26846 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 104 / Wednesday, May 29, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

1The notice of proposed rulemaking issued on

March 26, 1996 was designated as STB Ex Parte No.

346 (Sub-No. 8). In a notice served on May 2, 1996,

the docket number was changed to STB Ex Parte

No. 548.

BILLING CODE 1505–01–C

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

49 CFR Part 1039

[STB Ex Parte No. 548] 1

Exemption From Regulation—Boxcar

Traffic

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board,

DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation

Board (the Board) is eliminating an

obsolete provision of a regulation

pertaining to rates on nonferrous

recyclable commodities by broadening

the exemption for traffic moving in

boxcars.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 28, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Beryl Gordon, (202) 927–7513. [TDD for

the hearing impaired: (202) 927–5721.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ICC

Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. No.

104–88, 109 Stat. 803 (ICCTA) abolished

the Interstate Commerce Commission

(ICC) and established the Board. Section

204 of the ICCTA provides that ‘‘[t]he

Board shall promptly rescind all

regulations established by the [ICC] that

are based on provisions of law repealed

and not substantively reenacted by this

Act.’’ In Removal of Obsolete

Recyclables Regulations, 1 S.T.B. 7

(1996) (Obsolete Regulations), the Board

removed, inter alia, obsolete recyclable

regulations at 49 CFR 1134 and 49 CFR

1145, pertaining to discrimination

against recyclables and rates on

recyclables, because Congress repealed

former 49 U.S.C. 10710 and 10731, the

statutory bases for these regulations. We

stated that we would separately

consider the disposition of 49 CFR

1039.14(b)(5), which excludes rates on

nonferrous recyclable commodities from

the exemption of boxcar traffic from rate

regulation.

Consequently, on March 26, 1996, we

served a notice of proposed rulemaking

(NPR) in this proceeding, published at
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 104 / Wednesday, May 29, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 26847

61 FR 13146, proposing to remove 49

CFR 1039.14(b)(5) and to redesignate

paragraphs (6) and (7). The only

comment in response to the NPR was

filed by AAR. Noting the substantial

intermodal and intramodal competition

for nonferrous recyclables, as evidenced

by the decline in rail market share and

the fact that, from 1981 through 1994,

revenue per ton mile for nonferrous

recyclables fell 49 percent in constant

(inflation-adjusted) dollars, AAR

supports the proposal and asks that it be

adopted expeditiously.

We will grant the broader exemption

by removing the exclusion for

nonferrous recyclables from the boxcar

exemption. The ICC has already found

that an exemption from rate regulation

for transportation by boxcars was

warranted.

Now that the special statutory

provisions for recyclables traffic are

gone, there is no basis for excluding it

from the exemption. The current record,

moreover, warrants granting an

exemption.

We find that a broadened exemption

will meet the standards of new section

10502. Regulation is generally not

necessary to carry out the transportation

policy of new 49 U.S.C. 10101. See 49

U.S.C. 10101 (1), (2), (3), (5), and (9).

Furthermore, given the competitive

nature of transportation of nonferrous

recyclables, regulation is not necessary

to protect shippers from abuse of market

power.

The Board certifies that this rule will

not have a significant economic effect

on a substantial number of small

entities. This rule will reduce

regulation; it imposes no new reporting

or other requirements directly or

indirectly on small entities. While there

may be an impact on some small entities

because recyclables no longer will be

excepted from the boxcar exemption, it

appears that such an impact will not be

significant nor will it likely affect a

significant number of small entities.

This action will not significantly

affect either the quality of the human

environment or the conservation of

energy resources.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 1039

Agricultural commodities, Intermodal

transportation, Manufactured

commodities, Railroads.

Decided: May 15, 1996.

By the Board, Chairman Morgan, Vice

Chairman Simmons, and Commissioner

Owen.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble and under the authority of 49

U.S.C. 721(a), title 49, chapter X of the

Code of Federal Regulations is amended

as set forth below:

PART 1039—EXEMPTIONS

1. The authority citation for part 1039

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 553 and 49 U.S.C. 721

and 10502.

§ 1039.14 [Amended]

2. Section 1039.14 is amended by

removing paragraph (b)(5) and

redesignating paragraphs (b)(6) and

(b)(7) as paragraphs (b)(5) and (b)(6).

[FR Doc. 96–13278 Filed 5–28–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 651

[I.D. 052196A]

Northeast Multispecies Fishery;

Amendment 7; Resubmission of the

Measure for the Nonregulated Species

Permit Category

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request

for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

New England Fishery Management

Council (Council) has resubmitted a

previously disapproved proposal

contained in Amendment 7 to the

Northeast Multispecies Fishery

Management Plan (FMP) concerning the

Possession Limit category permit. The

Council revised the permit and

submitted it for Secretarial review. The

intended effect of this measure is to

allow fishing for nonregulated

multispecies (silver hake, red hake, and

ocean pout) in fisheries having minimal

bycatch of regulated multispecies.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before June 24, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Dr.

Andrew A. Rosenberg, Regional

Director, NMFS, Northeast Regional

Office, 1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester,

MA 01930–3799. Mark the outside of

the envelope ‘‘Comments on Possession

Limit Permit Category.’’

Copies of the original Amendment 7

and related documents are available

from the New England Fishery

Management Council, 5 Broadway (U.S.

Rte. 1), Saugus, MA, 01906–1097.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter W. Christopher, Fishery

Management Specialist, 508–281–9288.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Amendment 7 was prepared by the

Council and submitted to the Secretary

of Commerce (Secretary) for review

under section 304(b) of the Magnuson

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act (Magnuson Act). The Magnuson Act

requires the Secretary to approve,

disapprove, or partially disapprove

FMPs or amendments, based upon a

determination of consistency with

national standards and other applicable

laws. On February 14, 1996, the

Secretary announced disapproval of

three measures contained in

Amendment 7: The additional

allowance of days-at-sea (DAS) for trawl

vessels enrolled in the Individual DAS

category that use exclusively 8–inch

(20.32 cm) mesh, the 300–lb (136.1 kg)

possession allowance of regulated

species for vessels that use 8–inch

(20.32 cm) mesh in an exempted fishery,

and the establishment of a limited

access category for vessels that fished in

the Possession Limit open access

category under Amendment 5. The

remainder of Amendment 7 was

published as a proposed rule on March

5, 1996 (61 FR 8540), and the first two

of the three disapproved measures were

resubmitted by the Council. The

measure that would have allowed a

300–lb (136.1 kg) regulated species

possession limit for vessels fishing with

8–inch (20.32 cm) mesh in an exempted

fishery was again disapproved and the

measure that would give additional

multispecies DAS to all limited access

multispecies vessels fishing exclusively

with large mesh was published as a

proposed rule on April 18, 1996 (61 FR

16892). Amendment 7, with the

exception of the three measures, was

approved on May 16, 1996. The

resubmitted measure that would give

additional DAS to all groundfish vessels

fishing under the Large Mesh Individual

DAS category was approved on May 17,

1996, and has been added to the final

rule to implement Amendment 7.

Pursuant to section 304(b)(3)(A) of the

Magnuson Act, the Council has

resubmitted the third disapproved

measure. This proposed measure is

designed to allow fishing for

nonregulated multispecies by vessels

that do not qualify for a limited access

permit.

Regulations proposed by the Council

to implement the resubmitted measure

for Amendment 7 to the FMP are

scheduled to be published within 15

days.

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