Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 41 / Thursday, March 1, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 12503 

State and county Location and case 

No. 

Date and name of newspaper 

where notice was published Chief executive officer of community Effective date of modification 

Community 

No. 

Orange ............. Town of Chapel Hill 

(10–04–6903P).

November 23, 2011; November 

30, 2011; The Chapel Hill 

Herald.

The Honorable Mark Kleinschmidt, Mayor, 

Town of Chapel Hill, 405 Martin Luther 

King Jr. Boulevard, Chapel Hill, NC 

27514.

March 29, 2012 .............. 370180 

Stanly ............... City of Albemarle 

(11–04–3287P).

November 3, 2011; November 

10, 2011; The Stanly News & 

Press.

The Honorable Elbert L. Whitley, Jr., 

Mayor, City of Albemarle, 144 North 

2nd Street, Albemarle, NC 28001.

March 9, 2012 ................ 370223 

Stanly ............... Unincorporated 

areas of Stanly 

County (11–04– 

3287P).

November 3, 2011; November 

10, 2011; The Stanly News & 

Press.

Mr. Andy Lucas, Stanly County Manager, 

1000 North 1st Street, Suite 10, Albemarle, NC 28001.

March 9, 2012 ................ 370361 

Texas: 

Denton .............. City of Denton (11– 

06–3838P).

November 17, 2011; November 

24, 2011; The Denton 

Record-Chronicle.

The Honorable Mark A. Burroughs, 

Mayor, City of Denton, 215 East McKinney Street, Denton, TX 76201.

November 10, 2011 ........ 480194 

Guadalupe ........ City of Schertz (11– 

06–1933P).

November 28, 2011; December 

5, 2011; The Daily Commercial Recorder.

The Honorable Harold Baldwin, Mayor, 

City of Schertz, 1400 Schertz Parkway, 

Schertz, TX 78154.

April 3, 2012 ................... 480269 

Guadalupe ........ City of Selma (11– 

06–1933P).

November 28, 2011; December 

5, 2011; The Daily Commercial Recorder.

The Honorable Tom Daly, Mayor, City of 

Selma, 9375 Corporate Drive, Selma, 

TX 78154.

April 3, 2012 ................... 480046 

Tarrant .............. City of Southlake 

(11–06–2709P).

November 10, 2011; November 

17, 2011; The Fort Worth 

Star-Telegram.

The Honorable John Terrell, Mayor, City 

of Southlake, 1400 Main Street, Suite 

270, Southlake, TX 76092.

March 16, 2012 .............. 480612 

Wichita .............. City of Wichita Falls 

(11–06–1179P).

November 29, 2011; December 

6, 2011; The Times Record 

News.

The Honorable Glenn Barham, Mayor, 

City of Wichita Falls, 1300 7th Street, 

Wichita Falls, TX 76301.

April 4, 2012 ................... 480662 

Virginia: 

Loudoun ........... Unincorporated 

areas of Loudoun 

County (11–03– 

0738P).

November 30, 2011; December 

7, 2011; The Loudoun Times 

Mirror.

The Honorable Scott K. York, Chairman, 

Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, 

1 Harrison Street, Leesburg, VA 20175.

April 5, 2012 ................... 510090 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 

97.022, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’) 

Dated: February 15, 2012. 

Sandra K. Knight, 

Deputy Associate Administrator for 

Mitigation, Department of Homeland 

Security, Federal Emergency Management 

Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4955 Filed 2–29–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 100804324–1265–02] 

RIN 0648–BB88 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries off West Coast States; 

Biennial Specifications and 

Management Measures; Inseason 

Adjustments 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments 

to biennial groundfish management 

measures; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This final rule announces 

inseason changes to management 

measures in the Pacific Coast groundfish 

fisheries. These actions, which are 

authorized by the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP), are intended to allow fisheries to 

access more abundant groundfish stocks 

while protecting overfished and 

depleted stocks. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hours (local time) 

March 1, 2012. Comments on this final 

rule must be received no later than 

April 2, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by FDMS docket number 

NOAA–NMFS–2010–0194 by any one of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http://

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: 206–526–6736, Attn: Colby 

Brady 

• Mail: William W. Stelle, Jr., 

Regional Administrator, Northwest 

Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way 

NE., Seattle, WA 98115–0070, Attn: 

Colby Brady. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http://

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Colby Brady (Northwest Region, NMFS), 

phone: 206–526–6117, fax: 206–526– 

6736, colby.brady@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

This final rule is accessible via the 

Internet at the Office of the Federal 

Register’s Web site at http://

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action. 

Background information and documents 

are available at the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s Web site at 

http://www.pcouncil.org/. 

Background 

The Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP 

and its implementing regulations at title 

50 in the Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR), part 660, subparts C through G, 

regulate fishing for over 90 species of 

groundfish off the coasts of Washington, 

Oregon, and California. Groundfish 

specifications and management 

measures are developed by the Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council), 

and are implemented by NMFS. 

On November 3, 2010, NMFS 

published a proposed rule to implement 

the 2011–2012 harvest specifications 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with RULES
12504 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 41 / Thursday, March 1, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

and management measures for most 

species of the Pacific Coast groundfish 

fishery (75 FR 67810). The final rule to 

implement the 2011–12 harvest 

specifications and management 

measures for most species of the Pacific 

Coast Groundfish Fishery was published 

on May 11, 2011 (76 FR 27508). This 

final rule was subsequently amended by 

several inseason actions including the 

one that is referenced in this action, 

which published on December 21, 2011 

(76 FR 79122). 

This inseason action contains a 

modification to Washington state 

lingcod recreational management 

measures implemented in the December 

21, 2011, final rule (76 FR 79122). 

Background and Need for Clarification 

of Washington State Lingcod 

Recreational Fishery Management 

Measures 

The Council recommended adjusting 

the biennial groundfish management 

measures for the remainder of the 

biennial period to respond to updated 

fishery information and other inseason 

management needs at its November 2– 

November 6 meeting in Costa Mesa, 

California. One of the changes included 

adoption of regulations that would 

create a lingcod recreational fishing 

closure off Washington to conform with 

state regulations. NMFS implemented 

this change by inseason action on 

December 21, 2011 (76 FR 79122). As 

published, the final regulations 

contained errors within 

§ 660.360(c)(1)(i)(D)(2) of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR) that may 

mislead the public and needs to be 

clarified. This clarification will 

establish the appropriate language in 

that paragraph. 

In establishing the new closure for 

lingcod, regulations unintentionally 

allowed lingcod fishing between a 

boundary line approximating the 30-fm 

(55-m) depth contour and the new 

lingcod closure area from March 15 

through June 15. This is inconsistent 

with the intent of the regulations, which 

was to close the areas both seaward of 

the 30-fm (50-m) boundary line and the 

area seaward of the new lingcod closure 

line. Those area restrictions would both 

apply on the dates that were outlined, 

except on days that the primary halibut 

fishery is open. As published, the 

regulations in this paragraph do not 

fully implement the Council’s 

recommendation. This regulation would 

be confusing to the public if it is not 

clarified. 

Therefore, as the Council 

recommended, NMFS is implementing a 

lingcod recreational fishery area closure 

as follows: Lingcod fishing is prohibited 

year round, except in Marine Area 2 on 

days when the Pacific halibut fishery is 

open, in the area seaward (West) of a 

straight line connecting all of the 

following points in the order stated: 

47°31.70′ N. lat., 124°45.00′ W. long.; 

46°38.17′ N. lat., 124°30.00′ W. long.; 

46°38.17′ N. lat., 124°21.00′ W. long.; 

and 46°25.00′ N. lat., 124°21.00′ W. 

long. 

Classification 

This final rule makes routine inseason 

adjustments to groundfish fishery 

management measures based on the best 

available information and is taken 

pursuant to the regulations 

implementing the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish FMP. 

This action is taken under the 

authority of 50 CFR 660.60(c) and is 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

This inseason adjustment is also taken 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act), and is in accordance with 50 CFR 

part 660, the regulations implementing 

the FMP. This action is based on the 

most recent information available. 

For the following reasons, NMFS 

finds good cause to waive prior public 

notice and comment on the revisions to 

groundfish management measures under 

5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) because notice and 

comment would be impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest. Also, for 

the same reasons, NMFS finds good 

cause to waive the 30-day delay in 

effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3), so that this final rule may 

become effective as quickly as possible. 

The recently available information 

upon which the changes to the 

Washington recreational management 

measure changes are based was 

originally provided to the Council, and 

the Council made its recommendations, 

at its November 2–6, 2011, meeting in 

Costa Mesa, California. The Council 

recommended that these changes be 

implemented by January 1, 2012 or as 

quickly as possible thereafter. For the 

actions to be implemented in this final 

rule, affording the time necessary for 

prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment would prevent NMFS from 

managing fisheries using the best 

available science to approach, without 

exceeding, the ACLs for federally 

managed species in accordance with the 

FMP and applicable laws. The 

adjustments to management measures in 

this document affect recreational 

fisheries off Washington State. 

These adjustments to management 

measures must be implemented in a 

timely manner: To conform federal 

regulations to the new Washington State 

lingcod recreational fishing area closure 

prior to the March 17 opening of the 

recreational fishery. If this rule is not 

implemented immediately, the public 

will have incorrect information 

regarding boundaries used, and allowed 

fishing activities for groundfish fisheries 

management, which would cause 

confusion and be inconsistent with the 

intent of the December 21, 2011 

inseason action. It would be contrary to 

the public interest to delay 

implementation of these changes until 

after public notice and comment, 

because making this regulatory change 

immediately allows harvest as intended 

by the Council in fisheries that are 

important to coastal communities in a 

manner that prevents ACLs of 

overfished species from being exceeded, 

preventing premature closure of the 

recreational fishery. 

No aspect of this action is 

controversial and no change in 

operating practices in the fishery is 

required from those intended in this 

inseason adjustment, as state regulations 

are already in place to the effect of this 

conforming action. 

Delaying these changes would also 

keep management measures in place 

that are not based on the best available 

information. Accordingly, for the 

reasons stated above, NMFS finds good 

cause to waive prior notice and 

comment and the delay in effectiveness. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Fisheries, Fishing, Indian fisheries. 

Dated: February 27, 2012. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16 U.S.C. 7001 et seq. 

■ 2. In § 660.360, paragraph 

(c)(1)(i)(D)(2) is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 660.360 Recreational fishery— 

management measures. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(D) * * * 

(2) Between the Queets River 

(47°31.70′ N. lat.) and Leadbetter Point 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 41 / Thursday, March 1, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 12505 

(46°38.17′ N. lat.) (Washington state 

Marine Area 2), recreational fishing for 

groundfish, is prohibited seaward of a 

boundary line approximating the 30 fm 

(55 m) depth contour from March 15 

through June 15 with the following 

exceptions: Recreational fishing for 

lingcod is permitted within the RCA on 

days that the primary halibut fishery is 

open; recreational fishing for rockfish is 

permitted within the RCA from March 

15 through June 15; recreational fishing 

for sablefish and Pacific cod is 

permitted within the recreational RCA 

from May 1 through June 15. In addition 

to the RCA described above, between 

the Queets River (47°31.70′ N. lat.) and 

Leadbetter Point (46°38.17′ N. lat.) 

(Washington state Marine Area 2), 

recreational fishing for lingcod is 

prohibited year round seaward of a 

straight line connecting all of the 

following points in the order stated: 

47°31.70′ N. lat., 124°45.00′ W. long.; 

46°38.17′ N. lat., 124°30.00′ W. long. 

with the following exceptions: On days 

that the primary halibut fishery is open 

lingcod may be taken, retained and 

possessed within the lingcod area 

closure. Days open to Pacific halibut 

recreational fishing off Washington are 

announced on the NMFS hotline at 

(206) 526–6667 or (800) 662–9825. 

Retention of lingcod seaward of the 

boundary line approximating the 30 fm 

(55 m) depth contour south of 46°58′ N. 

lat. is prohibited on Fridays and 

Saturdays from July 1 through August 

31. For additional regulations regarding 

the Washington recreational lingcod 

fishery, see paragraph (c)(1)(iv) of this 

section. Coordinates for the boundary 

line approximating the 30 fm (55 m) 

depth contour are listed in § 660.71. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2012–4989 Filed 2–29–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 101126522–0640–02] 

RIN 0648–XB049 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pollock in Statistical 

Area 620 in the Gulf of Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed 

fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 

620 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This 

action is necessary to prevent exceeding 

the A season allowance of the 2012 total 

allowable catch of pollock for Statistical 

Area 620 in the GOA. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), February 27, 2012, through 

1200 hrs, A.l.t., March 10, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh 

Keaton, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

GOA exclusive economic zone 

according to the Fishery Management 

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of 

Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

under authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act. Regulations governing 

fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance 

with the FMP appear at subpart H of 50 

CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679. 

The A season allowance of the 2012 

total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock in 

Statistical Area 620 of the GOA is 

14,023 metric tons (mt) as established 

by the final 2011 and 2012 harvest 

specifications for groundfish of the GOA 

(76 FR 11111, March 1, 2011) and 

inseason adjustment (77 FR 438, January 

5, 2012). 

In accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(i), 

the Regional Administrator has 

determined that the A season allowance 

of the 2012 TAC of pollock in Statistical 

Area 620 of the GOA will soon be 

reached. Therefore, the Regional 

Administrator is establishing a directed 

fishing allowance of 13,773 mt and is 

setting aside the remaining 250 mt as 

bycatch to support other anticipated 

groundfish fisheries. In accordance with 

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional 

Administrator finds that this directed 

fishing allowance has been reached. 

Consequently, NMFS is prohibiting 

directed fishing for pollock in Statistical 

Area 620 of the GOA. 

After the effective date of this closure 

the maximum retainable amounts at 

§ 679.20(e) and (f) apply at any time 

during a trip. 

Classification 

This action responds to the best 

available information recently obtained 

from the fishery. The Acting Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA 

(AA), finds good cause to waive the 

requirement to provide prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment 

pursuant to the authority set forth at 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and § 679.25(c)(1)(ii) as 

such requirement is impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest. This 

requirement is impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest as it 

would prevent NMFS from responding 

to the most recent fisheries data in a 

timely fashion and would delay the 

closure of pollock in Statistical Area 620 

of the GOA. NMFS was unable to 

publish a notice providing time for 

public comment because the most 

recent, relevant data only became 

available as of February 24, 2012. 

The AA also finds good cause to 

waive the 30-day delay in the effective 

date of this action under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3). This finding is based upon 

the reasons provided above for waiver of 

prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment. 

This action is required by § 679.20 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: February 27, 2012. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4975 Filed 2–27–12; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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