Department of Commerce April 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee (RE&EEAC) will hold a meeting on May 1, 2013. The meeting is open to the public and the room is disabled-accessible. Public seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

NMFS, upon request of Port Dolphin Energy LLC (Port Dolphin), hereby issues regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to port construction and operations at its Port Dolphin Deepwater Port in the Gulf of Mexico, over the course of five years; approximately June 2013 through May 2018. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified 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.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) from Taiwan. The period of review (POR) is September 13, 2010, through February 29, 2012. The review covers one producer/ exporter of the subject merchandise, Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (CCPC). We preliminarily find that CCPC has not sold subject merchandise at less than normal value.

On December 6, 2012, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on glycine from the People's Republic of China (PRC) \1\ in the Federal Register. We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on the preliminary results. Based upon our analysis of the comments received by the parties we have not made any changes to the antidumping duty rate assigned to the PRC-wide entity, which includes the sole company subject to this review, Baoding Mantong Fine Chemistry Co. Ltd. (Baoding Mantong), and are rescinding the review with respect to companies for which this review was initiated but had not previously received a separate rate status, for the final results.\2\

NMFS announces that it is establishing a control date of February 10, 2011, to control future access to the commercial trap sectors of the reef fish and spiny lobster fisheries operating in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the U.S. Caribbean. 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 limit the number of participants in these sectors. 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 trap sectors while the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS consider whether and how access to the commercial trap sectors of the reef fish and spiny lobster fisheries should be controlled.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a three-day meeting on to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), 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 this new information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

In response to a petition submitted by WildEarth Guardians and Friends of Animals to list the species as threatened or endangered, we, NMFS, have completed a comprehensive status review under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini). Based on the best scientific and commercial information available, including the status review report (Miller et al., 2013), and other information available since completion of the status review report, we have determined that the species is comprised of six distinct population segments (DPSs) that qualify as species under the ESA: Northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico (NW Atlantic & GOM DPS); Central and Southwest Atlantic (Central & SW Atlantic DPS); Eastern Atlantic DPS; Indo-West Pacific DPS; Central Pacific DPS; and Eastern Pacific DPS. After reviewing the best available scientific and commercial information on the DPSs, we have determined that two DPSs warrant listing as endangered, the Eastern Atlantic and Eastern Pacific DPSs; two DPSs warrant listing as threatened, the Central & SW Atlantic and Indo-West Pacific DPSs; and two DPSs do not warrant listing at this time, the NW Atlantic & GOM DPS and the Central Pacific DPS. Any protective regulations determined to be necessary and advisable for the conservation of the threatened DPSs under ESA section 4(d) would be proposed in a subsequent Federal Register announcement. Should the proposed listings be finalized, we would also designate critical habitat for the species, to the maximum extent prudent and determinable. We solicit information to assist these listing determinations, the development of proposed protective regulations, and designation of critical habitat in the event these proposed DPSs are finally listed.

This final rule implements Amendment 19 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The New England Fishery Management Council developed Amendment 19 to modify management measures that currently govern the small-mesh multispecies fishery, including the accountability measures, the year-round possession limits, and total allowable landings process. Amendment 19 was approved by NMFS on January 15, 2013.

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.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA) notice is hereby given that a document entitled, ``St. Lawrence Environment Restoration and Compensation Determination Plan and Environmental Assessment'' (RCDP) is being made available for public review. This RCDP has been approved by the State, Federal and Tribal Natural Resource Trustee agencies (the Trustees) including: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), acting on behalf of the Department of Commerce; United States Fish & Wildlife Service, acting on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U. S. Department of the Interior (USFWS/DOI); and the State of New York; and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. The Trustees act on behalf of the public under CERCLA and State law to protect and restore natural resources injured or lost as a result of releases or the threat of a release of a hazardous substance. Public Review and Comment: The publication of this notice opens the period for public comment on the RCDP. Two information public meetings will be held during the public comment period in Massena and Akwesasne, N.Y. All comments must be submitted no later than thirty (30) days after the publication date in this Federal Register. Comments may be sent electronically or in written form. Written comments may be sent to: Lisa Rosman, NOAA, Assessment and Restoration Division, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10007. Electronic comments may be sent directly to: lisa.rosman@noaa.gov. Please provide a subject line, indicating that your comments relate to restoration planning for the St. Lawrence NRDA settlements. Any comments received will become part of the administrative record and will be available to the public. Please be aware that your entire commentincluding your personal identifying informationmay be made publicly available.

NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring a portion of its 2013 commercial summer flounder quota to the Commonwealth of Virginia and to the State of New Jersey. NMFS is adjusting the quotas and announcing the revised commercial quota for each state involved.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the B season allowance of the 2013 total allowable catch of pollock for Statistical Area 610 in the GOA.

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.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) is adopting the new USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct (USPTO Rules), which are based on the American Bar Association's (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct (ABA Model Rules), which were published in 1983, substantially revised in 2003 and updated through 2012. The Office has also revised the existing procedural rules governing disciplinary investigations and proceedings. These changes will enable the Office to better protect the public while also providing practitioners with substantially uniform disciplinary rules across multiple jurisdictions.

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's Office of Naval Research (ONR) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting Acoustic Technology Experiments (ATE) in the western North Pacific Ocean. The Navy's activities are considered military readiness activities pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (NDAA). Pursuant to the MMPA, NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to ONR to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, 34 species of marine mammals during the specified activity.

In accordance with section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''), the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is automatically initiating five-year reviews (``Sunset Reviews'') of the antidumping duty orders listed below. The International Trade Commission (``the Commission'') is publishing concurrently with this notice its notice of Institution of Five-Year Review which covers the same orders.