Department of Commerce July 28, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), announces its intent to expand the scope of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a new bycatch management program for trawl groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). The bycatch management program for the GOA trawl groundfish fisheries would provide participants with incentives to effectively manage and reduce Chinook salmon and Pacific halibut bycatch and promote increased utilization of groundfish harvested in the GOA. NMFS previously published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for the new bycatch management program on July 14, 2015. In June 2016, NMFS and the Council decided to reopen the comment period on the notice of intent to prepare an EIS because the Council and NMFS expanded scope of the EIS. NMFS will accept written comments from the public to identify issues of concern and assist the Council in determining the appropriate range of management alternatives for the EIS.

The SEDAR 49 assessment of the Gulf of Mexico Data-limited Species will consist of a data workshop, a review workshop, and a series of assessment Webinars.

This final rule implements changes described in a proposed rule that the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published on June 17, 2015. Specifically, this final rule describes how articles the President has determined no longer warrant control under Category XIV (Toxicological Agents, Including Chemical Agents, Biological Agents, and Associated Equipment) or Category XVIII (Directed Energy Weapons) of the United States Munitions List (USML) are now controlled under the Commerce Control List (CCL). The affected Category XIV articles consist primarily of dissemination, detection, and protection ``equipment'' and related articles, such as production and test ``equipment,'' and are controlled under new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) 1A607, 1B607, 1C607, 1D607, and 1E607, as added to the CCL by this final rule. The affected Category XVIII articles consist primarily of tooling, production ``equipment,'' test and evaluation ``equipment,'' test models, and related articles and are controlled under new ECCNs 6B619, 6D619 and 6E619, as added to the CCL by this final rule. This final rule is one in a series of rules describing how various types of articles that the President has determined no longer warrant control on the USML, as part of the Administration's Export Control Reform Initiative, are controlled on the CCL in accordance with the requirements of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This final rule is being published by BIS in conjunction with a final rule from the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, which amends the list of articles controlled by USML Categories XIV and XVIII. The citations in this BIS rule to USML Categories XIV and XVIII reflect the amendments contained in the Department of State's rule. The revisions made by BIS in this rule are part of Commerce's retrospective regulatory review plan under Executive Order 13563 completed in August 2011.