Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 98 / Monday, May 20, 1996 / Proposed Rules 25185

47 CFR Part 90

[WT Docket No. 96–86, FCC 96–155]

Public Safety Radio Requirements

Through the Year 2010

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed Rule.

SUMMARY: The Commission has adopted

a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to

address the present deficiencies in

public safety wireless communications

as well as its expanding spectrum

needs. These proposed amendments

will solicit comments on how to meet

public safety needs, and to facilitate a

transition to a communications

environment in which public safety

agencies have access to higher quality

transmission, emerging technologies,

and broader services. The Notice also

furthers the Commission’s efforts to

implement Section 6002 of the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993,

which requires the Commission to study

public safety spectrum needs and to

develop a plan that ensures that

adequate frequenices are available for

public safety uses through the year

2010.

DATES: Comments are due September

20, 1996; reply comments are due

October 18, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert McNamara the Wireless

Telecommunications Bureau at (202)

418–0680.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Notice of

Proposed Rule Making, adopted April 5,

1996, and released April 10, 1996. The

full text of this action is available for

inspection and copying during normal

business hours in the FCC Reference

Center, Room 239, 1919 M Street, N..W.,

Washington, D.C. The complete text

may be purchased from the

Commission’s copy contractor, ITS, Inc.,

(202) 857–3800, 2100 M Street, NW.,

Suite 140, Washington, DC 20037.

Summary of Report and Order

1. In this action, the Commission

initiates an overall evaluation and

assessment of public safety wireless

communications, which builds upon

our findings and conclusions presented

in the 1995 FCC Public Safety Report.

We believe that the critical

responsibilities of public safety

agencies, such as protection of life and

property, can be performed more

effectively by increasing the flexibility

and opportunities that wireless

communications can offer. The goal of

this proceeding is to develop the data

necessary to evaluate the spectrum

needs of public safety agencies, to

solicit comment on how best to meet

these needs, and to facilitate a transition

to a communications environment in

which public safety agencies have

access to higher quality transmission,

emerging technologies, and broader

services, including the ability to

communicate readily with one another

(interoperability). We recognize that

such an environment can be achieved

through a variety of regulatory

approaches, such as requiring more

efficient use of current public safety

spectrum, reallocating additional

spectrum for public safety uses, and

facilitating the use of commercial

service providers for increased

communications capacity. We believe,

however, that no one approach will

satisfy all public safety communications

spectrum needs. We further believe that

the optimal approach should allow each

of these individual approaches to be

strategically combined in a way that

meets the specific needs of individual

public safety entities.

2. The Notice of Proposed Rule

Making emphasizes two primary issues.

The first issue is the critical nature of

public safety responsibilities to the

Nation’s well being and the role of

modern wireless communications in

ensuring that these duties are fulfilled

effectively. The second issue is that the

fragmented nature of present public

safety wireless communications has a

detrimental impact on present and

future capabilities. We believe that

bringing about improved quality and

tangible access to expanded services is

dependent largely on public safety

operating in a wider and more

consistent environment. This

proceeding seeks to broaden the

opportunity for public safety agencies to

obtain access to the benefits that accrue

from the increased competition and

innovation that has emerged in

telecommunications generally while

maintaining the independence,

reliability, universal service and

security that are integral to public

safety. We believe that a regulatory

structure can emerge that is more

efficient, commits more discretion to

users, and facilitates access to a much

broader range of services.

3. Authority for issuance of this

Notice of Proposed Rule Making is

contained in Sections 4(i) and 303(r) of

the Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i) and 303(r).

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

4. As required by Section 603 of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, the

Commission has prepared an Initial

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA)

of the expected impact on small entities

of the proposals suggested in this

document. The IRFA is set forth in

Appendix A of the Notice of Proposed

Rule Making. Written public comments

are requested on the IRFA. These

comments must be filed in accordance

with the same filing deadlines as

comments on the rest of the Notice of

Proposed Rule Making, but they must

have a separate and distinct heading

designating them as responses to the

IRFA. The Secretary shall send a copy

of this Notice of Proposed Rule Making,

including the IRFA, to the Chief

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration in accordance

with paragraph 603(a) of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act, Public Law No. 96–354,

94 Stat. 1164, 5 U.S.C. 601–612.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 90

Communications equipment, Radio,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–12587 Filed 5–17–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 655

[I.D. 050296B]

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management

Council; Public Hearings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Public hearings; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery

Management Council (Council) will

hold five public hearings to allow for

input on the resubmitted portion of

Amendment 5 to the Fishery

Management Plan for the Atlantic

Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery.

DATES: Written comments will be

accepted through June 7, 1996. The

hearings will be held during the months

of May and June. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for the time and dates of

the hearings.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to David R.

Keifer, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic

Fishery Management Council, Room

2115, Federal Building, 300 South New
25186 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 98 / Monday, May 20, 1996 / Proposed Rules

Street, Dover, DE 19904. The public

hearings will be held in New

Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey,

New York, and North Carolina. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for the

locations of the hearings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David R. Keifer, (302) 674–2331.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Amendment 5 was partially

disapproved by NMFS on February 9,

1996. The following management

measures were approved by NMFS:

Lowering of the Loligo maximum

sustainable yield; eliminating the

possibility of directed foreign fishing for

Loligo, Illex, and butterfish; instituting a

dealer and vessel reporting system;

instituting an operator permitting

system; and expanding of the

management unit to include all Atlantic

mackerel, Loligo, Illex, and butterfish

under U.S. jurisdiction. NMFS

disapproved three measures: (1) The use

of long term potential catch to cap

allowable biological catch (ABC) for

Atlantic mackerel, (2) the Illex

moratorium, and (3) the exemption from

the minimum mesh requirement for the

Loligo fishery for a vessel fishing for sea

herring whose catch is comprised of 75

percent or more of sea herring.

In the draft proposed resubmitted

portion of Amendment 5, overfishing for

Atlantic mackerel is defined as the catch

of Atlantic mackerel exceeding the

annual ABC for the species. The fishing

mortality rate associated with the total

catch of Atlantic mackerel (ABC + C)

shall not exceed F0.1 (as determined by

the most recent stock assessment

conducted by the Northeast Fisheries

Science Center). ABC is the allowable

biological catch in U.S. waters for the

upcoming fishing year and C is defined

as the quantity of mackerel that is

expected to be caught in Canadian

waters. In addition, a spawning stock

size (S) of no less than 900,000 mt shall

be maintained at the end of the fishing

year for which catch estimates and

quotas are being prepared.

The qualification language for the

Illex moratorium in the preferred

alternative is: A vessel is eligible for a

moratorium permit in the Illex fishery if

it meets any of the following criteria: (1)

The vessel had five landings (including

at-sea joint venture transfers) of 5,000 lb

(2.27 mt) of Illex (i.e., landed five trips

of at least 5,000 lb (2.27 mt) between

August 13, 1981, and August 13, 1993,

(2) the vessel is replacing a vessel of

substantially similar harvesting capacity

that involuntarily left the Illex squid

fishery during the moratorium, and both

the entering and replaced vessels are

owned by the same person.

‘‘Substantially similar harvesting

capacity’’ means the same or less gross

registered tonnage (GRT) and vessel

registered length for commercial vessels,

or (3) vessels that are judged

unseaworthy by the U.S. Coast Guard

for reasons other than lack of

maintenance may be replaced by a

vessel with the same GRT and vessel

registered length for commercial vessels.

A vessel that does not qualify for an

Illex moratorium permit may land Illex

if: (1) The vessel possesses an incidental

catch permit, (2) the vessel fishes with

a net legal in the directed fishery, (3) the

vessel lands no more than 5,000 lb (2.27

mt) of Illex per trip, and (4) the operator

of the vessel files the appropriate trip

reports. The bycatch allowance may be

adjusted by the Director, Northeast

Region, NMFS, based on the

recommendation of the Council.

The public hearings will be tape

recorded with the tapes filed as the

official transcript of the hearings. The

hearings will be held at the following

locations.

1. May 20, 1996, 6 p.m.—Holiday Inn,

300 Woodbury Avenue, Portsmouth,

NH.

2. May 21, 1996, 4 p.m.—Holiday Inn

at the Crossings, 800 Greenwich

Avenue, Warwick, RI.

3. May 30, 1996, 6:30 p.m.—Cape May

extension Office, Dennisville Road,

Cape May, NJ.

4. June 3, 1996, 7:30 p.m.—Ramada

Inn, Exit 72 L.I.E. & Route 25,

Riverhead, NY.

5. June 3, 1996, 7 p.m.—North

Carolina State Aquarium, Airport Road,

Manteo, NC.

These hearings are physically

accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to David R. Keifer

(see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days prior to

the hearing dates.

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

Dated: May 14, 1996.

Richard H. Schaefer,

Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and

Management, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 96–12534 Filed 5–17–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F