Department of Commerce May 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a joint public meeting of its Whiting Committee and Advisory Panel via webinar 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 70 assessment of Gulf of Mexico Greater Amberjack will consist of a series of data and assessment webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

This action approves revised 2020 and projected 2021 specifications for the scup and black sea bass fisheries. Changes to the specifications are necessary to better achieve optimum yield within the fishery while controlling overfishing, consistent with recent stock assessment updates and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This rule informs the public of the changes to the specifications for the remainder of the 2020 fishing year and announces projected 2021 specifications.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is implementing a pilot program to provide prioritized examination of certain patent applications. To qualify, the claim(s) of an application must cover a product or process related to COVID-19, and such product or process must be subject to an applicable FDA approval for COVID-19 use. Under this pilot program, the USPTO will grant qualified requests for prioritized examination without payment of certain fees associated with prioritized examination for applicants that qualify for small or micro entity status. The goal of prioritized examination is to provide a final disposition within 12 months, on average, from the date the prioritized status has been granted. Furthermore, the USPTO believes it can achieve final disposition in six months if applicants provide more timely responses to notices and actions from the USPTO, as compared to those required by prioritized examination. This notice outlines the conditions, eligibility requirements, and guidelines of the pilot program.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Groundfish Management Team (GMT) will hold an online meeting to discuss items on the Pacific Council's June 2020 meeting agenda. The meeting is open to the public.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) Workgroup (Workgroup) will host two online meetings that are open to the public.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a half day webinar meeting of its Standing, Reef Fish, and Socioeconomic Scientific and Statistical Committees (SSC).

On July 9, 2019, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) published the preliminary results of the changed circumstances review (CCR) of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on biodiesel from Argentina. For these final results, Commerce finds that sufficient changed circumstances do not exist warranting a recalculation of the CVD deposit rates in the order.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Committee via webinar 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 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) Monitoring Committee will meet via webinar to develop recommendations for MSB specifications, focusing on the Illex squid fishery.

NMFS announces five inseason actions in the ocean salmon fisheries. These inseason actions modified the commercial and recreational salmon fisheries in the area from Cape Falcon, OR, to the U.S./Mexico border.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC) will host a virtual meeting of the Council Coordination Committee (CCC), consisting of the Regional Fishery Management Council chairs, vice chairs, and executive directors on May 27 to May 28, 2020. The intent of this meeting is to discuss issues of relevance to the Councils and NMFS, including issues related to the implementation of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act. All sessions are open to the public and time will be set aside for public comments at the end of each session.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is rescinding the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) for the period February 1, 2019 through January 31, 2020.

NMFS proposes revised specifications for the 2020 Atlantic bluefish fishery and projected specifications for fishing year 2021, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent scientific information. This action also informs the public of the proposed fishery specifications and provides an opportunity for comment.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that Teh Fong Min International Co., Ltd. (TFM), the sole producer and/ or exporter subject to this administrative review, made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value. Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary results of this review.

Through this final rule, NMFS establishes fishery management measures for the 2020 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California and the 2021 salmon seasons opening earlier than the effective date of the 2021 rule, which is expected to be no later than May 16, 2021, under authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Specific fishery management measures vary by fishery and by area, and establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) (3-200 nautical miles (nmi)) off Washington, Oregon, and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indian, non-treaty commercial, and recreational fisheries. The measures are also intended to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries in order to provide for spawning escapement and to provide fishing opportunity for inside fisheries (fisheries occurring in state internal waters).

On December 18, 2019, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate products (CTL plate) from the Republic of Korea (Korea). Based on our analysis of the comments received, we continue to find that subject merchandise has been sold at less than normal value.