Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 239 / Friday, December 12, 1997 / Proposed Rules 65401

stations and implementing the

designated entity provisions of section

309(j)(4) of the Act.

VI. Federal Rules That May Duplicate,

Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed

Rule

60. None.

Ordering Clauses

61. Accordingly, It is Ordered, That

Notice is Hereby Given of the proposed

regulatory changes described above, and

that Comment is Sought on these

proposals.

62. It Is Further Ordered, That

pursuant to applicable procedures set

forth in sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the

Commission’s Rules, 47 CFR 1.415 and

1.419, comments Shall Be Filed on or

before January 26, 1998 and reply

comments Shall Be filed on or before

February 17, 1998. To file formally in

this proceeding, commenters must file

an original and four copies of all

comments, reply comments, and

supporting documents filed in this

proceeding. If commenters want each

Commissioner to receive a personal

copy of their comments, they must file

an original plus nine copies. Comments

and reply comments should be sent to

the Office of the Secretary, Federal

Communications Commission, Room

222, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington,

D.C. 20554. In addition, commenters

should file copies of any such pleadings

with the Mass Media Bureau, Video

Services Division, Room 702, and Audio

Services Division, Room 302, 1919 M

St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554, and

with the Office of General Counsel,

Room 610, 1919 M St., N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20554. Comments and

reply comments will be available for

public inspection during regular

business hours in the FCC Reference

Center, 1919 M St., N.W., Washington,

D.C. 20554.

63. It Is Further Ordered, That written

comments by the public on the

proposed and/or modified information

collections are due January 26, 1998.

Written comments must be submitted by

the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) on the proposed and/or modified

information collections on or before

February 10, 1998. In addition to filing

comments with the Secretary, a copy of

any comments on the information

collections contained herein should be

submitted to Judy Boley, Federal

Communications Commission, Room

234, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington,

DC 20554, or via the Internet to

jboley@fcc.gov, and to Timothy Fain,

OMB Desk Officer, 10236 NEOB, 725—

17th Street, N.W., Washington, DC

20503 or via the Internet to fain—

t@al.eop.gov.

64. It is Further Ordered, That,

effective upon the close of business on

the date of release of this Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission

Will Not Accept applications for

construction permits for new stations or

for major changes to existing facilities in

any commercial broadcast or secondary

broadcast service. However, the

Commission Will Accept applications

timely filed in response to an

outstanding cut-off list or an open filing

window.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–32520 Filed 12–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

49 CFR Part 213

[Docket No. RST–90–1, Notice No. 7]

RIN 2130–AA75

Track Safety Standards; Miscellaneous

Proposed Revisions

AGENCY: Federal Railroad

Administration (FRA), Department of

Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking,

request for additional comments.

SUMMARY: This notice contains

information about a document entitled,

‘‘Evaluation of Proposed High Speed

Track Surface Geometry Specification’’

which addresses proposed track safety

standards for high speed rail and was

submitted to FRA by the Volpe National

Transportation Systems Center

(VNTSC). The document was submitted

after the close of the comment period for

the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to

revise the Federal track safety standards,

published July 3, 1997 at 62 FR 36138.

Because the contents of the submission

may affect the outcome of the final rule

in this proceeding, this notice solicits

comments on the document.

DATES: The deadline for submission of

comments to the VNTSC document is

December 22, 1997.

ADDRESSES: To view the VNTSC

document: The VNTSC document for

which FRA is soliciting comments may

be reviewed in Room 7051 of FRA

headquarters at 1120 Vermont Avenue,

N.W., Washington, D.C.

Written comments: Written comments

should identify the docket number and

the notice number and should be

submitted in triplicate to: Docket Clerk,

Office of Chief Counsel, Federal

Railroad Administration, 400 Seventh

Street, S.W., Mail Stop 10, Washington,

D.C. 20590. Persons desiring to be

notified that their written comments

have been received by FRA should

include with their comments a stamped,

self-addressed postcard. The Docket

Clerk will indicate on the postcard the

date on which the comments were

received and will return the card to the

addressee. Written comments will be

available for examination during regular

business hours in Room 7051 of FRA

headquarters at 1120 Vermont Avenue,

N.W., Washington, D.C.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David W. Jamieson, Office of Safety

Enforcement, Federal Railroad

Administration, 400 Seventh Street,

S.W., Mail Stop 25, Washington, D.C.

20590 (telephone: 202–632–3341), or

Nancy Lummen Lewis, Office of Chief

Counsel, Federal Railroad

Administration, 400 Seventh Street,

S.W., Mail Stop 10, Washington, D.C.

20590 (telephone: 202–632–3174).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

notice summarizes a working paper

issued recently by the VNTSC entitled,

‘‘Evaluation of Proposed High Speed

Track Surface Geometry Specification,’’

dated December 1, 1997. The working

paper has been placed in the docket for

this proceeding. The working paper

evaluates the response of different high

speed locomotive designs to track

profile geometry variations. It focuses

on a comparative analysis of high speed

locomotive designs with carbodymounted traction motors and

locomotive designs with truck-mounted

traction motors. The minimum

amplitudes of track profile variations

required to cause excessive vertical

accelerations in the operator’s cab and

to cause suspension bottoming are

compared with the maximum

amplitudes prescribed in the proposed

high speed track safety standards

published in a Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking on July 3, 1997. The

analysis shows that a locomotive

designed with truck-mounted traction

motors requires an approximately 33

percent smaller track profile variation

amplitude to cause excessive vertical

accelerations than a locomotive

designed with carbody-mounted

traction motors.

The analysis contained in the VNTSC

working paper may affect the outome of

the final rule for this proceeding.

Therefore, FRA invites comments

relevant to the information included in

the working paper.
65402 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 239 / Friday, December 12, 1997 / Proposed Rules

Issued in Washington, D.C. on December 5,

1997.

Edward R. English,

Director, Office of Safety Enforcement,

Federal Railroad Administration.

[FR Doc. 97–32510 Filed 12–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 229

[I.D. 042597B]

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental

to Commercial Fishing Operations;

Gulf of Maine Harbor Porpoise Take

Reduction Plan Regulations

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Reopening of public comment

period.

SUMMARY: On August 13, 1997, NMFS

published proposed regulations to

implement a plan to reduce the bycatch

and mortality of harbor porpoises that

occur incidental to sink gillnet fishing

in the Gulf of Maine. The public

comment period for the proposed

regulations ended on October 14, 1997.

NMFS is hereby reopening the public

comment period for an additional 30

days. The comment period will reopen

on December 16, 1997, and extend until

January 14, 1998.

DATES: Written comments must be

received on or before January 14, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on the

proposed regulations to Chief, Marine

Mammal Division, Office of Protected

Resources, National Marine Fisheries

Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver

Spring, MD 20910, or by calling (301)

713-2322. Copies of the draft Harbor

Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP)

and Environmental Assessment are

available upon request from Douglas

Beach, Northeast Region, NMFS, One

Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930,

or from Donna Wieting, Office of

Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD

20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kevin Chu, NMFS, 508–495–2291 or

Donna Wieting, NMFS, 301–713–2322.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August

13, 1997 (62 FR 43302), NMFS

published a proposed regulation to

implement a plan to reduce the bycatch

and mortality of harbor porpoises that

occur incidental to sink gillnet fishing

in the Gulf of Maine. These regulations

were based on a draft HPTRP submitted

by the Gulf of Maine Harbor Porpoise

Take Reduction Team (HPTRT)

pursuant to the Marine Mammal

Protection Act. The notice indicated

that comments must be received by

October 14, 1997.

NMFS has decided to reconvene the

HPTRT on December 16 and 17, 1997.

NMFS has, therefore, decided to reopen

the public comment period on the

proposed regulations for an additional

30 days from the first date of the HPTRT

meeting.

Dated: December 8, 1997.

Patricia A. Montanio,

Deputy Director, Office of Protected

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–32474 Filed 12–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 971124274–7274–01; I.D.

110597A]

RIN 0648–AH67

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Forage Fish Species

Category

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulations to

implement Amendment 36 to the

Fishery Management Plan for the

Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea

and Aleutian Islands Area and

Amendment 39 to the Fishery

Management Plan for Groundfish of the

Gulf of Alaska (FMPs). This action

would define a forage fish species

category in both FMPs and implement

associated management measures. The

intended effect of this action is to

prevent the development of a

commercial directed fishery for forage

fish, which are a critical food source for

many marine mammal, seabird, and fish

species. This action is necessary to

conserve and manage the forage fish

resource off Alaska and to further the

goals and objectives of the FMPs.

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule

must be received at the following

address by January 26, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to

the Assistant Regional Administrator,

Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska

Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau,

AK 99802, Attn: Lori J. Gravel, or

delivered to the Federal Building, 709

West 9th. Street, Juneau, AK. Copies of

the proposed FMP amendments and the

Environmental Assessment/Regulatory

Impact Review (EA/RIR) prepared for

Amendments 36 and 39 are available

from NMFS at the above address, or by

calling the Alaska Region, NMFS, at

907–586–7228.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent

Lind, 907–586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

domestic groundfish fisheries in the

exclusive economic zone of the Bering

Sea and Aleutian Islands management

area (BSAI) and of the Gulf of Alaska

(GOA) are managed by NMFS under the

FMPs. The FMPs were prepared by the

North Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council) under the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens

Act). Regulations governing the

groundfish fisheries of the BSAI and

GOA appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and

679.

The Council has submitted

Amendments 36 and 39 for Secretarial

review and a Notice of Availability

(NOA) of the FMP amendments was

published on November 12, 1997 (62 FR

60682), with comments on the FMP

amendments invited through January

12, 1997. Written comments may

address the FMP amendments, the

proposed rule, or both, but must be

received by January 12, 1997, to be

considered in the approval/disapproval

decision on the FMP amendments.

Management Background and Need for

Action

Forage fish are abundant fishes that

are preyed upon by marine mammals,

seabirds, and commercially important

groundfish species. Forage fish perform

a critical role in the complex ecosystem

functions of the BSAI and the GOA by

providing the transfer of energy from the

primary or secondary producers to

higher trophic levels.

Significant declines in marine

mammals and seabirds in the BSAI and

GOA have raised concerns that

decreases in the forage fish biomass may

contribute to the further decline of

marine mammal, seabird, and

commercially important fish

populations. Forage fish are the

principal diet of more than two thirds

of Alaskan seabirds. In addition, many

seabirds can subsist on a variety of

invertebrates and fish during