51512 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 7, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

503.703 [Added] 

■ 7. Add section 503.703 to read as 

follows: 

503.703 Authority. 

Pursuant to FAR 3.703 and 3.705(b), 

the authority to void or rescind 

contracts resides with the Senior 

Procurement Executive. 

503.705 [Removed] 

■ 8. Remove section 503.705. 

■ 9. Add Subpart 503.10 to read as 

follows: 

Subpart 503.10—Contractor Code of 

Business Ethics and Conduct 

503.1004 Contract clauses. 

(a) The FAR threshold for the clause 

at 52.203–14, Display of Hotline 

Poster(s), is $5,000,000. However, GSA 

has exercised the authority provided at 

FAR 3.1004(b)(1)(i) to establish a lower 

threshold, $1,000,000, for inclusion of 

the clause when the contract or order is 

funded with disaster assistance funds. 

(b) The information required to be 

inserted in the clause at FAR 52.203–14, 

Display of Hotline Poster(s), is as 

follows: 

(1) Poster: GSA Office of Inspector 

General ‘‘FRAUDNET HOTLINE’’; and 

(2) Obtain from: Contracting Officer. 

PART 552—SOLICITATION 

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT 

CLAUSES 

■ 10. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

part 552 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c). 

552.203–5 and 552.203–70 [Removed] 

■ 11. Remove sections 552.203–5 and 

552.203–70. 

[FR Doc. E9–24158 Filed 10–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–61–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 0809251266–81485–02] 

RIN 0648–XR94 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Scup Fishery; Commercial 

Quota Harvested for 2009 Summer 

Period 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the closure 

of the scup commercial coastwide 

fishery from Maine through North 

Carolina for the remainder of the 

Summer Period. Regulations governing 

the scup fishery require publication of 

this notification to advise the coastal 

states from Maine through North 

Carolina that this quota has been 

harvested and to advise Federal vessel 

permit holders and Federal dealer 

permit holders that no commercial 

quota is available for landing scup in 

these states. Federally permitted 

commercial vessels may not land scup 

in these states for the remainder of the 

2009 Summer quota period (through 

October 31, 2009). 

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, Thursday, 

October 7 through October 31, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Bland, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9257. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the scup fishery 

are found at 50 CFR part 648. The 

regulations at § 648.121 require the 

Regional Administrator to monitor the 

commercial scup quota for each quota 

period and, based upon dealer reports, 

state data, and other available 

information, to determine when the 

commercial quota for a period has been 

harvested. NMFS is required to publish 

a notification in the Federal Register 

advising and notifying commercial 

vessels and dealer permit holders that, 

effective upon a specific date, the scup 

commercial quota has been harvested 

and no commercial quota is available for 

landing scup for the remainder of the 

Summer Period. Based upon recent 

projections, the Regional Administrator 

has determined that the Federal 

commercial quota of 2,930,733 lb (1,329 

mt) for the 2009 Summer Period will be 

fully harvested by or before October 31, 

2009. To maintain the integrity of the 

2009 Summer Period quota by avoiding 

or minimizing quota overages, the 

commercial scup fishery will close for 

the remainder of the Summer Period 

(through October 31, 2009) in Federal 

waters, effective as of the date specified 

above (see DATES). 

Section 648.4(b) provides that Federal 

scup moratorium permit holders agree, 

as a condition of the permit, not to land 

scup in any state after NMFS has 

published a notification in the Federal 

Register stating that the commercial 

quota for the period has been harvested 

and that no commercial quota for scup 

is available. Therefore, effective 0001 

hours, Thursday, October 8, 2009, 

further landings of scup by vessels 

holding Federal scup moratorium 

permits are prohibited through October 

31, 2009. Effective 0001 hours, 

Thursday, October 8, 2009, federally 

permitted dealers are also advised that 

they may not purchase scup from 

federally permitted vessels that land in 

coastal states from Maine through North 

Carolina for the remainder of the 

Summer Period (through October 31, 

2009). The Winter II Period for 

commercial scup harvest will open on 

November 1, 2009. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: October 2, 2009. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–24177 Filed 10–05–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 090601946–91010–01] 

RIN 0648–AX94 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska, Groundfish Observer 

Program; Correction 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Correcting amendments. 

SUMMARY: This action makes four 

corrections to regulations. It corrects a 

final rule removing the December 31, 

2007, expiration date for regulations 

governing the North Pacific Observer 

Program. NMFS intended this final rule 

to remove the expiration date from all 

paragraphs, however, due to the overlay 

of an additional and overlooked 

expiration date in a different final rule, 

NMFS inadvertently removed the 

regulations governing observer coverage 

for catcher/processors and motherships 

participating in the pollock fisheries in 

the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

management area. This correcting 

amendment reinstates those observer 

coverage requirements. In addition, this 

rule corrects a cross-reference error; 

removes an expiration date; and 

removes effective dates that have now 

passed from certain paragraphs. 

DATES: Effective October 7, 2009. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 7, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 51513 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patsy A. Bearden, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

NMFS has determined that four errors 

exist in the North Pacific Groundfish 

Observer Program (Observer Program) 

regulations at § 679.50. 

This final rule will correct an error 

that resulted when NMFS overlooked 

the existence of a sunset provision for 

observer coverage requirements. 

Observer program vessel and processor 

coverage requirements are set forth at 50 

CFR 679.50. Prior to 2007, the observer 

program and the observer coverage 

requirements were subject to periodic 

sunset dates. The last sunset date 

extension prolonged the observer 

program and, with one exception 

explained further below, all coverage 

requirements to December 31, 2007, (67 

FR 72595; December 6, 2002). 

Although the observer program and 

coverage requirements were generally 

established and reauthorized in single 

rulemakings, one particular component 

of the observer coverage requirements 

was originally implemented under the 

American Fisheries Act (AFA) (67 FR 

79692; December 30, 2002). This 

component established coverage 

requirements for catcher/processors and 

motherships participating in the BSAI 

pollock fisheries. These regulations are 

found at § 679.50(c)(5). These AFA 

regulations originally established an 

AFA Program-wide sunset date of 

December 31, 2007. Subsequent to the 

2002 AFA program establishment, and 

except for the observer coverage 

requirements found at § 679.50(c)(5), the 

sunset date was removed and the AFA 

program became permanent by a final 

rule published on February 10, 2004 (69 

FR 6198). NMFS left the AFA observer 

coverage requirements sunset date 

unchanged in the 2004 final rule 

because NMFS considered the AFA 

requirements an integrated component 

of the larger body of observer coverage 

requirements. 

In a final rule published on June 13, 

2007, NMFS attempted to remove the 

December 31, 2007, sunset date for the 

groundfish Observer Program (72 FR 

32559). Although it was NMFS’ intent to 

extend all coverage requirements set 

forth in § 679.50, NMFS overlooked the 

independent expiration date that 

continued to apply to § 679.50(c)(5) 

from the December 30, 2002, AFA final 

rule. NMFS should have addressed and 

removed this independent sunset date 

when it removed the sunset for the 

entire program and related coverage 

requirements in the June, 2007, final 

rule. This correcting amendment 

removes that sunset date applicable to 

the § 679.5(c)(5) regulations, and 

reinstates them. 

The other sunset date reference 

(December 31, 2007) that was 

overlooked and is now removed is 

found in § 679.1(f). 

Next, a cross-reference related to 

observer workload restrictions in 

§ 679.50(c)(5)(i)(A) is corrected by 

removing ‘‘(c)(5)(iii)’’ and replacing it 

with ‘‘(c)(5)(ii)’’ which is the correct 

cross-reference. 

The effective date (January 20, 2008) 

is removed from §§ 679.50(c)(4)(i)(A) 

and 679.50(c)(6) because it is no longer 

necessary. This effective date was added 

in a final rule (September 14, 2007, 72 

FR 52668) to identify paragraphs with 

delayed effectiveness dates. 

Classification 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the 

Acting Assistant Administrator of 

Fisheries (AA) finds good cause to 

waive prior notice and opportunity for 

public comment. Data collected by 

observers is critical for conservation and 

management of the groundfish fisheries 

off Alaska and for assessing the impact 

of these fisheries on other aspects of the 

marine environment. Without these 

regulations, fishing vessels could 

overfish the stock and exceed bycatch 

reduction allowances in violation of the 

Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation 

and Management Act (MSA). NMFS 

only recently discovered these errors 

and to ensure uninterrupted and 

comprehensive management of the 

fisheries, believes that it is in the public 

interest to institute the corrections 

without prior notice and opportunity for 

comment. Furthermore, the errors need 

to be corrected immediately to eliminate 

potential confusion. 

For these reasons, the AA finds good 

cause to waive prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment and the 

30-day delay in the effective date under 

5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), as such procedures 

would be contrary to the public interest. 

Because prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment are not required for 

this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other 

law, the analytical requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq. are inapplicable. 

The Acting AA for NMFS has 

determined that this action is consistent 

with MSA and other applicable law. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679 

Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: October 1, 2009 

James W. Balsiger, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

■ For the same reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is corrected 

by making the following correcting 

amendments: 

PART 679—FISHERIES OF THE 

EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF 

ALASKA 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 679 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.; 1540(f); 

1801 et seq.; 1851 note; 3631 et seq. 

■ 2. In § 679.1, revise the heading for 

paragraph (f) to read as follows: 

§ 679.1 Purpose and scope. 

* * * * * 

(f) Groundfish Observer Program. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 679.50, add paragraph (c)(5); 

revise heading for paragraph (c)(4)(i)(A); 

and revise heading for paragraph (c)(6) 

to read as follows: 

§ 679.50 Groundfish Observer Program. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(4) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(A) CDQ groundfish fisheries. 

* * * * * 

(5) AFA and AI directed pollock 

fishery catcher/processors and 

motherships—(i) Coverage 

requirement—(A) Listed AFA catcher/ 

processors and AFA motherships. The 

owner or operator of a listed AFA 

catcher/processor or AFA mothership 

must provide at least two NMFScertified observers, at least one of which 

must be certified as a lead level 2 

observer, for each day that the vessel is 

used to harvest, process, or take 

deliveries of groundfish. More than two 

observers are required if the observer 

workload restriction at paragraph 

(c)(5)(ii) of this section would otherwise 

preclude sampling as required under 

§ 679.63(a)(1). 

(B) Unlisted AFA catcher/processors. 

The owner or operator of an unlisted 

AFA catcher/processor must provide at 

least two NMFS-certified observers for 

each day that the vessel is used to 

engage in directed fishing for pollock in 

the BSAI, or takes deliveries of pollock 

harvested in the BSAI. At least one 

observer must be certified as a lead level 

2 observer. When an unlisted AFA 

catcher/processor is not engaged in 

directed fishing for BSAI pollock and is 

not receiving deliveries of pollock 

harvested in the BSAI, the observer 


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51514 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 7, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

coverage requirements at paragraph 

(c)(1)(iv) of this section apply. 

(C) AI directed pollock fishery 

catcher/processors and motherships. A 

catcher/processor participating in the AI 

directed pollock fishery or a mothership 

processing pollock harvested in the AI 

directed pollock fishery must have on 

board at least two NMFS-certified 

observers, at least one of which must be 

certified as a lead level 2 observer, for 

each day that the vessel is used to 

harvest, process, or take deliveries of 

groundfish. More than two observers are 

required if the observer workload 

restriction at paragraph (c)(5)(ii) of this 

section would otherwise preclude 

sampling as required under 

§ 679.63(a)(1). 

(ii) Observer work load. The time 

required for the observer to complete 

sampling, data recording, and data 

communication duties may not exceed 

12 consecutive hours in each 24-hour 

period, and the observer may not 

sample more than 9 hours in each 24- 

hour period. 

(6) Amendment 80 vessels and nonAFA trawl catcher/processors. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E9–24221 Filed 10–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 0810141351–9087–02] 

RIN 0648–XS03 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Greenland Turbot in 

the Aleutian Islands Subarea of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; apportionment 

of reserves; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS apportions amounts of 

the non-specified reserve to the initial 

total allowable catch (ITAC) of 

Greenland turbot in the Aleutian Islands 

subarea. This action is necessary to 

allow the fisheries to continue 

operating. It is intended to promote the 

goals and objectives of the fishery 

management plan for the BSAI. 

DATES: Effective October 2, 2009 

through 2400 hrs, Alaska local time, 

December 31, 2009. Comments must be 

received at the following address no 

later than 4:30 p.m., Alaska local time, 

October 19, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue 

Salveson, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: 

Ellen Sebastian. You may submit 

comments, identified by 0648–XS03, 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) 

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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patty Britza, 907–586–7376. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

BSAI exclusive economic zone 

according to the Fishery Management 

Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands Management Area 

(FMP) prepared by the North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council under 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act. Regulations governing fishing by 

U.S. vessels in accordance with the FMP 

appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 

and 50 CFR part 679. 

The 2009 ITAC of Greenland turbot in 

the Aleutian Islands subarea was 

established as 1,947 metric tons (mt) by 

the final 2009 and 2010 harvest 

specifications for groundfish of the 

BSAI (74 FR 7359, February 17, 2009). 

In accordance with § 679.20(a)(3) the 

Regional Administrator, Alaska Region, 

NMFS, has reviewed the most current 

available data and finds that the ITAC 

for Greenland turbot in the Aleutian 

Islands subarea needs to be 

supplemented from the non-specified 

reserve in order to promote efficiency in 

the utilization of fishery resources in the 

BSAI and allow fishing operations to 

continue. 

Therefore, in accordance with 

§ 679.20(b)(3), NMFS apportions from 

the non-specified reserve of groundfish 

343 mt to the Greenland turbot ITAC in 

the Aleutian Islands subarea. This 

apportionment is consistent with 

§ 679.20(b)(1)(i) and does not result in 

overfishing of a target species because 

the revised ITAC is equal to or less than 

the specifications of the acceptable 

biological catch in the final 2009 and 

2010 harvest specifications for 

groundfish in the BSAI (74 FR 7359, 

February 17, 2009). 

The harvest specification for 

Greenland turbot included in the 

harvest specifications for groundfish in 

the BSAI (74 FR 7359, February 17, 

2009) for the 2009 ITAC is revised as 

follows: 2,290 mt for Greenland turbot 

in the Aleutian Islands subarea. 

Classification 

This action responds to the best 

available information recently obtained 

from the fishery. The Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, 

(AA) finds good cause to waive the 

requirement to provide prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment 

pursuant to the authority set forth at 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 

§ 679.20(b)(3)(iii)(A) as such a 

requirement is impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest. This 

requirement is impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest as it 

would prevent NMFS from responding 

to the most recent fisheries data in a 

timely fashion and would delay the 

apportionment of the non-specified 

reserves of groundfish to the Greenland 

turbot fishery in the Aleutian Islands 

subarea. Immediate notification is 

necessary to allow for the orderly 

conduct and efficient operation of this 

fishery, to allow the industry to plan for 

the fishing season, and to avoid 

potential disruption to the fishing fleet 

and processors. NMFS was unable to 

publish a notice providing time for 

public comment because the most 

recent, relevant data only became 

available as of September 29, 2009. 

The AA also finds good cause to 

waive the 30-day delay in the effective 

date of this action under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3). This finding is based upon 

the reasons provided above for waiver of 

prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment. 

Under § 679.20(b)(3)(iii), interested 

persons are invited to submit written 

comments on this action (see 

ADDRESSES) until October 19, 2009. 


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