Department of Commerce 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Commerce Trade Finance Advisory Council (TFAC or Council) will hold a meeting via teleconference on Monday, September 18, 2017. The meeting is open to the public with registration instructions provided below. The TFAC was chartered on August 11, 2016, to advise the Secretary in identifying effective ways to help expand access to finance for U.S. exporters, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and their foreign buyers.

The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of carbon and alloy steel wire rod (wire rod) from Italy. The period of investigation is January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016.

Pursuant to section 251 of the Trade Act 1974, as amended, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has received petitions for certification of eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance from the firms listed below. Accordingly, EDA has initiated investigations to determine whether increased imports into the United States of articles like or directly competitive with those produced by each of these firms contributed importantly to the total or partial separation of the firm's workers, or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm.

NMFS is prohibiting retention of the incidental catch allowance for Pacific ocean perch in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the 2017 total allowable catch of Pacific ocean perch apportioned to the incidental catch allowance in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA has been reached.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Observer Advisory Committee (OAC) will meet September 19-20, 2017.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Electronic Monitoring Workgroup (EMWG) will hold a public meeting on September 18, 2017, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time, AFSC, Traynor Room in Building 4, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA.

As a result of this sunset review, the Department of Commerce (the Department) finds that revocation of the antidumping duty order on certain high pressure steel cylinders (HPSCs) from the People's Republic of China (PRC) would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping at the levels indicated in the ``Final Results of Review'' section of this notice.

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (the Department) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) that revocation of the antidumping duty (AD) order on certain cased pencils from the People's Republic of China (PRC) would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury to an industry in the United States, the Department is publishing this notice of continuation of the AD order.

NMFS is adjusting the 2017 C seasonal apportionments of the total allowable catch (TAC) for pollock in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) by re-apportioning unharvested pollock TAC in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630 of the GOA. This action is necessary to provide opportunity for harvest of the 2017 pollock TAC, consistent with the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska.

This emergency rule removes the 2017 southern windowpane flounder accountability measures for non-groundfish trawl vessels that were triggered as a result of a 2015 quota overage. The rule is necessary because new information indicates 2016 catch did not exceed the quota. This rule is intended to mitigate negative economic impacts to non-groundfish vessels, while maintaining conservation benefits for the southern windowpane flounder stock.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Central Aleutian district (CAI) of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) by vessels participating in the BSAI trawl limited access fishery. This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2017 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch in the CAI allocated to vessels participating in the BSAI trawl limited access fishery.

NMFS proposes a 2017 limit of 2,000 metric tons (mt) of longline-caught bigeye tuna for each U.S. Pacific territory (American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands). NMFS would allow each territory to allocate up to 1,000 mt each year to U.S. longline fishing vessels in a specified fishing agreement that meets established criteria. As an accountability measure, NMFS would monitor, attribute, and restrict (if necessary) catches of longline-caught bigeye tuna, including catches made under a specified fishing agreement. The proposed catch limits and accountability measures would support the long-term sustainability of fishery resources of the U.S. Pacific Islands.

The Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 46 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP), for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Amendment 46 would establish the rebuilding time period for the Gulf gray triggerfish stock. Amendment 46 would also revise the recreational fixed closed season, recreational bag limit, recreational minimum size limit, and commercial trip limit. The purpose of Amendment 46 is to implement management measures to assist in rebuilding the Gulf gray triggerfish stock and to achieve optimum yield (OY).

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.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) established the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science in 2013 as part of a larger effort to strengthen forensic science in the United States. NIST has primary responsibility to support the OSAC and has publicly announced its intention to transition the administration of the OSAC to another host within five to ten years. NIST made a commitment to the forensic science community (community) that OSAC 2.0 will ensure the continued scientific integrity and stability of the organization. NIST publishes this notice to request information for consideration in the development of a comprehensive transition plan for the OSAC that meets the needs of the community and ensures that transition is conducted in a manner that safeguards the efficiency and effectiveness of the OSAC.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the San Francisco Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) to incidentally harass, by Level A and Level B harassment, marine mammals during in-water construction activities associated with the Central Bay Operations and Maintenance Facility Project in Alameda, CA.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a 3- day meeting of its Standing, Reef Fish, and Socioeconomics Scientific and Statistical Committees (SSC).