24728 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 96 / Thursday, May 16, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

Service to make ‘‘expeditious progress’’

in adding new species to the lists and

thereby necessitates steady work in

reducing the number of outstanding

candidate species. Issuance of new

proposed listings is the first formal step

in the regulatory process for listing a

species. However, this step provides

only limited conservation benefits and

the Service believes that issuance of

new proposed listings, even for species

facing imminent, high-magnitude

threats, should therefore be afforded

lower priority so long as a large backlog

exists of proposed listings for species

facing high-magnitude threats.

The Service will conduct a

preliminary review of any petition to

list a species or change a threatened

species to endangered status to

determine if an emergency situation

exists or if the species would probably

be assigned a high listing priority upon

completion of a status review. If the

initial screening indicates an emergency

situation the action will be elevated to

Tier 1. The historical record on listing

petitions reveals that fewer than 25

percent of all petitions are found to

warrant listing.

Processing reclassifications and

delistings can provide welcome

regulatory relief. The Service regrets

that such activities must be accorded

Tier 3 priority due to the limited

appropriations provided by Congress

and the need to devote scarce funds to

carry out the overall protective purposes

of the Act.

Designation of critical habitat

consumes large amounts of the Service’s

listing appropriation and generally

provides only limited conservation

benefits beyond those achieved when a

species is listed as endangered or

threatened. Because critical habitat

protections apply only to Federal

actions, situations where designating

critical habitat provides additional

protection beyond that provided by the

jeopardy prohibition of section 7 are

rare. It is critical during this period to

maximize the conservation benefit of

every dollar spent in the listing activity.

The relatively small amount of

additional protection that is gained by

designating critical habitat for species

that are already listed is greatly

outweighed by providing the

protections included in sections 7 and

9 to newly-listed species. Therefore, the

Service will place higher priority on

addressing species that presently have

no protection under the Act rather than

devoting limited resources to the

expensive process of designating critical

habitat for species already protected by

the Act.

Rules and Findings Currently Near

Completion

The Headquarters Office will

promptly process any draft final rules to

add species to or remove species from

the lists, draft proposed listings or

delistings, draft petition findings, draft

proposed or final critical habitat

determinations, and draft withdrawal

notices that were in the Washington

Office prior to the date of this notice but

could not be processed because of the

funding constraints or the moratorium.

These actions will require little

additional work to complete and the

Service believes it to be cost-effective to

finish up these actions that were

inadvertently delayed by the funding

constraints. The anticipated number of

such actions is fewer than ten.

Notifying the Courts on Matters in

Litigation

The Service will assess the relative

priority of all section 4 petition and

rule-making activities that are the

subject of active litigation using this

guidance and the 1983 listing priority

guidelines. In many cases, simply

identifying the tier in which an activity

falls will suffice to determine whether

the Service will undertake that action

during the time this priority guidance is

in effect. The Service, through the Office

of the Solicitor, will then notify the

Justice Department of its priority

determination and request that

appropriate relief be requested from

each district court to allow those species

with the highest biological priority to be

addressed first. To the extent that the

courts do not defer to the Service’s

priority guidance and the 1983 listing

priority guidelines, the Service will of

course comply with court orders despite

any conservation disruption that may

result.

The Service will not elevate the

priority of proposed listings for species

simply because they are subjects of

active litigation. To do so would let

litigants, rather than expert biological

judgments, control the setting of listing

priorities. The Regional Office with

responsibility for processing such

packages will need to determine the

relative priority of such cases based

upon this guidance and the 1983 listing

priority guidelines and furnish

supporting documentation that can be

submitted to the relevant Court to

indicate where such species fall in the

overall priority scheme.

Authority

The authority for this notice is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

Dated: May 10, 1996.

Mollie Beattie,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 96–12243 Filed 5–15–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 658

[I.D. 050896B]

Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico;

Texas Closure

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Adjustment of the beginning

date of the Texas closure.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces an

adjustment of the beginning date of the

annual closure of the shrimp fishery in

the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off

Texas. The closure is normally from

May 15 to July 15 each year. This year

the closure will begin on June 1, 1996.

The Texas closure is intended to

prohibit the harvest of brown shrimp

during the major period of emigration

from Texas estuaries to the Gulf of

Mexico so the shrimp may reach a

larger, more valuable size and to prevent

the waste of brown shrimp that would

be discarded in fishing operations

because of their small size.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The EEZ off Texas is

closed to trawl fishing from 30 minutes

after sunset, June 1, 1996, to 30 minutes

after sunset, July 15, 1996, unless the

latter date is changed through

notification in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael E. Justen, 813–570–5305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf

of Mexico shrimp fishery is managed

under the Fishery Management Plan for

the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of

Mexico (FMP). The FMP was prepared

by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery

Management Council and is

implemented by regulations at 50 CFR

part 658 under the authority of the

Magnuson Fishery Conservation and

Management Act. The FMP

implementing regulations at 50 CFR

658.26 describe the Texas closure and

provide for adjustments to the beginning

and ending dates by the Director,

Southeast Region, NMFS, under

specified criteria.

Biological data collected by the Texas

Parks and Wildlife Department indicate
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 96 / Thursday, May 16, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 24729

that brown shrimp will be leaving the

Texas estuaries later than normal. This

information and other data meeting the

FMP’s criteria indicate that beginning

the closure on June 1, 1996, is necessary

to provide adequate protection of small

brown shrimp emigrating from the

Texas estuaries.

Accordingly, the time and date as

provided at 50 CFR 658.26(a) for

beginning the Texas closure is changed

from 30 minutes after sunset May 15,

1996, to 30 minutes after sunset on June

1, 1996. During the closure, the area

described at 50 CFR 658.26(a) is closed

to all trawl fishing, except that a vessel

may trawl for royal red shrimp beyond

the 100–fathom (183–m) depth contour.

The waters of Texas will also be closed

commencing at 30 minutes after sunset

on June 1, 1996.

The termination date of the Texas

closure may be adjusted to conform to

the termination date of the closure in

the waters of Texas. If adjusted,

notification of the revised termination

date will be published in the Federal

Register.

Classification

This action is authorized by 50 CFR

658.26(b) and is exempt from review

under E.O. 12866.

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

Dated: May 10, 1996.

Richard H. Schaefer,

Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and

Management, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 96–12346 Filed 5–15–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

50 CFR Part 672

[Docket No. 950727194–6118–03; I.D.

062795C]

Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska;

Recordkeeping and Reporting

Requirements; General Limitations

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration,

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule; technical

amendment.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a technical

amendment to the final rule

implementing regulations for

recordkeeping and reporting under the

authority of the Fishery Management

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of

Alaska (GOA) and the Fishery

Management Plan for the Groundfish

Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian

Islands Area (BSAI). This action corrects

the definition for ‘‘fishing trip.’’

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 16, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patsy A. Bearden, 907–586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final

rule implementing recordkeeping and

reporting requirements for the GOA and

BSAI was published in the Federal

Register on February 13, 1996 (61 FR

5608). The rule consolidated and

revised recordkeeping and reporting

requirements for the GOA and BSAI

groundfish fisheries, including revisions

to various definitions for the term,

‘‘fishing trip.’’ Several very similar

definitions for the term had existed

previously and were to be reconciled

and consolidated into one definition for

the term in the final rule. The definition

for ‘‘fishing trip’’ used to calculate

maximum retainable bycatch amounts

and retention of pollock roe in the GOA

were found at § 672.20(h)(2) and (i)(4).

Similar but slightly different definitions

for this term as it applied to the BSAI

also were found at § 675.20(i)(2) and

(j)(4). Inadvertently, the reconciled

definition in the final rule did not

include some of the language of the

original definitions.

The final rule implementing the

recordkeeping and reporting

requirements specified that an operator

of a vessel is engaged in a fishing trip

from the time the harvesting, receiving,

or processing is begun or resumed until

the transfer or offloading of all

groundfish product, the vessel leaves

the area where fishing activity

commenced, or the end of a weekly

reporting period, whichever occurs first.

NMFS is amending the regulation to

correct that definition to specify that a

single fishing trip in an area continues

until the offload or transfer of all

groundfish or groundfish product, the

vessel enters or leaves an area to which

a directed fishing prohibition applies, or

the end of a weekly reporting period,

whichever occurs first. This change is

based on language from earlier

definitions and is designed to add

additional precision and clarity

concerning when a fishing trip begins

and ends.

Classification

Because this technical amendment

makes only minor, non-substantive

corrections to an existing rule, notice

and public procedure thereon and a

delay in effective date would serve no

purpose. Accordingly, under 5 U.S.C.

553(b)(B) and (d), notice and public

procedure thereon and a delay in

effective date are unnecessary.

Because this rule is being issued

without prior comment, it is not subject

to the Regulatory Flexibility Act

requirement for a regulatory flexibility

analysis and none has been prepared.

This rule makes minor technical

changes to a rule that has been

determined to be not significant under

E.O. 12866. No changes in the

regulatory impact previously reviewed

and analyzed will result from

implementation of this technical

amendment.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 672

Fisheries, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements

Dated: May 9, 1996.

Gary Matlock,

Program Management Officer, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

For reasons set out in the preamble 50

CFR part 672 is amended to read as

follows:

PART 672—GROUNDFISH OF THE

GULF OF ALASKA

1. The authority citation for part 672

continues to read as follows:

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

2. In § 672.20, paragraph (h)(2) is

revised to read as follows:

§ 672.20 General limitations.

* * * * *

(h) * * *

(2) Fishing trip. For purposes of this

section, an operator of a vessel is

engaged in a single fishing trip in an

area from the time the harvesting,

receiving, or processing of groundfish is

begun or resumed until:

(i) The offload or transfer of all

groundfish or groundfish product from

that vessel;

(ii) The vessel enters or leaves an area

to which a directed fishing prohibition

applies; or

(iii) The end of a weekly reporting

period, whichever comes first.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 96–12240 Filed 5–15–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

50 CFR Part 672

[Docket No. 960129018–6018–01; I.D.

051096D]

Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska;

Shallow-Water Species Fishery by

Vessels Using Trawl Gear in the Gulf

of Alaska

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Closure.