35756 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 127 / Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / Notices 

Determinations 

NMFS has determined that the action 

under this Renewal includes a subset of 

activities that are identical to the 

previous IHA. NMFS found that the 

previous IHA would have a negligible 

impact and that authorized take would 

be small relative to the population size. 

No changes in marine mammal 

information, potential effects, estimated 

take, abundance estimates and the 

mitigation and monitoring have 

occurred. Therefore, NMFS has 

concluded that there is no new 

information suggesting that our analysis 

or findings should change from those 

reached for the initial IHA. Based on the 

information and analysis contained here 

and in the referenced documents, NMFS 

has determined the following: (1) The 

required mitigation measures will effect 

the least practicable impact on marine 

mammal species or stocks and their 

habitat; (2) the authorized takes will 

have a negligible impact on the affected 

marine mammal species or stocks; (3) 

the authorized takes represent small 

numbers of marine mammals relative to 

the affected stock abundances; (4) 

CDFW’s activities will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on taking 

for subsistence purposes as no relevant 

subsistence uses of marine mammals are 

implicated by this action, and; (5) 

appropriate monitoring and reporting 

requirements are included. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To comply with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA); 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 

NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 

216–6A, NMFS must evaluate our 

proposed action (i.e., the promulgation 

of regulations and subsequent issuance 

of incidental take authorization) and 

alternatives with respect to potential 

impacts on the human environment. 

This action is consistent with categories 

of activities identified in Categorical 

Exclusion B4 of the Companion Manual 

for NAO 216–6A, which do not 

individually or cumulatively have the 

potential for significant impacts on the 

quality of the human environment and 

for which we have not identified any 

extraordinary circumstances that would 

preclude this categorical exclusion. 

Accordingly, NMFS has determined that 

the proposed action qualifies to be 

categorically excluded from further 

NEPA review. 

Endangered Species Act 

Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973 (ESA: 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal 

agency insure that any action it 

authorizes, funds, or carries out is not 

likely to jeopardize the continued 

existence of any endangered or 

threatened species or result in the 

destruction or adverse modification of 

designated critical habitat. To ensure 

ESA compliance for the issuance of 

IHAs, NMFS consults internally 

whenever we propose to authorize take 

for endangered or threatened species. 

No incidental take of ESA-listed 

species is proposed for authorization or 

expected to result from this activity in 

the Elkhorn Slough Reserve. Therefore, 

NMFS has determined that formal 

consultation under section 7 of the ESA 

is not required for this action. 

Renewal 

NMFS has issued a Renewal IHA to 

CDFW for the take of harbor seals 

incidental to the continuation of Phase 

II of the Elkhorn Slough Tidal Marsh 

Restoration Project in Minhoto-Bay Area 

located in Monterey County, CA from 

the date of issuance until May 31, 2021. 

Dated: June 30, 2021. 

Angela Somma, 

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14380 Filed 7–6–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB154] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization 

Cost Recovery Program 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of fee percentage. 

SUMMARY: NMFS publishes notification 

of a 1.09 percent fee for cost recovery 

under the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands Crab Rationalization Program. 

This action is intended to provide 

holders of crab allocations with the 

2021/2022 crab fishing year fee 

percentage so they can calculate the 

required cost recovery fee payment, 

which must be submitted by July 31, 

2022. 

DATES: The Crab Rationalization 

Program Registered Crab Receiver 

permit holder is responsible for 

submitting the fee liability payment to 

NMFS by July 31, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Abby Jahn, (907) 586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

NMFS Alaska Region administers the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab 

Rationalization Program (Program) in 

the North Pacific. Fishing under the 

Program began on August 15, 2005. 

Regulations implementing the Program 

can be found at 50 CFR part 680. 

The Program is a limited access 

privilege program authorized by section 

313(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Program 

includes a cost recovery provision to 

collect fees to recover the actual costs 

directly related to the management, data 

collection, and enforcement of the 

Program. The Program is consistent with 

the cost recovery provisions included 

under section 304(d)(2)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act. NMFS 

developed the cost recovery regulations 

to conform to statutory requirements 

and to reimburse the agency for the 

actual costs directly related to the 

management, data collection, and 

enforcement of the Program. The cost 

recovery provision allows collection of 

133 percent of the actual management, 

data collection, and enforcement costs 

up to 3 percent of the ex-vessel value of 

crab harvested under the Program. The 

Program provides that a proportional 

share of fees charged be forwarded to 

the State of Alaska for reimbursement of 

its share of management and data 

collection costs for the Program. 

A crab allocation holder generally 

incurs a cost recovery fee liability for 

every pound of crab landed. Catcher 

vessel and processor quota shareholders 

split the cost recovery fees equally with 

each paying half, while catcher/ 

processor quota shareholders pay the 

full fee percentage for crab processed at 

sea. The crab allocations subject to cost 

recovery include Individual Fishing 

Quota, Crew Individual Fishing Quota, 

Individual Processing Quota, 

Community Development Quota, and 

the Adak community allocation. The 

Registered Crab Receiver (RCR) permit 

holder must collect the fee liability from 

the crab allocation holder who is 

landing crab. Additionally, the RCR 

permit holder must collect their own fee 

liability for all crab delivered to the 

RCR. The RCR permit holder is 

responsible for submitting this payment 

to NMFS on or before July 31, in the 

year following the crab fishing year in 

which landings of crab were made. 

The dollar amount of the fee due is 

determined by multiplying the fee 

percentage (not to exceed 3 percent) by 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 127 / Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / Notices 35757 

the ex-vessel value of crab debited from 

the allocation. Program details may be 

found in the implementing regulations 

at 50 CFR 680.44. 

Fee Percentage 

Each year, NMFS calculates and 

publishes in the Federal Register the fee 

percentage according to the factors and 

methodology described at § 680.44(c)(2). 

The formula for determining the fee 

percentage is the ‘‘direct program costs’’ 

divided by ‘‘value of the fishery,’’ where 

‘‘direct program costs’’ are the direct 

program costs for the Program for the 

previous fiscal year, and ‘‘value of the 

fishery’’ is the ex-vessel value of the 

catch subject to the crab cost recovery 

fee liability for the current year. Fee 

collections for any given year may be 

less than or greater than the actual costs 

and fishery value for that year, as 

regulations establish the fee percentage 

in the first quarter of the crab fishing 

year based on the fishery value and 

costs in the prior year. 

According to the fee percentage 

formula described above, the estimated 

percentage of costs to value for the 

2020/2021 fishery was 1.09 percent. 

Therefore, the fee percentage will be 

1.09 percent for the 2021/2022 crab 

fishing year. The fee percentage 

decreased by approximately 17 percent 

from the 2020/2021 crab fishing year fee 

percentage of 1.31 percent (85 FR 41566, 

July 10, 2020). Direct program costs for 

managing the fishery decreased by 

approximately 9 percent from 2020/ 

2021 to 2021/2022, while fishery value 

increased by approximately 10 percent, 

resulting in the decreased fee 

percentage. Similar to previous years, 

the largest direct program costs were 

incurred by the NOAA Office of Law 

Enforcement and the Alaska Department 

of Fish and Game, respectively. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109– 

241; Pub. L. 109–479. 

Dated: July 1, 2021. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14443 Filed 7–6–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Notice of Availability of a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed Lake Ontario National 

Marine Sanctuary; Announcement of 

Public Meetings; Request for Public 

Comments 

AGENCY: Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean 

Service (NOS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce (DOC). 

ACTION: Notice of availability and public 

meetings; Request for public comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

has prepared a draft environmental 

impact statement (DEIS) that considers 

three alternatives for the proposed 

designation of a national marine 

sanctuary to manage a nationally 

significant collection of shipwrecks and 

other underwater cultural resources in 

New York’s eastern Lake Ontario and 

the Thousand Islands region of the St. 

Lawrence River. NOAA also prepared a 

draft management plan that describes 

the proposed goals, objectives, and 

strategies for managing the proposed 

sanctuary. NOAA is soliciting public 

comment on the DEIS and draft 

management plan. 

DATES: NOAA will consider all 

comments received by September 10, 

2021. NOAA will conduct public 

meetings on the following dates: 

(1) Date: August 18, 2021, Location: 

Lake Ontario Event and Conference 

Center, Address: 26 East First Street, 

Oswego, NY 13126, Time: 6:30 p.m. to 

8:30 p.m. EDT. A virtual meeting 

platform may substitute if public safety 

concerns remain to prevent the spread 

of COVID–19. 

(2) Date: August 19, 2021, Location: 

Clayton Opera House, Address: 405 

Riverside Drive, Clayton, NY 13624, 

Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. EDT. A 

virtual meeting platform may substitute 

if public safety concerns remain to 

prevent the spread of COVID–19. 

(3) Date: August 24, 2021, Location: 

virtual meeting, Time: 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 

p.m. EDT 

(4) Date: August 26, 2021, Location: 

virtual meeting, Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 

p.m. EDT 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by the following method: 

Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov and search for 

‘‘NOAA–NOS–2021–0050’’, and click 

the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete 

the required fields, and enter or attach 

your comments. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NOAA. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (for example, name, 

address, etc.), confidential business 

information, or otherwise sensitive 

information submitted voluntarily by 

the commenter will be publicly 

accessible. NOAA will accept 

anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in 

the required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). 

Copies of the DEIS can be 

downloaded or viewed on the internet 

at www.regulations.gov (search for 

docket NOAA–NOS–2021–0050) or at 

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/lakeontario/. Copies can also be obtained by 

contacting Ellen Brody (in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 

this notice). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ellen Brody, Great Lakes Regional 

Coordinator, address: 4840 South State 

Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108–9719; 

phone: 734–741–2270; email: 

ellen.brody@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The National Marine Sanctuaries Act 

(NMSA; 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) 

authorizes the Secretary of Commerce 

(Secretary), through NOAA, to designate 

and protect as national marine 

sanctuaries areas of the marine 

environment that are of special national 

significance due to their conservation, 

recreational, ecological, historical, 

scientific, cultural, archeological, 

educational, or esthetic qualities. Dayto-day management of national marine 

sanctuaries has been delegated by the 

Secretary to NOAA’s Office of National 

Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS). The 

primary objective of the NMSA is to 

protect the sanctuary system’s biological 

and cultural resources, such as coral 

reefs, marine animals, historic 

shipwrecks, other historic structures, 

and archaeological sites. 

In the DEIS, NOAA’s proposed action 

is to designate a national marine 

sanctuary in New York’s eastern Lake 

Ontario and the Thousand Islands 

region of the St. Lawrence River to 

manage a nationally significant 

collection of shipwrecks and other 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES