Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 19 / Friday, January 30, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 5621 

Victor M. Fortuno, 

Vice President for Legal Affairs, General 

Counsel & Corporate Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–1851 Filed 1–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7050–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Parts 2, 22, and 52 

[FAC 2005–29, Amendment–2; FAR Case 

2007–013; Docket 2008–0001; Sequence 3] 

RIN 9000–AK91 

Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR 

Case 2007–013, Employment Eligibility 

Verification 

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Amendment to final rule; delay 

of applicability date. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense, 

General Services Administration, and 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration have agreed to delay the 

applicability date of FAR Case 2007– 

013, Employment Eligibility 

Verification, to May 21, 2009. 

DATES: Applicability Date: The 

applicability date of FAC 2005–29, 

Amendment–1, published January 14, 

2009, 74 FR 1937, is delayed until May 

21, 2009. 

Contracting officers shall not include 

the new clause at 52.222–54, 

Employment Eligibility Verification, in 

any solicitation or contract prior to the 

applicability date of May 21, 2009. 

On or after May 21, 2009, contracting 

officers— 

• Shall include the clause in 

solicitations, in accordance with the 

clause prescription at 22.1803 and FAR 

1.108(d)(1); and 

• Should modify, on a bilateral basis, 

existing indefinite-delivery/indefinitequantity contracts in accordance with 

FAR 1.108(d)(3) to include the clause 

for future orders if the remaining period 

of performance extends beyond 

November 21, 2009, and the amount of 

work or number of orders expected 

under the remaining performance 

period is substantial. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

FAR Secretariat at (202) 501–4755 for 

further information pertaining to status 

or publication schedule. Please cite FAC 

2005–29 (delay of applicability date). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

document extends to May 21, 2009, the 

applicability date of the E-Verify rule, in 

order to permit the new Administration 

an adequate opportunity to review the 

rule. 

Federal Acquisition Circular 

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 

2005–29, Amendment-2, is issued under 

the authority of the Secretary of 

Defense, the Administrator of General 

Services, and the Administrator for the 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. 

The Federal Acquisition Regulation 

(FAR) contained in FAC 2005–29 is 

effective January 19, 2009, and 

applicable May 21, 2009. 

Dated: January 27, 2009. 

Linda W. Neilson, 

Deputy Director, Defense Procurement 

(Defense Acquisition Regulations System). 

Dated: January 26, 2009 

Rodney P. Lantier, 

Acting Senior Procurement Executive & 

Acting Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer, 

Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer, U.S. 

General Services Administration. 

Dated: January 26, 2009. 

William P. McNally, 

Assistant Administrator for Procurement, 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–2060 Filed 1–27–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 229 

[Docket No. 090115024–9027–01] 

RIN 0648–XM80 

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental 

to Commercial Fishing Operations; 

Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction 

Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Administrator 

for Fisheries (AA), NOAA, announces 

temporary restrictions consistent with 

the requirements of the Atlantic Large 

Whale Take Reduction Plan’s 

(ALWTRP) implementing regulations. 

These regulations apply to lobster trap/ 

pot and anchored gillnet fishermen for 

15 days in an area totaling 

approximately 1,725 nm2 (5,917 km2) 

east of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 

The purpose of this action is to provide 

protection to an aggregation of North 

Atlantic right whales (right whales). 

DATES: Effective beginning at 0001 hours 

February 2, 2009, through 2400 hours 

February 17, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed and 

final Dynamic Area Management (DAM) 

rules, Environmental Assessments 

(EAs), Atlantic Large Whale Take 

Reduction Team (ALWTRT) meeting 

summaries, and progress reports on 

implementation of the ALWTRP may 

also be obtained by writing Diane 

Borggaard, NMFS/Northeast Region, 55 

Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 

01930. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Diane Borggaard, NMFS/Northeast 

Region, 978–281–9300 x6503; or Kristy 

Long, NMFS, Office of Protected 

Resources, 301–713–2322. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

Several of the background documents 

for the ALWTRP and the take reduction 

planning process can be downloaded 

from the ALWTRP web site at http:// 

www.nero.noaa.gov/whaletrp/. 

Background 

The ALWTRP was developed 

pursuant to section 118 of the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to 

reduce the incidental mortality and 

serious injury of three endangered 

species of whales (right, fin, and 

humpback) due to incidental interaction 

with commercial fishing activities. In 

addition, the measures identified in the 

ALWTRP would provide conservation 

benefits to a fourth species (minke), 

which are neither listed as endangered 

nor threatened under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA). The ALWTRP, 

implemented through regulations 

codified at 50 CFR 229.32, relies on a 

combination of fishing gear 

modifications and time/area closures to 

reduce the risk of whales becoming 

entangled in commercial fishing gear 

(and potentially suffering serious injury 

or mortality as a result). 

On January 9, 2002, NMFS published 

the final rule to implement the 

ALWTRP’s DAM program (67 FR 1133). 

On August 26, 2003, NMFS amended 

the regulations by publishing a final 

rule, which specifically identified gear 

modifications that may be allowed in a 

DAM zone (68 FR 51195). The DAM 

program provides specific authority for 

NMFS to restrict temporarily on an 

expedited basis the use of lobster trap/ 

pot and anchored gillnet fishing gear in 

order to protect right whales and is 


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5622 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 19 / Friday, January 30, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

applicable to areas north of 42° 30′ N. 

lat. Under the DAM program, NMFS 

may: (1) require the removal of all 

lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet 

fishing gear for a 15-day period; (2) 

allow lobster trap/pot and anchored 

gillnet fishing within a DAM zone with 

gear modifications determined by NMFS 

to sufficiently reduce the risk of 

entanglement; and/or (3) issue an alert 

to fishermen requesting the voluntary 

removal of all lobster trap/pot and 

anchored gillnet gear for a 15-day period 

and asking fishermen not to set any 

additional gear in the DAM zone during 

the 15-day period. 

A DAM zone is triggered when NMFS 

receives a reliable report from a 

qualified individual of three or more 

right whales sighted within an area (75 

nm2 (139 km2)) such that right whale 

density is equal to or greater than 0.04 

right whales per nm2 (1.85 km2). A 

qualified individual is an individual 

ascertained by NMFS to be reasonably 

able, through training or experience, to 

identify a right whale. Such individuals 

include, but are not limited to, NMFS 

staff, U.S. Coast Guard and Navy 

personnel trained in whale 

identification, scientific research survey 

personnel, whale watch operators and 

naturalists, and mariners trained in 

whale species identification through 

disentanglement training or some other 

training program deemed adequate by 

NMFS. A reliable report would be a 

credible right whale sighting. 

On January 10, 2009, a vessel survey 

reported an aggregation of 7 right 

whales in the general proximity of 

43° 02 N latitude and 70° 15’ W 

longitude. The position lies 30nm east 

of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the 

vicinity of Jeffreys Ledge. After 

conducting an investigation, NMFS 

ascertained that the report came from a 

qualified individual and determined 

that the report was reliable. Thus, 

NMFS has received a reliable report 

from a qualified individual of the 

requisite right whale density to trigger 

the DAM provisions of the ALWTRP. 

Once a DAM zone is triggered, NMFS 

determines whether to impose 

restrictions on fishing and/or fishing 

gear in the zone. This determination is 

based on the following factors, 

including but not limited to: the 

location of the DAM zone with respect 

to other fishery closure areas, weather 

conditions as they relate to the safety of 

human life at sea, the type and amount 

of gear already present in the area, and 

a review of recent right whale 

entanglement and mortality data. 

NMFS has reviewed the factors and 

management options noted above 

relative to the DAM under 

consideration. As a result of this review, 

NMFS prohibits lobster trap/pot and 

anchored gillnet gear in this area during 

the 15-day restricted period unless it is 

modified in the manner described in 

this temporary rule. 

The DAM zone is bounded by the 

following coordinates: 

43° 24′ N., 70° 20′ W. (NW Corner) 

43° 24′ N., 69° 44′ W. 

42° 40′ N., 69° 44′ W. 

42° 40′ N., 70° 37′ W. following the 

shoreline northward to 

42° 41′ N., 70° 46′ W. 

42° 58′ N., 70° 46′ W. following the 

shoreline northward to 

43° 03′ N., 70° 44′ W. 

43° 04′ N., 70° 36′ W. 

43° 24′ N., 70° 20′ W. (NW Corner) 

In addition to those gear 

modifications currently implemented 

under the ALWTRP at 50 CFR 229.32, 

the following gear modifications are 

required in the DAM zone. If the 

requirements and exceptions for gear 

modification in the DAM zone, as 

described below, differ from other 

ALWTRP requirements for any 

overlapping areas and times, then the 

more restrictive requirements will apply 

in the DAM zone. 

Lobster trap/pot gear 

Fishermen utilizing lobster trap/pot 

gear within portions of Northern Inshore 

State Trap/Pot Waters, Northern 

Nearshore Trap/Pot Waters, and 

Stellwagen Bank/Jeffreys Ledge 

Restricted Area that overlap with the 

DAM zone are required to utilize all of 

the following gear modifications while 

the DAM zone is in effect: 

1. Groundlines must be made of 

sinking line. Floating groundlines are 

prohibited; 

2. All buoy lines must be made of 

sinking line, except the bottom portion 

of the line, which may be a section of 

floating line not to exceed one-third the 

overall length of the buoy line; 

3. Fishermen are allowed to use two 

buoy lines per trawl; and 

4. A weak link with a maximum 

breaking strength of 600 lb (272.4 kg) 

must be placed at all buoys. 

Anchored Gillnet Gear 

Fishermen utilizing anchored gillnet 

gear within the portions of the Other 

Northeast Gillnet Waters Area and the 

Stellwagen Bank/Jeffreys Ledge 

Restricted Area that overlap with the 

DAM zone are required to utilize all the 

following gear modifications while the 

DAM zone is in effect: 

1. Groundlines must be made of 

sinking line. Floating groundlines are 

prohibited; 

2. All buoy lines must be made of 

sinking line, except the bottom portion 

of the line, which may be a section of 

floating line not to exceed one-third the 

overall length of the buoy line; 

3. Fishermen are allowed to use two 

buoy lines per string; 

4. The breaking strength of each net 

panel weak link must not exceed 1,100 

lb (498.8 kg). The weak link 

requirements apply to all variations in 

net panel size. One weak link must be 

placed in the center of the floatline and 

one weak link must be placed in the 

center of each of the up and down lines 

at both ends of the net panel. 

Additionally, one weak link must be 

placed as close as possible to each end 

of the net panels on the floatline; or, one 

weak link must be placed between 

floatline tie-loops between net panels 

and one weak link must be placed 

where the floatline tie-loops attach to 

the bridle, buoy line, or groundline at 

each end of a net string; 

5. A weak link with a maximum 

breaking strength of 1,100 lb (498.8 kg) 

must be placed at all buoys; and 

6. All anchored gillnets, regardless of 

the number of net panels, must be 

securely anchored with the holding 

power of at least a 22 lb (10.0 kg) 

Danforth-style anchor at each end of the 

net string. 

The restrictions will be in effect 

beginning at 0001 hours February 2, 

2009, through 2400 hours February 17, 

2009, unless terminated sooner or 

extended by NMFS through another 

notification in the Federal Register. 

The restrictions will be announced to 

state officials, fishermen, ALWTRT 

members, and other interested parties 

through e-mail, phone contact, NOAA 

website, and other appropriate media 

immediately upon issuance of the rule 

by the AA. 

Classification 

In accordance with section 118(f)(9) of 

the MMPA, the Assistant Administrator 

(AA) for Fisheries has determined that 

this action is necessary to implement a 

take reduction plan to protect North 

Atlantic right whales. 

Environmental Assessments for the 

DAM program were prepared on 

December 28, 2001, and August 6, 2003. 

This action falls within the scope of the 

analyses of these EAs, which are 

available from the agency upon request. 

NMFS provided prior notice and an 

opportunity for public comment on the 

regulations establishing the criteria and 

procedures for implementing a DAM 

zone. Providing prior notice and 

opportunity for comment on this action, 

pursuant to those regulations, would be 

impracticable because it would prevent 

NMFS from executing its functions to 

protect and reduce serious injury and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 19 / Friday, January 30, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 5623 

mortality of endangered right whales. 

The regulations establishing the DAM 

program are designed to enable the 

agency to help protect unexpected 

concentrations of right whales. In order 

to meet the goals of the DAM program, 

the agency needs to be able to create a 

DAM zone and implement restrictions 

on fishing gear as soon as possible once 

the criteria are triggered and NMFS 

determines that a DAM restricted zone 

is appropriate. If NMFS were to provide 

prior notice and an opportunity for 

public comment upon the creation of a 

DAM restricted zone, the aggregated 

right whales would be vulnerable to 

entanglement which could result in 

serious injury and mortality. 

Additionally, the right whales would 

most likely move on to another location 

before NMFS could implement the 

restrictions designed to protect them, 

thereby rendering the action obsolete. 

Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(B), the AA finds that good cause 

exists to waive prior notice and an 

opportunity to comment on this action 

to implement a DAM restricted zone to 

reduce the risk of entanglement of 

endangered right whales in commercial 

lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet 

gear as such procedures would be 

impracticable. 

For the same reasons, the AA finds 

that, under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good 

cause exists to waive the 30-day delay 

in effective date. If NMFS were to delay 

for 30 days the effective date of this 

action, the aggregated right whales 

would be vulnerable to entanglement, 

which could cause serious injury and 

mortality. Additionally, right whales 

would likely move to another location 

between the time NMFS approved the 

action creating the DAM restricted zone 

and the time it went into effect, thereby 

rendering the action obsolete and 

ineffective. Nevertheless, NMFS 

recognizes the need for fishermen to 

have time to either modify or remove (if 

not in compliance with the required 

restrictions) their gear from a DAM zone 

once one is approved. Thus, NMFS 

makes this action effective 2 days after 

the date of publication of this document 

in the Federal Register. NMFS will also 

endeavor to provide notice of this action 

to fishermen through other means upon 

issuance of the rule by the AA, thereby 

providing approximately 3 additional 

days of notice while the Office of the 

Federal Register processes the 

document for publication. 

NMFS determined that the regulations 

establishing the DAM program and 

actions such as this one taken pursuant 

to those regulations are consistent to the 

maximum extent practicable with the 

enforceable policies of the approved 

coastal management program of the U.S. 

Atlantic coastal states. This 

determination was submitted for review 

by the responsible state agencies under 

section 307 of the Coastal Zone 

Management Act. Following state 

review of the regulations creating the 

DAM program, no state disagreed with 

NMFS’ conclusion that the DAM 

program is consistent to the maximum 

extent practicable with the enforceable 

policies of the approved coastal 

management program for that state. 

The DAM program under which 

NMFS is taking this action contains 

policies with federalism implications 

warranting preparation of a federalism 

assessment under Executive Order 

13132. Accordingly, in October 2001 

and March 2003, the Assistant Secretary 

for Intergovernmental and Legislative 

Affairs, Department of Commerce, 

provided notice of the DAM program 

and its amendments to the appropriate 

elected officials in states to be affected 

by actions taken pursuant to the DAM 

program. Federalism issues raised by 

state officials were addressed in the 

final rules implementing the DAM 

program. A copy of the federalism 

Summary Impact Statement for the final 

rules is available upon request 

(ADDRESSES). 

The rule implementing the DAM 

program has been determined to be not 

significant under Executive Order 

12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq. and 50 

CFR 229.32(g)(3). 

Dated: January 15, 2009. 

James W. Balsiger, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–2018 Filed 1–27–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 001005281–0369–02] 

RIN 0648–XM85 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Coastal 

Migratory Pelagic Resources of the 

Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic; 

Closure 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS closes the commercial 

run-around gillnet fishery for king 

mackerel in the exclusive economic 

zone (EEZ) in the southern Florida west 

coast subzone. This closure is necessary 

to protect the Gulf king mackerel 

resource. 

DATES: The closure is effective 6 a.m., 

local time, January 30, 2009, through 6 

a.m., January 19, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Gerhart, telephone: 727–824– 

5305, fax: 727–824–5308, e-mail: 

Susan.Gerhart@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

fishery for coastal migratory pelagic fish 

(king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cero, 

cobia, little tunny, and, in the Gulf of 

Mexico only, dolphin and bluefish) is 

managed under the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Coastal 

Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf 

of Mexico and South Atlantic (FMP). 

The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of 

Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Councils (Councils) and is 

implemented under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) by regulations 

at 50 CFR part 622. 

Based on the Councils’ recommended 

total allowable catch and the allocation 

ratios in the FMP, on April 30, 2001 (66 

FR 17368, March 30, 2001), NMFS 

implemented a commercial quota of 

2.25 million lb (1.02 million kg) for the 

eastern zone (Florida) of the Gulf 

migratory group of king mackerel. That 

quota is further divided into separate 

quotas for the Florida east coast subzone 

and the northern and southern Florida 

west coast subzones. On April 27, 2000, 

NMFS implemented the final rule (65 

FR 16336, March 28, 2000) that divided 

the Florida west coast subzone of the 

eastern zone into northern and southern 

subzones, and established their separate 

quotas. The quota implemented for the 

southern Florida west coast subzone is 

1,040,625 lb (472,020 kg). That quota is 

further divided into two equal quotas of 

520,312 lb (236,010 kg) for vessels in 

each of two groups fishing with runaround gillnets and hook-and-line gear 

(50 CFR 622.42(c)(1)(i)(A)(2)(i)). 

The southern subzone is that part of 

the Florida west coast subzone, which 

from November 1 through March 31, 

extends south and west from 26°19.8′ N. 

lat. (a line directly west from the Lee/ 

Collier County, FL, boundary) to 

25°20.4′ N. lat. (a line directly east from 

the Monroe/Miami-Dade County, FL, 

boundary), i.e., the area off Collier and 

Monroe Counties. From April 1 through 

October 31, the southern subzone is that 

part of the Florida west coast subzone 


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