DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                50 CFR Part 253
                [Docket No. 180220192819201]
                RIN 0648BH82
                Shipping Act, Merchant Marine, and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) Provisions; Fishing Vessel, Fishing Facility and Individual Fishing Quota Lending Program
                
                    AGENCY:
                    National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
                
                
                    ACTION:
                    Proposed rule; withdrawal.
                
                
                    SUMMARY:
                    
                        The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) withdraws a proposed rule proposing to implement Fisheries Finance Program (FFP) financing of the cost of constructing new fishing vessels. NMFS published the proposed rule in the 
                        Federal Register
                         on November 2, 2018. After careful consideration, NMFS has decided that the proposed changes discussed in the proposed rule are not warranted at this time.
                    
                
                
                    DATES:
                    The proposed rule published on November 2, 2018 (83 FR 55137), is withdrawn as of March 31, 2020.
                
                
                    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                    
                        Elaine Saiz, NMFS, (301) 4278752, 
                        elaine.saiz@noaa.gov.
                    
                
            
            
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                In 2016, Congress passed section 302 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015, which included specific authority for the FFP to finance the construction of fishing vessels in a fishery that is managed under a limited access system. The proposed regulations provided guidance to implement this financing while also protecting fish resources.
                
                    NMFS published a proposed rule to implement the financing in the 
                    Federal Register
                     on November 2, 2018, (83 FR 55137).
                
                
                    Following public comment and consultations with the President's Office of Management and Budget, NMFS again analyzed the effects of the proposed rule and decided that the changes covered in the proposed rule are not warranted at this time. Therefore, NMFS is withdrawing the proposed rule published in the 
                    Federal Register
                     on November 2, 2018 (83 FR 55137).
                
                
                    Authority:
                    
                         16 U.S.C. 1801 
                        et seq.
                    
                
                
                    Dated: March 23, 2020.
                    Samuel D. Rauch III,
                    Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine Fisheries Service.
                
            
            [FR Doc. 202006455 Filed 33020; 8:45 am]
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