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

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Advisory Panel on November 13, 2013 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold meetings.

NMFS reopens the 2013 commercial sector for gray triggerfish in the South Atlantic exclusive economic zone (EEZ). NMFS previously determined the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) for gray triggerfish had been reached, and closed the commercial sector for gray triggerfish at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 7, 2013. However, updated landings estimates indicate the commercial ACL for gray triggerfish has not been reached at this time. Therefore, NMFS is reopening the commercial sector for gray triggerfish in the South Atlantic EEZ at 12:01 a.m., local time, on October 28, 2013, and it will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 14, 2013. The intended effect of this temporary rule is to maximize harvest benefits for the commercial sector for gray triggerfish.

On June 14, 2013, NOAA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to revise the regulations for the boundary of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (78 FR 35776). On August 15, NOAA re-opened the comment period until October 18, 2013 (78 FR 49700). This notice re-opens the public comment period stated in the June 14, 2013 proposed rule until November 27, 2013.

Pursuant to its emergency authority, NMFS extends and revises an emergency action that temporarily suspended and modified monkfish landing limits for vessels issued a Federal limited access monkfish Category C or D fishing under a Northeast multispecies day-at-sea, or both a Northeast multispecies and monkfish day-at-sea, in the monkfish Northern Fishery Management Area. This action is necessary to help mitigate expected adverse economic and social harm resulting from substantial reductions to the 2013 annual catch limits for several stocks managed under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The intent is to provide additional fishing opportunities for vessels affected by recent reductions to Northeast multispecies annual catch limits, without resulting in overfishing monkfish within the Northern or Southern Fishery Management Areas.

The Manufacturing Council will hold a meeting to discuss the work the Council will focus on for the remainder of its term. At the meeting, the Council will hear updates from its four subcommittees on workforce development and public perception of manufacturing; manufacturing energy policy; tax policy and export growth; and innovation, research and development. The Council will discuss current workforce development efforts by the federal government, the importance of alternative energy technologies for manufacturers, the effects of current tax policies on manufacturers, and the importance of continued research and development for the manufacturing industry. A final agenda will be available on the Council's Web site one week prior to the meeting. The Council was re-chartered on April 5, 2012, to advise the Secretary of Commerce on government programs and policies that affect U.S. manufacturing and provide a means of ensuring regular contact between the U.S. Government and the manufacturing sector.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks comments on draft NISTIR 7628 Rev. 1, Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security. Draft NISTIR 7628 Rev. 1 was completed by the NIST-led Smart Grid Cybersecurity Committee (formerly the Cyber Security Working Group) of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel. The document has been updated to address changes in technologies and implementations since the release of NISTIR 7628 in September 2010. In addition, the document development strategy, cryptography and key management, privacy, vulnerability classes, research and development topics, standards review, and key power system use cases have been updated and expanded to reflect changes in the Smart Grid environment since 2010. The final version is expected to be posted in the fall of 2013.

NOAA has typically updated tidal datum elevations for the nation to new National Tidal Datum Epoch (NTDE) time periods every 20- 25 years. Updates are necessary due to long-term sea level change. In 1998, NOS recognized the need for a modified procedure for determination of tidal datums for regions with anomalously high rates of relative sea level change. This modified procedure is necessary at selected stations to ensure that the tidal datums accurately represent the existing stand of sea level. The procedure is limited only to those stations in areas with high rates of vertical land motion that have documented anomalous relative sea level trends exceeding 9.0 millimeters per year. Sea level analyses in these anomalous regions are conducted approximately every 5 years to determine if the mean sea level difference exceeds the established threshold tolerances in order to qualify for a special update. Anomalous relative sea level trends are seen along the western Gulf Coast, southeast Alaska, and southern Cook Inlet, AK. For example, the magnitude of the sea level trends in these areas is +9.24 millimeters per year in Grand Isle, LA; -12.92 millimeters per year in Juneau, AK; and -9.45 millimeters per year in Seldovia, AK. This procedure is necessary to provide the most accurate information available for applications that are essential to supporting Federal, State and private sector coastal zone activities, including hydrographic surveys and coastal mapping, navigational safety, wetland restoration, marine boundary determinations, coastal engineering, storm warnings and hazard mitigation, emergency management, and hydrodynamic modeling. While maintaining the 19 year NTDE computational period for tidal mean range and diurnal range, a shorter more recent 5 year computational period is used to compute the mean tide level datums to better reflect the current elevation of mean sea level relative to the land. Consequently, tidal datums at stations exhibiting anomalous trends are computed from mean sea level, diurnal tide level and mean tide level values for the most recent 5 year time period, and tidal ranges (GT and MN) based on the most recent full 19 year NTDE at stations. The average absolute difference between 19 year NTDE time periods across the nation of 0.03 meters (0.10 foot) is generally used as the threshold difference to warrant consideration of a 19 year NTDE update, and a 20-25 year review cycle has been adequate to capture the changes of 0.03-0.04 meters for most locations. To meet this target at locations with anomalous rates of sea level change, tidal datum elevation updates must occur more frequently. In general, the vertical changes in datum elevations which result from these more frequent special tidal datum updates every 5 years are kept as close to the 0.03 meters (0.10 foot) to 0.05 meter target as possible. In comparison to the overall accuracy of hydrographic- cartographic processes and scale and resolution and accuracy of soundings on the NOAA nautical charts, these elevations changes will not necessitate a correction or update to the charts every time a datum update is issued. However, in regions that have experienced rapid land movement, the changes to actual soundings and shoreline depiction may need to be updated on the next regularly scheduled chart edition. Although depictions of the datum changes will not be evident on the largest scale NOAA nautical charts, the datum changes will be noticeable when establishing or re-occupying tide stations using accepted surveying techniques and updating elevations on tidal bench marks provided by NOAA. Appropriate outreach will be conducted per office guidelines prior to performing each update.

We (NMFS) announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list 23 species of corals as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted for 3 species: Cantharellus noumeae, Siderastrea glynni, and Tubastraea floreana. Therefore, we will conduct status reviews of the three species to determine if the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that the status reviews are comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information pertaining to these petitioned species from any interested party. We find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted for 20 species: Acropora roseni, Acropora suharsonoi, Alveopora excelsa, Alveopora minuta, Ctenella chagius, Hydnophora bonsai, Isopora togianensis, Lithophyllon ranjithi, Lobophyllia serratus, Millepora boschmai, Millepora striata, Montipora setosa, Parasimplastrea sheppardi, Pectinia maxima, Pocillopora fungiformis, Porites desilveri, Porites eridani, Porites ornata, Rhizopsammia wellingtoni, and Stylophora madagascarensis.

NMFS, upon application from the City of Seattle's Department of Transportation (SDOT), is issuing regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to construction associated with the replacement of the Elliott Bay Seawall in Seattle, Washington, for the period October 2013 to October 2018. These regulations allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOAs) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified timeframes, and 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 any takings.

Effective 1200 hr, October 24, 2013, federally permitted vessels may not fish for, catch, possess, transfer, or land more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring (herring) per trip or calendar day in or from Management Area 3 until January 1, 2014, when the 2014 allocation for Area 3 becomes available. This action is required because NMFS projects that 92 percent of the catch limit for that area was caught as of October 18, 2013. Vessels that have entered port before 1200 hr, October 24, 2013, may possess, offload, and sell more than 2,000 lb of herring from Area 3, from that trip. Also effective 1200 hr, October 24, 2013, federally permitted dealers may not receive more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring caught within Management Area 3 per trip or calendar day, unless it is from a trip landed by a vessel that entered port before 1200 hr, October 24, 2013.

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), propose a rule to designate and authorize the release of a nonessential experimental population (NEP) of Upper Columbia River spring-run (UCR) Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the Okanogan River subbasin, and to establish a limited set of take prohibitions for the NEP. Under the proposed rule, the geographic boundary for the NEP would be the mainstem and all tributaries of the Okanogan River between the Canada- United States border and to the confluence of the Okanogan River with the Columbia River, Washington (hereafter ``Okanogan River NEP Area''). We have prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) on this proposed action. We seek comment on both this proposed rule and the EA (see ADDRESSES section below).

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the countervailing duty order on certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks (kitchen racks) from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The period of review (POR) is January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2011. We preliminarily determine that New King Shan (Zhu Hai) Co., Ltd. (NKS) received countervailable subsidies during the POR. We are also rescinding this review for Jiangsu Weixi Group Co. (Weixi).

The Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) will hold a Special Meeting via telephone conference (teleconference) on October 25, 2013.

Effective October 1, 2013, the Department of Commerce (Department), through internal department organizational orders, changed the name of ``Import Administration'' to ``Enforcement and Compliance.'' Consistent with this action, this rule makes appropriate conforming changes in the Code of Federal Regulations. The rule also sets forth a Savings Provision that preserves, under the new name, all actions taken under the name of Import Administration and provides that any references to Import Administration in any document or other communication shall be deemed to be references to Enforcement and Compliance.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of the Ad Hoc Red Snapper Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Advisory Panel.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Habitat AP in St. Petersburg, FL. The meeting is open to the public.

The Office of Competition and Economic Analysis (``OCEA'') of the International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, has received an application to amend an Export Trade Certificate of Review (``Certificate''). This notice summarizes the proposed amendment and requests comments relevant to whether the amended Certificate should be issued.