Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 9 / Tuesday, January 16, 2007 / Proposed Rules 1689 

on September 15, 1972, when the Potato 

Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) (7 

CFR part 1207) was issued. The plan 

was amended in May 1984, to increase 

the maximum assessment rate from 1 

cent per hundredweight to 0.5 percent 

of the previous 10-year average price 

received by growers. The Plan was 

amended again on March 8, 2006, to 

increase the assessment rate from 2 

cents per hundredweight to 2.5 cents 

per hundredweight. 

Assessments under this Program are 

used to fund promotional campaigns 

and to conduct research in the areas of 

U.S. marketing, and international 

marketing and to enable the Potato 

Board (Board) to exercise its duties in 

accordance with the Plan. 

The Plan is administered by the 

Board, which is composed of producer 

members, importer members, and one 

public member appointed by the 

Secretary of Agriculture from 

nominations submitted by eligible 

groups. Producer membership on the 

Board is based upon potato production 

within each State. Importer members, 

limited to five, are based upon the 

amount of potatoes, potato products, 

and seed potatoes imported into the 

U.S. All members serve terms of three 

years. 

AMS published in the Federal 

Register (63 FR 8014; February 18, 

1999) its plan to review certain 

regulations, including the Potato 

Research and Promotion Plan, 

(conducted under the Potato Research 

and Promotion Act), under criteria 

contained in Section 610 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA; 5 

U.S.C. 601–612). The Plan to review 

certain regulations was updated in the 

Federal Register on August 14, 2003 (68 

FR 48574), and updated again on March 

24, 2006 (71 FR 14827). 

AMS published a notice of review and 

request for written comments in the 

Federal Register on December 14, 2005 

(70 FR 73945). The comment period 

ended on February 13, 2006. AMS 

received three written comments. One 

commenter encouraged the Board to 

place more emphasis on the nutritional 

benefits of potatoes. The Board 

routinely conducts research into the 

nutritional benefits of potatoes and uses 

that information to promote the benefits 

of potatoes. A second commenter 

questioned why potato research is 

needed and suggested that the program 

be terminated. However, the Board does 

not conduct production research. The 

Board establishes and carries out 

research and development projects and 

studies in order to encourage, expand, 

improve or more efficiently market and 

utilize potatoes. The third commenter 

merely sent their organizational 

structure and did not provide any 

substantive comment. 

The review was undertaken to 

determine whether the Potato Research 

and Promotion Plan should be 

continued without change, amended, or 

rescinded (consistent with the 

objectives of the Potato Research and 

Promotion Act of 1971) to minimize the 

impacts on small entities. In conducting 

this review, AMS considered the 

following factors: (1) The continued 

need for the Potato Research and 

Promotion Plan; (2) the nature of 

complaints or comments received from 

the public concerning the Potato 

Research and Promotion Plan; (3) the 

complexity of the Potato Research and 

Promotion Plan; (4) the extent to which 

the Potato Research and Promotion Plan 

overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts with 

other Federal rules, and, to the extent 

feasible, with State and local 

regulations; and (5) the length of time 

since the Potato Research and 

Promotion Plan has been evaluated or 

the degree to which technology, 

economic conditions, or other factors 

have changed in the area affected by the 

Potato Research and Promotion Plan. 

Currently, there are approximately 

1,353 handlers, 5,223 producers, and 

300 importers of potatoes and potato 

products who are subject to the 

provisions of the Plan. Producers of less 

than 5 acres of potatoes are exempt from 

assessment. 

AMS provides Federal oversight of 

the Potato Research and Promotion 

Plan. The Plan is not unduly complex, 

and AMS has not identified any Federal 

rules, or State and local regulations that 

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with the 

Plan. Over the years, regulation changes 

have been made to address industry 

operation changes and to improve 

program administration. The goal of 

these evaluations is to assure that the 

Plan and the regulations implemented 

under it fit the needs of the industry and 

are consistent with the Act. 

Based upon its review, AMS has 

determined that the Plan should be 

continued without change. AMS plans 

to continue working with the potato 

industry in maintaining an effective 

program. 

Dated: January 10, 2007. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–426 Filed 1–12–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 229 

[Docket No. 060928250–6250–01; I.D. 

092506A] 

RIN 0648–AU90 

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental 

to Commercial Fishing Operations; 

Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction 

Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of 

public comment period. 

SUMMARY: On November 15, 2006, 

NMFS proposed to revise the 

regulations implementing the Atlantic 

Large Whale Take Reduction Plan 

(ALWTRP) by expanding the southeast 

U.S. restricted area to include waters 

out to 35 nautical miles from the South 

Carolina coast and modifying 

regulations pertaining to gillnetting 

within the southeast U.S. restricted area. 

The proposed action was determined to 

be necessary to protect northern right 

whales from serious injury or mortality 

from entanglement in gillnet gear in 

their calving area in Atlantic Ocean 

waters off the Southeastern U.S. With 

this notice, NMFS is reopening the 

public comment period for 15 days 

beginning January 16, 2007. 

DATES: Written comments on this 

proposed rule must be received by 5 

p.m. EST on January 31, 2007. 

Comments received between the close of 

the first comment period on December 

15, 2006, and the reopening of the 

comment period on January 16, 2007 

will be considered timely received. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be identified by the Regulatory 

Information Number (RIN) ‘‘0648–

AU90’’ and submitted by any of the 

following methods: 

• E-mail: 

sewhalerule.comments@noaa.gov. 

Include RIN 0648–AU90 in the subject 

line of the message. 

• Mail: Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. 

Petersburg, FL 33701. 

• Facsimile (fax) to: 727–824–5309, 

Attn: Assistant Regional Administrator, 

Protected Resources, NMFS. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with PROPOSALS
1690 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 9 / Tuesday, January 16, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number or RIN for this proposed 

rulemaking. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Engleby, 727–824–5312, or Barb 

Zoodsma, 904–321–2806. Individuals 

who use telecommunications devices 

for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service at 1–800–

877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. 

eastern time, Monday through Friday, 

excluding Federal holidays. 

Electronic Access: Regulations and 

background documents for the ALWTRP 

can be downloaded from the ALWTRP 

web site at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/ 

whaletrp/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 15, 2006, NMFS 

published a proposed rule to revise the 

regulations implementing the ALWTRP 

by expanding the southeast U.S. 

restricted area and modifying 

regulations pertaining to gillnetting 

within the southeast U.S. restricted area 

(71 FR 66482). That proposed rule 

allowed for a NMFS’ 30–day public 

comment period, which ended on 

December 15, 2006. 

NMFS subsequently received requests 

from the State of North Carolina and the 

Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) to 

extend the comment period. These 

requests stated that more time is 

necessary for the North Carolina public 

and members of the MMC to more fully 

review and provide comments on the 

proposed rule. Therefore, NMFS is 

reopening the public comment period 

for 15 additional days to allow 

additional time for these requesters and 

other interested parties to provide 

comments while ensuring permanent 

protections are in place for right whales 

before the end of the calving season. In 

this notice, NMFS is reopening the 

public comment period for 15 days from 

January 16, 2007 until January 31, 2007. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.; 

§ 229.32(f) also issued under 16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq. 

Dated: Januaary 8, 2007. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–367 Filed 1–12–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 300 

[Docket No. 061229343–6343–01; I.D. 

121406A] 

RIN 0648–AV03 

Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Catch 

Sharing Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to approve 

and implement changes to the Pacific 

Halibut Catch Sharing Plan (Plan) for 

the International Pacific Halibut 

Commission′s (IPHC or Commission) 

regulatory Area 2A off Washington, 

Oregon, and California (Area 2A). NMFS 

proposes to implement the portions of 

the Plan and management measures that 

are not implemented through the IPHC, 

which includes the sport fishery 

management measures for Area 2A. 

NMFS also proposes to revise the Area 

2A non-treaty commercial fishery closed 

areas, codified at 50 CFR part 300, 

subpart E. These actions are intended to 

enhance the conservation of Pacific 

halibut, to provide greater angler 

opportunity where available, to protect 

yelloweye rockfish and other overfished 

groundfish species from incidental 

catch in the halibut fisheries, and to 

ensure consistency between Federal 

groundfish and halibut regulations and 

between State and Federal regulations. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed 

changes to the Plan and on the proposed 

domestic Area 2A halibut management 

measures must be received no later than 

5 p.m., local time on February 2, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Plan, 

Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), 

and/or Categorical Exclusion (CE) are 

available from D. Robert Lohn, Regional 

Administrator, Northwest Region, 

NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, 

Seattle, WA 98115–0070. Electronic 

copies of the Plan, including proposed 

changes for 2007, and of the CE and 

draft RIR/IRFA are also available at the 

NMFS Northwest Region website: 

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov, click on 

‘‘Groundfish & Halibut.’’

You may submit comments on the 

proposed Plan and domestic Area 2A 

halibut management measures or 

supporting documents, identified by I.D. 

121406A, by any of the following 

methods: 

• E-mail: 

PHalibut2007.nwr@noaa.gov. Include 

the I.D. number 121406A in the subject 

line of the message. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: D. Robert Lohn, 

Administrator, Northwest Region, 

NMFS, Attn: Jamie Goen, 7600 Sand 

Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115–0070. 

• Fax: 206–526–6736, Attn: Jamie 

Goen. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jamie Goen or Yvonne deReynier 

(Northwest Region, NMFS), phone: 206–

526–6150, fax: 206–526–6736 or e-mail: 

jamie.goen@noaa.gov or 

yvonne.dereynier@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Northern Pacific Halibut Act (Halibut 

Act) of 1982, at 16 U.S.C. 773c, gives the 

Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) 

general responsibility for implementing 

the provisions of the Halibut 

Convention between the United States 

and Canada (Halibut Convention). It 

requires the Secretary to adopt 

regulations as may be necessary to carry 

out the purposes and objectives of the 

Halibut Convention and the Halibut Act. 

Section 773c of the Halibut Act 

authorizes the regional fishery 

management councils to develop 

regulations governing the Pacific halibut 

catch in their corresponding U.S. 

Convention waters that are in addition 

to, but not in conflict with, regulations 

of the IPHC. Each year between 1988 

and 1995, the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Pacific Council) 

had developed a catch sharing plan in 

accordance with the Halibut Act to 

allocate the total allowable catch (TAC) 

of Pacific halibut between treaty Indian 

and non-treaty harvesters and among 

non-treaty commercial and sport 

fisheries in Area 2A. 

In 1995, NMFS implemented the 

Pacific Council-recommended long-term 

Plan (60 FR 14651, March 20, 1995). In 

each of the intervening years between 

1995 and the present, minor revisions to 

the Plan have been made to adjust for 

the changing needs of the fisheries. The 

Plan allocates 35 percent of the Area 2A 

TAC plus 25,000 lb (11.3 mt) to 

Washington treaty Indian tribes in 

Subarea 2A–1 and 65 percent minus 

25,000 lb (11.3 mt) to non-Indian 

fisheries in Area 2A. The annual shift of 

25,000 lb (11.3 mt) from the non-tribal 

to the tribal fisheries has been made in 

response to a court order; 2007 is the 

final year that this shift must be made. 

The allocation to non-Indian fisheries is 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with PROPOSALS