Department of Commerce 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 Partnership for Interdisciplinary Study of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) at the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring surveys.

NMFS publishes individual fishing quota (IFQ) standard prices and fee percentage for the IFQ cost recovery program in the halibut and sablefish fisheries of the North Pacific. The fee percentage for 2014 is 2.6%. This action is intended to provide holders of halibut and sablefish IFQ permits with the 2014 standard prices and fee percentage to calculate the required payment for IFQ cost recovery fees due by January 31, 2015.

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 Department of Commerce (Commerce) publishes this notice to announce the effective date of a Privacy Act System of Records entitled Commerce/Department-10, Executive Correspondence Files. The notice of proposed amendment to this system of records was published in the Federal Register on October 14, 2014.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on polyethylene terephthalate film, sheet, and strip (PET Film) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The period of review (POR) is November 1, 2012, through October 31, 2013. The review covers one producer/exporter of the subject merchandise, JBF RAK LLC (JBF). The Department preliminarily determines that sales of subject merchandise have been made below normal value by JBF. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (ACEHR or Committee), will meet on Thursday, April 9, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time and Friday, April 10, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The primary purpose of this meeting is to develop the Committee's 2015 Report on the Effectiveness of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and to review the NEHRP agency updates on their latest activities. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the NEHRP Web site at https://nehrp.gov/.

NMFS received an application from the U.S. Department of the Air Force, Headquarters 96th Air Base Wing (Air Force), Eglin Air Force Base (Eglin AFB), requesting an Incidental Harassment Authorization (Authorization) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to a Maritime Weapon Systems Evaluation Program (Maritime WSEP) within the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range in the Gulf of Mexico. Eglin AFB's activities are military readiness activities per the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2004. Per the MMPA, NMFS requests comments on its proposal to issue an Authorization to Eglin AFB to take, by harassment, two species of marine mammals during the specified activity for a period of one year.

Notice is hereby given that a major amendment to Permit No. 15324 has been issued to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Division of Wildlife Conservation, Juneau, AK (Responsible Party: Robert Small, Ph.D.).

NMFS proposes 2015 and 2016 harvest specifications, apportionments, and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management area. This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2015 and 2016 fishing years, and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the BSAI in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

This final rule implements regulations governing transshipment and international port inspection for vessels with Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) permits to fulfill recent recommendations adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The final rule expands the current prohibition on transfer at sea to include any tuna, tuna-like species, or other Atlantic HMS both at sea and in port inside the Atlantic Ocean, and prohibits the transfer of Atlantic HMS by U.S. vessels outside of the Atlantic Ocean and its surrounding seas. However, Atlantic tuna purse seine category vessels are still allowed to transfer Atlantic bluefin tuna from the catcher vessel to the receiving vessel in certain limited circumstances. Additionally, this final rule revises current regulations for U.S.-permitted vessels landing tuna, tuna-like species, or other HMS in foreign ports or making port calls in foreign ports by updating information and reporting procedures. Finally, NMFS is notifying commercial HMS permit holders with vessels 20 meters or larger of an ICCAT requirement that they provide an International Maritime Organization (IMO)/Lloyd's Registry (LR) number on their permit application by no later than January 1, 2016. The purpose of this rule is to ensure U.S. compliance with ICCAT recommendations and to facilitate implementation of international monitoring, control, and surveillance measures for Atlantic HMS fisheries.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 29 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP) (Amendment 29), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). If implemented, Amendment 29 and this rule would revise annual catch limits (ACLs) and recreational annual catch targets (ACTs) for four unassessed snapper- grouper species and three snapper-grouper species complexes based on an update to the acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule and revised ABCs for 14 snapper-grouper stocks. Additionally, this proposed rule would revise management measures for gray triggerfish in Federal waters in the South Atlantic region, including modifying minimum size limits, establishing a split commercial season, and establishing a commercial trip limit. The purpose of this rule is to revise ACLs and recreational ACTs for select snapper-grouper species using the best scientific information available, and to address concerns about inconsistent minimum size limits among states, and early harvest closures in the commercial sector for gray triggerfish.

In response to a request from BASA Joint Stock Company (``BASACO''), the Department of Commerce (``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, 2013, through July 31, 2014.\1\ On November 4, 2014, BASACO timely withdrew its request for a new shipper review. Accordingly, the Department is rescinding the new shipper review with respect to BASACO.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on circular welded non-alloy steel pipe (CWP) from the Republic of Korea (Korea).\1\ The period of review (POR) is November 1, 2012, through October 31, 2013. This review covers eight producers or exporters of the subject merchandise, Husteel Co., Ltd. (Husteel), Hyundai HYSCO (HYSCO), Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd., SeAH Steel Corporation, A-JU Besteel Co., Ltd., Kumkang Industrial Co., Ltd., Nexteel Co., Ltd., and Union Steel Co., Ltd. We preliminarily find that Husteel and HYSCO have made sales of the subject merchandise at prices below normal value. We are rescinding this review for the remaining six producers or exporters. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

On November 24, 2014, the United States Court of International Trade (``the Court'') issued final judgment in Albemarle Corp. et al. v. United States, Consol. Court No. 11-00451, sustaining the Department of Commerce's (``the Department'') final results of redetermination pursuant to remand (``Remand'').\1\ In the Remand, the Department recalculated the weighted-average dumping margin for Calgon Carbon (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.'s (``Calgon Tianjin'') using revised surrogate values for coal and fine by-products.\2\ The Department also recalculated in the Remand the dumping margin for three respondents not selected for individual examination (i.e., the separate rate)Ningxia Guanghua Cherishmet Activated Carbon Co., Ltd. (``Ningxia Guanghua'') and its affiliate Beijing Pacific Activated Carbon Products Co., Ltd. (``Beijing Pacific'') (together, ``Cherishmet''),\3\ as well as Shanxi DMD Corporation (``Shanxi DMD'').\4\

Free Atlantic Shark Identification Workshops and Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshops will be held in January, February, and March of 2015. Certain fishermen and shark dealers are required to attend a workshop to meet regulatory requirements and to maintain valid permits. Specifically, the Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop is mandatory for all federally permitted Atlantic shark dealers. The Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop is mandatory for vessel owners and operators who use bottom longline, pelagic longline, or gillnet gear, and who have also been issued shark or swordfish limited access permits. Additional free workshops will be conducted during 2015 and will be announced in a future notice.

NMFS implements accountability measures (AMs) for commercial Atlantic migratory group cobia in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. Commercial landings for Atlantic migratory group cobia, as estimated by the Science Research Director (SRD), are projected to reach the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) on December 11, 2014. Therefore, NMFS closes the commercial sector for Atlantic migratory group cobia on December 11, 2014, and it will remain closed throughout the remainder of the fishing year, through December 31, 2014. This closure is necessary to protect the resource of Atlantic migratory group cobia.

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (the Department) and the International Trade Commission (ITC), the Department is issuing countervailing duty (CVD) orders on non- oriented electrical steel (NOES) from the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan.

The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') published the Preliminary Results of the fourth administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain steel threaded rod from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') on May 28, 2014.\1\ We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on the Preliminary Results. Based upon our analysis of the comments and information received, we made changes to the margin calculations for these final results. The final dumping margins are listed below in the ``Final Results of Administrative Review'' section of this notice. The period of review (``POR'') is April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013.

NMFS proposes regulations that would revise Federal regulations regarding sport fishing guide services for Pacific halibut in International Pacific Halibut Commission Regulatory Areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska). The proposed regulations would remove the requirement that a guided sport (charter) vessel guide be on board the same vessel as a charter vessel angler to provide sport fishing guide services. This proposed rule would clarify that all sport fishing for halibut in which anglers receive assistance from a compensated guide would be managed under charter fishery regulations, and all harvest would accrue toward charter allocations. This proposed rule would align Federal regulations with State of Alaska regulations. Additional minor changes to the regulatory text pertaining to the charter halibut fishery would be required to maintain consistency in the regulations with these new definitions. This action is necessary to achieve the halibut fishery management goals of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

We, NMFS, propose to designate critical habitat for the Arctic subspecies (Phoca hispida hispida) of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We propose to designate one specific area of marine habitat in the northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas. We are soliciting comments from the public on all aspects of the proposal, including our identification and consideration of the economic, national security, and other relevant impacts of the proposed designation.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), 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 the continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

NMFS announces that the 2014 summer flounder commercial quota allocated to the State of New Jersey has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in New Jersey for the remainder of calendar year 2014, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to advise New Jersey that the quota has been harvested, and to advise Federal vessel and dealer permit holders that no Federal commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in New Jersey.

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.