[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 46 (Friday, March 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8503-8504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04209]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Industry and Security


Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National 
Security Investigation of Imports of Titanium Sponge

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Technology 
Evaluation, U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: On March 4, 2019, in response to a petition, the Secretary of 
Commerce (the ``Secretary'') initiated an investigation to determine 
the effects on the national security from imports of titanium sponge. 
This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of the Trade 
Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.
    Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data, 
analyses, or other information pertinent to the investigation to the 
Department of Commerce's (the ``Department'') Bureau of Industry and 
Security by April 22, 2019. Rebuttal comments will be due by May 22, 
2019. This notice identifies issues on which the Department is 
especially interested in obtaining the public's views.

DATES: The due date for filing comments is April 22, 2019. The due date 
for rebuttal comments is May 22, 2019. Rebuttal comments may only 
address issues raised in comments filed on or before April 22, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submissions: All written comments on the notice must be 
submitted in English and must be addressed to Section 232 Titanium 
Sponge Investigation and filed through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: 
http://www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket number BIS-2018-0027 on the home page 
and click ``search.'' The site will provide a search results page 
listing all documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to 
this notice and click on the link entitled ``Comment Now!'' (For 
further information on using http://www.regulations.gov, please consult 
the resources provided on the website by clicking on ``How to Use This 
Site.'')

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Botwin, Director, Industrial 
Studies, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce 
(202) 482-3110, [email protected]. For more information about the 
section 232 program, including the regulations and the text of previous 
investigations, please see www.bis.doc.gov/232.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 4, 2019, in response to a petition, the Secretary 
initiated an investigation under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act 
of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862), to determine the effects on the 
national security from imports of titanium sponge. If the Secretary 
finds that titanium sponge is being imported into the United States in 
such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair 
the national security, the Secretary shall so advise the President in 
his report on the findings of the investigation.

Written Comments

    This investigation is being undertaken in accordance with part 705 
of the National Security Industrial Base Regulations (15 CFR parts 700 
to 709) (``NSIBR''). Interested parties are invited to submit written 
comments, data, analyses, or information pertinent to this 
investigation to the Department's Office of Technology Evaluation no 
later than April 22, 2019. Rebuttal comments submitted in response to 
issues raised in comments received on or before April 22, 2019 may be 
filed no later than May 22, 2019.
    The Department is particularly interested in comments and 
information directed to the criteria listed in Sec.  705.4 of the NSIBR 
as they affect national security, including the following:
    (i) Quantity of or other circumstances related to the importation 
of titanium sponge;
    (ii) Domestic production and productive capacity needed for 
titanium sponge to meet projected national defense requirements;
    (iii) Existing and anticipated availability of human resources, 
products, raw materials, production equipment, and facilities to 
produce titanium sponge;
    (iv) Growth requirements of the titanium sponge industry to meet 
national defense requirements and/or requirements for supplies and 
services necessary to assure such growth including investment, 
exploration, and development;
    (v) The impact of foreign competition on the economic welfare of 
the titanium sponge industry;
    (vi) The displacement of any domestic titanium sponge production 
causing substantial unemployment, decrease in the revenues of 
government, loss of investment or specialized skills and productive 
capacity, or other serious effects;
    (vii) Relevant factors that are causing or will cause a weakening 
of our national economy; and
    (viii) Any other relevant factors, including the use and importance 
of titanium sponge in critical infrastructure sectors identified in 
Presidential Policy Directive 21 (Feb. 12, 2013) (for a listing of 
those sectors see https://www.dhs.gov/cisa/critical-infrastructure-sectors).

Requirements for Written Comments

    The http://www.regulations.gov website allows users to provide 
comments by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a 
document using an ``Upload File'' field. The Department prefers that 
comments be provided in an attached document. The Department prefers 
submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If the 
submission is in an application format other than those two, please 
indicate the name of the application in the ``Type Comment'' field. 
Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic submissions; 
rather, include any information that might appear in a cover letter in 
the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible please 
include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as 
part of the submission itself rather than in separate files. Comments 
will be placed in the docket and open to public inspection, except 
information determined to be confidential as outlined in Sec.  705.6 of 
the NSIBR. Comments may be viewed on http://www.regulations.gov by 
entering docket number BIS-2018-0027 in the search field on the home 
page.
    Material submitted by members of the public that is properly marked 
business confidential information and accepted as such by the 
Department will be exempted from public disclosure as provided for by 
Sec.  705.6 of the NSIBR. Anyone submitting business confidential 
information should clearly identify the business confidential portion 
at the time of submission, file a statement justifying nondisclosure 
and referring to the specific legal authority claimed, and provide a 
non-confidential submission which can be placed in the public file on 
http://www.regulations.gov. Communications from agencies of the United 
States Government will not be made available for public inspection. For 
comments submitted electronically containing business confidential 
information, the file name of the business confidential version should 
begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page containing business 
confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS 
CONFIDENTIAL''

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on the top of that page. The non-confidential version must be clearly 
marked ``PUBLIC''. The file name of the non-confidential version should 
begin with the character ``P''. The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed 
by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments or rebuttal 
comments. All filers should name their files using the name of the 
person or entity submitting the comments. If a public hearing is held 
in support of this investigation, a separate Federal Register notice 
will be published providing the date and information about the hearing.
    The Bureau of Industry and Security does not maintain a separate 
public inspection facility. Requesters should first view the Bureau's 
web page, which can be found at https://efoia.bis.doc.gov/ (see 
``Electronic FOIA'' heading). If requesters cannot access the website, 
they may call 202-482-0795 for assistance. The records related to this 
assessment are made accessible in accordance with the regulations 
published in part 4 of title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations (15 
CFR 4.1 et seq.).

    Dated: March 4, 2019.
Wilbur Ross,
Secretary of Commerce.
[FR Doc. 2019-04209 Filed 3-7-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-33-P