Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 61 / Monday, March 31, 1997 / Proposed Rules 15151

pending publication of the Driver

Fatigue and Alertness Study full report.

This ANPRM is mandated by the ICC

Termination Act of 1995.

DATES: Comments to the general

ANPRM should be received no later

than June 30, 1997. Late comments will

be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Signed, written comments

should refer to the docket number that

appears at the top of this document and

must be submitted to the Docket Clerk,

U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL–401, 400

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC

20590–0001. All comments received

will be available for examination at the

above address between 10 a.m. and 5

p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday,

except Federal holidays. Those desiring

notification of receipt of comments must

include a self-addressed, stamped

envelope or postcard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

information regarding rulemaking and

operational issues: Mr. David Miller,

Office of Motor Carrier Research and

Standards, (202) 366–1790; for

information regarding human factors

and fatigue research programs: Ms.

Deborah Freund, Office of Motor Carrier

Research and Standards, (202) 366–

1790; and for information regarding

legal issues: Mr. Charles Medalen,

Office of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366–

0834, Federal Highway Administration,

Department of Transportation, 400

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC

20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

November 5, 1996 (61 FR 57251), the

FHWA published an ANPRM requesting

answers to numerous questions related

to commercial motor vehicle driver

hours-of-service regulations, including

fatigue, loss of alertness, and hours off

duty. The ANPRM set March 31, 1997,

as the docket closing date for signed,

written comments.

On March 5, 1997, the Advocates for

Highway and Auto Safety (AHAS)

delivered a petition to the FHWA. This

petition requested the FHWA to extend

this rulemaking’s comment period

closing date by 60 days. The AHAS

believes it and the public should have

ample opportunity to review and

critique the Driver Fatigue and

Alertness Study’s full report. The full

report has not yet been published or

placed in the docket. A 59-page

technical summary and a 17-page

executive summary have been placed in

the docket.

On March 13, 1997, the Insurance

Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)

petitioned the FHWA to extend this

rulemaking’s comment period closing

date by 60 days. The IIHS believes it

also should have ample opportunity to

review and critique the Driver Fatigue

and Alertness Study’s full report,

including its data.

At the time of the original publication

in November 1996 (61 FR 57251), the

FHWA believed the full report would be

published and available well in advance

of the comment closing date. The

FHWA, however, has experienced

unforeseen editorial delays in

publishing the full report. The FHWA

believes publication will now be

accomplished by the end of April 1997.

The FHWA believes it should allow the

public to review and critique the full

report of the Driver Fatigue and

Alertness Study.

The FHWA has also conducted

listening sessions, specifically listening

to drivers, about how the hours-ofservice regulations affect their daily

lives and their recommended changes to

improve the rules. See 62 FR 6161,

February 11, 1997. Many interested

persons have attended these sessions

and would like to review the transcripts

of these listening sessions. A few of the

transcripts will not be delivered to the

FHWA docket prior to March 31, 1997.

For the reasons above, the FHWA

finds good cause to extend this ANPRM

comment period closing date for 60 days

after the expected publication date of

the full report of the FHWA’s Driver

Fatigue and Alertness Study in late

April 1997.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 395

Global positioning systems, Highway

safety, Highways and roads, Intelligent

Transportation Systems, Motor carriers,

Motor vehicle safety, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Issued on: March 26, 1997.

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315 and 49 CFR 1.48.

Jane Garvey,

Acting Administrator, Federal Highway

Administration.

[FR Doc. 97–8198 Filed 3–27–97; 1:06 pm]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[I.D. 032097E]

Groundfish Fisheries of the Bering

Sea/Aleutian Islands Area and the Gulf

of Alaska

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent; scoping

meetings; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces its

intention to prepare a supplemental

environmental impact statement (SEIS)

on the Federal action by which total

allowable catch (TAC) specifications

and prohibited species catch limits in

the groundfish fisheries that are

conducted in the Bering Sea and

Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI) and the

Gulf of Alaska (GOA) are annually

established and apportioned.

NMFS will hold scoping meetings to

provide for public input into the range

of actions, alternatives, and impacts that

the SEIS should consider. In addition to

holding the scoping meetings, NMFS is

accepting written comments on the

range of actions, alternatives, and

impacts it should be considering for this

SEIS.

DATES: Written comments will be

accepted through July 1, 1997. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for meeting

times and special accommodations.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and

requests to be included on a mailing list

of persons interested in the SEIS should

be sent to Lori Gravel, Fisheries

Management Division, National Marine

Fisheries Service, P.O. Box 21668,

Juneau, AK 99802.

See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for

meeting locations and special

accommodations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Tamra Faris, (907) 586–7645.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson-Stevens Act), the United

States has exclusive fishery

management authority over all living

marine resources, except for migratory

species, found within the exclusive

economic zone between 3 and 200

nautical miles from the baseline used to

measure the territorial sea.

The management of these marine

resources is vested in the Secretary of

Commerce (Secretary) and in eight

Regional Fishery Management Councils.

The North Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council) has the responsibility

to prepare fishery management plans

(FMPs) for the marine resources, which

it finds require conservation and

management, in the Alaska region of

responsibility. The Council consists of

Federal and State officials having

authority for fishery management and of

private persons nominated by the

governors of the States of Alaska,
15152 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 61 / Monday, March 31, 1997 / Proposed Rules

Oregon, and Washington and appointed

by the Secretary.

The FMPs must specify the optimum

yield from each fishery, which would

provide the greatest benefit to the

Nation, and must state how much of

that optimum yield can be expected to

be harvested by U.S. vessels. The FMPs

must also specify the level of fishing

that would comprise overfishing.

The Council prepared and the

Secretary approved the Fishery

Management Plan for the Groundfish

Fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian

Islands Area in 1981. An environmental

impact statement (EIS) was prepared for

the action implementing the FMP and

was filed in 1981. The BSAI FMP has

been amended 42 times. National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

environmental documents have been

prepared for each amendment as well as

for subsequent regulatory actions,

including the annual process of

establishing TAC specifications.

The Council prepared and the

Secretary approved the Fishery

Management Plan for Groundfish of the

Gulf of Alaska in 1978. An EIS was

prepared for the action implementing

the FMP and was filed in 1978. The

GOA FMP has been amended 45 times.

NEPA environmental documents have

been prepared for each amendment as

well as for subsequent regulatory

actions, including the annual process of

establishing TAC specifications.

The purpose of the original FMPs was

to manage the groundfish fisheries for

the optimum yield and to allocate

harvest between domestic and foreign

fishermen. The fisheries have evolved

since then through the Council process

including FMP amendments,

regulations, and continued compliance

with other Federal laws and executive

orders. The frequencies of marine

mammal, marine bird, and fish species

in the biological assemblage present

now are different from frequencies that

existed and were displayed in 1978 and

1981 environmental analyses. Several

marine species have been listed under

the Endangered Species Act, some of

which may be affected by fishery

management actions. New information

about the ecosystem, impacts of the

fisheries, and management tools has

become available since the EISs were

prepared.

For the above reasons, NMFS has

determined that a SEIS shall be

prepared that incorporates the

following: The amendments to the

groundfish FMPs; the annual process for

determining the TAC specifications; and

the public processes in place for

implementing new regulations, revising

existing ones, and incorporating new

information. Because the BSAI and GOA

groundfish fisheries utilize similar

resources from adjacent locations in the

large North Pacific ecosystem, use

similar gear deployed by interrelated

constituents, and are overseen by the

same Fishery Management Council,

NMFS has decided to display the

impacts of both fisheries in one SEIS.

The SEIS will analyze the process by

which annual TAC specifications and

prohibited species catch limits are

determined, together with the

procedures for implementing changes to

those processes. The processes

encompass decisions about location and

timing of each fishery, harvestable

amounts, exploitation rates, exploited

species, groupings of exploited species,

gear types and groupings, allocations,

product quality, organic waste and

secondary utilization, at-sea and onland organic discard, species at higher

and lower trophic levels, habitat

alterations, and relative impacts to

coastal communities, society, the

economy, and the domestic and foreign

groundfish markets. Effects of these

decisions are manifested over many

years in multifaceted social and

biological arenas. Inherent in

implementing any groundfish fisheries

management regime are commitments to

provide in-season management,

enforcement, monitoring, stock

assessment, and summary analyses. In

addition to evaluating the mandated No

Action Alternative (i.e., the management

process that is in place now would

continue to apply), the SEIS will

include a full range of alternatives and

discussions of their potential impacts on

the biological and socioeconomic

environments. NMFS is seeking

suggested additional alternatives from

the public through the scoping process

and written responses to this document.

Preparation of the SEIS is expected to

take 1 year and include distribution of

a draft SEIS and incorporation of

comments on it into the final SEIS.

The scoping meetings for Anchorage,

Dutch Harbor, Juneau, Ketchikan,

Kodiak, Portland, Seattle, and Sitka will

be held at the following times and

locations:

1. Juneau—June 11, 1997, 1–3 p.m.,

Juneau Federal Building, Room 445, 709

West 9th Street, Juneau, AK.

2. Anchorage—June 13, 1997, 2–5

p.m., Anchorage Federal Building

Executive Dining Room, 222 West

Seventh Avenue, Anchorage, AK.

3. Dutch Harbor—June 16, 1997, 2–5

p.m., Grand Aleutian Hotel 100 Salmon

Way, Dutch Harbor, AK.

4. Kodiak—June 18, 1997, 7–10 p.m.,

Westmark Hotel, 236 West Rezanof

Drive, Kodiak, AK, in combination with

meeting of the North Pacific Fishery

Management Council meeting.

5. Sitka—June 23, 1997, 1–3 p.m.,

University of Alaska, Sitka, Room 133,

1332 Seward Avenue (Duponski Island),

Sitka, AK.

6. Seattle—June 25, 1997, 2–5 p.m.,

Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600

Sand Point Way NE., Building 4, Room

2039, Seattle, WA.

7. Portland—June 27, 1997, 7–10 p.m.,

Red Lion - Downtown, 310 SW. Lincoln,

Portland, OR.

Special Accommodations

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to Rebecca Campbell

(907) 586–7228 at least 5 days before the

meeting dates.

Dated: March 25, 1997.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–8059 Filed 3–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F