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[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 91 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25202-25203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-11579]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[Docket No. 950503126-5126-01; I.D. 040695C]
RIN 0648-XX20

Northeast Fishing Industry Grants (FIG) Program; Amendment and 
Clarification

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of funding authorization amendment and clarification of 
project evaluation criteria.

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SUMMARY: NMFS amends the funding authorization for projects to be 
considered under the Northeast Fishing Industry Grants (FIG) Program. 
Clarification is also provided to specify project evaluation criteria 
associated with the tendering of multispecies harvesting privileges.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 11, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bruce Morehead (301) 713-2358 or 
Harold Mears (508) 281-9243.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The FIG Program was described in the following notice: Notice of 
availability of Federal assistance (60 FR 12199, March 6, 1995).

II. Change to the FIG Funding Authorization

    The previous description of funding authority for the second round 
of FIG project applications, through which $4.5 million will be 
provided, indicated that the total funding source was accommodated by 
Public Law 103-211, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 
1994. This notice clarifies that only $2.5 million for the FIG second 
round is funded through Public Law 103-211, whereas the remaining $2.0 
million is supported by the Northwest Atlantic Ocean Fisheries 
Reinvestment Program (NAOFRP), as authorized by Public Law 102-567. 
This change is being made so that $2.0 million available under Public 
Law 103-211 can be used to fund a fishing capacity reduction 
demonstration program in the Northeast. Information concerning this 
program will be published in the Federal Register at a later date. The 
total amount of funds available for the FIG Program (i.e., $4.5 
million) is not changed. However, no NAOFRP funds will be used to 
support projects under FIG Program Priority C; ``Develop methods for 
eliminating or reducing the inadvertent take, capture, or destruction 
of nontargeted, protected, or prohibited species (e.g., juvenile or 
sublegal-sized fish and shellfish) in fishing operations through the 
technical development, demonstration, or evaluation of fishing gear or 
harvesting strategies.'', as such activities are not authorized for the 
NAOFRP under Public Law 102-567. This change in funding source does not 
otherwise affect the FIG Federal assistance program.

III. Clarification of Project Evaluation Criteria

    Several public inquiries have arisen that show the need for 
clarification of the provisions for tendering of multispecies 
harvesting privileges and the relevance of these provisions to the 
technical evaluation of proposals. Accordingly, this notice clarifies 
that 10 points will be added to the technical scores of applications 
involving participation by individuals who own vessels that have been 
issued a multispecies limited access permit, and who agree to tender 
their privilege to fish for, possess, or land regulated multispecies 
finfish for the duration of the project or longer. This provision 
applies to limited access multispecies permit holders only, because the 
intent of providing this bonus is to encourage the reduction of effort 
in the multispecies fishery to the maximum extent possible. 
Applications requesting this consideration must include information, 
attached to the Project Summary (NOAA Form 88-204), which explains how 
effort would be reduced during the project period, as compared to 
recent fishing years. This description may include details, such as the 
number of days at sea (DAS) directed on regulated multispecies that 
would be foregone during the permit year(s) in which the harvesting 
privilege is tendered, to substantiate the associated impact.
    The tendering of the privilege to fish for, possess, or land 
regulated multispecies finfish during the duration of the project, if 
applicable, will be formally incorporated as a Special Award Condition 
in approved grants. However, this tendering of the privilege to fish 
for, possess, or land regulated multispecies finfish during the 
duration of the project period does not relieve the permit holder from 
fulfilling other requirements for limited access multispecies permit 
holders, such as filing monthly reports under the mandatory reporting 
provisions of the multispecies regulations.
    Finally, several questions have been raised relative to the 
potential impact of tendering the privilege to fish for, possess, or 
land regulated multispecies for the duration of the project, or longer, 
upon resource allocation decisions associated with future regulatory 
requirements of the Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Since 
future FMP regulations are uncertain, this impact is unknown, and the 
tendering of the privilege to fish for, possess, or land regulated 
multispecies must be assumed as a risk of the involved vessel owners.
    Potential applicants for financial assistance under the FIG 
solicitation are reminded that the tendering provision is a voluntary 
one, and not a prerequisite for an application to be considered for 
funding. [[Page 25203]] 

Classification

    This action amends funding authority and clarifies project 
evaluation criteria for a financial assistance program that will 
contain collection-of-information requirements subject to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act. The collection of this information has been approved by 
OMB under Control Number 0648-0135.
    This action has been determined to be not significant for purposes 
of E.O. 12866.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 713c-3(d).

    Dated: May 5, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-11579 Filed 5-10-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
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