Department of Commerce June 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The NMFS Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would allow eight commercial lobster vessels to participate in a lobster growth and abundance study, under the direction of Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in state and Federal waters off the coast of Massachusetts. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on Exempted Fishing Permit applications.

This final rule announces inseason changes to management measures in the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries. This action, which is authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP), is intended to protect overfished and depleted stocks while allowing fisheries to access more abundant groundfish stocks.

NMFS specifies an annual catch limit (ACL) of 346,000 lb for Deep 7 bottomfish in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) for the 2014-15 fishing year. As an accountability measure (AM), if the ACL is projected to be reached, NMFS would close the commercial and non- commercial fisheries for MHI Deep 7 bottomfish for the remainder of the fishing year. The ACL and AM specifications support the long-term sustainability of Hawaii bottomfish.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Regulatory Amendment 22 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP) (Regulatory Amendment 22), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). If implemented, this proposed rule would revise the annual catch limits (ACLs) for gag grouper (gag) and wreckfish, and the directed commercial quota for gag, based upon revisions to the acceptable biological catch (ABC) and the optimum yield (OY) for gag and wreckfish. The purpose of this proposed rule is to help achieve OY and prevent overfishing of gag and wreckfish in the South Atlantic region while minimizing, to the extent practicable, adverse social and economic effects to the snapper- grouper fishery.

NMFS is prohibiting fishing with large-mesh drift gillnet (DGN) gear (=14 inches mesh) off the coast of southern California east of 120[deg] W. meridian from the effective date of this rule through August 31, 2015. This prohibition is based on the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries' (AA) determination that El Ni[ntilde]o conditions are occurring off the coast of southern California. This action protects Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), specifically the endangered North Pacific Ocean Distinct Population Segment.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would allow four commercial fishing vessels to fish outside of the limited access sea scallop regulations in support of bycatch reduction research. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

The Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES) will meet June 30, 2015.

This notice sets forth the proposed agenda for a Civil Nuclear Energy Export Opportunity Seminar.

This proposed rule is part of the Administration's Export Control Reform Initiative. The Initiative will enhance U.S. national and economic security, facilitate compliance with export controls, update the controls, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on U.S. exporters. As part of this effort, this rulemaking proposes revisions to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to include the definitions of ``technology,'' ``required,'' ``peculiarly responsible,'' ``proscribed person,'' ``published,'' results of ``fundamental research,'' ``export,'' ``reexport,'' ``release,'' ``transfer,'' and ``transfer (in-country)'' to enhance clarity and consistency with terms also found on the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which is administered by the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC). This rulemaking also proposes amendments to the Scope part of the EAR to update and clarify application of controls to electronically transmitted and stored technology and software. DDTC is concurrently publishing comparable proposed amendments to the ITAR's definitions of ``technical data,'' ``required,'' ``peculiarly responsible,'' ``public domain,'' results of ``fundamental research,'' ``export,'' ``reexport,'' ``release,'' and ``retransfer'' for the same reasons. Finally, this rulemaking proposes conforming changes to related provisions.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed topics of discussion for public meetings of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness (Committee).

The SEDAR Procedural Workshop 7 will develop best practice recommendations for SEDAR Data Workshops. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

Upon application from the U.S. Navy (Navy), we (the National Marine Fisheries Service) are issuing regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) training activities conducted in Virginia and North Carolina, from June 2015 through June 2020. These regulations allows us to issue a Letter of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the Navy's specified activities and timeframes, set forth the permissible methods of taking, set forth other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, and set forth requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of the incidental take.

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.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that we have issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the Huna Totem Corporation (HTC) of Hoonah, Alaska to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, nine species of marine mammals during construction activities associated with the re-development of the cruise ship terminal at Hoonah, Alaska.

In accordance with section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''), the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is automatically initiating the five-year review (``Sunset Review'') of the antidumping and countervailing duty (``AD/ CVD'') orders listed below. The International Trade Commission (``the Commission'') is publishing concurrently with this notice its notice of Institution of Five-Year Review which covers the same orders.

Based on a request from Olollo, Inc., (``Olollo'') the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') is initiating a changed circumstances review to consider the possible revocation, in part, of the antidumping duty (``AD'') order on wooden bedroom furniture from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') with respect to certain bed bases.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (GMFMC) will host a meeting of the Council Coordination Committee (CCC) consisting of eight Regional Fishery Management Council (RFMC) chairs, vice chairs, and executive directors and its subcommittees in June 2015. The intent of this meeting is to discuss issues of relevance to the Councils, including: Budget issues, MSA reauthorization, National Standard 1, Bycatch Strategy, Presidential Task Force on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) catches, NEPA, allocation working group report, Council Operational Guidelines, recreational fishery issues, habitat working group report, enforcement activities, other topics of concern to the RFMC, and decisions and follow-up activities.

NMFS issues this final rule 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). Amendment 29 and this final rule 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 final rule revises 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 final rule is to revise ACLs 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.