Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 117 / Monday, June 17, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 30543

and to mitigate or prevent the discharge,

or the substantial threat of such a

discharge; and

(6) Is submitted, and resubmitted in

the event of any significant change, to

the Federal Railroad Administrator (for

tank cars), or to the Federal Highway

Administrator (for cargo tanks) at 400

Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC

20590–0001.

(Approved by the Office of Management and

Budget under control number 2137–0591)

§ 130.33 Response plan implementation.

If, during transportation of oil subject

to this part, a discharge occurs— into or

on the navigable waters of the United

States; on the adjoining shorelines to the

navigable waters; or that may affect

natural resources belonging to,

appertaining to, or under the exclusive

management authority of, the United

States—the person transporting the oil

shall implement the plan required by

§ 130.31, in a manner consistent with

the National Contingency Plan, 40 CFR

part 300, or as otherwise directed by the

Federal on-scene coordinator.

Issued in Washington, DC on June 3, 1996,

under authority delegated in 49 CFR part 1.

D.K. Sharma,

Administrator, Research and Special

Programs Administration .

[FR Doc. 96–14611 Filed 6–14–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Chapter VI

[Docket No. 960606161–6161–01; I.D.

051796E]

RIN 0648–XX63

Limit on Fishery Management Plan

Development; Public Law 104–134;

Interpretation

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Interpretation.

SUMMARY: NMFS is issuing this

document to provide its interpretation

of the limitations placed on the use of

appropriated funds by the Department

of Commerce and Related Agencies

Appropriations Act of 1996 (Act) for

fiscal year 1996. The Act states that no

appropriated funds may be used to

develop or implement new fishery

management plans (FMPs), FMP

amendments, or regulations that create

new individual fishing quota (IFQ),

individual transferable quota (ITQ), or

new individual transferable effort

allocation programs, until offsetting fees

to fund such programs are authorized

under the Magnuson Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson Act). The purpose of this

interpretation is to provide guidance to

the regional fishery management

councils and the public on the programs

for which funds may not be expended

through the end of the fiscal year.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 17, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Margaret F. Hayes, Assistant General

Counsel for Fisheries, 301–713–2231.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The President signed the Act (Public

Law 104–134) on April 26, 1996. The

Act provides funds for the Department

of Commerce through September 30,

1996. Section 210 of the Act states the

following:

None of the funds appropriated under this

Act or any other Act may be used to develop

new fishery management plans, amendments

or regulations which create new individual

fishing quota, individual transferable quota,

or new individual transferable effort

allocation programs, or to implement any

such plans, amendments or regulations

approved by a Regional Fishery Management

Council or the Secretary of Commerce after

January 4, 1995, until offsetting fees to pay

for the cost of administering such plans,

amendments or regulations are expressly

authorized under the Magnuson Fishery

Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C.

1801 et seq.). This restriction shall not apply

in any way to any such programs approved

by the Secretary of Commerce prior to

January 4, 1995.

This provision is intertwined with

bills currently pending in both Houses

of Congress to reauthorize and amend

the Magnuson Act. The House-passed

bill, H.R. 39, would establish fees to be

used to administer individual quota

systems. The term ‘‘individual quota’’ is

defined in section 16(b) of the House

bill as ‘‘a grant of permission to harvest

or process a quantity of fish in a fishery,

during each fishing season for which the

permission is granted, equal to a stated

percentage of the total allowable catch

for the fishery.’’

The Senate bill, S. 39, which has not

yet passed the Senate, also would

establish fees to fund an IFQ program.

The bill (section 103) defines

‘‘individual fishing quota’’ to mean ‘‘a

revocable Federal permit under a

limited access system to harvest a

quantity of fish that is expressed by a

unit or units representing a percentage

of the allowable catch of a fishery that

may be received or held for exclusive

use by a person.’’

Congress’ intent in section 210 of the

Act apparently was to halt the

development and implementation of

any individual quota system—whether

the quotas are transferable or not—

pending passage of a law amending the

Magnuson Act to establish fees to

finance such systems. The Senate added

the term ‘‘new individual transferable

effort allocation program,’’ to section

210 of the Act although that sort of

effort control is not mentioned in either

bill to amend the Magnuson Act.

Interpretation

NMFS interprets the term ‘‘individual

fishing quota’’ as it is defined in S. 39.

That definition is functionally similar to

the definition of ‘‘individual quota’’ in

H.R. 39. NMFS believes ‘‘individual

transferable quota’’ is the same as an

IFQ, with the additional aspect of

transferability of quota among those

eligible to hold ITQs. Neither term

encompasses ‘‘community development

quotas,’’ allocations to western Alaska

communities that are treated separately

in both bills.

NMFS interprets ‘‘individual

transferable effort allocation program’’

to mean systems allowing fishermen to

transfer among themselves or

consolidate units of effort, such as days

at sea (DAS) or number of traps.

Proposals for such programs have been

discussed by the New England Fishery

Management Council for the Atlantic

sea scallop and American lobster

fisheries.

Programs Affected

Because they are funded through

Federal appropriations, the regional

fishery management councils must

suspend work until the end of the fiscal

year on portions of FMPs, amendments,

or regulations that relate to new IFQs,

ITQs, or individual transferable effort

allocation programs. NMFS has notified

each council of pending proposals it

believes are within the scope of this

restriction, as follows:

North Pacific Council: (1) IFQs for the

Alaska pollock fishery, whereby a vessel

owner would be allocated annually a

certain percentage of the pollock total

allowable catch. (2) Vessel bycatch

accounts, allocations of an allowable

take of prohibited species bycatch to an

individual vessel owner or to groups of

vessel owners.

Pacific Council: Cumulative trip

limits in the non-trawl sablefish fishery,

whereby an allowable catch would be

divided among a fixed number of permit

holders, based either on historic harvest

of the vessel or on an equal allocation
30544 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 117 / Monday, June 17, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

among all vessels. The cumulative trip

limit is the equivalent of a percentage

share the vessel owner is entitled to

harvest.

Gulf Council: Red snapper ITQ

amendment. While the amendment was

approved and final regulations

published in 1995, the ITQ system has

not yet been implemented. Section 210

prohibits any work on implementing the

system until the end of this fiscal year.

Mid-Atlantic Council: An ITQ system

for mahogany quahogs. Although this

provision is a modification of an

approved ITQ system under

Amendment 8 to the Surf Clam and

Ocean Quahog FMP, its characteristics

(e.g., the unit of allocation and the

period of landings on which it is

calculated) differ so substantively that it

must be viewed as a new ITQ system.

New England Council: Aspects of

proposed Amendment 6 to the Atlantic

Sea Scallop FMP relating to

transferability or consolidation of DAS,

and proposed Amendment 5 to the

American Lobster FMP relating to

transferable quotas and traps.

Classification

This final rule is issued under the

Magnuson Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

In that this rule merely interprets a

provision of Public Law 104–134

without creating any new rights or

duties, it is not subject to the

requirement to provide prior notice and

opportunity for public comment under

5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A). Similarly, as an

interpretive rule, it is not subject to a

30-day delay in effective date pursuant

to authority set forth at 5 U.S.C.

553(d)(2).

This rule has been determined to be

not significant for the purposes of E.O.

12866.

Dated: June 11, 1996.

Gary Matlock,

Program Management Officer, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 96–15323 Filed 6–14–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

50 CFR Part 675

[Docket No. 960129019–6019–01; I.D.

061096A]

Groundfish of the Bering Sea and

Aleutian Islands Area; Pacific Cod by

Vessels Using Trawl Gear

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Modification of a closure.

SUMMARY: NMFS is opening directed

fishing for the Pacific cod fishery by

vessels using trawl gear in the Bering

Sea and Aleutian Islands management

area (BSAI). This action is necessary to

fully utilize the first seasonal bycatch

allowance of Pacific halibut apportioned

to the trawl Pacific cod fishery category

in the BSAI.

EFFECTIVE DATE: 12 noon, Alaska local

time (A.l.t.), June 14, 1996, until 12

noon, A.l.t., October 25, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Andrew N. Smoker, 907–586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

groundfish fishery in the BSAI exclusive

economic zone is managed by NMFS

according to the Fishery Management

Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area

(FMP) prepared by the North Pacific

Fishery Management Council under

authority of the Magnuson Fishery

Conservation and Management Act.

Fishing by U.S. vessels is governed by

regulations implementing the FMP at 50

CFR parts 620 and 675.

Directed fishing for Pacific cod by

vessels using trawl gear in the BSAI was

prohibited on May 14, 1996, (61 FR

24730, May 16, 1996) to prevent

exceeding the first seasonal bycatch

allowance of Pacific halibut apportioned

to that fishery.

The Director, Alaska Region, NMFS,

has determined that as of May 25, 1996,

89 metric tons of halibut mortality

remain in the first seasonal bycatch

allowance. Therefore, NMFS is

terminating the previous closure and is

opening directed fishing for Pacific cod

by vessels using trawl gear in the BSAI.

All other closures remain in full force

and effect.

Classification

This action is taken under 50 CFR

675.20 and is exempt from review under

E.O. 12866.

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

Dated: June 11, 1996.

Richard H. Schaefer,

Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and

Management, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 96–15257 Filed 6–12–96; 10:44 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F