Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 101 / Thursday, May, 24, 2001 / Proposed Rules 28725

39. Parties who choose to file by

paper should also submit their

comments on diskette. These diskettes

should be submitted to: Sheryl Todd,

Accounting Policy Division, 445 12th

Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.

Such a submission should be on a 3.5-

inch diskette formatted in an IBM

compatible format using Word or

compatible software. The diskette

should be accompanied by a cover letter

and should be submitted in ‘‘read only’’

mode. The diskette should be clearly

labeled with the commenter’s name,

proceeding (including the docket

number, in this case CC Docket No. 96–

45, type of pleading (comment or reply

comment), date of submission, and the

name of the electronic file on the

diskette. The label should also include

the following phrase ‘‘Disk Copy—Not

an Original.’’ Each diskette should

contain only one party’s pleadings,

preferably in a single electronic file. In

addition, commenters must send

diskette copies to the Commission’s

copy contractor, International

Transcription Service, Inc., 1231 20th

Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.

40. Written comments by the public

on the proposed and/or modified

information collections are due on or

before June 25, 2001. Written comments

must be submitted by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) on the

proposed and/or modified information

collections on or before July 23, 2001.

III. Ordering Clauses

41. Pursuant to the authority

contained in sections 4(i), 4(j), 201–205,

254, and 403 of the Communications

Act of 1934, as amended, this Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking is adopted.

42. The Commission’s Consumer

Information Bureau, Reference

Information Center, shall send a copy of

this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,

including the Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration.

List of Subjects 47 CFR Part 54

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Telecommunications,

Telephone.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–13114 Filed 5–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 051501D]

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of

Mexico, and South Atlantic;

Amendment 5 to the Fishery

Management Plan for the Shrimp

Fishery off the Southern Atlantic

States

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a

draft supplemental environmental

impact statement (DSEIS); request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery

Management Council (Council) intends

to prepare a DSEIS to assess the impacts

on the natural and human environment

of management measures proposed in

its draft Amendment 5 to the Fishery

Management Plan for the Shrimp

Fishery of the South Atlantic Region

(FMP). The purpose of this document is

to solicit public comments on the scope

of the issues to be addressed in the

DSEIS and to provide information on

the Council’s intended schedule for

completing the DSEIS and submitting it

to NMFS for filing and for further public

comment.

DATES: Written comments on the scope

of the issues to be addressed by the

DSEIS for draft Amendment 5 must be

received by the Council by June 25,

2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the

scope of the DSEIS and requests for

additional information on the

management measures proposed in draft

Amendment 5 should be sent to the

South Atlantic Fishery Management

Council, One Southpark Circle, Suite

306, Charleston, SC 29407–4699; phone:

843–571–4366; fax: 843–769–4520; email: Kim.Iverson@noaa.govor

Robert.Mahood@noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim

Iverson, 843–571–4366, or Dr. Peter

Eldridge, NMFS, 727–570–5305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Management measures for rock shrimp

under the FMP apply in the exclusive

economic zone (EEZ) in the South

Atlantic. For the purposes of the FMP

and its implementing regulations, the

South Atlantic consists of the Atlantic

Ocean off the southern Atlantic states

(i.e., from the Virginia/North Carolina

border through the Florida Keys). The

FMP currently establishes the following

management measures for rock shrimp:

Federal fishing vessel permits necessary

to fish for, sell, transfer, or possess rock

shrimp in or from the South Atlantic

EEZ; Federal dealer permits to receive

rock shrimp harvested in the South

Atlantic EEZ; requirement for selected

dealers to report receipts and prices of

rock shrimp harvested from the South

Atlantic EEZ; and a prohibition on

fishing for or possessing rock shrimp in

or from the Oculina Bank habitat area of

particular concern.

The Council is preparing draft

Amendment 5 to the FMP. Amendment

5 will address the following issues: (1)

The implementation of a limited entry

program for the rock shrimp fishery to

remove speculative interests from the

fishery and ensure the economic

viability of the rock shrimp industry; (2)

the establishment of mesh size

restrictions to reduce the harvest of

small rock shrimp; (3) the requirement

for vessel operator permits and vessel

monitoring systems to ensure better

compliance with the FMP’s

management measures and

implementing regulations; and (4) the

specification of geographic areas within

which these aforementioned

management measures would apply.

The Council is preparing a DSEIS as

an integrated part of Amendment 5. The

DSEIS will describe the amendment’s

proposed management measures and

their reasonable alternatives and will

assess the environmental impacts of

these proposed and alternative

measures. The Council is requesting

written comments on the scope of the

issues to be addressed in the DSEIS.

Based on input to be received during

7 public hearings that the Council is

conducting from May 3, 2001, through

June 19, 2001 (see notice of these

hearings at 66 FR 22144) on a

preliminary draft of Amendment 5 and

associated DSEIS, the Council intends to

revise draft Amendment 5, as

appropriate, and to finalize the DSEIS.

The Council intends that the current

public hearings on its preliminary draft

Amendment 5 and DSEIS supplement,

for scoping purposes, the three scoping

meetings it held in 1994 to invite initial

public input on the scope of the issues

to be addressed by Amendment 5 and

the types of environmental impacts

associated with alternative management

measures, including those proposed

measures listed here. With the

exception of the requirement for

operator permits, which was

disapproved by NMFS as contained in

a previous FMP amendment, these

management measures have not been

28726 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 101 / Thursday, May, 24, 2001 / Proposed Rules

included in a previous FMP

amendment.

Once the Council completes the

DSEIS, it will submit it to NMFS for

filing with the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA). EPA will publish in the

Federal Registera notice of availability

of the DSEIS for public comment. This

procedure is pursuant to the Council on

Environmental Quality’s regulations for

implementing the procedural provisions

of the National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA) (40 CFR parts 1500-1508)

and to NOAA’s Administrative Order

216-6 regarding NOAA’s compliance

with NEPA and the CEQ regulations.

The Council intends to consider

public comments received on the DSEIS

before adopting final management

measures for a final Amendment 5. The

Council intends to prepare a final

supplemental environmental impact

statement (FSEIS) in support of its final

Amendment 5. The Council would then

submit the final Amendment 5 and

supporting FSEIS to NMFS for

Secretarial review, approval, and

implementation under the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act. NMFS will announce

availability of Amendment 5 for public

review during the Secretarial review

period though notice published in the

Federal Register. During Secretarial

review, NMFS will also file the FSEIS

with EPA for a final public comment

period on the FSEIS. This comment

period will be concurrent with the

Secretarial review period and will end

prior to final agency action to approve,

disapprove, or partially approve

Amendment 5. All public comment

periods on Amendment 5, its proposed

implementing regulations, and on its

associated FSEIS will be announced

through notice published in the Federal

Register. NMFS will consider all public

comments received during the

Secretarial review period for

Amendment 5 (60–day period), whether

they are on the amendment, the FSEIS,

or the proposed regulations, prior to

final agency action.

Copies of the preliminary draft

Amendment 5/DSEIS may be obtained

by contacting the Council (see

ADDRESSES).

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

Dated: May 17, 2001.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–13072 Filed 5–18–01; 3:57 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 697

[Docket No. 0104–13093–1093–01; I.D.

032301C]

RIN 0648–AP18

Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative

Management Act Provisions; American

Lobster Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Advance Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (ANPR)

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that it is

considering, and seeking public

comment on, revisions to Federal

American lobster regulations for the

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in

response to recommendations from the

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries

Commission (ASMFC) to NMFS in

Addendum II to Amendment 3 of the

Interstate Fishery Management Plan for

American Lobster (ISFMP). Addendum

II, approved by the ASMFC on February

1, 2001, revises the Amendment 3–egg

production schedule in each of seven

lobster conservation management areas

(LCMAs) to end overfishing of American

lobster stocks by the end of 2008. The

management measures defined in

Addendum II to meet the egg

production targets include a series of

minimum gauge size increases

(increases in the minimum allowable

harvest size of American lobster) in five

of the seven LCMAs, trap gear

modifications, and a 4–year trap

reduction schedule for LCMA 3.

DATES: Written comments must be

received at the appropriate address or

facsimile (fax) number (see ADDRESSES)

no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Standard

Time on or before June 25, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments must be

sent to: Harold C. Mears, Director, State,

Federal, and Constituent Programs

Office, Northeast Region, NMFS, One

Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Comments may also be sent via fax to

(978) 281–9117. Comments submitted

via e-mail or Internet will not be

accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter Burns, Fishery Management

Specialist, (978) 281–9144, fax (978)

281–9117.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

fishery for American lobster takes place

from North Carolina to Maine. More

than 50 percent of American lobsters

harvested are landed in Maine, with the

balance landed mostly in or from

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Long

Island Sound and Georges Bank. Over

80 percent of the lobster harvest occurs

in state waters, which extend from the

coast to 3 nautical miles (5.56 km) from

shore. The lobster fishery occurs yearround in the United States, including

the summer and fall months when the

lobsters are molting. Approximately 97

percent of lobsters are taken in lobster

traps. The rest are taken in trawls,

gillnets, and dredges and by divers.

Prior to December 1999, the American

lobster resource was managed in state

waters by the ASMFC under the

auspices of the Atlantic Coastal

Fisheries Cooperative Management Act

(ACFCMA), and in Federal waters by

NMFS under the authority of the

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson-Stevens Act).

Acknowledging that approximately 80

percent of the American lobster harvest

occurs in state waters, and in an effort

to establish a more effective lobster

management regime by enhancing

interjurisdictional cooperation, NMFS

issued a final rule in December 6, 1999

(64 FR 68228) for the American lobster

fishery. That final rule removed

management measures issued under

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act

and replaced them with the same and a

variety of new management measures

issued under the authority of ACFCMA.

ACFCMA provides NMFS with the

authority to implement regulations in

Federal waters that are compatible with

effective implementation of the ISFMP

and consistent with the national

standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Such Federal regulations are

promulgated pursuant to ACFCMA at 50

CFR part 697.

Amendment 3 of the ISFMP was

approved by the ASMFC in December

1997 to achieve a healthy American

lobster resource and develop a

management regime that provides for

sustained harvest, maintains

opportunities for participation, and

provides forthe cooperative

development of conservation measures

by all stakeholders. Following the May

2000 release of an updated peerreviewed lobster stock assessment

(ASMFC Stock Assessment Peer Review

Report No. 00–01), which revised

lobster egg production estimates and

confirmed that overfishing of lobster

stocks is occurring throughout the

species range, the ASMFC developed

Addendum II to Amendment 3 for

implementing additional measures