Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 42 / Friday, March 1, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 15061 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 64 

[CG Docket Nos. 02–278, 21–402, FCC 23– 

21; FR ID 203992] 

Targeting and Eliminating Unlawful 

Text Messages, Implementation of the 

Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 

1991 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule and announcement of 

compliance date. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the 

Commission announces that the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) has 

approved the information collection 

associated with the rule adopted in the 

Text Blocking Report and Order 

requiring mobile wireless providers to 

block texts purporting to be from North 

American Numbering Plan (NANP) 

numbers on a reasonable Do-NotOriginate (DNO) list which include 

numbers that purport to be from invalid, 

unallocated, or unused numbers, and 

NANP numbers for which the subscriber 

to the number has requested that texts 

purporting to originate from that 

number be blocked. This document is 

consistent with the Text Blocking 

Report and Order, FCC 23–21, which 

states the Commission will publish a 

document in the Federal Register 

announcing a compliance date for the 

rule section and revise the rule 

accordingly. 

DATES: This final rule is effective 

September 3, 2024. Compliance with 47 

CFR 64.1200(p), is required as of 

September 3, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mika Savir, Attorney Advisor, 

Consumer Policy Division, Consumer 

and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at 

(202) 418–0384 or mika.savir@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

document announces that OMB 

approved the information collection 

requirement in 47 CFR 64.1200(p) on 

February 12, 2024. The rule was 

adopted in the Text Blocking Report and 

Order, FCC 23–21, 88 FR 21497, April 

11, 2023. The Commission publishes 

this document as an announcement of 

the compliance date of the rules. 

If you have any comments on the 

burden estimates listed below, or how 

the Commission can improve the 

collections and reduce any burdens 

caused thereby, please contact Cathy 

Williams, Federal Communications 

Commission, Room 3–317, 45 L Street 

NE, Washington, DC 20554, regarding 

OMB Control Number 3060–1322. 

Please include the applicable OMB 

Control Number in your 

correspondence. The Commission will 

also accept your comments via email at 

PRA@fcc.gov. 

To request materials in accessible 

formats for people with disabilities 

(Braille, large print, electronic files, 

audio format), send an email to fcc504@

fcc.gov or call the Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 

418–0530. 

In addition, this document removes 

47 CFR 64.1200(q), which advised that 

compliance with the new rules would 

not be required until 64.1200(q) is 

removed or the Commission announces 

a compliance date. 

Synopsis 

As required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), 

the FCC is notifying the public that it 

received final OMB approval on 

February 12, 2024, for the information 

collection requirement contained in 47 

CFR 64.1200(p). Under 5 CFR part 1320, 

an agency may not conduct or sponsor 

a collection of information unless it 

displays a current, valid OMB Control 

Number. 

No person shall be subject to any 

penalty for failing to comply with a 

collection of information subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act that does not 

display a current, valid OMB Control 

Number. The OMB Control Number for 

the information collection requirement 

in 47 CFR 64.1200(p) is 3060–1322. 

The foregoing notice is required by 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13, October 1, 1995, 

and 44 U.S.C. 3507. 

The total annual reporting burdens 

and costs for the respondents are as 

follows: 

OMB Control Number: 3060–1322. 

OMB Approval Date: February 12, 

2024. 

OMB Expiration Date: February 28, 

2027. 

Title: Targeting and Eliminating 

Unlawful Text Messages, 

Implementation of the Telephone 

Consumer Protection Act of 1991. 

Form Number: N/A. 

Respondents: Business or other for 

profit entities, and state, local or tribal 

governments. 

Number of Respondents and 

Responses: 2,893 respondents; 34,716 

responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion 

reporting requirement. 

Obligation to Respond: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. Statutory 

authority for this information is 

contained in sections 4(i), 4(j), 154(i), 

154(j), 227, 301, 303, 307, and 316. 

Total Annual Burden: 34,716 hours. 

Total Annual Cost: No cost. 

Needs and Uses: Text message-based 

scams can include links to welldesigned phishing websites that appear 

identical to the website of a legitimate 

company and can fool a victim into 

providing personal or financial 

information. Texted links can also load 

unwanted software onto a device, 

including malware that steals 

passwords, credentials, or other 

personal information. The FCC is 

therefore requiring all mobile wireless 

providers to block certain text messages 

that are highly likely to be illegal. 

In the Text Blocking Report and 

Order, 88 FR 21497, April 11, 2023, the 

FCC is requiring mobile wireless 

providers to block certain text messages 

that are highly likely to be illegal. The 

Commission is requiring mobile 

wireless providers to block—at the 

network level—texts purporting to be 

from NANP numbers on a reasonable 

DNO list, which include numbers that 

purport to be from invalid, unallocated, 

or unused numbers, and NANP numbers 

for which the subscriber to the number 

has requested that texts purporting to 

originate from that number be blocked. 

These are texts that no reasonable 

consumer would wish to receive 

because they are highly likely to be 

illegal. 

The FCC is also ensuring that any 

erroneous blocking can be quickly 

remedied by requiring mobile wireless 

providers and other entities to maintain 

a point of contact for texters to report 

erroneously blocked texts. 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 64 

Communications common carriers, 

Telecommunications, Telephone. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary, Office of the Secretary. 

Final Rules 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR part 64 as 

follows: 

PART 64—MISCELLANEOUS RULES 

RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 64 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154,201, 

202, 217, 218, 220, 222, 225, 226, 227, 227b, 

228, 251(a), 251(e), 254(k), 255, 262, 276, 

403(b)(2)(B), (c), 616, 620, 716, 1401–1473, 

unless otherwise noted; Pub. L. 115–141, Div. 

P, sec. 503, 132 Stat. 348, 1091. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1
15062 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 42 / Friday, March 1, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

Subpart L—Restrictions on 

Telemarketing, Telephone Solicitation, 

and Facsimile Advertising 

§ 64.1200 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend § 64.1200 by removing and 

reserving paragraph (q). 

[FR Doc. 2024–03957 Filed 2–29–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 665 

[Docket No. 231010–0243] 

RIN 0648–BL34 

Pacific Island Fisheries; Modification 

of Seabird Interaction Mitigation 

Measures in the Hawaii Deep-Set 

Longline Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In this final rule, NMFS 

modifies its seabird interaction 

mitigation measures to require federally 

permitted Hawaii deep-set longline 

vessels that set fishing gear from the 

stern to use a tori line (i.e., bird scaring 

streamer) in place of the currently 

required thawed, blue-dyed bait and 

strategic offal (i.e., fish, fish parts, or 

spent bait) discharge when fishing 

above latitude (lat.) 23° N. This action 

is expected to improve the overall 

efficacy and operational practicality of 

required seabird mitigation measures by 

reducing seabird bycatch and creating 

operational and administrative 

efficiency for fishermen and NMFS. 

DATES: The final rule is effective April 

1, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Fishery 

Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of 

the Western Pacific are available from 

the Western Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 1164 Bishop St., 

Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, 

telephone 808–522–8220, fax 808–522– 

8226, or https://www.wpcouncil.org. 

Copies of the environmental 

assessment and other supporting 

documents for this action are available 

at https://www.regulations.gov, or from 

the Western Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 1164 Bishop St., 

Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, 808– 

522–8220, or https://

www.wpcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lynn Rassel, Pacific Islands Regional 

Office (PIRO) Sustainable Fisheries, 

808–725–5036. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and 

the Western Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) manage 

the Hawaii deep-set longline fishery 

under the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for 

Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific 

(FEP). The implementing Federal 

regulations for this fishery include a 

suite of conservation and management 

requirements. This fishery occasionally 

catches seabirds; therefore, NMFS 

implemented a suite of seabird 

mitigation requirements in 2001 that 

resulted in the reduction of seabird 

interactions by 70–90 percent. However, 

seabird interactions in the Hawaii 

longline fisheries gradually increased in 

the subsequent years, with significant 

increases in black-footed albatross 

interactions in the deep-set fishery since 

2015. 

Cooperative research by the Council, 

the Hawaii Longline Association, NMFS 

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 

and NMFS Pacific Islands Regional 

Office (PIRO) in 2019–2021 

demonstrated that when tori lines are 

employed in lieu of blue-dyed bait and 

strategic offal discharge on deep-set 

longline vessels that set from the stern, 

albatross making attempts to eat the bait 

off hooks are 1.5 times less likely, 

contacts with the bait are 4 times less 

likely, and captures are 14 times less 

likely. Furthermore, there is 

inconclusive evidence that the existing 

strategic offal discharge requirements 

reduce seabird interaction risk, and the 

requirement is associated with heavy 

administrative burdens to the Pacific 

Islands Region Observer Program and 

NOAA Office of Law Enforcement. 

Similarly, use of blue-dyed bait is 

burdensome due to the amount of time 

required to thaw and dye the bait, 

thawed bait loss from hooks, vessel 

maintenance costs related to using vats 

of blue dye, and the administrative 

burden to monitor and enforce 

consistent application of blue dye. 

To reduce seabird bycatch and 

improve operational and administrative 

efficiency, NMFS will require deep-set 

longline vessels that stern-set to employ 

a tori line system instead of using 

thawed, blue-dyed bait and strategic 

offal discharge when fishing north of lat. 

23° N. These measures will modify the 

requirements implemented at 50 CFR 

665.815. NMFS also will require that 

vessels deploy a tori line system that 

meets required material, length, and 

position specifications prior to the first 

hook being set. We note that this action 

will only modify seabird mitigation 

requirements for the Hawaii deep-set 

fishery; however, research on mitigation 

measures is currently underway in the 

Hawaii shallow-set fishery. 

All Hawaii longline vessels will 

continue to be required to follow other 

existing seabird handling and release 

requirements at 50 CFR 665.815(b) and 

(c) to maximize the chances of postrelease survival of seabirds that are 

caught alive, and to be certified for the 

completion of an annual protected 

species workshop conducted by NMFS 

(50 CFR 665.814). All other measures 

applicable to longline fisheries under 

the FEP will remain unchanged. This 

rule and related tori line design 

guidelines are consistent with seabird 

mitigation requirements set forth by the 

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 

Commission and the Inter-American 

Tropical Tuna Commission (see https:// 

www.iattc.org/PDFFiles/Resolutions/ 

IATTC/_English/C-11-02-Active_

Seabirds.pdf and www.wcpfc.int/doc/ 

wcpfc15–2018-dp16/seabird-interactionmitigation-amendment-cmm-2017–06). 

The rule will also revise 50 CFR 

665.802 to clarify prohibitions for 

vessels with Hawaii longline limited 

access permits. Specifically, the rule 

will improve descriptions of which 

vessels are subject to the prohibitions. 

The rule will also correct the omission 

of a prohibition for side-setting (i.e., 

setting the mainline from the port or 

starboard side of the vessel at least one 

meter from the stern) without a bird 

curtain and weighted branch lines. 

You may find additional background 

information on this action in the 

preamble to the proposed rule 

published on October 17, 2023 (88 FR 

71523). 

Comments and Responses 

On October 17, 2023, NMFS 

published a proposed rule, an 

Environmental Assessment (EA), and 

Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) for 

public comment (88 FR 71523). The 

comment period ended on November 

16, 2023. NMFS received a comment 

letter from one nonprofit organization, 

the American Bird Conservancy (ABC). 

In general, ABC supported the proposed 

rule. There were no comments directed 

at analyses presented in the EA or the 

RIR. We summarize and respond to 

ABC’s comments here. 

Comment 1: ABC expressed support 

for the proposed rule, specifically the 

use of tori lines in place of the currently 

required thawed, blue-dyed bait and 

strategic offal discharge when fishing 

above lat. 23° N, and the housekeeping 

correction to reinstate the prohibition 

for side setting without a bird curtain. 


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