2458 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 12 / Friday, January 19, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

Cleanup Standards 

The cleanup standards in the 1987 

Settlement Agreement were designed to 

meet the contaminant levels for 

benzene, tetrachloroethylene and 

trichloroethylene as required by the 

State of Michigan (MDNR), based on 

acceptable standards in place at the time 

the Settlement Agreement was issued. 

This was an agreement between the 

MDNR and USCG. If these standards 

were not met, then additional measures 

would be taken. This Site is being 

deleted because the remedial response 

met all cleanup standards outlined in 

the 1987 Settlement Agreement. 

Operation and Maintenance 

USCG has completed monitoring 

groundwater at the site in accordance 

with the Settlement Agreement between 

the State of Michigan and the USCG 

filed on June 1, 1987. Per the Settlement 

Agreement with the State of Michigan, 

the USCG operated two interdiction 

fields (pump and treatment systems). 

There was one at the North of the base 

and one at the South of the base. They 

consisted of wells IN2, IN3, IN4, IN5, 

and IN6 in the North field (avgas plume) 

and PP5, PP7, and PP8 in the South 

Field (JP–4 field). Each interdiction 

point had point of compliance wells 

along the USCG property boundary. The 

North field point of compliance wells 

were M56, M1, M4, M3, and M55. The 

South field point of compliance wells 

were M22, M61, M62, and M64. There 

were a number of other wells installed 

over the course of the project for various 

reasons. In 2000, with consent of 

MDEQ, the USCG removed wells PP5, 

PP6, PP7 and PP8. In 2001, with the 

consent of MDEQ, wells IN2, IN3, IN4, 

IN5 and IN6 were removed along with 

the associated piping, manifolds, carbon 

treatment units, and discharge lines for 

both the North and South interdiction 

fields. The remaining monitoring wells 

will be removed after the 10 year post 

closure period. The post closure period 

started in October 2005. 

Five-Year Review 

EPA conducted a five-year review of 

the Site in 2005. In the review, EPA 

concluded that all remedial actions are 

complete and monitoring indicates that 

all clean up goals have been reached in 

connection with the 1987 Settlement 

Agreement. Therefore, no future fiveyear review, are required for this Site. 

Community Involvement 

Public participation activities have 

been satisfied as required in CERCLA 

section 113(k), 42 U.S.C. 9613(k), and 

CERCLA section 117, 42 U.S.C. 9617. 

Documents in the deletion docket which 

EPA relied on for recommendation of 

the deletion of this Site from the NPL 

are available to the public in the 

information repositories, and in http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

V. Deletion Action 

The EPA, with concurrence of the 

State of Michigan, determined that all 

appropriate responses under CERCLA 

have been completed, and that no 

further response actions under CERCLA 

are necessary. Therefore, EPA is 

deleting the Site from the NPL. 

Because EPA considers this action to 

be non-controversial and routine, EPA is 

taking it without prior publication. This 

action will be effective March 20, 2007 

unless EPA receives adverse comments 

by February 20, 2007. If adverse 

comments are received within the 30- 

day public comment period, EPA will 

publish a timely withdrawal of this 

direct final notice of deletion before the 

effective date of the deletion and it will 

not take effect. EPA will prepare a 

response to comments and, as 

appropriate, continue with the deletion 

process on the basis of the notice of 

intent to delete and the comments 

already received. There will be no 

additional opportunity to comment. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Chemicals, Hazardous 

waste, Hazardous substances, 

Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, 

Reporting and record keeping 

requirements, Superfund, Water 

pollution control, Water supply. 

Dated:January 9, 2007. 

Mary A. Gade, 

Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region V. 

■ For the reasons set out in this 

document, 40 CFR part 300 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 300—[AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 300 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 

9601–9657; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 CFR, 

1991 Comp., p.351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923, 

3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p.193. 

Appendix B—[Amended] 

■ 2. Table 1 of Appendix B to Part 300 

is amended under ‘‘MI’’ by removing the 

entry for ‘‘Avenue E Groundwater 

Contamination’’ and the city ‘‘Traverse 

City.’’

[FR Doc. E7–694 Filed 1–18–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

RIN 0648–AT60 

[Docket No.061020273–7001–03; I.D. 

010307A] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Emergency Rule 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; emergency 

action; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is implementing, 

through this emergency rule, revised 

summer flounder total allowable 

landings (TAL) for the 2007 fishing year. 

This emergency rule specifies allowed 

harvest limits for both the commercial 

and recreational summer flounder 

fisheries. The TAL contained within 

this emergency rule supersedes the 

previous harvest limits for summer 

flounder that became effective on 

January 1, 2007. This action continues 

the prohibition on federally permitted 

commercial vessels landing summer 

flounder in Delaware in 2007 due to 

continued quota repayment of previous 

year’s overages. 

This emergency rule is necessary to 

increase the 2007 summer flounder 

harvest levels consistent with the 

recently enacted Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Reauthorization Act of 2006 

(Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act), 

while ensuring compliance with 

regulations implementing the Summer 

Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP). In 

addition, this action will continue to 

ensure that fishing mortality rates (F) or 

exploitation rates, as specified in the 

FMP, are not exceeded. 

DATES: Effective from January 19, 2007 

through July 18, 2007. Comments must 

be received at the appropriate address or 

fax number (see ADDRESSES) by 5 p.m., 

local time, on February 20, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

• Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Northeast 

Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, 

Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside 

of the envelope, ‘‘Comments on Summer 

Flounder Emergency Action.’’

• E-mail: 

SummerFlounderEmergency@noaa.gov 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 12 / Friday, January 19, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 2459 

• Fax: (978) 281–9135 

• Electronically through the Federal 

e-Rulemaking portal: http// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Copies of the Supplemental 

Environmental Assessment are available 

from Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional 

Administrator, Northeast Region, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, One 

Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 

01930–2298. This document is also 

accessible via the Internet at http:// 

www.nero.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael P. Ruccio, Fishery Policy 

Analyst, (978) 281–9104. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summer 

flounder is currently under a rebuilding 

plan. NMFS published a final rule 

containing the 2007 summer flounder 

TAL on December 14, 2006 (71 FR 

75134). The 12.983–million-lb (5,889–

mt) TAL contained within that rule 

became effective on January 1, 2007. 

The TAL implemented by that rule was 

a 45–percent decrease from the TAL 

specified for 2006. 

The 12.983–million-lb (5,889–mt) 

TAL was developed utilizing the best 

available scientific information. The 

regulations at 50 CFR 648.100 require 

that NMFS implement measures (e.g., a 

TAL) necessary to ensure, with at least 

a 50–percent probability, that Fmax (i.e., 

level of fishing that produces maximum 

yield per recruit) will not be exceeded. 

The 12.983–million-lb (5,889–mt) TAL 

has greater than a 99–percent 

probability of not exceeding Fmax, the 

level at which overfishing is considered 

to be occurring. It also has an associated 

F level that will provide stock 

rebuilding within the 10–year statutory 

period under section 304 of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act prior to its 

December 2006 reauthorization. The F 

level calculated to rebuild the stock 

within the 10–year period is 

Frebuild=0.15; the 12.983–million-lb 

(5,889–mt) TAL has a 75–percent 

probability of achieving this Frebuild. 

Since the publication of the 2007 

summer flounder TAL in the Federal 

Register, the Reauthorized MagnusonStevens Act was signed into law on 

January 12, 2007. Contained within the 

Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act is 

a specific provision under section 120(a) 

that provides the Secretary the authority 

to extend the rebuilding time frame 

ending date for summer flounder to no 

later than January 1, 2013, provided that 

several specific conditions are met. The 

Secretary must determine that: 

1. Overfishing is not occurring in the 

summer flounder fishery and that a 

mechanism is in place to ensure 

overfishing does not occur in the fishery 

and stock biomass levels are increasing; 

2. The biomass rebuilding target 

previously applicable to the summer 

flounder stock will be met or exceeded 

within the new time for rebuilding; 

3. The extension period is based on the 

status and biology of the stock and the 

rate of rebuilding; 

4. Monitoring will ensure rebuilding 

continues; 

5. The extension meets the requirements 

of National Standard 1 found at section 

301(a)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act; 

and 

6. The best scientific information 

available shows that the extension will 

allow continued rebuilding. 

The Secretary has determined that 

these six criteria have been met and that 

there is a reasonable basis to extend the 

summer flounder rebuilding time frame 

to no later than January 1, 2013. A 

detailed discussion of the Secretarial 

determinations occurs later in this 

preamble, under Secretarial 

Determinations Required by Section 

120(a) of the Reauthorized MagnusonStevens Act. Based on these 

determinations, the Secretary is 

implementing, through this emergency 

rule, a 17.112–million-lb (7,762–mt) 

TAL, based on the revised rebuilding 

time frame ending no later than January 

1, 2013, which supersedes the previous 

TAL of 12.983 million lb (5,889 mt), 

which was based on a rebuilding period 

end date of January 1, 2010. The 

17.112–million-lb (7,762–mt) TAL will 

be allocated 10.27 million lb (4,658 mt) 

to the commercial sector and 6.84 

million lb (3,104 mt) to the recreational 

sector. 

This emergency rule does not alter the 

previous amount of summer flounder 

set aside for research in the December 

14, 2006, final rule. The research setaside (RSA) level is not being increased 

by this emergency rule in order to 

ensure that the issuance of grants and 

exempted fishing permits required to 

conduct the research projects occurs in 

a timely fashion. Four research projects 

that would utilize the previously 

established summer flounder RSA of 

389,490 lb (177 mt) have been 

conditionally approved by NMFS and 

are currently awaiting notice of award. 

If a project is not approved by the 

NOAA Grants Office, the research quota 

associated with the disapproved 

proposal will be restored to the summer 

flounder TAL through publication of a 

notice in the Federal Register. 

Consistent with the revised quota 

setting procedures for the FMP at 

§ 648.100(a)(1)(ii), summer flounder 

overages are determined based upon 

landings for the 2005 calendar year that 

were not accounted for in the 2006 final 

rule (70 FR 77060, December 29, 2005), 

and any 2006 fishing year overages 

through October 31, 2006. Table 1 

summarizes for each state, based on the 

TAL implemented though this 

emergency rule, the commercial 

summer flounder percent share, the 

2007 commercial quota (both initial and 

less the RSA), the quota reductions from 

overages as previously described, the 

resulting adjusted 2007 commercial 

quota, and the increase in quota from 

the December 14, 2006, final rule 

resulting from this emergency rule. 

Recreational harvest limits, based on the 

TAL implemented by this emergency 

rule, will be the subject of a separate 

rulemaking within the first quarter of 

2007. 


frosa on PROD1PC71 with RULES
2460 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 12 / Friday, January 19, 2007 / Rules and Regulations COMMERCIAL SUMMER FLOUNDER ALLOCATIONS FOR 2007 Percent Share Initial Quota Initial Quota, Less RSA Quota Overages (through 10/ 31/06)1 Adjusted Quota less RSA2 Change in Quota from Dec.14, 2006, Final Rule to Emergency Action State lb kg lb kg lb kg lb kg lb kg ME 0.04756 4,883 2,215 4,772 2,165 0 0 4,772 2,165 1,178 534 NH 0.00046 47 21 46 21 0 0 46 21 11 5 MA 6.82046 700,270 317,643 684,331 310,413 30,046 13,629 654,285 296,784 168,970 76,645 RI 15.68298 1,610,203 730,388 1,573,553 713,764 0 0 1,573,553 713,764 388,530 176,237 CT 2.25708 231,739 105,117 226,464 102,724 16,470 7,471 209,994 95,253 55,917 25,364 NY 7.64599 785,029 356,089 767,161 347,984 148,038 67,150 619,123 280,834 197,346 89,516 NJ 16.72499 1,717,188 778,917 1,678,103 761,187 0 0 1,678,103 761,187 414,345 187,947 DE 0.01779 1,827 829 1,785 810 50,528 22,920 -48,743 -22,110 441 200 MD 2.03910 209,358 94,965 204,593 92,803 0 0 204,593 92,803 50,516 22,914 VA 21.31676 2,188,634 992,765 2,138,818 970,168 0 0 2,138,818 970,168 528,101 239,547 NC 27.44584 2,817,919 1,278,208 2,753,780 1,249,115 0 0 2,753,780 1,249,115 679,943 308,422 Total3 100.00 10,267,098 4,657,156 10,033,407 4,551,153 245,082 111,169 9,788,325 4,439,984 2,485,299 1,127,331 

1 2006 quota overage is determined through comparison of landings for January through October 2006 plus any landings in 2005 in excess of the 2005 quota that were not previously addressed in the 2006 quota specifications, with the final 2006 quota for each state as published in the December 29, 2006 final rule (70 FR 77060). 2 Negative numbers indicate a state allocation in quota repayment status from previous year’s overages. 3 Total quota is the sum of all states having allocation. A state with a negative number has an allocation of zero (0). Kilograms are as converted from pounds and may not necessarily add 

due to rounding. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 12 / Friday, January 19, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 2461 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 

Commission (Commission) has 

established a system whereby 15 

percent of each state’s quota may be 

voluntarily set aside each year to enable 

vessels to land an incidental catch 

allowance after the directed fishery in a 

state has been closed. The intent of the 

incidental catch set-aside is to reduce 

discards by allowing fishermen to land 

summer flounder caught incidentally in 

other fisheries during the year, while 

ensuring that the state’s overall quota is 

not exceeded. These Commission setasides are not included in these 2007 

final summer flounder specifications 

because NMFS does not have authority 

to establish such subcategories. 

Delaware Summer Flounder Closure 

Table 1 indicates that, for Delaware, 

the amount of the 2006 summer 

flounder quota overage (inclusive of 

overharvest from previous years) is 

greater than the amount of commercial 

quota allocated to Delaware for 2007 

under this emergency action. As a 

result, there is no quota available for 

2007 in Delaware. The regulations at 

§ 648.4(b) provide that Federal permit 

holders, as a condition of their permit, 

may not land summer flounder in any 

state that the Regional Administrator 

has determined no longer has 

commercial quota available for harvest. 

Therefore, landings of summer flounder 

in Delaware by vessels holding 

commercial Federal summer flounder 

fisheries permits are prohibited for the 

duration of this emergency rule, unless 

additional quota becomes available 

through a quota transfer and is 

announced in the Federal Register. 

Federally permitted dealers are advised 

that they may not purchase summer 

flounder from federally permitted 

vessels that land in Delaware for the 

duration of this emergency rule, unless 

additional quota becomes available 

through a transfer. 

Secretarial Determinations Required by 

Section 120(a) of the Reauthorized 

Magnuson-Stevens Act 

Overfishing is not occurring and a 

mechanism is in place to ensure that 

overfishing does not occur. The 

Secretary has determined that, as of 

January 1, 2007, overfishing was not 

occurring in the summer flounder 

fishery. The TAL of 12.983 million lb 

(5,889 mt) was effective January 1, 2007, 

and has greater than a 99–percent 

probability of not exceeding the 

overfishing threshold of F (Fmax= 0.28). 

The 17.112–million-lb (7,762–mt) TAL 

implemented by this emergency rule has 

a 75–percent probability of achieving 

the new F level (Frebuild =0.203) 

calculated for stock rebuilding by 

January 1, 2013. The 17.112–million-lb 

(7,762–mt) TAL has a 99–percent 

probability of not exceeding the 2007 

Fmax threshold (0.28). The 17.112–

million-lb (7,762–mt) TAL and 

associated commercial and recreational 

management measures will effectively 

ensure that overfishing does not occur 

in the summer flounder fishery in 2007. 

Stock biomass levels are increasing. 

Based on information in the peer 

reviewed ‘‘Summer Flounder 

Assessment and Biological Reference 

Point Update for 2006,’’ the best 

available scientific information for the 

summer flounder stock, the stock 

biomass level has continued to increase 

during the first 7 years of the rebuilding 

period. The updated 2006 assessment 

indicates that stock biomass levels are 

increasing, though stock growth has 

slowed. Spawning stock biomass (SSB; 

age 0+ fish) declined 69 percent from 

1983 to 1989 (22,582 mt to 7,025 mt) 

but, with improved recruitment and 

decreased fishing mortality, had 

increased to 47,498 mt by 2005. 

Recruitment since 1988 has been 

estimated to have generally improved, 

although the 2003 and 2005 year classes 

were estimated to have been well below 

the median (33 million fish) at 24.5 

million fish and 14.5 million fish, 

respectively. 

The biomass target previously applied 

will be met or exceeded within the new 

rebuilding time frame. Analysis 

conducted by the Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center (Center) indicates that 

fishing at a 17.112–million-lb (7,762–

mt) TAL in 2007 will have a 75–percent 

probability of attaining the F target 

(Frebuild) necessary to ensure that the 

rebuilding target (Bmsy proxy) of 197 

million lb (89,359 mt) SSB is attained by 

January 1, 2013. 

The rebuilding extension period is 

based on the status and biology of the 

stock and rate of rebuilding. The 

information on the status and biology of 

the stock has been used, through the 

annual assessment, to derive an 

appropriate F target and subsequent 

quota for 2007 that is sufficient to 

ensure rebuilding occurs by January 1, 

2013. Center analysis indicates that 

attaining the Frebuild target in 2007 will 

ensure that the stock rebuilding rate will 

remain on target to rebuild by January 

1, 2013. 

Monitoring will ensure that rebuilding 

continues. The summer flounder stock 

is assessed annually by the Southern 

Demersal Working Group, using the 

latest research survey and fisheries 

catch data. During this assessment, the 

working group will assess the status of 

the stock and recommend to the Council 

an appropriate F target and TAL to 

satisfy the requirements of the FMP and 

the Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act 

rebuilding requirements. Annual 

adjustments may be made by the 

Council and/or the Secretary to the 

2008–2012 TALs to ensure that 

rebuilding continues within the 

specified time frame. 

The extension meets the requirement 

of section 301(a)(1) (National Standard 

1) of the Reauthorized MagnusonStevens Act. The Secretary has 

determined that setting an appropriate 

TAL with a sufficient probability of 

attaining the F needed to ensure 

rebuilding of the summer flounder stock 

by January 1, 2013, is consistent with 

National Standard 1. Such measures 

will prevent overfishing and provide the 

optimum yield while so doing. 

The best scientific information 

available shows that the extension will 

allow continued rebuilding. The 

methodology employed in the Center’s 

projections and derivation of the 

subsequent 17.112–million-lb (7,762–

mt) TAL was recommended by the 

NMFS Office of Science and Technology 

Peer Review Panel and, as such, 

constitutes the best available scientific 

information. These methods had been 

used to derive the 12.983–million-lb 

(5,889–mt) TAL in place under the 

former rebuilding time frame of 10 

years. These methods project the 

summer flounder stock will be rebuilt to 

the Bmsy proxy SSB level of 197 million 

lb (89,359 mt) by January 1, 2013, by 

employing a constant F strategy at the 

Frebuild=0.203 level in 2007 and in 

subsequent years of the rebuilding 

period. 

Classification 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries NOAA, (AA) 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 action responds to a 

recently enacted reauthorization and 

amendment of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Act. Section 120 of the 

Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act 

extends the rebuilding period for the 

summer flounder fishery from January 

1, 2010, until no later than January 1, 

2013. This extension allows for the 

setting of a higher TAL than was 

previously set to rebuild the fishery by 

the earlier rebuilding deadline. 

Consequently, this emergency action 

supersedes the 2007 annual TAL 

specification for summer flounder 

published on December 14, 2006, with 

a higher TAL. The measure contained 


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2462 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 12 / Friday, January 19, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

within this emergency rule meets the 

fishing mortality objectives of the FMP 

and satisfies section 120(a) of the 

Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

Until this rule is effective, states and 

commercial fishermen are held to the 

quotas published on December 14, 2006. 

As a result of the Reauthorized 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the quotas 

published on December 14, 2006, are 

rendered unnecessarily restrictive and 

are substantially less than the quotas 

available under the increased TAL. If 

effectiveness of the rule is delayed, state 

quotas and subsequent management 

measures designed to attain the quotas 

derived from the lower TAL would be 

inconsistent with the increased TAL 

available from the revised rebuilding 

period. Waiver of the notice-andcomment rulemaking period will serve 

the public by allowing states to 

implement commercial quotas and 

management measures afforded under 

the increased TAL in a timely fashion 

for the 2007 fisheries that began on 

January 1, 2007. States in the southern 

reaches of the Northeast Region have 

very active commercial fisheries that 

begin in January of each year while 

more northern states have need of 

establishing their annual management 

measures early within the new year so 

that fishery participants may plan first 

quarter fishing activities. The time 

required by NMFS to conduct noticeand-comment rulemaking for this 

emergency rule would require states to 

establish management measures for up 

to several months based on the lower 

TAL in place as of January 1, 2007. State 

management measures would likely 

require more restrictive possession and 

trip limits that increase the potential for 

discards and the likelihood that TALs 

may be attained and fisheries to be 

closed before additional quota is made 

available by this emergency rule. 

In addition, state agencies are 

currently developing and preparing 

conservation equivalency proposals for 

the 2007 recreational fishery to be 

submitted to the Atlantic States Marine 

Fisheries Commission during their 

January 29, 2007, meeting. Recreational 

fisheries do not begin in earnest until 

spring and NMFS anticipates publishing 

a final rule for 2007 recreational 

measures in March 2007. A delay of this 

emergency rule by notice-and-comment 

rulemaking would require states to craft 

conservation equivalency measures that 

meet the objectives of the lower TAL. 

Such measures would be inconsistent 

with the objectives of the increased TAL 

and would be unnecessarily more 

restrictive, requiring further revision 

after this rule becomes effective. 

Additional rulemaking would be 

required to implement less restrictive 

measures that meet the objectives of the 

higher TAL. 

NMFS did not initiate the emergency 

action earlier because provision of the 

Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act 

that allows an extension of the summer 

founder rebuilding period and the 

subsequent increase in 2007 TAL was 

not signed into law by the President 

until January 12, 2007. The revised TAL 

is within the range of quota alternatives 

considered and analyzed by the 

Council, and discussed in the proposed 

rule that published on October 27, 2006, 

with a 21–day comment period. NMFS 

intends to provide a 30–day postpromulgation comment period 

following the implementation of this 

emergency rule. 

Waiver of this delay will allow state 

promulgated commercial management 

measures to be applied within days of 

the start of the 2007 fishing season and 

for recreational management measures 

to be proposed to meet the objectives 

contained within the higher TAL. These 

state measures will be consistent with 

the publicly and Congressionally 

expected increase in TAL resulting from 

the extended rebuilding time frame 

authorized in section 120(a) of the 

Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

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 USC 553 or any other law. 

Dated: January 17, 2007. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–231 Filed 1–17–07; 1:10 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 060216045–6045–01; I.D. 

011107F] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pollock in Statistical 

Area 610 in the Gulf of Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed 

fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 

610 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This 

action is necessary to prevent exceeding 

the A season allowance of the 2007 total 

allowable catch (TAC) of pollock for 

Statistical Area 610 in the GOA. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), January 22, 2007, through 

1200 hrs, A.l.t., March 10, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Hogan, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

GOA exclusive economic zone 

according to the Fishery Management 

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of 

Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

under authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act. Regulations governing 

fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance 

with the FMP appear at subpart H of 50 

CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679. 

The A season allowance of the 2007 

TAC of pollock in Statistical Area 610 

of the GOA is 3,352 metric tons (mt) as 

established by the 2006 and 2007 

harvest specifications for groundfish of 

the GOA (71 FR 10870, March 3, 2006). 

In accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(i), 

the Regional Administrator has 

determined that the A season allowance 

of the 2007 TAC of pollock in Statistical 

Area 610 of the GOA will soon be 

reached. Therefore, the Regional 

Administrator is establishing a directed 

fishing allowance of 3,337 mt, and is 

setting aside the remaining 15 mt as 

bycatch to support other anticipated 

groundfish fisheries. In accordance with 

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional 

Administrator finds that this directed 

fishing allowance has been reached. 

Consequently, NMFS is prohibiting 

directed fishing for pollock in Statistical 

Area 610 of the GOA. 

After the effective date of this closure 

the maximum retainable amounts at 


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