Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 178 / Friday, September 15, 2017 / Proposed Rules 43323 

comments. There is no limit on the 

length of the attachments. 

Please submit one copy (two copies if 

submitting by mail or hand delivery) of 

your comments, including the 

attachments, to the docket following the 

instructions given above under 

ADDRESSES. Please note, if you are 

submitting comments electronically as a 

PDF (Adobe) file, we ask that the 

documents submitted be scanned using 

an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) 

process, thus allowing the agency to 

search and copy certain portions of your 

submissions. 

How do I submit confidential business 

information? 

If you wish to submit any information 

under a claim of confidentiality, you 

should submit three copies of your 

complete submission, including the 

information you claim to be confidential 

business information, to the Office of 

the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the 

address given above under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. In addition, you 

may submit a copy (two copies if 

submitting by mail or hand delivery), 

from which you have deleted the 

claimed confidential business 

information, to the docket by one of the 

methods given above under ADDRESSES. 

When you send a comment containing 

information claimed to be confidential 

business information, you should 

include a cover letter setting forth the 

information specified in NHTSA’s 

confidential business information 

regulation (49 CFR part 512). 

Will the agency consider late 

comments? 

NHTSA will consider all comments 

received before the close of business on 

the comment closing date indicated 

above under DATES. To the extent 

possible, the Agency will also consider 

comments received after that date. 

Given that we intend for the policy 

document to be a living document and 

to be developed in an iterative fashion, 

subsequent opportunities to comment 

will also be provided periodically. 

How can I read the comments submitted 

by other people? 

You may read the comments received 

at the address given above under 

COMMENTS. The hours of the docket 

are indicated above in the same 

location. You may also see the 

comments on the Internet, identified by 

the docket number at the heading of this 

notice, at http://www.regulations.gov. 

Please note that, even after the 

comment closing date, NHTSA will 

continue to file relevant information in 

the docket as it becomes available. 

Further, some people may submit late 

comments. Accordingly, the agency 

recommends that you periodically 

check the docket for new material. 

Issued in Washington, DC, under authority 

delegated by 49 CFR 1.95. 

Nathaniel Beuse, 

Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety 

Research. 

[FR Doc. 2017–19637 Filed 9–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

RIN 0648–BG81 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Highly Migratory Fisheries; 

Amendment 5 to the Highly Migratory 

Species Fishery Management Plan; 

California Drift Gillnet Fishery; 

Implementation of a Federal Limited 

Entry Drift Gillnet Permit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of an 

amendment to a fishery management 

plan; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(Council) has submitted Amendment 5 

to the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. 

West Coast Fisheries for Highly 

Migratory Species (HMS FMP) for 

review by the Secretary of Commerce. 

The intent of Amendment 5 is to 

implement a federal limited entry (LE) 

permit for the California/Oregon largemesh drift gillnet (DGN) fishery. The 

amendment would bring the State of 

California’s LE DGN permit program 

under Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(MSA) authority. All current California 

DGN permit holders would be eligible to 

apply for, and receive, a federal DGN 

permit and no additional DGN permits 

would be created. The amendment is 

administrative in nature and is not 

anticipated to result in increased 

activity, effort, or capacity in the 

fishery. 

DATES: Comments on Amendment 5 

must be received by November 14, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by NOAA–NMFS–2017–0052, 

by any one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017- 

0052, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Lyle Enriquez, NMFS West Coast 

Region, 501 W. Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, 

Long Beach, CA 90802. Include the 

identifier ‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2017–0052’’ 

in the comments. 

• Instructions: Comments must be 

submitted by one of the above methods 

to ensure they are received, 

documented, and considered by NMFS. 

Comments sent by any other method, to 

any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period, may not be considered. All 

comments received are a part of the 

public record and will generally be 

posted for public viewing on 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information 

(e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted 

voluntarily by the sender will 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). 

Copies of Amendment 5 and other 

supporting documents are available via 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov, docket NOAA– 

NMFS–2017–0052 or by contacting the 

Regional Administrator, Barry Thom, 

NMFS West Coast Region, 1201 NE 

Lloyd Blvd., Portland, OR 97232–2182, 

or RegionalAdministrator.WCRHMS@

noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lyle 

Enriquez, NMFS, West Coast Region, 

562–980–4025, or Lyle.Enriquez@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The HMS FMP was prepared by the 

Council and is implemented under the 

authority of the MSA by regulations at 

50 CFR part 660. Although it adopted all 

conservation and management measures 

in place under various federal statutes 

(e.g., Marine Mammal Protection Act, 

Endangered Species Act) and state 

regulations, the HMS FMP did not 

incorporate the LE DGN permit 

programs of California and Oregon. 

Currently, the large-mesh DGN fishery 

(14′′ minimum mesh size) is federally 

managed under the HMS FMP and via 

regulations of the states of California 

and Oregon to conserve target and nontarget stocks, including protected 

species that are incidentally captured. 

California has an active LE DGN 

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43324 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 178 / Friday, September 15, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

program, Oregon no longer issues DGN 

permits, and DGN fishing is prohibited 

in Washington. 

Since 2014, the Council has 

considered transitioning California’s LE 

DGN permit program from state to MSA 

authority. On March 12, 2017, the 

Council adopted a final preferred 

alternative that would transition the 

State of California issued LE DGN 

permit program from state management 

to federal management under MSA 

authority and entitle all fishermen 

authorized to fish with large-mesh DGN 

gear under state law to be eligible to 

receive a federal LE DGN permit. As of 

August 31, 2017, 70 California LE DGN 

permits were issued for the 2016–2017 

fishing season, and 67 have been 

renewed for the 2017–2018 fishing 

season. The average number of active 

DGN vessels per year from 2010 through 

2016 is 20 vessels. The action would 

neither increase capacity within the 

DGN fishery, nor would it incentivize or 

stimulate fishing effort or activity of 

current latent permits. After the initial 

issuance of a federal DGN permit, no 

additional permits would be issued, and 

permits that are not renewed in future 

years would be permanently expired by 

NMFS. 

In order to participate in the DGN 

fishery, current participants must 

possess a State of California LE DGN 

permit, a California commercial fishing 

license, a California general gill/ 

trammel net permit, and a California 

swordfish permit. Additionally, the 

vessel that the participant fishes from 

must have a federal Pacific Highly 

Migratory Species (HMS) permit with a 

DGN gear endorsement. After the LE 

DGN permit transitions from the State of 

California to federal management, each 

participant will need to hold all the 

same permits and licenses, except that 

the federal LE DGN permit will take 

place of the State of California LE DGN 

permit. Although these permits and 

licenses would be required to fish, 

possession of a current and up-to-date 

State of California LE DGN permit is the 

only permit required to initially obtain 

a federal LE DGN permit. 

This amendment would adopt many 

of the current State of California 

management measures associated with 

the fishery. For example, NMFS would 

adopt current California requirements 

regarding the assignment of a permit 

(i.e., issued to an individual and 

assigned to a specific vessel), the 

transfer of permits between permittees 

(i.e., a permit must be held for three 

years before it is eligible to be 

transferred), and an annual renewal 

cycle. 

Upon the date of publication of the 

final rule to implement Amendment 5, 

all 70 state-eligible permit holders 

would be eligible to receive a federal 

DGN permit if they have renewed their 

state DGN permit by March 31, 2018. 

Permit holders who fail to renew their 

state DGN permit by March 31, 2018, 

will not be eligible for a federal DGN 

permit. As of August 31, 2017, 67 

permittees have renewed their state LE 

DGN permit. If a state LE DGN permit 

is transferred after publication of the 

proposed rule to implement 

Amendment 5, the transferee, but not 

the transferor, would be eligible to 

receive a federal LE DGN permit upon 

publication of the final rule. 

Federal LE DGN permits would be 

issued annually for the fishing year 

starting April 1 and ending March 31 of 

the following year. Permits would 

expire on March 31 of each year and, 

after initial issuance (expected in 2018), 

the permit renewal deadline would be 

April 30 of the fishing year. A 

completed DGN permit renewal form 

must be received by NMFS no later than 

close-of-business April 30. Any renewal 

form received after that date would 

result in the permanent expiration of the 

Federal DGN permit. A permit owner 

who fails to submit a renewal by the 

deadline may submit a renewal form to 

NMFS with a written statement that the 

failure to renew the permit by the 

deadline was proximately caused by the 

permit owner’s illness or injury. When 

a permit owner has died, the owner’s 

estate or other personal representative 

may submit a statement explaining that 

the permit owner’s death has prevented 

a timely renewal. The permit holder, or 

in the case of a deceased permit owner, 

the estate or other personal 

representative, will need to provide 

written proof of illness, injury or death. 

NMFS will not consider any such 

renewal request made after July 31. If 

the permit expires, it would 

permanently expire and NMFS would 

not reissue the permit. A permittee 

would need to hold a federal LE DGN 

permit for three or more years before it 

would be eligible to be transferred. This 

vesting period would extend across both 

state and federal permit programs (i.e., 

if a permit holder held a state LE DGN 

permit for two years and a federal LE 

DGN permit for one year, the permit 

may be transferred). 

Public comments on Amendment 5 

must be received by November 14, 2017, 

to be considered by NMFS in the 

decision whether to approve, 

disapprove, or partially approve 

Amendment 5. NMFS expects to 

publish and request public comment on 

the proposed regulation to implement 

Amendment 5 in the near future. Public 

comments on the proposed rule must be 

received by the end of the comment 

period on the amendment to be 

considered in the approval/disapproval 

decision on the amendment. All 

comments received during the comment 

period for the amendment, whether 

specifically directed to the amendment, 

or the proposed rule, will be considered 

in the approval/disapproval decision. 

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

Dated: September 12, 2017. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–19662 Filed 9–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with PROPOSALS