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

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) that revocation of the antidumping duty (AD) order on potassium permanganate from the People's Republic of China (China) would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping, and material injury to an industry in the United States, Commerce is publishing a notice of continuation of the AD order.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) published notice in the Federal Register of September 30, 2021, of the amended final results of the 2017-2018 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from India. This notice reflected incorrect cash deposit instructions for Calcutta Seafoods Pvt. Ltd./Bay Seafood Pvt. Ltd./Elque & Co. and Milsha Agro Exports Pvt. Ltd.

On December 14, 2020, the Department of Commerce published an interim final rule (the ``December 14 rule'') that revised aspects of the process for requesting exclusions from the duties and quantitative limitations on imports of aluminum and steel discussed in three previous Department of Commerce (``Commerce'') interim final rules implementing the exclusion process authorized by the President under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, as well as a May 26, 2020 notice of inquiry. The December 14 rule included adding 123 General Approved Exclusions (GAEs) to the regulations. Subsequently, based on Commerce's review of the public comments received in response to the December 14 rule and additional analysis conducted by Commerce on the Section 232 exclusion request submissions, Commerce determined that a subset of the GAEs added in the December 14 rule no longer meets the criteria for inclusion as a GAE and should therefore be removed. Commerce is removing these GAEs in this interim final rule to ensure only those GAEs that meet the stated criteria from the December 14 rule will continue to be included as eligible GAEs. This interim final rule removes thirty of the GAEs that were added to the regulations in the December 14 rule, consisting of twenty-six GAEs for steel and four GAEs for aluminum. As a conforming change to a recent U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) decision, this rule also removes one additional steel GAE. Lastly, this interim final rule adds a note to both GAE supplements to address future changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is issuing this interim final rule to amend its regulations pertaining to the procedures and rules related to Article 1904 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with appropriate references to the United States- Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which went into effect on July 1, 2020. Article 10.12 of the USMCA, like NAFTA Article 1904, provides a dispute settlement mechanism for purposes of reviewing antidumping and countervailing duty determinations issued by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Commerce is amending its regulations to replace references to Article 1904 of NAFTA with references to Article 10.12 of the USMCA; to update outdated cross-references to Commerce's antidumping and countervailing duty regulations; update outdated notice, filing, service, and protective order procedures; and adopt other minor corrections and updates.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, its implementing regulations, and NMFS' MMPA Regulations for Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico, notification is hereby given that two Letters of Authorization (LOA) have been issued to Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell) for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) will host an online meeting of the Area 2A Pacific halibut governmental management entities that is open to the public.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) hereby publishes a list of scope rulings and anti-circumvention determinations made during the period July 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021. We intend to publish future lists after the close of the next calendar quarter.

Notice is hereby given that Ocean Futures Society, 513 De La Vina Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (Responsible Party: Jean-Michel Cousteau), has applied in due form for a permit to conduct commercial or educational photography on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), and pantropical spotted dolphins (S. attenuata).

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 minimize 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 of the Ask U.S. Panel prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.

NMFS issues this temporary rule for a period of 30 days, to allow shrimp fishers to use limited tow times as an alternative to Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in specific Louisiana State waters (from 91[deg]23' West longitude eastward to the Louisiana/Mississippi border, and seaward out 3 nautical miles (5.6 kilometers)). This action is necessary because environmental conditions resulting from Hurricane Ida are preventing fishers from using TEDs effectively.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) has received petitions for certification of eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance from the firms listed below. Accordingly, EDA has initiated investigations to determine whether increased imports into the United States of articles like or directly competitive with those produced by each of the firms contributed importantly to the total or partial separation of the firms' workers, or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on forged steel fittings from the People's Republic of China (China) for the period of review January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019. Commerce preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to Both-Well (Taizhou) Steel Fittings, Co., Ltd. (Both-Well), the sole producer/exporter of forged steel fittings from China subject to this review.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651- 0069 (Patent Review and Derivation Proceedings). The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host broadband grant program public virtual listening sessions in connection with the five new broadband grant programs authorized and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program; the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program; and the Digital Equity Act Programs, which include the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program, State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, and Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. These public virtual listening sessions are designed to collect stakeholder input to help inform program development and implementation.

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing antidumping duty orders on utility scale wind towers (wind towers) from India and Malaysia.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain producers/exporters of steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) from the Republic of Turkey (Turkey) received countervailable subsidies during the period of review (POR) January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

NMFS proposes 2022 and 2023 harvest specifications, apportionments, and Pacific halibut prohibited species catch limits for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2022 and 2023 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. The 2022 harvest specifications supersede those previously set in the final 2021 and 2022 harvest specifications, and the 2023 harvest specifications will be superseded in early 2023 when the final 2023 and 2024 harvest specifications are published. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is rescinding the administrative reviews of the antidumping duty (AD) orders on large diameter welded pipe from Greece and cast iron soil pipe fittings from the People's Republic of China (China) and the countervailing duty (CVD) order on cast iron soil pipe fittings from China covering the periods of review in the table below, based on the timely withdrawal of all review requests.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to the sole known producer/exporter of urea ammonium nitrate solutions (UAN) from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago) for the period of investigation (POI) January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, its implementing regulations, and NMFS' MMPA Regulations for Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico, notification is hereby given that a Letter of Authorization (LOA) has been issued to Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (Anadarko) for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of Mexico.