Department of Commerce 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing antidumping duty orders on forged steel fittings from India and the Republic of Korea (Korea).

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 the U. S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard) to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during activities associated with the Base Los Angeles/Long Beach Wharf Expansion Project in Los Angeles, California.

In this final rule, NMFS implements an annual catch limit (ACL) of 30,802 lb (13,972 kg), and an annual catch target (ACT) of 25,491 lb (11,563 kg), of Hawaii Kona crab for fishing years 2020-2023. This rule also implements, as accountability measures (AM), an in- season closure of the fishery if catch is projected to reach the ACT, and a post-season adjustment if catch exceeds the ACL. This action support the long-term sustainability of the Hawaii Kona crab fishery.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is rescinding the administrative review, in part, of the antidumping duty order on certain steel nails from Taiwan for the period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that twist ties from the People's Republic of China (China) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation is October 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

This action provides participants in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Program with the 2021 cost recovery fee percentages and the average mothership (MS) price per pound to be used in the catcher/processor (C/P) coop program to calculate the fee amount for the upcoming calendar year. For the 2021 calendar year, NMFS announces the following fee percentages by sector specific program: 2.5 percent for the Shorebased Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program; 1.3 percent for the MS Co-op Program; and 0.2 percent for the C/P Co-op Program. For 2021, the MS pricing to be used as a proxy by the C/P Co- op Program is $0.09/lb for Pacific whiting.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) revises the rules of practice for instituting review on all challenged claims or none in inter partes review (IPR), post-grant review (PGR), and the transitional program for covered business method patents (CBM) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) in accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in SAS Institute Inc. v. Iancu (SAS). Consistent with SAS, the Office also revises the rules of practice for instituting a review, if at all, on all grounds of unpatentability for the challenged claims that are asserted in a petition. Additionally, the Office revises the rules to conform to the current standard practice of providing sur-replies to principal briefs and providing that a reply and a patent owner response may respond to a decision on institution. The Office further revises the rules to eliminate the presumption that a genuine issue of material fact created by the patent owner's testimonial evidence filed with a preliminary response will be viewed in the light most favorable to the petitioner for purposes of deciding whether to institute a review.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is correcting its notice of the final results of the sixth administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells), from the People's Republic of China (China). The period of review (POR) is December 1, 2017 through November 30, 2018.

Notice is hereby given that permits and permit amendments have been issued to the following entities under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as applicable.

NMFS is adjusting the Swordfish General Commercial permit retention limits for the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean regions for January through June of the 2021 fishing year, unless otherwise later noticed. The Swordfish General Commercial permit retention limit in each of these regions is increased from the regulatory default limit (either two or three fish) to six swordfish per vessel per trip. The Swordfish General Commercial permit retention limit in the Florida Swordfish Management Area will remain unchanged at the default limit of zero swordfish per vessel per trip, as discussed in more detail below. These adjustments apply to Swordfish General Commercial permitted vessels and to Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial endorsement when on a non-for-hire trip. This action is based upon consideration of the applicable inseason regional retention limit adjustment criteria.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) has received requests to conduct administrative reviews of various antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders and findings with October anniversary dates. In accordance with Commerce's regulations, we are initiating those administrative reviews.

The New England Fishery Management Council is drafting Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which considers measures related to the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area and various Limited Access General Category management measures. Based on the range of alternatives developed for this action, the Council has developed an environmental assessment to analyze the impacts. The purpose of this notice is to announce that the Council no longer intends to develop an environmental impact statement for Amendment 21.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) finds that the 20 companies subject to the administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on laminated woven sacks (LWS) from the People's Republic of China (China) are part of the China-wide entity because none of the companies filed a separate rate application (SRA) or separate rate certification (SRC). The period of review (POR) is August 1, 2018 through July 31, 2019.

As a result of this sunset review, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) finds that revocation of the antidumping duty order on diamond sawblades and parts thereof (diamond sawblades) from the People's Republic of China (China) would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping as indicated in the ``Final Results of Sunset Review'' section of this notice.

NMFS announces closures for the 2021 fishing season for the red snapper private angling component in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Texas in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) through this temporary rule. The red snapper recreational private angling component in the Gulf EEZ off Texas will close on January 1, 2021, until 12:01 a.m., local time, on June 1, 2021. This closure is necessary to prevent the private angling component from exceeding the Texas regional management area annual catch limit (ACL) and to prevent overfishing of the Gulf red snapper resource.

As a result of these sunset reviews, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) finds that revocation of the antidumping duty (AD) orders on certain preserved mushrooms (mushrooms) from Chile, India, Indonesia, and the People's Republic of China (China) would be likely to lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping, at the levels identified in the ``Final Results of Sunset Reviews'' section of this notice.

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

NMFS reviewed the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs) in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). SARs for marine mammals in the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regions were revised according to new information. NMFS solicits public comments on the draft 2020 SARs. NMFS is also requesting new information for strategic stocks that were not updated in 2020.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of standard steel welded wire mesh (wire mesh) from Mexico. The period of investigation is January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

This final rule modifies Federal permit conditions and imposes participation requirements for certain federally permitted vessels when fishing for Pacific cod in state waters adjacent to the exclusive economic zone of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands during the State of Alaska's parallel Pacific cod fishery. This action is necessary to enhance Federal conservation, management, and catch accounting measures previously adopted by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) regarding license limitation, sector allocations, and catch reporting. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, and other applicable law.