31962 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 102 / Thursday, May 26, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

accordance with the micro-purchase 

threshold definition at FAR 2.101. 

This rule does not change the 

requirements for the small business 

specialist review of acquisitions. Small 

business specialists will continue to 

review acquisitions over the micropurchase threshold, except those under 

the simplified acquisition threshold that 

are totally set aside for small business 

concerns. 

II. Publication of This Final Rule for 

Public Comment Is Not Required by 

Statute 

The statute that applies to the 

publication of the FAR is 41 U.S.C. 

1707, Publication of Proposed 

Regulations. Subsection (a)(1) of the 

statute requires that a procurement 

policy, regulation, procedure, or form 

(including an amendment or 

modification thereof) must be published 

for public comment if it relates to the 

expenditure of appropriated funds and 

has either a significant effect beyond the 

internal operating procedures of the 

agency issuing the policy, regulation, 

procedure, or form, or has a significant 

cost or administrative impact on 

contractors or offerors. This final rule is 

not required to be published for public 

comment because it merely modifies the 

nomenclature used to describe an 

existing threshold; it does not change 

the dollar value of the threshold. The 

threshold affects only the internal 

operating procedures of the 

Government. 

III. Applicability to Contracts at or 

Below the Simplified Acquisition 

Threshold and for Commercial Services 

and Commercial Products, Including 

Commercially Available Off-the-Shelf 

Items 

This rule does not create any new 

solicitation provisions or contract 

clauses. It does not impact any existing 

solicitation provisions, contract clauses, 

or prescriptions for the use of 

solicitation provisions or contract 

clauses. 

IV. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 

13563 direct agencies to assess all costs 

and benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the 

importance of quantifying both costs 

and benefits, of reducing costs, of 

harmonizing rules, and of promoting 

flexibility. This is not a significant 

regulatory action and, therefore, was not 

subject to review under Section 6(b) of 

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning and 

Review, dated September 30, 1993. 

V. Congressional Review Act 

As required by the Congressional 

Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801–808) before an 

interim or final rule takes effect, DoD 

will submit a copy of the interim or 

final rule with the form, Submission of 

Federal Rules under the Congressional 

Review Act, to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. 

House of Representatives, and the 

Comptroller General of the United 

States. A major rule under the 

Congressional Review Act cannot take 

effect until 60 days after it is published 

in the Federal Register. The Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs has 

determined that this rule is not a major 

rule as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804. 

VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act does 

not apply to this rule because this final 

rule does not constitute a significant 

DFARS revision within the meaning of 

FAR 1.501–1, and 41 U.S.C. 1707 does 

not require publication for public 

comment. 

VII. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The rule does not contain any 

information collection requirements that 

require the approval of the Office of 

Management and Budget under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35). 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Part 219 

Government procurement. 

Jennifer D. Johnson, 

Editor/Publisher, Defense Acquisition 

Regulations System. 

Therefore, 48 CFR part 219 is 

amended as follows: 

PART 219—SMALL BUSINESS 

PROGRAMS 

■ 1. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

part 219 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 1303 and 48 CFR 

chapter 1. 

219.201 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend section 219.201 in 

paragraph (c)(10)(A) by removing 

‘‘$10,000’’ and adding ‘‘the micropurchase threshold (see FAR 19.502– 

2(a))’’ in its place. 

[FR Doc. 2022–11198 Filed 5–25–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 220325–0078; RTID 0648– 

XC033] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery; 

2022 Closure of the Northern Gulf of 

Maine Scallop Management Area to the 

Limited Access General Category 

Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the closure 

of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop 

Management Area for the remainder of 

the 2022 fishing year for Limited Access 

General Category vessels. Regulations 

require this action once NMFS projects 

that 100 percent of the Limited Access 

General Category total allowable catch 

for the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop 

Management Area will be harvested. 

This action is intended to prevent the 

overharvest of the 2022 total allowable 

catch allocated to the Limited Access 

General Category Fishery. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, May 

26, 2022, through March 31, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Louis Forristall, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9321. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations governing fishing activity in 

the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) 

Scallop Management Area are located in 

50 CFR 648.54 and 648.62. These 

regulations authorize vessels issued a 

valid Federal scallop permit to fish in 

the NGOM Scallop Management Area 

under specific conditions, including a 

default total allowable catch (TAC) of 

621,307 lb (281,820 kg) for the Limited 

Access General Category (LAGC) fleet 

for the 2022 fishing year, and a State 

Waters Exemption Program for the State 

of Maine and Commonwealth of 

Massachusetts. Section 648.62(b)(2) 

requires the NGOM Scallop 

Management Area to be closed to 

scallop vessels issued Federal LAGC 

scallop permits, except as provided 

below, for the remainder of the fishing 

year once the NMFS Greater Atlantic 

Regional Administrator determines that 

100 percent of the LAGC TAC for the 

fishing year is projected to be harvested. 

Any vessel that holds a Federal NGOM 

(LAGC B) or Individual Fishing Quota 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 102 / Thursday, May 26, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 31963 

(IFQ) (LAGC A) permit may continue to 

fish in the Maine or Massachusetts state 

waters portion of the NGOM Scallop 

Management Area under the State 

Waters Exemption Program found in 

§ 648.54 provided it has a valid Maine 

or Massachusetts state scallop permit 

and fishes only in that state’s respective 

waters. 

Based on trip declarations by 

federally permitted LAGC scallop 

vessels fishing in the NGOM Scallop 

Management Area and analysis of 

fishing effort, we project that the 2022 

LAGC TAC will be harvested as of May 

26, 2022. Therefore, in accordance with 

§ 648.62(b)(2), the NGOM Scallop 

Management Area is closed to all 

federally permitted LAGC scallop 

vessels as of May 26, 2022. As of this 

date, no vessel issued a Federal LAGC 

scallop permit may fish for, possess, or 

land scallops in or from the NGOM 

Scallop Management Area after 0001 

local time, May 26, 2022, unless the 

vessel is fishing exclusively in state 

waters and is participating in an 

approved state waters exemption 

program as specified in § 648.54. Any 

federally permitted LAGC scallop vessel 

that has declared into the NGOM 

Scallop Management Area, complied 

with all trip notification and observer 

requirements, and crossed the vessel 

monitoring system demarcation line on 

the way to the area before 0001, May 26, 

2022, may complete its trip and land 

scallops. This closure is in effect until 

the end of the 2022 scallop fishing year, 

through March 31, 2023. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive 

prior notice and the opportunity for 

public comment because it would be 

contrary to the public interest and 

impracticable. NMFS also finds, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good 

cause to waive the 30-day delayed 

effectiveness period for the reasons 

noted below. The NGOM Scallop 

Management Area opened for the 2022 

fishing year on April 1, 2022. The 

regulations at § 648.60(b)(2) require this 

closure to ensure that federally 

permitted scallop vessels do not harvest 

more than the allocated LAGC TAC for 

the NGOM Scallop Management Area. 

NMFS can only make projections for the 

NGOM closure date as trips into the area 

occur on a real-time basis and as activity 

trends appear. As a result, NMFS can 

typically make an accurate projection 

only shortly before the TAC is 

harvested. The rapid harvest rate that 

has occurred in the last two weeks 

makes it more difficult to project a 

closure well in advance. To allow 

federally permitted LAGC scallop 

vessels to continue taking trips in the 

NGOM Scallop Management Area 

during the period necessary to publish 

and receive comments on a proposed 

rule would result in vessels harvesting 

more than the 2022 LAGC TAC for the 

NGOM Scallop Management Area. This 

would result in excessive fishing effort 

in the area thereby undermining 

conservation objectives of the Atlantic 

Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan 

and requiring more restrictive future 

management measures to make up for 

the excessive harvest. Also, the public 

had prior notice and full opportunity to 

comment on this closure process when 

we solicited comments during 

rulemaking for 2022 NGOM 

management provisions (February 15, 

2022; 87 FR 8543). 

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

Dated: May 24, 2022. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–11487 Filed 5–24–22; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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