Department of Commerce January 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

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 U.S. Department of the Navy (Navy) to incidentally harass, by Level A and Level B harassment, marine mammals during construction activities associated with waterfront improvement projects at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (the Shipyard) in Kittery, Maine.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Ecosystem Workgroup (EWG) will hold a webinar, which is open to the public.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) is sponsoring a series of four webinars presenting information relevant to the Fishery Ecosystem Plan Initiative on Climate and Communities. The webinars are open to the public.

The SEDAR 52 assessment process of Gulf of Mexico red snapper will consist of an in-person workshop and a series of assessment webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

Notice is hereby given that ONMS will solicit applications to fill seats on its 13 national marine sanctuary advisory councils and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council (advisory councils), under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Executive Order, respectively. Vacant seats, including positions (i.e., primary and alternate), for each of the advisory councils will be advertised differently at each site in accordance with the information provided in this notice. This notice contains web page links and contact information for each site, as well as additional resources on advisory council vacancies and the application process.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office for Coastal Management is reopening the public comment period for the performance evaluation of the U.S. Virgin Islands Coastal Management Program that covers the time period of December 2007 to August 2017. The public comment period is being reopened until March 16, 2018 as Hurricane Irma impacted the U.S. Virgin Islands two days before the previous comment period closed and Hurricane Maria subsequently impacted the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (the ITC), Commerce is issuing antidumping duty (AD) orders on carbon and alloy steel wire rod (wire rod) from Belarus, the Russian Federation (Russia), and the United Arab Emirates (the UAE).

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.

NMFS has received a request from Partnership for Interdisciplinary Study of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring surveys at locations in Oregon and California. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to incidentally take marine mammals during the specified activities. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorizations and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of fine denier polyester staple fiber (fine denier PSF) from the People's Republic of China (China). The period of investigation is January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016. For information on the estimated subsidy rates, see the ``Final Determination and Suspension of Liquidation'' section of this notice.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of stainless steel flanges from India. The period of investigation is January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016.

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.

NMFS establishes the annual harvest guideline for the commercial lobster fishery in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for calendar year 2018 at zero lobsters.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (OEAB). OEAB members will discuss and provide advice on Federal ocean exploration programs, with a particular emphasis on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) activities; discuss nontraditional ocean exploration platforms; discuss National Ocean Exploration Forums; and conduct its annual review of the OER federal funding opportunity process; and other matters as described in the agenda found on the OEAB website at https:// oeab.noaa.gov.

We, NMFS, announce a final rule to list the giant manta ray (Manta birostris) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We have reviewed the status of the giant manta ray, including efforts being made to protect this species, and considered public comments submitted on the proposed rule as well as new information received since publication of the proposed rule. We have made our final determinations based on the best scientific and commercial data available. At this time, we conclude that critical habitat is not determinable because data sufficient to perform the required analyses are lacking; however, we solicit information on habitat features and areas in U.S. waters that may meet the definition of critical habitat for the giant manta ray.

NMFS publishes the standard ex-vessel prices and fee percentage for cost recovery under the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program. This action is intended to provide participants in a rockfish cooperative with the standard prices and fee percentage for the 2017 fishing year, which was authorized from May 1 through November 15. The fee percentage is 2.04 percent. The fee payments are due from each rockfish cooperative on or before February 15, 2018.

The Groundfish Subcommittee of the Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council's) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold a meeting via webinar to review 2019 and 2020 groundfish harvest specifications, particularly revised harvest specifications for lingcod. The SSC Groundfish Subcommittee will also discuss the groundfish research and data needs for the Pacific Council's 2018 Research and Data Needs document that will be finalized this year. The webinar meeting is open to the public.

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, federal departments and agencies listed in this document made revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same regulatory changes in a separate final rule published on September 18, 2017. The revised policy, reflected in both final rules, is described here as the ``2018 Requirements.'' The 2018 Requirements are scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of January 19, 2018 (with the exception of the revisions to the cooperative research provision). This interim final rule delays the effective date and general compliance date of the 2018 Requirements to July 19, 2018. The federal departments and agencies listed in this document are in the process of developing a proposed rule to further delay implementation of the 2018 Requirements. The limited implementation delay accomplished by this interim final rule both provides additional time to regulated entities for the preparations necessary to implement the 2018 Requirements, and additional time for the departments and agencies listed in this document to seek input from interested stakeholders through a notice and comment rulemaking process that allows for public engagement on the proposal for a further implementation delay.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is amending the final results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Taiwan. The period of review (POR) is May 1, 2015, through April 30, 2016. The amended final weighted-average dumping margin is listed below in the section entitled ``Amended Final Results.''