Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Cost Recovery Program, 35756-35757 [2021-14443]
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35756
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 127 / Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / Notices
Determinations
NMFS has determined that the action
under this Renewal includes a subset of
activities that are identical to the
previous IHA. NMFS found that the
previous IHA would have a negligible
impact and that authorized take would
be small relative to the population size.
No changes in marine mammal
information, potential effects, estimated
take, abundance estimates and the
mitigation and monitoring have
occurred. Therefore, NMFS has
concluded that there is no new
information suggesting that our analysis
or findings should change from those
reached for the initial IHA. Based on the
information and analysis contained here
and in the referenced documents, NMFS
has determined the following: (1) The
required mitigation measures will effect
the least practicable impact on marine
mammal species or stocks and their
habitat; (2) the authorized takes will
have a negligible impact on the affected
marine mammal species or stocks; (3)
the authorized takes represent small
numbers of marine mammals relative to
the affected stock abundances; (4)
CDFW’s activities will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on taking
for subsistence purposes as no relevant
subsistence uses of marine mammals are
implicated by this action, and; (5)
appropriate monitoring and reporting
requirements are included.
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National Environmental Policy Act
To comply with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA); 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and
NOAA Administrative Order (NAO)
216–6A, NMFS must evaluate our
proposed action (i.e., the promulgation
of regulations and subsequent issuance
of incidental take authorization) and
alternatives with respect to potential
impacts on the human environment.
This action is consistent with categories
of activities identified in Categorical
Exclusion B4 of the Companion Manual
for NAO 216–6A, which do not
individually or cumulatively have the
potential for significant impacts on the
quality of the human environment and
for which we have not identified any
extraordinary circumstances that would
preclude this categorical exclusion.
Accordingly, NMFS has determined that
the proposed action qualifies to be
categorically excluded from further
NEPA review.
Endangered Species Act
17:44 Jul 06, 2021
Renewal
NMFS has issued a Renewal IHA to
CDFW for the take of harbor seals
incidental to the continuation of Phase
II of the Elkhorn Slough Tidal Marsh
Restoration Project in Minhoto-Bay Area
located in Monterey County, CA from
the date of issuance until May 31, 2021.
Dated: June 30, 2021.
Angela Somma,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–14380 Filed 7–6–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XB154]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization
Cost Recovery Program
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of fee percentage.
AGENCY:
NMFS publishes notification
of a 1.09 percent fee for cost recovery
under the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands Crab Rationalization Program.
This action is intended to provide
holders of crab allocations with the
2021/2022 crab fishing year fee
percentage so they can calculate the
required cost recovery fee payment,
which must be submitted by July 31,
2022.
SUMMARY:
The Crab Rationalization
Program Registered Crab Receiver
permit holder is responsible for
submitting the fee liability payment to
NMFS by July 31, 2022.
DATES:
Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (ESA: 16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal
agency insure that any action it
VerDate Sep<11>2014
authorizes, funds, or carries out is not
likely to jeopardize the continued
existence of any endangered or
threatened species or result in the
destruction or adverse modification of
designated critical habitat. To ensure
ESA compliance for the issuance of
IHAs, NMFS consults internally
whenever we propose to authorize take
for endangered or threatened species.
No incidental take of ESA-listed
species is proposed for authorization or
expected to result from this activity in
the Elkhorn Slough Reserve. Therefore,
NMFS has determined that formal
consultation under section 7 of the ESA
is not required for this action.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Abby Jahn, (907) 586–7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NMFS Alaska Region administers the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab
Rationalization Program (Program) in
the North Pacific. Fishing under the
Program began on August 15, 2005.
Regulations implementing the Program
can be found at 50 CFR part 680.
The Program is a limited access
privilege program authorized by section
313(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Program
includes a cost recovery provision to
collect fees to recover the actual costs
directly related to the management, data
collection, and enforcement of the
Program. The Program is consistent with
the cost recovery provisions included
under section 304(d)(2)(A) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. NMFS
developed the cost recovery regulations
to conform to statutory requirements
and to reimburse the agency for the
actual costs directly related to the
management, data collection, and
enforcement of the Program. The cost
recovery provision allows collection of
133 percent of the actual management,
data collection, and enforcement costs
up to 3 percent of the ex-vessel value of
crab harvested under the Program. The
Program provides that a proportional
share of fees charged be forwarded to
the State of Alaska for reimbursement of
its share of management and data
collection costs for the Program.
A crab allocation holder generally
incurs a cost recovery fee liability for
every pound of crab landed. Catcher
vessel and processor quota shareholders
split the cost recovery fees equally with
each paying half, while catcher/
processor quota shareholders pay the
full fee percentage for crab processed at
sea. The crab allocations subject to cost
recovery include Individual Fishing
Quota, Crew Individual Fishing Quota,
Individual Processing Quota,
Community Development Quota, and
the Adak community allocation. The
Registered Crab Receiver (RCR) permit
holder must collect the fee liability from
the crab allocation holder who is
landing crab. Additionally, the RCR
permit holder must collect their own fee
liability for all crab delivered to the
RCR. The RCR permit holder is
responsible for submitting this payment
to NMFS on or before July 31, in the
year following the crab fishing year in
which landings of crab were made.
The dollar amount of the fee due is
determined by multiplying the fee
percentage (not to exceed 3 percent) by
E:\FR\FM\07JYN1.SGM
07JYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 127 / Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / Notices
the ex-vessel value of crab debited from
the allocation. Program details may be
found in the implementing regulations
at 50 CFR 680.44.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Fee Percentage
Notice of Availability of a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for
the Proposed Lake Ontario National
Marine Sanctuary; Announcement of
Public Meetings; Request for Public
Comments
Each year, NMFS calculates and
publishes in the Federal Register the fee
percentage according to the factors and
methodology described at § 680.44(c)(2).
The formula for determining the fee
percentage is the ‘‘direct program costs’’
divided by ‘‘value of the fishery,’’ where
‘‘direct program costs’’ are the direct
program costs for the Program for the
previous fiscal year, and ‘‘value of the
fishery’’ is the ex-vessel value of the
catch subject to the crab cost recovery
fee liability for the current year. Fee
collections for any given year may be
less than or greater than the actual costs
and fishery value for that year, as
regulations establish the fee percentage
in the first quarter of the crab fishing
year based on the fishery value and
costs in the prior year.
According to the fee percentage
formula described above, the estimated
percentage of costs to value for the
2020/2021 fishery was 1.09 percent.
Therefore, the fee percentage will be
1.09 percent for the 2021/2022 crab
fishing year. The fee percentage
decreased by approximately 17 percent
from the 2020/2021 crab fishing year fee
percentage of 1.31 percent (85 FR 41566,
July 10, 2020). Direct program costs for
managing the fishery decreased by
approximately 9 percent from 2020/
2021 to 2021/2022, while fishery value
increased by approximately 10 percent,
resulting in the decreased fee
percentage. Similar to previous years,
the largest direct program costs were
incurred by the NOAA Office of Law
Enforcement and the Alaska Department
of Fish and Game, respectively.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109–
241; Pub. L. 109–479.
Dated: July 1, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–14443 Filed 7–6–21; 8:45 am]
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BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:44 Jul 06, 2021
Jkt 253001
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Office of National Marine
Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean
Service (NOS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Department of Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Notice of availability and public
meetings; Request for public comments.
AGENCY:
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
has prepared a draft environmental
impact statement (DEIS) that considers
three alternatives for the proposed
designation of a national marine
sanctuary to manage a nationally
significant collection of shipwrecks and
other underwater cultural resources in
New York’s eastern Lake Ontario and
the Thousand Islands region of the St.
Lawrence River. NOAA also prepared a
draft management plan that describes
the proposed goals, objectives, and
strategies for managing the proposed
sanctuary. NOAA is soliciting public
comment on the DEIS and draft
management plan.
DATES: NOAA will consider all
comments received by September 10,
2021. NOAA will conduct public
meetings on the following dates:
(1) Date: August 18, 2021, Location:
Lake Ontario Event and Conference
Center, Address: 26 East First Street,
Oswego, NY 13126, Time: 6:30 p.m. to
8:30 p.m. EDT. A virtual meeting
platform may substitute if public safety
concerns remain to prevent the spread
of COVID–19.
(2) Date: August 19, 2021, Location:
Clayton Opera House, Address: 405
Riverside Drive, Clayton, NY 13624,
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. EDT. A
virtual meeting platform may substitute
if public safety concerns remain to
prevent the spread of COVID–19.
(3) Date: August 24, 2021, Location:
virtual meeting, Time: 2:30 p.m. to 4:00
p.m. EDT
(4) Date: August 26, 2021, Location:
virtual meeting, Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00
p.m. EDT
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
submitted by the following method:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov and search for
SUMMARY:
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35757
‘‘NOAA–NOS–2021–0050’’, and click
the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete
the required fields, and enter or attach
your comments.
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 NOAA. 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 (for example, name,
address, etc.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive
information submitted voluntarily by
the commenter will be publicly
accessible. NOAA will accept
anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in
the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
Copies of the DEIS can be
downloaded or viewed on the internet
at www.regulations.gov (search for
docket NOAA–NOS–2021–0050) or at
https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/lakeontario/. Copies can also be obtained by
contacting Ellen Brody (in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this notice).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ellen Brody, Great Lakes Regional
Coordinator, address: 4840 South State
Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108–9719;
phone: 734–741–2270; email:
ellen.brody@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The National Marine Sanctuaries Act
(NMSA; 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.)
authorizes the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary), through NOAA, to designate
and protect as national marine
sanctuaries areas of the marine
environment that are of special national
significance due to their conservation,
recreational, ecological, historical,
scientific, cultural, archeological,
educational, or esthetic qualities. Dayto-day management of national marine
sanctuaries has been delegated by the
Secretary to NOAA’s Office of National
Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS). The
primary objective of the NMSA is to
protect the sanctuary system’s biological
and cultural resources, such as coral
reefs, marine animals, historic
shipwrecks, other historic structures,
and archaeological sites.
In the DEIS, NOAA’s proposed action
is to designate a national marine
sanctuary in New York’s eastern Lake
Ontario and the Thousand Islands
region of the St. Lawrence River to
manage a nationally significant
collection of shipwrecks and other
E:\FR\FM\07JYN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35756-35757]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14443]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB154]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Cost Recovery Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of fee percentage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS publishes notification of a 1.09 percent fee for cost
recovery under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization
Program. This action is intended to provide holders of crab allocations
with the 2021/2022 crab fishing year fee percentage so they can
calculate the required cost recovery fee payment, which must be
submitted by July 31, 2022.
DATES: The Crab Rationalization Program Registered Crab Receiver permit
holder is responsible for submitting the fee liability payment to NMFS
by July 31, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Abby Jahn, (907) 586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NMFS Alaska Region administers the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Crab Rationalization Program (Program) in the North Pacific. Fishing
under the Program began on August 15, 2005. Regulations implementing
the Program can be found at 50 CFR part 680.
The Program is a limited access privilege program authorized by
section 313(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Program includes a cost
recovery provision to collect fees to recover the actual costs directly
related to the management, data collection, and enforcement of the
Program. The Program is consistent with the cost recovery provisions
included under section 304(d)(2)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. NMFS
developed the cost recovery regulations to conform to statutory
requirements and to reimburse the agency for the actual costs directly
related to the management, data collection, and enforcement of the
Program. The cost recovery provision allows collection of 133 percent
of the actual management, data collection, and enforcement costs up to
3 percent of the ex-vessel value of crab harvested under the Program.
The Program provides that a proportional share of fees charged be
forwarded to the State of Alaska for reimbursement of its share of
management and data collection costs for the Program.
A crab allocation holder generally incurs a cost recovery fee
liability for every pound of crab landed. Catcher vessel and processor
quota shareholders split the cost recovery fees equally with each
paying half, while catcher/processor quota shareholders pay the full
fee percentage for crab processed at sea. The crab allocations subject
to cost recovery include Individual Fishing Quota, Crew Individual
Fishing Quota, Individual Processing Quota, Community Development
Quota, and the Adak community allocation. The Registered Crab Receiver
(RCR) permit holder must collect the fee liability from the crab
allocation holder who is landing crab. Additionally, the RCR permit
holder must collect their own fee liability for all crab delivered to
the RCR. The RCR permit holder is responsible for submitting this
payment to NMFS on or before July 31, in the year following the crab
fishing year in which landings of crab were made.
The dollar amount of the fee due is determined by multiplying the
fee percentage (not to exceed 3 percent) by
[[Page 35757]]
the ex-vessel value of crab debited from the allocation. Program
details may be found in the implementing regulations at 50 CFR 680.44.
Fee Percentage
Each year, NMFS calculates and publishes in the Federal Register
the fee percentage according to the factors and methodology described
at Sec. 680.44(c)(2). The formula for determining the fee percentage
is the ``direct program costs'' divided by ``value of the fishery,''
where ``direct program costs'' are the direct program costs for the
Program for the previous fiscal year, and ``value of the fishery'' is
the ex-vessel value of the catch subject to the crab cost recovery fee
liability for the current year. Fee collections for any given year may
be less than or greater than the actual costs and fishery value for
that year, as regulations establish the fee percentage in the first
quarter of the crab fishing year based on the fishery value and costs
in the prior year.
According to the fee percentage formula described above, the
estimated percentage of costs to value for the 2020/2021 fishery was
1.09 percent. Therefore, the fee percentage will be 1.09 percent for
the 2021/2022 crab fishing year. The fee percentage decreased by
approximately 17 percent from the 2020/2021 crab fishing year fee
percentage of 1.31 percent (85 FR 41566, July 10, 2020). Direct program
costs for managing the fishery decreased by approximately 9 percent
from 2020/2021 to 2021/2022, while fishery value increased by
approximately 10 percent, resulting in the decreased fee percentage.
Similar to previous years, the largest direct program costs were
incurred by the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, respectively.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109-241; Pub. L. 109-479.
Dated: July 1, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-14443 Filed 7-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
