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

The Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Award) will meet in closed session on Wednesday, August 28, 2013, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Eastern time. The purpose of this meeting is to review the results of examiners' scoring of written applications. Panel members will vote on which applicants merit site visits by examiners to verify the accuracy of quality improvements claimed by applicants.

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), propose to designate critical habitat for three species of rockfish listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), including the threatened Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus), the threatened DPS of canary rockfish (S. pinniger), and the endangered DPS of bocaccio (S. paucispinus) (listed rockfish). The specific areas proposed for designation for canary rockfish and bocaccio include approximately 1,184.75 sq mi (3,068.5 sq km) of marine habitat in Puget Sound, Washington. The specific areas proposed for designation for yelloweye rockfish include approximately 574.75 sq mi (1,488.6 sq km) of marine habitat in Puget Sound, Washington. We propose to exclude some particular areas from designation because the benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of inclusion and exclusion of those areas will not result in the extinction of the species. We are soliciting comments from the public on all aspects of the proposal, including information on the economic, national security, and other relevant impacts of the proposed designations, as well as the benefits to the species from designations. We will consider additional information received prior to making final designations.

On April 2, 2013, the Department of Commerce (``Department'') initiated the second sunset review of the countervailing duty order on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, sheet, and strip (``PET film'') from India. The Department finds that revocation of this countervailing duty order (CVD'') would be likely to lead to the continuation or recurrence of net countervailable subsidies at the rates in the ``Final Results of Review'' section of this notice.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. (Shell) to take, by harassment, small numbers of 13 species of marine mammals incidental to a marine survey program in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska, during the 2013 Arctic open-water season. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to Shell to take, by Level B harassment, 13 species of marine mammals during the specified activity.

NMFS implements accountability measures (AMs) for commercial snowy grouper in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. Commercial landings for snowy grouper, as estimated by the Science and Research Director (SRD), are projected to reach the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) (commercial quota) on August 10, 2013. Therefore, NMFS closes the commercial sector for snowy grouper in the South Atlantic EEZ on August 10, 2013, and it will remain closed until the start of the next fishing season, January 1, 2014. This closure is necessary to protect the snowy grouper resource.

NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), is publishing this supplemental NOI to provide notice to the public of the broadened scope of Amendment 22 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery in the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 22) and to solicit public comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the DEIS. The Council modified Amendment 22 to include all snapper-grouper species with low annual catch limits (ACLs), not just red snapper, in a harvest tag program. The intent of Amendment 22 is to closely control recreational harvest of snapper-grouper species with low ACLs.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement management measures described in a framework action to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP), as prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule revises the vermilion snapper recreational bag limit, revises the yellowtail snapper stock annual catch limit (ACL), and removes the requirement for reef fish vessels to have onboard and use a venting tool when releasing reef fish. The purpose of this rule is to help achieve optimum yield (OY) and prevent overfishing of vermilion and yellowtail snapper, reduce the unnecessary burden to fishers associated with venting reef fish, and minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Administrator), has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit Application contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would exempt participating commercial fishing vessels from the escape vent, trap limits, and trap tag requirements of the Federal lobster regulations in order to help determine the abundance and distribution of juvenile American lobsters at the Massachusetts and Rhode Island offshore wind farm area. The research is being conducted by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

This notice advises the public that the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene meetings of the Northern Mariana Islands Regional Ecosystem Advisory Committee (REAC) in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Department of Commerce's Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration has renewed the charter for the National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC) for a period of time that is either 90 days after the government's Third National Climate Assessment is released to the public or two years from the date of the filing of the charter with the appropriate U.S. Senate and House of Representatives oversight committees, which ever date is earlier. The NCADAC is a federal advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463).

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') is modifying its regulation which states that the Department normally will use the price that a nonmarket economy (``NME'') producer pays to a market economy supplier when a factor of production is purchased from a market economy supplier and paid for in market economy currency, in the calculation of normal value (``NV'') in antidumping proceedings involving NME countries. The rule establishes a requirement that the input at issue be produced in one or more market economy countries, and a revised threshold requiring that ``substantially all'' (i.e., 85 percent) of an input be purchased from one or more market economy suppliers before the Department uses the purchase price paid to value the entire factor of production. The Department is making this change because it finds that a market economy input price is not the best available information for valuing all purchases of that input when market economy purchases of an input do not account for substantially all purchases of the input.

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 (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on solid urea from the Russian Federation (Russia). The period of review (POR) is July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012. The review covers one producer/exporter of the subject merchandise, MCC EuroChem (EuroChem). We preliminarily find that EuroChem has not sold subject merchandise at less than normal value during the POR.

The Department of Commerce (Department) is amending the final results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on diamond sawblades and parts thereof (diamond sawblades) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) to correct certain ministerial errors.\1\ In addition, the Department is correcting the assessment language published in the Final Results. The period of review (POR) is November 1, 2010, through October 23, 2011.

In the proposed rule that we, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), published on July 18, 2013, to designate critical habitat for the loggerhead sea turtle Northwest Atlantic Ocean Distinct Population Segment (DPS) and make a determination regarding critical habitat for the loggerhead sea turtle in the North Pacific Ocean DPS, a map was omitted. This document corrects that oversight and adds the map LOGG-N-17. All other information in the July 18, 2013 document remains unchanged.