Department of Commerce April 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS has received an application from BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (BP) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting a shallow geohazard survey in Foggy Island Bay, Beaufort Sea, Alaska, during the 2014 open water season. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to BP to incidentally take, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during the specified activity.

Notice is hereby given that Tamara McGuire, LGL Alaska Research Associates, Inc., 2000 W International Airport Rd, Suite C1, Anchorage, AK 99502, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on Cook Inlet beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas).

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces its intent to terminate the Organic Production and Processing sub-program offered by NIST's National Voluntary Conformity Assessment Systems Evaluation (NVCASE) program, effective January 1, 2016. NIST requests written comments on the intended termination of the Organic Production and Processing sub-program offered by NVCASE, and announces a 30-day comment period for that purpose. Persons desiring to comment on the proposed termination must submit their comments in writing to the address provided in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

The Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES) will meet May 15, 2014.

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 BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (BP) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting an ocean-bottom sensor seismic survey in Prudhoe Bay, Beaufort Sea, Alaska, during the 2014 open water season. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to BP to incidentally take, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during the specified activity.

We, NMFS, announce revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to clarify and update the descriptions of species under NMFS' jurisdiction that are currently listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Revisions include format changes to our lists of threatened and endangered species, revisions to regulatory language explaining our lists, updates to the descriptions of certain listed West Coast salmonid species to add or remove hatchery stocks consistent with our recently completed 5- year reviews under ESA section 4(c)(2), and corrections to regulatory text to fix inadvertent errors from previous rulemakings, update cross- references, and provide consistent language. We are not adding or removing any species to or from our lists, changing the status of any listed species, or adding or revising any critical habitat designation.

NMFS announces the availability of the ``Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Hawaiian monk seal Recovery Actions.'' Publication of this notice begins the official public comment period for the Final PEIS. The purpose of the Final PEIS is to evaluate, in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts on the human environment from implementing the alternative approaches for funding, undertaking, and permitting research and enhancement activities on Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi).

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 Manufacturing Council will hold a meeting on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, to discuss and deliberate on proposed recommendations addressing workforce development best practices; strategies to address misconceptions of manufacturing careers; innovation, research and development in manufacturing; and manufacturing energy policy. The Council will also hear an update from its subcommittee on tax policy and export growth. Additionally, the Council will receive updates from representatives of the U.S. government on the manufacturing initiatives taking place across federal agencies. A final agenda will be available on the Council's Web site one week prior to the meeting. The Council advises 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.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, we hereby give notification that the National Marine Fisheries Service has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (Authorization) to St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society (Society), to take by harassment incidental to conducting aircraft operations, lighthouse renovation, and light maintenance activities on the St. George Reef Light Station on Northwest Seal Rock in the northeast Pacific Ocean.

NMFS closes the southern area Angling category fishery for large medium and giant (``trophy'' (i.e., measuring 73 inches curved fork length or greater)) Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT). This action is being taken to prevent any further overharvest of the Angling category southern area trophy BFT subquota.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) will hold a meeting of Golden Crab Advisory Panel (AP), in Dania Beach, FL.

On November 19, 2013, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published its preliminary determination of sales at less than fair value (LTFV) in the antidumping duty investigation of diffusion-annealed, nickel-plated flat-rolled steel products (certain nickel-plated, flat-rolled steel) from Japan.\1\ The Department invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination. Based on the Department's analysis of the comments received, the Department made changes to the Preliminary Determination. The Department determines that certain nickel-plated, flat-rolled steel from Japan is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at LTFV, as provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The final weighted-average dumping margins are listed in the ``Final Determination'' section below.

NMFS implements accountability measures (AMs) for the commercial sector for vermilion snapper in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. Commercial landings for vermilion snapper, as estimated by the Science Research Director (SRD), are projected to reach the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) for the January 1 through June 30, 2014, fishing period on April 19, 2014. Therefore, NMFS closes the commercial sector for vermilion snapper in the South Atlantic EEZ on April 19, 2014, and it will remain closed until the start of the July 1 through December 31, 2014, fishing period. This closure is necessary to protect the vermilion snapper resource.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement a Generic Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and South Atlantic Regions (Generic Dealer Amendment). The Generic Dealer Amendment amends the following FMPs: Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf, Red Drum Fishery of the Gulf, Snapper-Grouper Fishery (including wreckfish) of the South Atlantic Region, Golden Crab Fishery of the South Atlantic Region, Shrimp Fishery (excluding penaeid shrimp) of the South Atlantic Region, Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic, Coastal Migratory Pelagic (CMP) Resources of the Gulf and South Atlantic, and Spiny Lobster Fishery of the Gulf and South Atlantic, as prepared by the Gulf and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils (Councils). This final rule modifies the permitting and reporting requirements for seafood dealers who first receive species managed by the Councils through the previously mentioned FMPs. These revisions create a single dealer permit for dealers who first receive fish managed by the Councils, require both purchase and non-purchase reports to be submitted online on a weekly basis, prohibit dealers from first receiving fish from federally permitted vessels if they are delinquent in submitting reports, and change the sale and purchase provisions based on the new dealer permitting requirements. This rule also adds regulatory language to clarify the bag limit for private recreational vessels when a trip exceeds one calendar day. The purpose of this rule is to obtain timelier purchase information from dealers to better monitor annual catch limits (ACLs) and achieve optimum yield (OY) in accordance with the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

On March 17, 2014, NMFS announced notice of a proposed issuance of an Incidental Harassment Authorization (Authorization) to the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory in collaboration with the National Science Foundation, to take marine mammals, by harassment incidental to conducting a marine geophysical (seismic) survey in the northwest Atlantic Ocean May through August, 2014. The Federal Register notice indicated that written comments were due by April 16, 2014. However, in response to a request to extend the public comment period, NMFS has decided to extend the public comment period by an additional 30 calendar days.

Notice is hereby given the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), Division of Wildlife Conservation, Juneau, AK (Principal Investigator: Lori Quakenbush), has applied for an amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 14610-02.

We are closing the Georges Bank cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area for the remainder of Trimester 3, through April 30, 2014. Based on our projection, the common pool fishery has caught 97 percent of its Georges Bank cod Trimester 3 total allowable catch, triggering the regulatory requirement to close that area for the remainder of the trimester. This action is intended to prevent an overage of the common pool's Georges Bank cod quota. Because the common pool catch of Georges Bank cod is not limited to the Georges Bank cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area, we are reducing the common pool possession and trip limit for the Georges Bank cod stock to zero, in order to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's fishing year 2013 allocation of Georges Bank cod. We are also increasing the common pool possession and trip limit for Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder to allow the common pool fishery to catch more of its quota for that stock.

NMFS is issuing regulations under the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, as amended, to implement decisions of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). At its eighty-fifth meeting in June 2013, the IATTC adopted a number of resolutions, some of which require rulemaking to implement domestic regulations in the United States. This final rule implements one of these decisions: the Resolution on a Multiannual Program for the Conservation of Tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean during 2014-2016 (Resolution C-13-01). This final rule extends the effective period of the regulations in the IATTC Convention Area that expired at the end of 2013 and provides purse seine owners with greater flexibility by allowing for an exemption during the closure periods due to force majeure. The expired regulations included a 500-metric ton bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) calendar year catch limit applicable to longline vessels greater than 24 meters in overall length and a 62-day closure period applicable each year to purse seine vessels of class size 4 to 6 (greater than 182 metric tons). The final rule also includes an exemption to the purse seine closures due to force majeure. Implementation of Resolution C-13-01 is necessary for the United States to satisfy its obligations as a member of the IATTC.

With this final rule, NMFS implements new Federal American lobster regulations that will control lobster trap fishing effort by limiting access into the lobster trap fishery in two Lobster Conservation Management Areas. Additionally, this action will implement an individual transferable trap program in three Lobster Conservation Management Areas. The trap transfer program will allow Federal lobster permit holders to buy and sell all or part of a permit's trap allocation, subject to certain restrictions. The limited entry and trap transfer programs respond to recommendations for Federal action in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') hereby publishes a list of scope rulings and anticircumvention determinations made between October 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013. We intend to publish future lists after the close of the next calendar quarter.