Department of Commerce February 8, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently sought input from the public regarding the National Council for Expanding American Innovation (NCEAI). The USPTO is extending the comment period to ensure that all stakeholders have sufficient opportunity to submit comments on this important effort to develop a national strategy to expand innovation demographically, geographically, and economically.

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 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 minimizes the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the proposed new information collection, Generic Clearance for Emergency Economic Information Collections, prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is postponing the deadline for issuing the final determination in the less-than-fair- value (LTFV) investigation of imports of seamless refined copper pipe and tube (copper pipe and tube) from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) until June 16, 2021, and is extending the provisional measures from a four-month period to a period of not more than six months.

NMFS announces a public meeting of the Permanent Advisory Committee (PAC) to advise the U.S. Commissioners to the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC) on March 18, 2021. Meeting topics are provided under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

The U.S. Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) Program, which is managed by NOAA and assisted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Coast Guard, requests input from all interested persons on the U.S. authorization of Return Link Service (RLS) acknowledgment Type 1 capable Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz distress beacons. Through this Request for Information (RFI), the SARSAT Program seeks the public's views on the inclusion of this optional feature on U.S. country-coded beacons.

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 Washington State Department of Transportation (WADOT) to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during construction activities associated with a Purdy Bridge Rehabilitation Project in Pierce County, WA.

NMFS has received a request from the Chesapeake Tunnel Joint Venture (CTJV) for the Renewal of their currently active incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals incidental to Parallel Thimble Shoal Tunnel Project (PTST) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. These activities are identical to those covered in the current authorization. The project has experienced delays and most of the work covered in the initial IHA will not be completed by the time it expires. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, prior to issuing the currently active IHA, NMFS requested comments on both the proposed IHA and the potential for renewing the initial authorization if certain requirements were satisfied. The Renewal requirements have been satisfied, and NMFS is now providing an additional 15-day comment period to allow for any additional comments on the proposed Renewal not previously provided during the initial 30-day comment period.