Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 90 / Thursday, May 10, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 26563 

reporting, system administrator certification, 

and security training; and 

(iii) Utilize the NASA Public Key 

Infrastructure (PKI) for all encrypted 

communication or non-repudiation 

requirements within NASA when secure 

email capability is required. 

(c) Physical and Logical Access 

Requirements. 

(1) Contractor personnel requiring access to 

IT systems operated by the Contractor for 

NASA or interconnected to a NASA network 

shall be screened at an appropriate level in 

accordance with NPR 2810 and Chapter 4, 

NPR 1600.1, NASA Security Program 

Procedural Requirements. NASA shall 

provide screening, appropriate to the highest 

risk level, of the IT systems and information 

accessed, using, as a minimum, National 

Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI). The 

Contractor shall submit the required forms to 

the NASA Center Chief of Security (CCS) 

within fourteen (14) days after contract 

award or assignment of an individual to a 

position requiring screening. The forms may 

be obtained from the CCS. At the option of 

NASA, interim access may be granted 

pending completion of the required 

investigation and final access determination. 

For Contractors who will reside on a NASA 

Center or installation, the security screening 

required for all required access (e.g., 

installation, facility, IT, information, etc.) is 

consolidated to ensure only one investigation 

is conducted based on the highest risk level. 

Contractors not residing on a NASA 

installation will be screened based on their 

IT access risk level determination only. See 

NPR 1600.1, Chapter 4. 

(2) Guidance for selecting the appropriate 

level of screening is based on the risk of 

adverse impact to NASA missions. NASA 

defines three levels of risk for which 

screening is required (IT–1 has the highest 

level of risk). 

(i) IT–1—Individuals having privileged 

access or limited privileged access to systems 

whose misuse can cause very serious adverse 

impact to NASA missions. These systems 

include, for example, those that can transmit 

commands directly modifying the behavior of 

spacecraft, satellites or aircraft. 

(ii) IT–2—Individuals having privileged 

access or limited privileged access to systems 

whose misuse can cause serious adverse 

impact to NASA missions. These systems 

include, for example, those that can transmit 

commands directly modifying the behavior of 

payloads on spacecraft, satellites or aircraft; 

and those that contain the primary copy of 

‘‘level 1’’ information whose cost to replace 

exceeds one million dollars. 

(iii) IT–3—Individuals having privileged 

access or limited privileged access to systems 

whose misuse can cause significant adverse 

impact to NASA missions. These systems 

include, for example, those that interconnect 

with a NASA network in a way that exceeds 

access by the general public, such as 

bypassing firewalls; and systems operated by 

the Contractor for NASA whose function or 

information has substantial cost to replace, 

even if these systems are not interconnected 

with a NASA network. 

(3) Screening for individuals shall employ 

forms appropriate for the level of risk as 

established in Chapter 4, NPR 1600.1. 

(4) The Contractor may conduct its own 

screening of individuals requiring privileged 

access or limited privileged access provided 

the Contractor can demonstrate to the 

Contracting Officer that the procedures used 

by the Contractor are equivalent to NASA’s 

personnel screening procedures for the risk 

level assigned for the IT position. 

(5) Subject to approval of the Contracting 

Officer, the Contractor may forgo screening of 

Contractor personnel for those individuals 

who have proof of a—

(i) Current or recent national security 

clearances (within last three years); 

(ii) Screening conducted by NASA within 

the last three years that meets or exceeds the 

screening requirements of the IT position; or 

(iii) Screening conducted by the 

Contractor, within the last three years, that is 

equivalent to the NASA personnel screening 

procedures as approved by the Contracting 

Officer and concurred on by the CCS. 

(d) The Contracting Officer may waive the 

requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c)(1) 

through (c)(3) upon request of the Contractor. 

The Contractor shall provide all relevant 

information requested by the Contracting 

Officer to support the waiver request. 

(e) The Contractor shall contact the 

Contracting Officer for any documents, 

information, or forms necessary to comply 

with the requirements of this clause. 

(f) At the completion of the contract, the 

contractor shall return all NASA information 

and IT resources provided to the contractor 

during the performance of the contract and 

certify that all NASA information has been 

purged from contractor-owned systems used 

in the performance of the contract. 

(g) The Contractor shall insert this clause, 

including this paragraph (g), in all 

subcontracts: 

(1) Have physical or electronic access to 

NASA’s computer systems, networks, or IT 

infrastructure; or 

(2) Use information systems to generate, 

store, process, or exchange data with NASA 

or on behalf of NASA, regardless of whether 

the data resides on a NASA or a contractor’s 

information system. 

(End of clause) 

[FR Doc. E7–9057 Filed 5–9–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7510–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 070321063–7098–02; I.D. 

031607E] 

RIN 0648–AV22 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Northeast 

Multispecies Fishery; 2007 Georges 

Bank Cod Fixed Gear Sector 

Operations Plan and Agreement and 

Allocation of Georges Bank Cod Total 

Allowable Catch 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval of 

an Operations Plan and Sector Contract 

for the Georges Bank (GB) Cod Fixed 

Gear Sector (Fixed Gear Sector) entitled: 

‘‘GB Cod Fixed Gear Sector Operations 

Plan and Agreement’’ (together referred 

to as the Sector Operations Plan), and 

the associated allocation of GB cod for 

fishing year (FY) 2007. The intent of this 

action is to allow regulated harvest of 

Northeast (NE) multispecies by the 

Fixed Gear Sector, consistent with the 

Operations Plan and objectives of the 

NE Multispecies Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP). 

DATES: Effective May 4, 2007, through 

April 30, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Fixed Gear 

Sector Operations Plan and the 

Environmental Assessment (EA) are 

available upon request from the NE 

Regional Office at the following mailing 

address: George H. Darcy, Assistant 

Regional Administrator for Sustainable 

Fisheries, NMFS, Northeast Regional 

Office, 1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, 

MA 01930. These documents may also 

be requested by calling (978) 281–9315. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Grant, Fishery Management 

Specialist, phone (978) 281–9145, fax 

(978) 281–9135, e-mail 

Mark.Grant@NOAA.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Framework Adjustment (FW) 42 (71 FR 

62156, October 23, 2006) authorized the 

Fixed Gear Sector and authorized the 

Regional Administrator to allocate a GB 

cod total allowable catch (TAC) to the 

Fixed Gear Sector and exempt members 

from FMP restrictions on an annual 


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26564 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 90 / Thursday, May 10, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

basis. In order for GB cod to be allocated 

to the Fixed Gear Sector, and for the 

Fixed Gear Sector to be authorized to 

fish for each fishing year, the Fixed Gear 

Sector must submit an Operations Plan 

and Sector Contract to the Regional 

Administrator annually for approval. 

In accordance with the regulations, 

the Fixed Gear Sector submitted an 

initial version of the Operations Plan 

and Sector Contract, including a 

supplemental environmental assessment 

(EA) to NMFS on January 22, 2007. The 

Fixed Gear Sector subsequently 

submitted additional iterations of the 

Operations Plan and EA to clarify the 

Operations Plan and refine the analyses, 

with a final submission date of March 

7, 2007. The Fixed Gear Sector will be 

overseen by a Board of Directors and a 

Sector Manager. The Sector Contract 

specifies, in accordance with 

Amendment 13 to the FMP, that the 

Sector’s GB cod TAC will be based upon 

the number of Fixed Gear Sector 

members and their qualifying historic 

landings of GB cod. The GB cod TAC is 

a ‘‘hard’’ quota, meaning that, once the 

TAC is reached, Fixed Gear Sector 

vessels will be prohibited from fishing 

under a NE multispecies day-at-sea 

(DAS), possess or land GB cod or other 

regulated species managed under the 

FMP (regulated species), or use gear 

capable of catching groundfish (unless 

fishing under charter/party or 

recreational regulations) for the 

remainder of FY 2007. 

Each Fixed Gear Sector member will 

be required to fish with jigs, demersal 

longline, handgear or gillnets; remain in 

the Fixed Gear Sector for the entire 

fishing year; and be confined to fishing 

in the Sector Area, which is that portion 

of the GB cod stock area north of 39°00′ 

N. lat. and east of 71°40′ W. long. Fixed 

Gear Sector members will be required to 

comply with all pertinent Federal 

fishing regulations, unless specifically 

exempted by a Letter of Authorization 

(LOA), and with the provisions of the 

approved Operations Plan. Based on 

approval of the Operations Plan, Fixed 

Gear Sector members will be exempted 

from the following restrictions of the 

FMP: GB cod trip limit; the GB Seasonal 

Closure Area (when fishing with hook 

gear); and the 3,600–hook limit and 

2,000–hook limit for vessels fishing 

with longline gear in the GB), Gulf of 

Maine (GOM) and Southern New 

England (SNE) Regulated Mesh Areas 

(RMAs), respectively. In addition, the 

Operations Plan allows Fixed Gear 

Sector members to fish in the ‘‘common 

pool,’’ subject to all of the restrictions of 

the FMP, prior to approval of the 

Operations Plan. If Fixed Gear Sector 

members fish during FY 2007 under 

‘‘common pool’’ rules, prior to fishing in 

the approved Sector, all cod caught will 

count towards the Fixed Gear Sector’s 

GB cod TAC. This flexibility was 

requested so that Fixed Gear Sector 

members will be able to fish 

immediately at the beginning of the 

fishing year, and not be required to wait 

until approval of the Operations Plan. 

Justification for the proposed 

exemptions and analysis of the potential 

impacts of the Operations Plan are 

contained in the EA. A Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) is contained 

in the Classification section of this final 

rule. On April 16, 2007, a proposed rule 

was published in the Federal Register 

(72 FR 18937) that requested comments 

on the Operations Plan and EA. The 

comment period closed on May 1, 2007. 

Sixteen Fixed Gear Sector members 

have signed the 2007 Sector Contract. 

The GB cod TAC calculation is based 

upon the qualifying historic cod 

landings of the participating Fixed Gear 

Sector vessels, using all gear. The 

allocation percentage is calculated by 

dividing the sum of total landings of GB 

cod by Fixed Gear Sector members for 

FY 1996 through 2001 by the sum of the 

total accumulated landings of GB cod 

harvested by all NE multispecies vessels 

for the same time period (10,379,065 lb 

(4,708 mt)/ 113,278,842 lb (51,382.4 

mt)). The resulting number is 9.16 

percent. Based upon the 16 Fixed Gear 

Sector members, the Fixed Gear Sector 

TAC of GB cod is 771.1 mt (9.16 percent 

of the U.S. portion of the fishery-wide 

GB cod target TAC of 8,416 mt) for FY 

2007. 

Comments and Responses 

One comment was received on this 

action from a member of the general 

public during the public comment 

period. 

Comment 1: The commenter did not 

specifically address either the 

Operations Plan or EA, but suggested 

that the Sector Area should be closed to 

all fishing, asserting that the Sector Area 

is overfished. 

Response: Amendment 13 to the FMP 

implemented a rebuilding plan for all 

overfished stocks managed under the 

FMP. As part of this rebuilding plan, 

Amendment 13 established the process 

by which a group of individuals may 

form a sector. The Fixed Gear Sector is 

a group of self-selecting fishermen that 

have come together voluntarily and 

cooperatively for the purposes of 

efficiently harvesting GB cod under a 

hard TAC to meet the overfishing 

mandates of the Sustainable Fisheries 

Act amendments to the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act). The EA prepared for the Fixed 

Gear Sector operations concludes that 

the biological impacts will be positive 

because the hard TAC for GB cod will 

ensure that the Fixed Gear Sector 

members will not contribute to the 

overfishing of GB cod, and because the 

elimination of the possession limit for 

GB cod will result in more efficient 

harvest of the cod TAC and, therefore, 

a reduction in the amount of time gear 

is in the water and available to interact 

with protected resources. In addition, 

the EA concludes that this action will 

have a positive impact on Essential Fish 

Habitat (EFH), given that vessels fishing 

in this sector will be confined to gear 

types that have less impact on EFH than 

most other groundfish gears. Further, by 

continuing to fish under their allocated 

NE multispecies DAS as a method to 

account for other regulated species 

caught, the Fixed Gear Sector complies 

with the rebuilding plan for all NE 

multispecies stocks. The Sector Area 

does not need to be closed to all fishing 

because there are regulatory restrictions 

in place design to protect and rebuild 

fish stocks in accordance with 

applicable laws. 

LOAs will be issued to members of 

the Fixed Gear Sector exempting them, 

conditional upon their compliance with 

the Sector Operations Plan, from the GB 

cod possession restrictions, the 3,600–

hook limit in the GB RMA, the 2,000–

hook limit in the GOM and SNE RMAs 

and the GB Seasonal Closure Area when 

using hook gear, as specified in 

§§ 658.86(b)(2), 648.80(a)(4)(v), 

648.80(a)(3)(v), 648.80(b)(2)(v), and 

648.81(g), respectively. 

Classification 

NMFS has determined that this final 

rule is consistent with the FMP, the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable laws. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), the 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

NOAA, (Assistant Administrator) finds 

justification to waive the delay in 

effectiveness of this action, because it 

provides the basis for NMFS to 

immediately grant sector members the 

following exemptions from the 

regulations implementing the FMP: 

1. GB cod trip limit; 

2. GB Seasonal Closure; and 

3. GOM, GB and SNE limit on number 

of hooks fished. 

These regulations will remain 

applicable to ‘‘common pool’’ vessels. 

Because the Fixed Gear Sector will be 

fishing under a hard TAC for GB cod, 

effort controls (i.e., exemptions 1–3 

above) are not necessary to constrain the 

impact of the Fixed Gear Sector on the 

GB cod stock. Should the Fixed Gear 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 90 / Thursday, May 10, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 26565 

Sector’s allocated GB cod TAC be 

harvested, participating vessels would 

no longer be allowed to fish under a NE 

multispecies DAS, possess or land GB 

cod or other regulated species managed 

under the FMP, or use gear capable of 

catching groundfish (unless fishing 

under recreational or charter/party 

regulations). Fixed Gear Sector members 

will be required to fish under their 

current NE multispecies DAS allocation 

to account for any other regulated NE 

multispecies that they may catch while 

fishing for GB cod and are restricted to 

using hook gear only. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order (E.O.) 12866. This final 

rule does not contain policies with 

federalism or ‘‘takings’’ implications as 

those terms are defined in E.O. 13132 

and E.O. 12630, respectively. There are 

no Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, 

or conflict with this final rule. 

An EA has been prepared for this final 

rule in compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act. A copy of 

this EA may be obtained (see 

ADDRESSES). 

NMFS, pursuant to section 604 of the 

RFA, prepared this FRFA in support of 

the 2007 GB Cod Fixed Gear Sector 

Operations Plan and allocation of GB 

cod TAC. The FRFA incorporates the 

economic impacts identified in the 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, 

which was summarized in the preamble 

of the proposed rule and the 

corresponding analysis in the EA 

prepared for this action. A description 

of why this action was considered, 

along with the objectives of, and the 

legal basis for, this rule are contained in 

the preamble to the proposed rule and 

are not repeated here. 

Summary of the Issues Raised by Public 

Comments in Response to the IRFA. A 

Summary of the Assessment of the 

Agency of Such Issues, and a Statement 

of Any Changes Made from the 

Proposed Rule as a Result of Such 

Comments 

No comments pertaining to the IRFA 

or the economic impacts of the rule 

were received during the comment 

period for this action. 

Description of and Estimate of the 

Number of Small Entities to Which the 

Final Rule Would Apply 

The Small Business Administration 

size standard for small commercial 

fishing entities is $4 million in average 

annual receipts, and the size standard 

for small charter/party operators is $6.5 

million in average annual receipts. 

While an entity may own multiple 

vessels, available data make it difficult 

to determine which vessels may be 

controlled by a single entity. For this 

reason, each vessel is treated as a single 

entity for purposes of size determination 

and impact assessment. All permitted 

and participating vessels in the 

groundfish fishery, including 

prospective Fixed Gear Sector members, 

are considered to be small entities 

according to this standard and, 

therefore, there is no differential impact 

between large and small entities. The 

number of participants in the Fixed 

Gear Sector is 16, substantially less than 

the total number of active vessels in the 

groundfish fishery (nearly 1,000). Only 

these 16 vessels would be subject to the 

regulatory exemptions and operational 

restrictions proposed for the Fixed Gear 

Sector for FY 2007. 

Description of the Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements of the Final Rule 

This final rule contains a collectionof-information requirement subject to 

the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and 

which has been approved by Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

control number 0648–0202. Public 

reporting burden for the Submission of 

a Plan of Operation for an Approved 

Sector Allocation is estimated to average 

50 hr per response, and for the Annual 

Reporting Requirements for Sectors is 

estimated to average 6 hr per response, 

including the time for reviewing 

instructions, searching existing data 

sources, gathering and maintaining the 

data needed, and completing and 

reviewing the collection of information. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

the law, no person is required to 

respond to, nor shall any person be 

subject to a penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA, unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB Control Number. 

Description of Steps the Agency Has 

Taken to Minimize the Significant 

Economic Impact on Small Entities 

Consistent with the Stated Objectives of 

Applicable Statues 

Because this action is limited to 

reviewing and approving or 

disapproving the 2007 Fixed Gear 

Sector Operations Plan submitted by the 

Fixed Gear Sector, only two alternatives 

were considered regarding the 

Operations Plan and allocation of GB 

cod TAC: The no-action alternative and 

the proposed alternative. Under the noaction alternative, all Fixed Gear Sector 

vessels would remain in the common 

pool of vessels and be subject to all of 

the regulations implemented by 

Amendment 13 and subsequent 

adjustments to the FMP, and would not 

be allocated any portion of the GB cod 

target TAC. The proposed alternative 

implemented by this action enables 

vessels to fish under the restrictions of 

the Operations Plan summarized above 

and allocates a portion of the GB cod 

target TAC to Fixed Gear Sector vessels. 

The fixed gear fishermen and the 

Chatham and Harwichport, MA, 

communities (homeports for all Fixed 

Gear Sector vessels) are dependent upon 

GB cod and other groundfish. The 

Amendment 13 restrictions that reduced 

the GB cod trip limit had a 

disproportionate affect on these fixed 

gear fishermen. Under the common pool 

rules implemented by FW 42 (e.g., 

differential DAS counting) and 

Amendment 13 (restrictive daily trip 

limits for cod), it is likely that Fixed 

Gear Sector vessels would experience 

revenue losses. It is more likely that 

disruption to the Chatham/Harwichport 

communities would occur under the noaction alternative. In contrast, the 

proposed alternative would positively 

impact the 16 vessels that have 

voluntarily joined the Fixed Gear 

Sector, who are relatively dependent 

upon cod revenue compared to other 

participants in the groundfish fishery. 

Approval of the Operations Plan 

enables Fixed Gear Sector members to 

fish under a set of rules crafted by 

members in order to adapt to current 

economic and fishing conditions. The 

2007 Sector Operations Plan includes a 

number of provisions that would allow 

Fixed Gear Sector vessels to remain 

economically viable, minimize vessel 

expenses, and maximize consistent 

revenue streams throughout the fishing 

year compared to the no-action 

alternative, without compromising 

conservation objectives of the FMP. 

Such provisions include the 

establishment of a hard TAC for GB cod 

landed by Fixed Gear Sector vessels, the 

even distribution of the allocated GB 

cod TAC throughout the fishing year, an 

exemption from cod possession limits, 

an exemption from the GB Seasonal 

Closure Area for hook gear vessels, and 

exemptions from the maximum number 

of hooks that may be fished. By 

facilitating the continued supply of 

groundfish, the preferred alternative 

allows Fixed Gear Sector vessels to 

maximize revenues from available 

fishing opportunities and, therefore, 

minimizes adverse economic impacts on 

small entities compared to the no-action 

alternative. 

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


cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with RULES
26566 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 90 / Thursday, May 10, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

Dated: May 4, 2007. 

William T. Hogarth 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–2302 Filed 5–4–07; 2:47 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with RULES