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

The National Ocean Council Committee on IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud (NOC Committee) has finalized principles for determining seafood species at risk of IUU fishing and seafood fraud (at-risk species) and a list of at-risk species developed using the principles.

The Department of Commerce publishes this notice to announce the effective date of a Privacy Act System of Records notice entitled Notice of Proposed Amendment to Privacy Act System of Records: COMMERCE/CENSUS-9, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics System.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Joint Skate Advisory Panel & Committee Meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, and Energy (the ``Interagency Team'') announce an opportunity for U.S.-based suppliers and providers of clean energy, smart grid, and energy efficiency solutions to participate in the launch of an interactive directory of renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions. The Interagency Team has developed the beta version of an interactive app to serve as a mobile business directory for U.S. clean energy exporters. The app will highlight deployments of sustainable technologies and systems at U.S. diplomatic missions and provide potential business partners around the world with a searchable interface to find information on potential U.S. technology and service providers. The app will showcase a diverse array of clean energy goods and services, including renewable energy equipment (solar, wind, geothermal), biofuels, fuel cell power, smart grid technologies, and energy efficiency solutions, as well as U.S.-based services critical to the deployment of clean energy supplies. U.S. clean energy and energy efficiency exporters interested in registering to be part of the interactive directory and provide information on their company's solutions to be included in the app are requested to send an email to reee@trade.gov by no later than December 31, 2015.

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to revise the existing authorizations for Validated End Users Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment, Inc., China (AMEC) and Applied Materials (China), Inc. (AMC) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Specifically, BIS amends Supplement No. 7 to Part 748 of the EAR to add one item to AMEC's list of eligible items that may be exported, reexported or transferred (in country) to the company's eligible facility in the PRC, and to add a facility and an item to Validated End User AMC's list of eligible destinations and eligible items.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amounts of Pacific cod from catcher vessels greater than 60 feet (18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using pot gear, American Fisheries Act (AFA) trawl catcher processors (C/Ps), and catcher vessels using trawl gear to Amendment 80 (A80) C/Ps, C/Ps using hook-and-line gear, and C/Ps using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. This action is necessary to allow the 2015 total allowable catch of Pacific cod to be harvested.

Notice is hereby given that the Stewardship Division, Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce approves the Apalachicola, Florida National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan revision. The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure; the research & monitoring, education, training, and stewardship goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility development to support reserve operations. The Apalachicola Reserve revised plan will replace the plan approved in 2003. The Apalachicola Reserve management plan emphasizes a fully integrated approach that links ongoing research, education, training and stewardship programs together. This integrated approach, in coordination with strategic partnerships addresses high priority reserve issues including public use and access, changing land use patterns, the loss of cultural resources, impacts of global and regional processes on ecosystems and communities, engagement with local communities, and changes in reserve habitats. Since the last management plan, the reserve has expanded its monitoring and geographic information system programs; increased staff resources; completed a site profile, established a Coastal Training Program; expanded educational programs; and constructed a new nature center and headquarters complex in the town of Eastpoint that includes laboratories, offices, classrooms, interpretative areas, and are planning interpretive trails. There is a boundary change associated with this management plan revision that will decrease their total acreage from 246,766 acres to 234,715. The change is attributable to accuracy adjustments based on improved geographic information for the site. The revised management plan will serve as the guiding document for the 234,715 acre Apalachicola Reserve for the next five years. View the Apalachicola, Florida Reserve Management Plan revision at (https:// www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/apalachicola/publications.h tm).

The electronic sharing of information and documents between intellectual property (IP) offices is critical for increasing the efficiency and quality of patent examination worldwide. Current examples of this sharing include the priority document exchange (PDX) program and the program by which U.S. search results are delivered to the European Patent Office (EPO). In support of electronic file sharing, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is revising its rules of practice to include a specific provision by which an applicant can authorize the Office to give a foreign IP office that is a party to an agreement with the Office access to all or part of the file contents of an unpublished U.S. patent application in order to satisfy a requirement for information imposed on a counterpart application filed with the foreign IP office. Previously, for unpublished U.S. patent applications, applicants followed one regulatory provision to provide the Office with authorization for a foreign IP office to access an application-as-filed and followed another regulatory provision to provide the Office with authorization to share the file contents with a foreign IP office. The final rule changes consolidate the specific provisions of the regulations by which applicants give the Office authority to provide a foreign IP office with access to an application in order to satisfy a requirement for information of the foreign IP office. The Office is also revising the rules of practice to indicate there is no fee for providing a foreign IP office with an electronic copy of an application-as-filed or an electronic copy of file contents pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement. Additionally, along with changes to the application data sheet (ADS) form, the final rule changes simplify the process for how applicants provide the Office with the required authorization, thereby reducing the resources applicants must expend to comply with these foreign IP office requirements, and enhance the quality of patent examination.

The Census Bureau hereby announces that it will streamline the production and release of American Community Survey (ACS) Summary Level 070 tables (state/county/county subdivision/place remainder (or part)) to the 15 tables necessary for the delineation of metropolitan, micropolitan, and related statistical areas as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The ACS collects detailed demographic, social, economic, and housing data from about 3.5 million addresses in the United States and 36,000 in Puerto Rico each year. Annual data products are released in the form of 1-Year and 5-Year estimates with 5-Year estimates being produced for over 578,000 geographies by 87 different summary levels. Most summary levels and their corresponding geographies are then produced for approximately 1,000 detailed tables. As a cost-saving measure and to improve the usability of the estimates, the Census Bureau has decided to streamline the production and release of Summary Level 070 tables to the 15 tables necessary for delineation. Based on data user analytics, customer feedback, and responses from an earlier Federal Register Notice (June 5, 2015; 80 FR 32084) soliciting comments on the streamlining of the summary level, we believe that the streamlining of this summary level will not have a significant impact to our data users. Therefore, beginning in December 2015, the Census Bureau will be tabulating and releasing only those 15 tables for Summary Level 070 that are necessary for the delineation of metropolitan, micropolitan, and related statistical areas (particularly for identification of New England City and Town Area principal cities), commuting analysis, and basic demographic and housing analysis.

NMFS proposes to implement a resolution adopted by the Inter- American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) by requiring U.S. vessels, fishing for tuna and tuna-like species with a capacity equal to or greater than 100 gross resister tons (GRT), to have an International Maritime Organization (IMO) number. The IMO numbers will be included with information the United States sends to the IATTC for vessels authorized to fish in the IATTC Convention Area for tuna and tuna-like species, and will enable more effective tracking of vessels that may be engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

On March 2, 2015, the Department of Commerce (Department) published the notice of initiation of an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture from the People's Republic of China (PRC).\1\ The review covers 127 companies. Based on timely withdrawals of all review requests for certain companies, we are now rescinding the administrative review with respect to 109 companies.

We, NMFS, announce a 12-month finding on a petition to identify and ``delist'' shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) within the Saint John River in New Brunswick, Canada under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The shortnose sturgeon is currently listed as an endangered species, at the species level, under the ESA. Based on our review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we have determined that the population of shortnose sturgeon from the Saint John River does not qualify as a distinct population segment. Therefore, we did not consider the petition further, and we do not propose to delist this population.

The CFMC is considering modifying the timing for the implementation of accountability measure based closures in the EEZ and specifying how often to revisit the modification. The Council is considering these management measures in order to ensure AM-based closures successfully achieve their conservation objective at the least cost to fishers and the fishing communities, consistent with National Standard 8 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Following are the actions and management alternatives: The Amendment consists of two actions: Action 1: Modify the timimg for the implementation of AM-based closures in the EEZ.

NMFS has received an application from the St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society (Society), for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (Authorization) to take marine mammals, 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. The proposed dates for this action would be late November 2015 through November 2016. Per the Marine Mammal Protection Act, we are requesting comments on our proposal to issue an Authorization to the Society to incidentally take, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during the specified activity.

The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') preliminarily determines that uncovered innerspring units (``innersprings units'') completed or assembled in Malaysia by Goldon Bedding Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd. (``Goldon'') using components from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''), and exported to the United States, are circumventing the antidumping duty order on innersprings from the PRC, as provided in section 781(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act'').\1\

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) will hold a series of public hearings pertaining to Regulatory Amendment 25 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the South Atlantic and Regulatory Amendment 1 to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan for the Atlantic. Regulatory Amendment 25 to the Snapper Grouper FMP addresses management measures for blueline tilefish, yellowtail snapper and black sea bass. Regulatory Amendment 1 to the Dolphin Wahoo FMP addresses a commercial trip limit for the dolphin fishery in the Atlantic.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC's) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Advisory Panel will hold a public meeting jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC's) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Advisory Panel.

This action reopens the comment period for an application for an exempted fishing permit for horseshoe crab that published on October 7, 2015. The original comment period closed 13 days later on October 19, 2015, which is two days shorter than the 15-day minimum comment time period required in our regulations. We are therefore reopening the comment period through October 27, 2015, to make-up for this shortfall and to provide additional opportunity for public comment.