58942 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 

mammals to assist in management 

decisions for wild populations. A 

permit is requested for five years. 

Concurrent with the publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register, 

NMFS is forwarding copies of this 

application to the Marine Mammal 

Commission and its Committee of 

Scientific Advisors. 

Dated: October 3, 2008. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–23872 Filed 10–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XK98 

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental 

to Commercial Fishing Operations; 

Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction 

Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to a preliminary 

injunction issued in the case, The 

Humane Society of the Unites States, et 

al. v. Gutierrez, et al., in U.S. District 

Court for the District of Columbia (Civil 

Action No. 08–cv–1593 (ESH)), NMFS is 

reinstating the Dynamic Area 

Management (DAM) program that was 

terminated by the October 5, 2007, final 

rule amending the Atlantic Large Whale 

Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP). The 

DAM program will be implemented 

consistent with the previous regulations 

for this program, except that it will only 

be reinstated north of the pre–existing 

Seasonal Area Management boundaries 

(i.e., north of 42°30′ N. latitude). DAM 

zones will be established through future 

notice in the Federal Register. The 

restrictions will be announced to state 

officials, fishermen, Atlantic Large 

Whale Take Reduction Team (ALWTRT) 

members, and other interested parties 

through e–mail, phone contact, NOAA 

website, and other appropriate media 

immediately upon issuance of a rule by 

the AA. 

DATES: Effective beginning at 0001 hours 

October 5, 2008, until the broad–based 

sinking groundline requirements for 

trap/pot and lobster trap/pot fisheries 

established by the October 5, 2007, final 

rule go into effect. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the previous 

rulemaking documents associated with 

the ALWTRP, ALWTRT meeting 

summaries, and progress reports on 

implementation of the ALWTRP may 

also be obtained by writing Diane 

Borggaard, NMFS/Northeast Region, 

One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 

01930. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Diane Borggaard, NMFS/Northeast 

Region, 978–281–9300 x6503; or Kristy 

Long, NMFS, Office of Protected 

Resources, 301–713–2322. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

Several of the background documents 

for the ALWTRP and the take reduction 

planning process can be downloaded 

from the ALWTRP web site at http:// 

www.nero.noaa.gov/whaletrp/. The 

complete text of the regulations 

implementing the ALWTRP can be 

found either in the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 229.32 or 

downloaded from the website, along 

with a guide to the regulations. 

Background 

In response to the continued serious 

injury and mortality of large whales 

(e.g., right, humpback, and fin whales) 

from entanglement in commercial 

fishing gear, NMFS determined that 

additional modifications to the 

ALWTRP were warranted. 

Subsequently, in October 2007, NMFS 

finalized an amendment to the 

ALWTRP, which implemented a broad– 

based gear modification strategy that 

included additional regulated fisheries; 

expanded weak link and sinking 

groundline requirements; additional 

gear marking requirements; changes in 

boundaries; seasonal restrictions for 

gear modifications; expanded exempted 

areas; and regulatory language changes 

for the purposes of clarification and 

consistency (72 FR 57104, October 5, 

2007; 73 FR 19171, April 9, 2008). The 

October 2007 rule eliminated the 

Dynamic Area Management (DAM) 

Program on April 5, 2008, when most of 

the broad–based gear modifications 

became effective. Additionally, gillnet 

and trap/pot fishermen were given one 

year (through October 5, 2008) to 

convert floating groundline to sinking 

groundline as part of the broad–based 

gear modification requirements. 

On September 2, 2008, NMFS 

published a final rule that provided an 

additional six months (through April 5, 

2009) for trap/pot fishermen along the 

Atlantic coast to comply with the 

AWLTRP’s broad–based sinking 

groundline requirement (73 FR 51228, 

September 2, 2008). Pursuant to a 

preliminary injunction issued in the 

case, The Humane Society of the United 

States, et al. v. Gutierrez, et al., in U.S. 

District Court for the District of 

Columbia (Civil Action No. 08–cv–1593 

(ESH)), NMFS is reinstating the DAM 

program, which was terminated by the 

October 5, 2007, final rule (72 FR 

57104). The DAM program will be 

implemented consistent with the 

previous regulations for this program 

(67 FR 1133, January 9, 2002; 67 FR 

65722, October 28, 2002; 68 FR 51195, 

August 26, 2003; 72 FR 57104, October 

5, 2007), except that it will only be 

reinstated north of the pre–existing 

Seasonal Area Management boundaries 

(i.e., north of 42°30′ N. latitude). DAM 

zones will be established through future 

notice in the Federal Register. Future 

DAM zone restrictions will be 

announced to state officials, fishermen, 

ALWTRT members, and other interested 

parties through e–mail, phone contact, 

NOAA website, and other appropriate 

media immediately upon issuance of a 

temporary rule by the Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries (AA). The 

DAM program will be reinstated until 

the Court’s resolution on the merits of 

the case or the broad–based sinking 

groundline requirements for trap/pot 

and lobster trap/pot fisheries 

established by the October 5, 2007, final 

rule go into effect, whichever occurs 

earlier. 

In addition to those gear 

modifications currently implemented 

under the ALWTRP at 50 CFR 229.32, 

the following gear modifications may be 

required in a DAM zone. In such a case, 

the ALWTRP management areas 

impacted would be dependent on the 

area of overlap with the DAM zone. If 

the requirements and exceptions for 

gear modification in a DAM zone, as 

described below, differ from other 

ALWTRP requirements for any 

overlapping areas and times, then the 

more restrictive requirements would 

apply in the DAM zone. 

Lobster Trap/Pot Gear 

Fishermen utilizing lobster trap/pot 

gear within portions of Northern Inshore 

Lobster Waters, Northern Nearshore 

Lobster Waters, and Stellwagen Bank/ 

Jeffreys Ledge Restricted Area that 

overlap with a DAM zone may be 

required to utilize all of the following 

gear modifications when a DAM zone is 

in effect: 

1. Groundlines must be made of 

sinking line. Floating groundlines are 

prohibited; 

2. All buoy lines must be made of 

sinking line, except the bottom portion 

of the line, which may be a section of 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 58943 

floating line not to exceed one-third the 

overall length of the buoy line; 

3. Fishermen are allowed to use two 

buoy lines per trawl; and 

4. A weak link with a maximum 

breaking strength of 600 lb (272.4 kg) 

must be placed at all buoys. 

Fishermen utilizing lobster trap/pot 

gear within the portion of the Offshore 

Lobster Waters Area that overlap with 

the DAM zone may be required to 

utilize all of the following gear 

modifications when a DAM zone is in 

effect: 

1. Groundlines must be made of 

sinking line. Floating groundlines are 

prohibited; 

2. All buoy lines must be made of 

sinking line, except the bottom portion 

of the line, which may be a section of 

floating line not to exceed one-third the 

overall length of the buoy line; 

3. Fishermen are allowed to use two 

buoy lines per trawl; and 

4. A weak link with a maximum 

breaking strength of 1,500 lb (680.4 kg) 

must be placed at all buoys. 

Anchored Gillnet Gear 

Fishermen utilizing anchored gillnet 

gear within the portions of the Other 

Northeast Gillnet Waters and Stellwagen 

Bank/Jeffreys Ledge Restricted Area that 

overlap with the DAM zone may be 

required to utilize all the following gear 

modifications when a DAM zone is in 

effect: 

1. Groundlines must be made of 

sinking line. Floating groundlines are 

prohibited; 

2. All buoy lines must be made of 

sinking line, except the bottom portion 

of the line, which may be a section of 

floating line not to exceed one-third the 

overall length of the buoy line; 

3. Fishermen are allowed to use two 

buoy lines per string; 

4. The breaking strength of each net 

panel weak link must not exceed 1,100 

lb (498.8 kg). The weak link 

requirements apply to all variations in 

net panel size. One weak link must be 

placed in the center of the floatline and 

one weak link must be placed in the 

center of each of the up and down lines 

at both ends of the net panel. 

Additionally, one weak link must be 

placed as close as possible to each end 

of the net panels on the floatline; or, one 

weak link must be placed between 

floatline tie-loops between net panels 

and one weak link must be placed 

where the floatline tie-loops attach to 

the bridle, buoy line, or groundline at 

each end of a net string; 

5. A weak link with a maximum 

breaking strength of 1,100 lb (498.8 kg) 

must be placed at all buoys; and 

6. All anchored gillnets, regardless of 

the number of net panels, must be 

securely anchored with the holding 

power of at least a 22 lb (10.0 kg) 

Danforth-style anchor at each end of the 

net string. 

Dated: October 2, 2008. 

John Oliver 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Operations, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–23880 Filed 10–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

United States Patent and Trademark 

Office 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit 

to the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for clearance the following 

proposal for collection of information 

under the provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). 

Agency: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO). 

Title: Board of Patent Appeals and 

Interferences (BPAI) Actions. 

Form Number(s): No forms. 

Agency Approval Number: 0651– 

00xx. 

Type of Request: New information 

collection. 

Burden: 773,895 hours annually. In 

the future, once this proposed collection 

and 0651–0031 are approved by the 

OMB, the USPTO expects to move the 

notices of appeal and requests for oral 

hearing before the BPAI into this 

collection. The USPTO estimates that 

this will add a minimum of 5,719 hours 

per year to this collection. 

Number of Respondents: 31,828 

responses per year. The USPTO 

estimates that once the notices of appeal 

and requests for oral hearing before the 

BPAI are moved into this collection, a 

minimum of 28,595 responses will be 

added to this collection. 

Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO 

estimates that it takes the public 

approximately 5 to 30 hours to complete 

this information, depending on the 

brief, petition, or request. This includes 

the time to gather the necessary 

information, prepare the briefs, 

petitions, and requests, and submit 

them to the USPTO. The USPTO 

estimates that it takes the public 

approximately 12 minutes (0.20 hours) 

to complete the notices of appeal and 

requests for oral hearing before the 

BPAI. Needs and Uses: This collection 

of information is required by 35 U.S.C. 

134, 135, 306, and 315 and is 

implemented through the appeal rules 

found in Part 41. The Board of Patent 

Appeals and Interferences was 

established under 35 U.S.C. 6(b). This 

collection permits applicants and 

registrants to prepare appeal and reply 

briefs which set forth the claims, issues, 

and arguments on appeal to the BPAI 

and permits the filing of petitions 

requesting extensions of time to respond 

to the agency, petitions requesting an 

increase in the page limit of a brief, and 

requests for rehearing before the BPAI. 

The BPAI uses the information to aid in 

rendering a decision on the claims, 

issues, and arguments outlined in the 

appeal and reply briefs and to determine 

whether the petitions for extensions of 

time, the petitions to increase the page 

limit of a brief, and requests for 

rehearings before the BPAI should be 

granted. There are no forms associated 

with the items in this collection, but 

they are governed by the rules in Part 

41. The Board publishes its opinions 

and decisions for publicly available files 

on the USPTO Web site. 

Affected Public: Primarily businesses 

or other for-profit organizations. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. 

OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, 

e-mail: 

Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov. 

Copies of the above information 

collection proposal can be obtained by 

any of the following: 

• E-mail: Susan.Fawcett@uspto.gov. 

Include ‘‘0651–00xx Board of Patent 

Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) 

Actions copy request’’ in the subject 

line of the message. 

• Fax: 571–273–0112, marked to the 

attention of Susan K. Fawcett. 

• Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records 

Officer, Office of the Chief Information 

Officer, Customer Information Services 

Group, Public Information Services 

Division, U.S. Patent and Trademark 

Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 

22313–1450. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted on or before November 7, 

2008 to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB Desk 

Officer, via e-mail at 

Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov or by 

fax (202) 395–5167, marked to the 

attention of Nicholas A. Fraser. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES