29456 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 26, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

48 CFR Parts 928, 931, 932, 933, 935, 

936, 937, 941, 942, 949, 950, 951, and 

952 

RIN 1991–AB88 

Acquisition Regulation: Subchapter 

E—General Contracting Requirements, 

Subchapter F—Special Categories of 

Contracting, and Subchapter G— 

Contract Management 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(DOE) is amending the Department of 

Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) 

Subchapters E—General Contracting 

Requirements, F—Special Categories of 

Contracting, and G—Contract 

Management to make changes to 

conform to the FAR, remove out-of-date 

coverage, and to update references. 

Today’s rule does not alter substantive 

rights or obligations under current law. 

DATES: Effective Date: June 25, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barbara Binney at (202) 287–1340 or by 

e-mail, barbara.binney@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Changes are to DEAR parts 928, 931, 

932, 933, 935, 936, 937, 941, 942, 949, 

950, 951, and 952. No changes are 

proposed for DEAR parts 927, 929, 930, 

934, 938, 939, 940, 943, 944, 945, 946, 

947, and 948. DOE will separately 

propose rules for changes to parts 927 

and 945, respectively. 

I. Background 

II. Comments and Responses 

III. Procedural Requirements 

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 

B. Review Under Executive Order 12988 

C. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act 

D. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act 

E. Review Under the National 

Environmental Policy Act 

F. Review Under Executive Order 13132 

G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 

H. Review Under the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 1999 

I. Review Under Executive Order 13211 

J. Review Under the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 2001 

K. Review Under the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996 

L. Approval by the Office of the Secretary 

of Energy 

I. Background 

This action updates the existing 

Department of Energy Acquisition 

Regulation (DEAR). Subchapters E, F, 

and G have sections that need to be 

updated to conform to the FAR. None of 

the changes are substantive or of a 

nature to cause any significant expense 

for DOE or its contractors. 

II. Comments and Responses 

DOE published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking on January 7, 2010 (75 FR 

964), with a public comment period 

ending on February 8, 2010. DOE 

received no comments. 

DOE amends the DEAR as follows: 

1. Section 932.501–2 is amended to 

reflect current procedures for unusual 

progress payments. 

2. Subpart 932.6 is amended to update 

the DEAR to conform with changes to a 

FAR section title within subpart 32.6 

which was revised by Federal 

Acquisition Circular 2005–027 effective 

October 18, 2008. 

3. Section 935.010 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (c) and (d). The 

report submittal process has been 

changed to electronic submission using 

the DOE Energy Link System (E–Link) at 

http://www.osti.gov/elink. The 

contracting officer shall require the 

contractors to use E–Link to submit a 

record with each report. 

4. Part 936 is amended to redesignate 

936.202 as 936.202–70 and change the 

title of that section to read ‘‘specification 

charges.’’ 

5. Part 937 is revised to add a new 

subpart, Subpart 937.2—Advisory and 

Assistance Services and section 937.204 

Guidelines for determining availability 

of personnel. Sections 937.204(a), (b), 

(d), and (e) are added to conform to FAR 

37.204 to provide the DOE guidelines 

for determining availability of sufficient 

personnel with the requisite training 

and capabilities to perform the 

evaluation or analysis of proposals. It 

also clarifies which DOE officials are 

responsible for making the 

determinations prescribed at FAR 

37.204 (a), (b), (d), and (e). 

6. Section 941.201–70 is amended to 

update the DOE Order reference by 

removing the remainder of the sentence 

after the second ‘‘FAR’’ and adding in its 

place ‘‘part 41 and the Department of 

Energy (DOE) Order 430.2B, 

Departmental Energy, Renewable Energy 

and Transportation Management, or its 

successor.’’ 

7. Section 942.803 is amended at 

paragraph (c) by removing the reference 

to 942.70 Audit Services which is no 

longer a subpart. 

8. Section 949.101 is revised to add 

‘‘Senior’’ before ‘‘Procurement 

Executive.’’ to conform the use of the 

Procurement Executive title within the 

FAR. 

9. Subpart 949.5 is removed and 

reserved. There is no longer a need for 

a DEAR termination clause for 

Architect-Engineer contracts. 

10. Section 951.102 paragraph (e)(4) is 

amended to remove the ‘‘(iii)’’ in the 

paragraph numbering to conform with 

numbering in the FAR. 

11. Section 952.247–70 is amended to 

remove repetitive language. 

12. The rule text is amended as noted 

in the table at paragraph 16, by 

removing ‘‘FAR’’ or ‘‘FAR part’’ and 

replacing it with ‘‘48 CFR’’ or ‘‘48 CFR 

part’’ and by updating other CFR 

citations. Section 931.205–47(h)(1) is 

amended by changing the capitalization 

of the word ‘‘part’’ in two places. Section 

952 has several changes in punctuation 

at 952.235–71 and 952.250–70. 

III. Procedural Requirements 

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 

Today’s regulatory action has been 

determined not to be a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ under Executive 

Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory Planning and 

Review,’’ (58 FR 51735, October 4, 

1993). Accordingly, this rule is not 

subject to review under that Executive 

Order by the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB). 

B. Review Under Executive Order 12988 

With respect to the review of existing 

regulations and the promulgation of 

new regulations, section 3(a) of 

Executive Order 12988, ‘‘Civil Justice 

Reform,’’ 61 FR 4729 (February 7, 1996), 

imposes on Executive agencies the 

general duty to adhere to the following 

requirements: (1) Eliminate drafting 

errors and ambiguity; (2) write 

regulations to minimize litigation; and 

(3) provide a clear legal standard for 

affected conduct rather than a general 

standard and promote simplification 

and burden reduction. With regard to 

the review required by section 3(a), 

section 3(b) of Executive Order 12988 

specifically requires that Executive 

agencies make every reasonable effort to 

ensure that the regulation: (1) Clearly 

specifies the preemptive effect, if any; 

(2) clearly specifies any effect on 

existing Federal law or regulation; (3) 

provides a clear legal standard for 

affected conduct while promoting 

simplification and burden reduction; (4) 

specifies the retroactive effect, if any; (5) 

adequately defines key terms; and (6) 

addresses other important issues 

affecting clarity and general 

draftsmanship under any guidelines 

issued by the United States Attorney 

General. Section 3(c) of Executive Order 

12988 requires Executive agencies to 

review regulations in light of applicable 

standards in section 3(a) and section 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 26, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 29457 

3(b) to determine whether they are met 

or if it is unreasonable to meet one or 

more of them. DOE has completed the 

required review and determined that, to 

the extent permitted by law, this rule 

meets the relevant standards of 

Executive Order 12988. 

C. Review Under the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires that an 

agency prepare an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis for any regulation for 

which a general notice or rulemaking is 

required, unless the agency certifies that 

the rule, if promulgated, will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities (5 

U.S.C. 605(b)). This rule updates 

references in the DEAR that apply to 

public contracts and does not impose 

any additional requirements on small 

businesses. Today’s rule does not alter 

any substantive rights or obligations 

and, consequently, today’s rule will not 

have a significant cost or administrative 

impact on contractors, including small 

entities. On the basis of the foregoing, 

DOE certifies that this rule would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Accordingly, DOE has not prepared a 

regulatory flexibility analysis for this 

rulemaking. DOE’s certification and 

supporting statement of factual basis 

will be provided to the Chief Counsel 

for Advocacy of the Small Business 

Administration pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

605(b). 

D. Review Under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act 

This final rule does not impose a 

collection of information requirement 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act, 

44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Existing burdens 

associated with the collection of certain 

contractor data under the DEAR have 

been cleared under OMB control 

number 1910–4100. 

E. Review Under the National 

Environmental Policy Act 

DOE has concluded that promulgation 

of this rule falls into a class of actions 

which would not individually or 

cumulatively have significant impact on 

the human environment, as determined 

by DOE’s regulations (10 CFR part 1021, 

subpart D) implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

Specifically, this rule is categorically 

excluded from NEPA review because 

the amendments to the DEAR are 

strictly procedural (categorical 

exclusion A6). Therefore, today’s rule 

does not require an environmental 

impact statement or environmental 

assessment pursuant to NEPA. 

F. Review Under Executive Order 13132 

Executive Order 13132, 64 FR 43255 

(August 4, 1999), imposes certain 

requirements on agencies formulating 

and implementing policies or 

regulations that preempt State law or 

that have federalism implications. 

Agencies are required to examine the 

constitutional and statutory authority 

supporting any action that would limit 

the policymaking discretion of the 

States and carefully assess the necessity 

for such actions. The Executive Order 

requires agencies to have an 

accountability process to ensure 

meaningful and timely input by State 

and local officials in the development of 

regulatory policies that have federalism 

implications. On March 14, 2000, DOE 

published a statement of policy 

describing the intergovernmental 

consultation process it will follow in the 

development of such regulations (65 FR 

13735). DOE has examined today’s rule 

and has determined that it does not 

preempt State law and does not have a 

substantial direct effect on the States, on 

the relationship between the National 

Government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. No further action 

is required by Executive Order 13132. 

G. Review Under the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4) generally 

requires a Federal agency to perform a 

written assessment of costs and benefits 

of any rule imposing a Federal mandate 

with costs to State, local or Tribal 

governments, or to the private sector, of 

$100 million or more. This rule does not 

impose any Federal mandate on State, 

local or Tribal governments or on the 

private sector. 

H. Review Under the Treasury and 

General Government Appropriations 

Act, 1999 

Section 654 of the Treasury and 

General Government Appropriations 

Act, 1999 (Pub. L. 105–277), requires 

Federal agencies to issue a Family 

Policymaking Assessment for any 

rulemaking or policy that may affect 

family well-being. This rule will have 

no impact on the autonomy or integrity 

of the family as an institution. 

Accordingly, DOE has concluded that it 

is not necessary to prepare a Family 

Policymaking Assessment. 

I. Review Under Executive Order 13211 

Executive Order 13211, Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use, 66 FR 28355 (May 

22, 2001), requires Federal agencies to 

prepare and submit to Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs of 

the Office of Management and Budget, 

a Statement of Energy Effects for any 

proposed significant energy action. A 

‘‘significant energy action’’ is defined as 

any action by an agency that 

promulgates or is expected to lead to 

promulgation of a final rule, and that: 

(1) Is a significant regulatory action 

under Executive Order 12866, or any 

successor order; (2) is likely to have a 

significant adverse effect on the supply, 

distribution, or use of energy, or (3) is 

designated by the Administrator of 

OIRA as a significant energy action. For 

any significant energy action, the agency 

must give a detailed statement of any 

adverse effects on energy supply, 

distribution, or use should the proposal 

be implemented, and of reasonable 

alternatives to the action and their 

expected benefits on energy supply, 

distribution, and use. Today’s rule is not 

a significant energy action. Accordingly, 

DOE has not prepared a Statement of 

Energy Effects. 

J. Review Under the Treasury and 

General Government Appropriations 

Act, 2001 

The Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 2001 

(44 U.S.C. 3516, note) provides for 

agencies to review most disseminations 

of information to the public under 

guidelines established by each agency 

pursuant to general guidelines issued by 

OMB. OMB’s guidelines were published 

at 67 FR 8452 (February 22, 2002), and 

DOE’s guidelines were published at 67 

FR 62446 (October 7, 2002). DOE has 

reviewed today’s rule under the OMB 

and DOE guidelines and has concluded 

that it is consistent with applicable 

policies in those guidelines. 

K. Review Under the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996 

As required by 5 U.S.C. 801, the 

Department will report to Congress 

promulgation of this rule prior to its 

effective date. The report will state that 

it has been determined that the rule is 

not a ‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(3). 

L. Approval by the Office of the 

Secretary of Energy 

Issuance of today’s rule has been 

approved by the Office of the Secretary. 


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29458 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 26, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR parts 928, 

931, 932, 933, 935, 936, 937, 941, 942, 

949, 950, 951, and 952 

Government procurement. 

Issued in Washington, DC on May 19, 

2010. 

Patrick M. Ferraro, 

Acting Director, Department of Energy. 

Joseph F. Waddell, 

Acting Director, Office of Acquisition and 

Supply Management, National Nuclear 

Security Administration. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, the Department of Energy 

amends Chapter 9 of Title 48 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations as set forth 

below. 

■ 1. The authority citations for parts 

928, 931, 932, 933, 935, 936, 941, and 

942, continue to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. and 50 

U.S.C. 2401 et seq. 

PART 932—CONTRACT FINANCING 

■ 2. Section 932.501–2 is amended by 

revising paragraph (a)(3) to read as 

follows: 

932.501–2 Unusual progress payments. 

(a)(3) For DOE, the Head of the 

Contracting Activity shall forward all 

requests which are considered 

favorable, with supporting information, 

to the DOE Senior Procurement 

Executive, who, after coordination with 

the Chief Financial Officer, 

Headquarters, will approve or deny the 

request. For NNSA, the NNSA Senior 

Procurement Executive will coordinate 

with the NNSA Chief Financial Officer 

before approving or denying the request. 

* * * * * 

932.605 [Redesignated as 932.602] 

■ 3. Section 932.605 is redesignated as 

932.602 and newly redesignated 

932.602 is amended by: 

■ a. Revising the section heading as set 

forth below; and 

■ b. Removing the paragraph 

designation ‘‘(b)’’. 

■ The revision reads as follows: 

932.602 Responsibilities. 

* * * * * 

PART 935—RESEARCH AND 

DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 

■ 4. Revise section 935.010 to read as 

follows: 

935.010 Scientific and technical reports. 

(c) All research and development 

contracts which require reporting of 

research and development results 

conveyed in scientific and technical 

information (STI) shall include an 

instruction requiring the contractor to 

submit all STI, including reports and 

notices relating thereto, electronically to 

the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), 

Office of Scientific and Technical 

Information (OSTI), using the DOE 

Energy Link System (E-link) at http:// 

www.osti.gov/elink. The phrase ‘‘reports 

and notices relating thereto’’ does not 

include reports or notices concerning 

administrative matters such as contract 

cost or financial data and information. 

The DOE Order 241.1B Scientific and 

Technical Information Management, or 

its successor version, sets forth 

requirements for STI management. 

(d) As prescribed in DOE Order 

241.1B, the contracting officer shall 

ensure that the requirements of the 

attendant Contractor Requirements 

Document are included in applicable 

contracts. 

PART 936—CONSTRUCTION AND 

ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS 

■ 5. Section 936.202 is redesignated as 

936.202–70 and the section heading is 

revised to read as follows: 

936.202–70 Specifications charges. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. The authority citation for parts 937 

and 949 is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. and 50 

U.S.C. 2401 et seq. 

PART 937—SERVICE CONTRACTING 

■ 7. Add a new subpart 937.2, 

consisting of section 937.204, to read as 

follows: 

Subpart 937.2—Advisory and 

Assistance Services 

937.204 Guidelines for determining 

availability of personnel. 

(a) The determination, that there is 

sufficient DOE personnel with the 

requisite training and capabilities for 

each evaluation or analysis of proposals, 

shall be determined in accordance with 

915.207–70(f)(2)(i). 

(b) If it is determined that there is no 

such DOE personnel available, then 

other Federal agencies may have the 

required personnel with the requisite 

training and capabilities for the 

evaluation or the analysis of proposals. 

The determination, to use employees of 

other Federal agencies for the evaluation 

or analysis of proposals, shall be in 

accordance with 915.207–70(f)(2)(ii). 

(d) The determination, to employ nonFederal evaluators or advisors, shall be 

determined in accordance with 

915.207–70(f)(3). 

(e) The determination that covered 

personnel are unavailable for a class of 

proposals, necessitating employment of 

non-Federal evaluators or advisors, shall 

be determined in accordance with 

915.207–70(f)(3). 

PART 941—ACQUISITION OF UTILITY 

SERVICES 

■ 8. Section 941.201–70 is revised to 

read as follows: 

941.201–70 DOE Directives. 

Utility services (defined at 48 CFR 

41.101) shall be acquired in accordance 

with 48 CFR part 41 and the Department 

of Energy (DOE) Order 430.2B, 

Departmental Energy, Renewable Energy 

and Transportation Management, or its 

successor. 

PART 942—CONTRACT 

ADMINISTRATION 

942.803 [Amended] 

■ 9. Amend section 942.803 in the last 

sentence of paragraph (c)(1) by 

removing the phrase ‘‘, as discussed in 

942.70 Audit Services’’. 

PART 949—TERMINATION OF 

CONTRACTS 

949.101 [Amended] 

■ 10. Section 949.101 is amended by 

adding ‘‘Senior’’ before ‘‘Procurement 

Executive’’. 

Subpart 949.5 [Removed and 

Reserved] 

■ 11. Subpart 949.5, consisting of 

section 949.501 and 949.505, is removed 

and reserved. 

PART 950—EXTRAORDINARY 

CONTRACTUAL ACTIONS AND THE 

SAFETY ACT 

■ 12. The authority citation for part 950 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2201; 2282a; 2282b; 

2282c; 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.; 50 U.S.C. 2401 

et seq. 

PART 951—USE OF GOVERNMENT 

SOURCES BY CONTRACTORS 

■ 13. The authority citation for part 951 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. and 50 

U.S.C. 2401 et seq. 

951.102 [Amended] 

■ 14. Section 951.102 is amended by 

revising the paragraph designation 

‘‘(e)(4)(iii)’’ to read ‘‘(e)(4)’’. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 26, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 29459 

PART 952—SOLICITATION 

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT 

CLAUSES 

■ 15. The authority citation for part 952 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2201; 2282a; 2282b; 

2282c; 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.; 50 U.S.C. 2401 

et seq. 

■ 16. Section 952.247–70 is amended 

by: 

■ a. Revising the date of the clause to 

read as set forth below; and 

■ b. Removing ‘‘or its successor Official 

Foreign Travel, or any subsequent 

version of the order’’ in the clause and 

adding in its place ‘‘Official Foreign 

Travel, or its successor’’. 

The revision reads as follows: 

952.247–70 Foreign travel. 

* * * * * 

FOREIGN TRAVEL JUN 2010 

* * * * * 

PARTS 928, 931, 932, 933, 936, 937, 

941, 942, 950, 951, and 952 

[AMENDED] 

■ 17. In the table below, for each section 

indicated in the left column, remove the 

word indicated in the middle column 

from where it appears in the section, 

and add the word in the right column: 

Section Remove Add 

928.101–1 ................................................................................................ ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

928.301 .................................................................................................... ‘‘FAR Part’’ ..................................... ‘‘48 CFR part’’ 

931.102 in 2 places ................................................................................. ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

931.102 .................................................................................................... ‘‘FAR Part 31’’ ................................ ‘‘48 CFR part 31’’ 

931.205–32(a) ......................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

931.205–47(h)(1), in the Employee whistleblower action definition ....... ‘‘29 CFR Part 24,’’ ......................... ‘‘29 CFR part 24,’’ 

931.205–47(h)(1), in the Employee whistleblower action definition ....... ‘‘10 CFR Part 708’’ ........................ ‘‘10 CFR part 708’’ 

932.006–4(a) ........................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

932.803(d) ............................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

932.7004–1 in 3 places ........................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

932.7004–3(a) ......................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

933.103(k) ............................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

933.104(b) ............................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

933.104(c) ............................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

933.104(g) ............................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

933.106(a) ............................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

936.602–70(a)(8) ..................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

936.609–3 ................................................................................................ ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

936.7100 .................................................................................................. ‘‘FAR Part’’ ..................................... ‘‘48 CFR part’’ 

937.7040 .................................................................................................. ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

942.704(b) in 2 places ............................................................................ ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

942.705–1(b)(1) ....................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

950.7003(a) in the first sentence ............................................................ ‘‘(DOE)’’ .......................................... ‘‘DOE’’ 

951.102(a) ............................................................................................... ‘‘FAR Part’’ ..................................... ‘‘48 CFR part’’ 

951.102(a) ............................................................................................... ‘‘DOE PMR 41 CFR 109–26’’ ........ ‘‘DOE PMR 41 CFR 109’’ 

952.233–2 in the introductory text .......................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

952.233–4(a) ........................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

952.233–4(b) ........................................................................................... ‘‘FAR’’ ............................................. ‘‘48 CFR’’ 

952.235–71(b)(1) ..................................................................................... ‘‘warranted;’’ ................................... ‘‘warranted.’’ 

952.250–70(e)(2) ..................................................................................... ‘‘which:’’ .......................................... ‘‘which—’’ 

[FR Doc. 2010–12520 Filed 5–25–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No.: 0910051338–0167–03] 

RIN 0648–AY29 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; Revisions to Framework 

Adjustment 44 to the Northeast 

Multispecies Fishery Management Plan 

and Sector Annual Catch Entitlements: 

Updated Annual Catch Limits for 

Sectors and the Common Pool for 

Fishing Year 2010 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; adjustment to 

specifications. 

SUMMARY: Based on finalized Northeast 

(NE) multispecies sector rosters 

submitted on April 30, 2010, NMFS 

announces adjustments to the NE 

multispecies fishing year (FY) 2010 

specification of annual catch limits 

(ACLs) for common pool vessels 

(common pool sub-ACLs), ACLs for 

sector vessels (sector sub-ACLs), and 

sector Annual Catch Entitlements 

(ACEs) for each of the 20 groundfish 

stocks managed under the NE 

Multispecies Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP). This revision to catch levels is 

necessary because some vessel owners 

have chosen to drop out of sectors and 

fish in the common pool for FY 2010. 

DATES: Effective May 21, 2010 through 

April 30, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Travis Ford, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9233. 


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