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

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

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') has determined that a request for a new shipper review (``NSR'') of the antidumping duty order on multilayered wood flooring from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') meets the statutory and regulatory requirements for initiation. The period of review (``POR'') for this NSR is May 26, 2011, through May 31, 2012.

This final rule implements the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (Commission) Recommendation 11-02, which maintains the U.S. North Atlantic swordfish base quota allocation, reduces the annual underharvest carryover from 50 to 25 percent of the base quota, establishes an quota transfer to Morocco for 2012 and 2013, and includes an alternative swordfish minimum size of 25-inches cleithrum to caudal keel (CK). This final rule also implements Recommendation 09-03 for South Atlantic swordfish. It also allows fishermen to remove the bill of the swordfish while still meeting the ``head-naturally-attached'' requirement for measuring swordfish using the lower jaw fork length minimum size, modifies and clarifies regulations regarding swordfish fishery season closures and the North Atlantic swordfish quota reserve category, and adjusts the North and South Atlantic swordfish quotas for the 2012 fishing year to account for 2011 underharvests and landings. This final rule could affect commercial and recreational fishermen who are fishing for swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issues this final rule amending the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan (BDTRP) and its implementing regulations by permanently continuing nighttime fishing restrictions of medium mesh gillnets operating in North Carolina coastal state waters from November 1 through April 30. Members of the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Team (Team) recommended these regulations be continued permanently, without modification, to ensure that BDTRP goals are met through continued conservation of strategic bottlenose dolphin stocks in North Carolina, which have historically high serious injury and mortality rates associated with medium mesh gillnets. NMFS also amends the BDTRP with updates, including updates recommended by the Team for non-regulatory conservation measures.

This notice sets forth a request for input from U.S. businesses capable of exporting their goods or services relevant to (a) groundwater remediation; (b) mercury emissions control from power plants; (c) emissions control from large marine diesel engines; and (d) nutrient removal from municipal wastewater. The Department of Commerce is developing a web-based U.S. Environmental Solutions Toolkit to be used by foreign environmental officials and foreign end-users of environmental technologies that will outline U.S. approaches to a series of environmental problems and highlight participating U.S. vendors of relevant U.S. technologies. The Toolkit will support the President's National Export Initiative by fostering export opportunities for the U.S. environmental industry, as well as advancing global environmental protection.

On June 28, 2011, NMFS published a proposed rule that considered requiring, among other things, Federal Atlantic swordfish, shark, and tunas dealers (except for dealers reporting Atlantic bluefin tuna) to report commercially-harvested Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack (BAYS) tunas through one centralized electronic reporting system. This electronic reporting system will allow dealers to submit Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and BAYS tuna data on a more real-time basis and more efficiently, which will reduce duplicative data submissions from different regions. We proposed to delay the effective date of the electronic reporting requirements until 2013 in order to give sufficient time for dealers to adjust to implementation of the new system and the additional requirements. On June 29, 2012, we announced the date and location for nine upcoming workshops in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic area to introduce the new reporting system to Highly Migratory Species (HMS) dealers. In this notice, we announce the date and location for an additional training workshop in the Caribbean.

NMFS apportions amounts of the non-specified reserve to the initial total allowable catch of arrowtooth flounder in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to allow the fisheries to continue operating. It is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area.

On January 3, 2012, the Department of Commerce (''the Department'') initiated the third sunset reviews of the antidumping duty (``AD'') orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products (``CORE'') from Germany and the Republic of Korea (``Korea'') pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). On April 20, 2012, the Department revised its original adequacy determination and determined to conduct full sunset reviews of the AD orders on CORE from Germany and Korea as provided for in section 751(c)(5)(A) of the Act and in 19 CFR 351.218(e)(2), and extended the deadlines for the preliminary and final results.\1\ As a result of its analysis, the Department preliminarily finds that revocation of these AD orders would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping at the margins indicated in the ``Preliminary Results of Review'' section of this notice.

NMFS publishes a notification of a zero (0) percent fee for cost recovery under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program. This action is intended to provide holders of crab allocations with the fee percentage for the 2012/2013 crab fishing year.

Notice is hereby given that a permit has been issued to John Calambokidis, Cascadia Research Collective, Waterstreet Building, 218\1/2\ West Fourth Avenue, Olympia, WA 89501 to conduct research on marine mammals.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and its Strategic Planning Working Group, its Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Committee, and its Executive Committee will hold public meetings.

The Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) warrants further consideration. The application was submitted by members of the Pacific sardine fishing industry who request an exemption from seasonal closures of the directed fishery to conduct a survey designed to estimate the population size of Pacific sardine. NMFS requests public comment on the application.

NMFS publishes this final rule to revise the limits on the number of swordfish that fishermen may possess or land during any given Hawaii-based deep-set longline-fishing trip north of the Equator. This rule also revises the definition of deep-set longline fishing to be consistent with the swordfish retention limits. The rule intends to reduce regulatory discards and optimize the yield of swordfish.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is further 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. NMFS published a revision on June 13, 2012, extending the comment period to August 21, 2012. With this notice, NMFS is extending the comment period to October 21, 2012. Additionally, this action corrects Release of confidential information, in which the paragraphs were incorrectly numbered.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) will hold a trawl catch share program gear workshop (workshop), which is open to the public.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is publishing proposed examination guidelines concerning the first-inventor-to-file (FITF) provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). The AIA amends the patent laws pertaining to the conditions of patentability to convert the United States patent system from a ``first to invent'' system to a ``first inventor to file'' system, treats United States patents and United States patent application publications as prior art as of their earliest effective United States, foreign, or international filing date, eliminates the requirement that a prior public use or sale activity be ``in this country'' to be a prior art activity, and treats commonly owned or joint research agreement patents and patent application publications as being by the same inventive entity for purposes of novelty, as well as nonobviousness. The changes to the conditions of patentability in the AIA result in greater transparency, objectivity, predictability, and simplicity in patentability determinations. These guidelines will assist Office personnel in, and inform the public of how the Office is, implementing the FITF provisions of the AIA. The Office is concurrently proposing in a separate action (RIN 0651-AC77) published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register to amend the rules of practice in patent cases to implement the FITF provisions of the AIA.

In December 2009, the Governments of the United States and Turkey agreed to establish a U.S.-Turkey Business Council. This notice announces membership opportunities for appointment as American representatives to the U.S. Section of the Council. The current U.S. Section term will expire on September 24, 2012.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's Advisory Panel will hold a meeting.

This notice sets forth the schedule of a forthcoming meeting of the DoC NOAA National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC). Time and Date: The meeting will be held Wednesday, August 15, 2012 from 3:00-5:00 p.m. Eastern time. Place: This meeting will be a conference call. Public access will be available at the office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, Conference Room A, Suite 250, 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20006. Please check the National Climate Assessment Web site for additional information at https://www.globalchange.gov/what-we-do/ assessment. Status: The meeting will be open to public participation with a 10- minute public comment period from 4:45-4:55 p.m. The NCADAC expects that public statements presented at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously submitted verbal or written statements. In general, each individual or group making a verbal presentation will be limited to a total time of two minutes. Written comments should be received in the NCADAC Designated Federal Officials (DFO) office by Friday, August 10, 2012, to provide sufficient time for NCADAC review. Written comments received by the NCADAC DFO after Friday, August 10, 2012, will be distributed to the NCADAC, but may not be reviewed prior to the meeting date. Special Accommodations: These meetings are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for special accommodations may be directed no later than 12 p.m. on Friday, August 10, 2012, to Dr. Cynthia Decker, SAB Executive Director, SSMC3, Room 11230, 1315 East- West Hwy., Silver Spring, MD 20910. Matters To Be Considered: Please refer to the Web page https:// www.nesdis.noaa.gov/NCADAC/ for the most up-to-date meeting agenda, when available.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. app., notice is hereby given that the Panel of Judges of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will meet on Wednesday, August 29, 2012. The Panel of Judges is composed of twelve members prominent in the fields of quality, innovation, and performance management and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, assembled to advise the Secretary of Commerce on the conduct of the Baldrige Award. The purpose of this meeting is to review applicant consensus scores and select applicants for site visit review. The applications under review by Judges contain trade secrets and proprietary commercial information submitted to the Government in confidence.