40684 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 159 / Thursday, August 16, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

■ 2. Amend section 552.238–82 by 

revising paragraph (d)(4) to read as 

follows: 

552.238–82 Special Ordering Procedures 

for the Acquisition of Order-Level Materials. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(4) The value of order-level materials 

in a task or delivery order, or the 

cumulative value of order-level 

materials in orders against an FSS BPA 

awarded under a FSS contract shall not 

exceed 33.33 percent. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2018–17639 Filed 8–15–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–61–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 170828822–70999–02] 

RIN 0648–XG392 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

2018 Commercial Quota Harvested for 

the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

2018 summer flounder commercial 

quota allocated to the Commonwealth of 

Massachusetts has been harvested. 

Vessels issued a commercial Federal 

fisheries permit for the summer 

flounder fishery may not land summer 

flounder in Massachusetts for the 

remainder of calendar year 2018, unless 

additional quota becomes available 

through a transfer from another state. 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery require publication of 

this notification to advise Massachusetts 

that the quota has been harvested, and 

to advise vessel and dealer permit 

holders that no Federal commercial 

quota is available to land summer 

flounder in Massachusetts. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hours local time, 

August 14, 2018, through December 31, 

2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Hanson, (978) 281–9180, or 

Cynthia.Hanson@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR 

part 648. The regulations require annual 

specification of a commercial quota that 

is apportioned on a percentage basis 

among the coastal states from Maine 

through North Carolina. The process to 

set the annual commercial quota and the 

percent allocated to each state is 

described in § 648.102. 

The overall commercial quota for 

summer flounder in the 2018 fishing 

year is 6,436,120 lb (2,919,375 kg) (83 

FR 4165, January 30, 2018). The percent 

allocated to vessels landing summer 

flounder in Massachusetts is 6.82046 

percent, resulting in an initial state 

commercial quota of 438,973 lb (199,115 

kg). However, Massachusetts’ initial 

2018 commercial quota was reduced to 

404,742 lb (183,588 kg) due to a 2017 

quota overage of 34,231 lb (15,527 kg). 

Massachusetts has received one quota 

transfer of 5,450 lb (2,472 kg) from 

North Carolina on March 9, 2018 (83 FR 

11146), bringing its commercial quota to 

410,192 lb (186,060 kg). 

The NMFS Administrator for the 

Greater Atlantic Region (Regional 

Administrator), monitors the state 

commercial landings and determines 

when a state’s commercial quota has 

been harvested. NMFS is required to 

publish notification in the Federal 

Register advising and notifying 

Federally permitted commercial vessels 

and dealers that, effective upon a 

specific date, the state’s commercial 

quota has been harvested and no 

commercial quota is available for 

landing summer flounder in that state. 

The Regional Administrator has 

determined, based upon dealer reports 

and other available information, that the 

2018 Massachusetts commercial 

summer flounder quota will be 

harvested by August 14, 2018. 

Section 648.4(b) provides that Federal 

permit holders agree, as a condition of 

the permit, not to land summer flounder 

in any state that the Regional 

Administrator has determined no longer 

has commercial quota available. 

Therefore, effective 0001 hours local 

time, August 14, 2018, landings of 

summer flounder in Massachusetts by 

vessels holding summer flounder 

commercial Federal fisheries permits 

are prohibited for the remainder of the 

2018 calendar year, unless additional 

quota becomes available through a 

transfer and is announced in the 

Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours 

local time, August 14, 2018, federally 

permitted dealers are also notified that 

they may not purchase summer flounder 

from federally permitted vessels that 

land in Massachusetts for the remainder 

of the calendar year, or until additional 

quota becomes available through a 

transfer from another state. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior 

notice and the opportunity for public 

comment because it would be contrary 

to the public interest. This action closes 

the commercial summer flounder 

fishery for Massachusetts until January 

1, 2019, under current regulations. The 

regulations at § 648.103(b) require such 

action to ensure that summer flounder 

vessels do not exceed quotas allocated 

to the states. If implementation of this 

closure was delayed to solicit prior 

public comment, the quota for this 

fishing year will be exceeded, thereby 

undermining the conservation 

objectives of the Summer Flounder 

Fishery Management Plan. The 

Assistant Administrator further finds, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good 

cause to waive the 30-day delayed 

effectiveness period for the reason 

stated above. 

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

Dated: August 10, 2018. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17620 Filed 8–13–18; 4:15 pm] 

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