44422 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 162 / Thursday, August 21, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

or what alternative measures will be

considered to effect a permanent

solution to the problem addressed by

the emergency rule.

The process of implementing

emergency regulations limits

substantially the public participation in

rulemaking that Congress intended

under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and

the Administrative Procedure Act. The

Councils and the Secretary must,

whenever possible, afford the full scope

of public participation in rulemaking. In

addition, an emergency rule may delay

the review of non-emergency rules,

because the emergency rule takes

precedence. Clearly, an emergency

action should not be a routine event.

Guidelines

NMFS provides the following

guidelines for the Councils to use in

determining whether an emergency

exists:

Emergency Criteria

For the purpose of section 305(c) of

the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the phrase

‘‘an emergency exists involving any

fishery’’ is defined as a situation that:

(1) Results from recent, unforeseen

events or recently discovered

circumstances; and

(2) Presents serious conservation or

management problems in the fishery;

and

(3) Can be addressed through

emergency regulations for which the

immediate benefits outweigh the value

of advance notice, public comment, and

deliberative consideration of the

impacts on participants to the same

extent as would be expected under the

normal rulemaking process.

Emergency Justification

If the time it would take to complete

notice-and-comment rulemaking would

result in substantial damage or loss to a

living marine resource, habitat, fishery,

industry participants or communities, or

substantial adverse effect to the public

health, emergency action might be

justified under one or more of the

following situations:

(1) Ecological—(A) to prevent

overfishing as defined in an FMP, or as

defined by the Secretary in the absence

of an FMP, or (B) to prevent other

serious damage to the fishery resource

or habitat; or

(2) Economic—to prevent significant

direct economic loss or to preserve a

significant economic opportunity that

otherwise might be foregone; or

(3) Social—to prevent significant

community impacts or conflict between

user groups; or

(4) Public health—to prevent

significant adverse effects to health of

participants in a fishery or to the

consumers of seafood products.

Dated: August 14, 1997.

Gary C. Matlock,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–22094 Filed 8–20–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 285

[Docket No. 970702161–7197–02; I.D.

041097C]

RIN 0648–AJ93

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

Fisheries; Import Restrictions

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: NMFS amends the regulations

governing the Atlantic highly migratory

species fisheries to prohibit importation

of Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT) and its

products in any form harvested by

vessels of Panama, Honduras, and

Belize. The amendments are necessary

to implement International Commission

for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

(ICCAT) recommendations designed to

help achieve the conservation and

management objectives for ABT

fisheries.

DATES: Effective August 20, 1997.

Restrictions on Honduras and Belize are

applicable August 20, 1997; restrictions

on Panama are applicable January 1,

1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the supporting

documentation are available from

Rebecca Lent, Chief, Highly Migratory

Species Management Division, Office of

Sustainable Fisheries (F/SF1), NMFS,

1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring,

MD 20910–3282.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chris Rogers or Jill Stevenson, 301–713–

2347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Atlantic tuna fisheries are managed

under the authority of the Atlantic

Tunas Convention Act (ATCA). Section

971d(c)(1) of the ATCA authorizes the

Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to

issue regulations as may be necessary to

carry out the recommendations of the

ICCAT. The authority to issue

regulations has been delegated from the

Secretary to the Assistant Administrator

for Fisheries, NOAA (AA).

Background information about the

need to implement trade restrictions

and the related ICCAT recommendation

was provided in the preamble to the

proposed rule (62 FR 38246, July 17,

1997) and is not repeated here. These

regulatory changes will further NMFS’

management objectives for the Atlantic

tuna fisheries.

Proposed Import Restrictions

In order to conserve and manage

North Atlantic bluefin tuna, ICCAT

adopted two recommendations at its

1996 meeting requiring its Contracting

Parties to take the appropriate measures

to prohibit the import of ABT and its

products in any form from Belize,

Honduras, and Panama. The first

recommendation was that its

Contracting Parties take appropriate

steps to prohibit the import of ABT and

its products in any form harvested by

vessels of Belize and Honduras as soon

as possible following the entry into

force of the ICCAT recommendation.

Accordingly, the prohibition with

respect to these countries is effective

August 20, 1997. The second

recommendation was that the

Contracting Parties take appropriate

steps to prohibit such imports harvested

by vessels of Panama effective January

1, 1998. This would allow Panama an

opportunity to present documentary

evidence to ICCAT, at its 1997 meeting

or before, that Panama has brought its

fishing practices for ABT into

consistency with ICCAT conservation

and management measures.

Accordingly, the prohibition with

respect to Panama will become effective

January 1, 1998.

Under current regulations, all ABT

shipments imported into the United

States are required to be accompanied

by a Bluefin Statistical Document (BSD).

Under this final rule, United States

Customs officials, using the BSD, will

deny entry into the customs territory of

the United States of shipments of ABT

harvested by vessels of Panama,

Honduras, and Belize and exported after

the effective dates of the trade

restrictions. Entry will not be denied for

any shipment in transit prior to the

effective date of trade restrictions.

Upon determination by ICCAT that

Panama, Honduras, and/or Belize has

brought its fishing practices into

consistency with ICCAT conservation

and management measures, NMFS will

publish a final rule in the Federal

Register that will remove import

restrictions for the relevant party. In
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 162 / Thursday, August 21, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 44423

such case, ABT harvested by Panama,

Honduras, and Belize and exported

prior to the effective date of the removal

of import restrictions would continue to

be prohibited from entry.

Changes From the Proposed Rule

No changes were made to the

proposed rule. NMFS conducted a

public hearing on the proposed rule

where one oral comment was received.

NMFS also received one written

comment over the 14-day comment

period. The oral comment suggested

that the rule would be ineffective at

furthering management objectives

considering that the United States

imports no ABT from the affected

countries. NMFS acknowledges that no

ABT are imported from these countries;

however, it is necessary to close a

potential market when other existing

markets, such as Japan, are closed.

Therefore, it is necessary to take this

action. The written comment supported

the rule as necessary to encourage other

Contracting Parties to do the same.

Relation to Proposed Consolidation

The regulatory amendments

contained in this final rule, when

proposed, were drafted to be consistent

with a proposed rule to consolidate all

of the regulations for Atlantic highly

migratory species (HMS) fisheries,

published on November 6, 1996 (61 FR

57361). The proposed consolidation

would group all regulations pertaining

to Atlantic HMS under 50 CFR part 630.

The final consolidated regulations have

not yet been issued. Accordingly, the

regulatory amendments contained in

this final rule were revised to make the

appropriate changes to the existing text

at 50 CFR part 285. The regulatory

amendments contained in this final rule

will eventually be incorporated into the

final consolidated regulations at 50 CFR

part 630. Copies of the proposed

consolidation rule may be obtained by

writing (see ADDRESSES) or calling the

contact person (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT).

Classification

This rule is published under the

authority of the ATCA, 16 U.S.C. 971 et

seq. The AA has determined that the

regulations contained in this rule are

necessary to implement the

recommendations of ICCAT and are

necessary for the conservation and

management of the Atlantic tuna

fisheries.

The Assistant General Counsel for

Legislation and Regulation of the

Department of Commerce certified to

the Chief of Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration when this rule

was proposed, that, if adopted, it would

not have a significant economic impact

on a substantial number of small

entities. No comments were received

that would change the basis for that

certification and accordingly, a final

regulatory flexibility analysis was not

prepared.

Notwithstanding any other provision

of law, no person is required to respond

to nor shall a person be subject to a

penalty for failure to comply with a

collection of information subject to the

requirements of the Paperwork

Reduction Act (PRA) unless that

collection of information displays a

currently valid OMB Control Number.

This final rule restates an information

collection requirement subject to the

PRA that is currently approved under

OMB Control Number 0648–0040. The

burden to complete and transmit a

Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document is

estimated at 20 minutes per document.

This final rule has been determined

not to be significant for purposes of E.O.

12866.

The AA has determined that with

respect to the prohibitions on imports

by vessels of Belize or Honduras, there

is good cause to waive the 30-day delay

in the effective date required by 5 U.S.C.

553(d). This rule implements an ICCAT

recommendation with respect to these

countries that must be implemented as

soon as possible after August 4, 1997,

the date the ICCAT recommendation

entered into force. NMFS will rapidly

communicate these dates to tuna

importers and trade representatives

through the FAX network and a press

release. As such, there is good cause to

delay the effective date of this rule with

respect to those two countries. The

effective date with respect to Panama is

January 1, 1998.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 285

Fisheries, Fishing, Penalties,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Treaties.

Dated: August 14, 1997.

Rolland A. Schmitten,

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Services.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 50 CFR part 285 is amended

as follows:

PART 285—ATLANTIC TUNA

FISHERIES

1. The authority citation for part 285

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.

2. New § 285.87 is added to subpart D

to read as follows:

§ 285.87 Import restrictions for Belize,

Honduras, and Panama.

(a) Effective August 20, 1997 all

shipments of Atlantic bluefin tuna or

Atlantic bluefin tuna products in any

form harvested by a vessel of Honduras

or Belize will be denied entry into the

United States, unless a validated Bluefin

Statistical Document required under

subpart F of this part, §§ 285.200

through 285.205, shows that a particular

shipment of such bluefin tuna was

exported prior to August 20, 1997.

(b) Effective January 1, 1998, all

shipments of Atlantic bluefin tuna or

Atlantic bluefin tuna products in any

form harvested by a vessel of Panama

will be denied entry into the United

States, unless a validated Bluefin

Statistical Document required under

subpart F of this part, §§ 285.200

through 285.205, shows that a particular

shipment of such bluefin tuna was

exported prior to January 1, 1998.

3. In § 285.205, paragraphs (k) and (l)

are added to read as follows:

§ 285.205 Prohibitions.

* * * * *

(k) Import any Atlantic bluefin tuna or

Atlantic bluefin tuna products into the

United States from Belize or Honduras

after August 20, 1997 unless a validated

Bluefin Statistical Document required

under this subpart F, §§ 285.200 through

285.205, shows that a particular

shipment of such bluefin tuna was

exported prior to August 20, 1997.

(l) Import any Atlantic bluefin tuna or

Atlantic bluefin tuna products into the

United States from Panama after January

1, 1998, unless a validated Bluefin

Statistical Document required under

this subpart F, §§ 285.200 through

285.205, shows that a particular

shipment of such bluefin tuna was

exported prior to January 1, 1998.

[FR Doc. 97–21984 Filed 8–20–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 285

[I.D. 081597B]

Atlantic Tuna Fisheries; Atlantic

Bluefin Tuna Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Closure.

SUMMARY: NMFS closes the fishery for

school Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT)