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

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) South of Humbug Policy Committee (Policy Committee) for Pacific halibut will hold a working meeting, which is open to the public.

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 2013 total allowable catch (TAC) of northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to the City of San Diego to take small numbers of three species of marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to demolition and construction activities of the Children's Pool Lifeguard Station in La Jolla, California, June to December 2013.

This rule adds to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) controls on military vehicles and related items; vessels of war and related items; submersible vessels, oceanographic equipment and related items; and auxiliary and miscellaneous items that the President has determined no longer warrant control on the United States Munitions List (USML). This rule also adds to the EAR controls on items within the scope of the Munitions List (WAML) of the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement) that are not specifically identified on the USML or the Commerce Control List (CCL) but that were subject to USML jurisdiction. Finally, this rule moves certain items that were already subject to the EAR to the new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) created by this rule. This rule is being published in conjunction with the publication of a Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls rule revising USML Categories VII, VI, XX, and XIII to control those articles the President has determined warrant control in those Categories of the USML. Both rules are part of the President's Export Control Reform Initiative. The revisions in this final rule are also part of Commerce's retrospective regulatory review plan under Executive Order (EO) 13563.

On December 16, 2010, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published a Federal Register notice announcing that it was considering revising its current practice with respect to the de facto criteria \1\ examined for purposes of determining whether to grant separate rate status to individual exporters in antidumping proceedings involving non-market economy (``NME'') countries. Through that notice, the Department invited the public to comment on the current test.\2\ Numerous parties filed comments in response, addressing the Department's current practice and proposing additional criteria for the Department to consider in its analysis. The Department has determined that several of these comments warrant consideration on a case-by-case basis, as discussed below, when assessing whether a foreign producer/exporter in an NME country is sufficiently free of government control of its export activities to warrant separate rate status.\3\

The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is rescinding the administrative review of the countervailing duty order on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products (``hot-rolled steel'') from India for the period January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012.

In accordance with provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) has been issued to the U.S. Navy (Navy) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting training exercises at the Silver Strand Training Complex (SSTC) in the vicinity of San Diego Bay, California.

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.

We, NMFS, announce a 12-month finding on two petitions to list the northeastern Pacific (NEP) population of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We have completed a status review of the NEP white shark population in response to these petitions using the best available scientific and commercial data. Based on this review, we have determined that the NEP white shark population qualifies as a distinct population segment (DPS) under the ESA and does not warrant listing under the ESA. Based on the considerations described in this notice, we conclude that the NEP white shark DPS is neither in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range nor likely to become so within the foreseeable future.

In response to a request from Ngoc Ha Co. Ltd. Food Processing and Trading (``Ngoc Ha''), the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') initiated a new shipper review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen fish fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam'') covering the period August 1, 2012, through January 31, 2013.\1\ On May 23, 2013, Ngoc Ha withdrew its request for a new shipper review. Accordingly, the Department is rescinding the new shipper review with respect to Ngoc Ha.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is announcing its intent to prepare a recovery plan for Pacific eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) (eulachon) and requests information from the public. NMFS is required by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended to develop plans for the conservation and survival of federally listed species, i.e., recovery plans.

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 May 2, 2013, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the third administrative review of the antidumping duty order on 1-hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) from India.\1\ The review covers one manufacturer and exporter of the subject merchandise to the United States: Aquapharm Chemicals Pvt., Ltd. (Aquapharm). The period of review (POR) is April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012. We did not receive comments from any interested parties. Therefore, the final results do not differ from the preliminary results. We continue to find that sales of subject merchandise have not been made at prices below normal value (NV) by Aquapharm. Accordingly, we have determined to revoke the antidumping duty order, in part, with respect to HEDP produced and exported by Aquapharm.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Regulatory Amendment 19 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). If implemented, Regulatory Amendment 19 and this rule would revise the optimum yield (OY), the commercial and recreational annual catch limits (ACLs) and the recreational annual catch target (ACT) for black sea bass harvested in or from the South Atlantic exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This rule would also establish an annual prohibition on the use of black sea bass pots in the South Atlantic from November 1 through April 30. The intent of this rule is to provide socio-economic benefits to snapper-grouper fishermen and communities that utilize the snapper-grouper resource, while maintaining fishing mortality at sustainable levels according to the best scientific information available. The rule would also prevent interactions between black sea bass pot gear and whales listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) during periods of large whale migrations and during the northern right whale calving season off of the southeastern coast.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2013 total allowable catch of Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The United States Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (CS) is publishing this supplement to the Notice of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Executive Business Development Mission, 78 FR 6807, January 31, 2013, to clarify eligibility and amend the Notice to revise the dates and provide for selection of applicants on a rolling basis.