Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 15, 1996 / Proposed Rules 24475

electronic notice has been provided to

all persons who, within the previous 12

months:

(1) Have requested under section

15701(b) the affected rates or service

terms; or

(2) Have made a shipment that was

subject to the affected rates or terms; or

(3) Have made arrangements with the

carrier for a future shipment that would

be subject to the affected rates or terms.

(b) The notice required by this section

may be in writing or in electronic form,

as agreed to by the parties.

(c) For purposes of this section, a

mailed notice is deemed ‘‘provided’’ on

the date such notice is postmarked.

(d) The notice required by this section

must clearly identify the increase in

rates or charges or the change in service

terms.

[FR Doc. 96–12277 Filed 5–14–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Parts 672, 675, and 676

[Docket No. 960501122–6122–01; I.D.

042596A]

RIN 0648–AI46

Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska;

Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea

and Aleutian Islands Area; Limited

Access Management of Federal

Fisheries Off of Alaska; Addition of the

City of Akutan To the List of

Communities Eligible to Participate in

the Community Development Quota

Programs (CDQ)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to add the

city of Akutan to the list of western

Alaska communities that are eligible to

participate in the CDQ programs, to

remove the authority to use scales to

weigh total catch in the pollock CDQ

fishery, and to prohibit processor

vessels from filling fish holding bins

above the level of the viewing port.

These actions are necessary to further

the objectives of the CDQ programs.

DATES: Comments must be received at

the following address by June 13, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to

Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries

Management Division, Alaska Region,

NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK

99802–1668; Attn: Lori Gravel. The

Environmental Assessment/Regulatory

Impact Review/Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) may

be obtained from the same address or by

calling 907–586–7228.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Ham, 907–586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The domestic groundfish fisheries in

the exclusive economic zone of the Gulf

of Alaska and the Bering Sea and

Aleutian Islands management area

(BSAI) are managed by NMFS in

accordance with the Fishery

Management Plan for Groundfish of the

Gulf of Alaska and the Fishery

Management Plan for the Groundfish

Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian

Island Area (BSAI FMP). The FMPs

were prepared by the Council and

approved by NMFS under the

Magnuson Fishery Conservation and

Management Act (Magnuson Act). The

FMPs are implemented by regulations

that appear at 50 CFR parts 672, 675,

and 676. General regulations that also

govern the groundfish fisheries appear

at 50 CFR part 620.

Beginning with the 1995 fishing

season, the Pacific halibut and sablefish

fixed gear fisheries have been managed

under the Individual Fishing Quota

(IFQ) program. The IFQ program is a

regulatory regime designed to promote

the conservation and management of

these fisheries and to further the

objectives of the Magnuson Act and the

Northern Pacific Halibut Act. Further

information on the implementation of

the IFQ program, and the rationale

supporting it, are contained in the

preamble to the final rule implementing

the IFQ Program published in the

Federal Register, November 9, 1993 (58

FR 59375), and revised in subsequent

amendments to the program published

in the Federal Register.

Information on the halibut and

sablefish (H/S) CDQ program, and the

rationale supporting it, are contained in

the preamble to the proposed rule to

implement the program that was

published in the Federal Register on

December 3, 1992 (57 FR 57130).

The pollock CDQ program originally

was developed by the Council and

submitted as part of Amendment 18 to

the BSAI FMP. Amendment 18 was

approved in part by NMFS (57 FR

23321, June 3, 1992). Initial Federal

regulations implementing the pollock

CDQ program became effective on

November 18, 1992 (57 FR 54936,

November 23, 1992), and expired on

December 31, 1995. The Council

proposed re-authorizing the pollock

CDQ program for an additional 3 years

as part of Amendment 38 to the FMP,

and NMFS approved this amendment

on November 28, 1995. Regulations

implementing the pollock CDQ program

for 1996, 1997, and 1998, were

published on December 12, 1995 (60 FR

63654), and corrected on January 2,

1996 (61 FR 20).

The pollock and H/S CDQ programs

apportion designated percentages of the

annual total allowable catch for pollock,

Pacific halibut, and fixed gear sablefish

to a CDQ reserve that may be allocated

to eligible western Alaska communities.

The purpose of the CDQ program is to

provide the CDQ communities with a

means for starting or supporting

commercial seafood activities that will

result in ongoing, regionally based,

commercial seafood or related

businesses.

CDQ Eligibility for Akutan

The pollock CDQ regulations and the

H/S CDQ regulations (§ 675.27(d)(2) and

§ 676.24(f)(2), respectively), list four

criteria for determining the eligibility of

western Alaska communities to

participate in the CDQ programs. In

1992, NMFS determined that the city of

Akutan met the first three criteria but

did not meet the fourth criterion. The

fourth criterion states that: ‘‘the

community must not have previously

developed harvesting or processing

capability sufficient to support

substantial groundfish fisheries

participation in the BSAI, except if the

community can show that benefits from

an approved community development

plan (CDP) would be the only way to

realize a return from previous

investments.’’

Akutan was excluded from CDQ

participation because a large groundfish

processing plant—the Trident plant—

was located within Akutan’s city limits.

Despite the presence of this

processing plant, the city of Akutan

apparently gains little benefit. The

Council, at its September 1995, meeting,

recommended to NMFS that Akutan be

added to the list of CDQ-eligible

communities. The Council took this

action because the Aleutian Pribilof

Island Community Development

Association, a CDQ group, put forward

evidence showing that Akutan should

not be denied CDQ eligibility because of

the fourth criterion. The evidence

showed that the residents of Akutan

have little economic interaction with

the Trident processing plant in Akutan

due to the nature of the processing

plant’s operations. The processing plant

physically is detached from the city of
24476 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 15, 1996 / Proposed Rules

Akutan, and the plant uses its own

catcher vessels to supply the plant with

raw fish product. The processing plant

was built to support the large capacity,

heavily capitalized fleet. The plant

cannot usually accept deliveries from

the community’s small skiff fleet

because of the relatively small volume

of groundfish produced by that fleet,

and little or no local market exists for

the local skiff fleet’s fish. Hence, the city

of Akutan does not have access to

groundfish processing facilities that

would support substantial groundfish

fisheries participation in the BSAI.

In addition to a lack of groundfish

processing capability, the city of Akutan

has not developed harvesting capability.

Vessels in the local skiff fleet are too

small and unsafe to participate

effectively and no small boat harbor is

available for moorage. Allowing Akutan

to participate in the CDQ programs

could provide a basis for the community

to develop the groundfish harvesting

fleet and a boat harbor that would

enable the community to make

deliveries to the existing Trident

groundfish processing plant or to

develop alternative groundfish

processing facilities.

Weighing Total Catch in the Pollock

CDQ Fishery

Processor vessels in the pollock CDQ

fishery are required to either provide

measured, marked, and certified fish

holding bins for volumetric estimates of

catch weight or to provide scales to

weigh total catch. This requirement at

§ 675.27(h)(2)(ii)(A) and (B) was

published on May 16, 1994 (59 FR

25346), and effective August 15, 1994.

NMFS proposes to terminate the option

to use scales to weigh catch until NMFS

issues regulations specifying a

procedure to assure that accurate

weights are obtained from the scales.

Under the current regulations, any

scale used on a processor vessel to

weigh groundfish harvested in the CDQ

fisheries must measure catch weights to

at least 95-percent accuracy. However,

evaluation of two different models of

flow scales during the 1995 pollock

CDQ fishery and open access pollock

non-roe season indicates that, although

these scales are capable of weighing

with a high degree of accuracy,

consistently accurate weighing has not

yet been achieved. Observers performed

a series of scale tests by weighing

approximately 800 kilograms of fish,

first on a motion compensated platform

scale (to establish the ‘‘known weight’’

of the fish) and then again on the flow

scale. The accuracy of the scale, as

measured by the difference between

these two weights, varied between 0

percent and 97 percent in individual

tests. This level of variability in scale

performance would not be acceptable

under the current CDQ regulations or

any regulations anticipated for the BSAI

pollock fishery. NMFS believes that

requiring that the scale perform to a

certain level of accuracy is not adequate

to assure accurate weights. NMFS

intends to implement a scale testing and

certification program that would require

a processor vessel to demonstrate that

the scale was weighing accurately before

the vessel would be allowed to process

fish. An advance notice of proposed

rulemaking, which outlines NMFS’s

proposed scale testing and certification

program, was published in the Federal

Register on February 20, 1996 (61 FR

6337). Once the scale testing and

certification program is implemented,

the use of scales to weigh total catch in

the pollock CDQ fisheries may be

allowed. Until such regulations are

implemented, § 675.27(h)(2)(ii)(B)

would be removed.

Prohibiting Vessels From Overfilling

Bins

NMFS has become aware that the

operators of some processor vessels in

the pollock CDQ fishery have been

filling fish holding bins above the level

of the viewing port. When this happens,

the NMFS-certified observer is not able

to see the marked increments on the

inside of the bins and to estimate total

catch. Therefore, NMFS proposes to

amend the pollock CDQ regulations at

§ 675.27(h)(2)(ii) to prohibit such

activity.

Classification

This proposed rule has been

determined to be not significant for

purposes of E.O. 12866.

NMFS prepared an initial regulatory

flexibility analysis as part of the

regulatory impact review. The analysis

describes the impact this proposed rule

would have on small entities if it is

adopted. The addition of Akutan to the

list of eligible CDQ communities would

affect a substantial number of small

entities, that is, the other 5 communities

currently participating in the CDQ

program. Akutan would be expected to

receive some CDQ support, and support

would be reduced for one or more of the

other communities accordingly. While it

is possible that Akutan would receive

only a very small allocation and the

resulting reallocations would not have a

significant impact, it is more likely that

the reallocations would reduce the gross

revenues of the other 5 communities by

more than 5 percent, thus having a

significant economic impact on these

entities. It would be speculative to try

to predict specific allocations or

impacts. The economic impact on other

communities is not a factor to be

considered in determining whether a

particular community is eligible under

the CDQ program. Accordingly, there

are no practical alternatives that would

be available or that could be considered

to reduce or minimize the economic

impact on other communities if Akutan

is added to the list of CDQ communities.

Other aspects of this proposed rule are

not expected to have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities.

There are no reporting and

recordkeeping requirements other than

those already discussed in the

Paperwork Reduction Act material that

has been submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget for approval.

There are no Federal rules that

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this

proposed rule.

There are no significant alternatives to

the proposed action that would

accomplish the stated objectives.

A copy of the EA/RIR/IRFA analysis

is available from NMFS (see

ADDRESSES).

List of Subjects

50 CFR Parts 672 and 675

Fisheries; Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

50 CFR Part 676

Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: May 8, 1996.

Gary Matlock,

Program Management Officer, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

For reasons set out in the preamble,

50 CFR Parts 672, 675, and 676 are

proposed to be amended 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. Table 7 to 50 CFR part 672, is

amended by removing the statement in

brackets that follows the table heading

and by revising the heading of the Table

and the entries under ‘‘Aleutian Region’’

to read as follows:

Table 7 to Part 672—Communities

Determined To Be Eligible To Apply for

Community Development Quotas (Other

Communities That Do Not Appear on

This Table May Also Be Eligible)

Aleutian Region:

1. Atka

2. Akutan
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 15, 1996 / Proposed Rules 24477

3. False Pass

4. Nelson Lagoon

5. Nikolski

6. St. George

7. St. Paul

* * * * *

PART 675—GROUNDFISH OF THE

BERING SEA AND ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

AREA

3. The authority citation for part 675

continues to read as follows:

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

4. In § 675.27, the last sentence of

paragraph (d)(2)(iv) and paragraph

(h)(2)(ii) introductory text are revised,

paragraph (h)(2)(ii)(A) heading and

paragraph (h)(2)(ii)(B) are removed, and

paragraphs (h)(2)(ii)(A)(1) through

(h)(2)(ii)(A)(5) are redesignated as

paragraphs (h)(2)(ii)(A) through

(h)(2)(ii)(E), respectively, and paragraph

(h)(2)(ii)(F) is added to read as follows:

§ 675.27 Western Alaska Community

Development Quota Program.

(applicable through December 31, 1998)

* * * * *

(d) * * *

(2) * * *

(iv) * * * The community of

Unalaska is excluded under this

provision.

* * * * *

(h) * * *

(2) * * *

(ii) Each processor vessel

participating in the CDQ fishery for

pollock must estimate the total weight

of its groundfish catch by the volumetric

procedures specified in this paragraph.

* * * * *

(F) Fish must not be loaded into a bin

used for volumetric measurements

above the level of the viewing port in

the bin.

PART 676—LIMITED ACCESS

MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL

FISHERIES IN AND OFF OF ALASKA

5. The authority citation for part 676

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq. and 1801

et seq.

6. In § 676.24, the last sentence of

paragraph (f)(2)(iv) is revised to read as

follows:

§ 676.24 Western Alaska community

Development Quota Program.

* * * * *

(f) * * *

(2) * * *

(iv) * * * The community of

Unalaska is excluded under this

provision;

* * * * *

7. Table 1 to § 676.24, is amended by

revising the heading of the Table and

the entries under ‘‘Aleutian Region’’ to

read as follows:

Table 1 to § 676.24—Communities

Determined To Be Eligible To Apply for

Community Development Quotas (Other

Communities That Do Not Appear on

This Table May Also Be Eligible)

Aleutian Region:

1. Atka

2. Akutan

3. False Pass

4. Nelson Lagoon

5. Nikolski

6. St. George

7. St. Paul

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 96–12073 Filed 5–14–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–W