30214 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 116 / Friday, June 14, 1996 / Proposed Rules

Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1501.6).

For information on the availability of

that document, please refer to the

appropriate notice elsewhere in this

issue of the Federal Register.

Information Solicited

NMFS requests interested persons to

submit comments, information, and

suggestions concerning the request and

the structure and content of regulations

to allow the taking. NMFS will consider

this information in determining the

appropriate action to take in response to

this request. If NMFS proposes

regulations to allow this take, a rule will

be published in the Federal Register

and interested parties will be given

ample time and opportunity to

comment.

Dated: June 7, 1996.

Patricia A. Montanio,

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 96–14935 Filed 6–13–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

50 CFR Part 285

[I.D. 112995B]

Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory

Committee on Tuna Management in the

Mid-Atlantic

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration,

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent; update.

SUMMARY: In February 1996, NMFS

announced that Commerce was

considering establishing a new advisory

committee under the Federal Advisory

Committee Act (FACA) to negotiate

certain issues between commercial and

recreational fishermen competing for

tuna off the Mid-Atlantic coast. NMFS

has decided to schedule a public

meeting for early fall 1996 to brief

interested parties on the negotiated

rulemaking process and obtain their

views as to immediate steps for action

that would permit resolution prior to

next year’s fishing season.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

submitted to the Highly Migratory

Species Division, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD

20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Murray-Brown, 301-713-2347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

February 1, 1996, NMFS announced that

Commerce was considering establishing

a new advisory committee under FACA

to negotiate issues leading to a proposed

rule resolving the gear conflict between

recreational and commercial fishermen

competing for tuna off the Mid-Atlantic

coast (61 FR 3666, February 1, 1996).

The decision to use a negotiated

rulemaking process—in accordance

with the Presidential Directive of March

4, 1995, the report of the National

Performance Review, and EO 12866—

came in response to the National

Fishing Association’s petition to employ

such a procedure in connection with the

tuna dispute. The goal is to produce

better regulations, use parties’ time and

resources more wisely, and reduce

litigation, controversy, and uncertainty.

The announcement described generally

how an advisory committee would be

established, participants selected, and

requests for representation narrowed. It

also set forth a list of possible interests

and participants and sought comment

on the tentative pool of representatives.

Finally, the document set forth a

tentative schedule, indicating NMFS’

plans to hold meetings of the advisory

committee at 2-week intervals starting

in March 1996. This document

supplements the February

announcement, and is intended to

provide an update. While NMFS had

hoped to start, and finish, the negotiated

rulemaking process before the 1996

fishery, this has not been possible.

Following the announcement, NMFS

contracted with two dispute resolution

professionals, Philip J. Harter and

Charles Pou of Washington, DC, for

advice on establishment of the advisory

committee and to facilitate and mediate

the negotiations. The contractors have

begun to contact representatives of

groups that responded to NMFS’s

announcement and will be speaking to

all of these persons in the near future.

The initial contacts indicate that most

fishermen are now concentrating on

preparing for the summer tuna fishery

and, hence, it would be more

convenient to postpone any negotiations

until near the end of the 1996 season.

The contractors have therefore

recommended that NMFS hold a public

briefing on the negotiated rulemaking

process in early fall 1996 and select

advisory committee members and

commence negotiations soon after the

public briefing. NMFS agrees with, and

will implement, these

recommendations.

The fall 1996 session will bring

together representatives of as many

affected interests as possible, as well as

any others who want to attend, for a

briefing on the negotiated rulemaking

process; an opportunity for interested

persons to offer views and discuss

specific potential issues that should be

addressed in such a process; and a

chance to consider immediate steps for

action that would permit resolution

prior to commencement of next year’s

fishing season.

NMFS will work with the contractors

over the summer to clarify issues and

develop an agenda for the fall briefing,

and welcomes input on these matters

from interested persons. In addition, the

discussion at the fall session, and

subsequent negotiations, will be

improved substantially if parties collect

relevant data and other useful

information over the summer, to permit

these talks to proceed on the basis of

fact. For this reason, NMFS encourages

all parties to use the summer to identify

and collect information that

substantiates or illuminates their claims

and concerns.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.

Dated: June 7, 1996.

Richard H. Schaefer,

Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and

Management, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 96–15166 Filed 6–13–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F