[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 127 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40537-40538]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16638]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 600 and 660

[Docket No. 991223347-9347-01; I.D. 120299C]


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Extension of Emergency Rule

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Extension of emergency rule effectiveness period.

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SUMMARY: This action extends an existing emergency rule that was 
published in conjunction with the annual specifications and management 
measures for the Pacific coast groundfish fishery off Washington, 
Oregon, and California in 2000. The emergency authority was used to 
implement and designate as routine a number of management measures that 
are intended to achieve rebuilding plans for overfished stocks, reduce 
bycatch, prevent overfishing, maximize the harvest of healthy stocks 
while protecting and rebuilding overfished and depleted stocks, and 
equitably distribute the burdens among the different fishing sectors. 
The emergency rule is authorized by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

DATES: The emergency rule published January 4, 2000, beginning at 65 FR 
221, is extended until the effective date of the annual specifications 
and management measures for the 2001 groundfish fishery, but no later 
than January 3, 2001. The 2001 annual specifications and management 
measures will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment/regulatory impact 
review are available from William Stelle, Jr., Administrator, Northwest 
Region (Regional Administrator), NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., BIN 
C15700, Bldg. 1, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or Rodney McInnis, Acting 
Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 
4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine King at 206-526-6140.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is extending an emergency rule (65 FR 
221, January 4, 2000) which otherwise would expire on July 3, 2000. The 
emergency authority was used to implement and designate as routine a 
number of management measures that were designed to achieve rebuilding 
plans for overfished stocks, reduce bycatch, prevent overfishing, 
maximize the harvest of healthy stocks while protecting and rebuilding 
overfished and depleted stocks, and equitably distribute the burdens 
among the different fishing sectors. NMFS is extending the rule 
pursuant to the emergency rulemaking authority of the Secretary of 
Commerce (Secretary) under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 
1855(c)(3)(B). Amendment 13 to the FMP, currently under development, 
includes provisions that would authorize, on a permanent basis, future 
use of the provisions implemented under the emergency rule. This action 
is necessary to maintain the management regime approved by the 
Secretary, implemented on January 1, 2000, pending Secretarial review 
and approval of Amendment 13. No changes to the emergency rule are made 
by this extension.

Background

    In the past, annual management measures have been primarily set 
through ``routine'' management procedures that consisted of adjusting 
commercial trip limits and recreational bag limits. For most species, 
the limited entry commercial trip limit did not vary with the type of 
gear used. However, because of the drastic reductions in harvest limits 
for many species which were necessary in 2000, and the multispecies 
characteristic of the fishery, the existing routine management measures 
did not produce sufficient and appropriately targeted harvest 
reductions. Therefore, at its November 1999 meeting, the Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended that NMFS implement an 
emergency rule for 2000 that would address these concerns. At the time,

[[Page 40538]]

Amendment 13 was under development, and the Council expected that 
Amendment 13 would authorize future use of the emergency provisions on 
a permanent basis. Accordingly, an emergency rule with a request for 
public comments was prepared in conjunction with the annual 
specifications and management measures for 2000. It was filed with the 
Federal Register on December 27, 1999, published on January 4, 2000 (65 
FR 221), and became effective on January 1, 2000. A detailed discussion 
on the management measures, rebuilding plans, and rationale for the 
emergency action is included in the preamble to the emergency rule/
annual management measures (65 FR 221, January 4, 2000) and the 
environmental assessment/regulatory impact review for that action, and 
is not restated in this extension.

Public Comments

    NMFS received a number of comments on the emergency rule and annual 
specifications and management measures, and already has, or will, 
respond to those comments individually, with one exception. NMFS 
received, as a comment, a copy of the complaint that was filed in 
Federal District Court in the Northern District of California, in the 
case of Solomon v. Daley, Civil No. 00-0383. NMFS will respond to this 
comment in the context of that lawsuit rather than in the extension to 
the emergency rule.

Classification

    This emergency rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: June 27, 2000.
Andrew A. Rosenberg,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 00-16638 Filed 6-29-00; 8:45 am]
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