65944 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

rule in the Federal Register and seek 

public comment on all aspects of the 

proposed revisions to North Pacific right 

whale critical habitat prior to issuing 

any final revision. 

References Cited 

The complete citations for the 

references used in this document are 

available (see ADDRESSES and FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. 

Dated: September 14, 2023. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20794 Filed 9–25–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 230921–0230] 

RIN 0648–BM51 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Framework Adjustments to 

Northeast Multispecies, Atlantic Sea 

Scallop, Monkfish, Northeast Skate 

Complex, and Atlantic Herring 

Fisheries; Southern New England 

Habitat Area of Particular Concern 

Designation 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: This action proposes to 

implement the New England Fishery 

Management Council’s Framework 

Adjustment that would identify a 

Habitat Area of Particular Concern 

offshore of Southern New England. This 

rule would adjust the following fishery 

management plans: Northeast 

Multispecies; Atlantic Sea Scallop; 

Monkfish; Northeast Skate Complex; 

and Atlantic Herring. The proposed 

Habitat Area of Particular Concern 

would be within and around wind lease 

areas in Southern New England, 

including Cox Ledge, to focus 

conservation recommendations on cod 

spawning habitats and complex benthic 

habitats that are known to serve 

important habitat functions to Councilmanaged fishery species. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

October 26, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2023–0101, by the following 

method: 

Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov, and enter 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2023–0101’’ in the 

Search box. Click the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on https://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). If you are unable to 

submit your comment through https://

www.regulations.gov, contact Sabrina 

Pereira (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT). 

Copies of the Southern New England 

Habitat Area of Particular Concern 

Framework and other supporting 

documents for this action are available 

upon request from Dr. Catherine 

O’Keefe, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council, 

50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, 

MA 01950. The supporting documents 

are also accessible via the internet at: 

https://

d23h0vhsm26o6d.cloudfront.net/ 

220822-SNE-HAPC-Framework.pdf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sabrina Pereira, Marine Habitat 

Resource Specialist, email: 

Sabrina.Pereira@noaa.gov; phone: (978) 

675–2178. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This action proposes the 

identification of a Habitat Area of 

Particular Concern (HAPC) in and 

around offshore wind lease areas in 

Southern New England (SNE), including 

Cox Ledge. The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) 

recommended the HAPC designation 

due to concerns about the potential 

adverse impact on essential fish habitat 

(EFH) from the development of offshore 

wind energy projects. The proposed 

designation would focus on important 

cod spawning grounds and areas of 

complex habitat that are known to serve 

important habitat functions to federally 

managed species within and adjacent to 

offshore wind development areas. 

Complex benthic habitat provides 

shelter for certain species during their 

early life history, refuge from predators, 

and feeding opportunities. 

HAPCs highlight specific types or 

areas of habitat within EFH that may be 

particularly vulnerable to human 

impacts. HAPC designations should be 

based on one or more of the following 

criteria: (1) The importance of the 

ecological function provided by the 

habitat, including both the historical 

and current ecological function; (2) the 

extent to which the habitat is sensitive 

to human-induced environmental 

degradation; (3) whether, and to what 

extent, development activities are, or 

will be, stressing the habitat type; and 

(4) the rarity of the habitat type (50 CFR 

600.815(a)(8)). As detailed below, if 

adopted, the HAPC designated by this 

action is based on all four of these 

attributes. 

An area’s status as an HAPC should 

lead to special attention regarding 

potential adverse effects on habitats 

within areas of particular concern from 

various activities (e.g., fishing, offshore 

wind energy). An HAPC designation 

does not provide any specific habitat 

management measures, such as 

restrictions on gear types, harvest levels, 

fishing locations, offshore wind survey 

and construction activities, or other 

activities with adverse effects on habitat 

in the area. 

Proposed Habitat Area of Concern 

Designation 

This action proposes the Council’s 

preferred alternative for the Southern 

New England HAPC designation, which 

would identify as an HAPC certain 

habitats in the area overlapping offshore 

wind lease sites in southern New 

England. The spatial extent of the HAPC 

is based on the footprint of the lease 

areas, buffered by approximately 10 km 

on all sides, combined with the 

footprint of the Cox Ledge spawning 

ground, which is based on recent 

evidence of cod spawning activity. 

Maps for the proposed HAPC 

designation are provided in the 

Council’s document (see ADDRESSES). 

The HAPC area would be designated 

EFH for the following species that 

occupy complex habitats within the 

footprint: Atlantic cod egg, larvae, 

juveniles, and adults; Atlantic herring 

eggs; Atlantic sea scallop eggs, 

juveniles, and adults; little skate 

juveniles and adults; monkfish juveniles 

and adults; ocean pout eggs, juveniles, 

and adults; red hake juveniles and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2023 / Proposed Rules 65945 

adults; winter flounder eggs, juveniles, 

and adults; and winter skate juveniles 

and adults. 

Complex habitats are defined as hard 

bottom substrates, defined by the 

Coastal and Marine Ecological 

Classification Standard (CMECS) as 

Substrate Class Rock Substrate, and by 

the four Substrate Groups: Gravels; 

gravel mixes; gravelly; and shell. This 

CMECS modifier was developed by 

NMFS for habitat mapping 

recommendations, including both largegrained and small-grained hard habitats. 

Hard bottom substrates with epifauna or 

macroalgae cover are also defined as 

complex habitat. 

Evidence of cod spawning activity at 

a site could be based on: Capture of ripe, 

running, or spent cod during fishery 

independent surveys; detections of 

acoustically tagged fish between 

November and April; detections of cod 

grunts in acoustic surveys; capture of 

cod larvae in ichthyoplankton surveys; 

and/or evidence of eggs in 

ichthyoplankton surveys (not species 

specific but indicative of spawning 

success). 

Designation of this HAPC would place 

a focus on areas that are experiencing 

current development stresses. The 

designated area overlaps areas leased for 

renewable energy development. Some 

projects are already permitted, others 

are currently undergoing environmental 

review, and others are still within the 

site assessment phase. The proposed 

HAPC’s spatial footprint closely aligns 

with the wind lease areas because these 

areas face differential levels of 

foreseeable on-going developmentrelated threats compared to surrounding 

areas. The HAPC boundary includes a 

buffer of approximately 10 km beyond 

the leased areas, recognizing that some 

types of development activities can 

generate impacts at scales of tens of 

kilometers beyond the site of 

construction and operations. For 

example, acoustic impacts may extend 

kilometers from a pile driving site. 

Greater scrutiny would be given to 

activities within the HAPC designated 

area when data indicate that cod 

spawning and/or complex habitats 

occur within or near a project or activity 

footprint. An HAPC focused on these 

conservation objectives is consistent 

with the Council’s Offshore Wind 

Energy Policy as well as prior offshore 

wind project specific comments 

provided by the Council in recent years. 

The cod spawning habitats within the 

proposed HAPC meet all four of the 

HAPC criteria identified above, and the 

complex bottom habitats meet all 

criteria except for ‘‘rarity.’’ The 

proposed HAPC area is important for 

current ecological function because it 

includes spawning sites, juvenile 

settlement areas, and feeding areas for 

species with EFH in the area, including 

various cod species. Georges Bank 

Atlantic cod, which is in poor stock 

condition (i.e., overfished and 

experiencing overfishing), spawns in the 

area, and SNE cod represent a 

genetically distinct sub-population. The 

subpopulation also contributes to the 

Georges Bank (GB) cod stock, thus, any 

impacts to SNE cod could also 

detrimentally impact the GB stock. With 

regard to sensitivity to anthropogenic 

stresses, cod spawning activities are 

particularly sensitive to adverse impacts 

from fishing and non-fishing activities, 

namely from offshore wind 

development (construction, operations, 

and maintenance), and complex habitats 

are susceptible to conversion and 

sedimentation. The proposed HAPC 

appears to meet the ‘‘extent of current 

or future development stresses’’ 

criterion because this area is facing an 

existing on-going development-related 

threat from offshore wind. Finally, 

regarding ‘‘rarity,’’ cod spawning 

habitats (based on acoustic 

environment, seafloor and water column 

setting) are rare with only one known 

grouping of active sites in Southern 

New England. Relative to complex 

habitat, these features are not 

considered rare (i.e., spatially or 

temporally very limited). 

The proposed HAPC is a nonregulatory designation. It is important to 

note that HAPC designations are 

intended to provide for increased 

attention when habitat protection 

measures are considered. HAPCs that 

are vulnerable to the potential impacts 

from anthropogenic activities warrant 

special attention when determining 

appropriate management measures to 

minimize, compensate, or mitigate those 

impacts. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 305(d) of the 

Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation 

and Management Act (MagnusonStevens Act), this action is necessary to 

implement adjustments to fishery 

management plans as identified below 

and as adopted and proposed by the 

New England Fishery Management 

Council. The NMFS Assistant 

Administrator has determined that this 

proposed rule is consistent with the 

Northeast Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP); Atlantic Sea 

Scallop FMP; Monkfish FMP; Northeast 

Skate Complex FMP; and Atlantic 

Herring FMP, other provisions of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable laws, subject to further 

consideration after public comment. In 

a previous action taken pursuant to 

section 304(b), the Council designed the 

FMP to specify the process for NMFS to 

take this action pursuant to MSA 

section 305(d), and this action puts in 

place administrative designations that 

are not implementing any associated 

management measures. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866, as 

amended by Executive Order 14094. 

This proposed rule would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small businesses 

pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (RFA). The HAPC designation does 

not impose any burdens on small 

businesses as there are no reporting 

requirements resulting from this action, 

and there are no operational 

requirements or regulations (i.e., fishing 

operations or effort, prices/revenues, or 

fishery behavior) resulting from this 

action. 

This action, if adopted, would not 

establish any new reporting or recordkeeping requirements. 

This proposed rule contains no new 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

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

Dated: September 21, 2023. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20938 Filed 9–25–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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