11108 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 47 / Tuesday, March 11, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

entities concerning the affected NASA

FAR Supplement subparts will be

considered in accordance with 5 U.S.C.

601. Such comments must be submitted

separately and cite 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.

Paperwork Reduction Act

The Paperwork Reduction Act does

not apply because the proposed changes

to the NASA FAR Supplement does not

impose any new recordkeeping or

information collection requirements, or

new collections of information from

offerors contractors, or members of the

public which require the approval of the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1833

and 1852

Government procurement.

Tom Luedtke

Deputy Associate Administrator for

Procurement.

Accordingly, 48 CFR parts 1833 and

1852 are amended as follows:

1. The authority citation for 48 CFR

parts 1833 and 1852 continues to read

as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2473(c)(1).

PART 1833—PROTESTS, DISPUTES,

AND APPEALS

Subpart 1833.1—Protests

2. Section 1833.103 is revised to read

as follows:

1833.103 Protests to the agency. (NASA

supplements paragraph (b))

(b) Protests received at NASA offices

or locations other than that of the

cognizant contracting officer shall be

immediately referred to the contracting

officer for disposition (see 1833.106(a)).

The contracting officer shall advise the

Headquarters Office of the General

Counsel (Code GK) of the receipt of the

protest and the planned and actual

disposition. This paragraph does not

apply when the protester has requested

an independent review under the

provision at 1852.233–70.

3. Section 1833.106–70 is added to

read as follows:

1833.106–70 Solicitation provision.

Contracting officers shall insert the

provision at 1852.233–70 in all

solicitations.

PART 1852—SOLICITATION

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT

CLAUSES

4. Section 1852.233–70 is added to

read as follows:

1852.233–70 Protests to NASA.

As prescribed in 1833.106–70, insert

the following provision:

Protests to NASA (March 1997)

Potential bidders or offerors may submit a

protest under 48 CFR part 33 (FAR Part 33)

directly to the Contracting Officer. As an

alternative to the Contracting Officer’s

consideration of a protest, a potential bidder

or offeror may submit the protest to the

Deputy Associate Administrator for

Procurement, who will serve as or designate

the official responsible for conducting an

independent review. Protests requesting an

independent review shall be addressed to

Deputy Associate Administrator for

Procurement, NASA Code H, Washington,

DC 20546–0001.

[FR Doc. 97–5692 Filed 3–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7510–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 961210346–7035–02; I.D.

030497A]

Summer Flounder Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Commercial quota harvest.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

summer flounder commercial quota

available to the State of Maine has been

harvested. Vessels issued a commercial

Federal fisheries permit for the summer

flounder fishery may not land summer

flounder in Maine for the remainder of

calendar year 1997, unless additional

quota becomes available through a

transfer. This announcement is in

accordance with the regulations

governing the summer flounder fishery.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 5, 1997 through

December 31, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David M. Gouveia, Fishery Management

Specialist, 508–281–9280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations governing the summer

flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR

part 648. The regulations require annual

specification of a commercial quota that

is apportioned among the states from

North Carolina through Maine. The

process to set the annual commercial

quota and the percentage allocated to

each state are described in § 648.100.

The total commercial quota for

summer flounder for the 1997 calendar

year is set equal to 11,111,298 lb

(5,040,000 kg), effective March 5, 1997.

The percentage allocated to vessels

landing summer flounder in Maine is

0.04756 percent, or 5,284 lb (2,397 kg).

Section 648.100(d)(2) stipulates that

any overages of commercial quota

landed in any state be deducted from

that state’s annual quota for the

following year. In calendar year 1996, a

total of 8,226 lb (3,731 kg) were landed

in Maine. The amount allocated for

Maine landings in 1996 was 5,284 lb

(2,397 kg), creating a 2,942 lb (1,334 kg)

overage that was deducted from the

amount allocated for landings in that

state during 1997, effective March 5,

1997. The resulting quota for Maine is

2,342 lb (1,062 kg).

Section 648.101(b) requires the

Regional Administrator to monitor state

commercial quotas and to determine

when a state commercial quota is

harvested. The Regional Administrator

is further required to publish an

announcement in the Federal Register

advising a state and notifying Federal

vessel and dealer permit holders that,

effective upon a specific date, the state’s

commercial quota has been harvested

and no commercial quota is available for

landing summer flounder in that state.

Because the available information

indicates that the State of Maine has

attained its quota for 1997, the Regional

Administrator has determined based on

dealer reports and other available

information, that the State’s commercial

quota has been harvested.

The regulations at § 648.4(b) provide

that Federal permit holders agree, as a

condition of the permit, not to land

summer flounder in any state that the

Regional Administrator has determined

no longer has commercial quota

available. Therefore, effective 0001

hours March 5, 1997, further landings of

summer flounder in Maine by vessels

holding commercial Federal fisheries

permits are prohibited for the remainder

of the 1997 calendar year, unless

additional quota becomes available

through a transfer and is announced in

the Federal Register. Federally

permitted dealers are also advised that

they may not purchase summer flounder

from federally permitted vessels that

land in Maine for the remainder of the

calendar year, or until additional quota

becomes available through a transfer.

Classification

This action is required by 50 CFR part

648 and is exempt from review under

E.O. 12866.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 47 / Tuesday, March 11, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 11109

Dated: March 5, 1997.

Gary C. Matlock,

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–5876 Filed 3–5–97; 4:30 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 961220363–7038–02; I.D.

120296B]

RIN 0648–AI65

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Maximum Retainable

Bycatch Percentages

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: NMFS implements a

regulatory amendment to reduce

maximum retainable bycatch

percentages for sablefish in the Gulf of

Alaska (GOA) groundfish trawl fisheries

and to allow the use of GOA arrowtooth

flounder as a basis species for the

retention of bycatch amounts of pollock

and Pacific cod when either of these two

species is closed to directed fishing.

This action is necessary to slow the

harvest rate of GOA sablefish and to

provide for fuller utilization of pollock

and Pacific cod incidentally taken in the

arrowtooth flounder fishery. This action

is intended to further the objectives of

the Fishery Management Plan for

Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP).

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental

assessment/regulatory impact review

prepared for this action may be obtained

from the Fisheries Management

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O.

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn:

Lori Gravel.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue

Salveson, 907–586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fishing

for groundfish by U.S. vessels in the

exclusive economic zone of the GOA is

managed by NMFS according to the

FMP. The FMP was prepared by the

North Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council) under authority of the

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). Fishing by

U.S. vessels is governed by regulations

implementing the FMP at subpart H of

50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.

Regulations at § 679.20(e) establish

maximum retainable bycatch (MRB)

percentages for groundfish species or

species groups. These MRB percentages

establish the amount of a species that is

closed to directed fishing that may be

retained on board a vessel, relative to

amounts of other retained species open

to directed fishing.

At the Council’s September 1996

meeting, the Council requested that

NMFS initiate rulemaking to change

several MRB percentages. This request

was in response to (1) concerns about

the extent to which some existing MRB

percentages allow vessel operators to

top off their retained catch of bycatch

species up to the MRB amount and (2)

testimony that a limited fishery for GOA

arrowtooth flounder exists and that this

species should be allowed as a basis

species for the retention of pollock and

Pacific cod. A proposed rule to

implement the Council’s recommended

changes was published in the Federal

Register on January 6, 1997 (62 FR 724).

No comments were received within the

public comment period that ended

February 5, 1997.

This final rule implements the

following changes to the MRB

percentages established for GOA

groundfish:

1. The MRB percentage for sablefish

relative to deep water species is reduced

from 15 percent to 7 percent; and

2. The use of GOA arrowtooth

flounder is allowed as a basis species for

the retention of pollock and Pacific cod.

An MRB of 5 percent of each these

species relative to arrowtooth flounder

is established.

Further justification of these changes

is discussed in the preamble to the

proposed rule.

Changes from the proposed rule

NMFS clarifies § 679.20(f)(2) so that

regulatory constraints to using

arrowtooth flounder as a basis to

calculate retained amounts of other

groundfish species are consistent with

the allowances provided under the final

rule for GOA pollock and Pacific cod.

Classification

The Assistant General Counsel for

Legislation and Regulation of the

Department of Commerce certified to

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the

Small Business Administration that this

rule would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The reasons

were published in the Federal Register

with the proposed rule (62 FR 724,

January 6, 1997). No comments were

received regarding this certification. As

a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis

was not prepared.

This proposed rule has been

determined to be not significant for

purposes of E.O. 12866.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

Fisheries, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: March 3, 1997.

Nancy Foster,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended

as follows:

PART 679—FISHERIES OF THE

EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF

ALASKA

1. The authority citation for part 679

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et

seq.

2. In part 679, Table 10 is revised to

read as follows:

TABLE 10 TO PART 679.—CURRENT GULF OF ALASKA RETAINABLE PERCENTAGES

Pollock Pacific

cod

Deep

flatfish

Rex

sole

Bycatch species 1 Aggregated

rockfish 2

DSR

SEEO 4

Atka

mackerel

Other

Flathead species

sole

Shallow

flatfish Arrowtooth Sablefish

Basis Species:

Pollock ............................... 3 na 20 20 20 20 20 35 1 5 10 20 20

Pacific cod ......................... 20 3 na 20 20 20 20 35 1 5 10 20 20

Deep flatfish ...................... 20 20 3 na 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20

Rex sole ............................ 20 20 20 3 na 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20

Flathead sole .................... 20 20 20 20 3 na 20 35 7 15 1 20 20

Shallow flatfish .................. 20 20 20 20 20 3 na 35 1 5 10 20 20

Arrowtooth ......................... 5 5 0 0 0 0 3 na 0 0 0 0 0

Sablefish ........................... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 3 na 15 1 20 20

Pacific Ocean perch .......... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20

Shortraker/rougheye ......... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20