53816 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 17, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 

97.022, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’) 

Dated: September 8, 2008. 

David I. Maurstad, 

Federal Insurance Administrator of the 

National Flood Insurance Program, 

Department of Homeland Security, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. E8–21688 Filed 9–16–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

RIN 0648–AU20 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Revised Management 

Authority for Dark Rockfish in the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area and the Gulf of 

Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Availability of a proposed 

amendment to a fishery management 

plan; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council has submitted 

Amendment 73 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area and Amendment 77 

to the Fishery Management Plan for 

Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska 

(collectively, Amendments 73/77) for 

Secretarial (Commerce) approval. If 

approved, Amendments 73/77 would 

remove dark rockfish (Sebastes ciliatus) 

from both fishery management plans 

(FMPs). Consequently, the State of 

Alaska would then assume management 

of dark rockfish in the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Management Area and 

the Gulf of Alaska. This action is 

necessary to allow the State of Alaska to 

implement more responsive, regionally 

based management of dark rockfish than 

is currently possible under the FMPs. 

This action would improve conservation 

and management of dark rockfish and is 

intended to promote the goals and 

objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, the FMPs, and other applicable 

laws. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed 

amendments must be received on or 

before November 17, 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– 

AU20 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 generally 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 will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

portable document file (pdf) formats 

only. 

Copies of Amendments 73/77 and the 

Environmental Assessment/Regulatory 

Impact Review/Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) 

prepared for this action are available 

from the Alaska Region NMFS at the 

address above or from the Alaska Region 

NMFS website at http:// 

alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Hogan, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that 

each Regional Fishery Management 

Council submit any fishery management 

plan (FMP) amendment it prepares to 

the Secretary for review and approval, 

disapproval, or partial approval. The 

Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires 

that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP 

amendment, immediately publish a 

notice in the Federal Register that the 

amendment is available for public 

review and comment. This action 

constitutes such notice for Amendments 

73/77 to the FMPs. 

Amendments 73/77 were 

unanimously adopted by the North 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(Council) in April 2007. If approved by 

the Secretary, these amendments would 

remove dark rockfish (Sebastes ciliatus) 

from the FMPs and would thereby allow 

the State of Alaska (State) to extend its 

management authority for dark rockfish 

into Federal waters off the State. 

The Council recommended 

Amendments 73/77 because dark 

rockfish are a nearshore, shallow-water 

species which are rarely caught in 

offshore Federal waters. Dark rockfish 

currently are contained in the pelagic 

shelf rockfish (PSR) complex in the Gulf 

of Alaska. The overfishing limit and 

acceptable biological catch limit for PSR 

are based primarily on the stock 

assessment for dusky rockfish. Dusky 

rockfish comprise the majority of the 

total exploitable biomass estimate for 

the PSR complex. In the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands management area, dark 

rockfish are contained within the ‘‘other 

rockfish’’ complex, the biomass of 

which is largely comprised of dusky 

rockfish and thornyhead rockfish. 

Under Amendments 73/77, the State 

could implement more responsive, 

regionally based management of dark 

rockfish than is possible under the 

FMPs. State management would reduce 

the possibility of overexploitation and 

localized depletion of dark rockfish that 

could occur if it is continued to be 

managed within the larger PSR and 

‘‘other rockfish’’ complexes under the 

FMPs. 

NMFS is soliciting public comments 

on Amendments 73/77 through 

November 17, 2008. A proposed rule 

that would implement Amendments 73/ 

77 will be published in the Federal 

Register for public comment at a later 

date, following NMFS’ evaluation under 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act procedures. 

Comments received by November 17, 

2008, whether specifically directed to 

the amendments or the proposed rule 

will be considered in the approval/ 

disapproval decision on Amendments 

73/77. Comments received after that 

date will not be considered in the FMP 

amendment approval/disapproval 

decision. All comments received on 

Amendments 73/77 or on the proposed 

rule during their respective comment 

periods will be addressed in the final 

rule. 

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

Dated: September 11, 2008. 

James P. Burgess 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–21745 Filed 9–16–08; 8:45 am] 

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