Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 159 / Friday, August 18, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 39363 

Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW., 

Room 6W253, Washington, DC 20202. 

Telephone: (202) 453–7249 or by email 

at: Scott.Filter@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 

telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay 

Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 6, 2017, the Department 

announced dates by which institutions 

subject to the Department’s gainful 

employment (GE) regulations must 

comply with certain provisions of the 

GE regulations relating to the 

submission of alternate earnings 

appeals. On June 15, 2017, the 

Department announced its intention to 

negotiate issues related to gainful 

employment. On July 5, 2017, the 

Department announced that it would 

publish a Federal Register document to 

establish a new deadline for institutions 

to submit alternate earnings appeals in 

light of the Court Order in American 

Association of Cosmetology Schools v. 

DeVos, Civil Action No. 17–0263, D.D.C. 

June 28, 2017 (Court Order). 

The Department establishes October 

6, 2017, as the deadline for all programs 

to file a notice of intent to file alternate 

earnings appeal. The Department 

establishes February 1, 2018, as the 

deadline for all programs to file an 

alternate earnings appeal. However, 

programs are encouraged to submit their 

appeals before this deadline. These 

deadlines and the associated timelines 

are being established on a one-time 

basis to comply with the Court Order. 

Although the Court Order only applies 

to institutions that are members of the 

American Association of Cosmetology 

Schools, the Court noted concerns with 

the response threshold required for the 

graduate surveys used for all programs 

in the alternate earnings appeal under 

34 CFR 668.406, and the Department is 

establishing these new deadlines for all 

programs subject to the GE regulations 

in 34 CFR part 668. Institutions that 

have already submitted a notice of 

intent to file an alternate earnings 

appeal, or an alternate earnings appeal, 

do not have to resubmit those items or 

amend their alternate earnings appeal in 

connection with the modified 

submission requirements described 

below. Institutions that wish to 

supplement an alternate earnings appeal 

that has already been submitted may do 

so, and should contact Department staff 

to make those arrangements on or before 

October 6, 2017. 

To further comply with the Court 

Order, for alternate earnings appeals 

based on a graduate survey, the 

Department will not enforce 

§ 668.406(b)(3) or (c) to the extent these 

provisions require that a graduate 

survey contain responses from all 

students that are not exempted under 

§ 668.404(e), nor will the Department 

require a 50 percent threshold response 

rate. Instead, the Department will 

evaluate all graduate surveys, regardless 

of response rate, provided the 

submissions include the number of 

responses, the response rate, and a 

nonresponse bias analysis, as well as 

any other information the Department 

requests. The Department will consider 

the response rate, the nonresponse bias 

analysis, and any other information 

requested by the Secretary that indicates 

that the responses are a reliable measure 

of the program graduates’ true earnings. 

Furthermore, for alternate earnings 

appeals based on data from Statesponsored data systems, the Department 

will not enforce § 668.406(b)(3) or (d) to 

the extent these provisions require that 

an appeal include earnings data for all 

students that are not exempted under 

§ 668.404(e), nor will the Department 

enforce § 668.406(d) to the extent that 

provision requires a 50 percent 

threshold to be met, or the earnings of 

30 students to be included, before the 

Department will consider an alternate 

earnings appeal. Instead, the 

Department will consider the validity of 

appeals using State-sponsored data on a 

case-by-case basis, taking into account 

the response rate and other information 

requested by the Secretary. 

In modifying the alternate appeals 

submission requirements, the 

Department seeks to reduce the burden 

on institutions in conducting these 

appeals while still ensuring that 

institutions provide enough information 

for the Department to determine 

whether the program graduates for 

whom alternate earnings data are 

provided are a valid representation of 

the overall cohort. Institutions must still 

submit the certifications and attestations 

required by § 668.406(c)(2) and (d)(3), as 

applicable, except to the extent 

inconsistent with anything in this 

document. 

Institutions intending to file a notice 

of intent to appeal do not have to issue 

warnings to students unless they fail to 

timely submit an alternate earnings 

appeal or the appeal is resolved. 

We invite your comments on this 

action. We will consider these 

comments in determining whether to 

take any future action in connection 

with the upcoming negotiated 

rulemaking. 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document in 

an accessible format (e.g., Braille, large 

print, audiotape, or compact disc) on 

request to the program contact person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

The official version of this document is 

the document published in the Federal 

Register. Free internet access to the 

official edition of the Federal Register 

and the Code of Federal Regulations is 

available via the Federal Digital System 

at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you 

can view this document, as well as all 

other documents of this Department 

published in the Federal Register, in 

text or Portable Document Format 

(PDF). To use PDF you must have 

Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 

available free at this site. 

You may also access documents of the 

Department published in the Federal 

Register by using the article search 

feature at: www.federalregister.gov. 

Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature of this site, you can limit 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

Dated: August 14, 2017. 

Betsy DeVos, 

Secretary of Education. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17423 Filed 8–17–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 170104016–7732–02] 

RIN 0648–XF138 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; Approval of Modifications to a 

Regulatory Exemption for Groundfish 

Sectors 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Through this action, NMFS 

approves a change to a regulatory 

exemption for sector vessels in the 

Northeast multispecies fishery for 

fishing years 2017 and 2018. This action 

is necessary to respond to a request from 

sectors to change a previously approved 

exemption. The change is intended to 

increase the use of the sector exemption, 

which allows sector vessels to combine 

small-mesh exempted fishing trips and 

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39364 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 159 / Friday, August 18, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

groundfish trips, and to provide sector 

vessels with additional fishing 

opportunities. 

DATES: The modified regulatory 

exemption is effective August 17, 2017, 

through April 30, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of each sector’s final 

operations plan are available from the 

NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional 

Fisheries Office: John K. Bullard, 

Regional Administrator, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle 

Molton, Fishery Management Specialist, 

(978) 281–9236. To review Federal 

Register documents referenced in this 

rule, you can visit: http://

www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

sustainable/species/multispecies. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

A sector is a group of persons (three 

or more persons, none of whom have an 

ownership interest in the other two 

persons in the sector) holding limited 

access groundfish permits who have 

voluntarily entered into a contract and 

agree to certain fishing restrictions for a 

specified period of time. Sectors are 

self-selecting, meaning each sector can 

choose its members. The Northeast 

multispecies sector management system 

allocates a portion of the NE 

multispecies stocks to each sector. 

These annual sector allocations are 

known as annual catch entitlements 

(ACEs) and are based on the collective 

fishing history of a sector’s members. 

Sectors may receive allocations of largemesh NE multispecies stocks with the 

exception of Atlantic halibut, 

windowpane flounder, Atlantic 

wolffish, and ocean pout, which are 

non-allocated species. The ACEs are a 

portion of a stock’s annual catch limit 

(ACL) available to commercial NE 

multispecies vessels within a sector. A 

sector determines how to harvest its 

ACEs and may decide to limit 

operations to fewer vessels. 

Sectors submit operations plans and 

contracts to us for approval. We must 

approve a sector’s operations plan in 

order to allocate ACE to the sector and 

for the sectors to operate. Because 

sectors elect to receive an allocation 

under a quota-based system, the 

Northeast Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) grants sector 

vessels several ‘‘universal’’ exemptions 

from the FMP’s effort controls. Sectors 

may request additional exemptions to 

streamline operations for sector vessels 

and to increase economic opportunities. 

We review these requests for 

consistency with the NE Multispecies 

FMP and other FMPs, as well as for 

resource and community impacts. We 

may approve requested exemptions that 

benefit sector vessels and that are 

consistent with the goals and objectives 

of the relevant FMPs. Sectors are 

prohibited from requesting exemptions 

from permitting restrictions, gear 

restrictions designed to minimize 

habitat impacts, and most reporting 

requirements. 

Modified Sector Exemption 

Modifications to the Sectors Small-Mesh 

Fishery Exemption Area 

On April 28, 2017, we published an 

interim final rule (82 FR 19618) that 

approved sector operations plans, 

granted regulatory exemptions for 

sectors, and provided preliminary 

allocations of annual catch entitlements 

to sectors for the start of the 2017 

fishing year . This interim final rule 

included consideration of a request from 

sectors to modify the Sectors SmallMesh Fishery Exemption, which was 

first granted in fishing year 2015. 

This exemption allows vessels to 

combine sector and small-mesh fishery 

trips in two discrete areas in Southern 

New England. Vessels may first target 

groundfish with large-mesh trawl gear 

and then switch to small-mesh trawl 

gear to target exempted fishery species 

like squid. These combined trips are 

more efficient and allow sector vessels 

to increase revenue and profitability on 

a single trip. There are additional 

requirements for gear modifications on 

the small-mesh portion of the trip to 

reduce bycatch of groundfish, and all 

legal groundfish caught on the smallmesh portion of the trip must be kept 

and counted against the sector’s 

allocation. A vessel using this 

exemption is still required to meet the 

same at-sea monitoring coverage as 

normal groundfish trips, and is also 

required to submit a catch report 

through its Vessel Monitoring System 

(VMS) unit when switching gears. 

The previously approved small-mesh 

sector exemption area includes two 

discrete areas, one that parallels the 

southern shore of Long Island to the 

waters just off Narragansett Bay, and a 

second area south of Martha’s Vineyard 

(Figure 1). Sectors requested to modify 

the area to include all of statistical areas 

537, 539 and 613, which would expand 

the geographic footprint of the 

exemption area, to better reflect fishing 

practices in the area and increase 

efficiency and opportunities for sector 

vessels (Figure 2). We received one 

public comment on this proposed 

change to the Sectors Small-Mesh 

Fishery Exemption. The comment 

supported approval of the modification 

to the exemption as proposed. 

We are granting the modification to 

the exemption area, but as noted in the 

April 28, 2017, interim final rule, we are 

excluding areas that overlap with 

existing year-round groundfish closed 

areas or southern windowpane flounder 

accountability measure (AM) areas, 

regardless of whether the AMs are 

triggered, to be consistent with the goals 

and objectives of the NE Multispecies 

FMP. We are excluding the overlapping 

southern windowpane flounder AM 

areas because of concerns about 

potential interactions with windowpane 

flounder and other regulated groundfish 

species within the AM area. As with all 

sector exemptions, we will continue to 

monitor the use of the updated 

exemption, as well as any future 

changes to area management that the 

New England Fishery Management 

Council recommends. 

All other requirements of the Sectors 

Small-Mesh Fishery Exemption remain 

unchanged from those previously 

approved and implemented. Vessels 

using the exemption must fish with one 

of three trawl gear modifications when 

using small mesh: Drop-chain sweep 

with a minimum of 12 inches (30.48 cm) 

in length; a large-mesh belly panel with 

a minimum of 32-inch (81.28-cm) mesh 

size; or an excluder grate secured 

forward of the codend with an outlet 

hole forward of the grate with bar 

spacing of no more than 1.97 inches 

(5.00 cm) wide. These gear 

modifications, when fished properly, 

have been shown to reduce the catch of 

legal and sub-legal groundfish stocks. 

As in previously approved versions of 

the exemption, in order to facilitate 

proper coverage levels and assist with 

enforcement, the vessel is required to 

declare their intent to use small mesh to 

target small-mesh species by submitting 

a trip start hail through its VMS unit 

prior to departure. Trips declaring this 

exemption must stow their small-mesh 

gear and use their large-mesh gear first, 

and once finished with the large mesh, 

must submit a Multispecies Catch 

Report via VMS of all catch on board at 

that time and indicate that the smallmesh gear will now be fished. Once the 

Catch Report is sent, the vessel can then 

deploy small-mesh with the required 

modifications in the specific areas (see 

map above), outside of the Nantucket 

Lightship Closed Area, at which point, 

the large mesh cannot be redeployed. 

Any legal-sized allocated groundfish 

stocks caught during these small-mesh 

hauls must be landed and the associated 

landed weight (dealer or vessel trip 

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 159 / Friday, August 18, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 39365 

report (VTR)) will be deducted from the 

sector’s ACE. 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–C 


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Figure 1. Previously Approved Sectors Small-Mesh Fishery Exemption Areas, and 

Overlapping Southern Windowpane Accountability Measure and Groundfish Closed 

Areas. 

• Sectors Small-Mesh @lH Soufflem Windowpane Fishery Exemption Area •.·.•.·.· Flounder SmaB AM Area 

RXX'l Nantucket Lightship 122:221 Closed Area ~ Soufflem Windowpane ~ Flounder large AM Area 1 

Figure 2. Modified Sectors Small-Mesh Fishery Exemption Area, and Overlapping 

Southern Windowpane Accountability Measure and Groundfish Closed Areas. 

Sectors Small-Mesh • Fishery Exemption Area [JI Soufflem Windowpane 

(Slat Areas labeled) Flounder SmaB AM Area 

RXX'l Nantucket Lightship 

l.l229 Closed Area ~ Soufflem Windowpane ~ Flounder Large AM Area 1 
39366 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 159 / Friday, August 18, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator (AA) has 

determined that this final rule is 

consistent with the NE Multispecies 

FMP, other provisions of the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law. 

This action is exempt from the 

procedures of Executive Order 12866 

because this action contains no 

implementing regulations. 

This final rule is not an E.O. 13771 

regulatory action because it is not 

significant under E.O. 12866. 

This final rule does not contain 

policies with Federalism or ‘‘takings’’ 

implications as those terms are defined 

in E.O. 13132 and E.O. 12630, 

respectively. 

The AA finds good cause, under 

authority provided in 5. U.S.C. 

553(d)(1), to waive the 30-day delay in 

effective date because a delay in 

effectiveness would be contrary to the 

public interest. This rule does not 

impose any new requirements or costs 

on industry for which industry needs 

time to prepare to comply. Groundfish 

sectors requested this exemption to 

provide greater operational flexibility 

and to increase fishing opportunities. 

Delaying its effectiveness would 

unnecessarily restrict their fishing and 

lead to lost economic opportunity and 

efficiencies for sector vessels. 

Additionally, the small-mesh exemption 

is typically used by sector vessels in the 

fall. Because this rule changes the 

exemption area to increase use of the 

exemption, a delay in effectiveness 

would prevent sector vessels from the 

benefit of this change for the fall 2017 

season, thus undermining the intent of 

the rule. The interim final rule, which 

proposed this action, was originally 

delayed as a result of the untimely 

submission of Framework Adjustment 

56 by the New England Fishery 

Management Council, which prevented 

us from coordinating the publishing of 

the sector rule and the Framework 56 

rulemaking in time for May 1, 2017 start 

of the 2017 fishing year. For all of these 

reasons, a 30-day delay in effectiveness 

of this rule would be contrary to the 

public interest. 

This final rule is exempt from the 

procedures of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act because the preceding interim final 

rule was issued without opportunity for 

prior notice and comment. 

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

Dated: August 15, 2017. 

Chris Oliver, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17522 Filed 8–17–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 161020985–7181–02] 

RIN 0648–XF614 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Reallocation of 

Pollock in the Bering Sea Subarea 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; reallocation. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is reallocating 

projected unused amounts of Bering Sea 

subarea (BS) pollock from the incidental 

catch allowance to the directed 

fisheries. This action is necessary to 

allow the 2017 total allowable catch 

(TAC) of pollock to be harvested. 

DATES: Effective August 15, 2017, until 

2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Whitney, 907–586–7228. 

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 2017 pollock incidental catch 

allowance in the BS was established as 

47,210 metric tons (mt) by the 2017 and 

2018 final harvest specifications for 

groundfish in the BSAI (82 FR 11826, 

February 27, 2017), and as adjusted by 

reallocations (82 FR 31925, July 11, 

2017), in accordance with 

§ 679.20(a)(5)(i)(A)(1) and the American 

Fisheries Act (AFA) (Pub. L. 105–277, 

Division C, Title II). 

As of August 9, 2017, the 

Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, 

has determined that approximately 

21,000 (mt) of pollock remain in the 

incidental catch allowance. Based on 

projected harvest rates of other 

groundfish species and the expected 

incidental catch of pollock in those 

fisheries, the Regional Administrator 

has determined that 4,000 mt of pollock 

specified in the incidental catch 

allowance will not be necessary as 

incidental catch. Therefore, NMFS is 

apportioning the projected unused 

amount, 4,000 mt, of pollock from the 

incidental catch allowance to the 

directed fishing allowances established 

pursuant to § 679.20(a)(5)(i)(A). 

Pursuant to the pollock allocation 

requirements set forth in 

§ 679.20(a)(5)(i), this transfer will 

increase the allocation to catcher vessels 

harvesting pollock for processing by the 

inshore component by 2,000 mt, to 

catcher/processors and catcher vessels 

harvesting pollock for processing by 

catcher/processors in the offshore 

component by 1,600 mt, and to catcher 

vessels harvesting pollock for 

processing by motherships in the 

offshore component by 400 mt. Pursuant 

to § 679.20(a)(5)(i)(A)(4), 8.5 percent of 

the 1,600 mt allocated to catcher/

processors in the offshore component, 

136 mt, will be available for harvest 

only by eligible catcher vessels 

delivering to listed catcher/processors. 

Pursuant to § 679.20(a)(5)(i)(A)(4)(iii), an 

additional 8 mt or 0.5 percent of the 

catcher/processor sector allocation of 

pollock will be available to unlisted 

AFA catcher/processors. 

Pursuant to § 679.20(a)(5)(i)(A), 

Tables 4 and 5 of the 2017 and 2018 

final harvest specifications for 

groundfish in the BSAI are revised as 

follows: 

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