Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / Notices 68313

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration

[Docket No. 041116319–4319–01; I.D. 

110504D]

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fishing Capacity Reduction Program 

for the Crab Species Covered by the 

Fishery Management Plan for the 

Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and 

Tanner Crabs

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of fishing capacity 

reduction program payment tender.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notice to 

inform the public about tendering 

reduction payments to accepted bidders 

under the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands 

King and Tanner Crab fishing capacity 

reduction program. NMFS has accepted 

reduction bids, and a successful 

referendum has approved an industry 

fee system for repaying the $97.4 

million reduction loan financing 100 

percent of the program’s cost. 

Accordingly, NMFS is preparing to 

tender reduction payments to accepted 

bidders.

ADDRESSES: Send questions about this 

notice to Michael L. Grable, Chief, 

Financial Services Division, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910–3282.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael L. Grable, (301) 713–2390.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Section 144 of Public Law 106–554 

(as amended by section 2201 of Pub. L. 

107–20 and section 205 of Public Law 

107–117) directed the Secretary of 

Commerce to establish a $100 million 

fishing capacity reduction program 

(program) in the Bering Sea/Aleutian 

Islands king and Tanner crab fishery 

(crab fishery). The program’s objective is 

reducing the crab fishery’s harvesting 

capacity. This will help financially 

stabilize this limited-entry fishery and 

fosters its future management.

NMFS implemented the program by 

publishing a proposed rule on December 

12, 2002 (67 FR 76329) and a final rule 

on December 12, 2003 (68 FR 69331). 

Persons wanting further program details 

should refer to these rules.

This is a voluntary program in which, 

in return for reduction payments, 

bidders whose bids NMFS accepts 

permanently relinquish their fishing 

licenses, the fishing histories upon 

which those licenses’ issuance was 

based, and their vessels’ worldwide 

fishing privileges. Their vessels may 

never fish again and may never be 

transferred out of U.S. registry.

The total cost of reduction payments 

to all accepted bidders (and, thus, the 

program’s total cost) cannot exceed $100 

million. This cost is 100 percent 

financed by a fishing capacity reduction 

loan from NMFS’ Fisheries Finance 

Program. Future crab landing fees will 

repay the reduction loan over the next 

30 years. Each of six area/species 

endorsement crab fisheries has a 

different reduction loan subamount to 

repay and does so at a fee rate 

appropriate for each subamount.

Under the program, the holders of 

non-interim crab fishery licenses make 

bid offers to NMFS for reduction 

payments. NMFS scores each bid’s 

reduction payment amount against the 

amount of the bidder’s past ex-vessel 

crab revenues and, in a reverse auction, 

accepts those bids whose reduction 

payments are the lowest percentages of 

the bidders’ revenues during a certain 

period. NMFS quits accepting bids 

before acceptance of the bid with the 

next lowest bid score causes reduction 

payments to exceed the maximum $100 

million program cost. Bid acceptances 

create reduction contracts whose 

performance are subject only to a 

successful referendum about the 

industry fee system necessary to repay 

the reduction loan.

The referendum follows the bidding 

process. Approval of the industry fee 

system requires at least two-thirds of the 

qualified voters casting ballots to vote in 

favor of the industry fee system. 

Qualified voters are all interim and noninterim holders of crab licenses, except 

those endorsed only for the Norton 

Sound area/species crab fishery.

II. Present Status

NMFS has twice invited program bids 

and administered separate referendums 

on each of the two accepted bidder 

results.

NMFS administered and, because of a 

mistake which overstated the bidding 

results, readministered a referendum 

about bids accepted under the first 

invitation to bid. The readministered 

referendum was unsuccessful. Because 

of the circumstances involved, however, 

NMFS issued a second invitation to bid 

for which the referendum was 

successful. This notice involves the 

program’s second invitation to bid and 

the accepted bids, referendum, and 

reduction contracts consequent to such 

second invitation to bid.

NMFS issued the second invitation to 

bid, and the bidding period opened, on 

August 6, 2004. This bidding period 

closed on September 24, 2004. Fifty 

five, non-interim, crab license holders 

submitted bids totaling $225,954,284. 

NMFS accepted 25 bids. These totaled 

$97,399,357. The next lowest scoring 

bid would have exceeded the program’s 

$100 million maximum cost. The 

accepted bids involved 25 fishing 

vessels and 62 fishing licenses or 

permits. Twenty five of the permits 

were non-interim crab fishery licenses. 

The remaining included 15 groundfish 

fishing licenses, 20 Federal fishery 

vessel permits, 1 high seas permit, and 

1 halibut individual fishing quota 

allocation.

On October 1, 2004, NMFS mailed 

referendum ballots to 313 qualified 

referendum voters. This referendum 

involved the fees necessary to repay the 

$97,399,357 reduction loan resulting 

from the 25 bids NMFS accepted under 

the program’s second invitation to bid. 

The second referendum voting period 

opened on October 1, 2004, and closed 

on November 15, 2004. Two hundred 

seventy three (or 87.22 percent) of the 

referendum’s qualified voters cast 

timely ballots. Two hundred seventeen 

(or 79.49 percent) of the those ballots 

approved the fees. This exceeded the 

two-thirds minimum required for 

industry fee system approval. This 

referendum was, consequently, 

successful and approved the industry 

fee system. Accordingly, the reduction 

contracts are now in full force and effect 

and NMFS is now preparing to tender 

and disburse reduction payments to 

accepted bidders.

III. Purpose

NMFS publishes this notification to 

inform the public before tendering 

reduction payments to the 25 accepted 

bidders. NMFS will tender reduction 

payments on December 27, 2004. When 

NMFS tenders a reduction payment to 

an accepted bidder, the bidder must 

then permanently stop all further 

fishing with each reduction permit the 

bidder has relinquished and with the 

reduction vessel whose worldwide 

fishing privileges the bidder has 

relinquished. NMFS will then:

(a) Revoke each reduction permit each 

accepted bidder relinquished,

(b) Revoke each reduction vessel’s 

fishing history,

(c) Notify the National Vessel 

Documentation Center to revoke the 

fishery trade endorsement of each 

accepted bidder’s reduction vessel and 

otherwise appropriately annotate the 

reduction vessel’s document, and

68314 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / Notices 

(d) Notify the U.S. Maritime 

Administration to prohibit the reduction 

vessel’s transfer to foreign ownership or 

registry.

Among other things, the reduction 

contract with each accepted bidder 

requires the bidder to notify each 

creditor or other party with an interest 

in the bidder’s reduction vessel or 

reduction permit that the bidder has 

entered into a reduction contract which 

relinquishes the reduction permit and 

the reduction vessel’s fishing privileges 

in return for NMFS payment to the 

bidder of a reduction payment. Upon 

NMFS reduction payment tender, each 

accepted bidder must, among other 

things and as a condition of NMFS 

disbursing the bidder’s reduction 

payment in accordance with the 

bidder’s written payment instruction, 

also certify to NMFS that the bidder has 

given such notice to each such creditor 

or other party.

This notification begins the 30–day 

period and puts the public (including 

creditors or other parties) on notice. 

Section IV of this notification identifies 

the accepted bidders and the reduction 

vessels and reduction permits involved 

in their bids.

IV. Accepted Bidders, Reduction 

Vessels, and Reduction Permits.

The table below establishes:

(a) The names of the accepted bidders,

(b) The names and official numbers of 

the reduction vessels whose worldwide 

fishing privileges the accepted bidders 

relinquished, and

(c) The license numbers and natures 

of the reduction permits the accepted 

bidders relinquished. 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

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Authority: Pub. L. 107–206, Pub. L. 108–

7, 16 U.S.C. 1861a (b–e), and 50 CFR 

600.1000 et seq.

Dated: November 18, 2004.

Rebecca Lent,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 04–26059 Filed 11–23–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–C

COMMITTEE FOR THE 

IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE 

AGREEMENTS

Adjustment of Import Limits for Certain 

Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber 

Textiles and Textile Products 

Produced or Manufactured in Taiwan; 

Correction

November 18, 2004.

In the letter to the Commissioner, 

Bureau of Customs and Border 

Protection published in the Federal 

Register on November 12, 2004 (69 FR 

65414), on page 65415, 2nd column, in 

the table listing import restraint limits, 

please insert Categories 338/339 with 

the limit of 1,054,585 dozen under 

‘‘Sublevels in Group II’’, as it was 

inadvertently left out.

James C. Leonard III,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation 

of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. E4–3333 Filed 11–23–04 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DR–S

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary 

Defense Science Board

AGENCY: Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of Advisory Committee 

meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Defense Science Board 

Task Force on Force Protection in Urban 

and Unconventional Environments will 

meet in closed session on December 1–

2, 2004, at Fort Irwin, CA; 29 Palms, CA; 

and March Air Reserve Base, CA. This 

Task Force will review and evaluate 

force protection capabilities in urban 

and unconventional environments and 

provide recommendations to effect 

change to the future Joint Force. 

The mission of the Defense Science 

Board is to advise the Secretary of 

Defense and the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Acquisition, Technology & 

Logistics on scientific and technical 

matters as they affect the perceived 

needs of the Department of Defense. 

Specifically, the Task Force’s foci will 

be to evaluate force protection in the 

context of post major combat operations 

that have been conducted in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. In the operations, loss of 

national treasure—military and civilian, 

U.S. and other nations—has resulted 

from actions executed by non-state and 

rogue actors. The threat and capabilities 

these insurgent, terrorist and criminal 

actions present post a most serious 

challenge to our ability to achieve 

unified action. 

In accordance with Section 10(d) of 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 

Public Law 92–463, as amended (5 

U.S.C. App. 2), it has been determined 

that these Defense Science Board Task 

Force meetings concern matters listed in 

5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(1) and that, 

accordingly, these meetings will be 

closed to the public. 

Due to scheduling difficulties, there is 

insufficient time to provide timely 

notice required by Section 10(a)(2) of 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

and § 101–6.1015(b) of the GSA Final 

Rule on Federal Advisory Committee 

Management, 41 CFR Part 101–6, which 

further requires publication at least 15 

calendar days prior to the meeting.

Dated: November 17, 2004. 

Jeannette Owings-Ballard, 

OSD Federal Register, Liaison Officer, 

Department of Defense.

[FR Doc. 04–25983 Filed 11–23–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed Consolidation of Nuclear 

Operations Related to Production of 

Radioisotope Power Systems; 

Correction

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Intent; correction.

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

published a notice of intent in the 

Federal Register on November 16, 2004, 

(69 FR 67139) announcing its intent to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS), for the proposed 

consolidation of nuclear activities 

related to production of radioisotope 

power systems required for Government 

national security and space exploration 

missions at a single, highly secure DOE 

site. The document contained an 

incorrect telephone number and an 

incorrect street address for a public 

meeting. 

Corrections 

In the Federal Register of November 

16, 2004, in FR Doc. 04–25406, on page 

67140, the following corrections should 

be made:

First column, first paragraph, 

Twin Falls, ID: 1586 Blue Lakes Blvd. 

North, 

Second column, under ADDRESSES

heading, first paragraph, 

You may leave a message at (800) 

919–3706.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Timothy A. Frazier, Document Manager, 

NE–50/Germantown Building, Office of 

Space and Defense Power Systems, 

Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and 

Technology, U.S. Department of Energy, 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–1290, telephone 

301–903–9420, or submitted via e-mail 

to 

ConsolidationEIS@nuclear.energy.gov.

Issued in Washington, DC on November 18, 

2004. 

Carol M. Borgstrom, 

Director, Office of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance.

[FR Doc. 04–26035 Filed 11–23–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket Nos. PP 39–1 and PP–96–2] 

Applications To Transfer Presidential 

Permits; Boise Cascade Corporation 

and Boise White Paper, LLC

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of applications.

SUMMARY: Boise Cascade Corporation 

(Boise) and Boise White Paper, L.L.C. 

(BWP) have jointly applied to transfer 

Presidential Permits PP–39 and PP–96 

from Boise to BWP.

DATES: Comments, protests or requests 

to intervene must be submitted on or 

before December 27, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests or 

requests to intervene should be 

addressed as follows: Office of Coal & 

Power Import/Export (FE–27), Office of 

Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585–0350 (FAX 

202–287–5736).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen Russell (Program Office) 202–586–

9624 or Michael Skinker (Program 

Attorney) 202–586–2793.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

construction, operation, maintenance, 

and connection of facilities at the 

international border of the United States 

for the transmission of electric energy 

between the United States and a foreign 

country is prohibited in the absence of 

a Presidential permit issued pursuant to