Department of Commerce April 6, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels using trawl gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the B season apportionment of the 2016 Pacific cod total allowable catch allocated to trawl catcher vessels in the BSAI.

The National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Advisory Committee (Committee) will meet on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The primary purpose of this meeting is to update the Committee on the progress of the implementation of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Joplin tornado investigation report's recommendations and receive NIST's response to the Committee's 2015 annual report and recommendations. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the NIST Web site at https://www.nist.gov/el/disasterstudies/ ncst/.

Recognizing the vital importance of the Internet to U.S. innovation, prosperity, education, and civic and cultural life, the Department of Commerce has made it a top priority to encourage growth of the digital economy and ensure that the Internet remains an open platform for innovation. Thus, as part of the Department's Digital Economy Agenda, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is initiating an inquiry regarding the Internet of Things (IoT) to review the current technological and policy landscape. Through this Notice, NTIA seeks broad input from all interested stakeholdersincluding the private industry, researchers, academia, and civil societyon the potential benefits and challenges of these technologies and what role, if any, the U.S. Government should play in this area. After analyzing the comments, the Department intends to issue a ``green paper'' that identifies key issues impacting deployment of these technologies, highlights potential benefits and challenges, and identifies possible roles for the federal government in fostering the advancement of IoT technologies in partnership with the private sector.

NMFS and USFWS issue a final rule to list 11 distinct population segments (DPSs) of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas; hereafter referred to as the green turtle) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Based on the best available scientific and commercial data, and after considering comments on the proposed rule, we have determined that three DPSs are endangered species and eight DPSs are threatened species. This rule supersedes the 1978 final listing rule for green turtles. It applies the existing protective regulations to the DPSs. Critical habitat is not determinable at this time but will be proposed in a future rulemaking. In the interim, the existing critical habitat designation (i.e., waters surrounding Culebra Island, Puerto Rico) remains in effect for the North Atlantic DPS.