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

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) periodically review existing regulations that have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, such as small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. This plan describes how NMFS will perform this review and describes the regulations that are being proposed for review during the current review-cycle.

NMFS announces adjustments to the 2012 fishing year (FY) Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder annual catch limits (ACLs) for the Atlantic scallop and Northeast (NE) multispecies fisheries. This action is based on new projections of the expected catch of GB yellowtail flounder by the scallop fishery and is consistent with a request for the ACL adjustments from the New England Fishery Management Council (Council). The intent is to provide additional harvest opportunity to the NE multispecies fishery while ensuring sufficient amounts of GB yellowtail flounder are available for the scallop fishery.

NMFS is prohibiting retention of Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the 2012 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA has been reached.

On June 28, 2012, the United States Court of International Trade (the Court) sustained the Department of Commerce's (the Department) final results of redetermination pursuant to the Court's second remand order. See United States Steel Corporation v. United States, Court No. 08-00216, Slip Op. 12-91 (U.S. Steel Corp. III); Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Second Court Remand, CIT Court No. 08-00216 (May 22, 2012) (Second Remand Results). The Court previously upheld other aspects of the Department's final results of the 2005-2006 administrative review of the antidumping duty on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India. See U.S. Steel Corp. v. United States, No. 08-00216, 2012 WL 1259085 (Ct. Int'l Trade Apr. 11, 2012) (opinion on first remand results) (U.S. Steel Corp. II); Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand, CIT Court No. 08-00216 (Oct. 3, 2011) (First Remand Results); U.S. Steel Corp. v. United States, No. 08-00216, 2011 WL 2421154 (Ct. Int'l Trade June 14, 2011) (opinion on final results) (U.S. Steel Corp. I); Certain Hot- Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from India: Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 73 FR 31,961 (June 5, 2008) (Final Results). Consistent with the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) 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 Results and is amending the final results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India covering the period December 1, 2005, through November 30, 2006, with respect to the weighted-average dumping margin assigned to Essar Steel Limited (Essar).

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 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.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued Permit 16110 to Marin Municipal Water District and Permit 15730 to Salmon Protection and Watershed Network.

NOAA and U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) announce on behalf of the Federal Interagency Working Group on Aquaculture under the Office of Science and Technology Policy that a draft National Aquaculture Research and Development Strategic Plan (R&D Plan) for the United States is being made available for public review and comment. This plan will provide a framework for federal agencies to develop programs for research and development that affect the production of aquatic organisms such as finfish, crustaceans, mollusks, and algae. We are soliciting public comment in regard to priorities, vision, and goals. Please be specific regarding what section or content in the R&D plan your comment refers. The draft R&D plan can be found at https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/programs/ programs.htm?npcode=106&docid=22641.

Notice is hereby given that James Lloyd-Smith, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 610 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Box 723905, Los Angeles, California 90095-7239, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on California sea lions (Zalophus californianus).

The Department of Commerce (the Department) has determined that imports of large power transformers from the Republic of Korea (Korea) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are listed in the ``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation'' section of this notice.

On March 6, 2012, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on small diameter graphite electrodes (SDGEs) from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The review covers 25 companies for the period February 1, 2010, through January 31, 2011. The final results differ from the preliminary results. The final weighted-average dumping margins for the reviewed firms are listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of Review.''

We are advising the public that a Draft Strategic Plan for Federal Research and Monitoring of Ocean Acidification is being made available for public review and comment. The Draft Research Plan presents a vision for how to move Federal agencies toward a better understanding of the process of ocean acidification, its effects on marine ecosystems, and the steps that could be taken to adapt marine resource management to account for it.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2012 total allowable catch (TAC) of northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 34 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Amendment 34 proposes to modify the income qualification requirements for the renewal of Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) commercial reef fish permits and revise the crew size regulations for dual-permitted vessels (i.e. vessels that possess both a charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish and a commercial vessel permit for Gulf reef fish) while fishing commercially. The intent of Amendment 34 is to remove permit requirements that may no longer be applicable to current commercial fishing practices and to improve vessel safety in the Gulf reef fish fishery.

Notice is hereby given that Inwater Research Group, Inc. (Responsible Party and Principal Investigator: Michael Bresette), 4160 NE. Hyline Drive, Jensen Beach, FL 34957, has been issued a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

The SEDAR Steering Committee will meet via conference call to discuss the SEDAR assessment schedule. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

On February 29, 2012, NOAA published a notice and request for comments in the Federal Register at 77 FR 12245 on the request of Lockheed Martin Corp. to extend the deep seabed hard mineral exploration licenses USA-1 and USA-4 issued under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA; 30 U.S.C. 1401-1473) and approve the amended exploration plan for those licenses. No comments were received objecting to the approval of the extension and amended exploration plan. Comments were received only from the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council (WPFMC) and the United States Department of State. The WPFMC noted that none of the fisheries under its jurisdiction were likely to be affected by any activities outlined in the extension request. The Department of State noted that international recognition of the areas covered by the licenses requires approval by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and that without accession of the United States to the Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention, the United States cannot sponsor a U.S. company at the ISA. The Department further noted that if the U.S. accedes to the LOS Convention that it would be necessary to make conforming changes to these exploration licenses. NOAA acknowledges and accepts the comments from WPFMC and the Department of State. Under its authority and in conformance with the requirements under DSHMRA and the DSHMRA regulations at 15 CFR part 970, NOAA approved the extension of both licenses for five years along with the amended exploration plan on June 1, 2012. No changes have been made to the terms, conditions or restrictions of the licenses.

In response to requests from interested parties, the Department of Commerce (``Department'') is currently conducting the 2010-2011 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on tapered roller bearings and parts thereof, finished or unfinished (``TRBs''), from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''), covering the period June 1, 2010, through May 31, 2011. We have preliminarily determined that sales have been made below normal value (``NV'') by certain companies subject to this review. If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results of this review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on entries of subject merchandise during the period of review (``POR'') for which the importer-specific assessment rates are above de minimis. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results. We will issue the final results no later than 120 days from the date of publication of this notice.