Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 198 / Monday, October 16, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 48007 

statutory deadline. As an alternative, to meet the 

intent of the FAST Act, DOT conducted the testing 

itself and contracted with NAS to review and 

monitor the test plan. 

4 DOT’s Rulemaking on Electronically Controlled 

Pneumatic Brakes Could Benefit from Additional 

Data and Transparency, GAO–17–122, Oct 12, 2016. 

5 2015 Electronically Controlled Pneumatic Brake 

Rule: Comparison of DOT Forecasts for Selected 

Data Points for 2015 and 2016 to Preliminary Data 

for Those Years, GAO–17–567R, May 31, 2017 

7311 required the testing to 

‘‘objectively, accurately, and reliably 

measure[s] the performance of ECP 

brake systems relative to other braking 

technologies or systems, such as 

distributed power and 2-way end-oftrain devices.’’ The FAST Act also 

provided for GAO review of the 

potential costs and benefits of ECP 

brakes. In response, GAO completed an 

evaluation of the business benefits, 

safety benefits, and costs that DOT 

estimated in the RIA for the final rule.4

Additionally, GAO recently completed a 

second evaluation comparing the 

forecasted values of certain data points 

that were used to support DOT’s ECP 

brake analysis.5 Both audits are 

discussed in the updated RIA. 

PHMSA is providing the public with 

an opportunity to comment on the 

updated RIA. To enable PHMSA to meet 

section 7311’s deadline, all comments 

must be received in the docket 

referenced in the ADDRESSES section of 

this document by November 1, 2017. 

Comments received after that date will 

be considered to the extent practicable, 

provided the comments do not result in 

additional delay or expense. All 

documents and comments related to this 

matter, including the updated RIA, are 

available for review at http://

www.regulations.gov in docket number 

PHMSA–2017–0102. 

Issued in Washington, DC on October 10, 

2017, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 

part 1.97. 

Drue Pearce, 

Acting Administrator, Pipeline and 

Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22281 Filed 10–13–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 151211999–6343–02] 

RIN 0648–XF747 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; Trimester 2 Georges Bank 

Cod Total Allowable Catch Area 

Closure; Updated 2017 Georges Bank 

Cod Annual Catch Limit for the 

Common Pool; Possession Prohibition 

for the Common Pool Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; area closure 

and inseason adjustment. 

SUMMARY: We are closing the Georges 

Bank Cod Trimester Total Allowable 

Catch Area for the remainder of 

Trimester 2, through December 31, 

2017. This action also prohibits 

possession of Georges Bank cod by 

common pool vessels for the remainder 

of the fishing year, through April 30, 

2018. In addition, we are reducing the 

2017 fishing year Georges Bank cod subannual catch limit for the common pool 

due to an overage in fishing year 2016. 

DATES: Effective October 11, 2017, 

through April 30, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Spencer Talmage, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9232, 

spencer.talmage@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We 

recently approved Framework 

Adjustment 56, which set 2017 annual 

catch limits (ACLs) for groundfish 

stocks (82 FR 16133). The possibility of 

minor adjustments and corrections was 

noted in the Framework 56 proposed 

and final rules because final allocations 

are not always available at the time of 

the rulemaking for the upcoming fishing 

year. 

Based on final 2016 catch information 

that recently became available, the 

fishing year 2016 common pool subACL for Georges Bank (GB) cod was 

exceeded by 2.8 metric tons (mt). If the 

common pool sub-ACL for any stock is 

exceeded, we are required to reduce the 

common pool sub-ACL by the amount of 

the overage in the next fishing year. 

Therefore, this action reduces the 

fishing year 2017 GB cod common pool 

sub-ACL by 2.8 mt, which results in a 

revised 2017 GB cod common pool subACL of 7.0 mt. The revised Trimester 

Total Allowable Catches (TACs) are 

provided in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—CURRENT AND REVISED GEORGES BANK COD TRIMESTER TACS

Trimester 

1 

Trimester 

2 

Trimester 

3 

Allocation Percentage ......................................................................................................................................... 25% ....... 37% ........ 38%. 

Current Trimester TAC ........................................................................................................................................ 2.4 mt ..... 3.6 mt ..... 3.7 mt. 

Revised Trimester TAC ....................................................................................................................................... 1.7 mt ..... 2.6 mt ..... 2.7 mt. 

As of October 3, 2017, the common 

pool fishery is projected to have caught 

123 percent of the adjusted Trimester 2 

TAC (2.6 mt) for GB cod. Additionally, 

the common pool fishery has caught 83 

percent of its adjusted 2017 sub-ACL, 

and has only 1.2 mt left for the 

remainder of the fishing year. Federal 

regulations at 50 CFR 648.82(n)(2)(ii) 

require the Regional Administrator to 

close a common pool Trimester TAC 

Area for a stock when 90 percent of the 

Trimester TAC is projected to be caught. 

The closure applies to all common pool 

vessels fishing with gear capable of 

catching that stock for the remainder of 

the trimester. 

As a result, effective October 11, 2017, 

the GB Cod Trimester TAC Area is 

closed for the remainder of Trimester 2, 

through December 31, 2017, to all 

common pool vessels fishing on a 

Northeast multispecies trip with trawl 

gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/ 

hook gear, including handgear vessels. 

The GB Cod Trimester TAC Area 

consists of statistical areas 521, 522, 

525, and 561. The area reopens at the 

beginning of Trimester 3, on January 1, 

2018. 

Data indicate that common pool 

vessels have caught a significant portion 

of the total catch from outside the 

statistical areas that will be affected by 

the closure described above. The 

Regional Administrator is authorized 

under 50 CFR 648.86(o)(1) to adjust 

possession and trip limits for common 

pool vessels to prevent exceeding the 


jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with RULES
48008 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 198 / Monday, October 16, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

pertinent common pool quotas during 

the fishing year. Given this, and because 

the common pool has caught more than 

80 percent of its annual quota, the 

possession of GB cod by all common 

pool vessels is prohibited effective 

October 11, 2017, through April 30, 

2018. This action is intended to prevent 

the common pool from further 

exceeding its Trimester 2 TAC or from 

exceeding its annual quota. 

If a vessel declared its trip through the 

Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) or the 

interactive voice response system, and 

crossed the VMS demarcation line prior 

to October 11, 2017, it may complete its 

trip within the Trimester TAC Area. A 

vessel that has set gillnet gear prior to 

October 11, 2017, may complete its trip 

by hauling such gear. 

Any overage of the Trimester 1 or 2 

TACs must be deducted from the 

Trimester 3 TAC. If the common pool 

fishery exceeds its total quota for a stock 

in the 2017 fishing year, the overage 

must be deducted from the common 

pool’s quota for that stock for fishing 

year 2018. Any uncaught portion of the 

Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 TACs is 

carried over into the next trimester. 

However, any uncaught portion of the 

common pool’s total annual quota may 

not be carried over into the following 

fishing year. 

Weekly quota monitoring reports for 

the common pool fishery are on our 

Web site at: http://

www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

ro/fso/MultiMonReports.htm. We will 

continue to monitor common pool catch 

through vessel trip reports, dealerreported landings, VMS catch reports, 

and other available information and, if 

necessary, we will make additional 

adjustments to common pool 

management measures. 

Classification 

The NMFS Assistant Administrator 

has determined that this temporary rule 

is consistent with the Northeast 

Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, 

other provisions of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act, and other applicable 

law. 

This action is exempt from the 

procedures of Executive Order 12866 

because this action contains no 

implementing regulations. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 5 

U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive prior notice 

and the opportunity for public comment 

and the 30-day delayed effectiveness 

period because it would be 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. 

There are several reasons that notice 

and comment are impracticable, 

unnecessary, and contrary to the public 

interest. First, the proposed and final 

rules for Framework 56 explained the 

possibility of minor adjustments and 

corrections because final allocations are 

not always available at the time of the 

rulemaking for the upcoming fishing 

year. These adjustments are routine and 

formulaic, required by regulation, and 

anticipated by industry. No comments 

were received on the potential for these 

adjustments, which provide an accurate 

accounting of the common pool’s 

allocation. 

The regulations require the Regional 

Administrator to close a trimester TAC 

area to the common pool fishery when 

90 percent of the Trimester TAC for a 

stock has been caught. Updated catch 

information only recently became 

available indicating that the common 

pool fishery is projected to have caught 

123 percent of its Trimester 2 TAC for 

GB cod as of October 3, 2017. The time 

necessary to provide for prior notice and 

comment, and a 30-day delay in 

effectiveness, would prevent the 

immediate closure of the GB Cod 

Trimester TAC Area and prohibition of 

GB cod possession. Not closing the area 

immediately and prohibiting GB cod 

possession increases the likelihood that 

the common pool fishery will further 

exceed its trimester TAC, or exceed its 

annual quota, to the detriment of this 

stock, which could undermine 

management objectives of the Northeast 

Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. 

Additional overages would negatively 

affect the common pool fishery as a 

result of future overage paybacks or 

premature closures of the fishery. 

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

Dated: October 11, 2017. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22347 Filed 10–11–17; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 161017970–6999–02] 

RIN 0648–XF721 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Quota Transfer 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

State of North Carolina is transferring a 

portion of its 2017 commercial summer 

flounder quota to the State of New York. 

This quota adjustment is necessary to 

comply with the Summer Flounder, 

Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 

Management Plan quota transfer 

provisions. This announcement informs 

the public of the revised commercial 

quotas for North Carolina and New 

York. 

DATES: Effective October 13, 2017, 

through December 31, 2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Hanson, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9180. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are found in 50 CFR 

648.100 through 648.110. These 

regulations require annual specification 

of a commercial quota that is 

apportioned among the coastal states 

from Maine through North Carolina. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

state is described in § 648.102, and the 

initial 2017 allocations were published 

on December 22, 2016 (81 FR 93842). 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder 

Fishery Management Plan, as published 

in the Federal Register on December 17, 

1993 (58 FR 65936), provided a 

mechanism for transferring summer 

flounder commercial quota from one 

state to another. Two or more states, 

under mutual agreement and with the 

concurrence of the NMFS Greater 

Atlantic Regional Administrator, can 

transfer or combine summer flounder 

commercial quota under § 648.102(c)(2). 

The Regional Administrator is required 

to consider the criteria in 

§ 648.102(c)(2)(i)(A) through (C) in the 

evaluation of requests for quota transfers 

or combinations. 

North Carolina is transferring 3,000 lb 

(1,361 kg) of summer flounder 

commercial quota to New York. This 

transfer was requested to repay landings 

by a North Carolina-permitted vessel 

that landed in New York under a safe 

harbor agreement. 

The revised summer flounder quotas 

for calendar year 2017 are now: North 

Carolina, 1,536,693 lb (697,032 kg); and 

New York, 435,764 lb (197,659 kg); 

based on the initial quotas published in 

the 2017 Summer Flounder, Scup, and 

Black Sea Bass Specifications and 

subsequent transfers. 


jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with RULES