51092 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 191 / Monday, October 5, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

and also should measure the transmission of 

exterior noise to the interior while the bus is 

not running. The exterior noise should be 

measured as the bus is operated past a 

stationary measurement instrument. 

8. Emissions 

The emissions test should measure tailpipe 

emissions of those exhaust constituents 

regulated by the United States Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) for transit bus 

emissions, plus carbon dioxide (CO2) and 

methane (CH4), as the bus is operated over 

specified driving cycles. The emissions test 

should be conducted using an emissions 

testing laboratory equipped with a chassis 

dynamometer capable of both absorbing and 

applying power. 

The emissions test is not a certification 

test, and is designed only to enable FTA 

recipients to compare the relative emissions 

of buses operating on the same set of typical 

transit driving cycles. The results of this test 

are not directly comparable to emissions 

measurements obtained by other agencies, 

such as the EPA, which are used for other 

purposes. 

Peter M. Rogoff, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E9–23818 Filed 10–2–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 0909101271–91272–01] 

RIN 0648–AY23 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Black Sea Bass Recreational 

Fishery; Emergency Rule 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Emergency rule; emergency 

action; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is implementing, 

through this emergency rule, a closure 

of the recreational black sea bass fishery 

in the Federal waters of the Exclusive 

Economic Zone (EEZ) from 3 to 200 

nautical miles offshore, north of Cape 

Hatteras, NC. This action is necessary 

because the best available information 

for black sea bass recreational landings 

indicates that the 2009 recreational 

harvest limit established for the black 

sea bass fishery is projected to have 

been exceeded. NMFS is effecting this 

closure to mitigate the magnitude of the 

recreational overage because the 

established mortality objective for 2009 

has been exceeded. 

DATES: Effective October 5, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0648–AY23, by any 

one of the following methods: 

• Electronic submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail and hand delivery: Patricia A. 

Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 

Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

Mark the outside of the envelope: 

‘‘Comments on 2009 Black Sea Bass 

Recreational EEZ Closure.’’ 

• Fax: (978) 281–9135. Send the fax 

to the attention of the Sustainable 

Fisheries Division. Include ‘‘Comments 

on 2009 Black Sea Bass Recreational 

EEZ Closure’’ prominently on the fax. 

Instructions: 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. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments. Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Ruccio, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9104. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A final 

rule to establish the recreational harvest 

limits for 2009 for the summer flounder, 

scup, and black sea bass fisheries was 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 2, 2009 (74 FR 29). The black 

sea bass recreational harvest limit for 

2009 is 1.14 million lb (517 mt). The 

2009 recreational management measures 

for Federal waters are a 12.5-inch 

(31.75-cm) minimum size, a 25-fish 

possession limit, and an open season of 

January 1 through December 31. Marine 

Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey 

(MRFSS) data through Wave 3 (JanuaryJune) indicate that 1,018,878 lb (462 mt) 

have been landed. Due to time 

constraints, this amount has not been 

stratified to exclude southern stock 

landings that occur south of Cape 

Hatteras, NC. The total North Carolina 

landings through Wave 3 are 71,059 lb 

(32 mt). Therefore, the landings through 

Wave 3 are at least 947,819 lb (430 mt). 

This means that between 83 and 89 

percent of the 2009 recreational harvest 

limit had been taken by the end of June. 

Data for Wave 4 (July-August) are not 

yet available; however, an average of 27 

percent of the annual landings has 

occurred during Wave 4 in the years 

2005–2008. On average, an additional 

24 percent of landings have occurred 

during Wave 5 (September-October) and 

4 percent during Wave 6 (NovemberDecember) for the same time period. 

Using these proportions of landings by 

wave (i.e., Waves 1–3 = 45 percent of 

annual landings) and applying the 

information to the actual landings data 

available through Wave 3 for 2009 

would result in approximately 611,000 

lb (277 mt) being landed through the 

end of August (end of Wave 4), with an 

additional 634,000 lb (288 mt) expected 

to be landed before the end of the year 

if the fishery remains open. 

Using MRFSS data in a variety of 

projection scenarios, NMFS, along with 

independent MRFSS queries made by 

staff of the Atlantic States Marine 

Fisheries Commission (Commission) 

and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council (Council) have concluded that 

the 2009 recreational harvest limit for 

black sea bass has been exceeded. 

Multiple projections utilizing the actual 

2009 MRFSS data through Wave 3 and 

projected landings for the remaining 

Waves 4–6 have indicated that the 

potential range of total 2009 landings is 

from 2.1 to 3.7 million lb (953 to 1,678 

mt). This would exceed the 2009 

recreational harvest limit by 84 to 225 

percent, respectively, if landings are left 

unchecked until the regulatory closure 

date of December 31, 2009. 

Regardless of the variability in the 

projection methods utilized, wherein 

average fish weight and multiple ranges 

of prior years are included to inform 

average landings in Waves 4–6 were 

modified in the different treatments, a 

substantial portion of the black sea bass 

recreational fishery clearly occurs 

during the months of July-October 

(MRFSS Waves 4 and 5). On average, 

Waves 4–6 have produced 55 percent of 

the total coastwide black sea bass 

landings in the years 2005–2008. Wave 

4 MRFSS information for 2009 will not 

be available until mid-October. 

However, the best information currently 

available indicates that the 2009 

recreational harvest level has been 

exceeded and that continued operation 

of the fishery will result in additional 

landings above the established harvest 

level. Even after a closure of the EEZ 

occurs, additional landings above the 

established recreational harvest level 

will occur in state waters, unless all 

states implement closures of their statewater recreational black sea bass 

fisheries. 

The Commission’s Black Sea Bass 

Management Board (Board) convened 

on September 8, 2009, to discuss 


cprice-sewell on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 191 / Monday, October 5, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 51093 

potential emergency closure of the 2009 

recreational fishery, but ultimately 

voted not to implement an emergency 

closure at this time. From 2004–2008, 

approximately 62 percent of black sea 

bass landings were from the EEZ. The 

amount of black sea bass harvest in the 

EEZ varies by state: No black sea bass 

were landed in the EEZ adjacent to CT, 

and roughly 10 percent of the MA black 

sea bass fishery occurred in the adjacent 

EEZ during the 2004–2008 time frame; 

conversely, NJ, DE, and MD all had 

greater than 92 percent of their 

respective black sea bass landings taken 

from the EEZ. Had the Board taken 

action to close state waters, the EEZ 

would have effectively been closed, as 

individuals would have been prohibited 

from transiting state waters in 

possession of recreationally caught 

black sea bass from the EEZ. 

NMFS is taking temporary emergency 

action to close the 2009 black sea bass 

recreational fishery in the EEZ for the 

remainder of the fishing year for the 

following reasons: (1) The best available 

information indicates that the 2009 

recreational harvest limit established for 

the fishery has been greatly exceeded; 

and (2) the projected overage has 

already exceeded the recreational 

fishery mortality objective established 

for 2009 and the magnitude of the 

projected overage threatens to exceed 

the overall mortality objective 

established at the total landings level 

(i.e., commercial and recreational 

sectors combined). 

Classification 

The Administrator, Northeast Region, 

NMFS, determined that this temporary 

rule is consistent with the national 

standards and other provisions of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act and 

other applicable laws. The rule may be 

extended for a period of not more than 

186 days as described under section 

305(c)(3)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation Management Act. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive 

prior notice and the opportunity for 

public comment because it would be 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. 

This emergency closure action is 

being implemented to mitigate the 

amount of additional landings that will 

occur above the established 2009 

recreational harvest limit. As such, time 

is of the essence in implementing the 

closure. NMFS has demonstrated, using 

recent fishery landings information, that 

an average of 28 percent of black sea 

bass landings has occurred in Waves 5 

and 6 (September–December) in the last 

4 years. By implementing this closure as 

soon as possible, the amount of the 

recreational harvest limit overage may 

be minimized. The FMP contains no 

pound-for-pound recreational overage 

repayment mechanism; however, in 

years following an overage, a greater 

reduction in the following year’s fishery 

is often required unless the overage is 

offset by an increase in the recreational 

harvest limit. Status quo landing limits 

have been proposed by the Council for 

the 2010 black sea bass fishery. NMFS 

will review the Council’s 

recommendation for consistency with 

applicable regulations and statutes 

before implementing a final landings 

level, including a recreational harvest 

limit, at the end of 2009. If NMFS 

implements the Council’s recommended 

TAL of 2.3 million lb (1,043 mt) for 

2010, the magnitude of the projected 

2010 overage is such that no 

recreational fishery may be permitted in 

the Federal waters of the EEZ for 2010. 

Hence, promulgation of this closure is 

time sensitive. It would be contrary to 

the public interest to delay as such 

delay would invariably allow additional 

landings above the recreational harvest 

limit and require greater 2010 landings 

reductions and/or ensure that no 

recreational fishery would occur in 

2010. 

This emergency action responds to 

analysis of the most recent MRFSS data 

through Wave 3. This information was 

first available in mid-August. Time was 

needed to conduct analyses for potential 

landings for the remainder of 2009, as 

well as to prepare the rulemaking 

documents. NMFS has developed and 

implemented this emergency action as 

expediently as possible. 

Waiver of the notice-and-comment 

rulemaking period will serve the public 

by allowing for a closure which 

mitigates the amount of landings that 

occur above the established recreational 

harvest limit. 

For the same reasons, the Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, 

finds good cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C 

553(d)(3) to make this rule effective 

immediately, thereby waiving the 30- 

day delayed effective date required by 5 

U.S.C. 553(d). 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

This rule is exempt from the 

procedures of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act because the rule is not subject to the 

requirement to provide prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other 

law. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648 

Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: September 29, 2009. 

John Oliver, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Operations, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE 

NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 648 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 2. Section 648.142 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 648.142 Time restrictions. 

Vessels that are not eligible for a 

moratorium permit under § 648.4(a)(7), 

and fishermen subject to the possession 

limit may not possess black sea bass 

after October 5, 2009, unless this time 

period is adjusted pursuant to the 

procedures in § 648.140. 

■ 3. In § 648.145, the first sentence of 

paragraph (a) is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 648.145 Possession limit. 

(a) No person shall possess black sea 

bass after October 5, 2009, in, or 

harvested from the EEZ, unless that 

person is the owner or operator of a 

fishing vessel issued a black sea bass 

moratorium permit, or is issued a black 

sea bass dealer permit. * * * 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E9–23945 Filed 9–30–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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