Control Date for Trawl Groundfish Fisheries in the Aleutian Islands, 74744-74745 [2015-30302]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 229 / Monday, November 30, 2015 / Proposed Rules
For
information about the meetings, contact
Cheryl Whetsel by phone at 202–366–
4431 or by email at cheryl.whetsel@
dot.gov or for technical contents about
the proposed rule contact Mike Israni by
phone at 202–366–4595 or by email at
mike.israni@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
I. Meeting Details
Members of the public may attend
and make a statement during the
advisory committee meetings. For a
better chance to speak at the meetings,
please contact the individual listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT by December 1, 2015.
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
II. Committee Background
The GPAC is a statutorily mandated
committee that advises PHMSA on
proposed safety standards, risks
assessments, and safety policies for
natural gas pipelines. The committee
falls under the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463, 5 U.S.C.
App. 1) and is mandated by the pipeline
safety law (49 U.S.C. Chap. 601). The
committee consists of 15 members—
with membership evenly divided among
the federal and state government, the
regulated industry, and the public. The
committee advises PHMSA on technical
feasibility, practicability, and costeffectiveness of each proposed pipeline
safety standard. PHMSA staff may also
provide an update on several regulatory
and policy initiatives if time allows.
III. Preliminary Agenda
The agenda will include the
committee’s discussion and vote on the
proposed rule, ‘‘Pipeline Safety:
Expanding the Use of Excess Flow
Valves in Gas Distribution Systems to
Applications Other Than Single-Family
Residences’’ published in the Federal
Register on July 15, 2015 (80 FR 41460)
and on the associated regulatory
analysis and environmental assessment.
The NPRM proposes to expand
requirements for the use of excess flow
valves beyond certain single-family
homes to include additional homes and
small commercial natural gas customers.
Further, the NPRM proposes that
manual service line shut-off valves (e.g.,
curb valves) be installed on new or
replaced service lines servicing
customers that use large quantities of
natural gas, such as industrial facilities.
Excess flow valves or curb valves are
used in natural gas distribution
pipelines to restrict the flow of gas if a
line is broken or damaged, limiting the
impact of a leak or explosion.’’ An
informational presentation on EFVs was
given to the advisory committee at a
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:18 Nov 27, 2015
Jkt 238001
meeting held on August 26, 2015. The
presentation (day 2, agenda item 8b)
may be found on the Web site: https://
www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline/regs/
technical-advisory-comm/meeting/
august-25-and-26-2015-joint-meetinggas-and-liquid.
Issued in Washington, DC, on November
23, 2015, under authority delegated in 49
CFR 1.97.
Alan K. Mayberry,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy
and Programs.
[FR Doc. 2015–30208 Filed 11–27–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–60–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 151029999–5999–01]
RIN 0648–BF50
Control Date for Trawl Groundfish
Fisheries in the Aleutian Islands
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed
rulemaking (ANPR); control date.
AGENCY:
At the request of the North
Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council), this document announces a
control date of December 31, 2015, that
may be used as a reference date for a
future management action to limit
future access to the offshore sector of
the trawl groundfish fisheries in the
Aleutian Islands. This date corresponds
to the end of the 2015 fishing season in
these fisheries. In October 2015, the
Council announced its intent to evaluate
participation and effort in the offshore
sector of the trawl groundfish fisheries
in the Aleutian Islands fisheries in
response to a public request to consider
further limits on access to the fisheries.
This document is intended to promote
awareness of possible rulemaking and
provide notice to the public that any
participation in the offshore sector of
the trawl groundfish fisheries in the
Aleutian Islands after the control date
may not ensure continued access to
those fisheries under a future
management action. This document is
also intended to discourage speculative
entry into the fisheries while the
Council considers whether and how
access to the fisheries may be further
limited under a future management
action.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00030
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
December 31, 2015, shall be
known as the control date for the
offshore sector of the trawl groundfish
fisheries in the Aleutian Islands and
may be used as a reference date for
participation in a future management
action that is consistent with the
Council’s objectives and applicable
Federal laws.
ADDRESSES: Please consult the Council’s
Web site at https://www.npfmc.org/ for
information on public participation in
the Council’s decision-making process.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rachel Baker: 907–586–7228 or
rachel.baker@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS
manages the groundfish fisheries in the
U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of
the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
(BSAI) under the Fishery Management
Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Management Area
(FMP). The Council prepared, and
NMFS approved, the FMP under the
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C.
1801 et seq. Regulations governing U.S.
fisheries and implementing the FMP
appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679.
This advance notice of proposed
rulemaking would apply to owners and
operators of vessels that participate in
Federal groundfish fisheries with trawl
gear in the Aleutian Islands subarea
(AI). The AI is defined at § 679.2 and
shown in Figure 1 to 50 CFR part 679.
Vessels that participate in the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries harvest Pacific cod,
Atka mackerel, and Pacific Ocean perch.
Vessels that participate in the offshore
sector of the AI trawl groundfish
fisheries include catcher vessels,
catcher/processors, and motherships.
Catcher vessels participate in the
offshore sector by delivering groundfish
to catcher/processors or motherships for
processing. Catcher/processors
participate in the offshore sector by
catching and processing groundfish or
by receiving and processing deliveries
of groundfish from catcher vessels.
Motherships participate in the offshore
sector by receiving and processing
deliveries of groundfish from catcher
vessels. This advance notice of
proposed rulemaking would not apply
to owners and operators of trawl catcher
vessels that participate in the inshore
sector of the BSAI trawl groundfish
fisheries (i.e., vessels that deliver
groundfish to shoreside processors
rather than to catcher/processors or
motherships).
The Council and NMFS annually
establish biological thresholds and
annual total allowable catch limits for
DATES:
E:\FR\FM\30NOP1.SGM
30NOP1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 229 / Monday, November 30, 2015 / Proposed Rules
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
groundfish species to sustainably
manage the groundfish fisheries in the
AI. To achieve these objectives, NMFS
requires vessel operators participating
in AI groundfish fisheries to comply
with various regulatory restrictions,
such as fishery closures, to maintain
catch within specified total allowable
catch limits.
The Council and NMFS have long
sought to control fishing effort in the
North Pacific Ocean to ensure that
fisheries are conservatively managed
and do not exceed established biological
thresholds. One of the measures used by
the Council and NMFS is the license
limitation program (LLP), which limits
access to the groundfish, crab, and
scallop fisheries in the BSAI and the
Gulf of Alaska. The LLP is intended to
limit entry into federally managed
fisheries. For groundfish, the LLP
requires that persons hold and assign a
license to each vessel that is used to fish
in federally managed fisheries, with
some limited exemptions. The preamble
to the final rule implementing the
groundfish LLP provides a more
detailed explanation of the rationale for
specific provisions in the LLP (October
1, 1998; 63 FR 52642).
In October 2015, the Council received
public testimony from participants in
the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries. These participants
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:18 Nov 27, 2015
Jkt 238001
indicated that new vessels have entered
the fisheries in recent years. The
testimony indicated that this new entry
may negatively impact the ability of
historical participants to maintain
groundfish harvests in the AI. After
considering this public testimony, the
Council stated its intent to evaluate
methods for further limiting access to
the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries in a future
management action. To dampen the
effect of speculative entry into the
offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries in anticipation of
potential future action to limit access to
the fisheries, the Council announced a
control date of December 31, 2015. The
control date may be used as a reference
date for a future management action to
further limit access to the offshore
sector of the AI trawl groundfish
fisheries. The Council clarified that the
control date would not obligate the
Council to use this control date in any
future management action. Further, the
control date would not obligate the
Council to take any action or prevent
the Council from selecting another
control date. Accordingly, this
document is intended to promote
awareness that the Council may develop
a future management action to achieve
its objectives for the offshore sector of
the AI trawl groundfish fisheries; to
PO 00000
Frm 00031
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 9990
74745
provide notice to the public that any
current or future access to the offshore
sector of the AI trawl groundfish
fisheries may be affected or restricted;
and to discourage speculative
participation and behavior in the
fisheries while the Council considers
whether to initiate a management action
to further limit access to the fisheries.
Any measures the Council considers
may require changes to the FMP. Such
measures may be adopted in a future
amendment to the FMP, which would
include opportunity for further public
participation and comment.
NMFS encourages public
participation in the Council’s
consideration of a management action to
further limit access to the offshore
sector of the AI trawl groundfish
fisheries. Please consult the Council’s
Web site at https://www.npfmc.org/ for
information on public participation in
the Council’s decision-making process.
This notification and control date do
not impose any legal obligations,
requirements, or expectations.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 24, 2015.
Eileen Sobeck,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015–30302 Filed 11–27–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
E:\FR\FM\30NOP1.SGM
30NOP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 229 (Monday, November 30, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 74744-74745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30302]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 151029999-5999-01]
RIN 0648-BF50
Control Date for Trawl Groundfish Fisheries in the Aleutian
Islands
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR); control date.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: At the request of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council), this document announces a control date of December 31, 2015,
that may be used as a reference date for a future management action to
limit future access to the offshore sector of the trawl groundfish
fisheries in the Aleutian Islands. This date corresponds to the end of
the 2015 fishing season in these fisheries. In October 2015, the
Council announced its intent to evaluate participation and effort in
the offshore sector of the trawl groundfish fisheries in the Aleutian
Islands fisheries in response to a public request to consider further
limits on access to the fisheries. This document is intended to promote
awareness of possible rulemaking and provide notice to the public that
any participation in the offshore sector of the trawl groundfish
fisheries in the Aleutian Islands after the control date may not ensure
continued access to those fisheries under a future management action.
This document is also intended to discourage speculative entry into the
fisheries while the Council considers whether and how access to the
fisheries may be further limited under a future management action.
DATES: December 31, 2015, shall be known as the control date for the
offshore sector of the trawl groundfish fisheries in the Aleutian
Islands and may be used as a reference date for participation in a
future management action that is consistent with the Council's
objectives and applicable Federal laws.
ADDRESSES: Please consult the Council's Web site at https://www.npfmc.org/ for information on public participation in the Council's
decision-making process.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Baker: 907-586-7228 or
rachel.baker@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the
U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands (BSAI) under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). The Council
prepared, and NMFS approved, the FMP under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Regulations governing U.S.
fisheries and implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679.
This advance notice of proposed rulemaking would apply to owners
and operators of vessels that participate in Federal groundfish
fisheries with trawl gear in the Aleutian Islands subarea (AI). The AI
is defined at Sec. 679.2 and shown in Figure 1 to 50 CFR part 679.
Vessels that participate in the AI trawl groundfish fisheries harvest
Pacific cod, Atka mackerel, and Pacific Ocean perch.
Vessels that participate in the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries include catcher vessels, catcher/processors, and
motherships. Catcher vessels participate in the offshore sector by
delivering groundfish to catcher/processors or motherships for
processing. Catcher/processors participate in the offshore sector by
catching and processing groundfish or by receiving and processing
deliveries of groundfish from catcher vessels. Motherships participate
in the offshore sector by receiving and processing deliveries of
groundfish from catcher vessels. This advance notice of proposed
rulemaking would not apply to owners and operators of trawl catcher
vessels that participate in the inshore sector of the BSAI trawl
groundfish fisheries (i.e., vessels that deliver groundfish to
shoreside processors rather than to catcher/processors or motherships).
The Council and NMFS annually establish biological thresholds and
annual total allowable catch limits for
[[Page 74745]]
groundfish species to sustainably manage the groundfish fisheries in
the AI. To achieve these objectives, NMFS requires vessel operators
participating in AI groundfish fisheries to comply with various
regulatory restrictions, such as fishery closures, to maintain catch
within specified total allowable catch limits.
The Council and NMFS have long sought to control fishing effort in
the North Pacific Ocean to ensure that fisheries are conservatively
managed and do not exceed established biological thresholds. One of the
measures used by the Council and NMFS is the license limitation program
(LLP), which limits access to the groundfish, crab, and scallop
fisheries in the BSAI and the Gulf of Alaska. The LLP is intended to
limit entry into federally managed fisheries. For groundfish, the LLP
requires that persons hold and assign a license to each vessel that is
used to fish in federally managed fisheries, with some limited
exemptions. The preamble to the final rule implementing the groundfish
LLP provides a more detailed explanation of the rationale for specific
provisions in the LLP (October 1, 1998; 63 FR 52642).
In October 2015, the Council received public testimony from
participants in the offshore sector of the AI trawl groundfish
fisheries. These participants indicated that new vessels have entered
the fisheries in recent years. The testimony indicated that this new
entry may negatively impact the ability of historical participants to
maintain groundfish harvests in the AI. After considering this public
testimony, the Council stated its intent to evaluate methods for
further limiting access to the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries in a future management action. To dampen the
effect of speculative entry into the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries in anticipation of potential future action to
limit access to the fisheries, the Council announced a control date of
December 31, 2015. The control date may be used as a reference date for
a future management action to further limit access to the offshore
sector of the AI trawl groundfish fisheries. The Council clarified that
the control date would not obligate the Council to use this control
date in any future management action. Further, the control date would
not obligate the Council to take any action or prevent the Council from
selecting another control date. Accordingly, this document is intended
to promote awareness that the Council may develop a future management
action to achieve its objectives for the offshore sector of the AI
trawl groundfish fisheries; to provide notice to the public that any
current or future access to the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries may be affected or restricted; and to discourage
speculative participation and behavior in the fisheries while the
Council considers whether to initiate a management action to further
limit access to the fisheries. Any measures the Council considers may
require changes to the FMP. Such measures may be adopted in a future
amendment to the FMP, which would include opportunity for further
public participation and comment.
NMFS encourages public participation in the Council's consideration
of a management action to further limit access to the offshore sector
of the AI trawl groundfish fisheries. Please consult the Council's Web
site at https://www.npfmc.org/ for information on public participation
in the Council's decision-making process.
This notification and control date do not impose any legal
obligations, requirements, or expectations.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 24, 2015.
Eileen Sobeck,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-30302 Filed 11-27-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
