85452 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 208 / Monday, October 28, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

7. Under Regulatory Impact and 

Notices, on page 79775, correct the 

paragraph above table 15 and the table 

to read as follows: 

Total Costs 

FRA estimates a total 10-year cost of 

$1.0 million (PV, 2 percent) for this 

direct final rule, shown in Table 15. 

TABLE 15—10-YEAR TOTAL COSTS

Year 

Total 

stakeholder 

costs 

Total 

government 

costs 

Total costs Discounted 

7% 

Discounted 

3% 

Discounted 

2% 

1 ......................................................................... $97,922 $19,753 $117,675 $117,675 $117,675 $117,675 

2 ......................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 101,367 105,304 106,336 

3 ......................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 94,736 102,237 104,251 

4 ......................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 88,538 99,259 102,207 

5 ......................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 82,746 96,368 100,203 

6 ......................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 77,333 93,561 98,238 

7 ......................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 72,273 90,836 96,312 

8 ......................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 67,545 88,190 94,424 

9 ......................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 63,126 85,622 92,572 

10 ....................................................................... 97,922 10,541 108,463 58,997 83,128 90,757 

Total ............................................................ 979,220 114,622 1,093,842 824,336 962,180 1,002,975 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

Allison Ishihara Fultz, 

Chief Counsel, Federal Railroad 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24967 Filed 10–25–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 220919–0193] 

RTID 0648–XE334 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries; 

Closure of the General Category 

October Through November 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 

October through November 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 

(CFL) or greater) BFT when the fishery 

is open. This action applies to Atlantic 

Tunas General category (commercial) 

permitted vessels and Atlantic highly 

migratory species (HMS) Charter/ 

Headboat permitted vessels with a 

commercial sale endorsement when 

fishing commercially for BFT. This 

action also waives the previously 

scheduled restricted-fishing days (RFDs) 

for the remainder of the October through 

November time period. With the RFDs 

waived during the 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 catch-and-release and 

tag-and-release programs. On December 

1, 2024, the fishery will reopen 

automatically. 

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

October 24, 2024, through November 30, 

2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Becky Curtis (becky.curtis@noaa.gov) 

and Larry Redd, Jr. (larry.redd@

noaa.gov) by email or by phone at 301– 

427–8503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic 

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(a) 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. 

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 

action for that category until the 

opening of the relevant subsequent 

quota period or until such date as 

specified. 

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 General category 

baseline quota is 710.7 mt. The General 

category baseline quota is suballocated 

to different time periods. Relevant to 

this action, the baseline subquota for the 

October through November time period 

is 92.4 mt. Effective October 2, 2024, 

NMFS transferred 100 mt from the 

Reserve category to the General category 

October through November time period, 

resulting in an adjusted October through 

November time period subquota of 

192.4 mt (89 FR 81032, October 7, 

2024). 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 208 / Monday, October 28, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 85453 

Closure of the October Through 

November 2024 BFT General Category 

Fishery 

To date, reported landings for the BFT 

General category October through 

November time period total 170.9 mt. 

Based on these landings data, including 

average daily catch rates, as well as 

anticipated favorable fishing conditions 

in the coming days, NMFS has 

determined that the adjusted October 

through November time period subquota 

of 192.4 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) CFL 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 

October 24, 2024. The BFT General 

category will automatically reopen 

December 1, 2024, for the December 

time period with a retention limit of one 

large medium or giant BFT per vessel 

per day/trip. 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). 

Waiver for Remaining October Through 

November RFDs 

On May 31, 2024 (89 FR 47095), 

NMFS published a final rule that, 

among other things, implemented RFDs 

every Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, and 

Saturday from July 1 through November 

30, 2024. Since the fishery will be 

closed for the remainder of the October 

through November time period, NMFS 

has decided to waive the previouslyscheduled RFDs for the remainder of 

that time period. 

With the RFDs waived during a 

closure, consistent with § 635.23(a)(7), 

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 described 

at § 635.26(a). 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. Per 

§ 635.5(b)(2)(i)(A), dealers are required 

to submit landing reports within 24 

hours of a dealer receiving BFT. 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 per 

§ 635.5(a)(4) to report their own catch of 

all BFT retained or discarded dead 

within 24 hours of the landing(s) or end 

of each trip, by accessing https://

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 December 

1, depending on the level of fishing 

effort and catch rates of BFT at that 

time, 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:// 

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 (16 U.S.C. 1855(d)) and regulations 

at 50 CFR part 635 and this action 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), it is impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest to provide 

prior notice of, and an opportunity for 

public comment on this action, 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 the 

most recent landings information, the 

available time period subquota is 

projected to be reached shortly. 

Delaying this action could result in BFT 

landings that exceed the October 

through November time period 

subquota, which may result in future 

potential quota reductions for other BFT 

categories, depending on the magnitude 

of a potential overharvest. Taking this 

action does not raise conservation and 

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 and closure 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: October 23, 2024. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–25020 Filed 10–23–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[RTID 0648–XD487] 

Amendment 8 Revisions to Essential 

Fish Habitat in the Fishery 

Management Plan for U.S. West Coast 

Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of agency decision. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the 

approval of amendment 8 to the Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) for the U.S. 

West Coast Highly Migratory Species 

(HMS). This amendment updates 

essential fish habitat (EFH) provisions 

in the existing HMS FMP. This 

amendment promotes the goals and 

objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (MSA) which requires periodic 

review and revision of EFH components 

of FMPs as warranted based on available 

information. 

DATES: The amendment was approved 

on October 21, 2024. 


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