Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 52 / Thursday, March 17, 2011 / Proposed Rules 14643 

(End of clause) 

[FR Doc. 2011–6231 Filed 3–16–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–08–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

49 CFR Part 173 

[Docket Number PHMSA–2009–0303 

(HM–213D)] 

RIN 2137–AE53 

Hazardous Materials: Safety 

Requirements for External Product 

Piping on Cargo Tanks Transporting 

Flammable Liquids 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: PHMSA is notifying the 

public of our intent to extend the 

comment period by 30 days for a notice 

of proposed rulemaking published on 

January 27, 2011. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

NPRM closing on March 28, 2011, is 

extended until April 27, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by the docket number 

(PHMSA–2009–0303) by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Operations, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, West 

Building, Ground Floor, Room W12– 

140, Routing Symbol M–30, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 

20590. 

• Hand Delivery: To Docket 

Operations, Room W12–140 on the 

ground floor of the West Building, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 

DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

Holidays. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and docket 

number for this notice at the beginning 

of the comment. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to the docket management system, 

including any personal information 

provided. 

Docket: For access to the dockets to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, or DOT’s Docket 

Operations Office (see ADDRESSES). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dirk 

Der Kinderen, Standards and 

Rulemaking Division, Pipeline and 

Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration, telephone (202) 366– 

8553; or Leonard Majors, Engineering 

and Research Division, Pipeline and 

Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration, telephone (202) 366– 

4545. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

document (or signing the document, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477) or you may visit http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On January 27, 2011, PHMSA 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) (HM–213D; 76 FR 

4847) seeking public comment on a 

proposal to prohibit the transportation 

of flammable liquids in exposed 

external product piping (wetlines) on a 

cargo tank motor vehicle (CTMV) unless 

the CTMV is equipped with bottom 

damage protection that conforms to the 

requirements of § 178.337–10 or 

§ 178.345–8(b)(1), as appropriate. We 

also invited comment on a number of 

provisions associated with this 

proposed prohibition such as the 

residue performance standard relating to 

applicability of the proposed 

prohibition as well as conditional 

exceptions and the proposed transition 

period and compliance dates. See the 

January 27, 2011 NPRM for background 

and a complete discussion of the 

proposals. 

II. Comment Period Extension 

We received comments from the 

American Trucking Associations, Inc. 

(ATA), the Commercial Vehicle Safety 

Alliance, the National Tank Truck 

Carriers, Inc., and the Tank Truck 

Manufacturers Association requesting 

an extension of the comment period. 

These member organizations represent 

carriers, manufacturers, and officials 

affected by the NPRM. They state their 

primary basis for extension is to allow 

for thorough review and analysis of the 

HM–213D docket materials. For 

example, the ATA notes in their 

comment that the regulatory evaluation 

for this NPRM contains numerous new 

assumptions and revised economic 

analyses that warrant extensive 

evaluation by industry experts and 

outside consultants. They indicate that 

the evaluation will require a review of 

(1) The wetlines incidents cited by 

PHMSA; (2) the use and retrofit 

requirements associated with a manual 

purging system; and (3) the feasibility of 

alternatives available to comply with 

the proposed prohibition. The 

associations also indicate the need for 

time to convene with members at 

meetings scheduled to occur in April 

and May of 2011 to present findings and 

to obtain feedback. Additionally, the 

comment period for this NPRM overlaps 

with numerous other regulatory 

initiatives within DOT and other 

Federal agencies, such as the 

Environmental Protection Agency, the 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration, and the U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection that impact their 

members. Finally, they note that the 

trucking industry is dominated by small 

businesses that do not have the 

resources to understand and 

meaningfully participate in the 

rulemaking process of so many 

concurrent rulemaking actions. In light 

of the significance of this rulemaking to 

their members and for the reasons 

summarized above, the associations 

request that PHMSA grant an extension 

to the HM–213D NPRM comment period 

ranging from sixty days to six months. 

Although PHMSA continues to 

believe that the initial 60-day comment 

period provides enough time to review 

and respond to the rulemaking 

proposals and supporting material, 

PHMSA is consenting to the commenter 

requests to extend the comment period 

to ensure sufficient time for public 

review. However, we do not consider a 

lengthy extension (e.g., 120 days) to be 

warranted. Accordingly, in the interest 

of moving this rulemaking action 

forward in a timely manner, we believe, 

in addition to the time that remains in 

the current comment period, extending 

the comment period by 30 days would 

be sufficient to relieve the burdens of 

conducting an extensive evaluation, 

overlapping rulemaking actions, and 

needing time to meet with respective 

trucking industry members for feedback. 

Thus, the comment period for the 

HM–213D NPRM is extended from 

March 28, 2011 until April 27, 2011. 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with PROPOSALS-1

14644 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 52 / Thursday, March 17, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 11, 

2011 under authority delegated in 49 CFR 

part 106. 

Magdy El-Sibaie, 

Associate Administrator for Hazardous 

Materials Safety. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6175 Filed 3–16–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 110303179–1178–02] 

RIN 0648–XA163 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Proposed 2011 Specifications 

for the Spiny Dogfish Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications 

for the spiny dogfish fishery for the 

2011 fishing year (FY) (May 1, 2011, 

through April 30, 2012). The 

implementing regulations for the Spiny 

Dogfish Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP) require NMFS to publish 

specifications for up to a period of 

5 years, and to provide an opportunity 

for public comment on those 

specifications. The intent of this 

rulemaking is to specify the commercial 

quota and other management measures 

for FY 2011 only. Specifically, for FY 

2011, NMFS proposes that the annual 

quota be set at 20 million lb (9,071.85 

mt), and that the possession limit for 

dogfish remain 3,000 lb (1.36 mt). These 

proposed specifications and 

management measures are consistent 

with the FMP and promote the 

utilization and conservation of the spiny 

dogfish resource. 

DATES: Public comments must be 

received no later than 5 p.m. eastern 

standard time on April 18, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0648–XA163, by any 

one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: 978–281–9135, Attn: Lindsey 

Feldman. 

• Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Northeast 

Regional Office, 55 Great Republic 

Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the 

outside of the envelope: ‘‘Comments on 

2011 Dogfish Specifications.’’ 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. 

Copies of supporting documents used 

by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (MAFMC), 

including the Environmental 

Assessment (EA) and Regulatory Impact 

Review (RIR)/Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), are 

available from: Dr. Christopher M. 

Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, Suite 201, 

800 N. State St., Dover, DE 19901. The 

EA/RIR/IRFA is also accessible via the 

Internet at http://www.nero.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lindsey Feldman, Fishery Management 

Specialist, phone: 978–675–2179, fax: 

978–281–9135. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Spiny 

dogfish were declared overfished by 

NMFS on April 3, 1998, and added to 

the list of overfished stocks in the 

Report on the Status of the Fisheries of 

the United States, prepared pursuant to 

section 304 of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

Consequently, the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act required NMFS to prepare measures 

to end overfishing and rebuild the spiny 

dogfish stock. During 1998 and 1999, 

the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council (MAFMC) and the New England 

Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) 

developed a joint FMP, with the 

MAFMC designated as the 

administrative lead. 

The regulations implementing the 

FMP at 50 CFR part 648, subpart L, 

outline the process for specifying the 

commercial quota and other 

management measures (e.g., minimum 

or maximum fish sizes, seasons, mesh 

size restrictions, possession limits, and 

other gear restrictions) necessary to 

ensure that the target fishing mortality 

rate (target F) specified in the FMP will 

not be exceeded in any fishing year 

(May 1–April 30), for a period of 1–5 

FYs. The annual quota is allocated to 

two semi-annual quota periods, as 

follows: Period 1, May 1 through 

October 31 (57.9 percent); and Period 2, 

November 1 through April 30 (42.1 

percent). 

The Spiny Dogfish Monitoring 

Committee (MC), which is comprised of 

representatives from states; MAFMC 

staff; NEFMC staff; NMFS staff; 

academia; and two non-voting, exofficio industry representatives (one 

each from the MAFMC and NEFMC 

regions), is required to review the best 

available information and to 

recommend a commercial quota and 

other management measures necessary 

to achieve the target F for 1–5 FYs. The 

Council’s Joint Spiny Dogfish 

Committee (Joint Committee) considers 

the MC’s recommendations and any 

public comment in making its 

recommendation to the two Councils. 

The MAFMC and the NEFMC then 

review the recommendations of the MC 

and Joint Committee and make their 

recommendations to NMFS. NMFS 

reviews those recommendations, and 

may modify them if necessary to assure 

that the target F will not be exceeded. 

NMFS then publishes proposed 

measures for public comment. 

Spiny Dogfish Stock Status Update 

NMFS declared the spiny dogfish 

stock rebuilt on June 22, 2010, based on 

an analysis of biological reference 

points presented at the Transboundary 

Resource Assessment Committee 

(TRAC) meeting in January 2010. A 

group of peer reviewers, using 

information from the TRAC analysis, 

accepted a newly defined spiny dogfish 

biomass target (159,288 mt), Ftarget

(0.207), and Fthreshold (0.325). The 2009 

stochastic estimate of spawning stock 

biomass (SSB) (163,256 mt) was shown 

to exceed the newly defined biomass 

target, which was consistent with a 

rebuilt stock. Based on the 

recommendation of the MC and TRAC 

analysis showing the spiny dogfish 

stock was rebuilt, NMFS set the FY 2010 

spiny dogfish specifications at 15 

million lb (5,443.11 mt) (75 FR 36012, 

June 24, 2010). 

In the fall of 2010, the NMFS 

Northeast Fisheries Science Center 

(NEFSC) updated the spiny dogfish 

stock status using the population 

modeling approach from the 43rd Stock 

Assessment Workshop (43rd SAW, 

2006), 2009 catch data, and results from 

the 2010 spring bottom trawl survey. 

The update specified that the female 

spawning stock biomass (SSB) for 2010 

is 164,066 mt (362 million lb), about 3 

percent above the maximum spawning 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with PROPOSALS-1