Department of Commerce 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on a proposed extension of an existing information collection: 0651-0066 (Patents for Humanity Program).

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of glycine from the People's Republic of China (China) for the period of investigation January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

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.

This final rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding fifteen entities under seventeen entries to the Entity List. These fifteen entities have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States and will be listed on the Entity List under the destinations of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. This final rule also modifies two entries on the entity list: One entry under the destination of Hong Kong and one entry under the destination of Russia. Lastly, this final rule removes one entity under the destination of Greece from the Entity List. The removal is the result of a request for removal BIS received pursuant to the EAR and a review of information provided in the removal request.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is amending its final determination of sales at less than fair value (LTFV) as a result of ministerial errors. In addition, based on affirmative final determinations by Commerce and the International Trade Commission (the ITC), Commerce is issuing an antidumping duty order on cast iron soil pipe fittings (soil pipe fittings) from the People's Republic of China (China).

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Fishery Monitoring Advisory Committee will meet September 13, 2018 through September 14, 2018.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a series of scoping meetings pertaining to Amendment 47 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan of the South Atlantic Region addressing modifications to the South Atlantic Charter/Headboat for Snapper-Grouper permit.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Groundfish Committee 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 Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of certain steel wheels from the People's Republic of China (China) for the period of investigation January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017. We invite interested parties to comment on this preliminary determination.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that cast iron soil pipe from the People's Republic of China (China) was sold to the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) during the period of investigation (POI), July 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) encourages applicants to file their patent applications via its electronic filing system (EFS-Web). The USPTO experiences occasional unplanned electronic business system outages, including unplanned system outages that preclude patent applicants and patentees from filing patent documents and fees via the electronic filing system for a significant period of time. This notice prescribes a procedure for filing patent applications by alternative electronic means during a significant unplanned electronic business system outage, as designated by the Director of the USPTO. An application filed by the alternative electronic means prescribed in this notice during a designated significant unplanned electronic business system outage will be considered to have been filed by the USPTO's electronic filing system, and thus will not incur the fee required by section 10(h) of the Leahy- Smith America Invents Act for a patent application not filed by the USPTO's electronic filing system.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to reflect changes to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex that were agreed to by MTCR member countries at the October 2017 Plenary in Dublin, Ireland, and the May 2017 Technical Experts Meeting (TEM) in Stockholm, Sweden. This final rule revises seventeen Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) to implement the changes that were agreed to at the meetings and to better align the missile technology (MT) controls on the Commerce Control List (CCL) with the MTCR Annex.

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, 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.

NMFS announces approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of a collection-of-information requirement, which was contained in regulations implementing fishing limits in purse seine and longline fisheries, and other restrictions, for U.S. vessels used to fish for highly migratory species in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO), in a final rule published on July 18, 2018. The intent of this final rule is to inform the public of the effectiveness of the collection-of-information requirement associated with daily purse seine fishing effort reports included in the final rule.

On August 15, 2018, the United States Court of International Trade (CIT or Court) amended its July 3, 2018, final judgment in Changzhou Hawd Flooring Co., et al. v. United States, which sustained, in part, the final results of remand redetermination pursuant to court order by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) pertaining to the less- than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation on multilayered wood flooring (MLWF) from the People's Republic of China (China). On July 25, 2018, Commerce notified the public that the CIT's July 3, 2018, final judgment in the case was not in harmony with Commerce's final determination in the LTFV investigation of MLWF from China, and, pursuant to the CIT's July 3, 2018, final judgment, Commerce issued an amended final determination excluding Dunhua City Jisen Wood Industry Co., Ltd. (Dunhua City Jisen), Fine Furniture (Shanghai) Limited (Fine Furniture), and Armstrong Wood Products (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. (Armstrong Wood) from the antidumping duty (AD) order. Pursuant to the CIT's August 15, 2018, amendment to its July 3, 2018, final judgment, we are excluding Double F Limited from the AD order.

The U.S. Department of Commerce issued an amended Export Trade Certificate of Review to DFA of California (``DFA'') on August 21, 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.

The United States Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, is updating the Trade Fair Certification (TFC) program established under 22 U.S.C. 2455(f) to revise the application mailing address and the deadline for application submission for the Program. The updated TFC program guidelines can be found at: https:// 2016.export.gov/tradefairs/eg_main_018560.asp.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 meters) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line or pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). This action is necessary to fully use the 2018 total allowable catch of Pacific cod allocated to catcher vessels less than 60 feet LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels greater than or equal to 50 feet length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the annual allowance of the 2018 Pacific cod total allowable catch apportioned to catcher vessels greater than or equal to 50 feet LOA using hook-and- line gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.