Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 137 / Friday, July 17, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 38501

administration by division; claims;

interest.

Section 590.840 Collection of fee for

certain fuels and heating coil; exempt

products; payment of expenses of

department.

Section 590.850 Registration of storage

tanks: Collection of annual fee; exempt

tanks; liability for noncompliance.

Section 590.860 Balance in fund to

determine collection of fees by

department.

Section 590.870 Report of discharge from

tank required; division to clean up

discharge; expectation; test of tank

required for coverage.

Section 590.880 Allocation of costs

resulting from discharge from certain

storage tanks for heating oil.

Section 590.890 Allocation of costs

resulting from discharge from other

storage tanks.

Section 590.900 Liability for costs to clean

up discharge caused by willful or

wanton misconduct, gross negligence or

violation of statute or regulation.

Section 590.910 Pro rata reduction

required, if balance in fund insufficient

for full payment.

Section 590.920 Tanks exempted from

provisions of Sections 590.850 to

590.910 inclusive; optional coverage of

exempted tank.

(4) Nevada Civil Procedure, Rule 24 (1971):

Nevada Civil Procedure, Rule 24 .

(b) The regulatory provisions includes:

(1) Nevada Administrative Code 459, UST

Program (1990):

Section 459.9929 ‘‘Storage Tank’’ defined.

Section 459.993 Compliance with federal

regulations.

Section 459.995 Financial responsibility of

owners and operators.

Section 459.996 Releases: Reporting.

(2) Nevada Administrative Code 590,

Petroleum Fund (1991):

Section 590.720 Adoption by reference of

provisions of Code of Federal

Regulations.

(3) Nevada Administrative Code,

Reportable Quantities (1989):

Section 445.240 Notice required.

[FR Doc. 98–19133 Filed 7–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 980402084–8166–02; I.D.

032398B]

RIN 0648–AJ51

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Scallop Fishery off

Alaska; Amendment 3

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a final rule to

implement Amendment 3 to the Fishery

Management Plan for the Scallop

Fishery off Alaska (FMP), which

delegates to the State of Alaska (State)

the authority to manage all aspects of

the scallop fishery, except limited

access. This final rule repeals all

Federal regulations governing the

scallop fishery off Alaska, except for the

scallop vessel moratorium program.

This action is necessary to eliminate

duplicative regulations and

management programs at the State and

Federal levels and is intended to further

the goals and objectives of the FMP.

DATES: Effective July 14, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 3

and the Environmental Assessment/

Regulatory Impact Review (EA/RIR)

prepared for Amendment 3 are available

from the NMFS Alaska Region, P.O. Box

21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Lori J.

Gravel, or by calling the Alaska Region,

NMFS, at 907–586–7228.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent

Lind, 907–586–7228 or

kent.lind@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and

the State of Alaska manage the scallop

fishery off Alaska pursuant to the FMP.

The North Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council) prepared the FMP

pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Federal

regulations governing the scallop fishery

appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679.

State regulations governing the scallop

fishery appear in the Alaska

Administrative Code (AAC) at 5 AAC

Chapter 38--Miscellaneous Shellfish.

The Council submitted Amendment 3

for Secretarial review on March 26,

1998, and a Notice of Availability of the

amendment was published March 31,

1998 (63 FR 15376), with comments on

the FMP amendment invited through

June 1, 1998. NMFS published a

proposed rule to implement

Amendment 3 on April 16, 1998 (63 FR

18863), with comments on the proposed

rule invited until June 1. No comments

were received on the FMP amendment

or the proposed rule by the end of the

comment periods.

Based on a review of the FMP

amendment, proposed rule, EA/RIR, and

applicable State laws, the

Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS,

determined that Amendment 3 is

necessary for the conservation and

management of the scallop fishery off

Alaska and that it is consistent with the

Magnuson-Stevens Act and other

applicable laws.

Management Background and Need for

Action

The history of the scallop fishery off

Alaska and the events leading up to the

development of the joint State-Federal

management regime under Amendment

1 to the FMP are discussed in detail in

the proposed rule (63 FR 18863, April

16, 1998) and in the EA/RIR prepared

for this action (see ADDRESSES).

Amendment 1 established a joint StateFederal management regime under

which NMFS implemented Federal

scallop regulations that duplicate most

State scallop regulations, including

definitions of scallop registration areas

and districts, scallop fishing seasons,

closed waters, gear restrictions,

efficiency limits, crab bycatch limits,

scallop catch limits, inseason

adjustments, and observer coverage

requirements. This joint State-Federal

management regime was designed as a

temporary measure to prevent

unregulated fishing in Federal waters

until changes in the Magnuson-Stevens

Act would enable the Council to

delegate management of the fishery to

the State.

While the joint State-Federal

management regime established under

Amendment 1 has enabled NMFS to

reopen the Exclusive Economic Zone to

fishing for scallops, it has proven to be

cumbersome in practice. Every

management action, including inseason

openings and closures, must be

coordinated so that State and Federal

actions are simultaneously effective.

NMFS must draft and publish in the

Federal Register inseason actions that

duplicate every State inseason scallop

action. State scallop managers are now

constrained in their ability to

implement management decisions

rapidly because they must coordinate

each action with NMFS and provide

sufficient lead-time for publication of

the action in the Federal Register.

The only purpose of maintaining

duplicate regulations at the State and

Federal level is to prevent unregulated

fishing by vessels not registered under

the laws of the State. The State-Federal

management regime established under

Amendment 1 is no longer necessary to

prevent unregulated fishing for scallops

in Federal waters because the

Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996,

which amended the Magnuson-Stevens

Act, now provides authority for the

Council to delegate to the State

management responsibility for the

scallop fishery in Federal waters off

Alaska. The statutory requirements for

delegation of fisheries management
38502 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 137 / Friday, July 17, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

authority to a state were presented in

the preamble to the proposed rule (63

FR 18863, April 16, 1998).

Repeal of Federal Scallop Regulations

Under Amendment 3

Amendment 3, adopted by the

Council by a 10 to 1 vote, delegates to

the State the authority to manage all

aspects of the scallop fishery in Federal

waters, except limited access, including

the authority to regulate vessels not

registered under the laws of the State.

Section 306(a)(3)(B) of the MagnusonStevens Act, as amended, requires that

such a delegation of authority be made

through an FMP amendment and be

approved by a three-quarters majority

vote of the Council.

This final rule to implement

Amendment 3 removes subpart F of 50

CFR part 679. Subpart F contains all the

Federal regulations specific to the

scallop fishery off Alaska, with the

exception of the scallop vessel

moratorium program, which is set out

under permit requirements at June 26,

1998, § 679.4(g). Amendment 3 and this

final rule change the Federal scallop

vessel moratorium program established

under Amendment 2 to the FMP by

simplifying scallop management in the

Federal waters off Alaska through the

elimination of unnecessary duplication

of regulations at the State and Federal

levels.

This final rule also makes minor

changes to § 679.1(h) to accommodate

the delegation of management authority

to the State and adds a definition of

Scallop Registration Area H (Cook Inlet)

to the definitions at § 679.2 because this

definition, previously set out in subpart

F, is necessary for the scallop vessel

moratorium program.

Changes Made From the Proposed Rule

This final rule removes definitions for

‘‘Dive’’ and ‘‘Scallop dredge’’ under the

definition of ‘‘Authorized fishing gear’’

at § 679.2 because these definitions are

no longer required. In addition, the final

rule eliminates cross references to

scallop regulations at § 679.7(h) and

§ 679.22(g). No additional changes were

made from the proposed rule.

Classification

This action repeals duplicative

Federal regulations that serve no

Federal management purpose and have

the potential to confuse the regulated

community. In addition, this action

does not significantly revise

management measures for the regulated

community in a manner that would

require time to plan or prepare for those

revisions. For these reasons, the

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

NOAA, finds that good cause exists to

waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness

period for this action under 5 U.S.C.

553(d).

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. No comments

were received regarding this

certification. As a result, a regulatory

flexibility analysis was not prepared.

This final rule has been determined to

be not significant for the purposes of

E.O. 12866.

The Administrator, Alaska Region,

NMFS determined that fishing activities

conducted under this rule would not

affect endangered and threatened

species listed or critical habitat

designated pursuant to the Endangered

Species Act in any manner not

considered in prior consultations on the

scallop fisheries off Alaska.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: July 13, 1998.

David L. Evans,

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 50 CFR

part 679 continues to read as follows:

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

seq., and 3631 et seq.

2. In § 679.1, paragraph (h) is revised

to read as follows:

§ 679.1 Purpose and scope.

* * * * *

(h) Fishery Management Plan for the

Scallop Fishery off Alaska. (1)

Regulations in this part govern

commercial fishing for scallops in the

Federal waters off Alaska by vessels of

the United States (see subpart A of this

part).

(2) State of Alaska laws and

regulations that are consistent with the

FMP and with the regulations in this

part apply to vessels of the United

States that are fishing for scallops in the

Federal waters off Alaska.

* * * * *

3. In § 679.2, the definition of

‘‘Authorized fishing gear,’’ is amended

by revising the introductory paragraph,

removing the paragraphs (1) Dive and

(11) Scallop dredge, and renumbering

paragraphs (2) through (10) and (12)

through (14) as paragraphs (1) through

(12), respectively; and a definition

‘‘Scallop Registration Area H Cook

Inlet’’ is added, in alphabetical order, to

read as follows:

§ 679.2 Definitions.

* * * * *

Authorized fishing gear means, fixed

gear, hook-and-line, jig, longline,

longline pot, nonpelagic trawl,

nontrawl, pelagic trawl, pot-and-line,

trawl, hand troll gear, and power troll

gear:

* * * * *

Scallop Registration Area H (Cook

Inlet) means all Federal waters of the

GOA west of the longitude of Cape

Fairfield (148°50’ W. long.) and north of

the latitude of Cape Douglas (58°52’ N.

lat.).

* * * * *

4. In § 679.3, paragraph (g) is added to

read as follows:

§ 679.3 Relation to other laws.

* * * * *

(g) Scallops. Additional regulations

governing conservation and

management of scallops off Alaska are

contained in Alaska Statutes A.S. 16

and Alaska Administrative Code at 5

AAC Chapter 38.

§ 679.7 [Amended]

5. In § 679.7, paragraph (h) is removed

and paragraph (i) is redesignated as

paragraph (h).

§ 679.22 [Amended]

6. In § 679.22, paragraph (g) is

removed and reserved.

§§ 679.60–679.65 (Subpart F) [Removed]

7. Subpart F, consisting of §§ 679.60–

679.65, is removed.

[FR Doc. 98–19115 Filed 7–14–98; 1:45 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F