9778 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 29 / Monday, February 12, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–3518 Filed 2–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 980414095-8240-02; I.D.

121800D]

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Dealer Reporting Requirements

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of termination of

the deferral of Interactive Voice

Response (IVR) System reporting

requirements for Atlantic cod and

haddock purchases; stay.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

memorandum of January 20, 2001, from

the Assistant to the President and Chief

of Staff, entitled ‘‘Regulatory Review

Plan,’’ published in the Federal Register

on January 24, 2001, this action

temporarily stays for 60 days the

effectiveness of the notification

published in the Federal Register on

December 29, 2000, that terminated the

deferral of the IVR system reporting

requirements for Atlantic cod and

haddock purchases for dealers issued

Northeast Multispecies permits.

DATES: Effective February 12, 2001, the

rule document, Dealer Reporting

Requirements, published at 65 FR 82944

on December 29, 2000, is stayed from

January 28, 2001, until April 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kelley McGrath, (978) 281-9307 or

Gregory Power, (978) 281-9304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To

effectively monitor landings of quotamanaged species on a timely basis,

NMFS issued a final rule (63 FR 52639,

October 1, 1998) requiring federally

permitted dealers to submit a weekly

summary of purchases of quotamanaged species through the IVR

system within 3 days of the end of the

reporting week. To minimize the burden

of dealer reporting requirements, the

regulations implementing the use of an

IVR system also include authorization

for the Regional Administrator,

Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional

Administrator) to defer the IVR

reporting requirements for any species if

landings are not expected to reach levels

that would cause the applicable target

exploitation rate specified in the

Fisheries Management Plan for that

species to be achieved, resulting in

specific management changes. In order

to minimize the burden of dealer

reporting requirements, the Regional

Administrator deferred IVR reporting

requirements for Atlantic mackerel,

butterfish and regulated Northeast

Multispecies, which included Atlantic

cod and haddock in a notification action

effective November 1, 1998 (63 FR

57931, October 29, 1998). The Regional

Administrator determined that in order

to collect accurate data on a real-time

basis, she needed to terminate the

deferral for Atlantic cod and haddock to

ensure that the Atlantic cod and

haddock species are maintained at

sustainable levels. Therefore, a

notification action was published on

December 29, 2000 (65 FR 82944),

terminating the deferral of the IVR

system reporting requirements for

Atlantic cod and haddock purchases.

This action is effective on January 28,

2001. However, consistent with the

guidance contained in the ‘‘Regulatory

Review Plan,’’ NMFS is staying the

effectiveness of the IVR system

reporting requirements deferral through

March 31, 2001. Therefore, the deferral

of the IVR reporting requirements for

Atlantic mackerel, butterfish and

regulated Northeast Multispecies

including Atlantic cod and haddock,

will remain in effect through March 31,

2001. The termination of the stay of the

IVR system reporting requirements for

Atlantic cod and haddock purchases is

effective April 1, 2001. All other

reporting requirements as discussed in

the December 29, 2000, notification

remain in effect.

Classification

This action is authorized by 50 CFR

part 648 and is exempt from review

under Executive Order 12866.

To the extent that 5 U.S.C. 553 applies

to this action, it is exempt from notice

and comment because it constitutes a

rule of procedure under 5 U.S.C.

553(b)(A). Alternatively, NMFS’

implementation of this rule without

opportunity for public comment is

based on the good cause exceptions in

5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 553(d)(3), in that

seeking public comment is

impracticable, unnecessary and contrary

to the public interest. Given the

imminence of the effective date, seeking

prior public comment on this temporary

stay would have been impractical, as

well as contrary to the public interest in

the orderly promulgation and

implementation of regulations. Delays

in implementing the stay while seeking

public comment would have led to

confusion in the fishing industry

concerning which reporting

requirements would be required for

dealers during this interim period.

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

Dated: February 6, 2001.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–3547 Filed 2–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S