Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 198 / Friday, October 11, 2024 / Notices 82573 

12See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1). 

13See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2). 

14We use the term ‘‘issue’’ here to describe an 

argument that Commerce would normally address 

in a comment of the Issues and Decision 

Memorandum. 

15See Administrative Protective Order, Service, 

and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final Rule, 88 FR 

67069 (September 29, 2023). 

included as an appendix to this notice. 

The Preliminary Decision Memorandum 

is a public document and is on file 

electronically via Enforcement and 

Compliance’s Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Centralized 

Electronic Service System (ACCESS). 

ACCESS is available to registered users 

at https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a 

complete version of the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum can be accessed 

directly at https://access.trade.gov/ 

public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx. 

Verification 

As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the 

Act, Commerce intends to verify the 

information relied upon in making its 

final determination. 

Public Comment 

Case briefs may be submitted no later 

than seven days after the date on which 

the last verification report is issued in 

this review. Rebuttal briefs, limited to 

issues raised in case briefs, may be 

submitted no later than seven days after 

the deadline date for case briefs.12

Interested parties who submit case 

briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 

proceeding must submit: (1) a table of 

contents listing each issue; and (2) a 

table of authorities.13

As provided under 19 CFR 

351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 

proceedings we have encouraged 

interested parties to provide an 

executive summary of their brief that 

should be limited to five pages total, 

including footnotes. In this review, we 

instead request that interested parties 

provide at the beginning of their briefs 

a public, executive summary for each 

issue raised in their briefs.14 Further, we 

request that interested parties limit their 

executive summary of each issue to no 

more than 450 words, not including 

citations. We intend to use the executive 

summaries as the basis of the comment 

summaries included in the issues and 

decision memorandum that will 

accompany the final results in this 

administrative review. We request that 

interested parties include footnotes for 

relevant citations in the executive 

summary of each issue. Note that 

Commerce has amended certain of its 

requirements pertaining to the service of 

documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).15

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), 

interested parties who wish to request a 

hearing, limited to issues raised in the 

case and rebuttal briefs, must submit a 

written request to the Assistant 

Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance, filed electronically via 

ACCESS. Requests should contain: (1) 

the party’s name, address, and 

telephone number; (2) the number of 

participants; and (3) a list of issues to be 

discussed. Issues raised in the hearing 

will be limited to those raised in the 

respective case briefs. An electronically 

filed hearing request must be received 

successfully in its entirety by 

Commerce’s electronic records system, 

ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time within 

30 days after the date of publication of 

this notice. 

Commerce intends to issue the final 

results of this administrative review, 

including the results of its analysis of 

the issues raised in any written briefs, 

not later than 120 days after the date of 

publication of this notice, pursuant to 

section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, unless 

extended. 

Notification to Interested Parties 

We are issuing and publishing these 

results in accordance with sections 

751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act. 

Dated: October 7, 2024. 

Ryan Majerus, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and 

Negotiations, performing the non-exclusive 

functions and duties of the Assistant 

Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance. 

Appendix 

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Scope of the 2019 Agreement 

III. Background 

IV. Preliminary Results of Review 

V. Discussion of the Issues 

VI. Recommendation 

[FR Doc. 2024–23566 Filed 10–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XE370] 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

File No. 27106 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the North Carolina Department of 

Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) has been 

issued a permit for the incidental take 

of Endangered Species Act listed sea 

turtles and sturgeon associated with the 

otherwise lawful commercial inshore 

gillnet fishery in North Carolina. 

ADDRESSES: The incidental take permit, 

final environmental assessment, and 

other related documents are available on 

the NMFS Office of Protected Resources 

website at https://www.fisheries.

noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-permitnorth-carolina-division-marinefisheries-sea-turtles-and-sturgeon. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Celeste Stout, NMFS, Office of Protected 

Resources at celeste.stout@noaa.gov, 

301–427–8403. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 

of the ESA and Federal regulations 

prohibit the ‘taking’ of a species listed 

as endangered or threatened. The ESA 

defines ‘‘take’’ to mean harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 

capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct. NMFS may 

issue permits, under limited 

circumstances to take listed species 

incidental to, and not the purpose of, 

otherwise lawful activities. Section 

10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides a 

mechanism for authorizing incidental 

take of listed species. NMFS regulations 

governing permits for threatened and 

endangered species are located in 50 

CFR 222.307. 

Species Covered in This Permit 

Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), 

hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), 

leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea 

turtles; North Atlantic and South 

Atlantic distinct population segments 

(DPSs) of green (Chelonia mydas) sea 

turtles; Northwest Atlantic Ocean DPS 

of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea 

turtles; New York Bight, Chesapeake, 

Carolina, and South Atlantic DPSs of 

Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus 

oxyrinchus); and and shortnose sturgeon 

(Acipenser brevirostrum). 

Background 

NMFS received a draft permit 

application and conservation plan from 

NCDMF on June 22, 2022. Based on our 

review of the draft application, we 

requested further information and 

clarification on their minimization, 

monitoring, and mitigation measures 

and take requests. After several draft 

submissions and reviews, on December 

2, 2022, NCDMF submitted a complete 

revised application for the incidental 

take of ESA-listed sea turtles and 

sturgeon. On December 22, 2022, we 

published a notice of receipt (87 FR 

78659) of application and conservation 


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82574 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 198 / Friday, October 11, 2024 / Notices 

plan from NCDMF for an incidental take 

permit. In that notice, we made the 

Incidental Take Permit (ITP) application 

and associated conservation plan 

available for public comment during a 

30-day public comment period. 

Subsequently, we received a request to 

extend the public comment period. 

NMFS provided a 30-day extension (88 

FR 3971, January 23, 2023) to the 

comment period, which closed on 

February 22, 2023. We received 231 

comments on the application and 

conservation plan and responses to 

these comments are available in the 

draft Environmental Assessment (EA). 

On August 10, 2023, a Federal 

Register notice was published to inform 

the public of the availability of, and 

request comments on, the draft EA (88 

FR 54303). The public comment period 

ended on September 11, 2023, and 22 

comments were received. The 

comments received and their 

accompanying responses are located in 

appendix D of the final EA. Comments 

received were considered and any 

revisions needed to address comments 

were incorporated in the final EA and 

NCDMF’s final ITP application and 

conservation plan. 

NMFS has issued the requested 

incidental take permit under the 

authority of the ESA of 1973, as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 

the regulations governing the taking, 

importing, and exporting of endangered 

and threatened species (50 CFR parts 

222–226). 

Incidental takes by species in rolling 

2-year (ITP year) intervals or ITP 

duration that are authorized under the 

permit were based on annual take 

values from model predictions or 

observed counts based on previous 

interaction data for the duration of 

requested ITP (10 years; Please see 

section 7.A.2 Estimation of Incidental 

Takes of the conservation plan). 

Authorized takes include the total 

number of predicted takes across the 

fishery whenever possible; otherwise 

takes are based on counts of observed 

takes. Takes are either combined or 

separate for mesh-size category and 

disposition of the incidentally captured 

animals. Mesh-size categories are large 

(≥5 Inches Stretched Mesh (ISM), ≥12.7 

Centimeters Stretched Mesh (CSM) and 

small (<5 ISM, <12.7 CSM). 

TABLE 1—AUTHORIZED TAKES UNDER PERMIT NO. 27106 

Species Mesh-size category Disposition Predicted or 

observed takes 

Requested 

2-year rolling 

take 

Atlantic Sturgeon ................................................. Large & Small .............. Live ............................... Predicted ...................... 436 

Large & Small .............. Dead ............................. Observed ...................... 6 

Green sea turtle (North and South Atlantic 

DPSs).

Large & Small .............. Live ............................... Predicted ...................... 542 

Large & Small .............. Dead ............................. Predicted ...................... 170 

Kemp’s ridley sea turtle ...................................... Large ............................ Live ............................... Observed ...................... 10 

Large ............................ Dead ............................. Observed ...................... 4 

Small ............................ Live or Dead ................. Observed ...................... 4 

Loggerhead sea turtle (Northwest Atlantic 

Ocean DPS).

Large & Small .............. Live or Dead ................. Observed ...................... 4 

Species Mesh-size category Disposition Predicted or 

observed takes 

Total take over 

10-year permit 

Shortnose sturgeon ............................................. Large & Small .............. Live or Dead ................. Observed ...................... 4 

Hawksbill sea turtle ............................................. Large & Small .............. Live or Dead ................. Observed ...................... 2 

Leatherback sea turtle ........................................ Large & Small .............. Live or Dead ................. Observed ...................... 2 

Below we describes the approximate 

assignment of DPS from the predicted 

number and observed count of Atlantic 

sturgeon take by live or dead status 

across the 10 years of the requested ITP. 

Individuals <500 mm total length (TL) 

and ≥1,500 mm TL are assumed to 

belong to the DPS where they were 

collected (ASMFC 2017) because 

individuals of these sizes are generally 

regarded as juveniles natal to those 

locations but not large enough to leave 

the river or adults that are most likely 

returning to their natal rivers to 

reproduce. Thus, based on previous 

interactions, 13.1 percent of total 

bycatch could be assigned to the 

Carolina DPS without further 

evaluation, but the correct DPS for the 

remaining portion of bycatch is 

unknown. For the remaining 86.8 

percent of the predicted numbers, DPS 

assignment was based on proportions 

provided in Kazyk et al. (2021) for the 

geographic area ‘‘Mid Riverine/ 

Estuarine’’. 

Approximate assignment of DPS from 

the predicted number and observed 

count of Atlantic sturgeon takes by live 

or dead status across the 10 years of the 

ITP are indicated in the table below. 

Take of Atlantic sturgeon will affect four 

DPSs, at a total rate up to 15.9 percent 

New York Bight DPS, 4.2 percent 

Chesapeake Bay DPS, 66.2 percent 

Carolina DPS, and 13.8 percent South 

Atlantic DPS. 

TABLE 2—APPROXIMATE ASSIGNMENT OF DPS OD ATLANTIC STURGON TAKES

Atlantic sturgeon disposition Predicted or observed 

counts 

Takes across 

10 years 

New York 

Bight DPS 

Chesapeake 

DPS Carolina DPS South atlantic DPS 

Live ...................................... Predicted ............................ 2,180 346 91 1,443 300 

Dead .................................... Observed Counts ............... 30 5 1 20 4 


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I I I I I 
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 198 / Friday, October 11, 2024 / Notices 82575 

Due to uncertainty about the exact 

proportion of each DPS in the inshore 

waters of North Carolina, the above 

breakdown may not perfectly represent 

the actual proportion of each DPS. This 

expected variation is influenced by 

natural seasonal and annual fluctuations 

in the proportions of each DPS. 

Therefore, the take estimates provided 

for each DPS do not aim to precisely 

estimate the proportion of each DPS to 

be taken. 

Conservation Plan 

NCDMF’s conservation plan includes 

measures to minimize, monitor, and 

mitigate the incidental take of ESAlisted sea turtles and sturgeon. The 

conservation plan addresses gill net 

fisheries operating in estuarine waters 

and deploying anchored gill nets as 

regulated through fisheries rules 

adopted by the North Carolina Marine 

Fisheries Commission and 

proclamations issued by the NCDMF 

director. Regulations include mandatory 

attendance, yardage limits, mesh size 

restrictions, a minimum distance 

between fishing operations, gear 

marking requirements, soak-time 

restrictions, net shot limits, net height 

tie-down requirements, closed areas, 

and monitoring and reporting 

requirements. The conservation plan 

includes an adaptive management and 

monitoring program, fisheries reduction, 

outreach, and timely response to 

‘‘hotspots’’ where sturgeon and/or sea 

turtle interactions are unusually high. 

Additionally, NCDMF will commit 

funds of up to $2,000 per year to 

purchase Passive Integrated 

Transponder (PIT) tags, which equates 

to approximately 100 PIT tags per year. 

As part of their Observer Program 

sampling protocol, fin clips are taken 

from live and dead sturgeon. These 

samples are stored until they can be 

submitted for genetic analysis and 

included in the Atlantic Coast Sturgeon 

Tissue Research Repository (ACSTRR) 

housed at the United States Geological 

Survey, Leetown Science Center. The 

NCDMF will commit up to $3,000 per 

year to fund genetic analysis; at 

approximately $100 per sample, this 

funding provides for the analysis of 

approximately 30 fin clips per year. The 

NCDMF will consult with NMFS to 

ensure samples collected during the 

current ITP and future samples 

collected under the requested ITP are 

appropriately selected based on criteria 

such as sturgeon length, location, and 

season. Should fewer than 30 fin clips 

be collected for a given year, any funds 

not expended from this allocation could 

be used for analysis of historical 

samples provided by NCDMF. 

NCDMF’s monitoring program is 

funded by the North Carolina 

Commercial Research is also a valuable 

tool to address data gaps and inform 

management decisions. The assistance 

and cooperation of commercial fishery 

stakeholders in the research can greatly 

benefit scientific understanding of the 

species. The NCDMF will continue to 

support and assist research efforts and 

facilitate the establishment of 

relationships with the commercial 

fishing industry. Also, the NCDMF will 

help, to the extent possible, respond to 

sea turtle cold-stun events, which occur 

in NC with some regularity (Niemuth et 

al. 2020). During future cold-stun 

events, the NCDMF will help provide 

transportation of staff, supplies, and 

turtles using Observer Program 

resources The NCDMF will 

communicate with the North Carolina 

Wilflife Resources Commission 

(NCWRC) about this commitment to 

ensure they reach out for assistance 

when needed. 

Fishing Resource Fund (G.S. 113– 

173.1) state appropriations and is 

supplemented through other sources 

such as the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative 

Statistics Program and the National Fish 

and Wildlife Foundation. 

Criteria for Issuing an Incidental Take 

Permit 

Issuance criteria are described in ESA 

section 10(a)(2)(B) and associated 

implementing regulations (50 CFR 

222.307(c)(2)). Under section 10(a)(2)(B) 

of the ESA, NMFS shall issue the 

requested incidental take permit, if 

NMFS finds that the following criteria 

are met: 

(i) The taking will be incidental; 

(ii) The applicant will, to the 

maximum extent practicable, monitor, 

minimize, and mitigate the impacts of 

such taking; 

(iii) The taking will not appreciably 

reduce the likelihood of the survival 

and recovery of the species in the wild; 

(iv) The applicant has amended the 

conservation plan to include any 

measures (not originally proposed by 

the applicant) that the Assistant 

Administrator determines are necessary 

or appropriate; and 

(v) There are adequate assurances that 

the conservation plan will be funded 

and implemented, including any 

measures required by the Assistant 

Administrator. 

NMFS found that NCDMF met the 

criteria for the issuance of an incidental 

take permit, and as such, NMFS issued 

an incidental take permit to NCDMF for 

the incidental take of ESA-Listed sea 

turtles and sturgeon associated with the 

otherwise lawful commercial inshore 

gillnet fishery in North Carolina. 

Dated: October 4, 2024. 

Lisa Manning, 

Acting Chief, Endangered Species 

Conservation Division, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23559 Filed 10–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Notice of Request for Public Comment 

on the Draft National Coral Reef 

Resilience Strategy 

AGENCY: The Coral Reef Conservation 

Program, Office for Coastal 

Management, National Ocean Service, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Request for written comments. 

SUMMARY: NOAA announces the request 

for written public comments on the 

draft National Coral Reef Resilience 

Strategy (National Strategy) in 

accordance with the Coral Reef 

Conservation Act of 2000 (CRCA), as 

reauthorized and amended by the James 

M. Inhofe National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. 

NOAA administers the Coral Reef 

Conservation Program (CRCP), which is 

implemented in the coastal areas and 

marine waters of Florida, Puerto Rico, 

the U.S. Virgin Islands, Gulf of Mexico, 

Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of 

the Northern Mariana Islands, American 

Samoa, the U.S. Pacific Remote Island 

Area, and targeted international regions, 

including the wider Caribbean, the 

Coral Triangle, the South Pacific, and 

Micronesia. The reauthorized CRCA 

directs NOAA to develop the National 

Strategy within two years of enactment. 

The National Strategy will replace the 

existing CRCP Strategic Plan (2018). The 

intended effect of this notice is to 

initiate a period of public review and 

comment on the National Strategy. 

DATES: NOAA will consider all relevant 

written comments by November 25, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft National 

Strategy may be found on 

www.regulations.gov (search for NOAA– 

NOS–2024–0121). Comments may be 

submitted by the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/NOAANOS-2024-0121 Click the ‘‘Comment 

Now!’’ icon, complete the required 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1