Department of Commerce January 29, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS reviewed the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs) in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act. SARs for marine mammals in the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regions were revised according to new information. NMFS solicits public comments on the draft 2014 SARs.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce, in a cooperative partnership with the National Football League (NFL), the General Electric Company (GE) and Under Armour, Inc. (UA), is conducting a prize competition funding initiative to support the discovery, design and deployment of materials that improve the protection of athletes, members of the military, and society overall. The Head Health Advanced Materials Prize Competition (Head Health Challenge III, Challenge III, or Competition) is being conducted to broadly advance the science of materials for impact protection, as well as measurements and standards for assessing the performance of such materials. These advances are essential for the health of athletes of every age, and they will have a broad positive impact on the range of activities and occupations in our society that require protective gear. It is hoped that Head Health Challenge III will stimulate engagement with diverse science and technology communities across industry, academia and government (e.g. automotive, aerospace, light-weighting, and physical security) that can realize innovative approaches to this problem. Efforts to speed diagnosis and improve prevention, protection and treatment for mild traumatic brain injury hold promise for improved safety of athletes, members of the military and the American public. The NFL, GE and UA share a commitment to the importance of research and technology development to better understand, diagnose, prevent and protect against brain injury, as reflected in collaborations, including the Head Health Initiative. In this context, the development of energy- absorbing materials is highly aligned with the broader efforts of NIST under the President's Materials Genome Initiative, aimed at accelerating innovation in advanced materials to address critical national needs, and in keeping with NIST's mission. Previous Head Health Challenge collaborations by the NFL, GE and UA have addressed the detection and management of mild traumatic brain injuries, focused on discovering imaging and algorithms to better detect and analyze subtle changes in the brain (Head Health Challenge I: Methods for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries), and on novel technologies, system designs, or materials that can quantify head impact in real time, detect, track or monitor biologic or physiological indicators of traumatic brain injury, protect the brain from traumatic injury, mitigate or prevent short or long-term consequences of brain trauma, and assist in training to prevent traumatic brain injury (Head Health Challenge II: Innovative Approaches For Preventing And Identifying Brain Injuries). Information on Head Health Challenges I and II may be found at www.HeadHealthChallenge.com. The National Football League, Under Armour, GE and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have established a joint effort to advance the state-of-the-art in advanced materials for impact mitigation. The objective of Challenge III is to stimulate the development of a range of materials that provide excellent energy absorbing and energy dissipating properties. The NFL, Under Armour, GE and NIST look forward to receiving submissions consistent with the listed specifications that will aid in advancing safety and protection for athletes, the warfighter, and civilians.

On June 27, 2014, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published in the Federal Register a notice of initiation of an administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on aluminum extrusions from the People's Republic of China (PRC), based on multiple timely requests for an administrative review.\1\ The review covers 155 companies. Based on the timely withdrawal of the requests for review of certain companies, we are now rescinding this administrative review with respect to the 116 companies identified in the Appendix to this notice.\2\

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an IHA to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Polar Programs, and Antarctic Support Contract (ASC) on behalf of Louisiana State University, to take marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to conducting a low-energy marine geophysical (seismic) survey in the Ross Sea, January to February 2015.

The SEDAR 42 assessment of Gulf of Mexico Red Grouper will consist of a series of webinars. This notice is for a webinar associated with the Assessment portion of the SEDAR process. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding fourteen (14) persons, removing one person, and updating the addresses of other persons listed on the Unverified List (the ``Unverified List'' or UVL). The 14 persons are being added to the UVL on the basis that BIS could not verify their bona fides because an end-use check could not be completed satisfactorily for reasons outside the U.S. Government's control. One person is removed from the UVL based on BIS's ability to verify that person's bona fides through the successful completion of an end-use check. Also, new addresses are added for two listed persons on the UVL.

The United States Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration is amending the Notice published at 79 FR 34287, June 16, 2014, for the education mission to El Salvador and Honduras, with an optional stop in Nicaragua, from March 16-19, 2015, to revise the number of participants from 15 to 20.