Department of Commerce 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted Amendment 21-4 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, Amendment 21-4 would adjust the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Catch Share Program to complete outstanding elements of the program, respond to problems identified after program implementation, and modify outdated regulations. The proposed Amendment would convert bycatch allocations of canary and widow rockfish to set-asides in the at-sea whiting fishery and remove fixed formulas used to determine bycatch amounts of Pacific Ocean Perch, darkblotched rockfish and widow rockfish in the at-sea whiting sectors. Bycatch amounts would instead be determined through the biennial harvest specification process, which would offer more flexible bycatch management for the at-sea sectors. The proposed rule implementing this proposed FMP amendment includes other regulatory changes which would provide increased opportunity to trade individual fishing quota, accumulation limits for catcher-processor permits, and expand economic data collections. The rule will help to ensure the Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery achieves optimum yield, minimize costs of participation, provide fair and equitable access to fishery resources, and avoid adverse economic impacts to fishing communities.

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 Advisory Committee (Committee) to the U.S. Section to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) announces a special meeting to be held September 5-6, 2019. The meeting is open to the public and will be accessible via conference call and webinar.

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 implements accountability measures for commercial red snapper in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. NMFS projects commercial landings for red snapper will reach the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) for the 2019 fishing year. Therefore, NMFS is closing the commercial sector for red snapper in the South Atlantic EEZ on August 30, 2019. This closure is necessary to protect the red snapper resource.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Monkfish Advisory 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 Steering Committee will meet to discuss the SEDAR process and stock assessment schedule. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. Waters (Amendment 18), as prepared and submitted by the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery Management Council (Council). This proposed rule would modify the target reduction goal for juvenile red snapper mortality in the Federal Gulf penaeid shrimp trawl fishery, and would modify the FMP framework procedures. The purposes of Amendment 18 are to promote economic stability, to achieve optimum yield in the Federal Gulf shrimp fishery by reducing effort constraints, and to equitably distribute the benefits from red snapper rebuilding, while continuing to protect, the Gulf red snapper stock.

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) that revocation of the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on laminated woven sacks (woven sacks) from the People's Republic of China (China) would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and countervailable subsidies, as well as material injury to an industry in the United States, Commerce is publishing a notice of continuation of the AD and CVD orders.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels equal to or greater than 60 feet (18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2019 Pacific cod total allowable catch allocated to catcher vessels equal to or greater than 60 feet (18.3 m) LOA using hook-and-line gear in the BSAI.

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) that revocation of the antidumping duty (AD) order on persulfates from the People's Republic of China (China) 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 duty order.

On July 12, 2019, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) initiated, and published the preliminary results of, the changed circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty (AD) order on low melt polyester staple fiber (low melt PSF) from the Republic of Korea (Korea). For these final results, Commerce continues to find that Toray Advanced Materials Korea, Inc. (TAK) is the successor-in-interest to Toray Chemical Korea, Inc. (TCK).

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) Committee will hold a meeting.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) Workgroup (Workgroup), will hold a webinar, which is open to the public.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Groundfish Plan Teams will meet September 16, 2019 through September 19, 2019.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a one- day meeting of its Coral Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), Coral and Shrimp Advisory Panels (AP).

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC's) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committee (MC) will hold a public meeting.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) has determined that a request for a new shipper review of the antidumping duty order on hardwood plywood products from the People's Republic of China meets the statutory and regulatory requirements for initiation. The period of review for this new shipper review is January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is interested in gathering information on patent-related issues regarding artificial intelligence inventions for purposes of evaluating whether further examination guidance is needed to promote the reliability and predictability of patenting artificial intelligence inventions. To assist in gathering this information, the USPTO is publishing questions on artificial intelligence inventions to obtain written comments from the public. The questions are designed to cover a variety of topics from patent examination policy to whether new forms of intellectual property protection are needed.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is partially rescinding the administrative review of the countervailing order on certain hardwood plywood products from the People's Republic of China for the period of review (POR), April 25, 2017, through December 31, 2018.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is rescinding the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from Austria for the period May 1, 2018, through April 30, 2019, based on the timely withdrawal of the request for review.

In conformance with the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the United States Patent and Trademark Office announces the appointment of persons to serve as members of its Performance Review Board.

On April 22, 2019, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) published in the Federal Register the preliminary results of the thirteenth administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain warmwater shrimp from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam). Based upon our analysis of the comments received, we determine that sales by Fimex VN and Nha Trang Seaproduct Company were not made below normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR) February 1, 2017 through January 31, 2018.