Department of Commerce December 2019 – 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.

NMFS is correcting a final rule that published on October 15, 2019, issuing regulations to implement catch handling and monitoring requirements to allow Pacific halibut (halibut) bycatch to be sorted on the deck of trawl catcher/processors (C/Ps) and motherships participating in the non-pollock groundfish fisheries off Alaska. The final rule incorrectly stated that the collection-of-information requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) had been approved by the Office of Management and Business (OMB) at the time the final rule was published. The final rule also inadvertently omitted amendatory language to remove a now obsolete and unnecessary regulation. The intent of this final rule is to make corrections and to stay the effectiveness of associated collection-of-information requirements.

NMFS implements management measures described in Amendment 42 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 42), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (South Atlantic Council). This final rule adds three new devices to the Federal regulations as options for fishermen with Federal commercial or charter vessel/ headboat permits for South Atlantic snapper-grouper to meet existing requirements for sea turtle release gear, and updates the regulations to simplify and clarify the requirements for other sea turtle release gear. This final rule also modifies the FMP framework procedure to allow for future changes to release gear and handling requirements for sea turtles and other protected resources. The purpose of this final rule is to allow the use of new devices to safely handle and release incidentally captured sea turtles, clarify existing requirements, and streamline the process for making changes to the release devices and handling procedures for sea turtles and other protected species.

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that revocation of the antidumping duty (AD) order and countervailing duty (CVD) order on circular welded austenitic stainless pressure pipe (WSPP) from the People's Republic of China (China) would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping, countervailable subsidies, and material injury to an industry in the United States, Commerce is publishing a notice of continuation of the AD order and the CVD order.

NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring a portion of its 2019 commercial bluefish quota to the State of Rhode Island. This quota adjustment is necessary to comply with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised commercial bluefish quotas for North Carolina and Rhode Island.

We, NMFS, have determined that a designation of critical habitat is not prudent at this time. Based on a comprehensive review of the best scientific data available, we find that there are no identifiable physical or biological features that are essential to the conservation of the giant manta ray within areas under U.S. jurisdiction. We also find that there are no areas outside of the geographical area occupied by the species under U.S. jurisdiction that are essential to its conservation. As such, we find that there are no areas within the jurisdiction of the United States that meet the definition of critical habitat for the giant manta ray.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that Jiangsu Runchen Agricultural/Sideline Foodstuff Co., Ltd. (Runchen) did not make a bona fide sale of honey for the period of review (POR) December 1, 2017 through November 30, 2018. Therefore, Commerce preliminarily intends to rescind this administrative review. Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary results of this review.

On November 20, 2019, the United States Court of International Trade (the Court) sustained the final results of redetermination pertaining to the antidumping duty (AD) administrative review of certain steel threaded rod (STR) from the People's Republic of China (China) covering the period April 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014. The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is notifying the public that the final judgment in this case is not in harmony with the final results of the administrative review and that Commerce is amending the final results with respect to the separate rate status assigned to Gem-Year Industrial Co., Ltd. (Gem-Year).

NMFS has received a request from Point Blue Conservation Science (Point Blue) for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to seabird research activities in central California over the course of five years from the date of issuance. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of Point Blue's request for the development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on Point Blue's application and request.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is rescinding the administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on biodiesel from Argentina for the period October 31, 2017, through March 31, 2019.

``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 Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC (Skipjack) to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during marine site characterization surveys offshore of Delaware in the area of the Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS-A 0519) and along potential submarine cable routes to a landfall location in Delaware or Maryland.

NMFS proposes 2020 and 2021 harvest specifications, apportionments, and Pacific halibut prohibited species catch limits for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2020 and 2021 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. The 2020 harvest specifications supersede those previously set in the final 2019 and 2020 harvest specifications, and the 2021 harvest specifications will be superseded in early 2021 when the final 2021 and 2022 harvest specifications are published. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that revocation of the antidumping duty (AD) orders on welded stainless steel pressure pipe (WSSPP) from Malaysia, Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury to an industry in the United States, Commerce is publishing a notice of continuation of the AD orders.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2019 Pacific Ocean perch total allowable catch (TAC) in the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI.

The Department of Commerce is currently seeking applications from travel and tourism leaders from specific industries for membership on the Board of Directors (Board) of the Corporation for Travel Promotion (doing business as Brand USA). The purpose of the Board is to guide the Corporation for Travel Promotion on matters relating to the promotion of the United States as a travel destination and communication of travel facilitation issues, among other tasks. This is the third notice of an opportunity for travel and tourism industry leaders to apply for membership on the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Travel Promotion. Previous notices for this opportunity were published on Friday, July 19, 2019 and Thursday, September 12, 2019. This Federal Register Notice also adds a fifth sector as the Department is now also seeking a leader with state tourism office experience.

Through this final rule, NMFS is implementing allowable catch levels, an overfishing limit, an allowable biological catch, and an annual catch limit for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic zone off the West Coast (California, Oregon and Washington) for the fishing seasons 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, pursuant to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan. The harvest guideline and annual catch target for the 2019-2020 fishing season are 11,109 metric tons (mt) and 10,109 mt, respectively. The harvest guideline and annual catch target for the 2020-2021 fishing season are 7,950 mt and 6,950 mt, respectively. If the fishery attains the annual catch target in either fishing season, the directed fishery will close, reserving the 1,000-mt difference between the harvest guideline and annual catch target as a set-aside for incidental landings in other Coastal Pelagic Species fisheries and other sources of mortality. This rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific mackerel stock off the U.S. West Coast.