15482 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 43 / Monday, March 4, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

as the community’s first local service. 

The staff engineering analysis indicates 

that Channel 296A at Lihue can be 

allotted consistent with the minimum 

distance separation requirements of the 

Commission’s rules with a site 

restriction of 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) 

north of the community at reference 

coordinates 22–00–00 NL and 159–21– 

00 WL and Channel 236C3 at Princeville 

can be allotted consistent with the 

minimum distance separation 

requirements of the Commission’s rules 

with no site restriction at reference 

coordinates 22–12–00 NL and 159–30– 

00 WL. 

DATES: Effective April 11, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rolanda F. Smith, Media Bureau, (202) 

418–2054, Rolanda-Faye.Smith@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

synopsis of the Commission’s Report 

and Order, MB Docket No. 23–209, 

adopted February 26, 2024, and released 

February 26, 2024. The full text of this 

Commission decision is available online 

at https://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/. The full 

text of this document can also be 

downloaded in Word or Portable 

Document Format (PDF) at https://

www.fcc.gov/edocs. This document does 

not contain information collection 

requirements subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104– 

13. 

The Commission will send a copy of 

the Report and Order in a report to be 

sent to Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A). 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73 

Radio, Radio broadcasting. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Nazifa Sawez, 

Assistant Chief, Audio Division, Media 

Bureau. 

Final Rules 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR part 73 as 

follows: 

PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST 

SERVICES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 73 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 301, 303, 

307, 309, 310, 334, 336, 339. 

■ 2. In § 73.202(b), amend the Table of 

FM Allotments under Hawaii by adding 

in alphabetical order entries for ‘‘Lihue’’ 

and ‘‘Princeville’’ to read as follows: 

§ 73.202 Table of Allotments. 

* * * * * 

(b) Table of FM Allotments. 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (b) 

U.S. States Channel 

No. 

* * * * * 

Hawaii 

* * * * * 

Lihue ........................................... 296A 

Princeville ................................... 236C3 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2024–04405 Filed 3–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 240228–0062; RTID 0648– 

XD699] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; 

Adjustments to 2024 Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary final rule; 

adjustment of specifications. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

regulations implementing the Atlantic 

Herring Fishery Management Plan, this 

action adjusts the 2024 harvest 

specifications for the herring fishery. 

Specifically, it adjusts catch limits in 

herring management areas 1A, 1B, and 

2 to account for catch overages and an 

underage in those areas during 2022. 

This action is necessary to help prevent 

overfishing and support the harvest of 

optimum yield consistent with the 

requirements of the Fishery 

Management Plan. 

DATES: Effective March 4, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting 

documents, including the 2023–2025 

Atlantic Herring Specifications, are 

available from the Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Greater Atlantic Regional 

Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic 

Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930, telephone 

(978) 281–9315, or online at: https://

www.nefmc.org/management-plans/ 

herring and https://www.fisheries.noaa.

gov/species/atlanticherring#management. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carrie Nordeen, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

978–281–9272. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Atlantic herring harvest in the 

United States is managed under the 

Atlantic Herring Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP) developed by the New 

England Fishery Management Council 

and approved by NMFS. The FMP 

divides the herring annual catch limit 

(ACL) among three management areas, 

one of which has two sub-areas. It 

divides Area 1 (located in the Gulf of 

Maine (GOM)) into an inshore section 

(Area 1A) and an offshore section (Area 

1B). Area 2 is located in the coastal 

waters between Massachusetts and 

North Carolina, and Area 3 is on 

Georges Bank (GB). The FMP considers 

the herring stock complex to be a single 

stock, but there are inshore (GOM) and 

offshore (GB) stock components. The 

GOM and GB stock components 

segregate during spawning and mix 

during feeding and migration. Each 

management area has its own sub-ACL 

to allow greater control of the fishing 

mortality on each stock component. 

NMFS published Amendment 4 to the 

FMP (76 FR 11373, March 2, 2011) to 

address ACL and accountability 

measure (AM) requirements. As a way 

to account for ACL/sub-ACL overages in 

the herring fishery, Amendment 4 

established an AM that requires NMFS 

to deduct any ACL/sub-ACL overages 

from the ACL and corresponding subACL of the year following the catch 

overage determination. Amendment 4 

also specified that NMFS will announce 

overage deductions in the Federal 

Register prior to the start of the fishing 

year, if possible. 

NMFS published Framework 

Adjustment 2 to the FMP and the 2013– 

2015 specifications for the herring 

fishery on October 4, 2013 (78 FR 

61828). Among other measures, 

Framework 2 allowed for the carryover 

of unharvested catch (i.e., underages) in 

the year following a fishing year’s catch 

accounting determination. Provided that 

annual total catch does not exceed the 

ACL, up to 10 percent of each sub-ACL 

may be carried over and added to the 

following year’s sub-ACL. The carryover 

provision allows a sub-ACL increase for 

a management area, but it does not 

allow a corresponding increase to the 

ACL. 

NMFS published Framework 

Adjustment 9 to the FMP on July 19, 

2022 (87 FR 42962). Among other 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 43 / Monday, March 4, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 15483 

measures, Framework 9 revised the 

catch overage provision so that only 

overages greater than 10 percent of a 

sub-ACL must be deducted from the 

ACL and the corresponding sub-ACL in 

the year following the total catch 

accounting determination. Additionally, 

provided total catch does not exceed the 

ACL, overage deductions equal the 

overage amount above the 10-percent 

overage deduction threshold. For 

example, if the ACL is not exceeded, a 

13-percent sub-ACL overage would 

require a 3-percent ACL and sub-ACL 

deduction. 

NMFS published the 2023–2025 

specification for the herring fishery on 

March 23, 2023 (88 FR 17397) to 

initially set sub-ACLs for each of the 

four management areas in the herring 

fishery. 

Provisions Implemented Through This 

Final Rule 

NMFS recently completed the catch 

accounting for 2022 and determined 

there were catch overages in Areas 1A, 

1B, and 3 and a catch underage in Area 

2. To account for the overages, this 

action implements allowable deductions 

for catch overages in Areas 1A and 1B 

from the Area 1A and 1B 2024 sub-ACLs 

and from the ACL. Catch in 2022 

exceeded the 10-percent overage 

deduction threshold for Area 1A (12 

percent); therefore, this action deducts 2 

percent (42 metric tons (mt)) of the 2022 

Area 1A overage from the 2024 Area 1A 

sub-ACL and ACL. Because the 2022 

sub-ACL for Area 1B was zero, the full 

amount of the 2022 overage (6 mt) is 

deducted from the 2024 Area 1B subACL and ACL. The overage in Area 3 (1 

mt) is less than the overage deduction 

threshold (greater than 10 percent of the 

sub-ACL or 182 mt); therefore, this 

action makes no deductions to the 2024 

Area 3 sub-ACL. To account for the 

underage, this action carries over 

unharvested 2022 Area 2 catch to the 

2024 Area 2 sub-ACL but does not 

increase the ACL. Allowable carryover 

for Area 2 is up to 10 percent of 2022 

sub-ACL (114 mt); therefore, this action 

carries over 114 mt of the 1,221 mt 

unharvested Area 2 catch to the 2024 

Area 2 sub-ACL. Table 1 provides catch 

details for 2022 and the corresponding 

adjustments for the 2024 sub-ACLs. The 

ACL is reduced by overage deductions, 

but not increased by carryover; 

therefore, this action reduces the 2024 

ACL by 48 mt for overages in Areas 1A 

and 1B that occurred in 2022. 

TABLE 1—HERRING CATCH LIMITS, CATCH, OVERAGE DEDUCTIONS, AND CARRYOVER

[All values are in metric tons (mt)] 

Final 2022 

sub-ACLs 

2022 

Catch 

2022 

Overages (+) 

underages (¥) 

Allowable 

deductions * 

Allowable 

carryover ** 

Initial 2024 

sub-ACLs 

Adjusted 2024 

sub-ACLs 

Area 1A ................................................................... 2,075 2,325 +250 42 NA 5,546 5,504 

Area 1B ................................................................... 0 6 +6 6 NA 825 819 

Area 2 ...................................................................... 1,300 79 ¥1,221 NA 114 5,335 5,449 

Area 3 ...................................................................... 1,824 1,825 +1 0 NA 7,484 7,484 

ACL *** ..................................................................... 4,813 4,234 NA 48 NA 19,189 19,141 

* Allowable deductions are overage amounts exceeding 10 percent of the final 2022 sub-ACLs. 

** Allowable carryover is limited to 10 percent of the initial 2022 sub-ACL. The initial sub-ACL for Area 2 was 1,139 mt before it was adjusted in-season to 1,300 mt. 

*** The 2024 ACL is reduced by overage deductions from Areas 1A and 1B, but it is not increased by carryover. 

NMFS calculated the amount of 

herring landings in 2022 based on 

dealer reports (Federal and state) of 

herring purchases, supplemented by 

vessel trip reports (VTR) and vessel 

monitoring system (VMS) reports 

(Federal and states of Maine and 

Massachusetts) of herring landings. 

NMFS generally uses dealer reports to 

estimate herring landings; however, if 

the amount of herring reported via VTR 

exceeds the amount of herring reported 

by the dealer by 10 percent or more, 

NMFS assumes the dealer report for that 

trip was in error and uses the VTR 

report instead. NMFS assigns herring 

landings to individual herring 

management areas using VMS reports or 

latitude and longitude coordinates from 

VTR reports when a VMS report is not 

available. NMFS uses recent fishing 

activity to assign landings to a 

management area if dealer reports do 

not have a corresponding VTR or VMS 

catch report. 

NMFS estimates herring discards by 

extrapolating discards from herring trips 

observed by the Northeast Fisheries 

Observer Program to all herring trips 

(observed and unobserved) according to 

gear and herring management area. 

Because research set-aside (RSA) is 

removed from management area subACLs at the beginning of the fishery 

year, when appropriate, NMFS tracks 

RSA catch but does not count it towards 

the herring sub-ACLs. No RSA was 

specified for 2022 or is specified for 

2024. 

Classification 

The NMFS Assistant Administrator 

has determined that this final rule is 

consistent with the FMP, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, and other applicable law. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there 

is good cause to waive prior notice and 

an opportunity for public comment on 

this action. Notice and comment are 

impracticable, unnecessary, and 

contrary to the public interest because a 

delay would potentially impair 

achievement of the management plan’s 

objectives of preventing overfishing and 

achieving optimum yield by impairing a 

vessels’ ability to harvest available catch 

allocations. Allowing for prior notice 

and public comment on this adjustment 

is also impracticable because the 

adjustments need to be implemented as 

close to the January 1 start of the fishing 

year as possible. Further, prior notice 

and public comment is also unnecessary 

because this is a nondiscretionary action 

required by provisions of Amendment 4 

and Frameworks 2, 6, 8, and 9 which 

were previously subject to public notice 

and comment. The adjustments required 

by these regulations are formulaic. This 

action simply effectuates these 

mandatory calculations. The proposed 

and final rules for Frameworks 2, 6, 9 

and Amendment 4 explained the need 

and likelihood for adjustments to the 

sub-ACLs based on final catch and were 

subject to notice and opportunity to 

comment. Frameworks 2 and 8, 

specifically, provided prior notice of the 

need to distribute carryover catch. 

These actions provided a full 

opportunity for the public to comment 

on the substance and process of this 

action. 

For the same reasons as noted above, 

there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in 

effective date and make the rule 

effective upon publication in the 

Federal Register. To prevent confusion 

and potential overharvests, it will be in 

the best interest of the fleet and the 

herring resource to adjust the 

specifications as close to the start of the 

fishing year as possible. Management 


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15484 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 43 / Monday, March 4, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

Areas 1B and 2 open on January 1 and 

Area 1A opens on June 1. The 

adjustments in this action reduce catch 

in Areas 1A and 1B and increase catch 

in Area 2. Putting in place the adjusted 

specifications as soon as possible will 

provide the fleet with an opportunity to 

develop their business plans in 

sufficient time to avoid an overharvest 

in Areas 1A and 1B and facilitate the 

harvest of additional catch in Area 2. 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648, subpart K and is exempt from 

review under Executive Order 12866. 

This final rule does not contain a 

collection-of-information requirement 

for purposes of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

Because prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment are not required for 

this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other 

law, the analytical requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq., are inapplicable. 

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

Dated: February 28, 2024. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–04521 Filed 3–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 231215–0305; RTID 0648– 

XD770] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Quota Transfer From Virginia to 

Massachusetts 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Commonwealth of Virginia is 

transferring a portion of its 2024 

commercial summer flounder quota to 

the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

This adjustment to the 2024 fishing year 

quota is necessary to comply with the 

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea 

Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) 

quota transfer provisions. This 

announcement informs the public of the 

revised 2024 commercial quotas for 

Virginia and Massachusetts. 

DATES: Effective March 1, 2024, through 

December 31, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Deighan, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9184. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are found in 50 CFR 

648.100 through 648.111. These 

regulations require annual specification 

of a commercial quota that is 

apportioned 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 and final 

2024 allocations were published on 

December 21, 2023 (88 FR 88266). 

The final rule implementing 

amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder 

FMP, as published in the Federal 

Register on December 17, 1993 (58 FR 

65936), provided a mechanism for 

transferring summer flounder 

commercial quota from one state to 

another. Two or more states, under 

mutual agreement and with the 

concurrence of the NMFS Greater 

Atlantic Regional Administrator, can 

transfer or combine summer flounder 

commercial quota under § 648.102(c)(2). 

The Regional Administrator is required 

to consider three criteria in the 

evaluation of requests for quota transfers 

or combinations: (1) the transfers or 

combinations would not preclude the 

overall annual quota from being fully 

harvested; (2) the transfers address an 

unforeseen variation or contingency in 

the fishery; and (3) the transfers are 

consistent with the objectives of the 

FMP and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Regional 

Administrator has determined these 

three criteria have been met for the 

transfer approved in this notification. 

Virginia is transferring 8,186 pounds 

(lb; 3,713 kilograms (kg)) to 

Massachusetts through a mutual 

agreement between the States. This 

transfer was requested to repay landings 

made by an out-of-state permitted vessel 

under a safe harbor agreement. The 

revised summer flounder quotas for 

2024 are: Virginia, 1,879,801 lb (852,663 

kg); and Massachusetts, 607,693 lb 

(275,645 kg). 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

648.102(c)(2)(i) through (iv), which was 

issued pursuant to section 304(b), and is 

exempted from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

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

Dated: February 28, 2024. 

Everett Wayne Baxter, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–04524 Filed 3–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 240227–0061; RTID 0648– 

XD436] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Gulf of Alaska; Final 

2024 and 2025 Harvest Specifications 

for Groundfish 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule; harvest specifications 

and closures. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces final 2024 

and 2025 harvest specifications, 

apportionments, and Pacific halibut 

prohibited species catch limits for the 

groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska 

(GOA). This action is necessary to 

establish harvest limits for groundfish 

during the remainder of the 2024 and 

the start of the 2025 fishing years and 

to accomplish the goals and objectives 

of the Fishery Management Plan for 

Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). 

The 2024 harvest specifications 

supersede those previously set in the 

final 2023 and 2024 harvest 

specifications, and the 2025 harvest 

specifications will be superseded in 

early 2025 when the final 2025 and 

2026 harvest specifications are 

published. The intended effect of this 

action is to conserve and manage the 

groundfish resources in the GOA in 

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

DATES: Harvest specifications and 

closures are effective at 1200 hours, 

Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 4, 2024, 

through 2400 hours, A.l.t., December 31, 

2025. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

Final Alaska Groundfish Harvest 

Specifications Environmental Impact 

Statement (Final EIS), Record of 

Decision (ROD), and the annual 

Supplementary Information Reports 

(SIRs) to the EIS prepared for this action 

are available from https://

www.regulations.gov. The 2023 Stock 

Assessment and Fishery Evaluation 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES