Department of Commerce September 24, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS closes the General category fishery for large medium and giant (i.e., measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved fork length or greater) Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) for the September subquota time period until the General category reopens on October 1, 2021. Given that the General category September subquota will be closed by this action through the end of September, NMFS is also waiving previously- designated restricted-fishing days (RFDs) for the rest of September. The fishery will reopen on October 1, 2021, and the previously- designated RFDs will resume on October 1, 2021. This action applies to Atlantic Tunas General category (commercial) permitted vessels and HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.

This notice sets forth the proposed schedule and agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC). The members will meet the new Assistant Administrator for Fisheries and hear Administration priorities. They will also discuss building resilient fisheries, the seafood sector, and coastal communities reliant on marine resources; the Subcommittee on Aquaculture strategic plans; and climate science and the Next-Gen Data Acquisition Plan. Status updates will be provided on the fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget outlook, operations, facilities, and workforce management issues, as well as progress reports from MAFAC's Recreational Electronic Reporting Task Force and planning for the 2022 Recreational Fisheries Summit.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued an order granting a one-year interim extension of the term of U.S. Patent No. 7,259,184 (`184 patent).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued an order granting a one-year interim extension of the term of U.S. Patent No. 7,057,053 (`053 patent).

Through this final rule, the Economic Development Administration (EDA), U.S. Department of Commerce, expands the definition of Tribal entities eligible to receive grants under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (PWEDA) to include for-profit Tribal corporations so long as they are wholly owned by, and established exclusively for the benefit of, a Tribe.

This final rule revises the regulations governing a request or application for an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (``Section 232''). The changes in this final rule will increase the transparency of Section 232 investigations by requiring the submission of a public version of an application for an investigation from an interested party. The changes made in this final rule still allow an interested party to submit classified national security information and/or business confidential information when submitting an application for an investigation.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') (Bureau of Industry (``BIS'')) led the 100-Day Supply Chain Review of semiconductors and advanced packaging that was mandated by Presidential Executive Order. On February 24, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on ``America's Supply Chains,'' which directs several federal agency actions to secure and strengthen America's supply chains. This review, included in the White House Report ``Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth'', identified numerous areas of supply chain vulnerabilities. The ongoing shortages in the semiconductor product supply chain are having an adverse impact on a wide range of industry sectors. With the goal of accelerating information flow across the various segments of the supply chain, identifying data gaps and bottlenecks in the supply chain, and potential inconsistent demand signals, the Department is seeking responses from interested parties (including domestic and foreign semiconductor design firms, semiconductor manufacturers, materials and equipment suppliers, as well as semiconductor intermediate and end-users) to the questions set forth in this notice.