[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34179-34180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11926]


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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 Vanadium

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 May 28, 2020, 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 vanadium. 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 July 20, 2020. Rebuttal comments will be due by August 17, 
2020. While the Department is interested in any information related to 
this investigation that the public can provide, this notice identifies 
particular issues of significance.

DATES: The due date for filing comments is July 20, 2020. The due date 
for rebuttal comments is August 17, 2020. Rebuttal comments may only 
address issues raised in comments filed on or before July 20, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submissions: All written comments on the notice must be 
addressed to Section 232 Vanadium Investigation and filed through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. To submit 
comments via http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket number BIS-2020-
0002 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: Industrial Studies Division, Bureau of 
Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-5481, 
[email protected]. Unless otherwise protected by law, any 
information received from the public during the course of this 
investigation may be made publicly available. 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 May 28, 2020, 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 vanadium. If the Secretary finds that vanadium 
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 July 20, 2020. Rebuttal comments submitted in response to 
issues raised in comments received on or before July 20, 2020 may be 
filed no later than August 17, 2020.
    The Department is particularly interested in comments and 
information directed to the criteria listed in Sec.  [thinsp]705.4 of 
the NSIBR as they affect national security, including the following:
    (i) Quantity of or other circumstances related to the importation 
of vanadium;
    (ii) Domestic production and productive capacity needed for 
vanadium to meet projected national defense requirements;
    (iii) Existing and anticipated availability of human resources, 
products, raw materials, production equipment, and facilities to 
produce vanadium;
    (iv) Growth requirements of the vanadium 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 vanadium industry;
    (vi) The displacement of any domestic vanadium 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 vanadium 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 set forth in Sec.  
[thinsp]705.6 of the NSIBR. Comments may be viewed on http://www.regulations.gov by entering docket number BIS-2020-0002 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 set forth in 
Sec.  [thinsp]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

[[Page 34180]]

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'' 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.).

Richard E. Ashooh,
Assistant Secretary for Export Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-11926 Filed 6-2-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-33-P