Department of Commerce June 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Based on the final Northeast multispecies sector rosters submitted as of May 1, 2012, NMFS is adjusting the fishing year 2012 specification of annual catch limits for commercial groundfish vessels as well as sector annual catch entitlements for groundfish stocks. This revision to fishing year 2012 catch levels is necessary to account for changes in the number of participants electing to fish in either sectors or the common pool fishery.

Notice is hereby given that the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC, Dr. M. Bradley Hanson, Principal Investigator), 2725 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112-2097, has applied for an amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 16163.

We, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on June 2, 2011, proposing to revise critical habitat for the Hawaiian monk seal under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and requesting information related to the proposed action. This document announces a 6-month extension of the deadline for a final determination on the proposed rule. Based on comments received during the public comment period, we find that substantial disagreement exists regarding the sufficiency and accuracy of the data and analyses used to support the scope of the proposed critical habitat designation in the Main Hawaiian Islands. Accordingly, we are extending the deadline for the final revision to critical habitat for the Hawaiian monk seal an additional 6 months to further analyze data and consider concerns raised by State, Federal, and other entities, and better inform our determinations for the final revision of Hawaiian monk seal critical habitat under the ESA.

On May 25, 2012, the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') published its notice of preliminary determination in the antidumping duty investigation of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (``solar cells''), from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The Department received comments from Delsolar Co., Ltd. and DelSolar (Wujiang) Ltd. (collectively, ``DelSolar'') and JinkoSolar International Limited (``Jinko'') on May 22 and 25, 2012, respectively, concerning errors that the Department made with respect to the names of these companies in the table in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section in the solar cells from the PRC preliminary determination notice.

This document announces the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the applications from the Fruit Growers Supply Company (FGS) for Incidental Take Permits (ITPs) and a multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for take of endangered and threatened species in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service (Services) and FGS have also developed an Implementing Agreement (IA) which details how the Services and FGS will work together to implement the HCP. The applicant seeks the ITPs to authorize incidental take of the covered species during forest management and timber harvest in Siskiyou County, CA, where FGS owns lands, during the term of the proposed 50-year ITPs and HCP. This document is provided under National Environmental Policy Act regulations to inform the public that the Final EIS and multi-species HCP, and the Services' responses to public comments are available for review, and that we have filed the Final EIS with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for public notice. The Services will not make a decision on issuing ITPs to FGS sooner than 45 days after publication of EPA's notice.

NMFS announces a sixth public hearing to be held in Miami, FL on July 6, 2012, to answer questions and receive public comments on the proposed rule to withdraw the alternative tow time restriction and require all skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls, and wing nets (butterfly trawls) rigged for fishing to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in their nets, which was published in the Federal Register on May 10, 2012. In the proposed rule, we announced five public hearings to be held in Morehead City, NC, Larose, LA, Belle Chasse, LA, D'Iberville, MS, and Bayou La Batre, AL.

Notice is hereby given that The Whale Museum (Responsible Party: Jenny Atkinson; Principal Investigator: Eric Eisenhardt), PO Box 945, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, has applied for an amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 16160.

NMFS implements accountability measures (AMs) for the commercial sector for the lesser amberjack, almaco jack, and banded rudderfish complex in the South Atlantic for the 2012 fishing year through this temporary rule. Commercial landings for the lesser amberjack, almaco jack, and banded rudderfish complex, as estimated by the Science Research Director (SRD), are projected to reach their combined commercial annual catch limit (ACL) on July 2, 2012. Therefore, NMFS closes the commercial sector for this complex on July 2, 2012, through the remainder of the fishing year in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. This closure is necessary to protect the lesser amberjack, almaco jack, and banded rudderfish resources.

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.

After consideration of public comments, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') will implement a methodological change to reduce export price or constructed export price in certain non-market economy (``NME'') antidumping proceedings by the amount of export tax, duty, or other charge, pursuant to section 772(c)(2)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act'').

This notice changes the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Alternative Personnel Management System (APMS) published October 21, 1997 (62 FR 54604, 54606), May 6, 2005 (70 FR 23996), July 15, 2008 (73 FR 40500), and July 21, 2009 (74 FR 35841 and 74 FR 35843) to (1) eliminate the required bonus for employees at the cap of their pay band who are appraised at the top two rating levels, and (2) solidify the three-year probationary period, a hallmark of the original NIST demonstration project and later APMS.

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.

As part of the President's Export Control Reform (ECR) Initiative, this proposed rule, and a separate proposed rule from the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, being published in conjunction with this document, sets forth, as much as possible, a common definition of the term ``specially designed'' for use in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The term ``specially designed'' is used widely in the Commerce Control List (CCL) and would play an important role in the ``600 series'' that the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has proposed to create to control less sensitive defense articles transferred from the United States Munitions List (USML) to the Commerce Control List (CCL). The revisions in this rule are part of Commerce's retrospective plan under EO 13563 completed in August 2011. Commerce's full plan can be accessed at: https:// open.commerce.gov/news/2011/08/23/commerce-plan-retrospective -analysis- existing-rules.

On January 10, 2012, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published its preliminary results of the 2009-2010 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on honey from Argentina.\1\ The review covers imports of subject merchandise from nine companies. The period of review (POR) is December 1, 2009, through November 30, 2010. The final weighted-average dumping margins for the exporters are listed below in the ``Final Results of Review'' section of this notice.

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.

On June 5, 2012,\1\ the United States Court of International Trade (``CIT'') or (``Court'') sustained the Department of Commerce's (the ``Department'') results of redetermination \2\ pursuant to the CIT's remand order in Jinan Yipin Corporation, Ltd. and Shandong Heze International Trade and Developing Company, v. United States, 774 F. Supp. 2d 1238 (CIT April 12, 2011) (``Jinan Yipin III 2011'').

NMFS issues this final rule to implement the annual catch limit (ACL), harvest guideline (HG), annual catch target (ACT) and associated annual reference points for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for the fishing year season of July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012. NMFS establishes the ACL, HG, and ACT under the regulations implementing the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Pacific mackerel off the Pacific coast. The ACL (or maximum HG) for the 2011- 2012 Pacific mackerel fishing year is 40,514 metric tons (mt). The ACT, which will be the directed fishery harvest target, is 30,386 mt. If the fishery attains the ACT, the directed fishery will close, reserving the difference between the ACL and ACT (which is 10,128 mt) as a set-aside for incidental landings in other CPS fisheries. This final rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific mackerel stock off the U.S. West Coast.

NMFS issues a proposed rule that would modify equipment and operational requirements for freezer longliners (catcher/processors) named on License Limitation Program (LLP) licenses endorsed to catch and process Pacific cod at sea with hook-and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). If approved, the proposed regulations would require vessel owners to select between two monitoring options: carry two observers so that all catch can be sampled, or carry one observer and use a motion-compensated scale to weigh Pacific cod before it is processed. The selected monitoring option would be required to be used when the vessel is operating in either the BSAI or Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries when directed fishing for Pacific cod is open in the BSAI, or while the vessel is fishing for groundfish under the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program. A vessel owner who notifies NMFS that the vessel will not be used to conduct directed fishing for Pacific cod in the BSAI or to conduct groundfish CDQ fishing at any time during a particular year would not be required to select one of the monitoring options and would continue to follow observer coverage and catch reporting requirements that apply to catcher/processors not subject to this proposed action. These regulatory amendments address the need for enhanced catch accounting, monitoring, and enforcement created by the formation of a voluntary cooperative by the BSAI longline catcher/ processor subsector in 2010, and are necessary to improve the precision of the accounting for allocated quota species. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and other applicable laws.

This notice announces a public meeting of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (Committee). The Committee provides advice to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information on spectrum management policy matters.

Notice is hereby given that permits have been issued to the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC, Dr. M. Bradley Hanson, Principal Investigator) [File No. 16163], 2725 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112-2097; The Whale Museum (Jenny Atkinson, Responsible Party) [File No. 16160], P.O. Box 945, Friday Harbor, WA 98250; and The Center for Whale Research (CWR; Kenneth C. Balcomb III, Responsible Party) [File No. 15569], P.O. Box 1577, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 to conduct research on marine mammals.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is extending the date by which public comments are due concerning proposed regulations to revise existing regulations governing the confidentiality of information submitted in compliance with any requirement or regulation under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act or MSA). NMFS published the proposed rule on May 23, 2012 and announced that the public comment period would end on June 22, 2012. With this notice, NMFS is extending the comment period to August 21, 2012.