Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 207 / Thursday, October 27, 2005 / Notices 61941 

fibropapillomatosis tumor removal 

surgery and subsequent rehabilitation. 

In the case that a turtle has evidence 

of severe internal tumors, the turtle 

would be euthanized. The applicant 

does not expect that more than 2 turtles 

would require euthanasia. The goal of 

the additional research would be to 

create baseline parameters of health 

assessments, determine groups’

heterogenity and dispersal, and provide 

insight into the pathogenesis of the 

disease in the wild through the use of 

long-term capture and release surveys. 

Dated: October 20, 2005. 

Stephen L. Leathery, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–21487 Filed 10–26–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 082605B] 

Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS); 

Specification of Requirements for 

Mobile Transmitting Unit Type 

Approval 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Revision of type approval 

requirements for mobile transmitting 

units. 

SUMMARY: This document provides 

notice of type approval requirements for 

Mobile Transmitting Units (MTU) to be 

authorized for use on any vessel 

participating in the NOAA Vessel 

Monitoring System (VMS ) program. 

Vessels participating in VMS programs 

must acquire an OLE - approved MTU 

to comply with VMS standards set forth 

in NMFS rules requiring the use of 

VMS. 

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the list 

of NOAA-approved VMS MTU and 

VMS communications service providers, 

or to obtain information regarding the 

status of VMS systems being evaluated 

by NOAA, write to NOAA Fisheries, 

Office for Law Enforcement (OLE), 8484 

Georgia Avenue, Suite 415, Silver 

Spring, MD 20910. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

current listing information contact Mark 

Oswell, Outreach Specialist, or for 

questions regarding VMS installation 

and status of evaluations contact 

Jonathan Pinkerton, National VMS 

Program Manager by phone: 301–427–

2300 or by fax: 301–427–2055. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice supersedes all previous notices 

on MTU type approval requirements. 

Previously installed MTU approved 

under prior notices will continue to be 

approved for the remainder of their 

service life. New installations of a 

previously approved MTU occurring 

120 days or more after the publication 

date of this notice must comply with all 

of the requirements herein. All new 

requests for type approval must comply 

with all of the requirements herein. 

Background 

The Department of Commerce, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, National Marine 

Fisheries Service, Office for Law 

Enforcement (OLE) maintains MTU 

specification requirements as an OLE 

National Directive. This notice sets 

prerequisite standards for the purpose of 

type approval that must be met by an 

MTU and any associated software before 

it is authorized for use in the NOAA 

VMS program. Vessels participating in 

VMS programs must acquire an OLEapproved MTU to comply with the 

specific VMS standards set forth in 

NMFS rules requiring the use of VMS. 

The MTU is a transceiver or 

communications device, including 

antennae, installed on fishing vessels 

participating in the VMS requirement. 

The MTU allows OLE to determine the 

geographic position of the vessel during 

specified intervals or events. In 

addition, it enables mobile 

communications services between OLE 

and the vessel when using an OLEaccepted Mobile Communication 

Service Provider (MCSP). (Note: 

Standards for the MCSP are written in 

the complementary directive titled 

Mobile Communication Service 

Provider Specification of Requirements.) 

Goal 

OLE seeks to deploy an ‘‘open 

system,’’ whereby the fishing industry 

participants may select from a variety of 

suppliers that qualify and have been 

approved to participate in VMS 

programs. Fishermen must comply with 

their Federal fishery regulations 

regarding VMS and therefore may be 

cited for a violation and held 

accountable for monitoring anomalies 

not attributable to faults in the MCSP or 

MTU. Therefore, type approval is 

essential to establish and maintain 

uniformly high system integrity. By this 

directive, OLE seeks to approve reliable, 

robust, and secure MTU products and 

thereby create and maintain a VMS 

meeting the requirement of high 

integrity. Specific VMS programs are 

created to support particular NMFS 

rules requiring the use of VMS, which 

typically are designed to manage or 

protect fish and other marine species 

within designated areas. 

Process 

Based on a request for type approval 

from an MTU supplier and certification 

of certain minimal standards, OLE will 

conduct a thorough evaluation and then 

issue a statement accepting or denying 

the type approval of the particular MTU. 

An MTU must meet the minimal 

national VMS standards, as required by 

this directive, and the requirements of 

the specific fisheries for which approval 

is sought. MTU supplier requestors are 

encouraged to review the national VMS 

standards and NMFS rules requiring the 

use of VMS prior to submitting a request 

for approval. Upon successful 

demonstration of compliance with the 

requirements set forth in this directive, 

OLE will issue an MTU type approval 

within a particular communications 

Class applicable to one or more VMS 

operations targeting particular NMFS 

rules requiring the use of VMS. OLE 

will maintain a current list of type 

approved MTU(s). OLE will forward 

lists of type approved MTU(s) to the 

respective regional Fisheries 

Management Council(s), post the 

information on the OLE website and 

provide it by fax upon request. 

OLE approval will not necessarily 

result in NMFS procurement of the 

MTU. Instead, OLE will request the 

MTU supplier to provide a fact sheet to 

provide information to the fishing 

industry. This fact sheet will allow 

fishermen to make purchase decisions 

that are compatible with the VMS 

standards and their individual needs. 

Purchasing strategies are determined on 

a per rule implementation basis. 

Initiation 

OLE will initiate the MTU type 

approval process upon written request 

from the supplier, subject to the 

demonstration of compliance with this 

directive and the availability of test 

units. The requestor for type approval, 

may include the manufacturer, or an 

OEM/labeler, distributor, and/or reseller 

acting as a representative of the 

manufacturer. The evaluation may 

include consideration if that MTU has 

already passed a comparable type 

approval process to qualify for use in a 

foreign fisheries management effort. If 

applicable, the supplier should provide 

the MTU’s identifying characteristics, 

the details of foreign VMS requirement 

specifications, the MTU’s level of 

compliance with them, and appropriate 

61942 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 207 / Thursday, October 27, 2005 / Notices 

contact details of the approving 

authorities. OLE also will consider 

approving an MTU OEM (original 

equipment manufacturer) model built 

from an equivalent MTU that already 

has received OLE type approval under 

this directive. 

Interoperability 

A supplier of an MTU seeking type 

approval within a particular 

communications Class for VMS shall 

demonstrate that it meets the standards 

when using at least one qualified MCSP 

within that same Class. The standards in 

this directive are intended to ensure that 

type approval for a particular MTU will 

permit its interoperability with all 

qualified MCSPs within its same Class. 

A Class refers to the medium, protocol, 

and frequency of the mobile 

communications technology. Some 

examples of existing Classes include 

Inmarsat-C and Qualcomm/OmniTracs. 

To best promote interoperability within 

a Class, MTU and MCSP acceptance 

standards are outlined in separate 

directives. However, concurrent with 

the approval process for an MTU, the 

approval for a same-class MCSP must be 

either in place or pending. Data received 

by OLE from the MTU via an approved 

MCSP must be in a format compatible 

with OLE tracking software. 

Submission 

A supplier of an MTU requesting type 

approval shall begin by certifying that 

the MTU meets the minimum national 

VMS standards as required by this 

directive. Suppliers must describe in 

detail the extent to which its MTU 

complies with each of the requirements 

for the VMS rule implementation of 

interest as stated within this directive. 

The supplier, or requestor for type 

approval, must provide OLE with two 

MTUs for each fishery for which 

application is made for a 90-day test and 

approval period. The supplier must also 

provide thorough MTU documentation, 

including fact sheets, installation 

guides, operator manuals, user 

handbooks, the applicable interfacing 

software, and technical support. OLE 

shall review the submissions against the 

criteria of this directive. Next, OLE shall 

perform field test and sea trials. For this, 

OLE will coordinate test conditions 

with volunteer and/or contract fishing 

vessels. These tests may involve 

demonstrating every aspect of MTU 

operation, including installation of a 

registered MTU, location tracking, 

messaging, and maintenance 

procedures. 

Submit requests for type approval, 

along with hard and soft copies of 

support material to: U.S. Department of 

Commerce; National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration; National 

Marine Fisheries Service; Office for Law 

Enforcement; Attention: Vessel 

Monitoring System Program; 8484 

Georgia Ave. Suite 415; Silver Spring, 

MD 20910 USA; voice 301–427–2300; 

fax 301–427–2055. 

Litigation Support 

Due to the use of VMS for law 

enforcement, all technical aspects of a 

supplier’s submission are subject to 

being admitted as evidence in a court of 

law, if needed. The reliability of all 

technologies utilized in the MTU may 

be analyzed in court for, inter alia, 

testing procedures, error rates, peer 

review, and general industry 

acceptance. Further, the supplier may 

be required to provide technical and 

expert support for a litigation to support 

the MTU capabilities to establish OLE’s 

case against violators. If the 

technologies have previously been 

subject to such scrutiny in a court of 

law, the supplier should describe the 

evidence and any court finding on the 

reliability of the technology. 

Additionally, to maintain the integrity 

of VMS for fisheries management, the 

supplier will be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement limiting the 

release of certain information that might 

compromise the effectiveness of the 

VMS operations, such as details of antitampering safeguards. The supplier 

shall include a statement confirming its 

agreement with these conditions. 

Change Control 

Once an MTU is approved, it is the 

supplier’s responsibility to notify OLE 

of any substantive change in the original 

submission, such as changes to 

firmware versions, and customer 

support contacts. OLE reserves the right 

to reconsider and revoke the MTU 

approval if as a result of a change to the 

MTU or VMS requirement the unit no 

longer satisfies the requirement. 

Any modification to the functionality 

of an approved MTU including but not 

limited to firmware, software, services, 

or passwords unless expressly 

authorized by NMFS OLE will 

invalidate the type approval of the unit 

and render it out of compliance with 

NMFS rules requiring the use of VMS. 

Any addition, deletion or change of the 

firmware, software, services, or 

passwords of an MTU unless expressly 

authorized by NMFS OLE will also 

invalidate the type approval of the unit 

and render it out of compliance with 

NMFS rules requiring the use of VMS. 

Fishermen that are determined to be out 

of compliance with Federal Fisheries 

VMS regulations may be cited for 

violations and held accountable for 

monitoring anomalies not attributable to 

faults in the MCSP or MTU. 

Requestor 

Requestors must respond to each of 

the items listed in sections 1 through 6 

of this document. The response should 

indicate how the requestor complies 

with the requirement referred to in the 

item. Items that the requestor does not 

currently comply with must be 

responded to by explaining how the 

requestor will comply with the 

requirement prior to approval. 

Section 1. Identifiers 

1. 1. Specify the identifying 

characteristics of the MTU: 

1.1.1. Communications Class. 

1.1.2. Manufacturer. 

1.1.3. Brand Name. 

1.1.4. Model Name. 

1.1.5. Model Number. 

1.1.6. Software Version Number and 

Date. 

1.1.7. Firmware Version Number and 

Date. 

1.1.8. Hardware Version Number and 

Date. 

1.1.9. Antenna Type. 

1.1.10. Antenna Model Number and 

Date. 

1.1.11. MCSP Providing 

Communications Services. 

1.2. For the following responsibilities, 

name the business entities who act on 

behalf of the manufacturer and supplier 

applying for type approval. Include the 

address, phone, contacts, email, and 

designated geographic territory where 

applicable. 

1.2.1. Manufacturer. 

1.2.2. Label or use MTU for an OEM. 

This includes re-labeling OEM MTUs or 

reselling. Reselling includes valueadded reselling. The MTU that is type 

approved is the final, value-added 

product and not the original 

manufacturer’s MTU, if enhancements 

or modifications have been made. For 

example, if a transceiver is contained 

within an enclosure, it is the new 

enclosure including the transceiver that 

is being type approved. 

1.2.3. Distribute. 

1.2.4. Sell. 

1.2.5. Bench configures the MTU at 

the warehouse or point of supply. 

1.2.6. Install MTU onboard the vessel. 

1.2.7. Offer limited warranty. 

1.2.8. Offer maintenance and service 

agreement. 

1.2.9. Repair. 

1.2.10. Train. 

1.2.11. Advertise. 

Section 2. Messaging 

The MTU must provide the following 

messaging functionality: 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 207 / Thursday, October 27, 2005 / Notices 61943 

2.1. Transmit mandatory, 

automatically generated position 

reports. 

2.2. Onboard visible or audible alarms 

for malfunctioning of the MTU. 

2.3. Ability to disable non-essential 

alarms in non-Global Maritime Distress 

and Safety System (GMDSS) 

installations. 

2.4. Ability to provide comprehensive 

and transparent communications, which 

function uniformly within the entire 

geographic coverage area for that 

communications class. 

2.5. Two-way communications 

between MCSP and MTU. 

2.6. The ability to send and receive 

free-form Internet email text messages. 

Section 3. Position Data Formats and 

Transmission 

3.1. The MTU must provide position 

information as required by the 

applicable VMS rule in addition to: 

3.1.1. Position fixes latitude and 

longitude, including the hemisphere of 

each. 

3.1.2. The position fix precision must 

be to the decimal minute hundredths. 

3.1.3. Accuracy of the reported 

position must be within 100 meters, 

unless otherwise indicated by an 

existing regulation or VMS requirement. 

3.1.4. Communications between MTU 

and MCSP must be secure from 

tampering or interception, including the 

reading of passwords and data. 

Therefore, the MTU must have 

mechanisms to prevent to the extent 

possible: 

3.1.4.1. Interception and ‘‘sniffing’’

during transmission from the MTU to 

MCSP via either wireless or terrestrial 

facilities. 

3.1.4.2. Spoofing, whereby one MTU 

is fraudulently identifying itself as 

another MTU. 

3.1.4.3. Modification of MTU 

identification. 

3.1.4.4. Interference with GMDSS or 

other safety/distress functions. 

3.1.4.5. Introduction of viruses that 

may corrupt the messages, transmission, 

or the VMS system. 

3.2. MTU shall provide the ability to 

meet minimum reporting requirements 

and intervals as required for specific 

NMFS rules requiring the use of VMS. 

3.2.1. Provide automatically generated 

position reporting, for vessels managed 

individually or grouped by fleet, such 

that OLE automatically receives position 

reports at defined intervals transparent 

to the geographic region. 

3.2.2. Have the ability to store 100 

position fixes in local, non-volatile 

memory when the MTU is either unable 

to transmit or OLE configured the MTU 

to a ‘‘store and retrieve’’ mode. These 

positions must be either transferred to 

local storage media or transmitted via 

MCSP. (This requirement is waived for 

any MTU that was approved and 

purchased under previously published 

directives.) 

3.2.3. Allow for variable reporting 

intervals between 5 minutes and 24 

hours. 

3.2.4. MTU must be able to change 

reporting intervals remotely, and only 

by authorized users. 

3.3. An MTU must be able to transmit 

automatically generated position 

reports, which contain the following: 

3.3.1. Unique identification of an 

MTU within the communications class. 

3.3.2. Date (year/month/day with 

century in the year) and time (GMT) 

stamp of the position fix. 

3.4. In addition to automatically 

generated position reports, specially 

identified position reports shall be 

generated upon: 

3.4.1. Antenna disconnection 

3.4.2. Loss of the positioning 

reference signals. 

3.4.3.Loss of the mobile 

communications signals. 

3.4.4. Security events, power-up, 

power-down, and other status data. 

3.4.5. The vessel crossing a predefined geographic boundary. 

3.4.6. MTU status information such as 

configuration of programming and 

reporting intervals. 

3.4.7. When an MTU is powered up, 

it must automatically re-establish its 

position reporting function without 

manual intervention. 

Section 4. Enhanced Vessel Monitoring 

System Terminals 

In addition to the VMS requirements 

defined in prior sections of this Type 

Approval Specification; certain fisheries 

require support for two way e-mail and 

forms capabilities onboard the vessel. 

Such VMS equipment is defined as an 

‘‘Enhanced MTU,’’ or E-MTU. Before 

submission of equipment for testing as 

an E-MTU, the equipment must pass all 

type approval tests as a standard MTU 

configuration. Then, compliance with 

the functions and features defined in 

Section 4 will be tested. VMS 

Equipment that passes these additional 

tests will be Type Approved for use as 

both an MTU (position reporting only) 

and an E-MTU (position, text and formsbased reporting). The terminal may use 

protocols other than SMTP but 

translation to SMTP, and support for the 

SMTP (Internet) addressing scheme is 

required. 

4.1. Text messaging 

4.1.1. Text messaging from vessel to 

shore with a minimum supported 

message length of 1kb. 

4.1.2. User interface must support an 

’address book’ capability and a function 

permitting a ‘‘reply’’ to a received 

message without re-entry of the senders 

e-mail address. 

4.1.3. A confirmation of delivery 

function is required such that a user can 

ascertain whether a specific message 

was successfully transmitted via the 

satellite system to the MCSP 

e-mail server(s). 

4.1.4. Onward delivery to NMFS must 

be reliable and make use of features 

such as SMTP retries and delivery 

confirmation to ensure a reliable 

transport path exists for text messages 

sent from the vessel to NMFS. 

4.1.5. The user interface must provide 

the ability to review by date order, or by 

recipient, messages that were previously 

sent. The terminal must support a 

minimum message history of 20 

messages - commonly referred to as an 

’Outbox’ or ’Sent’ messages display. 

4.1.6. Text messaging from shore to 

vessel with a minimum supported 

message length of 1kb. 

Attachment support is not required. 

4.1.7. The user interface must provide 

the ability to review by date order, or by 

sender, all messages received. The 

terminal must support a minimum 

message history of 20 messages - 

commonly referred to as an ’Inbox’. 

4.1.8. Negative delivery notifications 

must be sent to the originator where 

delivery to the terminal could not be 

completed for any reason. Such Non 

Delivery Notification must include 

sufficient information to uniquely 

identify the message that failed and the 

cause of failure (i.e., mobile number 

invalid, mobile switched off etc.). 

4.2. Electronic Forms 

Pre-formatted messages are required 

for the collection of validated data for 

specific fisheries programs (i.e., 

declaration systems, catch effort 

reporting). This capability is referred to 

as Electronic Forms. The E-MTU must 

support a minimum of 20 Forms, 

selectable by the user from a menu. 

Forms must be updatable over the air. 

Copies of forms currently used by 

NMFS are available upon request. From 

time to time NMFS will provide all EMTU approved vendors with updates 

defining new forms or modifying 

existing forms. Such notice will be at 

least 60 (sixty) days prior to the 

introduction date for the new or 

changed form. Vendors will be 

responsible for translating the 

requirements into E-MTU specific forms 

definitions and transmitting the same to 

all VMS terminals supplied to fishing 

vessels. All forms software provided 

with the E-MTU must be capable of 

supporting the requirements described 

61944 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 207 / Thursday, October 27, 2005 / Notices 

in this specification. Additional 

capabilities beyond those stated here are 

acceptable, provided that the minimum 

requirements are satisfied. 

4.2.1. A form is defined as: (a) 1–40 

characters describing the form, (b) 

Delivery address (i.e., e-mail or other 

network identifier), (c) Form number as 

defined by NMFS to uniquely identify 

the form, (d) Form version number 

(numeric with one decimal place; i.e., 

1.2), and (e) a collection of 1–30 fields 

and associated logic rules. 

4.2.2. Each field (within a form) is 

defined by the following elements. 

Except where noted, all elements of the 

field definition are mandatory: (a) Label 

(0 to 40 characters, alpha numeric), (b) 

Context Help Text (0 to 200 characters, 

alpha numeric), (c)Type (Either; 

enumeration, numeric, alpha, 

alphanumeric or Boolean), (d) Default 

Value, (e) Optional/Mandatory/Hidden/ 

Logic indicator, (f) Min/Max values (for 

numeric fields only) in range 0.000 to 

999,999, (g) Decimal places (for numeric 

fields only) 0–3, and (h) Min/Max 

characters (for alpha/alphanumeric 

fields only). 

4.2.3. Up to 100 code/value/help text 

pairs (enumerations only) must be 

provided, where codes are defined as 1–

20 alphanumeric characters, values are 

1–80 alphanumeric characters and help 

text is 0–200 characters. Such fields are 

typically used to permit a user to select 

from a range of options (i.e., geographic 

areas, gear types, fish species). Codes 

are used to compress the form data for 

efficient transmission. Help text would 

typically be displayed only when the 

user selects a specific value from the 

enumeration. 

4.2.4. Form Validation: Each field 

must be defined as; Optional, 

Mandatory or Logic Driven. Mandatory 

fields must be entered by the user before 

the form is complete, optional fields 

that do not require data entry, and logic 

driven fields have their attributes 

determined by earlier form selections. 

Specifically; it must be possible for 

selection of an enumeration to change 

the optional/mandatory setting, min/ 

max values, or the permitted 

enumeration values on a later field 

within the same form. 

4.2.5. State Information: The 

capability to populate a form based on 

the last values used must be available. 

This provides the user with an easy 

mechanism to ’modify’ or ’update’ a 

prior submission - without unnecessary 

re-entry of data. The user must be able 

to review a minimum of 20 past form 

submissions and ascertain for each form 

when the form was transmitted and 

whether delivery was successfully 

completed to the vendor’s processing 

center. In the case of a transmission 

failure, the user must be provided with 

details of the cause and have the 

opportunity to retry the form 

submission. 

4.2.6. Inclusion of VMS Position 

Report: In addition to the manually 

entered fields, the forms package must 

permit the inclusion of VMS position 

report fields such as latitude, longitude, 

date and time. Such fields must be 

obtained from the GPS function of the 

MTU and transmitted along with the 

manually entered form data within the 

same transaction. 

4.2.7. Delivery Format for Form Data: 

It is preferred that form data be 

transferred from the terminal to NMFS 

using the same transport as for either 

text messages or VMS position reports 

(the selected option to be at the election 

of the E-MTU vendor). Currently 

supported protocols for transfer are; 

FTP, SMTP, XML and HTTP Post. The 

field coding within the data must follow 

either CSV or XML formatting rules. For 

CSV format the form must contain an 

identifier and the version number, and 

then the fields in the order defined on 

the form. In the CSV format strings that 

may contain ’’,’’ (comma) characters 

must be quoted. XML representations 

must use the field label to define the 

XML element that contains each field 

value. 

Section 5. Customer Service 

The MTU supplier or its designated 

entities shall provide customer service 

that is professional, courteous, and 

responsive. It should provide MTU 

diagnostic and troubleshooting support 

to OLE and the fishermen. No services 

shall be billed to any NOAA or OLE 

office without being specifically 

contracted for in writing by an 

authorized entity. Services shall 

include: 

5.1. Service level, warranty, and 

maintenance agreements. Clarify 

constraints, if any, on the geographic 

territory, personnel availability, and 

escalation procedures for problem 

resolution covered by such services. 

5.2. Facilities and procedures in place 

to assist the fisherman in maintaining 

and repairing their MTU, including 

response and general system turn 

around time. 

5.3. Help in the determination and 

isolation of the cause of 

communications anomalies. 

5.4. Assist in the resolution of 

communications anomalies that are 

traced to the MTU. 

5.5. All services will be considered to 

be free of charge unless specifically 

listed in service or purchase agreements. 

Section 6. Other Information 

6.1. The MTU must have the 

durability and reliability necessary to 

provide acceptable service in a marine 

environment where the unit may be 

subjected to saltwater (spray) in smaller 

vessels, and in larger vessels where the 

unit may be maintained in a 

wheelhouse. The unit, cabling and 

antenna must be resistant to moisture 

and shock associate with the marine 

environments. 

6.2. The MTU must comply with any 

additional requirements specified in the 

regulations for the VMS implementation 

for which application is made. The 

requestor must review the applicable 

NMFS rules requiring the use of VMS 

and respond here to any specific 

requirements listed therein. 

6.3. All personally identifying 

information provided by vessels owners 

or other authorized personnel for the 

purchase or activation of MTU or EMTU, or for the participation in any 

NMFS VMS-approved fishery must be 

protected from unauthorized disclosure. 

Personally identifying information 

includes, but is not limited to, names, 

addresses, telephone numbers, social 

security account numbers, credit card 

numbers, vessel names, federal, state, 

and local documentation numbers, email addresses, and crew lists. Any 

information sent electronically to the 

OLE must be transmitted by a secure 

means that prevents interception, 

spoofing, or viewing by unauthorized 

individuals. Any release of such 

information must be requested and 

approved in writing by the vessel owner 

or authorized personnel, or the OLE. 

Inadvertent or intentional unauthorized 

release of personally identifying 

information will be grounds for 

reconsideration and possible revocation 

of the type approval for any MTU or EMTU supplied by the offending 

provider. 

Dated: October 24, 2005. 

William T. Hogarth, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–21486 Filed 10–26–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 

Publication of State Plan Pursuant to 

the Help America Vote Act 

AGENCY: Election Assistance 

Commission (EAC). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to sections 

254(a)(11)(A) and 255(b) of the Help