Department of Commerce September 27, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, West Coast Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an exempted fishing permit application titled, ``Annual Vessel Limit Pooling for Groundfish IFQ Vessels Operating Under a Collective Enforcement Agreement in 2019-2020,'' contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The application, submitted by the Fort Bragg Association and the Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association, requests approval to test the use of a voluntary collective agreement to manage a pool of annual vessel limits of cowcod quota pounds using a risk pooling model. This exempted fishing permit project would allow individual vessels participating in the California Groundfish Collective to exceed their annual vessel limit for cowcod, however the collective pooled annual vessel limit would not be exceeded. The primary goal of this exempted fishing permit project is to reduce the operational risk of catching cowcod for participating vessels, while allowing participating vessels to increase landings of more abundant groundfish stocks. 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 permit projects.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of dried tart cherries (cherries) from the Republic of Turkey (Turkey). The period of investigation is January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that dried tart cherries (cherries) from the Republic of Turkey (Turkey) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

NMFS announces the availability of the revised application and Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) on the effects of issuing an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) (No. 21316) to Barney M. Davis L.P., pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended, for the incidental take of green (Chelonia mydas, North Atlantic Distinct Population Segment) and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles associated with the otherwise lawful operation of the Barney M. Davis Power Station in Corpus Christi, TX. The facility is requesting the permit be issued for a duration of 10 years.