these rules, the Navy realized that their evolving training programs, which are linked to real world events, necessitate greater flexibility in the types and amounts of training events and explosives that they conduct and use. In response to this need, NMFS has, through this interim final rule, amended the VACAPES and JAX regulations to explicitly allow for greater flexibility in the types and amount of training activities that they conduct and explosives that they use.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued a permit and two permit modifications to conduct research on marine mammals or sea turtles.

On April 21, 2011, NMFS published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to request public comment on potential revisions to the National Standard 10 (NS10) Guidelines and announced a public meeting to be held on May 19, 2011 in Silver Spring, Maryland. In this notice, NMFS announces several additional meetings where presentations will be given on the National Standard 10 ANPR. The public will be allowed to comment at the meetings.

NMFS has received an application from PRBO Conservation Science (PRBO), for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting proposed seabird and pinniped research activities on Southeast Farallon Island, A[ntilde]o Nuevo Island, and Point Reyes National Seashore in central California. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to PRBO to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, four species of marine mammals during the specified activity from July, 2011 through June, 2012.

The Stock Assessment Review Panel (STAR Panel) for the Pacific ocean perch and petrale sole stock assessments will hold a work session that is open to the public.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee on June 14-15, 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.

This final rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by removing one and revising two Russian entries on the Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744). This final rule removes the Federal Atomic Power of Russia (Rusatom) (now known as the Russian State Corporation of Atomic Energy (Rosatom)) entry from the Entity List and adds language clarifying that both the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF) and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF), which are Rosatom components, remain on the Entity List. In addition, this rule adds additional aliases and revises some of the existing aliases for the two Russian entries that are being retained on the Entity List. These changes will better inform exporters, reexporters, and transferors of the scope of these Entity List-based license requirements. The Entity List provides notice to the public that certain exports, reexports, and transfers (in-country) to parties identified on the Entity List require a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and that availability of license exceptions in such transactions is limited.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') is extending the time limit for the final results of the fifth administrative review of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The review covers the period February 1, 2009, through January 31, 2010.

NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from Mr. Don DeMaria. If granted, the EFP would authorize the applicant, with certain conditions, to collect and retain limited numbers of gorgonian corals from the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), off Port Canaveral, FL, north to the North Carolina/Virginia border. The specimens would be used to support research efforts towards a grant awarded to the National Cancer Institute to screen marine invertebrates for possible anti-cancer compounds.