Department of Commerce September 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On June 13, 2016 the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Taiwan. The period of review (POR) is July 18, 2014, through August 31, 2015. The review covers one producer/exporter of the subject merchandise, Tension Steel Industries Co., Ltd. (Tension Steel). We invited parties to comment on the preliminarily results. None were received. Accordingly, for the final results, we continue to find that Tension Steel did not make sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value.

NMFS announces its approval of the State of North Carolina transferring a portion of its 2016 commercial bluefish quota to the State of New York. This approval of the quota complies with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provision. This announcement also informs the public of the revised commercial quotas for North Carolina and New York.

NMFS has completed a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) to consider the potential impacts of authorizing an exempted fishing permit (EFP) for longline vessels to fish within the U.S. West Coast exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 16 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan, incorporating the Environmental Assessment and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, for review by the Secretary of Commerce, and is requesting comments from the public. Amendment 16 would establish a deep-sea coral protection area in Mid-Atlantic waters where fishing vessels would be prohibited from using most fishing gear that contacts the ocean bottom. The Council developed Amendment 16 to protect deep- sea corals under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act's discretionary provision for deep-sea coral protection. The coral protection measures would prevent expansion of fisheries using ocean bottom-tending fishing gear in areas where there is a high likelihood of deep-sea coral presence and would prevent damage to deep- sea corals in areas where they been observed.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Observer Advisory Committee (OAC) will meet in Seattle, WA.

The SEDAR Steering Committee will meet to discuss the SEDAR process and assessment schedule. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

This action corrects two errors in the total allowable landing values specified in the final rule to implement Framework Adjustment 3 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan published in the Federal Register on August 17, 2016.

NOAA is soliciting nominations for members of the NOAA Science Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB is the only Federal Advisory Committee with the responsibility to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator on long- and short-range strategies for research, education, and application of science to resource management and environmental assessment and prediction. The SAB consists of approximately fifteen members reflecting the full breadth of NOAA's areas of responsibility and assists NOAA in maintaining a complete and accurate understanding of scientific issues critical to the agency's missions. Composition and Points of View: The Board will consist of approximately fifteen members, including a Chair, designated by the Under Secretary in accordance with FACA requirements. Members will be appointed for three-year terms, renewable once, and serve at the discretion of the Under Secretary. If a member resigns before the end of his or her first term, the vacancy appointment shall be for the remainder of the unexpired term, and shall be renewable twice if the unexpired term is less than one year. Members will be appointed as special government employees (SGEs) and will be subject to the ethical standards applicable to SGEs. Members are reimbursed for actual and reasonable travel and per diem expenses incurred in performing such duties but will not be reimbursed for their time. As a Federal Advisory Committee, the Board's membership is required to be balanced in terms of viewpoints represented and the functions to be performed as well as the interests of geographic regions of the country and the diverse sectors of U.S. society. The SAB meets in person three times each year, exclusive of teleconferences or subcommittee, task force, and working group meetings. Board members must be willing to serve as liaisons to SAB working groups and/or participate in periodic reviews of the NOAA Cooperative Institutes and overarching reviews of NOAA's research enterprise. Nominations: Interested persons may nominate themselves or third parties. Applications: An application is required to be considered for Board membership, regardless of whether a person is nominated by a third party or self-nominated. The application package must include: (1) The nominee's full name, title, institutional affiliation, and contact information; (2) the nominee's area(s) of expertise; (3) a short description of his/her qualifications relative to the kinds of advice being solicited by NOAA in this Notice; and (4) a current resume (maximum length four [4] pages).

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'') order(s) 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 order(s).

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 allow fisheries to access more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Spiny Dogfish Monitoring Committee will hold a public meeting.

We, NMFS, announce a 5-year review of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), to ensure that the listing classification of the species is accurate. The 5-year review will be based on the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review. Therefore, we request submission of any such information on Mediterranean monk seals that has become available since their original listing as endangered in June 1970. Based on the results of this 5-year review, we will make the requisite determination under the ESA.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise the deep-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the fourth seasonal apportionment of the Pacific halibut bycatch allowance specified for the trawl deep-water species fishery in the GOA has been reached.