66160 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 246 / Wednesday, December 26, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

on it. This rule does not impose any 

additional requirements on exemption 

applicants or the public. Therefore, 

NHTSA has determined that notice and 

public comment are unnecessary. 

In consideration of the foregoing, 

NHTSA amends 49 CFR chapter V as 

follows: 

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 555 

Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles. 

PART 555—TEMPORARY EXEMPTION 

FROM MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY AND 

BUMPER STANDARDS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 555 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30113, 32502, Pub. L. 

105–277; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 

1.50. 

■ 2. Paragraph (a) of § 555.7 is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 555.7 Processing of applications. 

(a) The agency publishes a notice of 

the application in the Federal Register, 

affording opportunity for comment. 

* * * * * 

Issued in Washington, DC, under authority 

delegated in 49 CFR 1.95 and 501.5. 

Heidi Renate King, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27795 Filed 12–21–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 151215999–6960–02] 

RIN 0648–XG691 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; 2018 

River Herring and Shad Catch Cap 

Reached for Midwater Trawl Vessels in 

the Cape Cod Catch Cap Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is reducing the 

Atlantic herring possession limit for 

vessels fishing with midwater trawl gear 

in the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure 

Area, based on a projection that the 

prescribed catch cap for that area has 

been reached. This action is necessary 

to comply with the regulations 

implementing the Atlantic Herring 

Fishery Management Plan and is 

intended to limit the harvest of river 

herring and shad in the Cape Cod Catch 

Cap Area. 

DATES: Effective 00:01 hr local time, 

December 21, 2018, through December 

31, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Luers, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 282–8457. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the Atlantic 

herring fishery can be found at 50 CFR 

part 648, including requirements for 

setting annual catch cap allocations for 

river herring and shad. NMFS set the 

2018 catch cap in the Cape Cod Catch 

Cap Area at 32.4 mt. NMFS established 

this value in the 2016 through 2018 

herring specifications (81 FR 75731, 

November 1, 2016). 

The NMFS Administrator of the 

Greater Atlantic Region (Regional 

Administrator) monitors the herring 

fishery in each of the catch cap areas 

based on vessel and dealer reports, state 

data, and other available information. 

The regulations at § 648.201 require that 

when the Regional Administrator 

projects that river herring and shad 

catch will reach 95 percent of a catch 

cap for vessels fishing with a specific 

gear type in a specified catch cap area, 

NMFS must prohibit, through 

notification in the Federal Register, 

vessels fishing with that gear type from 

fishing for, catching, possessing, 

transferring, receiving, or landing more 

than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring per 

trip or calendar day in or from that 

specified catch cap closure area for the 

remainder of the fishing year. 

The Regional Administrator has 

determined, based on dealer reports and 

other available information, that herring 

midwater trawl vessels will have caught 

95 percent of the river herring and shad 

catch cap allocated to that gear type in 

the Cape Cod Catch Cap Area by 

December 21, 2018. Therefore, effective 

00:01 hr local time, December 21, 2018, 

through December 31, 2018, vessels 

fishing with midwater trawl gear may 

not fish for, catch, possess, transfer, or 

land more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of 

herring per trip or calendar day, in or 

from the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure 

Area. Midwater trawl vessels that have 

entered port before 00:01 hr local time, 

December 21, 2018, may land and sell 

more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring 

from the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure 

Area from that trip. Midwater trawl 

vessels may transit through the Cape 

Cod Catch Cap Closure Area with more 

than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring on 

board, provided all herring in excess of 

2,000 lb (907.2 kg) was caught outside 

of this area and all fishing gear is 

stowed and not available for immediate 

use as defined by 50 CFR 648.2. 

This action also prohibits federally 

permitted dealers from purchasing 

herring from federally permitted herring 

vessels that used midwater trawl gear to 

harvest more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of 

herring from the Cape Cod Catch Cap 

Closure Area through 24:00 hr local 

time, December 31, 2018, unless the 

vessel enters port before 00:01 local 

time on December 21, 2018. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS finds good cause pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice 

and the opportunity for public comment 

because it would be contrary to the 

public interest and impracticable. 

Further, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3), NMFS finds good cause to 

waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness. 

NMFS is required by Federal regulation 

to immediately put in place a 2,000-lb 

(907.2-kg) herring trip limit for Cape 

Cod Catch Cap Closure Area through 

December 31, 2018. This action restricts 

the catch of herring in the Cape Cod 

Catch Cap Closure Area for the 

remainder of the fishing year. Once data 

become available projecting 95 percent 

of the river herring/shad quota will be 

caught, regulations at § 648.201(a)(4)(ii) 

require NMFS to implement a 2,000-lb 

(907.2-kg) herring trip and calendar day 

possession limit to ensure that herring 

vessels fishing with midwater trawl gear 

do not exceed the quota allocated to that 

gear type in the Cape Cod Catch Cap 

Area. Federally permitted dealers are 

also prohibited from purchasing herring 

from vessels that used midwater trawl 

gear to harvest more than 2,000 lb (907.2 

kg) of herring from the Cape Cod Catch 

Cap Closure Area. High-volume catch 

and landings in this fishery increase 

catch totals relative to catch caps 

quickly. If implementation of this 

closure is delayed to solicit prior public 

comment, the midwater trawl catch cap 

for the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure 

Area for this fishing year will likely be 

exceeded, thereby undermining the 

conservation objectives of the Atlantic 

Herring Fishery Management Plan. The 

public expects these actions to occur in 

a timely way consistent with the fishery 

management plan’s objectives. 

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

Dated: December 19, 2018. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27845 Filed 12–19–18; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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