Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 92 / Friday, May 12, 1995 / Proposed Rules 25661

05 to make the Ohio program as

effective as the corresponding Federal

regulations concerning financial interest

statements, appeal procedures for

remedial actions regarding prohibited

financial interests, and yield data for

pasture or grazing land.

OSM announced receipt of PA 69 in

the October 21, 1994, Federal Register

(59 FR 53122), and, in the same

document, opened the public comment

period and providing an opportunity for

a public hearing on the adequacy of the

proposed amendment. The public

comment period closed on November

21, 1994.

OSM and Ohio staff met on February

6, 1995, to discuss OSM’s questions and

concerns about PA 69 (Administrative

Record No. OH–2098). In response to

OSM’s February 6, 1995, questions and

comments, Ohio providing Revised

Program Amendment Number 69 (PA

69R) by letter dated March 8, 1995

(Administrative Record No. OH–2099).

In PA 69R, Ohio proposed further

revisions to one rule at OAC section

1501:13–1–03 concerning the inclusion

of hearing officers of the Ohio

Reclamation Board of Review under that

rule’s definition of ‘‘employee.’’

OSM announced receipt of PA 69R in

the March 17, 1995, Federal Register

(60 FR 14401), and, in the same

document, opened the public comment

period and providing an opportunity for

a public hearing on the adequacy of the

proposed amendment. The public

comment period closed on April 3,

1995.

On April 19, 1995 (Administrative

Record No. OH–2114), OSM notified

Ohio that OSM had made an error in its

February 6, 1995, questions and

comments on PA 69 and had omitted

one necessary change to OAC 1501:13–

1–03 paragraph (L)(1). By letter dated

May 3, 1995 (Administrative Record No.

OH–2115), Ohio submitted further

revisions to this one rule paragraph to

delete a separate reference to the

Reclamation Board of Review’s hearing

officers because Ohio is now proposing

that those hearing officers be included

under the definition of ‘‘employee’’ in

this rule.

III. Public Comment Procedures

In accordance with the provisions of

30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM is now seeking

comment on whether the amendments

proposed by Ohio satisfy the applicable

program approval criteria of 30 CFR

732.15. If the amendments are deemed

adequate, they will become part of the

Ohio program.

Written Comments

Written comments should be specific,

pertain only to the issues proposed in

this rulemaking, and include

explanations in support of the

commenter’s recommendations.

Comments received after the time

indicated under DATES or at locations

other than the Columbus Field Office

will not necessarily be considered in the

final rulemaking or included in the

Administrative Record.

Public Hearing

Persons wishing to comment at the

public hearing should contact the

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m.,

E.D.T. on May 19, 1995. If no one

requests an opportunity to comment at

a public hearing, the hearing will not be

held.

Filing of a written statement at the

time of the hearing is requested as it

will greatly assist the transcriber.

Submission of written statements in

advance of the hearing will allow OSM

officials to prepare adequate responses

and appropriate questions. The public

hearing will continue on the specified

date until all persons scheduled to

comment have been heard. Persons in

the audience who have not been

scheduled to comment and who wish to

do so will be heard following those

scheduled. The hearing will end after all

persons scheduled to comment and

persons present in the audience who

wish to comment have been heard.

Any disabled individual who has

need for a special accommodation to

attend a public hearing should contact

the individual listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

Public Meeting

If only one person requests an

opportunity to comment at a hearing, a

public meeting, rather than a public

hearing, may be held. Persons wishing

to meet with OSM representatives to

discuss the proposed amendments may

request a meeting at the Columbus Field

Office by contacting the person listed

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. All such meetings shall be

open to the public and, if possible,

notices of the meetings will be posted at

the locations listed under ADDRESSES. A

written summary of each public meeting

will be made a part of the

Administrative Record.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 935

Intergovernment relations, Surface

mining, Underground mining.

Dated: May 5, 1995.

Ronald C. Recker,

Acting Regional Director, Appalachian

Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 95–11781 Filed 5–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 97

[WT Docket No. 95–57; FCC 95–173]

Amateur Service Examination Credit,

Club Station Eligibility, Volunteer

Examiner Manager, Special Event Call

Sign System, and Station Identification

Self-Assigned Indicator

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This action proposes to

amend the amateur service rules to

allow former amateur operators to get

amateur service licenses without

examination, to increase the minimum

number of persons comprising an

organization eligible for a club station

license, to recognize the role of the

volunteer examiner session manager, to

establish a special event vanity call sign

system, and to provide licensees with

greater flexibility when making a station

identification announcement. These

proposed rule amendments respond to

the desires of some members of the

amateur community and provide them

with the changes requested. The

proposals will provide amateur

operators with greater flexibility in the

operation of their stations and also

increase efficiency in the administrative

aspects of the service.

DATES: Comments are due on or before

July 14, 1995. Reply comments are due

on or before August 14, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications

Commission, Washington, D.C. 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Maurice J. DePont, (202) 418–0690.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Notice of

Proposed Rule Making adopted April

25, 1995, and released May 8, 1995. The

complete text of this Commission

action, including the proposed rule

amendments, is available for inspection

and copying during normal business

hours in the FCC Reference Center

(Room 230), 1919 M Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. The complete text of

this Notice of Proposed Rule Making

may also be ordered from the

Commission’s copy contractor,

International Transcription Services,
25662 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 92 / Friday, May 12, 1995 / Proposed Rules

Inc., 2100 M Street, N.W., Suite 140,

Washington, D.C. 20037, telephone

(202) 857–3800.

Summary of Notice of Proposed Rule

Making

1. The proposed rule changes respond

to petitions filed by The American

Radio Relay League, Inc. and the

National Conference of VolunteerExaminer Coordinators. They also

include proposals made by the

Commission on its own motion.

2. Rules changes are proposed that

would authorize administering

volunteer examiners (VEs) to give

examination element credit for any

amateur service examination that an

applicant had previously passed in

obtaining the former license.

3. In addition, we propose to increase

the eligibility requirement for an

amateur service club station license to

four persons. This proposal would assist

in ensuring that radio clubs are groups

of persons organized in good faith.

4. We also propose to amend the rules

to recognize the role of the VE session

manager as the person who plans, keeps

records, organizes, and supervises the

activities of the administering VEs at

each amateur service examination

session. Examination efficiency is the

goal of this proposed rule change.

5. We further propose to establish a

special event vanity call sign system.

Under such system, a one-by-one call

sign could be requested by amateur

operators for temporary operation of

their stations during events that are of

special significance to the amateur

service community. The special event

vanity call sign could be used for 15

days or for the duration of the event,

whichever is less.

6. Our final proposal in this

proceeding would allow the use of selfassigned indicators in the station

identification. They could be used

before, after, or both before and after the

assigned call sign. This proposal will

provide the amateur service community

with greater flexibility when making the

station identification.

7. Comments are invited on these

proposals.

8. The proposed rules are set forth at

the end of this document.

9. This is a non-restricted notice and

comment rule making proceeding. Ex

parte presentations are permitted,

except during the Sunshine Agenda

period, provided they are disclosed as

specified in the Commission’s Rules.

See generally 47 CFR 1.1202, 1.203, and

1.1206(a).

10. In accordance with Section 605(b)

of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of

1980, 5 USC 605(b), the Commission

certifies that the proposed rule

amendments will not create a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small business entities

because the amateur stations involved

would not be authorized to transmit any

communications where the station

licensee or control operator has a

pecuniary interest.

11. The proposal contained herein has

been analyzed with respect to the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, 44

U.S.C. 3501–3520, and found to contain

no new or modified form, information

collection and/or record retention

requirements, and will not increase or

decrease burden hours imposed on the

public.

12. This Notice of Proposed Rule

Making and the proposed rule

amendments are issued under the

authority of Sections 4(f)(4)(B) and (i),

and 303(a), (l)(1) and (r) of the

Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(f)(4)(B) and (i),

and 303(a), (l)(1) and (r).

13. A copy of this Notice of Proposed

Rule Making will be forwarded to the

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 97

Call signs, Club stations,

Examinations, Radio, Station

identification, Volunteer examiners.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

Proposed Rules

Part 97 of Chapter I of Title 47 of the

Code of Federal Regulations is proposed

to be amended as follows:

PART 97—AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE

1. The authority citation for Part 97

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 48 Stat. 1066, 1082, as

amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 303. Interpret or

apply 48 Stat. 1064–1068, 1081–1105, as

amended; 47 U.S.C. 151–155, 301–609,

unless otherwise noted.

2. In § 97.3, paragraph (a)(11)(ii) is

redesignated as paragraph (a)(11)(iii),

and new paragraphs (a)(11)(ii) and

(a)(47) are added to read as follows:

§ 97.3 Definitions.

* * * * *

(a) * * *

(11) * * *

(i) * * *

(ii) Special event call sign system. The

call sign is selected by the FCC from a

list of call signs requested by the

licensee. The call sign is shown on the

request. It is temporarily substituted for

the call sign shown on the license while

the station is transmitting in

conjunction with an event of special

significance to the amateur service

community.

* * * * *

(47) VE session manager. The VE

designated by the administering VEs to

plan, organize, keep records, and

directly supervise the activities of other

VEs at a session where examinations for

amateur operator licenses are

administered.

* * * * *

3. Section 97.5(b)(2) is revised to read

as follows:

§ 97.5 Station license required.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(2) A club station license. A club

station license is granted only to the

person who is the license trustee

designated by an officer of the club. The

trustee must be a person who has been

granted an Amateur Extra, Advanced,

General, Technician Plus, or Technician

operator license. The club must be

composed of at least four persons and

must have a name, a document of

organization, management, and a

primary purpose devoted to amateur

service activities consistent with this

Part. The club station license document

is printed on FCC Form 660.

* * * * *

4. In § 97.19, the heading and

paragraph (a) are revised and new

paragraph (e) is added to read as

follows:

§ 97.19 Application for a vanity call sign or

a special event station call sign.

(a) A person who has been granted an

operator/primary station license or a

license trustee who has been granted a

club station license is eligible to make

application for modification of the

license, or the renewal thereof, to show

a call sign selected by the vanity call

sign system or the special event station

call sign system. RACES and military

recreation stations are not eligible for a

vanity call sign or a special event station

call sign.

* * * * *

(e) Each request for a special event

station call sign must be received at the

FCC, 1270 Fairfield Road, Gettysburg,

PA 17325–7245 at least 120 days prior

to the special event.

(1) The request must include:

(i) The licensee’s name, address, and

primary station call sign.

(ii) A signed statement indicating the

nature of the event and certifying that it

is of special significance to the amateur

service community.

(iii) The time period during which the

special event station will operate. In no
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 92 / Friday, May 12, 1995 / Proposed Rules 25663

case will the period exceed that of the

special event, or 15 days, whichever

occurs first.

(iv) A list from the person making the

request of one-by-one format call signs,

in order of preference.

(2) The first assignable call sign from

the list will be indicated on the request,

that call sign will be stamped

GRANTED, and a copy of the list

showing the call sign granted will be

returned to the person making the

request. The call sign will be selected

from those call signs assignable at the

time the request is processed by the

FCC.

5. Section 97.119(c) is revised to read

as follows:

§ 97.119 Station identification.

* * * * *

(c) One or more indicators may be

included with the call sign. Each

indicator must be separated from the

call sign by the slant mark (/) or by any

suitable word that denotes the slant

mark. If an indicator is self-assigned, it

must be included before, after, or both

before and after, the call sign. No selfassigned indicator may conflict with

any other indicator specified in this

section or with any prefix assigned to

another country.

* * * * *

6. Section 97.505 is amended by

redesignating paragraph (a)(10) as

paragraph (a)(11) and adding new

paragraph (a)(10) to read as follows:

§ 97.505 Element credit.

(a) * * *

(10) An expired FCC-issued amateur

operator license: The least elements

required for the operator license

formerly held. No examination credit

will be given if the operator license was

suspended for the remainder of the

license term, if the operator license was

surrendered to avoid enforcement

proceedings, or if the operator license

expired following revocation of the

associated station license. Examination

credit, however, will be given if the

suspension period of the operator

license was subsequently modified to

denote a lesser time period.

* * * * *

7. Section 97.509(a) is revised to read

as follows:

§ 97.509 Administering VE requirements.

(a) Each examination element for an

amateur operator license must be

administered by a least 3 administering

VEs at an examination session. There

must be VE session manager who is in

attendance during the entire session.

* * * * *

8. New § 97.515 is added to read as

follows:

§ 97.515 VE session manager

requirements.

(a) The VE session manager must be

accredited as a VE by the same VEC that

coordinates the examination session.

(b) Before each examination session,

the VE session manager must make a

public announcement stating the

location and the time of the session. The

number of examinees may be limited.

(c) The VE session manager is

responsible for supervising the activities

of the administering VEs and the

conduct of the examinees. The VE

Manager may serve concurrently as an

administering VE.

(d) The VE session manager must

maintain a log for the session. The log

must include the names of the

examinees, the names of the

administering VEs, and the examination

elements administered by each VE.

[FR Doc. 95–11761 Filed 5–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Parts 217, 222, and 227

[Docket No. 950427117–5118–02;

I.D.042095B]

RIN 0648–AH97

Sea Turtle Conservation; Restrictions

Applicable to Shrimp Trawl Activities;

Leatherback Conservation Zone

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to adopt as

final the interim rule published

elsewhere in this issue which

establishes all inshore and offshore

waters from Cape Canaveral, FL

(28°24.6′ N. lat.) to the North CarolinaVirginia border (36°30.5′ N. lat.) as the

leatherback conservation zone and

provides for short-term closures of areas

in that zone when high abundance

levels of leatherback turtles are

documented. Upon such

documentation, NMFS would prohibit,

in the closed areas, fishing by any

shrimp trawler required to have a turtle

excluder device (TED) installed in each

net that is rigged for fishing, unless the

TED installed is specified in the

regulations as having an escape opening

large enough to exclude leatherback

turtles. This proposed rule is necessary

to reduce mortality of endangered

leatherback sea turtles incidentally

captured in shrimp trawls.

DATES: Comments on this rule must be

submitted by June 12, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the

environmental assessment (EA) or the

contingency plan, and comments on this

proposed rule should be addressed to

the Chief, Endangered Species Division,

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS,

1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring,

MD 20910. Comments on the collectionof-information requirement subject to

the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

should be directed to the Chief,

Endangered Species Division, Office of

Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD

20910, and to the Office of Information

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of

Management and Budget (OMB),

Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention:

Desk Officer for NOAA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Charles A. Oravetz, (813) 570–5312, or

Russell J. Bellmer, (301) 713–1401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

All sea turtles that occur in U.S.

waters are listed as either endangered or

threatened under the Endangered

Species Act (ESA) of 1973. The Kemp’s

ridley (Lepidochelys kempii),

leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and

hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) are

listed as endangered. Loggerhead

(Caretta caretta) and green (Chelonia

mydas) turtles are listed as threatened,

except for breeding populations of green

turtles in Florida and on the Pacific

coast of Mexico, which are listed as

endangered. The incidental take and

mortality of these species, as a result of

fishing activities, have been

documented in the Gulf of Mexico and

along the Atlantic seaboard.

Under the ESA and its implementing

regulations, it is prohibited to take sea

turtles. The incidental taking of turtles

during shrimp fishing in the Atlantic

Ocean off the coast of the southeastern

United States and in the Gulf of Mexico

is excepted from the taking prohibition

pursuant to sea turtle conservation

regulations at 50 CFR 227.72, which

include a requirement that shrimp

trawlers have a NMFS-approved TED

installed in each net rigged for fishing

throughout the year. The use of TEDs

significantly reduces mortalities of

loggerhead, green, Kemp’s ridley, and

hawksbill sea turtles. Because

leatherback turtles are larger than the