Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 122 / Friday, June 23, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 39107

OR, and Vancouver, WA, need not open

for the passage of vessels from July 15

to September 15, 2000, provided that

the river level remains at or below 6 feet

Columbia River Datum for a daily mean.

If the river level rises to 6 feet or more

measured as the daily mean for more

than three consecutive days prior to

September 15, 2000, the draws shall

operate as provided in paragraphs (a)(1)

and (2) of this section when directed by

the District Commander.

Dated: June 15, 2000.

Erroll Brown,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander,

Thirteenth Coast Guard District.

[FR Doc. 00–15953 Filed 6–22–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–15–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 165

[CGD01–00–005]

RIN 2115–AA97

Safety Zone: Coast Guard Activities

New York Annual Fireworks Displays

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

SUMMARY: This document corrects a

final rule published in the Federal

Register of June 8, 2000, concerning

regulations for annual fireworks

displays located on Sandy Hook Bay,

Rondout Creek, Hempstead Harbor, the

Arthur Kill, and the Hudson River. That

document contained an incorrect

amendatory instruction.

DATES: The correction is effective June

23, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lieutenant M. Day, Waterways

Oversight Branch, Coast Guard

Activities New York (718) 354–4012.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Correction

In final rule FR Doc 00–14507, on

page 36342, second column the

amendatory instruction for item number

2 is incorrectly set out and a correction

is needed.

PART 165—[CORRECTED]

Correction of Publication

Accordingly, in the publication on

June 8, 2000, of the final rule [CGD01–

00–005], which is the subject of FR Doc.

00–14507, make the following

correction. On page 36342, second

column, in amendatory instruction

number 2, remove the word ‘‘revised’’

and add in its place the word ‘‘add’’.

Dated: June 19, 2000.

Pamela M. Pelcovits,

Chief, Office of Regulations and

Administrative Law, United States Coast

Guard, DOT.

[FR Doc. 00–15954 Filed 6–22–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–15–U

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 991228352–0182–03; I.D.

121099C, 011100D]

RIN 0648-AM83

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Emergency Interim

Rules to Implement the American

Fisheries Act; Extension of Expiration

Dates

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Extension and revision of

emergency interim rules; revision to

2000 final harvest specifications;

request for comments.

SUMMARY: On January 5, 2000, and

January 28, 2000, NMFS published

emergency interim rules, effective

through June 27, 2000, and July 20,

2000, respectively, that implemented

major provisions of the American

Fisheries Act (AFA) for the 2000 fishing

year. This action revises and extends

these two emergency interim rules

through December 24, 2000, and January

16, 2001, respectively. This action also

revises the 2000 final harvest

specifications for the pollock fisheries

off Alaska to make final allocations of

pollock to inshore cooperatives. This

emergency action is necessary to

provide inshore pollock cooperatives

with allocations of pollock for the

second half of the 2000 fishing year as

required by the AFA. This emergency

action also is necessary to maintain

sideboard restrictions to protect

participants in other Alaska fisheries

from negative impacts as a result of

fishery cooperatives formed under the

AFA.

DATES: The expiration date of the

emergency interim rule published

January 5, 2000 (65 FR 380), is extended

from June 27, 2000, to December 24,

2000. The expiration date of the

emergency interim rule published

January 28, 2000 (65 FR 4520), is

extended from July 20, 2000, to January

16, 2001. The amendments in this rule

are effective July 20, 2000, through

January 16, 2001, except that the

amendments for § 679.4 are effective

June 28, 2000, through December 24,

2000. Comments must be received by

July 24, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to

Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O.

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn:

Lori Gravel, or delivered to the Federal

Building, 709 West 9th Street, Juneau,

AK. Copies of the environmental

assessment/regulatory impact review

(EA/RIR) prepared for these emergency

rules may be obtained from the same

address. The EA/RIR also is available on

the Alaska Region home page at http:/

/www.fakr.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent

Lind, 907–586–7228 or

kent.lind@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AFA,

Div. C, Title II, Subtitle II, Pub. L. No.

105-277, 112 Stat. 2681 (1998), made

profound changes in the management of

the groundfish fisheries of the Bering

Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and, to

a lesser extent, the groundfish fisheries

of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and crab

fisheries of the BSAI. NMFS

implemented the AFA for the 2000

fishery through two emergency interim

rules. The first emergency interim rule

(65 FR 380, January 5, 2000) established

permit requirements and pre-season

permit application procedures for AFA

vessels, processors, and inshore catcher

vessel cooperatives.

The second emergency interim rule

(65 FR 4520, January 28, 2000)

implemented the major AFA-related

management measures for the 2000

fisheries including: a new formula to

allocate the Bering Sea and Aleutian

Islands Management Area (BSAI)

pollock total allowable catch (TAC)

among the Western Alaska Community

Development Quota (CDQ) program and

the inshore, catcher/processor, and

mothership industry sectors; new

recordkeeping and reporting

requirements for the BSAI pollock

fishery and for processors that receive

groundfish from AFA catcher vessels;

new observer coverage and scale

requirements for AFA catcher/

processors, AFA motherships, and AFA

inshore processors; new regulations to

govern BSAI pollock fishery

cooperatives formed under the AFA;

harvesting restrictions on AFA catcher

vessels and AFA catcher/processors to

39108 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 122 / Friday, June 23, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

limit effort by such vessels in other

groundfish and crab fisheries; crab

processing restrictions on AFA

motherships and AFA inshore

processors that receive pollock

harvested by a cooperative in a BSAI

directed pollock fishery; revised interim

groundfish harvest specifications for the

BSAI and GOA; and interim allocations

of pollock TAC to inshore pollock

cooperatives.

At its April 2000 meeting, the North

Pacific Fishery Management Council

(Council) voted to recommend

extension of these two emergency rules

for an additional 180 days. The Council

also recommended revisions to the

emergency interim rules to impose

December 1 permit application

deadlines as described below.

The preambles to the original

emergency interim rules provide a

detailed description of the purpose and

need for these two actions. This action

extends the expiration date of the first

emergency interim rule (65 FR 380,

January 5, 2000) from June 27, 2000, to

December 24, 2000; and extends the

expiration date of the second emergency

interim rule (65 FR 4520, January 28,

2000) from July 20, 2000, to January 16,

2001.

This action also makes two changes to

the permit application deadlines set out

in the first emergency interim rule (65

FR 380. January 5, 2000). Finally, this

action establishes final annual

allocations of Bering Sea subarea

pollock to inshore cooperatives and to

the ‘‘open access’’ vessels not fishing in

cooperatives. These changes are

described here.

December 1, 2000, Deadline for AFA

Vessel and Processor Permits

The first emergency interim rule (65

FR 380, January 5, 2000) is revised to

establish a one-time application

deadline of December 1, 2000, for all

AFA vessel and processor permits.

Applications for AFA vessel or

processor permits will not be accepted

after this date and any vessels or

processors for which an application has

not been received by this date will be

permanently ineligible to receive AFA

permits. The purpose of this application

deadline is to finalize the list of vessels

and processors to which AFA fishing

privileges and sideboard restrictions

apply. A final list of AFA-permitted

vessels is necessary because inshore

cooperative allocations and catcher

vessel sideboards are based on the

aggregate catch histories of the various

AFA permitted fleets. The Council

recommended imposition of this

December 1, 2000, deadline so that the

size and composition of the various

AFA fleets would be known prior to the

adoption of permanent AFA sideboard

and cooperative regulations. The

Council believed it was important to

know the size and composition of the

various AFA fleets so that the

appropriateness of sideboard and

cooperative measures might be more

effectively evaluated before final AFA

regulations are issued.

A December 1, 2000, deadline is also

necessary to allow NMFS to finalize

2001 cooperative allocations and

sideboard amounts in the 2001

proposed, interim, and final

specifications. Allowing vessels to

apply for and receive AFA permits after

December 1, 2000, would require that

NMFS publish revisions to the

published sideboards and cooperative

allocations each time a new vessel

receives an AFA permit. Such inseason

revisions to cooperative and sideboard

amounts could be disruptive to attempts

by catcher vessel cooperatives to

manage pollock and sideboard fishing in

a cooperative manner.

December 1 Annual Deadline for

Inshore Catcher Vessel Cooperative

Permit Applications

The first emergency interim rule (65

FR 380, January 5, 2000) is revised to

establish an annual application deadline

of December 1 prior to the year in which

the cooperative fishing permit will be in

effect for inshore catcher vessel

cooperative permit applications.

Applications for annual cooperative

fishing permits and revisions to such

applications to add or subtract member

vessels would not be accepted after

December 1 of each year. The current

emergency rule has an application

deadline of December 31 prior to the

year in which the cooperative fishing

permit will be in effect. This December

31 deadline was necessary for 1999,

because the emergency interim rule was

not effective until December 30, 1999.

An annual December 1 deadline is

necessary: (1) to provide the Council

with the opportunity to review

cooperative contracts at its annual

December meeting prior to making final

TAC recommendations for the

upcoming fishing year, and (2) because

the membership of each cooperative

must be finalized before interim pollock

TAC allocations can be made to inshore

catcher vessel cooperatives. Because the

interim specifications must be

published prior to January 1 of each

year, NMFS cannot wait until December

31 to finalize membership in inshore

cooperatives.

Final 2000 Inshore Allocations of

Bering Sea Subarea Pollock

Tables 1 and 2 of the emergency

interim rule (establishing general AFA

regulations) (65 FR 4520, January 28,

2000) contained interim 2000 Bering

Sea pollock allocations to the

cooperative and open access sectors of

the inshore pollock fishery. These

interim TAC allocations were based on

the BSAI interim 2000 harvest

specifications for groundfish published

on January 3, 2000 (65 FR 60). Since

then, NMFS has published BSAI final

2000 harvest specifications for

groundfish (65 FR 8282, February 18,

2000). This action amends the BSAI

final 2000 harvest specifications for

groundfish by establishing final 2000

Bering Sea pollock allocations to the

cooperative and open access sectors of

the inshore pollock fishery as set out in

Tables 1 and 2.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 122 / Friday, June 23, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 39109

TABLE 1.—FINAL C/D SEASON BERING SEA SUBAREA POLLOCK ALLOCATIONS TO THE COOPERATIVE AND OPEN ACCESS

SECTORS OF THE INSHORE POLLOCK FISHERY. AMOUNTS ARE EXPRESSED IN METRIC TONS

C/D season TAC C season inside SCA1 D season inside SCA

Cooperative sector

Vessels > 99 ft n/a n/a 53,273

Vessels ≤ 99 ft n/a n/a 8,157

Total 274,200 36,858 61,430

Open access sector 17,953 2,582 4,3042

Total inshore 292,153 39,440 65,734

1Steller sea lion conservation area established at § 679.22(a)(11)(iv).

2SCA limitations for vessels less than or equal to 99 ft LOA that are not participating in a cooperative will be established on an inseason basis

in accordance with § 679.22(a)(11)(iv)(D)(2) which specifies that ‘‘the Regional Administrator will prohibit directed fishing for pollock by vessels

catching pollock for processing by the inshore component greater than 99 ft (30.2 m) LOA before reaching the inshore SCA harvest limit during

the A, B and D seasons to accommodate fishing by vessels less than or equal to 99 ft (30.2 m) inside the SCA for the duration of the inshore

seasonal opening.’’

The first emergency interim rule (65

FR 380, January 5, 2000) establishes

procedures for AFA inshore catcher

vessel pollock cooperatives to apply for

and receive cooperative fishing permits

and inshore pollock allocations. NMFS

received applications from seven

inshore catcher vessel cooperatives by

the application deadline of December

31, 1999. Table 2 makes final 2000

Bering Sea subarea allocations to the

seven inshore catcher vessel pollock

cooperatives that have been approved

and permitted by NMFS for the 2000

fishing year. Final allocations for

cooperatives and vessels not

participating in cooperatives are not

made for the Aleutian Islands subarea

because the Aleutian Islands subarea

has been closed to directed fishing for

pollock under the emergency interim

rule to implement Steller sea lion

protection measures (65 FR 3892,

January 25, 2000; 65 FR 36795, June 12,

2000).

TABLE 2.—BERING SEA SUBAREA FINAL 2000 INSHORE COOPERATIVE ALLOCATIONS

Cooperative name and member vessels

Sum of member vessel’s

official catch

histories 1

Percentage of

inshore sector

allocation

Final annual

co-op

allocation

Akutan Catcher Vessel Association

ALDEBARAN, ARCTIC I, ARCTIC VI, ARCTURUS, BLUE FOX, COLUMBIA, DOMINATOR,

DONA LILIANA, DONA MARTITA, DONA PAULITA, EXODUS, FLYING CLOUD, GOLDEN DAWN, MAJESTY, PACIFIC VIKING, VIKING EXPLORER, GOLDEN PISCES, LESLIE LEE, MARCY J, MISS BERDIE, PEGASUS, PEGGIE JO, PERSEVERANCE, PREDATOR, RAVEN, ROYAL AMERICAN, SEEKER

258,508 28.257% 137,590

Arctic Enterprise Association

ARCTIC III, ARCTIC IV, OCEAN ENTERPRISE, PACIFIC ENTERPRISE 50,008 5.466% 26,615

Northern Victor Fleet Cooperative

NORDIC FURY, PACIFIC FURY, GOLDRUSH, EXCALIBUR II, HALF MOON BAY, SUNSET

BAY, COMMODORE, STORM PETREL, POSEIDON, ROYAL ATLANTIC,

62,545 6.837% 33,291

Peter Pan Fleet Cooperative

AMBER DAWN, AMERICAN BEAUTY, OCEANIC, OCEAN LEADER, WALTER N 6,584 0.720% 3,506

Unalaska Cooperative

ALASKA ROSE, BERING ROSE, DESTINATION, GREAT PACIFIC, MESSIAH, MORNING

STAR, MS AMY, PROGRESS, SEA WOLF, VANGUARD, WESTERN DAWN

106,714 11.665% 56,799

UniSea Fleet Cooperative

ALSEA, AMERICANEAGLE, ARCTICWIND, ARGOSY, AURIGA, AURORA, DEFENDER,

GUN-MAR, NORDIC STAR, PACIFIC MONARCH, SEADAWN, STARFISH, STARLITE,

STARWARD

220,361 24.087% 117,285

Westward Fleet Cooperative

A.J., ALASKAN COMMAND, ALYESKA, CAITLIN ANN, CHELSEA K, HICKORY WIND,

FIERCE ALLEGIANCE, OCEAN HOPE 3, PACIFIC KNIGHT, PACIFIC PRINCE, VIKING, WESTWARD1

153,917 16.824% 81,920

Open access AFA vessels 56,215 6.145% 29,921

Total 2000 inshore pollock allocation 914,851 100% 486,922

1 Under § 679.61(e)(1) the individual catch history for each vessel is equal to the vessel’s best 2 of 3 years inshore pollock landings from 1995

through 1997 and includes landings to catcher/processors for vessels that made 500 or more mt of landings to catcher/processors from 1995

through 1997.

39110 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 122 / Friday, June 23, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

Details concerning the basis for this

action are contained in the preambles to

the original emergency rules and are not

repeated here.

Classification

The Assistant Administrator for

Fisheries, NOAA (AA), has determined

that the extension of these emergency

interim rules is necessary to respond to

an emergency situation and that it is

consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act and other applicable laws.

The extension of these emergency

interim rules is exempt from review

under E.O. 12866.

The AA finds that providing prior

notice and opportunity for public

comment on this action is

impracticable. Failure to extend these

two emergency rules and establish final

pollock TAC allocations to inshore

cooperatives by June 10, 2000, would

result in a lapse of necessary AFA

regulations for the Bering Sea Subarea

C/D season, which opens on June 10,

2000. This emergency action is

necessary to meet the AFA requirement

to provide inshore pollock cooperatives

with allocations of pollock for the 2000

fishing year. Inshore sector cooperatives

will provide the inshore industry with

the ability to more effectively meet the

temporal and spatial dispersion

objectives of NMFS’ Steller sea lion

conservation measures that became

effective January 20, 2000 (65 FR 3892,

January 25, 2000; 65 FR 36795, June 12,

2000). If this rule is not extended for the

Bering Sea subarea combined C/D

pollock season, the inshore sector of the

BSAI pollock industry will be denied

the opportunity to fish under

cooperatives during the second half of

the 2000 fishing year. Therefore, this

sector of the industry would lose an

economically valuable method of

meeting the temporal and spatial

dispersion objectives of NMFS’ Steller

sea lion conservation measures.

Delay of the C/D season pollock

opening to provide for prior notice and

public comment on this emergency rule

extension would impose significant

economic cost on the fishing industry

for two reasons. First, by regulation, the

ending date for pollock fishing is

November 1 of each year to prevent

pollock fishing during a winter time

period that is critical to Steller sea lions.

If the C/D season pollock openings are

delayed for a significant period of time,

the fleet may have insufficient time to

harvest the remaining TAC before

November 1 and a significant portion of

the TAC could go unharvested. Further,

any delay in the season opening will

impose significant operational costs on

vessels, processors, employees, and

other support industries that must plan

for and deploy equipment and crews to

remote parts of Alaska well in advance

of the season opening date. Finally,

delay of the C/D season to provide

opportunity for public comment would

be contrary to the temporal dispersion

objective of NMFS’ Steller sea lion

protection measures because pollock

fishing would be concentrated later in

the year.

Accordingly, the AA finds that the

need not to delay the pollock season

openings constitutes good cause to

waive the requirement to provide prior

notice and an opportunity for public

comment pursuant to the authority set

forth at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), as such

procedures would be impracticable and

contrary to the public interest. For the

same reasons, the AA finds good cause

pursuant to the authority set forth at

5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the

requirement for a 30-day delay in

effective date.

Because prior notice and opportunity

for public comment are not required for

this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other

law, the analytical requirements of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601

et seq., are inapplicable.

The President has directed Federal

agencies to use plain language in their

communications with the public,

including regulations. To comply with

that directive, we seek public comment

on any ambiguity or unnecessary

complexity arising from the language

used in this emergency interim rule.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

Alaska, Fisheries, Recordkeeping and

reporting requirements.

Dated: June 16, 2000.

Andrew A. Rosenberg,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For reasons set out in the preamble,

50 CFR part 679 is amended as follows:

50 CFR Chapter VI

PART 679—FISHERIES OF THE

EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF

ALASKA

1. The authority citation for part 679

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et

seq., and 3631 et seq.

2. In 50 CFR part 679, remove the

phrase ‘‘applicable through July 20,

2000’’ and add ‘‘applicable through

January 16, 2001’’ in each of the

following locations:

§ 679.2, under the definitions of

‘‘Appointed agent for service of

process,’’ ‘‘Designated cooperative

representative,’’ and paragraph (4) of the

definition of ‘‘Directed fishing’’;

§ 679.5(a)(4)(iv);

§ 679.5(f)(3);

§ 679.5(i)(1)(iii);

§ 679.5(o);

§ 679.20(a)(5)(i)(D);

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iv);

§ 679.21(d)(8);

§ 679.21(e)(3)(v);

§ 679.50(c)(5);

§ 679.50(d)(5);

and the heading for subpart F of 50

CFR part 679.

3. In § 679.4(l), the paragraph heading

is revised, paragraph (l)(1)(v) is added,

and paragraph (l)(6)(v) is revised to read

as follows:

§ 679.4 Permits.

* * * * *

(l) AFA permits (applicable through

December 24, 2000).

(1) * * *

(v) Application deadline. All AFA

vessel and processor permit

applications must be received by the

Regional Administrator by December 1,

2000. AFA vessel and processor permit

applications received after December 1,

2000, will not be accepted by the

Regional Administrator and the

applicant will be permanently ineligible

to receive the requested AFA permit.

* * * * *

(6) * * *

(v) Application deadline. An inshore

cooperative fishing permit application

and any subsequent contract

amendments that add or subtract vessels

must be received by the Regional

Administrator by December 1 prior to

the year in which the inshore

cooperative fishing permit will be in

effect. Inshore cooperative fishing

permit applications or amendments to

inshore fishing cooperative permits

received after December 1 will not be

accepted by the Regional Administrator

for the subsequent fishing year.

* * * * *

4. In § 679.20, paragraph (a)(5)(i)(D) is

redesignated as paragraph (a)(5)(i)(C).

[FR Doc. 00–15857 Filed 6–22–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F