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

NMFS has received an application for a new Enhancement of Survival Permit and a request for entry into an associated proposed Safe Harbor Agreement (Agreement) between the applicant and NMFS. The proposed Enhancement of Survival Permit and Agreement are intended to promote the survival and recovery of Central California Coast (CCC) coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and CCC steelhead (O. mykiss) listed as endangered and threatened, respectively, under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Information NMFS received as a part of the application is available upon request by contacting the NMFS West Coast Region (WCR) at its California Coastal Office in Santa Rosa, California (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

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 Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) to take marine mammals incidental to a low-energy marine geophysical survey in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) published the Preliminary Results of the 22nd administrative review and two concurrent new shipper reviews of the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from the People's Republic of China (China) on December 7, 2017. The period of review (POR) is November 1, 2015, through October 31, 2016. We made no changes to the margin calculated for mandatory respondent Shandong Jinxiang Zhengyang Import & Export Co., Ltd. (Zhengyang), or for new shipper respondent Zhengzhou Yudi Shengjin Agricultural Trade Co., Ltd. (Yudi), and continue to find that they made sales below normal value. In addition, we are rescinding the new shipper review with respect to Qingdao Joinseafoods Co., Ltd. and Join Food Ingredient Inc.'s (collectively, Join).

This final rule extends the region-wide moratorium on the harvest of gold corals in the U.S. Pacific Islands through June 30, 2023. NMFS intends this final rule to prevent overfishing and to stimulate research on gold corals.

NMFS issues final 2018 and projected 2019-2020 specifications for the small-mesh multispecies fishery, and corrects an error from a previous action. The specifications are necessary to establish allowable catch limits for each stock within the fishery to control overfishing while allowing optimum yield, consistent with the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The intent of this action is to inform the public of these specifications for the 2018 fishing year, projected specifications for 2019-2020, and the regulatory correction.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that Jiangsu Senmao Bamboo Wood Industry Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu Senmao) and Fine Furniture (Shanghai) Limited (Fine Furniture), exporters of multilayered wood flooring (MLWF) from the People's Republic of China (China), received countervailable subsidies during the period of review (POR) January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015.

NMFS announces the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), in order to assess the impacts of issuing annual catch limits for the subsistence harvest of bowhead whales by Alaska Natives from 2019 onward. The official 60-day comment period for comments on the draft EIS began on June 1, 2018 and will end on July 31, 2018.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels using jig gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2018 Pacific cod total allowable catch apportioned to vessels using jig gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

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 New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Fishery Data for Stock Assessment Working Group to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will host an Assessment Methods Workshop in June.

The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (ACEHR or Committee), will meet on Wednesday, November 7, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time and Thursday, November 8, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time. The primary purpose of this meeting is to review the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) agency updates on their latest activities and receive the NEHRP agency responses to the Committee's 2017 biennial and 2018 interim Reports on the Effectiveness of the NEHRP. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda and any meeting materials will be posted on the NEHRP website at https://nehrp.gov/.

In response to requests for additional time, the Department of Commerce is extending the closing deadline for submitting comments to a request for public comments entitled ``International Internet Policy Priorities'' published in the Federal Register on June 5, 2018. Through this notice, the Department extends the comment period to July 17, 2018.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that Shin Yang Steel Co., Ltd. (Shin Yang), a producer/exporter of merchandise subject to this administrative review, made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results of review.

NMFS implements accountability measures for commercial gray triggerfish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. NMFS projects commercial landings for gray triggerfish will reach the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) for the January through June period by June 13, 2018. Therefore, NMFS is closing the commercial sector for gray triggerfish in the South Atlantic EEZ on June 13, 2018. This closure is necessary to protect the gray triggerfish resource.

NMFS implements management measures described in Amendment 36A to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) (Amendment 36A), as prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule requires owners or operators of federally permitted commercial Gulf reef fish vessels landing any commercially harvested, federally managed reef fish from the Gulf to provide notification prior to landing and to land at approved locations; requires shares from the red snapper individual fishing quota (IFQ) (RS-IFQ) program and the groupers and tilefishes IFQ (GT-IFQ) program that are in non-activated IFQ accounts to be returned to NMFS for redistribution; and allows NMFS to withhold a portion of IFQ allocation at the start of a fishing year equal to an anticipated commercial quota reduction. The purpose of this final rule is to improve compliance and increase management flexibility in the RS- IFQ and GT-IFQ programs, and increase the likelihood of achieving optimum yield (OY) for Gulf reef fish stocks managed under these programs.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) has completed its administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on (chloro isos) from the People's Republic of China (China) for the January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015, period of review (POR), and determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of chloro isos. The final net subsidy rates are listed below in ``Final Results of Administrative Review.''

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that producers and/or exporters subject to this administrative review made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily finds that Teh Fong Ming International Co., Ltd. (TFM), the sole producer and/or exporter subject to this administrative review, has made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) finds that revocation of the antidumping duty order on certain activated carbon from the People's Republic of China (China) 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.

NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from Puerto Rico's Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER). If granted, the EFP would authorize persons aboard DNER research vessels and commercial fishing vessels contracted through DNER to collect selected reef fish species in waters of the U.S. Caribbean exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Puerto Rico without complying with certain seasonal and gear closures, and size and bag limits. Reef fish would be harvested by hook-and-line and bottom longline gear and monitored by underwater camera gear. The operations would take place in the U.S. Caribbean EEZ off both the west and east coasts of Puerto Rico. All reef fish, including undersized and seasonally prohibited reef fish species, would be retained, except for goliath grouper, Nassau grouper, and all species of parrotfish. The purpose of the EFP is to determine spatial and temporal variations in stock abundance of Caribbean reef fish resources off Puerto Rico.

On May 25, 2018, the United States Court of International Trade (the Court) entered final judgment sustaining the final results of the second remand redetermination by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) pertaining to the antidumping duty (AD) investigation of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from the People's Republic of China (China). Commerce is notifying the public that the final judgment in this case is not in harmony with Commerce's final determination in the AD investigation of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from China.

Notice is hereby given that the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) has determined that it is conducting the Annual Business Survey (ABS) of domestic nonfarm employer businesses in 2018. We have determined that data to be collected in this survey are needed to aid the efficient performance of essential governmental functions and have significant application to the needs of the public and industry. The ABS will provide the only comprehensive federal data on owner demographics and business characteristics, including financing research and development (for microbusinesses), and innovation. The data derived from this survey are not publicly available from nongovernmental or other governmental sources.