Department of Commerce April 2, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final action will undertake a review process to collect and review data to evaluate the continued need for the Northeastern United States Closed Area and the Spring Gulf of Mexico Gear Restricted Area; remove the Cape Hatteras Gear Restricted Area; and adjust the Gulf of Mexico gear requirements to shorten the duration of required weak hook use from year-round to seasonal (January-June). NMFS has adopted a suite of measures to manage bluefin tuna bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery for Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS), including mandatory weak hook use, time/area closures, gear restricted areas, and electronic monitoring and the Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) Program adopted in 2015 through Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. However, quotas for target species have continued to be significantly underharvested and available IBQ allocation remains unused at the end of each year, indicating that all of the measures in tandem may not be necessary to appropriately limit incidental catch of bluefin tuna in the pelagic longline fishery and may not best achieve other management objectives, such as allowing fishermen a reasonable opportunity to harvest available quotas. These actions will ensure that conservation obligations are met and that bluefin bycatch continues to be minimized, but in a way that is not unnecessarily restrictive of pelagic longline fishery effort.

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 comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily finds that Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co., Ltd., also known as Saha Thai Steel Pipe (Public) Co., Ltd. (collectively, Saha Thai), as well as 28 non- examined companies, did not make sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value during the period of review (POR) March 1, 2018 through February 28, 2019. We further preliminarily determine that K Line Logistics (K-Line) had no shipments during the POR. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that Solidbend Fittings & Flanges Sdn. Bhd. (Solidbend) made no shipments of subject merchandise during the period of review (POR) July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019. We invite all interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that a Letter of Authorization (LOA) has been issued to the U.S. Navy (Navy) for the take of marine mammals incidental to construction activities at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, California.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) will hold a two-day webinar meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Due to federal and state travel restrictions and updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the new coronavirus, COVID-19, this meeting will be conducted entirely by webinar. The notice for this meeting was published on March 26, 2020 and is available at https:// www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/26/2020-06263/new-e ngland- fishery-management-council-public- meeting?utm_campaign=subscription+mailing+list&utm_source=fed eralregiste r.gov&utm_medium=email. Since that time, the Council has added one important overarching agenda item and expanded the scope of two others. This notice alerts the public of the revised agenda.

NMFS Office of Protected Resources, upon request from the University of California Santa Cruz's Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (UCSC/PISCO), hereby issues regulations and a Letter of Authorization to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring surveys along the Oregon and California coasts over the course of five years. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.