28986 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 101 /Wednesday, May 27, 1998 / Notices

Dated: May 19, 1998.

Robert E. Hebner,

Acting Deputy Director.

[FR Doc. 98–13942 Filed 5–26–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–30–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and

Technology

Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige

National Quality Award

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards

and Technology, Department of

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of closed meeting.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal

Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app.

2, notice is hereby given that there will

be a closed meeting of the Judges Panel

of the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award on Tuesday, June 9,

1998. The Judges Panel is composed of

nine members prominent in the field of

quality management and appointed by

the Secretary of Commerce. The purpose

of this meeting is to review final judging

interaction, survey of applicants and

judging process improvement

discussions, and to begin the review

process of the 1998 Award applicants to

be recommended as Award winners.

The applications under review contain

trade secrets and proprietary

commercial information submitted to

the Government in confidence.

DATES: The meeting will convene June

9, 1998, at 8:30 a.m. and adjourn at 3:00

p.m. on June 9, 1998. The entire meeting

will be closed.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the National Institute of Standards and

Technology, Administration Building

Conference Room, Gaithersburg,

Maryland 20899.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Harry Hertz, Director, National Quality

Program, National Institute of Standards

and Technology, Gaithersburg,

Maryland 20899, telephone number

(301) 975–2361.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Assistant Secretary for Administration,

with the concurrence of the General

Counsel, formally determined on May

19, 1998, that the meeting of the Judges

Panel will be closed pursuant to Section

10(d) of the Federal Advisory

Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, as

amended by Section 5(c) of the

Government in the Sunshine Act, Pub.

L. 94–409. The meeting, which involves

examination of records and discussion

of Award applicant data, may be closed

to the public in accordance with Section

552b(c)(4) of Title 5, United States Code,

since the meeting is likely to disclose

trade secrets and commercial or

financial information obtained from a

person and privileged or confidential.

Dated: May 19, 1998.

Robert E. Hebner,

Acting Deputy Director.

[FR Doc. 98–13946 Filed 5–26–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[Docket No. 980324076–8076–01; I.D.

031798B]

RIN 0648–ZA38

Halibut and Sablefish Fisheries QuotaShare Loan Program; Final Program

Notice and Announcement of

Availability of Federal Assistance

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration,

Commerce.

ACTION: Announcement of availability of

Federal assistance.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the

availability of long-term loans for

financing or refinancing the purchase

cost of quota share (QS) in the halibut

and sablefish fisheries off Alaska. Only

entry-level fishermen or fishermen who

fish from small vessels are eligible for

these loans.

DATES: NMFS will accept applications

only during an application open season.

The application open season will begin

on June 10, 1998 and will end on June

24, 1998. All loan funds available for FY

1998 must be committed before

September 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Applicants should send

loan applications to the Northwest

Financial Services Branch, National

Marine Fisheries Service, National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 7600 Sand Point Way, NE

(BIN C15700), Building No. 1, Seattle,

WA 98115.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kimberly Berryhill at (206) 526–6122

(voice) or (206) 526–6306 (facsimile).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

A. Background

The Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA)

(P.L. 104–297) amended section

1104A(a)(7) of Title XI of the Merchant

Marine Act (46 U.S.C. App. 1274) and

section 303(d)(4) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens

Act) (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) to authorize

financing and refinancing the cost of

entry-level fishermen and fishermen

who fish from small boats purchasing

individual fishing quota (IFQ).

Although the SFA indicates that loans

are available for purchasing IFQ, the

basic fishing permit for the halibut and

sablefish fisheries is termed ‘‘QS’’ rather

than ‘‘IFQ.’’ In these fisheries, IFQ is an

annual allocation of the pounds of fish

that each QS holder may harvest.

Consequently, NMFS interprets the SFA

to allow loans for the cost of purchasing

basic fishing permits rather than annual

harvest allocations under those permits.

These loans will finance the purchase of

halibut and sablefish QS rather than

IFQ.

Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act,

1936, is the credit authority under

which NMFS will make these loans.

This authority is subject to the Federal

Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FRCA) (2

U.S.C. 661). This Act requires estimated

net loan losses (FCRA cost) to be

appropriated in cash at the time

Congress authorizes annual loan

ceilings.

FY 1998 appropriations for the U.S.

Department of Commerce included a

$100,000 advance to fund the FCRA cost

of this loan program during its first year

(from October 1, 1997, through

September 30, 1998).

The amount of annual FCRA credit

authority available is a ratio of the

FCRA cost rate and the FCRA cost

appropriated. NMFS preliminarily

estimates the FCRA cost rate of these

loans to be 2 percent. Consequently, the

$100,000 appropriated for this loan

program’s FY 1998 FCRA cost will

preliminarily support a $5,000,000

credit authority ($5,000,000 times 0.2

equals $100,000).

The FY 1998 credit authority may not

support more than 20 to 35 loans. FY

1998 loan demand will most likely

exceed supply. NMFS will, to the

maximum extent possible, process loan

applications (up to the maximum FY

1998 credit authority available) in the

order in which applicants submit them

during an application open season. For

the specific dates upon which the

application open season begins and

ends, see the DATES heading at the

beginning of this document. All

applications must be submitted by firstclass U.S. mail. No other form of

application submission is acceptable. To

reduce the open-season paperwork

burden, applicants need complete only

a small portion (Section A) of the