33552 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 120 / Friday, June 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joyce Bernstein, Media Bureau, at (202) 

418–1647 or Joyce.Bernstein@fcc.gov. 

Dated: June 17, 2021. 

Thomas Horan, 

Chief of Staff, Media Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13561 Filed 6–24–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 201214–0337] 

RIN 0648–BJ98 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Golden Tilefish Fishery; 

Extension of Emergency Action 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; emergency 

action extension. 

SUMMARY: This temporary rule extends 

emergency measures that allow a 

limited one-time carryover of up to 5 

percent of unharvested fishing quota 

from the 2020 fishing year into the 2021 

fishing year. This action is necessary to 

allow the golden tilefish individual 

fishing quota shareholders that were 

eligible for carryover under the 

emergency measures, but have not yet 

fully harvested that carryover, an 

opportunity to use it. This action is 

intended to provide additional time for 

quota shareholders to fully harvest their 

allocations. 

DATES: The expiration date of the 

emergency rule published December 21, 

2020 (85 FR 82944) is extended to 

November 1, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Supplemental 

Information Report prepared for the 

2021–2022 Golden Tilefish 

Specifications and emergency action are 

available from Dr. Christopher M. 

Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, 800 North 

State Street, Dover, Suite 201, DE 19901. 

These documents are also accessible via 

the internet at http://www.mafmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Douglas Potts, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9341. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

At the request of the Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, NMFS 

published a final rule on December 21, 

2020 (85 FR 82944) that implemented 

emergency action for the Tilefish 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to 

allow a one-time carryover of 

unharvested Individual Fishing Quota 

(IFQ) from fishing year 2020 to 2021, up 

to 5 percent of the original 2020 

allocation. A proposed rule for this 

action was published on November 13, 

2020 (85 FR 72616) with a comment 

period through November 30, 2020. No 

comments were received on the 

emergency action. 

The tilefish IFQ program does not 

normally allow any carryover of 

unharvested allocation from one fishing 

year into the next. Unforeseen changes 

in the market for seafood resulting from 

the COVID–19 pandemic, particularly 

the loss of restaurant sales due to local 

closure orders, substantially reduced 

demand for golden tilefish during the 

2020 fishing year. Because of this 

unprecedented impact on the fishery, 

we implemented this one-time carry 

over under our emergency rulemaking 

authority specified in section 305(c) of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

This action extends this emergency 

action past the current expiration date 

of June 19, 2021, until the start of the 

next golden tilefish fishing year on 

November 1, 2021. This will allow 

tilefish IFQ quota shareholders who 

have not yet had an opportunity to 

harvest the IFQ pounds they carried 

over additional time to take full 

advantage of this opportunity. 

Each IFQ quota shareholder was 

eligible to carry over 2020 golden 

tilefish quota pounds that were not 

harvested before the end of the 2020 

fishing year, up to a maximum amount 

of 5 percent of their initial 2020 quota 

pounds. Of the 10 entities that hold 

quota share in the golden tilefish IFQ 

program, 5 had unharvested quota 

pounds at the end of the 2020 fishing 

year and were able to carry over some 

of those quota pounds into the 2021 

fishing year. Some quota shareholders 

have already harvested their carryover 

while others have not yet taken full 

advantage of this opportunity. 

Extending this emergency action 

ensures that all those who received 

carryover are able to fully benefit from 

these measures. 

NMFS’s policy guidelines for the use 

of emergency rules (62 FR 44421; 

August 21, 1997) specify the following 

three criteria that define what an 

emergency situation is, and justification 

for final rulemaking: (1) The emergency 

results from recent, unforeseen events or 

recently discovered circumstances; (2) 

the emergency presents serious 

conservation or management problems 

in the fishery; and (3) the emergency 

can be addressed through emergency 

regulations for which the immediate 

benefits outweigh the value of advance 

notice, public comment, and 

deliberative consideration of the 

impacts on participants to the same 

extent as would be expected under the 

normal rulemaking process. NMFS’s 

policy guidelines further provide that 

emergency action is justified for certain 

situations where emergency action 

would prevent significant direct 

economic loss, or to preserve a 

significant economic opportunity that 

otherwise might be foregone. As noted 

in the December 21, 2020, final rule, 

NMFS has determined that allowing the 

carryover of unharvested tilefish IFQ 

quota pounds as described above meets 

the three criteria for emergency action. 

Section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Act specifies that emergency 

regulations may only remain in effect 

for 180 days from the date of 

publication and may be extended for 

one additional period of not more than 

186 days. Extending this action until the 

start of the next fishing year on 

November 1, 2021, would only be 135 

days. 

Classification 

NMFS is issuing this temporary rule 

pursuant to section 305(c) of the 

Magnuson Stevens Act, which 

authorizes NMFS to implement 

regulations at the request of the Council 

to address an emergency in the fishery. 

The Acting Assistant Administrator 

Fisheries, NOAA has determined that 

this rule is consistent with the Tilefish 

FMP, other provisions of the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the 

Acting Assistant Administrator 

Fisheries, NOAA finds good cause to 

waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness 

for this rule. This rule extends some 

measures of the rule currently in place 

through the end of the current fishing 

year. The need for this extension was 

fully anticipated and announced to the 

public in the initial emergency rule 

which published on December 21, 2020. 

Accordingly, the entities affected by this 

rule and the public have no need to be 

made aware of or adjust to this rule by 

delaying its effectiveness for 30 days. 

The primary reason for delaying the 

effectiveness of Federal regulations is 

not present, and, therefore, such a delay 

would serve no public purpose. It 

would be contrary to the public interest 

if the emergency measures are allowed 

to expire on June 19, 2021, because 

tilefish IFQ quota shareholders could 

lose any remaining carryover granted by 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 120 / Friday, June 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 33553 

this emergency action. Moreover, 

allowing the emergency measures to 

lapse between June 19, 2021, and a later 

effective date of this extension may lead 

to confusion in the fishing community. 

For these reasons, there is good cause to 

waive the requirement for delayed 

effectiveness. 

The December 21, 2020, final rule that 

implemented the emergency action was 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification. As a result, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis was not 

required and none was prepared. 

This final rule contains no 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

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

Dated: June 14, 2021. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13619 Filed 6–24–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No.: 210616–0130] 

RIN 0648–BH67 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral 

Amendment 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS implements the 

measures of the New England Fishery 

Management Council’s Omnibus DeepSea Coral Amendment. This action 

protects deep-sea corals from the 

impacts of commercial fishing gear on 

Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. 

These management measures are 

intended to reduce, to the extent 

practicable, impacts of fishing gear on 

deep-sea corals in New England while 

balancing the continued operations of 

commercial fisheries. 

DATES: Effective July 26, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: The New England Fishery 

Management Council developed an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) for this 

action that describes the measures in the 

Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment 

and other considered alternatives and 

analyzes the impacts of the measures 

and alternatives. Copies of supporting 

documents used by the New England 

Fishery Management Council, including 

the EA and Regulatory Impact Review 

(RIR)/Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (IRFA), are available from: 

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 

New England Fishery Management 

Council, 50 Water Street, Newburyport, 

MA 01950 and accessible via the 

internet in documents available at: 

https://www.nefmc.org/library/omnibusdeep-sea-coral-amendment. 

Copies of the Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) and the 

small entity compliance guide are 

available from Michael Pentony, 

Regional Administrator, NMFS, Greater 

Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 

Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 

01930–2298, or available on the internet 

at: http://

www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Travis Ford, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9233. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 20, 2019, pursuant to 

section 304(a)(3) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act), NMFS approved the Omnibus 

Deep-Sea Coral Amendment in its 

entirety as recommended by the New 

England Fishery Management Council. 

The Council developed this action, and 

the measures described in this rule, 

under the discretionary provisions for 

deep-sea coral protection in section 

303(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

This provision gives the Regional 

Fishery Management Councils the 

authority to: 

(A) Designate zones where, and 

periods when, fishing shall be limited, 

or shall not be permitted, or shall be 

permitted only by specified types of 

fishing vessels or with specified types 

and quantities of fishing gear; and 

(B) Designate such zones in areas 

where deep-sea corals are identified 

under section 408 (this section describes 

the deep-sea coral research and 

technology program), to protect deepsea corals from physical damage from 

fishing gear or to prevent loss or damage 

to such fishing gear from interactions 

with deep-sea corals, after considering 

long-term sustainable uses of fishery 

resources in such areas. 

This final rule implements the 

Amendment, which prohibits the use of 

all bottom-tending gear (with an 

exception for red crab pots) along the 

outer continental shelf in waters no 

shallower than 600 m to the Exclusive 

Economic Zone (EEZ) and prohibits the 

use of bottom-tending mobile gear in 

two areas in the Gulf of Maine (Mount 

Desert Rock and Outer Schoodic Ridge). 

In addition, this action creates a 

dedicated habitat research area in 

Jordan Basin but does not impose any 

additional restrictions on fishing in this 

area. This action also establishes 

provisions for vessels transiting through 

these areas and adds framework 

provisions for future modifications to 

the New England Deep-Sea Coral 

Protection Area measures. The 

Magnuson-Stevens Act requires NMFS 

to approve, partially approve, or 

disapprove measures proposed by the 

Council based on whether the measures 

are consistent with fishery management 

plans (FMP), the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

and its National Standards, and other 

applicable law. 

NMFS published a Notice of 

Availability (NOA) announcing its 

review of the Amendment on August 26, 

2019 (84 FR 44596). The public 

comment period on the NOA ended on 

October 25, 2019. Following the 

Amendment’s approval in November 

2019, NMFS published a proposed rule 

for this action on January 3, 2020, 

including implementing regulations (85 

FR 285). The public comment period on 

the proposed rule ended on February 

18, 2020. 

Georges Bank Deep-Sea Coral Protection 

Area 

The Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral 

Amendment establishes a deep-sea coral 

protection area on the outer continental 

shelf in New England waters. It 

complements the Frank R. Lautenberg 

Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area 

established by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council in Amendment 16 

to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and 

Butterfish FMP (81 FR 90246; December 

14, 2016) as described in § 648.372. The 

Georges Bank Deep-Sea Coral Protection 

Area runs along the outer continental 

shelf in waters no shallower than 600 

meters (m) and extends to the outer 

limit of the EEZ boundary to the east 

and north, and south to the intercouncil boundary as described in 

§ 600.105(a). 


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