Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper-Grouper Fishery off the South Atlantic States; Amendment 37, 45641-45642 [2015-18736]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 147 / Friday, July 31, 2015 / Notices
possibly comment on. Because there are
no compelling reasons to deny
Petitioners’ request, in accordance with
section 733(c)(1)(A) of the Act, the
Department is postponing the deadline
for the preliminary determinations by
50 days.
For the reasons stated above, the
Department, in accordance with section
733(c)(1)(A) of the Act, is postponing
the deadline for the preliminary
determinations to no later than 190 days
after the date on which the Department
initiated these investigations. Therefore,
the new deadline for the preliminary
determinations is October 6, 2015. In
accordance with section 735(a)(1) of the
Act, the deadline for the final
determinations of these investigations
will continue to be 75 days after the
date of the preliminary determinations,
unless postponed at a later date.
This notice is issued and published
pursuant to section 733(c)(2) of the Act
and 19 CFR 351.205(f)(1).
Dated: July 24, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and
Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015–18843 Filed 7–30–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XE027
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of
Mexico, and South Atlantic; SnapperGrouper Fishery off the South Atlantic
States; Amendment 37
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare
an environmental impact statement
(EIS); request for comments; notice of
scoping meetings.
AGENCY:
NMFS, Southeast Region, in
collaboration with the South Atlantic
Fishery Management Council (South
Atlantic Council), intends to prepare an
EIS to evaluate a range of alternative
management actions in association with
Amendment 37 to the Fishery
Management Plan (FMP) for the
Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South
Atlantic Region (Amendment 37). The
purpose of this NOI is to solicit public
comments on the scope of issues to be
addressed in the EIS and to announce a
scoping meeting.
DATES: The Council will discuss
alternatives and take scoping comments
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
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17:44 Jul 30, 2015
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at a public meeting held via webinar
beginning at 6 p.m. on August 10, 2015.
Written comments on the scope of
issues to be addressed in the EIS will be
accepted until August 31, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Registration and technical
information for the public scoping
meeting held via webinar is found
under the Scoping Meeting heading
below.
Written comments may be submitted
on the NOI identified by ‘‘NOAA–
NMFS–2015–0083’’ by either of the
following methods:
• Electronic submissions: Submit
electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20150083, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Submit written comments to
Nikhil Mehta, NMFS Southeast Regional
Office (SERO), 263 13th Avenue South,
St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: 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 by NMFS. 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.),
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive information
submitted voluntarily by the sender will
be publicly accessible. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/
A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nikhil Mehta, NMFS SERO, telephone:
727–824–5305, or email: nikhil.mehta@
noaa.gov. Kim Iverson, Public
Information Officer, South Atlantic
Fisheries Management Council, 4055
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North
Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: 843–
571–4376, or email: kim.iverson@
safmc.net.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently,
hogfish are managed under two FMPs.
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery
Management Council (Gulf of Mexico
Council) manages one hogfish stock in
the FMP for the Reef Fish Resources of
the Gulf of Mexico. The South Atlantic
Council manages the other hogfish stock
in the FMP for the Snapper-Grouper
Fishery of the South Atlantic Region. In
August 2014, the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission
completed a benchmark stock
assessment for hogfish as part of the
Southeast Data, Assessment, and
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Fmt 4703
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45641
Review (SEDAR) process (SEDAR 37).
Amendment 37 responds to the August
2014 benchmark stock assessment of
hogfish that defined three separate
stocks in the South Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico, including one stock that is
subject to overfishing and is overfished.
Amendment 37 and the associated EIS
consider new reference points, status
determination criteria, catch levels, and
management measures for the two new
stocks in the South Atlantic, including
a rebuilding plan for the stock that is
overfished.
In October 2014, the South Atlantic
Council’s Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC) reviewed the stock
assessment and provided recommended
approaches for calculating fishing level
recommendations, which the South
Atlantic Council reviewed at their
December 2014 meeting. Based on
genetic evidence used in the stock
assessment, the SSC supported the
assessment’s approach of defining two
separate hogfish stocks in the South
Atlantic, one stock off Georgia and
North Carolina (GA-NC) and one stock
off the Florida Keys and eastern Florida
(FLK/EFL), and a third stock in the
eastern Gulf of Mexico off the west coast
of Florida (WFL).
The SSC determined that the stock
assessment for the GA-NC stock does
not represent the best scientific
information available for determining
stock status, i.e., whether the stock is
subject to overfishing or is overfished,
or for informing management decisions.
Instead, they recommended that catch
level recommendations for the GA-NC
hogfish stock be developed using the
Only Reliable Catch Stocks (ORCS)
approach set forth in Level 4 of the
Council’s acceptable biological catch
(ABC) control rule. Using the ORCS
approach, the ABC for the GA-NC stock
recommended by the SSC is 28,161
pounds whole weight (lb ww).
For the FLK/EFL stock, the SSC
determined that the benchmark stock
assessment represents the best scientific
information available and recommended
it for use in management decisions. The
assessment results indicate the FLK/EFL
stock is undergoing overfishing and is
overfished.
Amendment 37 and the associated EIS
consider and evaluate a number of
management actions responding to this
new scientific information and the
recommendations from the South
Atlantic Council’s SSC. The
management actions include modifying
the hogfish management unit from one
stock to two separate stocks in the South
Atlantic, and defining individual stock
boundaries, including the boundary
between the FLK/EFL stock managed by
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31JYN1
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45642
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 147 / Friday, July 31, 2015 / Notices
the South Atlantic Council and the WFL
stock managed by the Gulf of Mexico
Council. These boundary demarcations
will aid in enforcing regulations and in
tracking the annual catch limits (ACLs)
and annual catch targets (ACTs) for each
stock.
On February 17, 2015, NMFS notified
the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
Councils that the FLK/EFL stock is
overfished and undergoing overfishing,
based on the results of the 2014
benchmark stock assessment. Within
two years of such a notification, the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires an
FMP amendment or proposed
regulations be prepared and
implemented to end overfishing
immediately and to rebuild the affected
stock. Therefore, Amendment 37 and
the associated EIS also contain
rebuilding plan alternatives to increase
the biomass of the FLK/EFL stock to a
sustainable level within a specified time
period.
Finally, for both the FLK/EFL and
GA-NC stocks, Amendment 37 and the
associated EIS also contain alternatives
for management reference points
(optimum yield and maximum
sustainable yield), status determination
criteria (overfishing limit and minimum
stock size threshold), ACLs (including
by sector), ACTs, accountability
measures, and new or modified
commercial and recreational minimum
size limits, commercial trip limits, and
recreational bag limits.
In accordance with NOAA’s
Administrative Order 216–6, Section
5.02(c), Scoping Process, NMFS, in
collaboration with the South Atlantic
Council, is conducting scoping to help
identify significant environmental
issues related to these proposed actions
and alternatives. The public is invited to
attend the scoping meeting (date and
address below) and provide written
comments on the actions and
alternatives in the Amendment 37
scoping document. A copy of the
Amendment 37 scoping document is
available at https://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/
sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/
index.html. The preliminary actions and
alternatives included in the scoping
document may not represent the full
range of actions and alternatives that
will be considered and evaluated in
Amendment 37 and the associated EIS.
The South Atlantic Council will review
scoping comments at their September
meeting.
After the draft EIS (DEIS) associated
with Amendment 37 is completed, it
will be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). After filing,
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:44 Jul 30, 2015
Jkt 235001
the EPA will publish a notice of
availability of the DEIS for public
comment in the Federal Register. NMFS
will solicit public comment on the DEIS
for 45 days pursuant to regulations
issued by the Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) for implementing the
procedural provisions of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 40
CFR parts 1500–1508) and to NOAA’s
Administrative Order 216–6 regarding
NOAA’s compliance with NEPA and the
CEQ regulations.
The South Atlantic Council and
NMFS will consider public comments
received on the DEIS in developing the
final EIS (FEIS), and before the South
Atlantic Council votes to submit
Amendment 37 to NMFS for Secretarial
review, approval, and implementation
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
NMFS will announce in the Federal
Register the availability of the final
amendment and proposed
implementing regulations for public
review during the Magnuson-Stevens
Act Secretarial review period. The EPA
will announce the availability of the
FEIS for public review. NMFS will
consider all public comments received
during the Secretarial review period,
whether they are on the final
amendment, the proposed regulations,
or the FEIS, prior to final agency action.
Scoping Meeting
The scoping meeting will be held via
webinar on August 10, 2015. The
scoping meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and
will be accessible via the internet from
the South Atlantic Council’s Web site at
www.safmc.net. Registration for the
webinar is required. Registration
information will be posted on the South
Atlantic Council’s Web site at
www.safmc.net as it becomes available.
Webinar registrants may test or confirm
their computer setup for the webinar
one hour prior to the meeting and
contact Mike Collins at 843–763–1050
to address any questions regarding
webinar setup.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 27, 2015.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015–18736 Filed 7–30–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XC969
Draft Guidance for Assessing the
Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on
Marine Mammal Hearing—Acoustic
Threshold Levels for Onset of
Permanent and Temporary Threshold
Shifts
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
AGENCY:
The National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS), on behalf of
NMFS and the National Ocean Service
(referred collectively here as the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)), announces the
availability of a revised version of draft
guidance for assessing the effects of
anthropogenic sound on marine
mammal species under NOAA’s
jurisdiction. The guidance provides
updated received levels, or thresholds,
above which individual marine
mammals are predicted to experience
changes in their hearing sensitivity
(either temporary or permanent) for all
underwater anthropogenic sound
sources. NOAA solicits public comment
on the revised draft guidance based on
updated scientific information and
comments received during the first
public comment period.
DATES: Comments must be received by
September 14, 2015.
ADDRESSES: The revised draft guidance
is available in electronic form via the
Internet at https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/
pr/acoustics/.
You may submit comments, which
should be identified with NOAA–
NMFS–2013–0177, by any of the
following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal https://
www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Send comments to: Chief,
Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle
Conservation Division, Office of
Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910–
3226, Attn: Acoustic Guidance.
Instructions: 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, etc.) voluntarily
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 147 (Friday, July 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45641-45642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18736]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XE027
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Snapper-Grouper Fishery off the South Atlantic States; Amendment 37
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS); request for comments; notice of scoping meetings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the South
Atlantic Fishery Management Council (South Atlantic Council), intends
to prepare an EIS to evaluate a range of alternative management actions
in association with Amendment 37 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP)
for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment
37). The purpose of this NOI is to solicit public comments on the scope
of issues to be addressed in the EIS and to announce a scoping meeting.
DATES: The Council will discuss alternatives and take scoping comments
at a public meeting held via webinar beginning at 6 p.m. on August 10,
2015.
Written comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS
will be accepted until August 31, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Registration and technical information for the public
scoping meeting held via webinar is found under the Scoping Meeting
heading below.
Written comments may be submitted on the NOI identified by ``NOAA-
NMFS-2015-0083'' by either of the following methods:
Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0083, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon,
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Nikhil Mehta, NMFS
Southeast Regional Office (SERO), 263 13th Avenue South, St.
Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: 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 by NMFS. 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.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nikhil Mehta, NMFS SERO, telephone:
727-824-5305, or email: nikhil.mehta@noaa.gov. Kim Iverson, Public
Information Officer, South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, 4055
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405; telephone:
843-571-4376, or email: kim.iverson@safmc.net.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently, hogfish are managed under two
FMPs. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf of Mexico
Council) manages one hogfish stock in the FMP for the Reef Fish
Resources of the Gulf of Mexico. The South Atlantic Council manages the
other hogfish stock in the FMP for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the
South Atlantic Region. In August 2014, the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission completed a benchmark stock assessment for
hogfish as part of the Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR)
process (SEDAR 37). Amendment 37 responds to the August 2014 benchmark
stock assessment of hogfish that defined three separate stocks in the
South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, including one stock that is subject
to overfishing and is overfished. Amendment 37 and the associated EIS
consider new reference points, status determination criteria, catch
levels, and management measures for the two new stocks in the South
Atlantic, including a rebuilding plan for the stock that is overfished.
In October 2014, the South Atlantic Council's Scientific and
Statistical Committee (SSC) reviewed the stock assessment and provided
recommended approaches for calculating fishing level recommendations,
which the South Atlantic Council reviewed at their December 2014
meeting. Based on genetic evidence used in the stock assessment, the
SSC supported the assessment's approach of defining two separate
hogfish stocks in the South Atlantic, one stock off Georgia and North
Carolina (GA-NC) and one stock off the Florida Keys and eastern Florida
(FLK/EFL), and a third stock in the eastern Gulf of Mexico off the west
coast of Florida (WFL).
The SSC determined that the stock assessment for the GA-NC stock
does not represent the best scientific information available for
determining stock status, i.e., whether the stock is subject to
overfishing or is overfished, or for informing management decisions.
Instead, they recommended that catch level recommendations for the GA-
NC hogfish stock be developed using the Only Reliable Catch Stocks
(ORCS) approach set forth in Level 4 of the Council's acceptable
biological catch (ABC) control rule. Using the ORCS approach, the ABC
for the GA-NC stock recommended by the SSC is 28,161 pounds whole
weight (lb ww).
For the FLK/EFL stock, the SSC determined that the benchmark stock
assessment represents the best scientific information available and
recommended it for use in management decisions. The assessment results
indicate the FLK/EFL stock is undergoing overfishing and is overfished.
Amendment 37 and the associated EIS consider and evaluate a number
of management actions responding to this new scientific information and
the recommendations from the South Atlantic Council's SSC. The
management actions include modifying the hogfish management unit from
one stock to two separate stocks in the South Atlantic, and defining
individual stock boundaries, including the boundary between the FLK/EFL
stock managed by
[[Page 45642]]
the South Atlantic Council and the WFL stock managed by the Gulf of
Mexico Council. These boundary demarcations will aid in enforcing
regulations and in tracking the annual catch limits (ACLs) and annual
catch targets (ACTs) for each stock.
On February 17, 2015, NMFS notified the South Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico Councils that the FLK/EFL stock is overfished and undergoing
overfishing, based on the results of the 2014 benchmark stock
assessment. Within two years of such a notification, the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act)
requires an FMP amendment or proposed regulations be prepared and
implemented to end overfishing immediately and to rebuild the affected
stock. Therefore, Amendment 37 and the associated EIS also contain
rebuilding plan alternatives to increase the biomass of the FLK/EFL
stock to a sustainable level within a specified time period.
Finally, for both the FLK/EFL and GA-NC stocks, Amendment 37 and
the associated EIS also contain alternatives for management reference
points (optimum yield and maximum sustainable yield), status
determination criteria (overfishing limit and minimum stock size
threshold), ACLs (including by sector), ACTs, accountability measures,
and new or modified commercial and recreational minimum size limits,
commercial trip limits, and recreational bag limits.
In accordance with NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6, Section
5.02(c), Scoping Process, NMFS, in collaboration with the South
Atlantic Council, is conducting scoping to help identify significant
environmental issues related to these proposed actions and
alternatives. The public is invited to attend the scoping meeting (date
and address below) and provide written comments on the actions and
alternatives in the Amendment 37 scoping document. A copy of the
Amendment 37 scoping document is available at https://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/. The
preliminary actions and alternatives included in the scoping document
may not represent the full range of actions and alternatives that will
be considered and evaluated in Amendment 37 and the associated EIS. The
South Atlantic Council will review scoping comments at their September
meeting.
After the draft EIS (DEIS) associated with Amendment 37 is
completed, it will be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). After filing, the EPA will publish a notice of availability of
the DEIS for public comment in the Federal Register. NMFS will solicit
public comment on the DEIS for 45 days pursuant to regulations issued
by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for implementing the
procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA;
40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and to NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6
regarding NOAA's compliance with NEPA and the CEQ regulations.
The South Atlantic Council and NMFS will consider public comments
received on the DEIS in developing the final EIS (FEIS), and before the
South Atlantic Council votes to submit Amendment 37 to NMFS for
Secretarial review, approval, and implementation under the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. NMFS will announce in the Federal Register the
availability of the final amendment and proposed implementing
regulations for public review during the Magnuson-Stevens Act
Secretarial review period. The EPA will announce the availability of
the FEIS for public review. NMFS will consider all public comments
received during the Secretarial review period, whether they are on the
final amendment, the proposed regulations, or the FEIS, prior to final
agency action.
Scoping Meeting
The scoping meeting will be held via webinar on August 10, 2015.
The scoping meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and will be accessible via the
internet from the South Atlantic Council's Web site at www.safmc.net.
Registration for the webinar is required. Registration information will
be posted on the South Atlantic Council's Web site at www.safmc.net as
it becomes available. Webinar registrants may test or confirm their
computer setup for the webinar one hour prior to the meeting and
contact Mike Collins at 843-763-1050 to address any questions regarding
webinar setup.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 27, 2015.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-18736 Filed 7-30-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
