83832 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 

By the Board, Board Members Begeman, 

Fuchs, and Oberman. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Surface Transportation 

Board amends part 1002 of title 49, 

chapter X, of the Code of Federal 

Regulations as follows: 

PART 1002—FEES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1002 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A), (a)(6)(B), 

and 553; 31 U.S.C. 9701; and 49 U.S.C. 1321. 

■ 2. Amend § 1002.2 by revising 

paragraphs (e)(1), (e)(2)(i), (ii), and (iii) 

and adding paragraph (e)(3) to read as 

follows: 

§ 1002.2 Filing fees. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) Except as noted in this paragraph 

(e)(1), filing fees are waived for an 

application, petition, notice, tariff, 

contract summary, or other document 

that is filed by a federal government 

agency or a state or local government 

entity. A fee waiver is not available 

under this paragraph for a quasigovernmental entity or governmentsubsidized transportation company. A 

fee waiver is also not available to any 

state or local government entity that is 

acting in the capacity of a carrier or 

shipper or that owns or proposes to own 

a carrier and is before the agency in its 

proprietary role. 

(i) When to request. At the time that 

a filing is submitted to the Board, the fee 

waiver applicant may request a waiver 

of the fee prescribed in this part. Such 

request should be addressed to the 

Chief, Section of Administration, Office 

of Proceedings, Surface Transportation 

Board. 

(ii) Board action. The Board will 

either stamp the relevant filing with the 

notation ‘‘Filing Fee Waived,’’ or the fee 

waiver applicant will be notified of the 

decision to grant or deny the request for 

waiver by the Chief, Section of 

Administration, Office of Proceedings. 

(2) * * * 

(i) When to request. At the time that 

a filing is submitted to the Board, the fee 

waiver applicant may request a waiver 

or reduction of the fee prescribed in this 

part. Such request should be addressed 

to the Chief, Section of Administration, 

Office of Proceedings. 

(ii) Basis. The fee waiver applicant 

must show the waiver or reduction of 

the fee is in the best interest of the 

public, or that payment of the fee would 

impose an undue hardship on the fee 

waiver applicant. 

(iii) Board action. The Chief, Section 

of Administration, Office of Proceedings 

will notify the fee waiver applicant of 

the decision to grant or deny the request 

for waiver or reduction. 

(3) Review. No third-party appeals of 

fee waiver or reduction decisions are 

permitted. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2020–28408 Filed 12–22–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 180117042–8884–02; RTID 

0648–XA699] 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 19.5 

metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna 

(BFT) from the 28.9-mt General category 

December 2021 subquota to the January 

through March 2021 subquota period. 

This action is based on consideration of 

the regulatory determination criteria 

regarding inseason adjustments and 

applies to Atlantic tunas General 

category (commercial) permitted vessels 

and Atlantic Highly Migratory Species 

(HMS) Charter/Headboat category 

vessels with a commercial sale 

endorsement when fishing 

commercially for BFT. 

DATES: Effective January 1, 2021, 

through March 31, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah McLaughlin, sarah.mclaughlin@

noaa.gov, 978–281–9260, Nicholas 

Velseboer, nicholas.velseboer@

noaa.gov, or Larry Redd, larry.redd@

noaa.gov, 301–427–8503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations implemented under the 

authority of the Atlantic Tunas 

Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et 

seq.) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801 

et seq.) governing the harvest of BFT by 

persons and vessels subject to U.S. 

jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR part 

635. Section 635.27 subdivides the U.S. 

BFT quota recommended by the 

International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 

and as implemented by the United 

States among the various domestic 

fishing categories, per the allocations 

established in the 2006 Consolidated 

Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan 

(2006 Consolidated HMS FMP) (71 FR 

58058, October 2, 2006) and 

amendments. NMFS is required under 

ATCA and the Magnuson-Stevens Act to 

provide U.S. fishing vessels with a 

reasonable opportunity to harvest the 

ICCAT-recommended quota. 

The current baseline General and 

Reserve category quotas are 555.7 mt 

and 29.5 mt, respectively. See 

§ 635.27(a). Each of the General category 

time periods (January through March, 

June through August, September, 

October through November, and 

December) is allocated a ‘‘subquota’’ or 

portion of the annual General category 

quota. The baseline subquotas for each 

time period are as follows: 29.5 mt for 

January through March; 277.9 mt for 

June through August; 147.3 mt for 

September; 72.2 mt for October through 

November; and 28.9 mt for December. 

Any unused General category quota 

rolls forward from one time period to 

the next and is available for use in 

subsequent time periods. 

Transfer of 19.5 mt From the December 

2021 Subquota to the January Through 

March 2021 Subquota 

Under § 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the 

authority to transfer quota among 

fishing categories or subcategories, after 

considering regulatory determination 

criteria provided under § 635.27(a)(8). 

NMFS has considered all of the relevant 

determination criteria and their 

applicability to this inseason quota 

transfer. These considerations include, 

but are not limited to, the following: 

Regarding the usefulness of 

information obtained from catches in 

the particular category for biological 

sampling and monitoring of the status of 

the stock (§ 635.27(a)(8)(i)), biological 

samples collected from BFT landed by 

General category fishermen and 

provided by BFT dealers provide 

valuable data for ongoing scientific 

studies of BFT age and growth, 

migration, and reproductive status. 

Additional opportunity to land BFT, 

and potentially over a greater portion of 

the January through March time period, 

would support the continued collection 

of a broad range of data for these studies 

and for stock monitoring purposes. 

NMFS also considered the catches of 

the General category quota to date 

(including in December 2020 and during 

the winter fishery in the last several 

years), and the likelihood of closure of 

that segment of the fishery if no 

adjustment is made (§ 635.27(a)(8)(ii) 


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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 83833 

and (ix)). Without a quota transfer from 

December 2021, the quota available for 

the January through March period 

would be 29.5 mt (5.3 percent of the 

General category quota), and 

participants would have to stop BFT 

fishing activities once that amount is 

met, while commercial-sized BFT may 

remain available in the areas where 

General category permitted vessels 

operate. Transferring 19.5 mt of the 

28.9-mt quota available for December 

2021 (with 28.9 mt representing 5.2 

percent of the General category quota) 

would result in 49 mt (8.8 percent of the 

General category quota) being available 

for the January through March 2021 

subquota period. This quota transfer 

would provide additional opportunities 

to harvest the U.S. BFT quota without 

exceeding it, while preserving the 

opportunity for General category 

fishermen to participate in the winter 

BFT fishery at both the beginning and 

end of the calendar year. 

Regarding the projected ability of the 

vessels fishing under the particular 

category quota (here, the General 

category) to harvest the additional 

amount of BFT quota transferred before 

the end of the fishing year 

(§ 635.27(a)(8)(iii)), NMFS considered 

General category landings over the last 

several years. Landings are highly 

variable and depend on access to 

commercial-sized BFT and fishing 

conditions, among other factors. Any 

unused General category quota from the 

January through March subperiod that 

remains as of March 31 will roll forward 

to the next subperiod within the 

calendar year (i.e., the June through 

August time period). In early 2020, 

NMFS transferred 19.5 mt of quota from 

the December 2020 subquota to the 

January through March 2020 subquota 

period, resulting in a subquota of 49 mt 

for the January through March 2020 

period and a subquota of 9.4 mt for the 

December 2020 period (85 FR 17, 

January 2, 2020). NMFS also made a 

transfer of 51 mt from the Reserve to the 

General category effective February 5, 

2020, resulting in an adjusted subquota 

of 100 mt for the January through March 

2020 period (85 FR 6828, February 6, 

2020), and closed the General category 

fishery for the January through March 

subquota period effective February 24 

(85 FR 10993, February 26, 2020). Under 

a one-fish General category daily 

retention limit (i.e., of large medium or 

giant BFT, measuring 73 inches (185 

cm) curved fork length or greater) 

effective January 1 through February 24, 

a total of 124.1 mt were landed. 

NMFS also considered the estimated 

amounts by which quotas for other gear 

categories of the fishery might be 

exceeded (§ 635.27(a)(8)(iv)) and the 

ability to account for all 2021 landings 

and dead discards. In the last several 

years, total U.S. BFT landings have been 

below the available U.S. quota such that 

the United States has carried forward 

the maximum amount of underharvest 

allowed by ICCAT from one year to the 

next. NMFS will need to account for 

2021 landings and dead discards within 

the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with 

ICCAT recommendations, and 

anticipates having sufficient quota to do 

that. Thus, this quota transfer would 

allow fishermen to take advantage of the 

availability of fish on the fishing 

grounds to the extent consistent with 

the available amount of transferrable 

quota and other management objectives, 

while avoiding quota exceedance. 

NMFS also considered the effects of 

the adjustment on the BFT stock and the 

effects of the transfer on accomplishing 

the objectives of the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP (§ 635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). 

This transfer would be consistent with 

the current quotas, which were 

established and analyzed in the 2018 

BFT quota final rule (83 FR 51391, 

October 11, 2018), and with objectives 

of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

amendments and is not expected to 

negatively impact stock health or to 

affect the stock in ways not already 

analyzed in those documents. Another 

principal consideration is the objective 

of providing opportunities to harvest the 

full annual U.S. BFT quota without 

exceeding it based on the goals of the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

amendments, including to achieve 

optimum yield on a continuing basis 

and to optimize the ability of all permit 

categories to harvest their full BFT 

quota allocations (related to 

§ 635.27(a)(8)(x)). Specific to the 

General category, this includes 

providing opportunity equitably across 

all time periods. 

NMFS also anticipates that some 

underharvest of the 2020 adjusted U.S. 

BFT quota will be carried forward to 

2021 and placed in the Reserve 

category, in accordance with the 

regulations. This, in addition to the fact 

that any unused General category quota 

will roll forward to the next subperiod 

within the calendar year, as well as 

NMFS’ plan to actively manage the 

subquotas to avoid any exceedances, 

makes it likely that General category 

quota will remain available through the 

end of 2021 for December fishery 

participants, even with the quota 

transfer. NMFS also may choose to 

transfer unused quota from the Reserve 

or other categories, inseason, based on 

consideration of the determination 

criteria, as NMFS did for late 2020. 

NMFS anticipates that General category 

participants in all areas and time 

periods will have opportunities to 

harvest the General category quota in 

2021, through active inseason 

management actions such as retention 

limit adjustments and/or the timing of 

quota transfers, as practicable. 

Based on the considerations above, 

NMFS is transferring 19.5 mt of the 

28.9-mt General category quota 

allocated for the December 2021 period 

to the January through March 2021 

period, resulting in a subquota of 49 mt 

for the January through March 2021 

period and a subquota of 9.4 mt for the 

December 2021 period. 

Monitoring and Reporting 

NMFS will continue to monitor the 

BFT fishery closely. Dealers are required 

to submit landings reports within 24 

hours of a dealer receiving BFT. Late 

reporting by dealers compromises 

NMFS’ ability to timely implement 

actions such as quota and retention 

limit adjustment, as well as closures, 

and may result in enforcement actions. 

Additionally, and separate from the 

dealer reporting requirement, General 

and HMS Charter/Headboat category 

vessel owners are required to report the 

catch of all BFT retained or discarded 

dead within 24 hours of the landing(s) 

or end of each trip, by accessing 

hmspermits.noaa.gov or by using the 

HMS Catch Reporting app, or calling 

(888) 872–8862 (Monday through Friday 

from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.). 

Under § 635.23(a)(4), NMFS may 

increase or decrease the daily retention 

limit of large medium and giant BFT 

over a range of zero to a maximum of 

five per vessel based on consideration of 

the relevant criteria provided under 

§ 635.27(a)(8). However, at this time, 

NMFS is maintaining the default daily 

retention limit of one large medium or 

giant BFT per vessel per day/trip 

(§ 635.23(a)(2)) for the January through 

March 2021 General category fishery. 

Regardless of the duration of a fishing 

trip, no more than a single day’s 

retention limit may be possessed, 

retained, or landed. For example (and 

specific to the limit that will apply 

beginning January 1, 2021), whether a 

vessel fishing under the General 

category limit takes a 2-day trip or 

makes two trips in 1 day, the daily limit 

of one fish may not be exceeded upon 

landing. This General category retention 

limit is effective in all areas, except for 

the Gulf of Mexico, where NMFS 

prohibits targeted fishing for BFT, and 

applies to those vessels permitted in the 

General category, as well as to those 

HMS Charter/Headboat permitted 

vessels with a commercial sale 


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83834 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 

endorsement when fishing 

commercially for BFT. 

Depending on the level of fishing 

effort and catch rates of BFT, NMFS 

may determine that additional action 

(e.g., quota adjustment, daily retention 

limit adjustment, or closure) is 

necessary to ensure available subquotas 

are not exceeded or to enhance 

scientific data collection from, and 

fishing opportunities in, all geographic 

areas. If needed, subsequent 

adjustments will be published in the 

Federal Register. As needed, NMFS will 

close the General category fishery when 

the adjusted January through March 

period subquota has been reached. Even 

if the adjusted subquota is not reached, 

the General category fishery will close 

automatically on March 31, 2021, and 

will remain closed until it reopens on 

June 1, 2021. Fishermen may call the 

Atlantic Tunas Information Line at (978) 

281–9260, or access 

hmspermits.noaa.gov, for updates on 

quota monitoring and inseason 

adjustments. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is consistent with 

regulations at 50 CFR part 635, which 

were issued pursuant to section 304(c) 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the 

Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, and is 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

NMFS (AA) finds that it is impracticable 

and contrary to the public interest to 

provide prior notice of, and an 

opportunity for public comment on, this 

action for the following reasons: 

The regulations implementing the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

amendments provide for inseason quota 

transfers to respond to the unpredictable 

nature of BFT availability on the fishing 

grounds, the migratory nature of this 

species, and the regional variations in 

the BFT fishery. Affording prior notice 

and opportunity for public comment to 

implement the quota transfer for the 

January through March 2021 subquota 

period is impracticable and contrary to 

the public interest as NMFS could not 

have proposed this action earlier, as it 

needed to consider and respond to 

updated landings data, including the 

recently available December 2020 data, 

in deciding to transfer a portion of the 

December 2021 subquota to the January 

through March 2021 subquota. If NMFS 

was to offer a public comment period 

now, after having appropriately 

considered that data, it could preclude 

fishermen from harvesting BFT that are 

legally available consistent with all of 

the regulatory criteria, and/or could 

result in selection of a retention limit 

inappropriately high for the amount of 

quota available for the period. This 

action does not raise conservation and 

management concerns. Transferring 

quota within the General category does 

not affect the overall U.S. BFT quota, 

and available data shows the adjustment 

would have a minimal risk of exceeding 

the ICCAT-allocated quota. NMFS notes 

that the public had an opportunity to 

comment on the underlying 

rulemakings that established the U.S. 

BFT quota and the inseason adjustment 

criteria. For all of the above reasons, 

there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in 

effectiveness. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 

et seq. 

Dated: December 17, 2020. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28215 Filed 12–22–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[[Docket No. 200221–0062] 

RTID 0648–XA725 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Inseason Adjustment 

to the 2021 Gulf of Alaska Pollock and 

Pacific Cod Total Allowable Catch 

Amounts 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason 

adjustment; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is adjusting the 2021 

total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for 

the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) pollock and 

Pacific cod fishery. This action is 

necessary because NMFS has 

determined these TACs are incorrectly 

specified, and will ensure the GOA 

pollock and Pacific cod TACs are the 

appropriate amount based on the best 

available scientific information for 

pollock and Pacific cod in the GOA. 

This action is consistent with the goals 

and objectives of the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Gulf of Alaska. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, Alaska 

local time (A.l.t.), January 1, 2021, until 

the effective date of the final 2021 and 

2022 harvest specifications for GOA 

groundfish, unless otherwise modified 

or superseded through publication of a 

notification in the Federal Register. 

Comments must be received at the 

following address no later than 4:30 

p.m., A.l.t., January 7, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by NOAA–NMFS–2019–0102 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to 

www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019- 

0102, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: 

Records. Mail comments to P.O. Box 

21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668. 

Instructions: NMFS may not consider 

comments if they are sent by any other 

method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the 

comment period ends. All comments 

received are a part of the public record, 

and NMFS will post the comments for 

public viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Obren Davis, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

GOA exclusive economic zone 

according to the Fishery Management 

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of 

Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(Council) under authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

Regulations governing fishing by U.S. 

vessels in accordance with the FMP 

appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 

and 50 CFR part 679. 

The final 2020 and 2021 harvest 

specifications for groundfish in the GOA 

(85 FR 13802, March 10, 2020 and 

revision to implement Amendment 109, 

85 FR 74266, November 20, 2020) set 

the 2021 pollock TAC at 119,239 metric 

tons (mt) in the GOA. In December 

2020, the Council recommended a 2021 

pollock TAC of 113,227 mt for the GOA, 

which is less than the 119,239 mt 

established by the final 2020 and 2021 

harvest specifications for groundfish in 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with RULES