20506 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 89 / Tuesday, May 7, 1996 / Proposed Rules

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications

Commission, Washington, DC 20554. In

addition to filing comments with the

FCC, interested parties should serve the

petitioner, or its counsel or consultant,

as follows: John F. Garziglia, Pepper &

Corazzini, L.L.P., 1776 K Street, NW.,

Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006

(Counsel for petitioner).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam

Blumenthal, Mass Media Bureau, (202)

418–2180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

synopsis of the Commission’s Notice of

Proposed Rule Making, MM Docket No.

96–100, adopted April 22, 1996, and

released May 1, 1996. The full text of

this Commission decision is available

for inspection and copying during

normal business hours in the FCC’s

Reference Center (Room 239), 1919 M

Street, NW., Washington, DC. The

complete text of this decision may also

be purchased from the Commission’s

copy contractor, ITS, Inc., (202) 857–

3800, 2100 M Street, NW., Suite 140,

Washington, DC 20037.

Provisions of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act of 1980 do not apply to

this proceeding.

Members of the public should note

that from the time a Notice of Proposed

Rule Making is issued until the matter

is no longer subject to Commission

consideration or court review, all ex

parte contacts are prohibited in

Commission proceedings, such as this

one, which involve channel allotments.

See 47 CFR 1.1204(b) for rules

governing permissible ex parte contacts.

For information regarding proper

filing procedures for comments, see 47

CFR 1.415 and 1.420.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73

Radio broadcasting.

Federal Communications Commission.

John A. Karousos,

Chief, Allocations Branch, Policy and Rules

Division, Mass Media Bureau.

[FR Doc. 96–11327 Filed 5–6–96; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 625

[I.D. 042696A]

Summer Flounder and Scup Fishery;

Notice of Availability of Amendment 8

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of an

amendment to a fishery management

plan and request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this document

to advise that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery

Management Council (Council) has

submitted Amendment 8 to the Fishery

Management Plan for the Summer

Flounder and Scup Fisheries (FMP) for

Secretarial review and is requesting

comments from the public. Amendment

8 would initiate management measures

for the scup fishery.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before June 24, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Dr.

Andrew A. Rosenberg, Regional

Director, National Marine Fisheries

Service, Northeast Regional Office, One

Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-

3799. Mark the outside of the envelope

‘‘Comments on Summer Flounder and

Scup Plan.’’

Copies of proposed Amendment 8, its

Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) and the

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

contained within the RIR, and the Final

Environmental Impact Statement are

available from David R. Keifer,

Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic

Fishery Management Council, Room

2115 Federal Building, 300 S. New

Street, Dover, DE 19904-6790.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Regina L. Spallone, Fishery Policy

Analyst, 508-281-9221.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Magnuson Fishery Conservation and

Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)

(Magnuson Act) requires that each

regional fishery management council

submit any fishery management plan or

amendment it prepares to NMFS for

review. The Magnuson Act also requires

that NMFS, upon receiving the plan or

amendment for review, immediately

make a preliminary evaluation of

whether the amendment is sufficient to

warrant continued review, and publish

a document that the plan or amendment

is available for public review and

comment. NMFS will consider the

public comments received during the

comment period in determining

whether to approve the plan or

amendment.

Amendment 8, if approved, would

revise the Summer Flounder FMP to

institute management measures that

would allow the scup (Stenotomus

chrysops) resource to rebuild over a 7-

year period. Scup are currently

overexploited and at a low biomass

level.

Proposed management measures for

scup in Year 1 of management include:

Dealer, charter/party (c/p) vessel, and

operator permits; moratorium vessel

permits for the directed commercial

fishery; a requirement that permitted

vessels may sell only to permitted

dealers; mandatory reporting for

permitted vessels and dealers; escape

vents on scup pots or traps; degradable

hinges and fasteners in scup pots or

traps; and maximum size for rollers

used in roller rig trawl gear; minimum

fish sizes for the commercial and

recreational fisheries; and minimum

codend mesh requirements when

possessing more than a threshold level

of scup on board. In Year 2 and beyond,

a coastwide quota would also be

implemented with Federal commercial

permit holders being prohibited from

landing after the quota had been

attained, as well as a framework to

allow time/area closures in order to

reduce bycatch and prevent quota

overruns. The proposed amendment

also includes a framework measure to

allow future adjustments to minimum

fish sizes, mesh size, and the threshold

level of fish on board that triggers the

mesh size, and to implement a

recreational possession limit and

season.

NMFS disapproved six measures in

Amendment 8 before publishing this

notice of availability as authorized

under section 304(a)(1)(A) of the

Magnuson Act. These disapproved

measures would: (1) Confer moratorium

permit eligibility upon vessels that were

re-rigging on January 26, 1993, and land

scup prior to the implementation of the

FMP; (2) require vessels to keep scup

catches of less than 4,000 lb (1,814 kg)

(the level at which the minimum mesh

requirement is triggered) in 100–lb

boxes to enhance enforcement; (3)

accept state dealer permits in lieu of the

required Federal permit; (4) deny access

to the exclusive economic zone to

vessels from states that do not

implement recreational measures

equivalent to those specified in the

Federal plan; (5) use state regulations to

define scup pots for the residents of that

state; and (6) establish annual

recreational harvest limits and deduct

catches in excess of those limits from

the limits for the following year.

Day 1 for this amendment is April 26,

1996. Proposed regulations to

implement this amendment are

scheduled to be published within 15

days of this date.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 89 / Tuesday, May 7, 1996 / Proposed Rules 20507

Dated: May 1, 1996.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Fisheries

Conservation and Management, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 96–11271 Filed 5–2–96; 11:10 am]

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