5436 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 19 / Monday, January 29, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

Congress expressly required Federal 

agencies to publish annual inflation 

adjustments to civil penalties in the 

Federal Register by January 15 of each 

year, notwithstanding section 553 of the 

APA. Under the statutory framework 

and OMB guidance, the new penalty 

levels take effect immediately upon the 

effective date of the adjustment. The 

statutory deadline does not allow time 

to delay this rule’s effective date beyond 

publication. Moreover, a delayed 

effective date would delay application 

of the new penalty levels, contrary to 

Congress’s intent. 

Accordingly, we are issuing the 

annual adjustments as a final rule 

without prior notice or an opportunity 

for comment and with an effective date 

immediately upon publication in the 

Federal Register. 

B. Review Under Procedural Statutes 

and Executive Orders 

The agency has determined that 

making technical changes to the amount 

of civil monetary penalties in its 

regulations does not trigger any 

requirements under procedural statutes 

and Executive orders that govern 

rulemaking procedures. 

List of Subjects 

45 CFR Part 1230 

Government contracts, Grant 

programs, Loan programs, Lobbying, 

Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

45 CFR Part 2554 

Claims, Fraud, Organization and 

functions (Government agencies), 

Penalties. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, under the authority of 42 

U.S.C. 12651c(c), the Corporation for 

National and Community Service 

amends chapters XII and XXV, title 45 

of the Code of Federal Regulations as 

follows: 

PART 1230—NEW RESTRICTIONS ON 

LOBBYING 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1230 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Section 319, Pub. L. 101–121 

(31 U.S.C. 1352); Pub. L. 93–113; 42 U.S.C. 

4951, et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 5060. 

§ 1230.400 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend § 1230.400 by removing 

‘‘$23,728’’ and ‘‘$237,267’’ wherever 

they appear and adding in their places 

‘‘24,497’’ and ‘‘$244,957’’, respectively. 

Appendix A to Part 1230 [Amended] 

■ 3. Amend appendix A to part 1230 by 

removing ‘‘$23,728’’ and ‘‘$237,267’’ 

wherever they appear and adding in 

their places ‘‘$24,497’’ and ‘‘$244,957’’, 

respectively. 

PART 2554—PROGRAM FRAUD CIVIL 

REMEDIES ACT REGULATIONS 

■ 4. The authority citation for part 2554 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Pub. L. 99–509, Secs. 6101– 

6104, 100 Stat. 1874 (31 U.S.C. 3801–3812); 

42 U.S.C. 12651c–12651d. 

§ 2554.1 [Amended] 

■ 5. Amend § 2554.1 in paragraph (b) by 

removing ‘‘$13,508’’ and adding in its 

place ‘‘$13,946’’. 

Fernando Laguarda, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01554 Filed 1–26–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6050–28–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 220919–0193; RTID 0648– 

XD658] 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries; 

Closure of the General Category 

January Through March Fishery for 

2024 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS closes the General 

category fishery for Atlantic bluefin 

tuna (BFT) for the remainder of the 

January through March time period. The 

General category may only retain, 

possess, or land large medium and giant 

(i.e., measuring 73 inches (185 

centimeters (cm)) curved fork length or 

greater) when open. This action applies 

to Atlantic Tunas General category 

(commercial) permitted vessels and 

highly migratory species (HMS) Charter/ 

Headboat permitted vessels with a 

commercial sale endorsement when 

fishing commercially for BFT. On June 

1, 2024, the fishery will reopen 

automatically. 

DATES: Effective 11:30 p.m., local time, 

January 26, 2024, through March 31, 

2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Larry Redd, Jr., larry.redd@noaa.gov, or 

Ann Williamson, ann.williamson@

noaa.gov, 301–427–8503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BFT 

fisheries are managed under the 2006 

Consolidated HMS Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP) and its amendments, 

pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 

1801 et seq.) and consistent with the 

Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA; 

16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.). HMS 

implementing regulations are at 50 CFR 

part 635. Section 635.27 divides the 

U.S. BFT quota, established by the 

International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 

and as implemented by the United 

States among the various domestic 

fishing categories, per the allocations 

established in the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP and its amendments. NMFS 

is required under the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act at 16 U.S.C. 1854(g)(1)(D) to provide 

U.S. fishing vessels with a reasonable 

opportunity to harvest quotas under 

relevant international fishery 

agreements such as the ICCAT 

Convention, which is implemented 

domestically pursuant to ATCA. 

As described in § 635.27(a), the 

current baseline U.S. BFT quota is 

1,316.14 metric tons (mt) (not including 

the 25 mt ICCAT allocated to the United 

States to account for bycatch of BFT in 

pelagic longline fisheries in the 

Northeast Distant Gear Restricted Area 

per § 635.27(a)(3)). The current baseline 

quota for the General category is 710.7 

mt. The General category may only 

retain, possess, or land large medium 

and giant (i.e., measuring 73 inches (185 

cm) curved fork length or greater) when 

open as specified at § 635.27(a)(1). The 

General category baseline quota is 

suballocated to different time periods. 

Relevant to this action, the baseline 

subquota for the January through March 

time period is 37.7 mt. As a result of a 

prior adjustment, the adjusted subquota 

for the January through March time 

period is 58.2 mt (89 FR 3361, January 

18, 2024). 

Under § 635.28(a)(1), NMFS files a 

closure action with the Office of the 

Federal Register for publication when a 

BFT quota (or subquota) is reached or is 

projected to be reached. Retaining, 

possessing, or landing BFT under that 

quota category is prohibited on or after 

the effective date and time of a closure 

notice for that category until the 

opening of the relevant subsequent 

quota period or until such date as 

specified. 

Closure of the January Through March 

2024 General Category Fishery 

To date, reported landings for the 

General category January through March 

time period total 52.5 mt. Based on 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 19 / Monday, January 29, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 5437 

these landings, NMFS has determined 

that the adjusted January through March 

time period subquota of 58.2 mt is 

projected to be reached and exceeded 

shortly. Therefore, retaining, possessing, 

or landing large medium or giant (i.e., 

measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved 

fork length or greater) BFT by persons 

aboard vessels permitted in the Atlantic 

Tunas General category and HMS 

Charter/Headboat permitted vessels 

(while fishing commercially) must cease 

at 11:30 p.m. local time on January 26, 

2024. This action applies to Atlantic 

Tunas General category (commercial) 

permitted vessels and HMS Charter/ 

Headboat permitted vessels with a 

commercial sale endorsement when 

fishing commercially for BFT and is 

taken consistent with the regulations at 

§ 635.28(a)(1). The General category will 

automatically reopen June 1, 2024, for 

the June through August time period. 

During a closure, fishermen aboard 

General category permitted vessels and 

HMS Charter/Headboat permitted 

vessels may tag and release BFT of all 

sizes, subject to the requirements of the 

catch-and-release and tag-and-release 

programs at § 635.26. All BFT that are 

released must be handled in a manner 

that will maximize their survival, and 

without removing the fish from the 

water, consistent with requirements at 

§ 635.21(a)(1). For additional 

information on safe handling, see the 

‘‘Careful Catch and Release’’ brochure 

available at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/ 

outreach-and-education/careful-catchand-release-brochure/. 

Monitoring and Reporting 

NMFS will continue to monitor the 

BFT fisheries closely. Dealers are 

required to submit landing reports 

within 24 hours of a dealer receiving 

BFT as specified at § 635.5(b)(2)(i). Late 

reporting by dealers compromises 

NMFS’ ability to timely implement 

actions such as quota and retention 

limit adjustments, as well as closures, 

and may result in enforcement actions. 

Additionally, and separate from the 

dealer reporting requirement, General 

and HMS Charter/Headboat category 

vessel owners are required to report the 

catch of all BFT retained or discarded 

dead within 24 hours of the landing(s) 

or end of each trip, by accessing https:// 

www.hmspermits.noaa.gov, using the 

HMS Catch Reporting app, or calling 

888–872–8862 (Monday through Friday 

from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.). 

After the fishery reopens on June 1, 

depending on the level of fishing effort 

and catch rates of BFT NMFS may 

determine that additional adjustments 

are necessary to ensure available 

subquotas are not exceeded or to 

enhance scientific data collection from, 

and fishing opportunities in, all 

geographic areas as specified under 

§ 635.27(a)(7). If needed, subsequent 

adjustments will be published in the 

Federal Register. In addition, fishermen 

may access https://

www.hmspermits.noaa.gov, for updates 

on quota monitoring and inseason 

adjustments. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act and regulations at 50 CFR part 635 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

NMFS (AA) finds that pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there is good cause to 

waive prior notice and opportunity to 

provide comment on this action, as 

notice and comment would be 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest for the following reasons. 

Specifically, the regulations 

implementing the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP and amendments provide for 

inseason retention limit adjustments 

and fishery closures to respond to the 

unpredictable nature of BFT availability 

on the fishing grounds, the migratory 

nature of this species, and the regional 

variations in the BFT fishery. Providing 

for prior notice and an opportunity to 

comment is impracticable and contrary 

to the public interest as this fishery is 

currently underway and, based on 

landings information, the available time 

period subquota is projected to be 

reached shortly. Delaying this action 

could result in BFT landings exceeding 

the adjusted January through March 

time period subquota and reduce the 

opportunity for U.S. fishing vessels to 

harvest quota later in the year. Taking 

this action does not raise conservation 

or management concerns, and would 

support effective management of the 

BFT fishery. NMFS notes that the public 

had an opportunity to comment on the 

underlying rulemakings that established 

the U.S. BFT quota and the inseason 

adjustment criteria. 

For all of the above reasons, the AA 

also finds that pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(d), there is good cause to waive the 

30-day delay in effective date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 

et seq. 

Dated: January 24, 2024. 

Everett Wayne Baxter, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01724 Filed 1–25–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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