Department of Commerce March 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In response to the Russian Federation's (Russia's) further invasion of Ukraine, with this final rule, the Department of Commerce is adding new Russia license requirements and licensing policies to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. These new Russia measures: Impose new Commerce Control List (CCL)-based license requirements for Russia; add two new foreign ``direct product'' rules (FDP rules) specific to Russia and Russian `military end users;' specify a license review policy of denial applicable to all of the license requirements being added in this rule, with certain limited exceptions; significantly restrict the use of EAR license exceptions; expand the existing Russia `military end use' and `military end user' control scope to all items ``subject to the EAR'' other than food and medicine designated EAR99, or ECCN 5A992.c and 5D992.c unless for Russian ``government end users'' and Russian state-owned enterprises (SoEs); transfer forty-five Russian entities from the Military End-User (MEU) List to the Entity List with an expanded license requirement of all items subject to the EAR (including foreign-produced items subject to the Russia-MEU FDP rules); and add two new Russia entities and revise two Russia entities to the Entity List. Lastly, this rule imposes comprehensive export, reexport and transfer (in-country) restrictions for the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People's Republics (LNR) regions of Ukraine (``Covered Regions of Ukraine'') and makes conforming revisions to export, reexport transfer (in-country) restrictions for Crimea Region of Ukraine provisions.

NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for the re-issuance of a previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of eight species of marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment, incidental to Ferry Berth Improvements at Tongass Narrows, near Ketchikan, AK. The project has been delayed and none of the work covered in the initial IHA has been conducted. The initial IHA was effective from March 1, 2021 through February 28, 2022. ADOT&PF has requested re-issuance with new effective dates of March 1, 2022, through February 28, 2023. The scope of the activities and anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers are not changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remains the same as included in the initial IHA. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a second identical IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the initial IHA.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan (BS FEP) Team will be held on March 18, 2022, and on March 21, 2022.

This document makes technical corrections to a final rule that modified the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. The correction reinstates paragraphs that were inadvertently removed from the Code of Federal Regulations when the final rule published on September 17, 2021.

NMFS has received a request from the City of Seattle (City) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the Pier 58 Reconstruction Project and Pier 63 Removal Project in Seattle, Washington. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue two incidental harassment authorizations (IHAs) to the City to incidentally take, by Level A and Level B harassment only, marine mammals during the specified activities. NMFS is also requesting comments on possible one- time, one-year renewals of each IHA that could be issued under certain circumstances and if all requirements are met, as described in Request for Public Comments at the end of this notice. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorizations and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Monkfish Committee via webinar to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on pentafluoroethane (R-125) from the People's Republic of China (China).

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of certain cold-drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and alloy steel (cold-drawn mechanical tubing) from India during the period of review, January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a joint public meeting of its Scallop Committee via webinar to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

NMFS announces final 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 remainder of the 2022 and the start of the 2023 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). 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).

This action proposes to approve and implement Framework Adjustment 9 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. This proposed rule would establish a rebuilding plan for herring, adjust accountability measure catch threshold triggers when catch exceeds a herring annual catch limit or management area sub-annual catch limit, and revise existing regulations to clarify area closure and possession limit restrictions and add prohibitions that were inadvertently omitted from previous management actions. This action is necessary to respond to updated scientific information and to achieve the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan. The proposed measures are intended to help prevent overfishing, rebuild the overfished herring stock, achieve optimum yield, and ensure that management measures are based on the best scientific information available.

NMFS is implementing a temporary emergency rule to prohibit trap/pot fishery buoy lines between Federal and State waters within the Massachusetts Restricted Area during the month of April 2022 to reduce the incidental mortality and serious injury to North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in commercial lobster and Jonah crab trap/ pot fisheries. This emergency rule is necessary to reduce the risk of right whale mortality and serious injury in buoy lines in an area with a high co-occurrence of whales and buoy lines.

NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the South Carolina Aquarium. If granted, the EFP would authorize the South Carolina Aquarium to collect, with certain conditions, various species of snapper-grouper, Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, golden crab, dolphin, wahoo, Atlantic cobia, spiny lobster, and shrimp in the Federal waters off South Carolina and North Carolina in the South Atlantic. The specimens would be used in educational exhibits displaying native marine species at the South Carolina Aquarium located in Charleston, SC.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The Exempted Fishing Permit would allow four commercial surfclam and ocean quahog vessels to conduct at-sea paralytic shellfish poisoning testing in the Closed Area II scallop access area in statistical area 562. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

The U.S. Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (US 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, is announcing the authorization of the coding and use of Return Link Service equipped 406 MHz Satellite Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) and 406 MHz Satellite Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) within the United States Search and Rescue Region.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain exporters/producers of certain cut-to-length plate (CTL plate) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) received countervailable subsidies during the period of review (POR), January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. Commerce preliminarily determines that the mandatory respondent, Hyundai Steel Company (Hyundai Steel), received de minimis net countervailable subsidies during the POR. Commerce preliminarily determines that Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd. (DSM), which was not individually examined in this review, received net countervailable subsidies. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Tilefish Monitoring Committee will hold a public webinar meeting. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for agenda details.

This final rule makes editorial corrections to the regulations for Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS). This final rule corrects citations that are currently incorrect due to changes to references in other parts of the regulations. In addition, this final action corrects minor technical items in the regulations that are missing, inconsistent, or incorrect, and also clarifies extraneous language to make the regulations more readable. The rule is administrative in nature and does not make any change with substantive effect to the regulations for HMS fisheries.

This proposed rule would implement electronic monitoring (EM) program regulations for vessels using groundfish bottom trawl and non- whiting midwater trawl gear in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program. The proposed action would allow vessels using bottom trawl and non-whiting midwater trawl gear to use EM in place of human observers to meet requirements for 100 percent at-sea catch monitoring. The proposed action is intended to increase operational flexibility and reduce monitoring costs for vessels in the groundfish trawl fishery. The proposed rule would also revise some existing regulations for EM vessels and EM service providers to clarify and streamline EM program requirements.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily finds that producers/exporters subject to this administrative review made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value during the period of review (POR), February 1, 2020, through January 31, 2021. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results of review.