Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; Annual Specifications, 6662-6663 [2015-02421]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 25 / Friday, February 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 80
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Fuel additives,
Gasoline, Motor vehicle pollution.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Dated: January 23, 2015.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 140811659–5070–02]
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the Environmental Protection
Agency is amending 40 CFR part 80 as
follows:
RIN 0648–XD437
PART 80—REGULATION OF FUELS
AND FUEL ADDITIVES
AGENCY:
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries;
Annual Specifications
1. The authority citation for part 80
continues to read as follows:
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7414, 7521, 7542,
7545, and 7601(a).
SUMMARY:
■
2. Section 80.70 is amended by adding
paragraph (n) to read as follows:
■
§ 80.70
Covered areas.
*
*
*
*
*
(n) The areas included in paragraph
(n) of this section are located within the
ozone transport region established
under Clean Air Act section 184(a), are
not classified as a Marginal, Moderate,
Serious, or Severe ozone nonattainment
area, and have opted into the
reformulated gasoline program. They are
covered areas for the purposes of
subparts D, E, and F of this part.
(1) The southern Maine counties of
York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc,
Androscoggin, Kennebec, Knox, and
Lincoln are a covered area beginning
June 1, 2015. The prohibitions of Clean
Air Act section 211(k)(5) apply to all
persons other than retailers and
wholesale purchaser-consumers in these
counties beginning May 1, 2015. The
prohibitions of section 211(k)(5) of the
Clean Air Act apply to retailers and
wholesale purchaser-consumers in these
counties beginning on June 1, 2015.
(2) [Reserved]
■ 3. Section 80.72 is amended by adding
paragraph (c)(8) to read as follows:
§ 80.72 Procedures for opting out of the
covered areas.
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
*
*
*
*
*
(c) * * *
(8) Notwithstanding any other
provision of paragraph (c) of this
section, for an area that opted in
pursuant to Clean Air Act section
211(k)(6)(B), the Administrator shall not
set the effective date for removal of the
area earlier than four years after the
commencement date of opt-in.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2015–02185 Filed 2–5–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
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17:54 Feb 05, 2015
Jkt 235001
NMFS implements the annual
catch limit (ACL), harvest guideline
(HG), and associated annual reference
points for Pacific mackerel in the U.S.
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the
Pacific coast for the fishing season of
July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.
This rule is implemented according to
the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS)
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The
2014–2015 HG for Pacific mackerel is
29,170 metric tons (mt). This is the
primary commercial fishing target level.
The annual catch target (ACT), which
will be the directed fishing harvest
target, is 24,170 mt. If the fishery attains
the ACT, the directed fishery will close,
reserving the difference between the HG
(29,170 mt) and ACT as a 5,000 mt setaside for incidental landings in other
CPS fisheries and other sources of
mortality. This final rule is intended to
conserve and manage the Pacific
mackerel stock off the U.S. West Coast.
DATES: Effective March 9, 2015 through
June 30, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joshua Lindsay, West Coast Region,
NMFS, (562) 980–4034.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During
public meetings each year, the estimated
biomass for Pacific mackerel is
presented to the Pacific Fishery
Management Council’s (Council) CPS
Management Team (Team), the
Council’s CPS Advisory Subpanel
(Subpanel) and the Council’s Scientific
and Statistical Committee (SSC), where
the biomass and the status of the
fisheries are reviewed and discussed.
The biomass estimate is then presented
to the Council along with the calculated
overfishing limit (OFL), acceptable
biological catch (ABC), ACL, HG and
ACT recommendations and comments
from the Team, Subpanel and SSC.
Following review by the Council and
after hearing public comment, the
Council adopts a biomass estimate and
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Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
makes its catch level recommendations
to NMFS.
The purpose of this final rule is to
implement the 2014–2015 ACL, HG,
ACT and other annual catch reference
points, including OFL and an ABC that
takes into consideration uncertainty
surrounding the current estimate of
biomass for Pacific mackerel in the U.S.
EEZ off the Pacific coast. The CPS FMP
and its implementing regulations
require NMFS to set these annual catch
levels for the Pacific mackerel fishery
based on the annual specification
framework in the FMP. This framework
includes a harvest control rule that
determines the HG, the primary
management target for the fishery for the
current fishing season. The HG is based,
in large part, on the current estimate of
stock biomass. The harvest control rule
in the CPS FMP is HG =
[(Biomass¥Cutoff) * Fraction *
Distribution] with the parameters
described as follows:
1. Biomass. The estimated stock
biomass of Pacific mackerel for the
2014–2015 management season is
157,106 mt.
2. Cutoff. This is the biomass level
below which no commercial fishery is
allowed. The FMP established this level
at 18,200 mt.
3. Fraction. The harvest fraction is the
percentage of the biomass above 18,200
mt that may be harvested.
4. Distribution. The average portion of
the Pacific mackerel biomass estimated
in the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific coast is
70 percent and is based on the average
historical larval distribution obtained
from scientific cruises and the
distribution of the resource according to
the logbooks of aerial fish-spotters.
In June 2014 the Council adopted and
recommended to NMFS for the 2014–
2015 Pacific mackerel fishing season an
OFL of 32,992 metric tons (mt), an ABC
and ACL of 30,138 mt each, a HG of
29,170 mt, and an ACT of 24,170 mt.
These catch specifications are based on
the control rules established in the CPS
FMP and a biomass estimate of 157,106
mt; the biomass estimate is the result of
a 2011 full stock assessment as updated
with a catch-only projection estimate.
The annual biomass estimates are an
explicit part of the various harvest
control rules for Pacific mackerel, and
as the estimated biomass decreases or
increases from one year to the next, the
resulting allowable catch levels
similarly trend. The Pacific mackerel
fishing season runs from July 1 to June
30.
Upon attainment of the ACT, directed
fishing would close, reserving the
difference between the HG and ACT
(5,000 mt) as a set-aside for incidental
E:\FR\FM\06FER1.SGM
06FER1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 25 / Friday, February 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
landings in other CPS fisheries and
other sources of mortality. For the
remainder of the fishing year, incidental
landings would also be constrained to a
45-percent incidental catch allowance
when Pacific mackerel are landed with
other CPS (in other words, no more than
45 percent by weight of the CPS landed
per trip may be Pacific mackerel),
except that up to 1 mt of Pacific
mackerel could be landed without
landing any other CPS. Upon attainment
of the HG (29,170 mt), no retention of
Pacific mackerel would be allowed in
CPS fisheries. The purpose of the
incidental set-aside and allowance of an
incidental fishery is to allow for the
restricted incidental landings of Pacific
mackerel in other fisheries, particularly
other CPS fisheries, when the directed
fishery is closed to reduce potential
discard of Pacific mackerel and allow
for continued prosecution of other
important CPS fisheries.
The NMFS West Coast Regional
Administrator will publish a notice in
the Federal Register announcing the
date of any closure to either directed or
incidental fishing. Additionally, to
ensure the regulated community is
informed of any closure, NMFS will also
make announcements through other
means available, including fax, email,
and mail to fishermen, processors, and
state fishery management agencies.
On October 20, 2014, a proposed rule
was published for this action and public
comments solicited (79 FR 62590). No
comments were received.
Detailed information on the fishery
and the stock assessment are found in
the reports ‘‘Pacific Mackerel (Scomber
japonicus) Stock Assessment for USA
Management in the 2011–12 Fishing
Year’’ and ‘‘Pacific Mackerel Biomass
Projection Estimate for USA
Management (2014–15)’’ (see
ADDRESSES).
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the
Assistant Administrator, NMFS, has
determined that this final rule is
consistent with the CPS FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, and other applicable law.
These specifications are exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of
the Department of Commerce certified
to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration during
the proposed rule stage that this action
would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:54 Feb 05, 2015
Jkt 235001
certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here.
No comments were received regarding
this certification. As a result, a
regulatory flexibility analysis was not
required and none was prepared.
There are no reporting, recordkeeping,
or other compliance requirements
required by this rule. Additionally, no
other Federal rules duplicate, overlap or
conflict with this rule.
This action does not contain a
collection-of-information requirement
for purposes of the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
6663
lobsters (50 CFR 404.10(a)).
Accordingly, NMFS establishes the
harvest guideline for the NWHI
commercial lobster fishery for calendar
year 2015 at zero lobsters. Thus, no
harvest of NWHI lobster resources is
allowed.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 3, 2015
H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015–02419 Filed 2–5–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 3, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[FR Doc. 2015–02421 Filed 2–5–15; 8:45 am]
50 CFR Part 679
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
[Docket No. 131021878–4158–02]
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XD758
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Pacific cod by Pot
Catcher/Processors in the Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Management Area
50 CFR Part 665
AGENCY:
RIN 0648–XD745
Pacific Island Fisheries; 2015 Harvest
Guideline; Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands Lobster
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of lobster harvest
guideline.
AGENCY:
NMFS establishes the annual
harvest guideline for the commercial
lobster fishery in the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands for calendar year 2015
at zero lobsters.
DATES: February 6, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob
Harman, NMFS PIR Sustainable
Fisheries, tel 808–725–5170.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI)
commercial lobster fishery is managed
under the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for
the Hawaiian Archipelago. The
regulations at 50 CFR 665.252(b) require
NMFS to publish an annual harvest
guideline for lobster Permit Area 1,
comprised of Federal waters around the
NWHI. Regulations governing the
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National
Monument in the NWHI prohibit the
unpermitted removal of monument
resources (50 CFR 404.7), and establish
a zero annual harvest guideline for
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4700
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National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
NMFS is prohibiting directed
fishing for Pacific cod by catcher/
processors using pot gear in the Bering
Sea and Aleutian Islands management
area (BSAI). This action is necessary to
prevent exceeding the A season
apportionment of the 2015 Pacific cod
total allowable catch allocated to
catcher/processors using pot gear in the
BSAI.
DATES: Effective 1200 hours, Alaska
local time (A.l.t.), February 4, 2015,
through 1200 hours, A.l.t., September 1,
2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh
Keaton, 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 A season apportionment of the
2015 Pacific cod total allowable catch
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\06FER1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6662-6663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02421]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 140811659-5070-02]
RIN 0648-XD437
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species
Fisheries; Annual Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS implements the annual catch limit (ACL), harvest
guideline (HG), and associated annual reference points for Pacific
mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific
coast for the fishing season of July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.
This rule is implemented according to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS)
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 2014-2015 HG for Pacific mackerel is
29,170 metric tons (mt). This is the primary commercial fishing target
level. The annual catch target (ACT), which will be the directed
fishing harvest target, is 24,170 mt. If the fishery attains the ACT,
the directed fishery will close, reserving the difference between the
HG (29,170 mt) and ACT as a 5,000 mt set-aside for incidental landings
in other CPS fisheries and other sources of mortality. This final rule
is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific mackerel stock off the
U.S. West Coast.
DATES: Effective March 9, 2015 through June 30, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Lindsay, West Coast Region,
NMFS, (562) 980-4034.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During public meetings each year, the
estimated biomass for Pacific mackerel is presented to the Pacific
Fishery Management Council's (Council) CPS Management Team (Team), the
Council's CPS Advisory Subpanel (Subpanel) and the Council's Scientific
and Statistical Committee (SSC), where the biomass and the status of
the fisheries are reviewed and discussed. The biomass estimate is then
presented to the Council along with the calculated overfishing limit
(OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), ACL, HG and ACT
recommendations and comments from the Team, Subpanel and SSC. Following
review by the Council and after hearing public comment, the Council
adopts a biomass estimate and makes its catch level recommendations to
NMFS.
The purpose of this final rule is to implement the 2014-2015 ACL,
HG, ACT and other annual catch reference points, including OFL and an
ABC that takes into consideration uncertainty surrounding the current
estimate of biomass for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. EEZ off the
Pacific coast. The CPS FMP and its implementing regulations require
NMFS to set these annual catch levels for the Pacific mackerel fishery
based on the annual specification framework in the FMP. This framework
includes a harvest control rule that determines the HG, the primary
management target for the fishery for the current fishing season. The
HG is based, in large part, on the current estimate of stock biomass.
The harvest control rule in the CPS FMP is HG = [(Biomass-Cutoff) *
Fraction * Distribution] with the parameters described as follows:
1. Biomass. The estimated stock biomass of Pacific mackerel for the
2014-2015 management season is 157,106 mt.
2. Cutoff. This is the biomass level below which no commercial
fishery is allowed. The FMP established this level at 18,200 mt.
3. Fraction. The harvest fraction is the percentage of the biomass
above 18,200 mt that may be harvested.
4. Distribution. The average portion of the Pacific mackerel
biomass estimated in the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific coast is 70 percent
and is based on the average historical larval distribution obtained
from scientific cruises and the distribution of the resource according
to the logbooks of aerial fish-spotters.
In June 2014 the Council adopted and recommended to NMFS for the
2014-2015 Pacific mackerel fishing season an OFL of 32,992 metric tons
(mt), an ABC and ACL of 30,138 mt each, a HG of 29,170 mt, and an ACT
of 24,170 mt. These catch specifications are based on the control rules
established in the CPS FMP and a biomass estimate of 157,106 mt; the
biomass estimate is the result of a 2011 full stock assessment as
updated with a catch-only projection estimate. The annual biomass
estimates are an explicit part of the various harvest control rules for
Pacific mackerel, and as the estimated biomass decreases or increases
from one year to the next, the resulting allowable catch levels
similarly trend. The Pacific mackerel fishing season runs from July 1
to June 30.
Upon attainment of the ACT, directed fishing would close, reserving
the difference between the HG and ACT (5,000 mt) as a set-aside for
incidental
[[Page 6663]]
landings in other CPS fisheries and other sources of mortality. For the
remainder of the fishing year, incidental landings would also be
constrained to a 45-percent incidental catch allowance when Pacific
mackerel are landed with other CPS (in other words, no more than 45
percent by weight of the CPS landed per trip may be Pacific mackerel),
except that up to 1 mt of Pacific mackerel could be landed without
landing any other CPS. Upon attainment of the HG (29,170 mt), no
retention of Pacific mackerel would be allowed in CPS fisheries. The
purpose of the incidental set-aside and allowance of an incidental
fishery is to allow for the restricted incidental landings of Pacific
mackerel in other fisheries, particularly other CPS fisheries, when the
directed fishery is closed to reduce potential discard of Pacific
mackerel and allow for continued prosecution of other important CPS
fisheries.
The NMFS West Coast Regional Administrator will publish a notice in
the Federal Register announcing the date of any closure to either
directed or incidental fishing. Additionally, to ensure the regulated
community is informed of any closure, NMFS will also make announcements
through other means available, including fax, email, and mail to
fishermen, processors, and state fishery management agencies.
On October 20, 2014, a proposed rule was published for this action
and public comments solicited (79 FR 62590). No comments were received.
Detailed information on the fishery and the stock assessment are
found in the reports ``Pacific Mackerel (Scomber japonicus) Stock
Assessment for USA Management in the 2011-12 Fishing Year'' and
``Pacific Mackerel Biomass Projection Estimate for USA Management
(2014-15)'' (see ADDRESSES).
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the Assistant Administrator, NMFS, has
determined that this final rule is consistent with the CPS FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, and other applicable law.
These specifications are exempt from review under Executive Order
12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received
regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility
analysis was not required and none was prepared.
There are no reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance
requirements required by this rule. Additionally, no other Federal
rules duplicate, overlap or conflict with this rule.
This action does not contain a collection-of-information
requirement for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 3, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-02421 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
