18848 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 73 /Thursday, April 16, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

FAR part 52

cite Title

52.209–5 .... Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Proposed

Debarment, and Other Responsibility Matters.

52.215–2 .... Audits and Records—Negotiation.

52.219–8 .... Utilization of Small, Small Disadvantaged, and WomenOwned Small Business Concerns.

52.223–6 .... Drug-Free Workplace.

52.233–2 .... Service of Protest (Solicitations

only).

(h) All solicitations and contracts

which exceed $500,000 must include

the FAR clauses at 52.219–9, Small,

Small Disadvantaged, and WomenOwned Small Business Subcontracting

Plan, and 52.219–16, Liquidated

Damages—Subcontracting Plan.

* * * * *

(j) When cost or pricing data is

required for work or service exceeding

$500,000 the FAR clauses at 52.215–10,

Price Reduction for Defective Cost or

Pricing Data, and 52.215–12,

Subcontractor Cost or Pricing Data, must

be included in solicitations and

contracts.

(k) When the contracting officer

determines that it is desirable to

authorize the submission of facsimile

proposals, the solicitation must include

the FAR provision at 52.215–5,

Facsimile Proposals.

28. Section 570.702 is revised to read

as follows:

570.702 Solicitation provisions.

When a solicitation for offers is

issued, the contracting officer should

include provisions substantially the

same as the following unless the

contracting officer makes a

determination that use of one or more of

the provisions is not appropriate:

(a) 552.270–1 Instructions to

Offerors—Acquisition of Leasehold

Interests in Real Property.

(1) Use Alternate I if the contracting

officer decides that it is advantageous to

the Government to allow offers to be

submitted up to the exact time specified

for receipt of final proposal revisions.

(2) Use Alternate II if the Government

intends to award without discussions.

(b) 552.270–4 Historic Preference.

(c) 552.270–6 Parties to Execute

Lease.

29. Section 570.703 is amended by

deleting paragraph (a)(25) and

redesignating paragraph (a)(26) as

(a)(25).

30. Section 570.704 is revised to read

as follows:

570.704 Use of provisions and clauses.

The omission of any provision or

clause when its prescription requires its

use constitutes a deviation which must

be approved under subpart 501.4.

Approval may be granted to deviate

from provisions or clauses that are

mandated by statute (e.g., GSAR

552.203–5, Covenant Against

Contingent Fees, FAR 52.215–2, Audit

and Records—Negotiation, etc.) in order

to modify the language of the provision

or clause, when permitted by the

statute. However, the statutory

provisions and clauses may not be

omitted from the SFO unless the statute

provides for waiving the requirements

of the provision or clause. Also, certain

clauses required by non-GSA

regulations require approval of the

issuing agency before the contracting

officer can delete or modify them (e.g.,

52.222–26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222–

35, Affirmative Action for Disabled

Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam

Era; and 52.222–36 Affirmative Action

for Handicapped Workers, require the

approval of the Department of Labor’s

Office of Federal Contract Compliance

Programs before they can be deleted

from or modified in the SFO or lease).

Ida M. Ustad,

Deputy Associate Administrator for

Acquisition Policy.

[FR Doc. 98–9942 Filed 4–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–61–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 971208297-8054-02; I.D.

041098A]

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod in the

Gulf of Alaska

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Apportionment of reserve.

SUMMARY: NMFS is apportioning the

initial reserve of Pacific cod in the Gulf

of Alaska (GOA). This action is

necessary to allow incidental catch of

Pacific cod to be retained in other

directed fisheries and to account for

previous harvest of the total allowable

catch (TAC) in the GOA.

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local

time (A.l.t.), April 16, 1998, through

2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 1998.

Comments must be received by May 1,

1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to

Sue Salveson, Assistant Administrator,

Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska

Region, NMFS, 709 West 9th Street,

Room 453, Juneau, AK 99801 or P.O.

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668,

Attn: Lori Gravel.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas Pearson, 907-486-6919.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

groundfish fishery in the GOA exclusive

economic zone is managed by NMFS

according to the Fishery Management

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of

Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North

Pacific Fishery Management Council

under authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and

Management 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.

The initial TAC of Pacific cod in the

Western, Central, and Eastern

Regulatory Areas of the GOA was

established by the Final 1998 Harvest

Specifications for Groundfish of the

GOA (63 FR 12027, March 12, 1998) as

18,536 mt, 33,374 mt, and 936 mt in the

Western, Central, and Eastern

Regulatory Areas, respectively. Directed

fishing for Pacific cod for processing by

the inshore component in the Western

Regulatory Area of the GOA was closed

on March 3, 1998 (63 FR 11160, March

6, 1998), and in the Central Regulatory

Area on March 10, 1998 (63 FR 12416,

March 13, 1998), under

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii) to prevent exceeding

the allocation for processing by the

inshore component in these areas.

The reserve of Pacific cod in the GOA

was withheld under the Final 1998

Harvest Specifications for Groundfish of

the GOA (63 FR 12027, March 12, 1998)

as a management buffer to prevent

exceeding the TACs and to provide

greater assurance that Pacific cod could

be retained as bycatch throughout the

fishing year.

The Administrator, Alaska Region,

NMFS, has determined that the initial

TACs for Pacific cod in the GOA need

to be supplemented from the Pacific cod

reserve to allow the retention of

incidental catch of Pacific cod in other

fisheries and to account for prior

harvest. Therefore, in accordance with

§ 679.20(b)(3)(i)(A), NMFS is

apportioning 13,214 mt of Pacific cod

from the reserve to the TAC in the GOA:

4,634 mt in the Western, 8,346 mt in the

Central, and 234 mt in the Eastern

Regulatory Areas.

Pursuant to § 679.20(a)(6)(iii), 90

percent and 10 percent of the
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 73 /Thursday, April 16, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 18849

apportionment of the Pacific cod reserve

in the GOA is allocated to vessels

catching Pacific cod for processing by

the inshore and offshore components

respectively. This action increases the

total allocation of the 1998 Pacific cod

TACs for vessels catching Pacific cod for

processing by the inshore component to

20,853 mt, 37,548 mt, and 1,053 mt in

the Western, Central, and Eastern

Regulatory Areas, respectively, and for

the offshore component to 2,317 mt,

4,172 mt and 117 mt in the Western,

Central, and Eastern Regulatory Areas,

respectively.

In accordance with § 679.20

(b)(3)(iii)(A), NMFS finds that good

cause exists for not providing the public

with a prior opportunity to comment.

As of March 21, 1998, NMFS estimates

the amount of the Pacific cod initial

TACs allocated to the inshore

component in the Western and the

Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA of

16,682 mt and 30,037 mt, respectively

have been reached. This action is

necessary to allow retention of amounts

of Pacific cod that are caught

incidentally while conducting directed

fishing for other species in these areas.

Maximum retainable bycatch amounts

may be found at § 679.20(e) and (f).

Classification

This action responds to the initial

TAC limitations for Pacific cod

established in the Final 1998 Harvest

Specifications for Groundfish in the

GOA. This action will allow incidental

catch of Pacific cod to be retained in

other directed fisheries. The alternative

is to prohibit retention of Pacific cod,

which is contrary to the FMP goals of

providing the opportunity to more fully

use the available TACs and reduce

discards. A delay in the effective date is

impracticable and contrary to public

interest as it relieves a potential

restriction. NMFS finds for good cause

that the implementation of this action

should not be delayed for 30 days.

Accordingly, under U.S.C. 553(d), a

delay in the effective date is hereby

waived.

This action is required by § 679.20

and is exempt from review under E.O.

12866.

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

Dated: April 10, 1998.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98–10140 Filed 4–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F