Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 52 / Monday, March 19, 2007 / Proposed Rules 12749 

the events attendant to Sail Virginia 

2007. 

(c) Special local regulations. (1) 

Except for the Official Patrol, 

participants, and persons or vessels 

authorized by the Coast Guard Patrol 

Commander, no person or vessel may 

enter or remain in the regulated area. 

(2) Any person in the regulated area 

must stop immediately when directed to 

do so by any Official Patrol and then 

proceed only as directed. 

(3) All persons and vessels shall 

comply with the instructions of the 

Official Patrol. 

(4) When authorized to transit within 

the regulated area, all vessels shall 

proceed at the minimum speed 

necessary to maintain a safe course that 

minimizes wake near the parade and 

near other persons and vessels. 

(5) The Coast Guard vessels enforcing 

this section can be contacted on VHFFM Marine Band Radio, Channels 13 

and 16. Coast Guard Sector Hampton 

Roads can be contacted at telephone 

number (757) 638–6633. 

(6) Coast Guard Sector Hampton 

Roads will notify the public of changes 

in the status of this section by Marine 

Safety Radio Broadcast on VHF-FM 

Marine Band Radio, Channel 22 (157.1 

MHz). 

(d) Enforcement period. This section 

will be enforced from 6 a.m. June 8, 

2007, to 11 p.m. June 9, 2007. 

Dated: March 8, 2007. 

Larry L. Hereth 

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, 

Fifth Coast Guard District. 

[FR Doc. E7–4937 Filed 3–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 223 

[Docket No. 070122014–7057–02, I.D. 

011907A] 

RIN 0648–AV04 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; 

Sea Turtle Conservation Requirements 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking; extension of public 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: In response to requests from 

members of the public, NMFS extends 

the public comment period on an 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

(ANPR) regarding potential amendments 

to regulatory requirements for turtle 

excluder devices (TEDs) for an 

additional 60 days, through May 18, 

2007, for the purpose of receiving 

comments on the ANPR, published in 

the Federal Register on February 15, 

2007. 

DATES: Comments will be accepted 

through May 18, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

ANPR and requests for literature cited 

should be addressed to Michael 

Barnette, Southeast Regional Office, 

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 

263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, 

FL 33701. Comments may also be sent 

via fax to 727–824–5309, via email to 

0648–AV04@noaa.gov, or to the Federal 

eRulemaking portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov (follow 

instructions for submitting comments). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Barnette (ph. 727–824–5312, 

fax 727–824–5309, e-mail 

Michael.Barnette@noaa.gov), Ellen 

Keane (ph. 978–281–9300 x6526, fax 

978–281–9394, e-mail 

Ellen.Keane@noaa.gov), or Tanya 

Dobrzynski(ph. 301–713–2322, fax (301) 

427–2522, e-mail 

Tanya.Dobrzynski@noaa.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On February 15, 2007, NMFS 

published an ANPR regarding potential 

amendments to the regulatory 

requirements for TEDs (72 FR 7382). 

The ANPR announced that NMFS is 

considering amendments to the 

regulatory requirements for TEDs. 

Specific changes NMFS is considering 

include increasing the size of the TED 

escape opening currently required in the 

summer flounder fishery; requiring the 

use of TEDs in the flynet, whelk, calico 

scallop, and Mid-Atlantic sea scallop 

trawl fisheries; and moving the current 

northern boundary of the Summer 

Flounder Fishery-Sea Turtle Protection 

Area off Cape Charles, Virginia, to a 

point farther north. Other potential 

measures are also being considered. The 

objective of the proposed measures 

would be to effectively protect all life 

stages and species of sea turtle in 

Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico trawl 

fisheries where they are vulnerable to 

incidental capture and mortality. NMFS 

is seeking public comment on these 

potential amendments to the TED 

regulations. NMFS is also soliciting 

public comment on the need for, and 

development and implementation of, 

other methods to reduce bycatch of sea 

turtles in any commercial or 

recreational fishery in the Atlantic and 

Gulf of Mexico where sea turtle 

conservation measures do not currently 

exist. That Federal Register notice 

initiated a 30–day public comment 

period scheduled to end on March 19, 

2007. 

NMFS subsequently received requests 

from the public to extend the comment 

period. These requests stated that more 

time is necessary to more fully review 

and provide comments on issues 

mentioned in the ANPR. In this 

document NMFS is extending the public 

comment period for an additional 60 

days, until May 18, 2007, to allow 

additional time for these requesters and 

other interested parties to provide 

comments. 

Dated: March 13, 2007. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–4884 Filed 3–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[I.D. 030607C] 

RIN 0648–AV39 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Atlantic 

Sea Scallop Fishery; Amendment 13 to 

the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 

Management Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of a 

fishery management plan amendment; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

New England Fishery Management 

Council (Council) has submitted 

Amendment 13 to the Atlantic Sea 

Scallop Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP) (Amendment 13), incorporating 

the public hearing document and the 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(IRFA), for review by the Secretary of 

Commerce and is requesting comments 

from the public. The goal of 

Amendment 13 is to implement an 

observer service provider mechanism 

for the scallop fishery that would reactive the industry-funded observer 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS
12750 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 52 / Monday, March 19, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

program and the scallop total allowable 

catch (TAC) and days-at-sea (DAS) setaside program to help defray the cost of 

carrying observers. Observer coverage in 

the scallop fishery is necessary to 

monitor the bycatch of finfish and 

interactions with threatened and 

endangered species. Amendment 13 

specifies criteria for observer service 

providers, observer certification, 

decertification, and observer 

deployment logistics. Additionally, 

Amendment 13 allows adjustments to 

the observer program to be done by 

framework action. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 18, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 13, 

including the public hearing document 

and the IRFA, are available from Paul J. 

Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council, 

50 Water Street, Newburyport, MA 

01950. These documents are also 

available online at http:// 

www.nefmc.org. Amendment 13 is 

categorically excluded from the 

requirement to prepare an 

environmental assessment or an 

environmental impact statement. 

Written comments on Amendment 13 

may be sent by any of the following 

methods: 

• E-mail to the following address: 

ScallopAmendment13@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the following document 

identifier: ‘‘Comments on Scallop 

Amendment 13’’; 

• Electronically through the Federal 

e-Rulemaking portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov; 

• Mail to Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Northeast 

Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, 

Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside 

of the envelope ‘‘Comments on Scallop 

Amendment 13’’; or 

• Fax to Patricia A. Kurkul, 978–281–

9135. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carrie Nordeen, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

phone 978–281–9272, fax 978–281–

9135, e-mail carrie.nordeen@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At its 

February 6–8, 2007, meeting, the 

Council voted to adopt Amendment 13 

for submission to NMFS, and submitted 

the document and associated analyses 

on February 16, 2007. The Council held 

one public hearing on Amendment 13 

on February 7, 2007, in Portsmouth, NH, 

in conjunction with the Council’s 

February meeting. 

Since 1999, NMFS has required 

scallop vessels operating in Scallop 

Access Areas to pay for observer 

coverage. This provision operated 

effectively through a contractual 

arrangement with an observer provider 

until June 2004, when the Department 

of Commerce informed NMFS that it 

could not renew the contract without 

resolving possible conflicts with the 

Miscellaneous Receipts Act and policies 

regarding augmentation of 

appropriations. The contract 

arrangement had enabled vessel owners 

to pay the observer provider directly for 

observer deployments, with details of 

the observer deployment requirements 

specified through the contract. The 

expiration of the contract arrangement 

eliminated the mechanism allowing 

vessel owners to pay for observer 

coverage. Even though the mechanism 

allowing vessel owners to pay for 

observer coverage was inoperable, the 

Council continued to establish 

specifications for the scallop fishery that 

included observer set-asides (catch 

amounts and days-at-sea (DAS), 

depending on fishing area) that could be 

harvested on observed trips to offset the 

cost to the industry of observers. 

Observer coverage in the scallop 

fishery is necessary to monitor 

groundfish bycatch, particularly 

yellowtail flounder bycatch in the 

Scallop Access Areas within the 

groundfish closed areas. It is also 

needed to monitor interactions of the 

scallop fishery with sea turtles. Through 

fiscal year (FY) 2005, the Northeast 

Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) 

funded the necessary levels of observer 

coverage in the scallop fishery to 

evaluate bycatch of groundfish and sea 

turtles by utilizing carryover funding 

from FY 2004. However, in FY 2006, the 

NEFSC’s level of funding for the 

observer program provided for only 

minimal observer coverage in the 

scallop fishery. This meant that observer 

coverage would be constrained to levels 

less than what would be necessary for 

sufficient monitoring of the yellowtail 

flounder bycatch total allowable catch 

(TAC) in Scallop Access Areas and 

interactions between the scallop fishery 

and sea turtles in the Mid-Atlantic 

during the June through October period. 

To provide for sufficient observer 

coverage to monitor the scallop fishery, 

NMFS re-activated the industry-funded 

observer program, wherein scallop 

vessels would be required to procure 

observer coverage from a certified 

observer provider, on June 16, 2006 (71 

FR 34842), via emergency rule. The 

emergency rule was extended through 

June 11, 2007 (71 FR 69073, November 

29, 2006). 

To provide for observer coverage in 

the scallop fishery when the Scallop 

Access Areas re-open on June 15, 2007, 

and into the future, Amendment 13 

proposes to permanently re-activate the 

industry-funded scallop observer 

program implemented in 2006 via 

emergency rule. Like the emergency 

rule, Amendment 13 proposes to require 

scallop vessels to procure observer 

coverage from a NMFS-approved 

observer service provider. This action 

proposes criteria to be met in order for 

an entity to be approved by NMFS as an 

observer service provider, and proposes 

the requirements for certified observers 

for the scallop fishery. Additionally, 

Amendment 13 proposes to provide a 

framework mechanism to implement 

adjustments to the scallop observer 

program. The current Scallop FMP 

requires an amendment to make 

adjustments to the observer program. 

Providing for a framework mechanism 

in the Scallop FMP to make adjustments 

would allow more flexibility to improve 

the observer program. The type of 

adjustments that this action proposes to 

be made via a framework action are 

modifications to the percent of set-aside, 

adjustments to how the set-aside is 

allocated to vessels required to carry an 

observer, and modifications to how 

industry funds are collected and 

administered to cover the cost of 

observer coverage. 

Public comments are being solicited 

on Amendment 13 and its incorporated 

documents through the end of the 

comment period stated in this notice of 

availability. A proposed rule that would 

implement Amendment 13 may be 

published in the Federal Register for 

public comment, following NMFS’s 

evaluation of the proposed rule under 

the procedures of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Management and Conservation 

Act. Public comments on the proposed 

rule must be received by the end of the 

comment period provided in this notice 

of availability of Amendment 13 to be 

considered in the approval/disapproval 

decision on the amendment. All 

comments received by May 18, 2007, 

whether specifically directed to 

Amendment 13 or the proposed rule, 

will be considered in the approval/ 

disapproval decision on Amendment 

13. Comments received after that date 

will not be considered in the decision 

to approve or disapprove Amendment 1. 

To be considered, comments must be 

received by close of business on the last 

day of the comment period; that does 

not mean postmarked or otherwise 

transmitted by that date. 

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


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 52 / Monday, March 19, 2007 / Proposed Rules 12751 

Dated: March 13, 2007. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–4882 Filed 3–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS