Department of Commerce January 27, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

At the request of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, this notice announces a control date that may be applicable, but not limited to, limiting the number of permits or traps a business entity may own in Lobster Conservation Management Area 3 or in any of the Lobster Conservation Management Areas. NMFS intends this notice to promote awareness of possible rulemaking, alert interested parties of potential eligibility criteria for future access, and discourage speculative entry into and/or investment in the American lobster fishery while the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and NMFS consider if and how participation in the American lobster fishery should be controlled.

In response to a petition submitted by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation to include the killer whale ``Lolita'' as a protected member of the endangered Southern Resident killer whale Distinct Population Segment (DPS), we, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), have completed a status review and propose to amend the regulatory language of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of the DPS by removing the exclusion for captive members of the population. The current regulatory language excluded Lolita, the sole member of the Southern Resident killer whale DPS held in captivity, from the endangered listing. With removal of the exclusion, Lolita, a female killer whale captured from the Southern Resident population in 1970 who resides at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, Florida, would be included in the Southern Resident killer whale DPS. The Southern Resident killer whale DPS was listed as endangered under the ESA in 2005. We accepted the petition to include Lolita in the Southern Resident killer whale DPS on April 29, 2013, initiating a public comment period and a status review. Based on our review of the petition, public comments, and the best available scientific information, we find that amending the regulatory language to remove the exclusion for captive whales from the Southern Resident Killer whale DPS is warranted. We are soliciting scientific and commercial information pertaining to the proposed rule.

On July 8, 2013, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the 25th administrative review and two new shipper reviews (NSRs) of the antidumping duty order on tapered roller bearings and parts thereof, finished and unfinished (TRBs), from the People's Republic of China (PRC).\1\ The period of review (POR) is June 1, 2011, through May 31, 2012. Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made certain changes in the margin calculations. Therefore, the final results differ from the preliminary results. The final weighted-average dumping margins for the reviewed firms are listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of the Review.''

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on multilayered wood flooring (wood flooring) from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The period of review (POR) is April 6, 2011, through December 31, 2011. This review covers multiple exporters/producers, two of which are being individually reviewed as mandatory respondents, and another is being individually reviewed as a voluntary respondent. We preliminarily find that the mandatory respondents, Armstrong Wood Products (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. (Armstrong) and The Lizhong Wood Industry Limited Company of Shanghai (Lizhong) (also known as, ``Shanghai Lizhong Wood Products Co., Ltd.''), as well as the voluntary respondent, Fine Furniture (Shanghai) Limited (Fine Furniture), received countervailable subsidies during the POR. The mandatory respondents' CVD rates have been used to calculate the rate applied to the other firms subject to this review. The Department also intends to rescind the review of one company, Changzhou Hawd Flooring Co., Ltd., that timely certified that it had no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. Interested parties are invited to comments on these preliminary results.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amounts of the Aleut Corporation's and the Community Development Quota pollock directed fishing allowances from the Aleutian Islands subarea to the Bering Sea subarea directed fisheries. These actions are necessary to provide opportunity for harvest of the 2014 total allowable catch of pollock, consistent with the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area.

The Oculina Experimental Closed Area Evaluation Team will discuss the Oculina Experimental Closed Area via webinar and a series of breakout sessions. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.