Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 18, 2022 / Notices 2595 

6 In accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(d)(2), within 

30 days after the filing of a scope ruling application, 

if Commerce determines that it intends to address 

the scope issue raised in the application in another 

segment of the proceeding (such as a circumvention 

inquiry under 19 CFR 351.226 or a covered 

merchandise inquiry under 19 CFR 351.227), it will 

notify the applicant that it will not initiate a scope 

inquiry, but will instead determine if the product 

is covered by the scope at issue in that alternative 

segment. 

7See Notice of Clarification: Application of ‘‘Next 

Business Day’’ Rule for Administrative 

Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act 

of 1930, As Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005). 

8This structure maintains the intent of the 

applicable regulation, 19 CFR 351.225(d)(1), to 

allow a day of separation between day 30 and day 

31. 

9Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry 

Service List; and Informational Sessions, 86 FR 

53205 (September 27, 2021). 

if Commerce has not rejected a scope 

ruling application nor initiated the 

scope inquiry within 30 days after the 

filing of the application, the application 

will be deemed accepted and a scope 

inquiry will be deemed initiated the 

following day–day 31.6 Commerce’s 

practice generally dictates that where a 

deadline falls on a weekend, Federal 

holiday, or other non-business day, the 

appropriate deadline is the next 

business day.7 Accordingly, if the 30th 

day after the filing of the application 

falls on a non-business day, the next 

business day will be considered the 

‘‘updated’’ 30th day, and if the 

application is not rejected or a scope 

inquiry initiated by or on that particular 

business day, the application will be 

deemed accepted and a scope inquiry 

will be deemed initiated on the next 

business day which follows the 

‘‘updated’’ 30th day.8

In accordance with 19 CFR 

351.225(m)(2), if there are companion 

AD and CVD orders covering the same 

merchandise from the same country of 

origin, the scope inquiry will be 

conducted on the record of the AD 

proceeding. Further, please note that 

pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(m)(1), 

Commerce may either apply a scope 

ruling to all products from the same 

country with the same relevant physical 

characteristics, (including chemical, 

dimensional, and technical 

characteristics) as the product at issue, 

on a country-wide basis, regardless of 

the producer, exporter, or importer of 

those products, or on a companyspecific basis. 

For further information on procedures 

for filing information with Commerce 

through ACCESS and participating in 

scope inquiries, please refer to the 

Filing Instructions section of the Scope 

Ruling Application Guide, at https://

access.trade.gov/help/Scope_Ruling_

Guidance.pdf. Interested parties, apart 

from the scope ruling applicant, who 

wish to participate in a scope inquiry 

and be added to the public service list 

for that segment of the proceeding must 

file an entry of appearance in 

accordance with 19 CFR 351.103(d)(1) 

and 19 CFR 351.225(n)(4). Interested 

parties are advised to refer to the case 

segment in ACCESS as well as 19 CFR 

351.225(f) for further information on the 

scope inquiry procedures, including the 

timelines for the submission of 

comments. 

Please note that this notice of scope 

ruling applications filed in AD and CVD 

proceedings may be published before 

any potential initiation, or after the 

initiation, of a given scope inquiry 

based on a scope ruling application 

identified in this notice. Therefore, 

please refer to the case segment on 

ACCESS to determine whether a scope 

ruling application has been accepted or 

rejected and whether a scope inquiry 

has been initiated. 

Interested parties who wish to be 

served scope ruling applications for a 

particular AD or CVD order may file a 

request to be included on the annual 

inquiry service list during the 

anniversary month of the publication of 

the AD or CVD order in accordance with 

19 CFR 351.225(n) and Commerce’s 

procedures.9

Interested parties are invited to 

comment on the completeness of this 

monthly list of scope ruling applications 

received by Commerce. Any comments 

should be submitted to James Maeder, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for AD/CVD 

Operations, Enforcement and 

Compliance, International Trade 

Administration, via email to 

CommerceCLU@trade.gov. 

This notice of scope ruling 

applications filed in AD and CVD 

proceedings is published in accordance 

with 19 CFR 351.225(d)(3). 

Dated: January 12, 2022. 

James Maeder, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping 

and Countervailing Duty Operations. 

[FR Doc. 2022–00847 Filed 1–14–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB651] 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Exempted 

Fishing Permit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of an 

application for exempted fishing permit; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt 

of an application for an exempted 

fishing permit (EFP) from the 

Sustainable Seas Technology, LLC. If 

granted, the EFP would authorize the 

applicant to deploy modified black sea 

bass pots with Acoustic Subsea Buoy 

Retrieval Systems (ASBRS) in South 

Atlantic Federal waters off North 

Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and 

Florida. The project would examine the 

potential usefulness of ASBRSs for use 

in the black sea bass pot gear 

component for the commercial sector of 

the snapper-grouper fishery in 

minimizing impacts to protected 

species. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before February 2, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the application, identified by 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2021–0129’’ by any of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to Go 

to https://www.regulations.gov and 

enter ‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2021–0129’’ in 

the Search box. Click the ‘‘Comment’’ 

icon, complete the required fields, and 

enter or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Frank Helies, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

Electronic copies of the application 

and may be obtained from the Southeast 

Regional Office website at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/ 

science-data/black-sea-bass-potexperimental-retrieval-projectexempted-fishing-permit/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Frank Helies, 727–824–5305; email: 

frank.helies@noaa.gov. 


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2596 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 18, 2022 / Notices 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is 

requested under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801 

et seq.), and regulations at 50 CFR 

600.745(b) concerning exempted 

fishing. 

Currently, vertical end lines and 

buoys, such as those utilized with black 

sea bass pots in the South Atlantic, 

present an entanglement risk to the 

North Atlantic right whale, a species 

that is listed as endangered under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA). Each 

fall, some right whales travel from their 

feeding areas in the waters off New 

England and Canada to the shallow, 

coastal waters of North Carolina, South 

Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern 

Florida. ASBRSs are a type of fishing 

gear that allows fish traps, including 

black sea bass pots, buoys, and their 

retrieval devices to be stored at depth 

until triggered for retrieval at the 

surface. These gear systems allow for 

trap and pot buoys and vertical lines to 

exist in the water column for minutes 

instead of hours or days, as they are 

activated via acoustic release only when 

fishers are present. As described in the 

application, the applicant believes that 

adaptation of ASBRSs or ‘‘ropeless’’ 

systems for black sea bass pot fishing in 

the South Atlantic could reduce the risk 

to these whales and other marine 

animals that are subject to 

entanglements from vertical lines and 

buoys. 

NMFS previously issued an EFP to 

the applicant through a pilot project for 

ASBRS research similar to this in 2020 

(85 FR 42831; July 15, 2020). That EFP 

pilot project found a 99 percent black 

sea bass pot gear retrieval success rate 

when handled by project personnel. 

If granted, the EFP would exempt 

limited fishing gear testing activities 

from certain regulations for the black 

sea bass pot component for the 

commercial sector of the South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper fishery, specifically 

gear identification at 50 CFR 

622.177(a)(4), area and seasonal closures 

at 50 CFR 622.183 (622.183(a)(1)(ii)(E), 

622.183(a)(2)(vii)(E), and 622.183(b)(6)), 

black sea bass pot configuration 

restrictions and requirements at 50 CFR 

622.189 (622.189(b), 622.189(e)(1), and 

622.189(g)) and Atlantic large whale 

gear marking requirements at 50 CFR 

229.32 (229.32(c)(1), 229.32(c)(2)(ii), 

and 229(c)(2)(iv)). 

The applicant seeks an EFP to 

determine the following: If the ASBRS 

gear would continue to show a greater 

than 99 percent successful deployment 

and retrieval rate; if ASBRS gear 

significantly increases the time and/or 

expense for gear retrieval and recovery 

versus the current fishing method such 

that it might affect profitability; if 

ASBRS gear significantly increases time 

and/or expense for the repacking of gear 

for redeployment versus the current 

fishing method such that it might affect 

profitability; if bycatch rates for the 

modified black sea bass pot fishing 

configuration are greater than those for 

the traditional single pots; and if the 

harvest of black sea bass in the preferred 

inshore areas that are currently closed, 

would still yield enough catch to offset 

the cost of ASBRS fishing gear and 

modifications. If granted, the project 

would allow for expansion of gear 

testing from the initial pilot project off 

Georgia to include additional fishers off 

North Carolina, South Carolina, and 

Florida during the seasonal black sea 

bass pot closure to examine basic 

functionality, reliability, and feasibility 

of ropeless fishing gear and alternative 

rigging configurations. 

Under the EFP, the applicant would 

collect data through an ongoing 

collaborative effort among different 

ASBRS manufacturers and fishery 

industry partners. If granted, the EFP 

would be effective from the date of 

issuance through August 31, 2024. In 

addition to this EFP request for 

exemption from Magnuson-Stevens Act 

regulations, the applicant would consult 

with NMFS to ensure the EFP would be 

consistent with North Atlantic right 

whale conservation measures currently 

in place through the ESA and Marine 

Mammal Protection Act. Fishers 

participating in this project are assumed 

to be receiving grant funding and/or 

self-funding the work. These fishers 

would be allowed to keep and sell all 

catch lawfully harvested by black sea 

bass pots. The proposed EFP testing area 

would occur in offshore Federal waters 

of North Carolina, South Carolina, 

Georgia, and Florida out to a depth of 

65 meters. The inshore water depth for 

testing in Federal waters would not be 

less than 20 meters. Sampling would 

occur from November 15 through April 

30 of each year in water depths of 20 to 

65 meters. The testing would not occur 

in any special management zones listed 

in 50 CFR 622.182 or in the North 

Atlantic Right Whale Critical Habitat 

Area. 

Up to 11 different black sea bass pot 

designs would be fished as singles and 

as four pot trawls in inshore areas. This 

would be done during the black sea bass 

pot closure period each year (November 

15 through April 30), to compare against 

control pots fished under the previous 

EFP to yield data relative to the time 

expended to retrieve and rebait 

traditional traps pursuant to the current 

regulations. Using the ASBRS, the 

applicant would utilize virtual gear 

marking of the pots (marking of gear 

deployment location with chart plotters, 

GPS, and manufacturer-provided 

software). The applicant would also 

evaluate the feasibility of use of various 

virtual gear marking systems and share 

the results with fishery management 

partners. 

Participating permitted commercial 

fishers would deploy experimental gear 

for up to 10 days each year in 

supervised field trials and additional 

unsupervised fishing trials, not to 

exceed 2,000 gear hauls per vessel over 

the length of the EFP, to evaluate the 

performance of ASBRS with both the 

experimental and standard black sea 

bass pot configurations. Each 

deployment under the EFP would be 

limited to 35 total pots per vessel, with 

an average soak time of 90 minutes per 

configuration. Some overnight sampling 

would occur for acoustic releases. 

EFP Black Sea Bass Pot Configurations 

Under the EFP, four regulation-sized 

pots would be connected together with 

wire connecting clips or zip ties so that 

only one ASBRS gear device is needed 

to retrieve four connected pots. Each pot 

would have the standard black sea bass 

pot single entrance and would possess 

one back panel of 2-inch (5.1-cm) 

uniform mesh. The connected four traps 

would test both one and two single 

entrances (on adjacent sides of single 

traps to replace the allowable two 

opposite entrances) to four regulationsized trap interiors, and would 

otherwise comply with the requirements 

for black sea bass pot dimensions and 

construction in the South Atlantic. This 

experimental gear design of the four 

connected pots is not a chevron-style 

fish trap, it is a design of standard black 

sea bass pots connected to adjacent 

standard black sea bass pots. The goal 

of this modification is to examine ways 

to reduce procurement and 

implementation costs associated with 

the number of required ASBRSs to fish 

35 pots. 

EFP Gear Markings 

Two of the technologies that would be 

used in the EFP utilize lift bags and 

buoys and are therefore unable to be 

line-marked as they do not incorporate 

line into their design. For the other 

technologies being tested under the EFP, 

all buoy lines on ASBRS gear types that 

use stored line would be marked in 

accordance with the most recent 

requirements pursuant to the Atlantic 

Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and 

other Federal regulations, and would 

have weak links with a maximum 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 18, 2022 / Notices 2597 

breaking strength of 600 lb (272 kg), 

1,700 lb (771 kg) maximum breaking 

strength sleeves, and line with a 

breaking strength of less than 2,200 lb 

(998 kg). 

EFP Buoy Line 

Six of the eight currently available 

ASBRS devices require the use of a line 

for retrieval that is contained and stored 

at depth by a line management system. 

The other two release devices do not use 

line, but instead, utilize the inflation of 

either a lift bag or inflatable buoy to pull 

a lead trap to the surface. The styles of 

line storage vary with device design and 

includes square, rectangular, domed, 

circular, and conical cages, oyster mesh 

bags, canisters, and spools. These have 

been successfully used in trials and 

testing in a variety of active fishing 

operations in the United States and 

worldwide. 

Four of the ASBRS devices in the EFP 

require floating line to return the buoy 

or buoys to the surface for retrieval. 

Currently, the average time for 

appearance of buoys at depths greater 

than 100 ft (30.5 m) is approximately 3 

minutes. Retrieval generally takes less 

than 2 minutes, which means that any 

floating line would be at the surface for 

less than 5 minutes, and during which 

time the fishing vessel would be within 

20–30 ft (6.1–9.1 m) of the line. Two of 

the release devices do not incorporate 

line longer than 10 ft (3.1 m) in their 

design, and two devices use a harness 

that clips to the pot. The remaining 

devices use less than 150 ft (45.7 m) of 

line which would be stowed inside 

either a bag or on a spool. Sinking line 

cannot be used for any ASBRS as it 

would create a negatively buoyant strain 

on the buoys and not effectively allow 

for their return to the surface. All of the 

ASBRSs with a line storage system 

would need to be attached between the 

trap and the buoy. If necessary, several 

of the ASBRSs may also require a small 

anchor or weight to be attached between 

the pot and line-storage device or buoy 

in areas with higher current to keep 

them from fouling in the pot, as well as 

to ensure they are not dragged from 

their intended deployment area. For lift 

bag and buoy systems, the actual 

systems would be secured between the 

pot and the buoy/bag. 

NMFS finds the application warrants 

further consideration based on a 

preliminary review. Possible conditions 

the agency may impose on the permit, 

if granted, include but are not limited 

to, a prohibition on conducting fishing 

gear testing within marine protected 

areas, marine sanctuaries, special 

management zones, or areas where they 

might interfere with managed fisheries 

without additional authorization. 

Additionally, NMFS may require special 

protections for ESA-listed species and 

designated critical habitat, and may 

require particular gear markings. A final 

decision on issuance of the EFP will 

depend on NMFS’ review of public 

comments received on the application, 

consultations with the appropriate 

fishery management agencies of the 

affected states, the South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, and the 

U.S. Coast Guard, and a determination 

that the activities to be taken under the 

EFP are consistent with all applicable 

laws. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: January 11, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–00737 Filed 1–14–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Air Force 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

Regional Special Use Airspace 

Optimization To Support Air Force 

Missions in Arizona 

AGENCY: Department of the Air Force, 

Federal Aviation Administration, 

Department of Defense. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the Air 

Force (DAF) is issuing this Notice of 

Intent (NOI) to advise the public of its 

intent to prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the 

potential environmental consequences 

associated with optimizing the Special 

Use Airspace (SUA) managed by the 

DAF to support aircrews stationed at 

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), 

Luke AFB, and Morris Air National 

Guard Base ([ANGB] located at Tucson 

International Airport) in Arizona and to 

request comments on potential 

alternatives and impacts, and 

identification of any relevant 

information, studies, or analyses of any 

kind concerning impacts affecting the 

quality of the human environment. 

DATES: This NOI begins the public 

scoping process for identifying issues 

and potential alternatives for 

consideration in the EIS. Notifications 

are being concurrently published in 

local newspapers within the potentially 

affected localities. Scoping comments 

are requested by March 4, 2022 to 

ensure full consideration in the Draft 

EIS in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.9. 

In-person scoping meetings will be held 

at the dates and locations below. All 

meetings will be open-house style from 

5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Local). There 

will not be a formal presentation, please 

attend at your convenience. Persons 

with hearing impairments should notify 

the DAF at least 7 days in advance of 

the meeting dates to ensure that sign 

language assistance can be available. 

Masks worn over the nose and mouth 

and social distancing are required at all 

in-person meetings. Spanish interpreters 

will be available at scoping meetings. 

• February 7, 2022. Sonoran Desert 

Inn & Conference Center, 55 South 

Orilla Avenue, Ajo, Arizona 85321. 

• February 8, 2022. Superior Town 

Hall, 199 N Lobb Avenue, Superior, 

Arizona 85173. 

• February 9, 2022. Bagdad Event 

Center, 121 Main Street, Bagdad, 

Arizona 86321. 

• February 10, 2022. Congress Fire 

Department, 26733 Santa Fe Road, 

Congress, Arizona 85332. 

• February 22, 2022. Village Hall, 15 

Jake Scott Street, Reserve, New Mexico 

87830. 

• February 23, 2022. Clifton 

Community Center, 100 North Coronado 

Blvd., Clifton, Arizona 85533. 

• February 24, 2022. Animas High 

School, 1 Panther Blvd., Animas, New 

Mexico 88020. 

In addition to the in-person meetings, 

the project website 

www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com 

provides a virtual presentation of the 

meeting materials for those persons that 

do not wish to attend or are unable to 

attend an in-person meeting. All the 

handout(s) and displays for the inperson meetings are available on the 

website. 

The EIS is still in the early planning 

stages and the schedule is subject to 

change. The schedule will be updated 

throughout the EIS process on the 

project website. Major milestone dates 

are as follows: 

• Draft EIS and Notice of Availability 

(NOA) publication, Fall 2023 

• Draft EIS Public Comment Period 

and Hearing, Fall 2023 

• Final EIS and NOA publication, 

Summer 2024 

• Record of Decision signature, 

Summer/Fall 2024 

ADDRESSES: For questions regarding the 

Proposed Action or EIS development, or 

to request sign language assistance at 

the in-person scoping meetings, contact 

Grace Keesling, at grace.keesling.1@

us.af.mil or (210) 925–4534. Comments 

may be submitted through the project 

website 

www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com, 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES