Department of Commerce 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NOAA's Marine Debris Program and Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Trash Free Waters Program, on behalf of the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee (IMDCC), is soliciting public comments regarding the draft Report on Microfiber Pollution. The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act of 2020 requires the IMDCC to complete a report on microfiber pollution. This Report will provide Congress with an overview of the microfiber pollution issue, while also outlining a path forward for Federal agencies, in partnership with other stakeholders, to address this problem.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is postponing the deadline for issuing the final determination in the less-than-fair- value (LTFV) investigation of certain lemon juice (lemon juice) from the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) until December 19, 2022, and is extending the provisional measures from a four-month period to a period of not more than six months.

NMFS has received a request from the Virginia Electric and Power Company, also known as Dominion Energy Virginia (Dominion Energy), for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to the development of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project (CVOW-C) in Lease Area Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)-A-0483 off of Virginia over the course of 5 years beginning on March 4, 2024. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of Dominion Energy's request for the development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on Dominion Energy's application and request.

On September 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued its final judgment in Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Company Ltd. v. United States, 538 F. Supp. 3d 1354 (CIT 2021) (Saha Thai II), sustaining the U.S. Department of Commerce's (Commerce) final results of redetermination pertaining to the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes (pipes and tubes) from Thailand covering the period of review (POR) March 1, 2017, through February 28, 2018. Commerce is notifying the public that the CIT's final judgment is not in harmony with Commerce's final results of the administrative review, and that Commerce is amending the final results of review with respect to the weighted- average dumping margin assigned to Saha Thai Steel Pipe (Public) Company, Ltd. (Saha Thai).

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that certain producers/exporters of narrow woven ribbons with woven selvedge (ribbons) from the People's Republic of China (China) received countervailable subsidies during the period of review (POR) January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020.

NMFS proposes to approve and implement Framework Adjustment 7 to the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan, which includes 2022-2024 specifications for the golden tilefish fishery for fishing years 2022- 2024, a change to the annual specifications process, and a change to the start of the golden tilefish fishing year. The proposed action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to prevent overfishing while allowing optimum yield, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. This action is intended to ensure measures are based on the best scientific information available and increase flexibility, where possible, for the tilefish fishery.

NMFS informs surfclam and ocean quahog individual transferable quota allocation holders that they will be required to purchase their fishing year 2023 (January 1, 2023-December 31, 2023) cage tags from the National Band and Tag Company. The intent of this notice is to comply with regulations for the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries and to promote efficient distribution of cage tags.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of the Outreach and Communications Advisory Panel (AP) October 4-5, 2022, and a meeting of the Mackerel Cobia Advisory Panel October 5-6, 2022. The meetings will be held in Charleston, SC.

A Request for Panel Review was filed on behalf of the Government of Canada, the Governments of Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Qu[eacute]bec; Alberta Softwood Lumber Trade Council, British Columbia Lumber Trade Council, Conseil de l'industrie foresti[egrave]re du Qu[eacute]bec, and Ontario Forest Industries Association; Canfor Corporation, Fontaine, Inc., Mobilier Rustique (Beauce) Inc., J.D. Irving, Limited, Resolute FP Canada Inc., Tolko Marketing and Sales Ltd. and Tolko Industries Ltd., Gilbert Smith Forest Products, and West Fraser Mills Ltd. with the United States Section of the USMCA Secretariat on September 8, 2022, pursuant to USMCA Article 10.12. Panel Review was requested of the U.S. International Trade Administration's Final Results in the 2020 Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Certain Softwood Lumber from Canada, which was published in the Federal Register on August 9, 2022. The USMCA Secretariat has assigned case number USA-CDA-2022- 10.12-03 to this request.

On May 13, 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published an interim final rule that appeared in the Federal Register and that amended the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) regulations. That rule was published with a 30-day comment period, which ended on June 13, 2022, and a 45-day delayed effective date (June 27, 2022). A subsequent notice delaying the effective date until September 26, 2022, was published on June 24, 2022. This action further delays the effective date of the interim final rule by an additional 120 days, until January 24, 2023.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain preserved mushrooms (preserved mushrooms) from France are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation is January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

Notice is hereby given that Bill Post, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 20528-03.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 15 companies had no shipments of certain frozen fish fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) during the period of review (POR) August 1, 2020, through July 31, 2021. Commerce also determines that one company subject to this review is part of the Vietnam-wide entity because it did not demonstrate eligibility for a separate rate.

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 revision of the American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community Survey, prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.

The Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) will meet Wednesday, October 26, 2022, and Thursday, October 27, 2022, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., eastern time. All sessions will be open to the public.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2022 total allowable catch of Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

NMFS proposes regulatory amendments that would apply to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Program participants that operate in the non-tribal Pacific whiting fishery. This rulemaking proposes to adjust the primary Pacific whiting season start date for all sectors of the Pacific whiting fishery from May 15 to May 1, remove from regulation the mothership catcher vessel (MSCV) processor obligation deadline of November 30, remove from regulation the Mothership (MS) processor cap of 45 percent, and provide the ability to operate as a Catcher/Processor (CP) and an MS in the same year. This action is necessary to provide MS sector participants with greater operational flexibility by modifying specific regulations that have been identified as potentially contributing to lower attainment of the Pacific whiting allocation compared to the CP and shoreside Pacific whiting sectors. This proposed rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, and other applicable laws.

On August 25, 2022, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued its final judgment in Saha Steel Pipe Public Company, Ltd v. United States, Court No. 20-00133, Slip Op. 22-99 (Saha Steel), sustaining the Department of Commerce (Commerce)'s final results of redetermination pertaining to the scope ruling for the antidumping duty (AD) order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes (CWP) from Thailand. In the redetermination, Commerce found that dual-stenciled standard pipe and line pipe are outside the scope of the order, pursuant to the CIT's remand order in Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Company Ltd v. United States, 547 F. Supp. 3d 1278 (CIT Oct. 6, 2021) (Remand Order). Commerce is notifying the public that the CIT's final judgment is not in harmony with Commerce's final scope ruling, and that Commerce is amending the scope ruling to find that dual-stenciled standard pipe and line pipe are outside the scope of the order.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) published a notice in the Federal Register on July 7, 2022, in which Commerce announced the final results, and partial rescission, of the 2019 administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, (solar cells) from the People's Republic of China (China). This notice inadvertently included two companies in Appendix III, which is a list of companies for which Commerce rescinded the review, instead of listing them in Appendix II, which is a list of ``Non-Selected Companies Under Review.'' We also incorrectly titled Appendix III ``Intent to Rescind Review, In Part,'' instead of ``Rescission of Review, In Part.'' Further, Commerce also published a notice in the Federal Register of August 15, 2022, in which Commerce amended the final results of the administrative review. In this notice, Commerce also inadvertently did not list the same two companies as ``Non- Selected Companies Under Review'' in the appendix. We are correcting these inadvertent errors with this notice, as described below.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Groundfish Subcommittee of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and other scientists will hold an online meeting to review an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) acoustic and visual survey for nearshore groundfish. This methodology review will be coupled with a workshop to evaluate Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) hook-and-line surveys for groundfish species. Participants will recommend how data generated from these surveys may inform future groundfish stock assessments.

The SEDAR 82 assessment of the South Atlantic stock of Gray Triggerfish will consist of a data workshop, a series of assessment webinars, and a review workshop. A SEDAR 82 Post-Data Workshop webinar is scheduled for October 3, 2022.

This proposed rule would modify existing limits on fishing effort by U.S. purse seine vessels in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and on the high seas between the latitudes of 20[deg] N and 20[deg] S, in the area of application of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Convention). In addition, this proposed rule would adjust the 2022 bigeye tuna catch limit in the area of application of the Convention (Convention Area) for U.S. longline commercial fishing vessels to 3,358 metric tons (mt), due to an overage of the 2021 catch limit. The proposed rule would clarify that adjustments to the purse seine fishing effort limits or longline bigeye tuna catch limits could occur each year, due to any overage of the prior year's limit. This proposed rule would also modify the following: the process for closing the fishery once NMFS expects the effort limits will be reached; the process for obtaining daily purse seine fishing effort reports; and the process for adjusting established annual catch and effort limits in the Convention Area. This action is necessary for the United States to implement provisions of a conservation and management measure adopted by the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC or Commission) and to satisfy the obligations of the United States under the Convention, to which it is a Contracting Party. NMFS is seeking comments on this proposed rule and will respond to those comments in a subsequent final rule.

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 Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell) for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of Mexico.