Department of Commerce November 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 Chesapeake Tunnel Joint Venture (CTJV) to incidentally harass, by Level A and Level B harassment only, marine mammals during construction activities associated with the Parallel Thimble Shoal Tunnel Project (PTST) in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

NMFS proposes 2022-2023 specifications for the summer flounder, scup, and black sea fisheries. The implementing regulations for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan require us to publish specifications for the upcoming fishing year for each of these species and to provide an opportunity for public comment. The proposed specifications are intended to establish allowable harvest levels for these species that will prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent scientific information.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that raw honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation is October 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that raw honey from Ukraine is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value. The period of investigation is April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that raw honey from Brazil is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value. The period of investigation is April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC) will hold the 176th hybrid (virtual/in person) public meeting to address the items contained in the tentative agenda included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

This document announces the reapportionment of 34,645 metric tons of Pacific whiting from the tribal allocation to the non-tribal commercial fishery sectors via automatic action on September 15, 2021. This reapportionment is to allow full utilization of the Pacific whiting resource.

NMFS is proposing to establish a uniform, nationally consistent minimum insurance standard that would apply in regional regulatory programs that authorize an observer provider to deploy a person in any mandatory or voluntary observer program and that specify responsibilities of authorized providers. NMFS has concluded that this action is necessary to clarify the types of insurance that are appropriate to address the financial risks that observer coverage presents in any federally managed fishery that is subject to observer coverage. The proposed standard would establish a nationally consistent suite of insurance coverages that an observer provider seeking authorization, or that has been authorized, must have to mitigate the financial risks associated with providing observer services; specifically observer deployments to fishing vessels or shoreside locations such as processing facilities, and those that arise with training personnel for these deployments. Through compliance with this minimum standard, observer providers would be properly insured, thereby mitigating the financial risks that fishing vessels, first receivers, and shoreside processors have when complying with observer coverage requirements. This proposed rule would also revise regional observer program regulations to reference the newly established national minimum insurance standard, but existing regional observer program regulatory procedures that specify how an observer provider demonstrates compliance with insurance requirements would not be modified.

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.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking information about the public and private sector marketplace trends, supply chain risks, legislative, policy, and the future investment needs of eight emerging technology areas, including: Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things in Manufacturing, Quantum Computing, Blockchain Technology, New and Advanced Materials, Unmanned Delivery Services, Internet of Things, and Three-dimensional Printing. This Request for Information (RFI) is seeking comments to help identify, understand, refine, and guide the development of the current and future state of technology in the eight emerging technology areas named above. The information will inform a final report that will be submitted to Congress.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) has completed its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain cased pencils (cased pencils) from the People's Republic of China (China) for the period of review (POR) December 1, 2019, through November 30, 2020. We continue to find that Wah Yuen Stationery Co. Ltd. and Shandong Wah Yuen Stationery Co. Ltd. (collectively, Wah Yuen) had no shipments of cased pencils during the POR. We also continue to find that Tianjin Tonghe Stationery Co., Ltd. (Tianjin Tonghe) and Ningbo Homey Union Co., Ltd. (Ningbo Homey) are not eligible for a separate rate and should be treated as part of the China-wide entity.

The SEDAR 75 assessment of Gulf of Mexico gray snapper will consist of a series of assessment webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) will hold a three-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Due to ongoing public safety considerations related to COVID-19, this meeting will be conducted entirely by webinar.

Notice is hereby given that Heather E. Liwanag, Ph.D., 1 Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0401, has applied for an amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 22187-01.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in this notice is publishing a report that summarizes the findings of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (``Section 232''), into the effect of imports of transformers and transformer components on the national security of the United States. This report was completed on October 15, 2020 and posted on the BIS website in July 2021. BIS has not published the appendices to the report in this notification of report findings, but they are available online at the BIS website, along with the rest of the report (see the ADDRESSES section).

NMFS announces two inseason actions in the 2021 ocean salmon fisheries. These inseason actions modified the recreational ocean salmon fishery in the area from Cape Falcon, OR to the Oregon/ California border.

On October 8, 2021, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) published the initiation and preliminary results of a changed circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty (AD) order on certain activated carbon (activated carbon) from the People's Republic of China (China). For these final results, Commerce continues to find that Ningxia Huahui Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. (Huahui Environmental) is the successor in-interest to Ningxia Huahui Activated Carbon Co., Ltd. (Ningxia Huahui) and should be assigned the same AD cash deposit rate assigned to Ningxia Huahui for purposes of determining AD liability in this proceeding.

NMFS announces its intent to issue exempted fishing permits (EFPs), scientific research permits (SRPs), display permits, letters of acknowledgment (LOAs), and shark research fishery permits for Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) in 2022. EFPs and related permits would authorize collection of a limited number of Atlantic HMS, including tunas, swordfish, billfishes, and sharks, from Federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico for the purposes of scientific research, data collection, the investigation of bycatch, and public display, among other things. LOAs acknowledge that scientific research activity aboard a scientific research vessel is being conducted. Generally, EFPs and related permits would be valid from the date of issuance through December 31, 2022, unless otherwise specified in the permit, subject to the terms and conditions of individual permits.

NMFS implements an accountability measure (AM) for the recreational sector for the other jacks complex (lesser amberjack, almaco jack, and banded rudderfish) in the South Atlantic for the 2021 fishing year through this temporary rule. NMFS has determined that recreational landings of the other jacks complex have reached its recreational annual catch limit (ACL). Therefore, NMFS closes the recreational sector for this complex on November 17, 2021, through the remainder of the 2021 fishing year in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. This closure is necessary to protect the lesser amberjack, almaco jack, and banded rudderfish resources.