Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 150 / Monday, August 4, 2008 / Proposed Rules 45201 

§ 594.8 Fee for importing a vehicle 

pursuant to a determination by the 

Administrator. 

* * * * * 

(b) If a determination has been made 

pursuant to a petition, the fee for each 

vehicle is $198. The direct and indirect 

costs that determine the fee are those set 

forth in §§ 594.7(b), (c), and (d). 

(c) If a determination has been made 

on or after October 1, 2008, pursuant to 

the Administrator’s initiative, the fee for 

each vehicle is $125. * * * 

5. Section 594.9 is amended by 

revising paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 594.9 Fee for reimbursement of bond 

processing costs. 

* * * * * 

(c) The bond processing fee for each 

vehicle imported on and after October 1, 

2008, for which a certificate of 

conformity is furnished, is $10.23. 

5. Section 594.10 is amended by 

revising paragraph (d) to read as 

follows: 

§ 594.10 Fee for review and processing of 

conformity certificate. 

* * * * * 

(d) The review and processing fee for 

each certificate of conformity submitted 

on and after October 1, 2008 is $14. 

However, if the vehicle covered by the 

certificate has been entered 

electronically with the U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security through the 

Automated Broker Interface and the 

registered importer submitting the 

certificate has an e-mail address, the fee 

for the certificate is $6, provided that 

the fee is paid by a credit card issued 

to the registered importer. If NHTSA 

finds that the information in the entry 

or the certificate is incorrect, requiring 

further processing, the processing fee 

shall be $48. 

Issued on: July 25, 2008. 

Ronald L. Medford, 

Senior Associate Administrator for Vehicle 

Safety. 

[FR Doc. E8–17516 Filed 8–1–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 300 

[Docket No. 071203794–8828–01] 

RIN 0648–AW36 

Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Subsistence 

Fishing 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulations 

that amend the subsistence fishery rules 

for members of an Alaska Native tribe 

eligible to harvest Pacific halibut in 

waters in and off Alaska for customary 

and traditional use. The proposed 

change would correct the location listed 

in the regulations for the Village of 

Kanatak tribe and the International 

Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) 

halibut regulatory area (Area) in which 

members may subsistence fish. These 

regulations correctly define the 

headquarters and Area for the Village of 

Kanatak tribe. The action would change 

the tribe’s headquarters from Egegik to 

Wasilla and the corresponding Area 

from 4E to Area 3A. The intent of the 

correction is to remove restrictions on 

participation of tribal members in 

traditional subsistence fisheries for 

Pacific halibut by aligning the tribe’s 

headquarters with its actual location in 

Wasilla. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

later than September 3, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue 

Salveson, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: 

Ellen Sebastian. You may submit 

comments, identified by ‘‘RIN 0648–

AW36’’ by any one of the following 

methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal website at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: P. O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 

99802. 

• Fax: (907) 586–7557. 

• Hand delivery to the Federal 

Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room 

420A, Juneau, AK. 

All comments received are a part of 

the public record and will be posted to 

http://www.regulations.gov without 

change. All Personal Identifying 

Information (e.g., name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit confidential business 

information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments must be in Microsoft Word, 

Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe portable 

document file (pdf) formats to be 

accepted. 

Copies of the Categorical Exclusion 

(CE) and Regulatory Impact Review 

(RIR) prepared for this action may be 

obtained from the NMFS Alaska Region, 

P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, Alaska 99802, 

Attn: Ellen Sebastian, Records Officer; 

in person at NMFS Alaska Region, 709 

West 9th Street, Room 420A, Juneau, 

Alaska; and via the Internet at the 

NMFS Alaska Region website at http:// 

www.noaa.fakr.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peggy Murphy, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Need for Action 

The United States and Canada 

participate in the International Pacific 

Halibut Commission (IPHC) and 

promulgate regulations governing the 

Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus 

stenolepis) fishery under the authority 

of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 

1982 (Halibut Act). Regulations 

governing the allocation and catch of 

halibut in U.S. convention waters that 

are in agreement with the Halibut Act 

may be developed by the North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council). 

Regulations recommended by the 

Council must be approved by the 

Secretary of Commerce before being 

implemented through the National 

Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The 

Council prepared an environmental 

assessment/regulatory impact review 

(EA/RIR) for subsistence halibut 

fisheries, in January 2003, and NMFS 

published the final rule to implement 

subsistence halibut regulations in April 

2003 (68 FR 18145). The Alaska Native 

tribe, Village of Kanatak is recognized in 

the regulations as an organized tribal 

entity with its tribal headquarters 

located in Egegik, Alaska within halibut 

regulatory area 3A. However, the tribe’s 

headquarters are actually located in 

Wasilla, Alaska in halibut regulatory 

area 4E. The initial assignment of the 

tribal headquarters location to Egegik 

was incorrect. 

The lists of rural communities and 

native tribes recommended by the 

Council and approved by the Secretary 

for subsistence fishing eligibility were 

derived from positive customary and 

traditional findings for halibut and 

bottomfish made by the Alaska State 

Board of Fisheries (BOF) prior to the 

Alaska Supreme Court decision, 

McDowell v. State, 785 P.2d 1 (Alaska 

1989). The Council retains exclusive 

authority to recommend changes to the 

list of communities § 300.65(g)(1) and 

Alaska Native tribes § 300.65(g)(2) with 

customary and traditional uses of 

Pacific halibut. Residents and tribal 

members who believe that their rural or 

tribal place was incorrectly left out of 

the subsistence eligibility listing for 


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45202 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 150 / Monday, August 4, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

communities or Alaska Native tribes, or 

who are seeking eligibility for the first 

time, are encouraged to seek a 

customary and traditional finding from 

the BOF before petitioning the Council. 

The Proposed Action 

In June 2007, the Council received a 

request from the Kanatak Tribal Council 

to have its fishing area corrected from 

Area 4E to Area 3A, because the current, 

erroneous, listing has prevented the 

same tribal members from participating 

in traditional subsistence fisheries. The 

Council recognized this difference and 

responded by recommending an 

amendment to § 300.65(g)(2) to change 

the listing for the Village of Kanatak’s 

headquarters from Egegik to Wasilla and 

update the corresponding halibut 

regulatory area from Area 4E to Area 3A. 

The intent of the correction is to remove 

restrictions on individual participation 

by aligning the tribe’s headquarters with 

its actual location in Wasilla. 

Individual persons are eligible to 

harvest subsistence halibut if they are 

rural residents of a community or a 

member of an Alaska Native tribe with 

customary and traditional uses of 

halibut. Communities and tribes are 

listed in tables by Halibut Regulatory 

Areas at § 300.65(g)(1) and (2), 

respectively. A person subsistence 

fishing for halibut also must hold a 

valid Subsistence Halibut Area 

Registration Certificate (SHARC) in that 

person’s name issued by NMFS. An 

individual holding a SHARC that 

resides in a rural area may harvest 

subsistence halibut in all waters in and 

off Alaska except for areas designated as 

non-subsistence areas. The four nonsubsistence areas specified in regulation 

at § 300.65(h)(3) are the Ketchikan, 

Juneau, Anchorage/-Matsu/-Kenai, and 

Valdez non-subsistence areas (see 

Figures 2 through 5 to subpart E of part 

300). Under this action, there would be 

no change to rural eligibility criteria to 

subsistence fish for halibut in any 

halibut regulatory area in waters in and 

off the State of Alaska. 

A non-rural Alaska resident or a 

resident of another state who is a 

member of a tribe that is located in a 

rural area is limited to subsistence 

fishing for halibut only in his or her area 

of tribal membership (§ 300.65(h)(4)(i) 

and (ii)). The ‘‘area of tribal 

membership’’ is defined at 

§ 300.65(h)(4)(iii) as ‘‘rural areas of the 

[IPHC] regulatory area or of the Bering 

Sea closed area in which the Alaska 

Native tribal headquarters is located.’’

The area of tribal membership for the 

Kanatak tribe is currently Area 4E. The 

action would align the Village of 

Kanatak’s tribal headquarters with its 

actual location in Wasilla in Area 3A 

and effectively changes area restrictions 

on some members of the tribe to 

conduct subsistence halibut fishing. The 

proposed action is expected to 

redistribute some tribal members’

harvesting effort from Area 4E to fishing 

areas in Area 3A. Waters in Area 3A 

include two non-subsistence areas that 

are closed to subsistence fishing: the 

Anchorage-Matsu-Kenai non-rural area 

and the Valdez non-rural area. 

Moving the place of the Kanatak tribal 

headquarters to Wasilla is expected to 

increase customary and traditional uses 

of halibut by individual members of the 

tribe in Area 3A. Wasilla is a 

community in the Anchorage-MatsuKenai non-rural area within Area 3A 

where a majority of Kanatak tribal 

members reside. Non-rural and nonresident members of the Kanatak tribe 

may increase subsistence halibut use in 

Area 3A because they would have 

greater access to subsistence fishing 

areas through Anchorage, central 

Alaska’s main transportation hub that is 

connected to road systems throughout 

much of Area 3A. 

The action would improve accuracy 

of current regulations, and the quality of 

subsistence halibut information for nonrural tribal members, by correctly 

recognizing the location of the tribe’s 

headquarters in Wasilla. This correction 

improves area specific data collected by 

the State of Alaska subsistence halibut 

survey and analyzed for reporting 

subsistence harvest and effort in Alaska. 

Classification 

Regulations governing the U.S. 

fisheries for Pacific halibut are 

developed by the International Pacific 

Halibut Commission (IPHC), the Pacific 

Fishery Management Council, the North 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(Council), and the Secretary of 

Commerce. Section 5 of the Northern 

Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act, 

16 U.S.C. 773c) allows the Regional 

Council having authority for a particular 

geographical area to develop regulations 

governing the allocation and catch of 

halibut in U.S. Convention waters as 

long as those regulations do not conflict 

with IPHC regulations. The proposed 

action is consistent with the Council’s 

authority to allocate halibut catches 

among fishery participants in the waters 

in and off Alaska. 

Executive Order 13175 of November 

6, 2000 (25 U.S.C. 450 note), the 

Executive Memorandum of April 29, 

1994 (25 U.S.C. 450 note), and the 

American Indian and Alaska Native 

Policy of the U.S. Department of 

Commerce (March 30, 1995) outline the 

responsibilities of NMFS in matters 

affecting tribal interests. Section 161 of 

Public Law (P.L.) 108–199 (188 Stat. 

452), as amended by section 518 of P.L. 

109–447 (118 Stat. 3267), extends the 

consultation requirements of E.O. 13175 

to Alaska Native corporations. NMFS 

has special obligations to consult and 

coordinate with tribal governments and 

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

(ANCSA) corporations on a governmentto-government basis. This rule affects 

individual members of the Village of 

Kanatak tribe, but not the tribe itself, 

and the village of Kanatak is not 

recognized as an ANCSA corporation. 

NMFS recognizes the importance of 

communication and during the process 

of developing the proposed action, 

NMFS consulted with the Alaska Native 

Subsistence Halibut Working Group in 

December 2007 and the Kanatak Tribal 

Administrator in January 2008. 

The proposed rule was determined to 

be not significant for the purposes of 

Executive Order (E.O.) 12866. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration (SBA) 

that this action, if adopted, would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Basis and purpose of rule 

The United States and Canada participate 

in the International Pacific Halibut 

Commission (IPHC) and promulgate 

regulations governing the Pacific halibut 

(Hippoglossus stenolepis) fishery under the 

authority of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act 

of 1982 (Halibut Act). Regulations governing 

the allocation and catch of halibut in U.S. 

convention waters that are in agreement with 

the Halibut Act may be developed by the 

North Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(Council). The Secretary of Commerce must 

approve regulations recommended by the 

Council before implementation by the 

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). 

The Council prepared an environmental 

assessment/regulatory impact review (EA/ 

RIR) for subsistence halibut fisheries, in 

January 2003, and NMFS published the final 

rule to implement subsistence halibut 

regulations in April 2003 (68 FR 18145). The 

Alaska Native tribe, Village of Kanatak is 

recognized in the regulations as an organized 

tribal entity with its tribal headquarters 

located in Egegik, Alaska within halibut 

regulatory area 3A. However, the tribe’s 

headquarters are actually located in Wasilla, 

Alaska in halibut regulatory area 4E. The 

initial assignment of the tribal headquarters 

location to Egegik was incorrect. 

In June 2007, the Council received a 

request from the Kanatak Tribal Council to 

have its fishing area corrected from Area 4E 

to Area 3A, because the current, erroneous, 

listing has prevented the same tribal 

members from participating in traditional 

subsistence fisheries. The Council recognized 

this difference and responded by 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 150 / Monday, August 4, 2008 / Proposed Rules 45203 

recommending an amendment to 

§ 300.65(g)(2) to change the listing for the 

Village of Kanatak’s headquarters from 

Egegik to Wasilla and update the 

corresponding halibut regulatory area from 

Area 4E to Area 3A. The intent of the 

correction is to remove restrictions on 

individual participation by aligning the 

tribe’s headquarters with its actual location 

in Wasilla. 

Individual persons are eligible to harvest 

subsistence halibut if they are rural residents 

of a community or a member of an Alaska 

Native tribe with customary and traditional 

uses of halibut. Communities and tribes are 

listed in tables by Halibut Regulatory Areas 

at § 300.65(g)(1) and (2), respectively. A 

person subsistence fishing for halibut also 

must hold a valid Subsistence Halibut Area 

Registration Certificate (SHARC) in that 

person’s name issued by NMFS. An 

individual holding a SHARC that resides in 

a rural area may harvest subsistence halibut 

in all waters in and off Alaska except for 

areas designated as non-subsistence areas. 

The four non-subsistence areas specified in 

regulation at § 300.65(h)(3) are the Ketchikan, 

Juneau, Anchorage/-Matsu/-Kenai, and 

Valdez non-subsistence areas (see Figures 2 

through 5 to subpart E of part 300). Under 

this action, there would be no change to rural 

eligibility criteria to subsistence fish for 

halibut in any halibut regulatory area in 

waters in and off the State of Alaska. 

A non-rural Alaska resident or a resident 

of another state who is a member of a tribe 

that is located in a rural area is limited to 

subsistence fishing for halibut only in his or 

her area of tribal membership 

(§ 300.65(h)(4)(i) and (ii)). The ‘‘area of tribal 

membership’’ is defined at § 300.65(h)(4)(iii) 

as ‘‘rural areas of the [IPHC] regulatory area 

or of the Bering Sea closed area in which the 

Alaska Native tribal headquarters is located.’’

The area of tribal membership for the 

Kanatak tribe is currently Area 4E. The action 

would align the Village of Kanatak’s tribal 

headquarters with its actual location in 

Wasilla in Area 3A and effectively changes 

area restrictions on some members of the 

tribe to conduct subsistence halibut fishing. 

The proposed action is expected to 

redistribute some tribal members’ harvesting 

effort from Area 4E to fishing areas in Area 

3A. Waters in Area 3A include two nonsubsistence areas that are closed to 

subsistence fishing: the Anchorage-MatsuKenai non-rural area and the Valdez nonrural area. 

Moving the place of the Kanatak tribal 

headquarters to Wasilla is expected to 

increase customary and traditional uses of 

halibut by individual members of the tribe in 

Area 3A. Wasilla is a community in the 

Anchorage-Matsu-Kenai non-rural area 

within Area 3A where a majority of Kanatak 

tribal members reside. Non-rural and nonresident members of the Kanatak tribe may 

increase subsistence halibut use in Area 3A 

because they would have greater access to 

subsistence fishing areas through Anchorage, 

central Alaska’s main transportation hub that 

is connected to road systems throughout 

much of Area 3A. 

Factual Basis for the Certification 

Description and estimate of the number of 

small entities to which the rule applies 

The action would not directly regulate any 

small entities. Small entities have the same 

definition as small business, small 

organizations, and small government 

jurisdictions in Section 601(3)-(5) of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) of 1980. 

Instead, the action would directly regulate 

individual persons who are not considered 

small entities within the meaning of the RFA. 

An individual member of the Village of 

Kanatak tribe would be directly regulated by 

the action if he or she is: (a) a non-rural 

resident of Alaska or a resident of a state 

other than Alaska; and (b) subsistence fishing 

for halibut (§ 300.65(h)(4)(i)-(iii)). Even 

though there are typically a number of 

individuals in a tribe they are regulated as 

individual persons and not collectively as 

evidenced by the distinction of residency. 

The Village of Kanatak would be the only 

Alaska Native tribe whose non-rural and nonresident members would be directly 

regulated by the proposed rule. 

All of the persons that would be directly 

regulated by the action are natural persons. 

The subsistence halibut regulation at 

§ 300.65(g)(2) specifies that ‘‘A person is 

eligible to harvest subsistence halibut if he or 

she is a member of an Alaska Native tribe 

with customary and traditional uses of 

halibut listed [in the table in this 

paragraph].’’ The Village of Kanatak is listed 

in the table and individual members of the 

tribe are recognized as natural persons 

eligible to harvest subsistence halibut. 

Moreover, all of the members of the Kanatak 

Tribe are natural persons as direct 

descendents of individuals counted in a 

census carried out in Kanatak in 1924 

(Olivier, pers. comm.). The regulations 

further specify at § 300.61 that halibut caught 

for subsistence purposes are defined as 

halibut caught by a rural resident or a 

member of an Alaska Native tribe for direct 

personal or family consumption as food, 

sharing for personal or family consumption 

as food, or customary trade. While there is no 

clear requirement in the regulations that a 

‘‘rural resident’’ or a ‘‘member of an Alaska 

Native tribe’’ be a natural person, the 

regulations clearly anticipate that they will 

be. 

The definition of small entity, distinction 

of individual tribal members, and declaration 

of natural persons combined provide the 

factual basis for asserting no small entities 

are directly regulated by the action. 

Description and estimate of economic impact 

on small entities by entity size and industry 

No small entities are directly regulated by 

the proposed rule. Therefore, there are no 

economic impacts on directly regulated small 

entities. 

Criteria used to evaluate whether the rule 

would impose impacts on ‘‘a substantial 

number of small entities’’

The criteria used to determine whether or 

not small entities are directly regulated by 

this action are the definitions of a small 

business, small organization, small 

governmental jurisdiction, and small entity 

in 601(3), (4), (5), and (6) of the RFA, and the 

definition of a business concern at 13 CFR 

121.105. 

Criteria used to evaluate whether the rule 

would impose ‘‘significant economic 

impacts’’

Because this action will not directly 

regulate any small entities, no criteria were 

necessary to make a determination of 

whether or not the action would have 

significant economic impacts on directly 

regulated entities. 

Description of and basis for assumptions 

used 

The finding that no small entities would be 

directly regulated by this action is based on 

the definition of small entities in the RFA 

and implementing regulations, a 

determination that only individual members 

of the Kanatak Tribe would be directly 

regulated, and a determination that all 

individual tribal members are natural 

persons, and not entities, as contemplated by 

the statute and regulations. As a result, an 

initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not 

required and none has been prepared. 

Because there will not be a substantial 

impact on a significant number of small 

entities, an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not required and none has 

been prepared. 

List of Subjects for 50 CFR Part 300 

Alaska, Alaska Natives, Fisheries, 

Fishing, Pacific halibut fisheries, Tribes. 

Dated: July 29, 2008. 

Samuel D. Rauch III 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50 

CFR part 300 as follows: 

PART 300—INTERNATIONAL 

FISHERIES REGULATIONS 

1. The authority citation for 50 CFR 

part 300, subpart E, continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773–773k. 

2. In § 300.65, in paragraph (g)(2): 

A. In the table for Halibut Regulatory 

Area 3A, add in alphabetical order an 

entry for ‘‘Wasilla’’. 

B. In the table for Halibut Regulatory 

Area 4E, revise the entry for ‘‘Egegik’’. 

The addition and revision read as 

follows. 

§ 300.65 Catch sharing plan and domestic 

management measures in waters in and off 

Alaska. 

* * * * * 

(g) * * * 

(2) * * * 


ebenthall on PRODPC60 with PROPOSALS
45204 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 150 / Monday, August 4, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

Halibut Regulatory Area 3A 

Place with Tribal 

Headquarters 

Organized Tribal Entity 

* * * * * * * 

Wasilla Village of Kanatak 

* * * * * * * 

* * * * * 

Halibut Regulatory Area 4E 

Place with Tribal 

Headquarters 

Organized Tribal Entity 

* * * * * * * 

Egegik Egegik Village 

* * * * * * * 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E8–17814 Filed 8–1–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


ebenthall on PRODPC60 with PROPOSALS