Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 21, 2009 / Notices 3569 

Actual implementation of actions in the 

Plan will depend on available funding. 

Comment 29: A commenter 

recommended the formation of a 

smalltooth sawfish implementation 

team. 

Response: NMFS has formed a 

Smalltooth Sawfish Implementation 

Team. More information on this team 

can be found at: http:// 

www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/ 

Descript/STSawfish/STSawfish.html. 

Comment 30: A commenter suggested 

that NMFS require new gear and 

equipment for release of smalltooth 

sawfish. 

Response: NMFS developed Safe 

Handling and Release Guidelines for the 

species (Appendix B), and made 

revisions to the plan to recommend use 

of circle hooks to reduce hooking injury 

and mortality. Training in safe handling 

and release methods for captured 

smalltooth sawfish is required in some 

of NMFS federally-managed fisheries. 

Additionally, specific types of release 

equipment are required to be on-board 

boats in specific federally-managed 

fisheries. 

Comment 31: A commenter stated that 

future developments should not destroy 

mangroves. 

Response: As stated in the response to 

comment ι17, federal, state, and local 

laws protect mangroves and may be 

applicable to development projects on a 

case-by-case basis. The Plan establishes 

objectives for protection and restoration 

of mangroves but the Plan itself cannot 

impose requirements on future 

development projects. 

Comment 32: One commenter 

recommended that eBay should not be 

able to sell any parts of sawfish. 

Response: Smalltooth sawfish are 

protected under Appendix 1 of the 

Convention on International Trade in 

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and 

Flora. Trade of parts is prohibited. 

Comment 33: Numerous (6,000) 

commenters expressed general support 

for the recovery plan. 

Summary of Changes 

Below we describe the changes made 

to the final Plan that were not discussed 

in the comment section. 

Change 1: The Recovery Criteria for 

nursery habitat was clarified to include 

the protection of non-mangrove habitats. 

Historic and current juvenile encounters 

indicate they are located in areas 

outside the range of mangroves. We 

believe we will need nursery areas 

outside of the range of mangroves to 

recover the species, but at this time 

cannot determine the specific features 

utilized by juveniles. Once we identify 

the habitat features utilized by juveniles 

in non-mangrove habitats, we need to 

protect and/or restore these areas for 

recovery of the species. 

Change 2: Section II, Recovery 

Strategy was rearranged to streamline 

the document and remove redundancy. 

Change 3: Figures 8a, 8b, and 8c were 

renamed as ‘‘Protected Areas’’ because 

they include upland areas as well as 

marine areas. 

Change 4: Citations and Recovery 

Actions were updated to reflect new 

publication dates or accomplishment of 

some actions. 

Change 5: Latitude and longitude 

locations were placed in the Recovery 

Regions Map (Figure 9) to clarify where 

each recovery region begins and ends. 

Change 6: NMFS made several 

changes to the Implementation 

Schedule. We provided additional 

comments in the ‘‘Comments’’ section of 

the table to note ongoing research. Some 

action start dates were delayed based on 

expected budget constraints. 

Additionally, some of the priority 

numbers were raised or lowered based 

on comments from the public. The 

following Actions were modified or 

added: 

• Action 1.1.3 was changed from a 

priority 2 to a priority 1. 

• Action 1.1.7 was changed from a 

priority 2 to a priority 3. 

• Action 1.1.17 start date was 

changed to FY08. 

• Action 1.5.1 was given a priority of 

3. 

• Action 2.1.3 start date was changed 

to FY09. 

• Action 2.1.6 was changed from a 

priority 2 to a priority 1. 

• Action 2.1.8 was changed to clarify 

the function of the area. 

• Action 2.1.10 start date was moved 

to FY08. 

• Action 2.1.11 was clarified to 

include nursery areas only within 

Florida because Florida is believed to be 

the center of the population. 

• Action 2.2.1 was changed from a 

priority 2 to a priority 1 and start year 

was changed to FY08. 

• Action 2.2.2 was changed from a 

priority 2 to a priority 1. 

• Action 2.3.3 start date was changed 

to FY08 

• Action 3.1.3 start date was changed 

to FY08. 

• Action 3.3.4 was changed from a 

priority 1 to a priority 3. 

• Action 3.3.5 was changed from a 

priority 2 to a priority 3. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. 

Dated: January 13, 2009. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–1118 Filed 1–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648-XM79 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) is 

scheduling a public meeting of its 

Scientific and Statistical Committee on 

February 6, 2009 to consider actions 

affecting New England fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

Recommendations from this group will 

be brought to the full Council for formal 

consideration and action, if appropriate. 

DATES: This meeting will be held on 

Friday, February 6, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: Meeting address: The 

meeting will be held at the Radisson 

Airport Hotel, 2081 Post Road, 

Warwick, RI 02886; telephone: (401) 

739–3000; fax: (401) 732–9309. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) will review the process to be used 

by the Scallop Plan Development Team 

to develop recommendations, as part of 

Amendment 15 to the Scallop Fishery 

Management Plan, for acceptable 

biological catch (ABCs), annual catch 

limits (ACLs) and accountability 

measures (AMs), as well as methods for 

analyzing the social and economic 

impacts of management measures. The 

SSC also will review recommendations 

from the Skate Plan Development Team 

regarding updated Skate Total 

Allowable Landings (TALs), as well as 

ABCs, ACLs and AMs, as part of 

Amendment 3 to the Skate Fishery 

Management Plan, using new data 

reviewed during the recent Data Poor 

Stocks Peer Review Meeting. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

3570 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 21, 2009 / Notices 

1 In February 1996, Commission staff issued noaction relief to Deutsche Terminborse (DTB), an 

automated international futures and options 

exchange headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, 

that permitted DTB, subject to certain terms and 

conditions, to place computer terminals in the U.S. 

offices of its members for principal trading. See 

CFTC Interpretative Letter No. 96–28 (1996–1997 

Transfer Binder) Comm. Fut. L. Rep. (CCH) para. 

26,669 (Feb. 29. 1996). In June 1998, DTB merged 

with the Swiss Options and Financial Futures 

Exchange and DTB changed its name to Eurex 

Deutschland. 

2See Commission Rule 140.99, 17 CFR 140.99 

(2006), which defines the term ‘‘no-action letter’’ as 

a written statement issued by the staff of a Division 

of the Commission or of the Office of General 

Counsel that it will not recommend enforcement 

action to the Commission for failure to comply with 

a specific provision of the Act or of a Commission 

rule, regulation or order if a proposed transaction 

is completed or a proposed activity is conducted by 

the beneficiary. 

3 Direct access means that the member in the U.S. 

may enter an order directly into the trade matching 

engine to be matched according to the trade 

matching algorithm. Direct access is different from 

an automated order routing system (AORS) in that 

an order transmitted via AORS is intermediated in 

that it is entered into the trade matching engine by 

or through the intermediary, i.e., the intermediary, 

not the member in the U.S., has direct access. 

4The no-action letters issued to FBOTs, formerly 

referred to as ‘‘foreign terminal no-action letters,’’ 

are currently referred to as ‘‘direct access no-action 

letters’’ and are published on the Commission’s 

Web site at: http://www.cftc.gov/dea/ 

deaforeignterminaltable.htm. Hereinafter the letters 

are simply referred to as ‘‘no-action letters.’’ 

Reference to DTEFs in the no-action letters was 

added following the establishment of that 

registration category by the Commodity Futures 

Modernization Act of 2000. 

5Access to Automated Boards of Trade, 64 FR 

32829 (June 18, 1999). 

6Boards of Trade Located Outside of the United 

States and No-Action Relief from the Requirement 

to Become a Designated Contract Market or 

Derivatives Transaction Execution Facility, 71 FR 

64443 (November 2, 2006). 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

listed in this notice and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

that require emergency action under 

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, provided the public has been 

notified of the Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, at 978– 

465–0492, at least 5 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

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

Dated: January 14, 2009. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–1084 Filed 1–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Notice of Additional Conditions on the 

No-Action Relief When Foreign Boards 

of Trade That Have Received Staff NoAction Relief To Permit Direct Access 

to Their Automated Trading Systems 

From Locations in the United States 

List for Trading From the U.S. Linked 

Futures and Option Contracts and a 

Revision of Commission Policy 

Regarding the Listing of Certain New 

Option Contracts 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (Commission) is 

providing notice requiring foreign 

boards of trade that may receive 

Commission staff no-action relief 

permitting them to make their 

automated trading systems directly 

available from the U.S. to comply with 

additional conditions for the no-action 

relief to remain effective if they list for 

trading from the U.S. contracts that are 

linked to contracts traded on certain 

U.S.-based entities. Separately, the 

Commission is providing notice that it 

is revising its policy regarding the 

notification procedures applicable to 

listing an option on a futures contract 

that already is (or can be) listed for 

trading from the U.S. 

DATES: Effective Date: The conditions 

and notification procedures are effective 

immediately. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Duane C. Andresen, Senior Special 

Counsel, Division of Market Oversight, 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Center, 

1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20581. Telephone: 202–418–5492. Email: dandresen@cftc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Since 1996,1 Commission staff has 

issued no-action letters 2 to foreign 

boards of trade (FBOT) stating that, 

subject to compliance with certain 

conditions, the staff will not 

recommend that the Commission take 

enforcement action against the FBOT or 

its members if the FBOT permits its 

members or participants in the United 

States to have direct access 3 to its 

electronic trading system without 

seeking designation under the 

Commodity Exchange Act (CEA or Act) 

as a contract market (DCM) or 

registration as a derivatives transaction 

execution facility (DTEF).4 On June 2, 

1999, the Commission issued an order 

which, among other things, withdrew 

proposed rules that would have 

governed automated access to FBOTs 

from the U.S. and instructed the 

Commission staff to begin immediately 

processing no-action requests from 

FBOTs seeking to place trading 

terminals in the U.S., and to issue 

responses where appropriate, pursuant 

to the general guidelines included in the 

Eurex (DTB) no-action process, or other 

guidelines established by the 

Commission.5 On October 22, 2006, the 

Commission issued a Statement of 

Policy that affirmed the use of the noaction process to permit FBOTs to 

provide direct access to their electronic 

trading systems to U.S. members or 

authorized participants.6

Commission staff has issued 21 noaction letters since the DTB letter, all of 

which grant the no-action relief 

requested subject to a series of terms 

and conditions. The terms and 

conditions, among other things, assure 

the Division (1) That the FBOT 

continues to be a bona fide FBOT 

subject to effective regulation in its 

home country; (2) that direct access is 

restricted to authorized entities; (3) that 

the Division receives notice of any 

material changes in the information 

provided to it in support of the noaction request including, without 

limitation, any modification of the 

FBOT’s membership criteria, the 

location of its management, personnel 

or operations, the basic structure, 

nature, or operation of the trading 

system, or the regulatory or selfregulatory structure applicable to its 

members; and (4) that satisfactory 

information-sharing arrangements 

between the Commission, the FBOT, 

and the FBOT’s relevant regulatory 

authorities will remain in effect. 

With respect to the listing of new 

contracts, initially FBOTs that received 

no-action relief that wished to list 

additional futures and option contracts 

for trading by direct access from the 

U.S. were required to request in writing 

and receive supplemental no-action 

relief from Commission staff prior to 

listing the new contracts. On June 30, 

2000, the Commission issued a 

Statement of Policy that permitted 

FBOTs with no-action relief to list 

additional futures and option contracts 

for trading from the U.S. merely by 

filing with Commission staff no later 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES