74640 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

Dated: November 17, 2010. 

G. Jeffrey Herndon, 

Acting Director, Registration Division, Office 

of Pesticide Programs. 

■ Therefore, 40 CFR chapter I is 

amended as follows: 

PART 180—[AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 180 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 21 U.S.C. 321(q), 346a and 371. 

■ 2. Section 180.602 is amended by 

revising paragraph (a) introductory text 

and alphabetically adding the following 

commodities to the table in paragraph 

(a) to read as follows: 

§ 180.602 Spiroxamine; tolerances for 

residues. 

(a) General. Tolerances are 

established for residues of the fungicide 

spiroxamine, including its metabolites 

and degradates, in or on the 

commodities in the table below. 

Compliance with the tolerance levels 

specified in the following table is to be 

determined by measuring only 

spiroxamine, [(8-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-Nethyl-N-propyl-1,4- 

dioxaspiro[4,5]decane-2-methanamine) 

in or on the commodities. 

Commodity Parts per 

million 

Artichoke, globe, import 1 ........ 0 .7 

Asparagus 1 ............................. 0 .05 

* * * * * 

Vegetable, fruiting , crop 

group 8 1 .............................. 1 .2 

1 No U.S. registration as of December 1, 

2010. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2010–30114 Filed 11–30–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 300 

[Docket No. 100507218–0325–02] 

RIN 0648–AY91 

International Fisheries; South Pacific 

Tuna Fisheries; Procedures To 

Request Licenses and a System To 

Allocate Licenses 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to its authority 

under the South Pacific Tuna Act of 

1988 (SPTA), NMFS issues regulations 

to modify the procedures that U.S. purse 

seine vessels use to request fishing 

licenses to fish in areas managed under 

the SPTA. This rule also establishes a 

system for allocating licenses in the 

event more applications are received 

than there are licenses available. Such 

an allocation system is needed because 

the number of applications is 

approaching the number of available 

licenses, and may exceed that number. 

The license allocation system includes 

objective criteria to be used by NMFS in 

prioritizing among license applicants. 

The license application procedures are 

modified in accordance with the 

allocation system, and are designed to 

provide license holders and prospective 

license applicants with a clear and 

certain regulatory process. The 

regulations for vessels licensed under 

the SPTA are also modified to require 

that the vessel monitoring system units 

(VMS units), also known as mobile 

transmitting units, installed and carried 

on the vessels are a type that is NMFSapproved. 

DATES: This final rule is effective 

January 3, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting 

documents that were prepared for this 

final rule, including the regulatory 

impact review (RIR), as well as the 

proposed rule, are available via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking portal, at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Those documents 

are also available from the Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Pacific Islands 

Regional Office, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., 

Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814–4700. 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in this final rule 

may be submitted to NMFS, Pacific 

Islands Regional Office (see contact 

information above), and by e-mail to 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax 

to 202–395–7285. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom 

Graham, NMFS, Pacific Islands Regional 

Office, 808–944–2219. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

This final rule is also accessible at 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr. 

Background 

On June 28, 2010, NMFS published a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register 

(75 FR 36619) that would modify the 

regulations at 50 CFR part 300, subpart 

D. Those regulations are issued under 

the authority of the South Pacific Tuna 

Act of 1988 (SPTA) (16 U.S.C. 973– 

973r), which was enacted to implement 

the Treaty on Fisheries between the 

Governments of Certain Pacific Island 

States and the Government of the 

United States of America and its 

annexes, schedules, and implementing 

agreements, as amended (‘‘the Treaty’’). 

The SPTA authorizes the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary), with the 

concurrence of the Secretary of State 

and after consultation with the 

Secretary of the Department in which 

the United States Coast Guard is 

operating (currently the Department of 

Homeland Security), to issue regulations 

as may be necessary to carry out the 

purposes and objectives of the Treaty 

and the SPTA. The authority to issue 

regulations has been delegated to 

NMFS. 

The Treaty governs the conduct of 

U.S. fishing vessel operations in the 

Treaty Area, as defined at 50 CFR 

300.31, and which encompasses 

approximately 10 million square miles 

(26 million square kilometers) of the 

western and central Pacific Ocean 

(WCPO). The Treaty allows U.S. purse 

seine vessels access to a large portion of 

the WCPO by authorizing, and 

regulating through a licensing system, 

U.S. purse seine vessels operations 

within all or part of the exclusive 

economic zones (EEZs) of the 16 Pacific 

Island Parties (PIPs) to the Treaty. 

Licenses to operate in the Licensing 

Area under the Treaty are issued by the 

Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency 

(FFA), based in Honiara, Solomon 

Islands, which acts as the Treaty 

Administrator on behalf of the PIPs. 

Licenses are issued on an annual basis, 

with the licensing period starting June 

15th of each year. U.S. purse seine 

vessels licensed under the Treaty are 

used to target skipjack tuna and 

yellowfin tuna. 

Currently, the Treaty allows for a 

maximum of 45 licenses to U.S. purse 

seine fishing vessels to fish in the 

Licensing Area of the Treaty. Of the 45 

licenses, 5 are reserved for U.S. vessels 

engaged in ‘‘joint venture’’ arrangements 

designed to maximize the benefits 

generated for the PIPs. The Licensing 

Area comprises the entire Treaty Area, 

with the exception of areas subject to 

the jurisdiction of the United States and 

areas closed to fishing under the Treaty. 

It thus includes all or part of the EEZs 

of the following countries: Australia, 

Cook Islands, Federated States of 

Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall 

Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, 

Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, 

Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and 

Vanuatu. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 74641 

Treaty licenses are issued by the FFA, 

but license applications for U.S. vessels 

are first submitted to, and must be 

approved by, NMFS, on behalf of the 

Secretary, before being forwarded to the 

FFA. Under current practices, NMFS 

ensures that applications are complete, 

and forwards them to the FFA on a firstcome, first-served basis. 

Under section 973g of the SPTA, the 

Secretary may establish a system of 

allocating Treaty licenses in the event 

more applications are received than 

there are licenses available. NMFS is 

now establishing such a system through 

this final rule. Section 973g of the SPTA 

also authorizes the Secretary to establish 

procedures for vessel operators 

(‘‘operator’’ is defined under the SPTA to 

mean any person who is in charge of, 

directs, or controls a vessel, including 

the owner, charterer, and master) to 

request licenses from the Secretary to 

fish in the Treaty’s Licensing Area. Such 

procedures have been established by 

NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary, at 50 

CFR 300.32. In order to accommodate 

the allocation system that this final rule 

establishes, this rule also modifies the 

procedures used by applicants to 

request licenses along with the 

procedures used by NMFS to process 

those requests. The modifications to the 

procedures are designed in part to 

provide license holders and prospective 

license applicants with a clear and 

certain regulatory process. 

The proposed rule provides 

additional background information on 

the SPTA, the Treaty, and the basis for 

the proposed regulations. The proposed 

rule also includes information about an 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

(ANPR) that was issued on March 28, 

2008 (73 FR 16619). The ANPR 

established a control date of March 28, 

2008, for participation in the U.S. purse 

seine fishery managed under the SPTA 

(hereafter, ‘‘WCPO purse seine fishery’’). 

The control date is the date after which 

vessel owners and operators attempting 

to enter the WCPO purse seine fishery 

are not assured of being granted entry 

into or future participation in the 

fishery if all available licenses have 

been issued, or if NMFS limits the 

number of available licenses or imposes 

other management measures in the 

fishery. The ANPR also solicited 

comments and input on possible criteria 

and procedures that NMFS could use to 

review, order, and process license 

applications. The public comments 

made in response to the ANPR are 

summarized in the proposed rule. 

New Requirements 

The main elements of this final rule 

are described below, starting with the 

license application and review 

procedures, followed by the license 

allocation system (including 

transferability provisions), and closing 

with the VMS-related requirements. 

License Application and Review 

Procedures 

(1) The distinction between joint 

venture licenses (licenses for fishing 

activities designed to maximize the 

benefits generated for the PIPs, of which 

there are five available) and ‘‘general 

licenses’’ (the remaining licenses, of 

which there are 40 available) is 

clarified, and separate application 

procedures are established for the two 

license types. 

(2) To obtain approval from NMFS for 

a joint venture license, in addition to 

submitting a complete application, as 

for a general license, an applicant is 

required to obtain initial approval from 

the FFA, as Treaty Administrator, as 

well as documentation from the relevant 

PIP or PIPs providing concurrence for 

the issuance of a joint venture license 

for the vessel. Upon receipt of a 

complete application for a joint venture 

license, NMFS will process and approve 

the application as it would for a general 

license, except that it will not issue preapprovals, as described below for 

general licenses. NMFS will approve 

applications for joint venture licenses 

on a first-come, first-served basis, based 

on the date of initial approval by the 

FFA. 

(3) To provide an opportunity for 

applicants to receive earlier and greater 

certainty on the status of their general 

license applications for a given 

licensing period, applicants will be 

allowed to seek and receive preapproval of their applications. They 

may do so by submitting expressions of 

interest earlier than the submission of 

complete applications. A pre-approval 

will serve to temporarily reserve an 

application approval spot until the time 

that complete applications are due. 

Whether a pre-approval is issued for a 

given application will depend on the 

outcome of the allocation process, 

described below. Because of time 

constraints associated with 

implementing this rule, pre-approvals 

will not be issued for the 2011–2012 

licensing period. 

(4) For a given licensing period—with 

the exception of the 2011–2012 

licensing period, for which preapprovals will not be issued—the due 

date for submitting expressions of 

interest for general licenses is June 1st 

of the year preceding the year in which 

the licensing period begins. The due 

date for submitting complete 

applications for general licenses is 

February 5th of the year in which the 

licensing period begins. Complete 

applications may be submitted after this 

date, but they will be considered for 

approval only if licenses remain 

available after giving preference to 

expressions of interest and complete 

applications that were received by their 

respective due dates. License approvals 

for such late applications will be 

considered on a first-come, first-served 

basis. Due dates are also established for 

applications for general licenses that 

become available after the initial 

issuance of license approvals. 

(5) With the exception of the 2011– 

2012 licensing period, for which preapprovals will not be issued, NMFS will 

pre-approve applications for general 

licenses by July 16th of the year 

preceding the year in which the 

licensing period begins, and notify 

applicants of its decisions by July 26th 

of that preceding year. NMFS will 

approve applications for general 

licenses by March 7th of the year in 

which the licensing period begins, and 

notify applicants of its decisions by 

March 17th of the same year. 

(6) A process to appeal NMFS’ preapproval and approval decisions is 

established. Appeals will be required to 

be submitted in writing within 14 days 

of the notice of NMFS’ decision. The 

initial decision on an appeal will be 

made by a designee of the NMFS Pacific 

Islands Regional Administrator within 

30 days of the appeal. Within 10 days 

of notice of the initial decision, the 

applicant may request a review of the 

initial decision. The final decision on an 

appeal will be made by the Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, or a 

designee, within 30 days of the request 

for review. The final decision will 

constitute the final administrative 

action of the Department of Commerce. 

(7) Interim procedures are established 

through these regulations for the 2011– 

2012 licensing period, as the final rule 

will not become effective in time for the 

new procedures to be fully applied for 

that licensing period. These procedures 

do not include any provisions regarding 

pre-approvals. Instead, the application 

process starts with the February 5, 2011, 

due date for submitting complete 

applications. 

License Allocation System 

(1) The following criteria will be used 

to prioritize applicants for general 

licenses. Based on this prioritization, 

NMFS will issue pre-approvals for up to 

40 applications for general licenses. 

However, for the 2011–2012 licensing 

period only, for which NMFS will not 

issue pre-approvals, NMFS will use 

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74642 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

these same prioritization criteria to 

issue approvals. 

First priority will be given to 

applications for license renewals, but 

not all renewing applicants will 

necessarily receive first priority. 

Specifically, an application will receive 

first priority if NMFS has approved a 

license application for that vessel not 

later than fourteen (14) days prior to the 

start of the preceding licensing period. 

Also included in the first priority pool 

are applications for vessels licensed in 

the current or previous two licensing 

periods, but that were lost or were 

destroyed. In the event that a licensed 

vessel is lost or destroyed, the applicant 

will be reserved an approval spot for the 

licensing period in which the vessel was 

lost, and for the two subsequent 

licensing periods, provided that the 

ownership of the replacement vessel is 

identical to the ownership of the lost 

vessel. 

Second priority will be given to 

applicants according to a ranking 

system in which points are assigned to 

an applicant as follows: (a) 15 points 

will be assigned if the vessel has been 

issued, or will be issued by the time 

application approvals are issued, in 

accordance with applicable U.S. Coast 

Guard regulations, a valid U.S. Coast 

Guard Certificate of Documentation 

with a fishery endorsement (among the 

eligibility criteria for receiving a fishery 

endorsement are that the vessel must 

have been built in the United States, 

and if rebuilt, it must have been rebuilt 

in the United States); (b) one point will 

be assigned for each licensing period, 

starting with the 1988–1989 licensing 

period, in which a Treaty license has 

been issued for the vessel, for a total of 

no more than 10 points; (c) one point 

will be assigned for each calendar year 

in which at least 3,000 metric tons of 

fish were landed or transshipped from 

the vessel in U.S. ports (including ports 

located in any of the U.S. States, 

commonwealths, territories, or 

possessions) starting in 1988 and ending 

in the year prior to the year in which the 

applied-for licensing period starts, for a 

total of no more than 5 points; and (d) 

if application of the foregoing criteria 

results in a tie, priority will be given to 

the vessel from which the greatest 

amount of fish, by weight, was landed 

or transshipped in U.S. ports (including 

ports located in any of the U.S. States, 

commonwealths, territories, or 

possessions) starting in 1988 and ending 

in the year prior to the year in which the 

applied-for licensing period starts. If 

there is still a tie, priority will be given 

by a lottery conducted by the NMFS 

Pacific Islands Regional Administrator. 

(2) With respect to joint venture 

licenses, NMFS will not pre-approve 

applications or prioritize applications 

using the system established for general 

licenses. Instead, NMFS will approve 

joint venture license applications on a 

first-come, first-served basis, based on 

the date of initial approval by the FFA. 

(3) With respect to the interim 

procedures that are established for the 

2011–2012 licensing period, NMFS will 

apply the same prioritization system 

and criteria as it would for subsequent 

licensing periods, but it will do so only 

after receiving the complete 

applications that will be due February 5, 

2011. 

(4) The final rule clarifies that 

application approvals from NMFS are 

not transferable among vessel owners or 

operators or applicants. It does, 

however, allow limited transferability of 

application approvals among vessels. 

Specifically, if a general or joint venture 

license has been issued to a vessel, and 

has been valid for at least 365 

consecutive days, and all required fees 

to the FFA for the vessel have been 

paid, the vessel operators will be able to 

request that the license be transferred to 

a different vessel. Such a transfer will 

only be allowed if the ownership of the 

transferee vessel is identical to that of 

the licensed vessel, and the transferee 

vessel otherwise meets the requirements 

for licensing under 50 CFR part 300 and 

the SPTA. 

VMS-Related Requirements 

This final rule modifies the 

regulations at 50 CFR 300.45, which 

relate to the installation, carrying, and 

operation of VMS units on vessels 

licensed under the SPTA. Prior to this 

final rule, the regulations required that 

the VMS units installed and carried on 

board vessels consist of hardware and 

software that are type-approved by the 

Treaty Administrator. Those 

requirements were consistent with the 

terms of the Treaty, which mandates 

that the VMS units used on licensed 

vessels be of a type approved by the 

Treaty Administrator. The regulations 

are now modified to require that the 

hardware and software that constitute 

the VMS units be type-approved by both 

the Treaty Administrator and NMFS. 

The purpose of this change is to ensure 

that the VMS units used on licensed 

vessels are compatible with, and meet 

the technical standards of, the vessel 

monitoring system administered by 

NMFS, as well as the vessel monitoring 

system administered by the Treaty 

Administrator. 

NMFS publishes separately lists of the 

VMS units that it has type-approved. 

The current type-approval lists can be 

obtained from the NOAA Office of Law 

Enforcement, 8484 Georgia Avenue, 

Suite 415, Silver Spring, MD 20910; by 

telephone at 888–210–9288; or by fax at 

301–427–0049. 

Comments and Responses 

NFMS received one public comment 

on the proposed rule. It is summarized 

below, followed by a response from 

NMFS. 

Comment: The regulations should 

have an allowance for a vessel owner to 

submit a complete license application 

after the February 5th deadline and to 

be able to receive a license if the 

allowable number of licenses has not 

been allocated to vessels that met the 

February 5th deadline. This procedure 

provides a process for the allocation of 

licenses up to the limit allowed under 

the treaty. Freezing the number of 

licenses to those submitted only by the 

February 5th deadline could cause a 

restriction to a level below the allowed 

limit, and it could take away an 

opportunity or opportunities for 

allocating licenses to owners who were 

not in a position to submit a complete 

application by the February 5th 

deadline. 

Response: The commenter is correct 

that as written, the proposed rule would 

not allow a prospective license holder to 

receive a license if the application is 

received by NMFS after the specified 

due dates, even if a license is available. 

NMFS agrees that such a system could 

effectively limit the number of available 

licenses in any given licensing period to 

fewer than the number allowed under 

the Treaty, and thereby may unduly 

restrict opportunities to participate in 

the fishery. Consequently, the licensing 

procedures of the final rule have been 

clarified to allow an applicant to apply 

for a license for a given licensing period 

at any time up to May 15th within the 

licensing period (i.e., 30 days before the 

end of the licensing period). That is, in 

order to be assured that an application 

will be considered for approval, a 

complete application must still be 

received by NMFS by the due date 

specified in this final rule. However, 

NMFS will consider for approval all 

applications received after the 

applicable due date established in this 

final rule if and as long as licenses 

remain available. Such applications will 

be considered on a first-come, firstserved basis, based on the day of 

receipt. In the event that two or more 

complete applications are received on 

the same day, priority for approval will 

be given by lottery. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 74643 

Changes From the Proposed Rule 

As described above in NMFS’ 

response to the public comment on the 

proposed rule, changes have been made 

in this final rule in order to provide for 

application approvals to be issued for 

‘‘late applications’’ (i.e., applications 

submitted after the due dates used for 

the purpose of allocating application 

approvals in the event that more 

applications are received than there are 

licenses available). The change allows 

NMFS to approve such ‘‘late 

applications’’ on a first-come, firstserved basis, and only after giving 

preference to applicants that submitted 

their applications within the due dates, 

and only in the event that licenses 

remain available after the expiration of 

the application approval deadline. 

Specifically, clarifications have been 

made to paragraphs (h) and (k) of 

§ 300.32 to provide that an application 

submitted as late as May 15th within a 

given licensing period may be 

considered for approval if there are 

licenses remaining. However, in order to 

be considered for approval in the event 

that more applications are received than 

there are licenses available, the 

complete application must be received 

by NMFS by February 5th of the year in 

which the licensing period begins, or, in 

the case of the license approval 

becoming available after the initial 

issuance of approvals, at a specified 

later date. Paragraph (k) of § 300.32 has 

been clarified to provide for NMFS to 

consider ‘‘late applications’’ received no 

later than May 15th within the licensing 

period for approval on a first-come, 

first-served basis, and only after giving 

preference to expressions of interest and 

complete applications that were 

received within their respective due 

dates. Paragraph (k) of § 300.32 goes on 

to state that in the event that two or 

more ‘‘late applications’’ are received on 

the same day, priority will be given by 

lottery, which will be conducted by the 

NMFS Pacific Islands Regional 

Administrator. 

A correction was made to the criteria 

specified in paragraph (k) of § 300.32 

that would be used to determine first 

priority for pre-approvals. Under the 

proposed rule, first priority would be 

given to applications for vessels with 

valid licenses as of June 1st of the year 

preceding the year in which the subject 

licensing period begins; that is, to 

vessels with licenses for the licensing 

period two periods previous to the 

subject licensing period. However, an 

unintended effect of this lag is that a 

vessel that enters the fishery for the first 

time in the 2011–2012 licensing period 

would not receive first priority (i.e., as 

a license renewal) for the 2012–2013 

licensing period. Consequently, a 

correction was made to paragraph 

(k)(4)(i) of § 300.32 such that first 

priority for pre-approvals for a given 

licensing period will be given to vessels 

for which, as of June 1st of the year 

preceding the year in which the subject 

licensing period begins, application 

approvals have been issued by NMFS 

for the licensing period that precedes 

the subject licensing period. Because 

paragraph (n) of § 300.32, which 

specifies exceptional procedures to be 

used for the 2011–2012 licensing 

period, makes reference to paragraph 

(k)(4)(i) of § 300.32, appropriate 

technical corrections have been made to 

paragraph (n) of § 300.32 so that its 

meaning does not change. Specifically, 

it now states that for the 2011–2012 

licensing period only, first priority will 

be given to vessels that, as of February 

5, 2011, have valid licenses for the 

2010–2011 licensing period. 

A change has been made to the 

definition of ‘‘Regional Administrator’’ 

in § 300.31; the definition now includes 

a facsimile number that may be used for 

the purpose of submitting information 

and materials required under 50 CFR 

part 300, subpart D. 

In addition to the substantive changes 

described above, a number of minor 

changes have been made in the 

regulations in order to clarify their 

meaning. 

Classification 

The NOAA Assistant Administrator 

for Fisheries has determined that this 

final rule is consistent with the SPTA 

and other applicable laws. 

Executive Order 12866 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

NMFS received no comments disputing 

the basis for this certification. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final rule contains a collectionof-information requirement subject to 

the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and 

which has been approved by the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) 

under control number 0648–0218. 

Public reporting burden for this 

collection of information, called ‘‘South 

Pacific Tuna Act,’’ is estimated to 

average: (a) For the optional expressions 

of interest in vessel licenses, 15 minutes 

per response for license renewals and 

120 minutes per response for initial 

licenses (with one optional response per 

year); (b) for the license application 

forms, 60 minutes per response (with 

one response per year); (c) for the FFA 

Regional Register applications/VMS 

registration forms, 45 minutes per 

response (with 1 response per year); (d) 

for the catch report forms, 60 minutes 

per response (with 5 responses per 

year); and (e) for the unloading logsheet, 

30 minutes per response (with 6 

responses per year). These estimates 

include the time for reviewing 

instructions, searching existing data 

sources, gathering and maintaining the 

data needed, and completing and 

reviewing the collection of information. 

Send comments regarding these burden 

estimates or any other aspect of this data 

collection, including suggestions for 

reducing the burden, to NMFS (see 

ADDRESSES) and by e-mail to 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax 

to 202–395–7285. 

Notwithstanding any other provision 

of the law, no person is required to 

respond to, and no person shall be 

subject to penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA, unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 300 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, 

Marine resources, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Treaties. 

Dated: November 26, 2010. 

John Oliver, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Operations, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 300 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 300—INTERNATIONAL 

FISHERIES REGULATIONS 

Subpart D—South Pacific Tuna 

Fisheries 

■ 1. The authority citation for 50 CFR 

part 300, subpart D continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 973–973r. 

■ 2. In § 300.31, the definitions for 

‘‘Regional Administrator’’ and ‘‘Vessel 

Monitoring System Unit or VMS unit’’ 

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74644 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

are revised and a new definition for 

‘‘State’’ is added, to read as follows: 

§ 300.31 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Regional Administrator means the 

Regional Administrator, Pacific Islands 

Region, NMFS, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., 

Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814, 

facsimile: 808–973–2941, or a designee. 

State means each of the several States 

of the United States, the District of 

Columbia, the Commonwealths of 

Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana 

Islands, American Samoa, the Virgin 

Islands, Guam, and any other 

commonwealth, territory, or possession 

of the United States. 

* * * * * 

Vessel Monitoring System Unit or 

VMS unit, sometimes known as a 

‘‘mobile transmitting unit,’’ means 

Administrator-approved and NMFSapproved VMS unit hardware and 

software that is installed on a vessel 

pursuant to § 300.45. The VMS units are 

a component of the regional vessel 

monitoring system administered by the 

FFA, as well as of the vessel monitoring 

system administered by NMFS, and as 

such are used to transmit information 

between the vessel and the 

Administrator and NMFS and/or other 

reporting points designated by NMFS. 

■ 3. § 300.32 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.32 Vessel licenses. 

(a) Each vessel fishing in the 

Licensing Area must have a license 

issued by the Administrator for the 

licensing period being fished, unless 

exempted by § 300.39. Each licensing 

period begins on June 15 and ends on 

June 14 of the following year. 

(b) Upon receipt, the license or a copy 

or facsimile thereof must be carried on 

board the vessel when in the Licensing 

Area or Closed Areas, and must be 

produced at the request of authorized 

officers, authorized party officers, or 

authorized inspectors. A vessel may be 

used to fish in the Licensing Area if the 

license has been issued but not yet 

received, provided that the license 

number is available on board. 

(c) The total number of licenses that 

may be issued and valid at any point in 

time is 45, five of which shall be 

reserved for fishing vessels of the 

United States engaged in joint venture 

arrangements. 

(1) For the purpose of this section, the 

licenses reserved for vessels engaged in 

joint venture arrangements are referred 

to as ‘‘joint venture licenses,’’ and the 

remaining licenses are referred to as 

‘‘general licenses.’’ 

(2) A joint venture arrangement is one 

in which the subject vessel and its 

operators are engaged in fishing-related 

activities designed to maximize the 

benefits generated for the Pacific Island 

Parties from the operations of fishing 

vessels licensed pursuant to the Treaty, 

as determined by the Administrator. 

Such activities can include the use of 

canning, transshipment, vessel slipping 

and repair facilities located in the 

Pacific Island Parties; the purchase of 

equipment and supplies, including fuel 

supplies, from suppliers located in the 

Pacific Island Parties; and the 

employment of nationals of the Pacific 

Island Parties on board such vessels. 

(d) Licenses are issued by the 

Administrator. The Administrator will 

issue licenses only for applications that 

have been approved by the Regional 

Administrator. The Regional 

Administrator’s approval is indicated by 

the signature of the Regional 

Administrator on the part of the 

application form labeled ‘‘Schedule 1.’’ 

Upon approval by the Regional 

Administrator of a license application, 

the complete application will be 

forwarded to the Administrator for 

consideration. Except as provided in 

paragraph (n) of this section, prior to 

approving license applications for a 

given licensing period, the Regional 

Administrator will issue pre-approvals 

of license applications that serve the 

purpose of temporarily reserving 

approvals up until the time complete 

applications are due to be received by 

the Regional Administrator. 

(e) The Regional Administrator, in his 

or her sole discretion, may approve 

fewer license applications than there are 

licenses available for any given 

licensing period or at any given time. 

(f) A pre-approval or approval issued 

by the Regional Administrator pursuant 

to this section: 

(1) Shall not confer any right of 

compensation to the recipient of such 

pre-approval or approval; 

(2) Shall not create, or be construed to 

create, any right, title, or interest in or 

to a license or any fish; and 

(3) Shall be considered a grant of 

permission to the recipient of the preapproval or approval to proceed with 

the process of seeking a license from the 

Administrator. 

(g) A pre-approval or approval issued 

by the Regional Administrator pursuant 

to this section is subject to being 

rescinded at any time if the Regional 

Administrator determines that an 

administrative error has been made in 

its granting, false information has been 

provided by the applicant, 

circumstances have changed such that 

the information provided by the 

applicant is no longer accurate, true or 

valid, or if the applicant or vessel no 

longer meets the requirements for 

licensing under this subpart or under 

the Act or other applicable law. NMFS 

will notify the applicant of its rescission 

of a pre-approval or approval within 14 

days of the rescission. In the event that 

the Regional Administrator rescinds an 

approval after the license has been 

issued, NMFS will notify the 

Administrator of such, and request that 

the Administrator immediately revoke 

the license. 

(h) Application process for general 

licenses. 

(1) A vessel operator who satisfies the 

requirements for licensing under the Act 

and under this subpart may apply for a 

general license. 

(2) In order for a general license to be 

issued for a vessel, an applicant must 

submit a complete application to, and 

obtain an application approval from, the 

Regional Administrator. 

(3) Except for the 2011–2012 licensing 

period, prior to submitting a complete 

application, an applicant may request 

pre-approval of an application by the 

Regional Administrator by submitting 

an expression of interest. A preapproval of an application establishes 

that the applicant is eligible to be 

considered for one of the available 

licenses following timely submission of 

a complete application. Although 

submission of an expression of interest 

is entirely voluntary, applications that 

have not been pre-approved might not 

be eligible for approval if the number of 

applications exceeds the number of 

available licenses for a given licensing 

period. A pre-approval will be deemed 

to be void if the applicant fails to submit 

a complete application by the date 

established in paragraph (h)(6) of this 

section. 

(4) Except as provided in paragraph 

(n) of this section, in order to obtain a 

pre-approval for a given licensing 

period, either an expression of interest 

or a complete application must be 

submitted to and received by the 

Regional Administrator no later than 

June 1st of the year preceding the year 

in which the licensing period begins. 

(5) An expression of interest must 

include the information listed below, 

which may be submitted by electronic 

or hard-copy correspondence following 

instructions provided by the Regional 

Administrator. 

(i) If the expression of interest is for 

a vessel for which, as of the June 1st due 

date for submitting such expression of 

interest, NMFS has issued an 

application approval for the licensing 

period that starts that year (i.e., a 

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renewal of the license is being sought), 

the expression of interest shall include: 

(A) The licensing period for which the 

license is being sought. 

(B) The current name, IRCS, and 

annual USCG Certificate of 

Documentation number of the vessel. 

(ii) For all other expressions of 

interest that do not meet the criteria in 

paragraph (h)(5)(i) of this section, the 

expression of interest shall include: 

(A) The licensing period for which the 

license is being sought. 

(B) The full name and address of each 

person who is, or who is anticipated to 

be, an operator of the vessel for which 

a license is sought, and for each such 

person, a statement of whether the 

person is, or is anticipated to be, owner, 

charterer, and/or master of the vessel. 

(C) A statement of whether or not the 

vessel to be licensed is known, and if it 

is known, the current name, IRCS, and 

annual USCG Certificate of 

Documentation number, if any, of the 

vessel. 

(D) A copy of the vessel’s current 

USCG Certificate of Documentation. If 

the vessel has not been issued such a 

document, then a statement of whether 

application has been or will be made for 

a USCG Certificate of Documentation, 

including identification of all 

endorsements sought in such 

application. 

(E) If the vessel is known, a list of the 

licensing periods, if any, during which 

a license for the vessel was issued under 

this section. 

(F) If the vessel is known, a statement 

of the total amount, in metric tons, of 

any tuna species landed or transshipped 

from the vessel at United States ports, 

including ports located in any of the 

States, for each of the calendar years 

1988 through the current year. 

(6) A complete application for a given 

licensing period may be submitted to 

the Regional Administrator at any time 

up to May 15th within the licensing 

period, but in order to be considered for 

approval in the event that more 

applications are received by the 

Regional Administrator than there are 

licenses available, a complete 

application must be received by the 

Regional Administrator as follows: 

(i) No later than February 5th of the 

year in which the licensing period 

begins; or 

(ii) If a pre-approval of the application 

was issued in accordance with 

paragraphs (k)(8) or (k)(9) of this 

section, not later than the date specified 

by NMFS in the notification of such preapproval (which will be calculated by 

NMFS to be no later than 194 days from 

the date of mailing of the notification of 

the pre-approval). 

(7) License application forms, which 

include the ‘‘Schedule 1’’ form and the 

FFA Vessel Register application form, 

are available from the Regional 

Administrator. The complete 

application must be received by the 

Regional Administrator as specified in 

paragraph (h)(6) of this section. An 

application shall not be complete, and 

shall not be subject to processing, unless 

it contains all of the information 

specified on the ‘‘Schedule 1’’ form and 

all the items listed in paragraphs 

(h)(7)(i) through (h)(7)(x) of this section, 

as follows: 

(i) The licensing period for which the 

license is requested. 

(ii) The name of an agent, located in 

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, who, 

on behalf of the license holder, will 

receive and respond to any legal process 

issued in accordance with the Treaty. 

(iii) Documentation from an insurance 

company showing that the vessel will be 

fully insured for the licensing period 

against all risks and liabilities normally 

covered by maritime liability insurance. 

(iv) If the owner or charterer is the 

subject of proceedings under the 

bankruptcy laws of the United States, a 

statement that the owner or charterer 

will be financially able to fulfill any and 

all responsibilities under the Treaty, 

Act, and regulations, including the 

payment of any penalties or fines. 

(v) A copy of the vessel’s current 

annual USCG Certificate of 

Documentation. 

(vi) Electronic versions of full color 

photographs of the vessel in its current 

form and appearance, including a bowto-stern side-view photograph of the 

vessel that clearly and legibly shows the 

vessel markings, and a photograph of 

every area of the vessel that is marked 

with the IRCS assigned to the vessel. 

(vii) A schematic stowage/well plan 

for the vessel. 

(viii) A copy of the VMS unit 

installation certificate, issued by the 

Administrator-authorized person who 

installed the VMS unit, for the VMS 

unit installed on the vessel in 

accordance with § 300.45. 

(ix) An FFA Vessel Register 

application form that includes all the 

applicable information specified in the 

form. 

(x) In the case of an application for a 

vessel that does not meet the criteria in 

paragraph (h)(5)(i) of this section, any 

information under paragraph (h)(5)(ii) of 

this section that has not already been 

provided or that has changed since it 

was previously submitted. 

(i) Application process for joint 

venture licenses. 

(1) A vessel operator who satisfies the 

requirements for licensing under the Act 

and under this subpart may apply for a 

joint venture license. 

(2) The applicant, in coordination 

with one or more Pacific Island Parties, 

shall contact the Administrator to 

determine the specific information and 

documents that are required by the 

Administrator in order to obtain an 

initial approval from the Administrator 

for a joint venture license. The applicant 

shall submit such required information 

and documents directly to the 

Administrator. Once an initial approval 

is obtained from the Administrator, the 

applicant shall submit a complete 

application package, as described in 

paragraph (h)(7) of this section, to the 

Regional Administrator, along with 

dated documentation of the 

Administrator’s initial approval, and a 

letter or other documentation from the 

relevant national authority or 

authorities of the Pacific Island Party or 

Parties identifying the joint venture 

partner or partners and indicating the 

Party’s or Parties’ approval of the joint 

venture arrangement and its or their 

concurrence that a joint venture license 

may be issued for the vessel. 

(j) Appeals. 

(1) Eligibility. Any applicant who is 

denied a pre-approval or an approval 

under this section may appeal the 

denial. The appeal must be made in 

writing and must clearly state the basis 

for the appeal and the nature of the 

relief that is requested. The appeal must 

be received by the Regional 

Administrator not later than 14 days 

after the date that the notice of denial 

is postmarked. 

(2) Appeal review. Upon receipt of an 

appeal, the Regional Administrator will 

appoint a designee who will review the 

basis of the appeal and issue an initial 

written decision. The written decision 

will be mailed to the applicant within 

30 days of receipt of the appeal. If the 

appellant does not request a review 

within 10 days of mailing of the initial 

decision, the initial decision is the final 

administrative action of the Department 

of Commerce. If, within 10 days of 

mailing of the initial decision, the 

Regional Administrator receives from 

the appellant a written request for 

review of the initial decision, the 

Assistant Administrator or a designee 

will review the basis of the appeal and 

issue a final written decision. The final 

decision will be made within 30 days of 

receipt of the request for review of the 

initial decision. The decision of the 

Assistant Administrator or designee 

constitutes the final administrative 

action of the Department of Commerce. 

(k) Procedures used by the Secretary 

to review and process applications for 

general licenses. The procedures in this 

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74646 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

paragraph apply to the process used by 

NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary and in 

consultation with the Secretary of State, 

to review expressions of interest and 

complete applications, and to approve 

applications. For the purpose of this 

section, NMFS’ approval of an 

application means the signing by the 

Regional Administrator of the ‘‘Schedule 

1’’ part of the application form, 

indicating that the application is 

complete and that it meets the 

requirements of the Act and of this 

subpart for forwarding to the 

Administrator. For the purpose of this 

section, NMFS’ pre-approval of an 

application means that the Regional 

Administrator has initially determined 

that the applicant is eligible for a 

general license, but that the application 

has not yet been approved for 

forwarding to the Administrator. 

(1) NMFS will pre-approve no more 

applications for a given licensing period 

than there are licenses available for that 

licensing period. A pre-approval will be 

deemed to be void if the applicant fails 

to submit a complete application by the 

date established in paragraph (h)(6) of 

this section. 

(2) NMFS will approve no more 

applications for a given licensing period 

than there are licenses available for that 

licensing period. 

(3) NMFS will not approve a license 

application if it determines that: 

(i) The application is not in accord 

with the Treaty, Act, or regulations; 

(ii) The owner or charterer is the 

subject of proceedings under the 

bankruptcy laws of the United States, 

and reasonable financial assurances 

have not been provided to the Secretary 

that the owner or charterer will be 

financially able to fulfill any and all 

responsibilities under the Treaty, Act, 

and regulations, including the payment 

of any penalties or fines; 

(iii) The owner or charterer has not 

established to the satisfaction of the 

Secretary that the vessel will be fully 

insured for the licensing period against 

all risks and liabilities normally covered 

by maritime liability insurance; or 

(iv) The owner or charterer has not 

paid any final penalty assessed by the 

Secretary in accordance with the Act. 

(4) Except as provided in paragraph 

(n) of this section, no later than July 

16th of each year, NMFS will preapprove applications from among the 

expressions of interest and complete 

applications that were received by June 

1st of the current year for the licensing 

period that starts the following year as 

provided in this paragraph. If the 

number of expressions of interest and 

complete applications does not exceed 

the number of licenses available, all 

applications that meet the requirements 

of paragraphs (h)(4) and (h)(5) of this 

section and that satisfy the relevant 

requirements for licensing under the Act 

and this subpart will be pre-approved. 

If the number of expressions of interest 

and complete applications exceeds the 

number of licenses available, those that 

meet the requirements of paragraphs 

(h)(4) and (h)(5) of this section and that 

satisfy the relevant requirements for 

licensing under the Act and this subpart 

will be prioritized for pre-approval as 

follows: 

(i) First priority will be given to 

expressions of interest and complete 

applications for vessels for which, as of 

June 1st of that year, application 

approvals have been issued by NMFS 

for the licensing period that starts that 

year (i.e., anticipated license renewal 

applications), provided that such 

vessels continue to satisfy the 

requirements for licensing under the Act 

and this subpart, and provided such 

vessels have no unsatisfied civil 

penalties or fines assessed by the 

Secretary under the Act that have 

become final. 

(ii) Second priority will be given to 

expressions of interest and complete 

applications scored using the following 

system, in descending order of the sum 

of the points assigned: 

(A) 15 points will be assigned for a 

vessel that has been issued, or will be 

issued by the date complete 

applications are due to be received by 

the Regional Administrator under 

paragraph (h)(6) of this section, a valid 

USCG Certificate of Documentation with 

a fishery endorsement. 

(B) 1 point will be assigned for each 

licensing period, starting with the 1988– 

1989 licensing period, in which a 

license had been issued for the vessel 

pursuant to the Act, for a total of no 

more than 10 points. 

(C) 1 point will be assigned for each 

calendar year in which at least 3,000 

metric tons of fish were landed or 

transshipped from the vessel in United 

States ports, including ports located in 

any of the States, as determined by the 

Regional Administrator. The applicable 

period shall run from 1988 through the 

last calendar year prior to the year in 

which the applied-for licensing period 

starts, and the total number of points 

assigned shall be no more than 5. 

(D) In the event that two or more 

vessels receive the same sum number of 

points under paragraphs (k)(4)(ii)(A) 

through (k)(4)(ii)(C) of this section, 

priority will be given to the vessel from 

which the greatest amount of fish, by 

weight, was landed or transshipped in 

United States ports, including ports 

located in any of the States, starting in 

calendar year 1988 and ending in the 

year prior to the year in which the 

applied-for licensing period starts, as 

determined by the Regional 

Administrator. In the event that that 

does not resolve the tie, priority will be 

given by lottery, which will be 

conducted by the Regional 

Administrator. 

(5) Except as provided in paragraph 

(n) of this section, no later than July 

26th of each year, NMFS will send 

notifications by mail to all applicants 

that submitted expressions of interest or 

complete applications by June 1st of 

that year, indicating whether their 

applications (for the licensing period 

that starts the following year) have been 

pre-approved. 

(6) No later than March 7th of each 

year, NMFS will approve applications 

(for the licensing period that starts that 

year) that satisfy all of the following 

conditions: 

(i) The application was pre-approved; 

(ii) The information associated with 

the application has not changed since 

the point of pre-approval in a way such 

that pre-approval would not have been 

made using the updated information; 

(iii) The complete application was 

received by February 5th of the same 

year; and 

(iv) The applicant satisfies the 

requirements for licensing under the Act 

and this subpart. 

(7) No later than March 17th of each 

year, NMFS will notify all applicants 

(for the licensing period that starts that 

year) who submitted complete 

applications by February 5th of that 

year, whether their applications have 

been approved under paragraph (k)(6) of 

this section, and in cases where they 

have not, whether their applications are 

being considered for approval under 

paragraph (k)(8) of this section. 

(8) In the event that additional 

licenses for a given licensing period are 

available after issuing the approvals 

under paragraph (k)(6) of this section, 

NMFS will, after final administrative 

action by the Department of Commerce 

on any appeals made under paragraph 

(j) of this section, do the following: 

(i) If the number of outstanding 

expressions of interest (i.e., expressions 

of interest that have not been preapproved) received by June 1st of the 

year preceding the year in which the 

licensing period begins, plus the 

number of outstanding complete 

applications (i.e., complete applications 

that have not been approved) received 

by February 5th of the year in which the 

licensing period begins, exceeds the 

number of licenses available, NMFS will 

review all such outstanding expressions 

of interest and complete applications 

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and apply the process described in 

paragraphs (k)(9)(i)(A) through 

(k)(9)(i)(C) of this section to pre-approve 

and approve applications from among 

that pool of applicants; 

(ii) If the number of outstanding 

expressions of interest received by June 

1st of the year preceding the year in 

which the licensing period begins, plus 

the number of outstanding complete 

applications received by February 5th of 

the year in which the licensing period 

begins, does not exceed the number of 

licenses available: 

(A) No later than June 15th of the year 

in which the licensing period begins, 

NMFS will pre-approve all such 

outstanding expressions of interest and 

complete applications that satisfy the 

relevant requirements for licensing 

under the Act and this subpart; 

(B) No later than June 25th of the year 

in which the licensing period begins, 

NMFS will notify all such outstanding 

applicants of the pre-approvals, and for 

those applicants that submitted 

expressions of interest but not complete 

applications, also notify them of the 

date by which a complete application 

must be received in order to be issued 

an application approval (which will be 

calculated by NMFS to be no later than 

194 days from the date of mailing of the 

notification of the pre-approval); 

(C) NMFS will review all complete 

applications received by the required 

date from applicants pre-approved 

under paragraph (8)(ii)(A) of this 

section, and within 30 days of such 

receipt, approve the application, if and 

as appropriate and if the applicant 

satisfies the requirements for licensing 

under the Act and this subpart; and 

(D) If and as long as the number of 

approvals plus outstanding (not voided) 

pre-approvals does not exceed the total 

number of licenses available under 

paragraph (c) of this section, NMFS will 

review all complete applications 

received after February 5th of the year 

in which the licensing period begins 

and before May 16th within the 

licensing period and, as they are 

received and in the order they are 

received (based on the day of receipt), 

will approve those applications that 

satisfy the requirements for licensing 

under the Act and this subpart until no 

more approvals are available. In the 

event that two or more complete 

applications are received on the same 

day, priority for approval will be given 

by lottery, which will be conducted by 

the Regional Administrator. 

(iii) Within 10 days of approving an 

application, NMFS will notify the 

applicant. 

(9) If a license or application approval 

that has been issued for a given 

licensing period becomes available 

before or during that licensing period, 

NMFS will do the following: 

(i) If there are any outstanding 

expressions of interest received by June 

1st of the year preceding the year in 

which the licensing period begins or 

outstanding complete applications 

received by February 5th of the year in 

which the licensing period begins, 

NMFS will review all such outstanding 

expressions of interest and complete 

applications and pre-approve and 

approve applications for that license 

from among that pool as follows: 

(A) Within 45 days of NMFS 

becoming aware of the availability of the 

license, NMFS will pre-approve an 

application using the prioritization 

criteria and point-assigning system 

described in paragraphs (k)(4)(i) and 

(k)(4)(ii) of this section; 

(B) Within 55 days of NMFS 

becoming aware of the availability of the 

license NMFS will notify all active 

applicants as to whether their 

applications have been pre-approved, 

and for those applications that have 

been pre-approved, notify each 

applicant of the date by which a 

complete application, if not already 

received, must be received (which will 

be calculated by NMFS to be no later 

than 194 days from the date of mailing 

of the notification of the pre-approval); 

and 

(C) Within 30 days of receiving a 

complete application that had been preapproved, NMFS will approve the 

application, if and as appropriate and if 

the applicant satisfies the requirements 

of this subpart. 

(ii) If there are no outstanding 

expressions of interest received by June 

1st of the year preceding the year in 

which the licensing period begins and 

no outstanding complete applications 

received by February 5th of the year in 

which the licensing period begins, if 

and as long as the number of approvals 

plus outstanding (not voided) preapprovals does not exceed the number 

of licenses available, NMFS will review 

all complete applications received after 

February 5th of the year in which the 

licensing period begins and before May 

16th within the licensing period and, in 

the order they are received (based on the 

day of receipt), will approve those 

applications that satisfy the 

requirements for licensing under the Act 

and this subpart until no more 

approvals are available. In the event that 

two or more complete applications are 

received on the same day, priority for 

approval will be given by lottery, which 

will be conducted by the Regional 

Administrator. 

(iii) Within 10 days of approving an 

application, NMFS will notify the 

applicant. 

(l) Procedures used by the Secretary to 

review and process applications for joint 

venture licenses. NMFS, on behalf of the 

Secretary and in consultation with the 

Secretary of State, will review and 

approve applications for joint venture 

licenses as described in paragraph (k) of 

this section for general licenses, except 

that NMFS will not consider 

expressions of interest for joint venture 

licenses or pre-approve applications for 

joint venture licenses. In the event that 

NMFS receives for a given licensing 

period more applications for joint 

venture licenses than there are licenses 

available, it will approve the 

applications in the chronological order 

that the Administrator has provided its 

initial approval. 

(m) Transferability of application 

approvals. Application approvals from 

NMFS are not transferable among vessel 

owners or operators or license 

applicants. Application approvals are 

transferable among vessels, subject to 

the following requirements: 

(1) A vessel operator may seek to 

transfer a general or joint venture 

license to another vessel that meets the 

requirements for licensing under this 

subpart and the Act, only if the license 

has been valid for the vessel for at least 

365 consecutive days and all the fees 

required by the Administrator for the 

current licensing period have been paid 

to the Administrator. The vessel 

operator may seek to transfer the license 

by submitting a written request to the 

Regional Administrator along with a 

complete application for the other 

vessel as described in paragraph (h)(7) 

of this section. Any such transfer may 

be subject to additional fees for the 

registration of the vessel on the FFA 

Vessel Register, as specified in 

paragraph (b) of § 300.45. 

(2) Upon receipt of a request and 

complete application under paragraph 

(m)(1) of this section, the Regional 

Administrator, after determining that all 

the fees required for the vessel by the 

Administrator for the current licensing 

period have been paid, that the 

ownership of the licensed vessel and the 

ownership of the vessel to which the 

application approval would be 

transferred are identical, and that the 

transferee vessel meets the requirements 

for licensing under this subpart and the 

Act, will approve the application and 

notify the applicant of such within 10 

days of the determination. 

(3) If a licensed vessel is lost or 

destroyed, and the operators of the 

vessel apply for a license for another 

vessel for the licensing period during 

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74648 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

which the vessel was lost, or for either 

of the two subsequent licensing periods, 

NMFS will consider the replacement 

vessel to have the license application 

approval status and history of the lost or 

destroyed vessel for the purpose of 

applying the prioritization criteria of 

paragraph (k)(4) of this section, 

provided that the ownership of the lost 

or destroyed vessel and the ownership 

of the replacement vessel, as determined 

by the Regional Administrator, are 

identical, and the replacement vessel 

meets the requirements for licensing 

under this subpart and the Act. 

(n) Procedures for 2011–2012 

licensing period. For the licensing 

period that starts June 15, 2011, and for 

that licensing period only, preapprovals may not be sought and will 

not be issued by NMFS. NMFS will rank 

order those applications received by 

February 5, 2011, for the 2011–2012 

licensing period by applying the criteria 

in paragraphs (k)(4)(i) and (k)(4)(ii) of 

this section, except that in lieu of using 

the criteria in (k)(4)(i), first priority will 

be given to applications for vessels that 

as of February 5, 2011, have valid 

licenses for the 2010–2011 licensing 

period. 

■ 4. In § 300.45, paragraph (d) is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 300.45 Vessel monitoring system. 

* * * * * 

(d) Hardware and software 

specifications. The VMS unit installed 

and carried on board a vessel to comply 

with the requirements of this section 

must consist of hardware and software 

that is approved by the Administrator 

and approved by NMFS. A current list 

of hardware and software approved by 

the Administrator may be obtained from 

the Administrator. A current list of 

hardware and software approved by 

NMFS may be obtained from NMFS. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2010–30240 Filed 11–30–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 100510220–0581–04] 

RIN 0648–AY90 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; 

Emergency Fisheries Closure in the 

Gulf of Mexico Due to the Deepwater 

Horizon MC252 Oil Spill; Amendment 3 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary emergency rule; 

amendment; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this temporary 

rule to revise the existing procedures for 

closing and reopening areas of the Gulf 

of Mexico (Gulf) exclusive economic 

zone (EEZ) for the royal red component 

of the Gulf shrimp fishery in response 

to a fishery interaction of the Gulf 

shrimp fishery with oil or oil 

byproducts from the Deepwater Horizon 

MC252 oil spill. The revisions to the 

procedures for closing and reopening 

allow for timely adjustment to the 

spatial and temporal scale of closed 

areas to fishing for royal red shrimp in 

response to new information regarding a 

fishery interaction with the Gulf shrimp 

fishery with sub-surface oil and oil 

byproducts. To facilitate timely notice 

to the public of such closures, the 

closed portions of Federal waters will be 

updated on a regular basis and 

announced to the public via NOAA 

Weather Radio, Fishery Bulletin, and 

NOAA Web site updates, or the public 

may obtain the information by calling 

the Deepwater MC252 Oil Spill Hotline 

at 800–627–6622. The action being 

taken pursuant to this temporary rule is 

to prohibit royal red shrimp fishing in 

a specific area of the Gulf in response 

to a known interaction of this 

component of the shrimp fishery with 

sub-surface oil and oil byproducts. This 

temporary rule would remain in effect 

for 10 days, unless superseded by 

subsequent rulemaking. The intended 

effect of this temporary rule is to 

promote seafood safety and consumer 

confidence in seafood products. 

DATES: This rule is effective November 

26, 2010 through December 4, 2010, 

unless superseded by subsequent 

rulemaking. Comments may be 

submitted by December 24, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this rule, identified by ‘‘0648–AY90’’ 

by any of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: 727–824–5308; Attention: 

Anik Clemens. 

• Mail: Anik Clemens, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: No comments will be 

posted for public viewing until after the 

comment period. 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. 

To submit comments through the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov, enter ‘‘NOAA– 

NMFS–2010–0244’’ in the keyword 

search, then select ‘‘Send a Comment or 

Submission.’’ 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 the environmental 

assessment, signed on June 17, 2010, 

may be obtained from Susan Gerhart, 

Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 

13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 

33701–5505; telephone: 727–824–5305; 

e-mail: Susan.Gerhart@noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anik Clemens, telephone: 727–824– 

5305, fax: 727–824–5308; e-mail: 

anik.clemens@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) provides the 

legal authority for the promulgation of 

emergency regulations under section 

305(c). 

Background 

NMFS responded to the April 20, 

2010 Deepwater Horizon MC252 oil 

spill by closing a portion of the Gulf 

EEZ to all fishing through an emergency 

rule effective May 2, 2010 (75 FR 24822, 

May 6, 2010). Oil continued to leak from 

the Deepwater Horizon MC252 site and 

the spatial and temporal location of the 

oil in the Gulf EEZ continued to change. 

NMFS revised the closed area in a 

second emergency rule that became 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES