Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Allocating Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crab Fishery Resources, 52806-52808 [E8-21146]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Proposed Rules
to these regulations, and because they
do not impose a collection of
information on small entities, the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
chapter 6) does not apply. Pursuant to
section 7805(f) of the Code, these
regulations have been submitted to the
Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small
Business Administration for comment
on its impact on small business.
Comments and Requests for a Public
Hearing
Drafting Information
The principal author of these
regulations is Matthew Cooper, Office of
the Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure
and Administration).
List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 301
Employment taxes, Estate taxes,
Excise taxes, Gift taxes, Income taxes,
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Proposed Amendments to the
Regulations
Accordingly, 26 CFR part 301 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 301—PROCEDURE AND
ADMINISTRATION
Paragraph 1. The authority citation
for part 301 continues to read in part as
follows:
rmajette on PRODPC74 with PROPOSALS
Par. 2. Section 301.6707A–1 is added
to read as follows:
§ 301.6707A–1 Failure to include on any
return or statement any information
required to be disclosed under section 6011
with respect to a reportable transaction.
[The text of proposed § 301.6707A–1
is the same as the text of § 301.6707A–
Jkt 214001
BILLING CODE 4830–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 680
RIN 0648–AW73
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Allocating Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands King and Tanner
Crab Fishery Resources
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery
management plan amendment; request
for comments.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Bering Sea/Aleutian
Islands (BSAI) Crab Rationalization
Program (Program) allocates BSAI crab
resources among harvesters, processors,
and coastal communities. Amendment
27 would amend the Fishery
Management Plan for Bering Sea/
Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs
(FMP) and the Program to include the
statutory requirements of section 122(e)
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management
Reauthorization Act of 2006 and modify
the methods used to determine
individual processor quota share (IPQ)
use caps when crab are processed under
custom processing arrangements.
Amendment 27 also would modify
limits on the amount of Aleutian Islands
golden and red king crab IPQ that could
be processed at a facility. This action is
intended to promote the goals and
objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, the FMP, and other applicable
laws.
Comments on the amendment
must be submitted on or before
November 10, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue
Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. You may submit
comments, identified by ‘‘RIN 0648–
AW73’’, by any one of the following
methods:
DATES:
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *
13:34 Sep 10, 2008
Linda E. Stiff,
Deputy Commissioner for Services and
Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E8–21158 Filed 9–10–08; 8:45 am]
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Before these proposed regulations are
adopted as final regulations,
consideration will be given to any
written (a signed original and eight (8)
copies) or electronic comments that are
submitted timely to the IRS. The IRS
and the Treasury Department request
comments on the clarity of the proposed
rules and how they can be made easier
to understand. All comments will be
made available for public inspection
and copying. A public hearing may be
scheduled if requested by any person
who timely submits comments. If a
public hearing is scheduled, notice of
the date, time and place for the public
hearing will be published in the Federal
Register.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
1T published elsewhere in this issue of
the Federal Register].
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• Electronic Submissions: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site at
https://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 https://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.
Copies of Amendment 27, the
Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA),
the categorical exclusion prepared for
this action, and the Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) prepared for the
Crab Rationalization Program may be
obtained from the NMFS Alaska Region
at the address above or from the Alaska
Region Web site at https://
www.fakr.noaa.gov/
sustainablefisheries.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Glenn Merrill, 907–586–7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that
each regional fishery management
council submit any fishery management
plan amendment it prepares to NMFS
for review and approval, disapproval, or
partial approval by the Secretary of
Commerce (Secretary). The MagnusonStevens Act also requires that NMFS,
upon receiving a fishery management
plan amendment, immediately publish a
notice in the Federal Register
announcing that the amendment is
available for public review and
comment.
The king and Tanner crab fisheries in
the exclusive economic zone of the
BSAI are managed under the FMP. The
FMP was prepared by the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council)
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act as
amended by the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2004 (Pub. L.
108–199, section 801). Amendments 18
and 19 to the FMP amended the FMP to
include the Program. Regulations
E:\FR\FM\11SEP1.SGM
11SEP1
rmajette on PRODPC74 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Proposed Rules
implementing these amendments were
published on March 2, 2005 (70 FR
10174), and are located at 50 CFR part
680.
Under the Program, NMFS issued
quota share (QS) to holders of License
Limitation Program (LLP) licenses and
crew onboard vessels. One type of QS,
catcher vessel owner (CVO) QS is
assigned to holders of LLP licenses who
delivered their catch onshore. Each year
QS yields an exclusive harvest privilege
for a portion of the total allowable catch
called individual fishing quota (IFQ).
NMFS also issued processor quota
share (PQS) under the Program. Each
year PQS yields an exclusive privilege
to process a portion of the IFQ. This
annual exclusive processing privilege is
called individual processor quota (IPQ).
CVO QS yields Class A and Class B IFQ.
Class A IFQ is required to be delivered
to a processor with matching IPQ within
specific geographic regions. Class B IFQ
can be delivered to any processor in any
geographic region. Ninety percent of the
IFQ derived from CVO QS is Class A
IFQ, and the remaining 10 percent is
Class B IFQ. These requirements ensure
that catch continues to be delivered to
processors and communities with
historic investment in the fisheries.
Currently, the Program establishes
limits, or caps, on the amount of PQS
and IPQ that a person can hold, and
caps on the amount of IPQ that can be
used at a processing facility. In each of
the nine BSAI crab fisheries under the
Program, a person is limited to holding
no more than 30 percent of the PQS
initially issued in the fishery and using
no more than the amount of IPQ
resulting from 30 percent of the initially
issued PQS in a given fishery. In
addition, no person is permitted to use
more than 60 percent of the IPQ crab in
the Bering Sea C. opilio fishery
designated for exclusive use in the north
region. Finally, no processing facility
can be used to process more than 30
percent of the IPQ in a crab fishery.
The Program is designed to minimize
the potential that PQS and IPQ use caps
could be evaded through the use of
corporate affiliations or other legal
relationships. To accomplish this, the
Program calculates a person’s IPQ use
cap by summing the total amount of IPQ
that (1) is held by that person; (2) is held
by other persons who are affiliated with
that person through common ownership
or control; and (3) is custom processed
at a facility at which an IPQ holder has
at least a 10 percent direct or indirect
ownership interest. Under existing
practices, a custom processing
arrangement exists when one IPQ holder
(1) has a contract with the owners of a
processing facility to have his crab
VerDate Aug<31>2005
13:34 Sep 10, 2008
Jkt 214001
processed at that facility; (2) that IPQ
holder does not have an ownership
interest in the processing facility; and
(3) that IPQ holder is not otherwise
affiliated with the owners of that crab
processing facility. In custom processing
arrangements, the IPQ holder contracts
with a facility operator to have the IPQ
crab processed according to his
specifications. Custom processing
arrangements typically occur when an
IPQ holder does not own an onshore
processing facility or cannot
economically operate a stationary
floating crab processor in a specific
region. NMFS applies IPQ crab that is
custom processed at a facility at which
an IPQ holder has at least a 10-percent
direct or indirect ownership interest
against both the IPQ holder owning the
facility, and the IPQ holder who is
having his crab custom processed at that
facility. This method for applying the
IPQ use cap effectively counts custom
processed IPQ crab against two separate
persons. Industry participants asserted
that this IPQ use cap calculation method
discouraged the use of custom
processing arrangements
The Council was prompted to
reexamine IPQ use cap calculations in
light of a statutory exemption to the
existing method of IPQ use cap
calculation for custom processed crab
that was created by the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Reauthorization Act
(MSRA) of 2006 (Pub. L. 109–479).
Section 122(e) of the MSRA specifically
directs NMFS to modify the means for
calculating IPQ use caps that apply to a
person who is custom processing C.
opilio crab in the north region. To fully
implement Section 122(e), the Council
and NMFS would need to adopt
conforming regulations, and define
several of the terms used in Section
122(e).
In response, the Council initiated an
analysis and received comments from
the public on implementation of section
122(e) of the MSRA. During this
process, participants in other crab
fisheries indicated that their processing
operations could become more efficient
if IPQ use cap exemptions for custom
processing arrangements
congressionally mandated for the north
region Bering Sea C. opilio fishery could
also be extend to other crab fisheries.
Specifically, participants in crab
fisheries with historically low TAC
allocations or active in crab fisheries in
more remote geographic regions argued
that exempting IPQ crab processed
under custom processing arrangements
from the IPQ use caps of the owners of
facilities could improve their
operational efficiency.
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
52807
Based on the analysis and public
input, the Council adopted Amendment
27 in December 2007, and submitted
Amendment 27 to NMFS for review by
the Secretary of Commerce. Amendment
27 would modify the FMP to exempt
individual processor quota share (IPQ)
that is subject to a custom processing
arrangement in specific fisheries, at
specific facilities, or in specific crabdependent communities from the IPQ
use cap of the processing facility
owners. Amendment 27 also would
establish limits on the amount of
Aleutian Islands golden and red king
crab IPQ that could be processed at a
facility. Specifically, IPQ holders who
own processing facilities would not be
considered as using IPQ when IPQ crab
is (1) received by an IPQ holder at their
facility under a custom processing
arrangement; (2) received and processed
at specific types of processing facilities;
or (3) derived from PQS earned from
processing in specific communities
where crab has been historically
delivered. This change in IPQ use cap
calculation would only apply to specific
crab fisheries. In addition, Amendment
27 would limit the amount of Eastern
Aleutian Islands golden king crab and
Western Aleutian Islands red king crab
that could be processed at a facility.
Finally, Amendment 27 would contain
the clarifications necessary to
implement section 122(e) of the MSRA.
Public comments are being solicited
on proposed Amendment 27 through
the end of the comment period (see
DATES). NMFS intends to publish a
proposed rule in the Federal Register
for public comment that would
implement Amendment 27, following
NMFS’ evaluation under the MagnusonStevens Act procedures. Public
comments on the proposed rule must be
received by the close of the comment
period on Amendment 27 to be
considered in the approval/disapproval
decision on Amendment 27. All
comments received by the end of the
comment period on Amendment 27,
whether specifically directed to the
FMP amendment or the proposed rule,
will be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on Amendment
27. Comments received after the end of
the public comment period for
Amendment 27, even if received within
the comment period for the proposed
rule, will not be considered in the
approval/disapproval decision on the
amendment. To be considered,
comments must be received—not just
postmarked or otherwise transmitted—
by the close of business on the last day
of the comment period.
E:\FR\FM\11SEP1.SGM
11SEP1
52808
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Proposed Rules
Dated: September 8, 2008.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8–21146 Filed 9–10–08; 8:45 am]
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BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
VerDate Aug<31>2005
13:34 Sep 10, 2008
Jkt 214001
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4702
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E:\FR\FM\11SEP1.SGM
11SEP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 177 (Thursday, September 11, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52806-52808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-21146]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 680
RIN 0648-AW73
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Allocating
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crab Fishery Resources
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery management plan amendment;
request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Crab Rationalization
Program (Program) allocates BSAI crab resources among harvesters,
processors, and coastal communities. Amendment 27 would amend the
Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner
Crabs (FMP) and the Program to include the statutory requirements of
section 122(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 and modify the methods used to
determine individual processor quota share (IPQ) use caps when crab are
processed under custom processing arrangements. Amendment 27 also would
modify limits on the amount of Aleutian Islands golden and red king
crab IPQ that could be processed at a facility. This action is intended
to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.
DATES: Comments on the amendment must be submitted on or before
November 10, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS,
Attn: Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by ``RIN
0648-AW73'', by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site at https://
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 https://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.
Copies of Amendment 27, the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), the categorical exclusion
prepared for this action, and the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
prepared for the Crab Rationalization Program may be obtained from the
NMFS Alaska Region at the address above or from the Alaska Region Web
site at https://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Merrill, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each
regional fishery management council submit any fishery management plan
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or
partial approval by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). The
Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving a fishery
management plan amendment, immediately publish a notice in the Federal
Register announcing that the amendment is available for public review
and comment.
The king and Tanner crab fisheries in the exclusive economic zone
of the BSAI are managed under the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the
North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) under the Magnuson-
Stevens Act as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004
(Pub. L. 108-199, section 801). Amendments 18 and 19 to the FMP amended
the FMP to include the Program. Regulations
[[Page 52807]]
implementing these amendments were published on March 2, 2005 (70 FR
10174), and are located at 50 CFR part 680.
Under the Program, NMFS issued quota share (QS) to holders of
License Limitation Program (LLP) licenses and crew onboard vessels. One
type of QS, catcher vessel owner (CVO) QS is assigned to holders of LLP
licenses who delivered their catch onshore. Each year QS yields an
exclusive harvest privilege for a portion of the total allowable catch
called individual fishing quota (IFQ).
NMFS also issued processor quota share (PQS) under the Program.
Each year PQS yields an exclusive privilege to process a portion of the
IFQ. This annual exclusive processing privilege is called individual
processor quota (IPQ). CVO QS yields Class A and Class B IFQ. Class A
IFQ is required to be delivered to a processor with matching IPQ within
specific geographic regions. Class B IFQ can be delivered to any
processor in any geographic region. Ninety percent of the IFQ derived
from CVO QS is Class A IFQ, and the remaining 10 percent is Class B
IFQ. These requirements ensure that catch continues to be delivered to
processors and communities with historic investment in the fisheries.
Currently, the Program establishes limits, or caps, on the amount
of PQS and IPQ that a person can hold, and caps on the amount of IPQ
that can be used at a processing facility. In each of the nine BSAI
crab fisheries under the Program, a person is limited to holding no
more than 30 percent of the PQS initially issued in the fishery and
using no more than the amount of IPQ resulting from 30 percent of the
initially issued PQS in a given fishery. In addition, no person is
permitted to use more than 60 percent of the IPQ crab in the Bering Sea
C. opilio fishery designated for exclusive use in the north region.
Finally, no processing facility can be used to process more than 30
percent of the IPQ in a crab fishery.
The Program is designed to minimize the potential that PQS and IPQ
use caps could be evaded through the use of corporate affiliations or
other legal relationships. To accomplish this, the Program calculates a
person's IPQ use cap by summing the total amount of IPQ that (1) is
held by that person; (2) is held by other persons who are affiliated
with that person through common ownership or control; and (3) is custom
processed at a facility at which an IPQ holder has at least a 10
percent direct or indirect ownership interest. Under existing
practices, a custom processing arrangement exists when one IPQ holder
(1) has a contract with the owners of a processing facility to have his
crab processed at that facility; (2) that IPQ holder does not have an
ownership interest in the processing facility; and (3) that IPQ holder
is not otherwise affiliated with the owners of that crab processing
facility. In custom processing arrangements, the IPQ holder contracts
with a facility operator to have the IPQ crab processed according to
his specifications. Custom processing arrangements typically occur when
an IPQ holder does not own an onshore processing facility or cannot
economically operate a stationary floating crab processor in a specific
region. NMFS applies IPQ crab that is custom processed at a facility at
which an IPQ holder has at least a 10-percent direct or indirect
ownership interest against both the IPQ holder owning the facility, and
the IPQ holder who is having his crab custom processed at that
facility. This method for applying the IPQ use cap effectively counts
custom processed IPQ crab against two separate persons. Industry
participants asserted that this IPQ use cap calculation method
discouraged the use of custom processing arrangements
The Council was prompted to reexamine IPQ use cap calculations in
light of a statutory exemption to the existing method of IPQ use cap
calculation for custom processed crab that was created by the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act (MSRA)
of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-479). Section 122(e) of the MSRA specifically
directs NMFS to modify the means for calculating IPQ use caps that
apply to a person who is custom processing C. opilio crab in the north
region. To fully implement Section 122(e), the Council and NMFS would
need to adopt conforming regulations, and define several of the terms
used in Section 122(e).
In response, the Council initiated an analysis and received
comments from the public on implementation of section 122(e) of the
MSRA. During this process, participants in other crab fisheries
indicated that their processing operations could become more efficient
if IPQ use cap exemptions for custom processing arrangements
congressionally mandated for the north region Bering Sea C. opilio
fishery could also be extend to other crab fisheries. Specifically,
participants in crab fisheries with historically low TAC allocations or
active in crab fisheries in more remote geographic regions argued that
exempting IPQ crab processed under custom processing arrangements from
the IPQ use caps of the owners of facilities could improve their
operational efficiency.
Based on the analysis and public input, the Council adopted
Amendment 27 in December 2007, and submitted Amendment 27 to NMFS for
review by the Secretary of Commerce. Amendment 27 would modify the FMP
to exempt individual processor quota share (IPQ) that is subject to a
custom processing arrangement in specific fisheries, at specific
facilities, or in specific crab-dependent communities from the IPQ use
cap of the processing facility owners. Amendment 27 also would
establish limits on the amount of Aleutian Islands golden and red king
crab IPQ that could be processed at a facility. Specifically, IPQ
holders who own processing facilities would not be considered as using
IPQ when IPQ crab is (1) received by an IPQ holder at their facility
under a custom processing arrangement; (2) received and processed at
specific types of processing facilities; or (3) derived from PQS earned
from processing in specific communities where crab has been
historically delivered. This change in IPQ use cap calculation would
only apply to specific crab fisheries. In addition, Amendment 27 would
limit the amount of Eastern Aleutian Islands golden king crab and
Western Aleutian Islands red king crab that could be processed at a
facility. Finally, Amendment 27 would contain the clarifications
necessary to implement section 122(e) of the MSRA.
Public comments are being solicited on proposed Amendment 27
through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends to
publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register for public comment that
would implement Amendment 27, following NMFS' evaluation under the
Magnuson-Stevens Act procedures. Public comments on the proposed rule
must be received by the close of the comment period on Amendment 27 to
be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on Amendment 27. All
comments received by the end of the comment period on Amendment 27,
whether specifically directed to the FMP amendment or the proposed
rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on
Amendment 27. Comments received after the end of the public comment
period for Amendment 27, even if received within the comment period for
the proposed rule, will not be considered in the approval/disapproval
decision on the amendment. To be considered, comments must be
received--not just postmarked or otherwise transmitted--by the close of
business on the last day of the comment period.
[[Page 52808]]
Dated: September 8, 2008.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-21146 Filed 9-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
