Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program, 36111-36113 [2017-16376]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 148 / Thursday, August 3, 2017 / Proposed Rules
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory
Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and
Regulatory Review
This action is not a significant
regulatory action and was therefore not
submitted to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
This action does not impose an
information collection burden under the
PRA. This rule does not contain any
information collection requirements that
require approval of the OMB.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
I certify that this action will not have
a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
under the RFA. This action will not
impose any requirements on small
entities. This rule listing sites on the
NPL does not impose any obligations on
any group, including small entities. This
rule also does not establish standards or
requirements that any small entity must
meet, and imposes no direct costs on
any small entity. Whether an entity,
small or otherwise, is liable for response
costs for a release of hazardous
substances depends on whether that
entity is liable under CERCLA 107(a).
Any such liability exists regardless of
whether the site is listed on the NPL
through this rulemaking.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA)
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This action does not contain any
unfunded mandate as described in
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531–1538, and does
not significantly or uniquely affect small
governments. This action imposes no
enforceable duty on any state, local or
tribal governments or the private sector.
Listing a site on the NPL does not itself
impose any costs. Listing does not mean
that the EPA necessarily will undertake
remedial action. Nor does listing require
any action by a private party, state, local
or tribal governments or determine
liability for response costs. Costs that
arise out of site responses result from
future site-specific decisions regarding
what actions to take, not directly from
the act of placing a site on the NPL.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
This rule does not have federalism
implications. It will not have substantial
direct effects on the states, on the
relationship between the national
government and the states, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government.
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F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation
and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
This action does not have tribal
implications as specified in Executive
Order 13175. Listing a site on the NPL
does not impose any costs on a tribe or
require a tribe to take remedial action.
Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not
apply to this action.
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
and Safety Risks
The EPA interprets Executive Order
13045 as applying only to those
regulatory actions that concern
environmental health or safety risks that
the EPA has reason to believe may
disproportionately affect children, per
the definition of ‘‘covered regulatory
action’’ in section 2–202 of the
Executive Order. This action is not
subject to Executive Order 13045
because this action itself is procedural
in nature (adds sites to a list) and does
not, in and of itself, provide protection
from environmental health and safety
risks. Separate future regulatory actions
are required for mitigation of
environmental health and safety risks.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive
Order 13211, because it is not a
significant regulatory action under
Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act (NTTAA)
This rulemaking does not involve
technical standards.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal
Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and
Low-Income Populations
The EPA believes the human health or
environmental risk addressed by this
action will not have potential
disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects
on minority, low-income or indigenous
populations because it does not affect
the level of protection provided to
human health or the environment. As
discussed in Section I.C. of the
preamble to this action, the NPL is a list
of national priorities. The NPL is
intended primarily to guide the EPA in
determining which sites warrant further
investigation to assess the nature and
extent of public health and
environmental risks associated with a
release of hazardous substances,
pollutants or contaminants. The NPL is
of only limited significance as it does
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not assign liability to any party. Also,
placing a site on the NPL does not mean
that any remedial or removal action
necessarily need be taken.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Chemicals, Hazardous
substances, Hazardous waste,
Intergovernmental relations, Natural
resources, Oil pollution, Penalties,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Superfund, Water
pollution control, Water supply.
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(d); 42 U.S.C.
9601–9657; E.O. 13626, 77 FR 56749, 3CFR,
2013 Comp., p. 306; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757,
3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p.351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR
2923, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p.193.
Dated: July 27, 2017.
Barry N. Breen,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of
Land and Emergency Management.
[FR Doc. 2017–16171 Filed 8–2–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 680
RIN 0648–BG84
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone off Alaska; Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands Management Area;
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab
Rationalization Program
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:
The North Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council)
submitted Amendment 48 to the Fishery
Management Plan for Bering Sea/
Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs
(Crab FMP) to NMFS for review. If
approved, Amendment 48 would revise
the Crab FMP to specify how NMFS
determines the amount of limited access
privileges held and used by groups in
the Western Alaska Community
Development Quota Program (CDQ
Program) for the purposes of managing
the excessive share limits under the
Crab Rationalization (CR) Program.
Amendment 48 is necessary to make the
Crab FMP consistent with MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 148 / Thursday, August 3, 2017 / Proposed Rules
Act) requirements and NMFS’ current
method of managing excessive share
limits for CDQ groups in the CR
Program. This action is intended to
promote the goals and objectives of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Crab FMP,
and other applicable laws.
DATES: Submit comments on or before
October 2, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments on this
document, identified by NOAA–NMFS–
2017–0038, by any one of the following
methods.
• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20170038, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Submit written comments to
Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O.
Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668.
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 be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change.
All personal identifying information
(e.g., name, address), 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).
Electronic copies of the Regulatory
Impact Review (RIR) and the Categorical
Exclusion prepared for Amendment 48
may be obtained from https://
www.regulations.gov or from the NMFS
Alaska Region Web site at https://
alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
The Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS), RIR, Final Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis, and Social Impact Assessment
prepared for the CR Program are
available from the NMFS Alaska Region
Web site at https://
alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Keeley Kent, 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. The Magnuson-Stevens Act
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving
a fishery management plan amendment,
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14:22 Aug 02, 2017
Jkt 241001
immediately publish a notice in the
Federal Register announcing that the
amendment is available for public
review and comment. This notice
announces that proposed Amendment
48 to the Crab FMP is available for
public review and comment.
NMFS manages the king and Tanner
crab fisheries in the U.S. exclusive
economic zone of the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands (BSAI) under the Crab
FMP. The Council prepared, and NMFS
approved, the Crab FMP under the
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,
16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Regulations
governing U.S. fisheries and
implementing the Crab FMP appear at
50 CFR parts 600 and 680.
The CR Program was implemented on
April 1, 2005 (70 FR 10174). The CR
Program established a limited access
privilege program for nine crab fisheries
in the BSAI and assigned quota share
(QS) to persons based on their historic
participation in one or more of those
nine BSAI crab fisheries during a
specific period. Each year, a person who
holds QS may receive an exclusive
harvest privilege for a portion of the
annual total allowable catch. This
annual exclusive harvest privilege is
called individual fishing quota (IFQ).
NMFS also issued processor quota
share (PQS) under the CR Program. Each
year PQS yields an exclusive privilege
to process a portion of the IFQ in each
of the nine BSAI crab fisheries. This
annual exclusive processing privilege is
called individual processor quota (IPQ).
Only a portion of the QS issued yields
IFQ that is required to be delivered to
a processor with IPQ; this IFQ is called
Class A IFQ. Each year there is a oneto-one match of the pounds of Class A
IFQ with the total pounds of IPQ issued
in each crab fishery.
The CDQ Program was established by
the Council and NMFS in 1992, and in
1996, authorization for the Program was
incorporated into the Magnuson-Stevens
Act. The purpose of the CDQ Program
is (1) to provide eligible western Alaska
villages with the opportunity to
participate and invest in fisheries in the
BSAI, (2) to support economic
development in western Alaska, (3) to
alleviate poverty and provide economic
and social benefits for residents of
western Alaska, and (4) to achieve
sustainable and diversified local
economies in western Alaska (16 U.S.C.
1855(i)(1)(A)).
Section 305(i) of the MagnusonStevens Act describes the CDQ Program
and identifies the villages eligible to
participate in the CDQ Program through
the six entities specified in Section
305(i)(1)(D) as the CDQ groups (16
U.S.C. 1855(i)). Regulations at 50 CFR
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679.2 define the term ‘‘CDQ group’’ as
an entity identified as eligible for the
CDQ Program under 16 U.S.C.
1855(i)(1)(D). The CDQ Program
receives annual apportionments of total
allowable catches (TACs) for a variety of
commercially valuable species in the
BSAI groundfish, crab, and halibut
fisheries, which are in turn allocated
among the six different CDQ groups. In
addition to their allocations under the
CDQ Program, CDQ groups participate
in the AFA and CR Program fisheries by
purchasing QS and PQS or through
ownership of vessels or processors that
participate in the fisheries. The CDQ
groups have purchased both QS and
PQS under the CR Program.
Section 303A(c)(5)(D) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the
Council and NMFS to establish
excessive share limits for limited access
privilege (LAP) programs to prevent
excessive accumulation of privileges by
participants in the LAP programs (16
U.S.C. 1853a(c)(5)(D)). The intent of
these limits is to prevent excessive
consolidation in the harvesting and
processing sectors in order to maintain
an appropriate distribution of economic
and social benefits for fishery
participants and communities. Because
determination of excessive shares must
consider the specific circumstances of
each fishery, the Council has
implemented different excessive share
limits in the LAP programs in Alaska’s
fisheries, including the CR Program.
The excessive share limit regulations
prohibit a person from holding and
using more than a specific portion of the
LAPs allocated under the CR Program.
Under 50 CFR 679.2, ‘‘person’’ includes
individuals, corporations, partnerships,
associations, and other non-individual
entities. To monitor holdings and use of
LAPs, NMFS determines what portion
of a program’s harvesting and
processing privileges a person holds and
uses to ensure that no person holds or
uses more privileges than authorized by
the excessive share limit established for
each LAP.
NMFS determines a person’s holding
and use of a LAP by summing (1) the
amount directly held and used by that
person, and (2) the amount held and
used by that person indirectly through
an ownership interest in or control of
another entity that also holds and uses
the LAP. Businesses that hold and use
LAPs in the CR Program are often
composed of multiple owners that have
ownership interests in multiple fishing
businesses. In cases where a LAP is held
by a business entity with more than one
owner, NMFS applies the excessive
share limits (also called holding and use
limits or caps) to each entity that has an
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 148 / Thursday, August 3, 2017 / Proposed Rules
ownership interest in or control of the
LAP to monitor whether those entities
each exceed the established caps.
Ownership attribution refers to the
method NMFS uses to assess the
relationships between different entities
that participate in LAP programs.
NMFS uses two ownership attribution
methods to assess these relationships.
The two methods for attribution are the
‘‘individual and collective’’ rule and the
‘‘10-percent rule.’’ Under the individual
and collective rule, a person is
attributed holding or use of LAPs
proportionally to their ownership in or
control of other entities that hold or use
LAPs. For example, if Company A owns
or controls 15 percent of Company B
that holds LAPs, Company A would be
attributed 15 percent of the holding or
use of those LAPs. In contrast, under the
10-percent rule, a person is attributed
100 percent of an entity’s LAPs if that
person owns or otherwise controls ten
percent or more of that entity. Thus, if
Company A owns or controls 10 percent
or more of Company B, then all of
Company B’s holdings of LAPs are
attributed to Company A. The
individual and collective rule is less
restrictive than the 10-percent rule
because a person is only attributed
holding or use in proportion to how
much that person owns or controls of
other entities, rather than attributing
100 percent of the other entity’s LAP
holdings once the 10-percent threshold
is met.
When the Council recommended the
CR Program, it expressed concern about
the potential for excessive consolidation
of QS and PQS, in which too few
persons control all of the QS or PQS and
the resulting annual IFQ and IPQ. The
Council determined that excessive
consolidation could have adverse effects
on crab markets, price setting
negotiations between harvesters and
processors, employment opportunities
for harvesting and processing crew, tax
revenue to communities in which crab
are landed, and other factors considered
and described in the CR Program EIS.
To address this concern, the CR Program
includes limits on the amount of QS and
PQS that a person can hold and the
amount of IFQ and IPQ that a person
can use. To facilitate the monitoring of
these limits, NMFS requires holders of
QS and PQS that are non-individual
entities to annually submit information
on their ownership structure, down to
the individual level, and on each
owner’s percentage holdings in the
entity. Holding and use limits for QS
and IFQ vary across CR Program
fisheries because of different fleet
characteristics and the differences in
historic dependency of participants on
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the different crab fisheries. Under 50
CFR 680.42(a)(2), NMFS applies holding
and use limits on QS and IFQ using the
individual and collective rule for all
participants, including CDQ groups, as
was recommended by the Council for
monitoring harvesting privileges.
For processing privileges, the CR
Program limits a person to holding no
more than 30 percent of the PQS
initially issued in the fishery, and to
using no more than the amount of IPQ
resulting from 30 percent of the PQS
initially issued in a given fishery, with
a limited exemption for persons
receiving more than 30 percent of the
initially-issued PQS (50 CFR 680.42(b)).
The rationale for holding and use limits
is described in the CR Program EIS and
the final rule implementing the CR
Program (70 FR 10174, 10175; March 2,
2005). Under 50 CFR 680.42(b)(3),
NMFS applies holding and use limits on
PQS and IPQ using the 10-percent rule,
as was recommended by the Council
and as was addressed in the preamble
to the proposed rule for the CR Program
(69 FR 63200, 63219 & 63226; October
29, 2004).
When the CR Program was
implemented, NMFS used the 10percent rule to monitor PQS and IPQ
holding and use limits in the CR
Program for all program participants,
including CDQ groups. In 2006, the
Coast Guard and Maritime
Transportation Act of 2006 (Public Law
109–241; the Coast Guard Act) revised
the Magnuson-Stevens Act to specify
that CDQ groups would be subject to
excessive share ownership, harvesting,
or processing limitations only to the
extent of their proportional ownership
(16 U.S.C. 1855(i)(1)(F)(i)). Since the
2006 amendment to the MagnusonStevens Act, NMFS has used the
individual and collective rule for CDQ
groups to monitor excessive share limits
for CDQ groups in the CR Program. The
individual and collective rule allows
CDQ groups to hold and use more PQS
and IPQ than non-CDQ persons because
non-CDQ persons will remain subject to
the more restrictive ownership
attribution method (the 10-percent rule).
Amendment 48 would revise the Crab
FMP to make it consistent with NMFS’
ownership attribution process for
calculating holding and use of PQS and
IPQ to monitor excessive share limits for
CDQ groups in the CR Program.
Amendment 48 would revise Section
2.7.1 under Chapter 11 of the FMP in
the Processing Sector Elements section
of the Crab FMP to specify that PQS and
IPQ holding and use caps for CDQ
groups are applied using the individual
and collective rule, without continuing
to use the 10-percent rule for
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36113
determining whether an entity is
included in calculating a CDQ group’s
holding and use caps. For example, if a
CDQ group holds 15 percent of a
company that holds or uses PQS or IPQ,
Amendment 48 to the Crab FMP would
clarify that the CDQ group would be
attributed 15 percent of the holding or
use of that PQS or IPQ. Amendment 48
would not revise the Crab FMP for the
QS and IFQ holding and use limits
under the CR Program because NMFS
uses the individual and collective rule
to monitor QS and IFQ holding and use
limits for all program participants,
including CDQ groups. NMFS has used
the individual and collective rule to
determine holding and use of PQS and
IPQ by CDQ groups since enactment of
the Coast Guard Act; however, NMFS
has not revised the Crab FMP to reflect
this statutory change or NMFS’ current
process.
Amendment 48 would benefit CDQ
groups and the public by revising the
Crab FMP for consistency with the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. Amendment 48
would also update the Crab FMP to
specify the method NMFS currently
uses to determine holding and use of
processing privileges by CDQ groups for
purposes of monitoring excessive share
limits for the CR Program.
Public comments are solicited on
proposed Amendment 48 to the Crab
FMP through the end of the comment
period (see DATES). NMFS intends to
publish in the Federal Register and seek
public comment on a proposed rule that
would implement Amendment 48,
following NMFS’ evaluation of the
proposed rule under the MagnusonStevens Act. Public comments on the
proposed rule must be received by the
end of the comment period on
Amendment 48 to be considered in the
approval/disapproval decision on
Amendment 48. All comments received
by the end of the comment period on
Amendment 48, whether specifically
directed to the amendment or the
proposed rule will be considered in the
amendment approval/disapproval
decision. Comments received after that
date 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 last day of the
comment period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 31, 2017.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017–16376 Filed 8–2–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 148 (Thursday, August 3, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36111-36113]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16376]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 680
RIN 0648-BG84
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Management Area; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Crab Rationalization Program
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 North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council)
submitted Amendment 48 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/
Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (Crab FMP) to NMFS for review.
If approved, Amendment 48 would revise the Crab FMP to specify how NMFS
determines the amount of limited access privileges held and used by
groups in the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program (CDQ
Program) for the purposes of managing the excessive share limits under
the Crab Rationalization (CR) Program. Amendment 48 is necessary to
make the Crab FMP consistent with Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens
[[Page 36112]]
Act) requirements and NMFS' current method of managing excessive share
limits for CDQ groups in the CR Program. This action is intended to
promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Crab
FMP, and other applicable laws.
DATES: Submit comments on or before October 2, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2017-0038, by any one of the following methods.
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0038, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon,
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant
Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region
NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau,
AK 99802-1668.
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 be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address), 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).
Electronic copies of the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) and the
Categorical Exclusion prepared for Amendment 48 may be obtained from
https://www.regulations.gov or from the NMFS Alaska Region Web site at
https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), RIR, Final Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis, and Social Impact Assessment prepared for the CR
Program are available from the NMFS Alaska Region Web site at https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keeley Kent, 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. 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. This notice announces that proposed Amendment 48 to the Crab
FMP is available for public review and comment.
NMFS manages the king and Tanner crab fisheries in the U.S.
exclusive economic zone of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI)
under the Crab FMP. The Council prepared, and NMFS approved, the Crab
FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et
seq. Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and implementing the Crab FMP
appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 680.
The CR Program was implemented on April 1, 2005 (70 FR 10174). The
CR Program established a limited access privilege program for nine crab
fisheries in the BSAI and assigned quota share (QS) to persons based on
their historic participation in one or more of those nine BSAI crab
fisheries during a specific period. Each year, a person who holds QS
may receive an exclusive harvest privilege for a portion of the annual
total allowable catch. This annual exclusive harvest privilege is
called individual fishing quota (IFQ).
NMFS also issued processor quota share (PQS) under the CR Program.
Each year PQS yields an exclusive privilege to process a portion of the
IFQ in each of the nine BSAI crab fisheries. This annual exclusive
processing privilege is called individual processor quota (IPQ). Only a
portion of the QS issued yields IFQ that is required to be delivered to
a processor with IPQ; this IFQ is called Class A IFQ. Each year there
is a one-to-one match of the pounds of Class A IFQ with the total
pounds of IPQ issued in each crab fishery.
The CDQ Program was established by the Council and NMFS in 1992,
and in 1996, authorization for the Program was incorporated into the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. The purpose of the CDQ Program is (1) to provide
eligible western Alaska villages with the opportunity to participate
and invest in fisheries in the BSAI, (2) to support economic
development in western Alaska, (3) to alleviate poverty and provide
economic and social benefits for residents of western Alaska, and (4)
to achieve sustainable and diversified local economies in western
Alaska (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)(1)(A)).
Section 305(i) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act describes the CDQ
Program and identifies the villages eligible to participate in the CDQ
Program through the six entities specified in Section 305(i)(1)(D) as
the CDQ groups (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)). Regulations at 50 CFR 679.2 define
the term ``CDQ group'' as an entity identified as eligible for the CDQ
Program under 16 U.S.C. 1855(i)(1)(D). The CDQ Program receives annual
apportionments of total allowable catches (TACs) for a variety of
commercially valuable species in the BSAI groundfish, crab, and halibut
fisheries, which are in turn allocated among the six different CDQ
groups. In addition to their allocations under the CDQ Program, CDQ
groups participate in the AFA and CR Program fisheries by purchasing QS
and PQS or through ownership of vessels or processors that participate
in the fisheries. The CDQ groups have purchased both QS and PQS under
the CR Program.
Section 303A(c)(5)(D) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the
Council and NMFS to establish excessive share limits for limited access
privilege (LAP) programs to prevent excessive accumulation of
privileges by participants in the LAP programs (16 U.S.C.
1853a(c)(5)(D)). The intent of these limits is to prevent excessive
consolidation in the harvesting and processing sectors in order to
maintain an appropriate distribution of economic and social benefits
for fishery participants and communities. Because determination of
excessive shares must consider the specific circumstances of each
fishery, the Council has implemented different excessive share limits
in the LAP programs in Alaska's fisheries, including the CR Program.
The excessive share limit regulations prohibit a person from
holding and using more than a specific portion of the LAPs allocated
under the CR Program. Under 50 CFR 679.2, ``person'' includes
individuals, corporations, partnerships, associations, and other non-
individual entities. To monitor holdings and use of LAPs, NMFS
determines what portion of a program's harvesting and processing
privileges a person holds and uses to ensure that no person holds or
uses more privileges than authorized by the excessive share limit
established for each LAP.
NMFS determines a person's holding and use of a LAP by summing (1)
the amount directly held and used by that person, and (2) the amount
held and used by that person indirectly through an ownership interest
in or control of another entity that also holds and uses the LAP.
Businesses that hold and use LAPs in the CR Program are often composed
of multiple owners that have ownership interests in multiple fishing
businesses. In cases where a LAP is held by a business entity with more
than one owner, NMFS applies the excessive share limits (also called
holding and use limits or caps) to each entity that has an
[[Page 36113]]
ownership interest in or control of the LAP to monitor whether those
entities each exceed the established caps. Ownership attribution refers
to the method NMFS uses to assess the relationships between different
entities that participate in LAP programs.
NMFS uses two ownership attribution methods to assess these
relationships. The two methods for attribution are the ``individual and
collective'' rule and the ``10-percent rule.'' Under the individual and
collective rule, a person is attributed holding or use of LAPs
proportionally to their ownership in or control of other entities that
hold or use LAPs. For example, if Company A owns or controls 15 percent
of Company B that holds LAPs, Company A would be attributed 15 percent
of the holding or use of those LAPs. In contrast, under the 10-percent
rule, a person is attributed 100 percent of an entity's LAPs if that
person owns or otherwise controls ten percent or more of that entity.
Thus, if Company A owns or controls 10 percent or more of Company B,
then all of Company B's holdings of LAPs are attributed to Company A.
The individual and collective rule is less restrictive than the 10-
percent rule because a person is only attributed holding or use in
proportion to how much that person owns or controls of other entities,
rather than attributing 100 percent of the other entity's LAP holdings
once the 10-percent threshold is met.
When the Council recommended the CR Program, it expressed concern
about the potential for excessive consolidation of QS and PQS, in which
too few persons control all of the QS or PQS and the resulting annual
IFQ and IPQ. The Council determined that excessive consolidation could
have adverse effects on crab markets, price setting negotiations
between harvesters and processors, employment opportunities for
harvesting and processing crew, tax revenue to communities in which
crab are landed, and other factors considered and described in the CR
Program EIS. To address this concern, the CR Program includes limits on
the amount of QS and PQS that a person can hold and the amount of IFQ
and IPQ that a person can use. To facilitate the monitoring of these
limits, NMFS requires holders of QS and PQS that are non-individual
entities to annually submit information on their ownership structure,
down to the individual level, and on each owner's percentage holdings
in the entity. Holding and use limits for QS and IFQ vary across CR
Program fisheries because of different fleet characteristics and the
differences in historic dependency of participants on the different
crab fisheries. Under 50 CFR 680.42(a)(2), NMFS applies holding and use
limits on QS and IFQ using the individual and collective rule for all
participants, including CDQ groups, as was recommended by the Council
for monitoring harvesting privileges.
For processing privileges, the CR Program limits a person to
holding no more than 30 percent of the PQS initially issued in the
fishery, and to using no more than the amount of IPQ resulting from 30
percent of the PQS initially issued in a given fishery, with a limited
exemption for persons receiving more than 30 percent of the initially-
issued PQS (50 CFR 680.42(b)). The rationale for holding and use limits
is described in the CR Program EIS and the final rule implementing the
CR Program (70 FR 10174, 10175; March 2, 2005). Under 50 CFR
680.42(b)(3), NMFS applies holding and use limits on PQS and IPQ using
the 10-percent rule, as was recommended by the Council and as was
addressed in the preamble to the proposed rule for the CR Program (69
FR 63200, 63219 & 63226; October 29, 2004).
When the CR Program was implemented, NMFS used the 10-percent rule
to monitor PQS and IPQ holding and use limits in the CR Program for all
program participants, including CDQ groups. In 2006, the Coast Guard
and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-241; the Coast
Guard Act) revised the Magnuson-Stevens Act to specify that CDQ groups
would be subject to excessive share ownership, harvesting, or
processing limitations only to the extent of their proportional
ownership (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)(1)(F)(i)). Since the 2006 amendment to the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS has used the individual and collective rule
for CDQ groups to monitor excessive share limits for CDQ groups in the
CR Program. The individual and collective rule allows CDQ groups to
hold and use more PQS and IPQ than non-CDQ persons because non-CDQ
persons will remain subject to the more restrictive ownership
attribution method (the 10-percent rule).
Amendment 48 would revise the Crab FMP to make it consistent with
NMFS' ownership attribution process for calculating holding and use of
PQS and IPQ to monitor excessive share limits for CDQ groups in the CR
Program. Amendment 48 would revise Section 2.7.1 under Chapter 11 of
the FMP in the Processing Sector Elements section of the Crab FMP to
specify that PQS and IPQ holding and use caps for CDQ groups are
applied using the individual and collective rule, without continuing to
use the 10-percent rule for determining whether an entity is included
in calculating a CDQ group's holding and use caps. For example, if a
CDQ group holds 15 percent of a company that holds or uses PQS or IPQ,
Amendment 48 to the Crab FMP would clarify that the CDQ group would be
attributed 15 percent of the holding or use of that PQS or IPQ.
Amendment 48 would not revise the Crab FMP for the QS and IFQ holding
and use limits under the CR Program because NMFS uses the individual
and collective rule to monitor QS and IFQ holding and use limits for
all program participants, including CDQ groups. NMFS has used the
individual and collective rule to determine holding and use of PQS and
IPQ by CDQ groups since enactment of the Coast Guard Act; however, NMFS
has not revised the Crab FMP to reflect this statutory change or NMFS'
current process.
Amendment 48 would benefit CDQ groups and the public by revising
the Crab FMP for consistency with the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Amendment
48 would also update the Crab FMP to specify the method NMFS currently
uses to determine holding and use of processing privileges by CDQ
groups for purposes of monitoring excessive share limits for the CR
Program.
Public comments are solicited on proposed Amendment 48 to the Crab
FMP through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends to
publish in the Federal Register and seek public comment on a proposed
rule that would implement Amendment 48, following NMFS' evaluation of
the proposed rule under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Public comments on
the proposed rule must be received by the end of the comment period on
Amendment 48 to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on
Amendment 48. All comments received by the end of the comment period on
Amendment 48, whether specifically directed to the amendment or the
proposed rule will be considered in the amendment approval/disapproval
decision. Comments received after that date 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 last day of the comment period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 31, 2017.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-16376 Filed 8-2-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
