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

NMFS is soliciting nominations to the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) as established by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA). NMFS is also soliciting nominations for Technical Advisors to the Advisory Committee's species working groups.

NMFS announces that the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) proposes to amend the Fishery Ecosystem Plans (FEP) for American Samoa, the Mariana Archipelago, and Hawaii. Amendment 4 to the American Samoa FEP, Amendment 5 to the Marianas FEP, and Amendment 5 to the Hawaii FEP would reclassify certain management unit species as ecosystem component species. The intent of these amendments is to focus management efforts on species that are in need of conservation and management, and improve efficiency of fishery management in the region.

The Board of the First Responder Network Authority (``FirstNet Authority Board'') will convene a meeting of the FirstNet Authority Board and the Committees of the FirstNet Authority Board (``Board Committees'') that will be open to the public via teleconference and WebEx on August 13, 2018.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is amending the preliminary determination of the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of common alloy aluminum sheet (aluminum sheet) from the People's Republic of China (China) to correct a significant ministerial error.

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 the firms contributed importantly to the total or partial separation of the firms' workers, or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm.

NMFS proposes a 2018 limit of 2,000 metric tons (t) of longline-caught bigeye tuna for each U.S. Pacific territory (American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)). NMFS would allow each territory to allocate up to 1,000 t 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 Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Ecosystem Workgroup (EWG) will hold a meeting via webinar, which is open to the public.

The Acting Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would allow four commercial fishing vessels, directed by Coonamessett Farm Foundation, to be exempt from Atlantic sea scallop regulations for the purpose of bycatch reduction research. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) previously issued to ADOT&PF to incidentally take nine species of marine mammal, by Level A and Level B harassment, during construction activities associated with the Sand Point City Dock Replacement Project in Sand Point, Alaska. ADOT&PF reported that the project has been delayed. The IHA issued on October 13, 2017 has effective dates of August 1, 2018 through July 31, 2019. ADOT&PF requested that a new IHA be issued to conduct their work between May 31, 2019 and May 30, 2020. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a second IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the first IHA. The authorized take numbers would be the same as authorized previously, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting would remain the same as authorized for the 2018 IHA referenced above. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is notifying the public about the issuance of an IHA to ADOT&PF to incidentally take marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment only, during the specified activity.

The Department of Commerce is currently seeking nominations of individuals for consideration for up to 35 appointments by the Secretary of Commerce to serve as members of a new Central California District Export Council (CenCal DEC). The CenCal DEC is closely affiliated with the Fresno and Bakersfield U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEACs) of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (US&FCS), and will play a key role in the planning and coordination of export activities in Central California communities. As representatives of the local exporting community, DEC Members must reside in, or conduct the majority of their work in, the territory that the DEC covers which includes the counties of Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, and surrounding areas.

Notice is hereby given that Aaron Roberts, Ph.D., University of North Texas, Biological Sciences, 1155 Union Circle, #310559, Denton, TX 76203, has applied for an amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 21217.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Whiting Advisory Panel and Committee on Wednesday, August 29, 2018 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 SEDAR 58 assessment of the Atlantic stock of Cobia will consist of a series of workshops and webinars: Data Workshop; Assessment Webinars; and a Review Workshop. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is rescinding the administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on stainless steel sheet and strip (SSSS) from the People's Republic of China (China) for the period September 19, 2016, through March 31, 2018.

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to formally recognize and implement India's membership in the Wassenaar Arrangement (Wassenaar or WA). Further, BIS removes India from Country Group A:6 and places it in Country Group A:5. This action befits India's status as a Major Defense Partner and recognizes the country's membership in three of the four export control regimes: Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), WA and Australia Group (AG). This rule is another in the series of rules that implement reforms to which the United States and India mutually agreed to promote global nonproliferation, expand high technology cooperation and trade, and ultimately facilitate India's full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group, MTCR, WA, and AG). This rule also makes conforming amendments.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Ecosystem Committee will hold a teleconference on August 20, 2018.

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 this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to conform to the Department of State's (State) amendment of February 14, 2018 to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) that placed restrictions on exports of defense articles (and defense services) to the Republic of South Sudan (South Sudan). The State action reflected a policy determination by the Secretary of State that it was in the best interests of U.S. foreign policy to impose such restrictions. Consistent with the State action, in this amendment, BIS is updating the EAR to restrict the export and reexport of certain items on the Commerce Control List to South Sudan. Pursuant to established procedure, BIS adds South Sudan to the list of U.S. embargoed countries under the EAR, a list drawn from the list of arms embargoes in the ITAR and State Federal Register notices, and adopts a restrictive license application review policy consistent with State's review policy set forth in the ITAR.

NMFS announces ten inseason actions in the ocean salmon fisheries. These inseason actions modified the commercial salmon fisheries in the area from the U.S./Canada border to the U.S./Mexico border.