National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration May 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The SEDAR assessment of the Gulf of Mexico Gray Triggerfish will consist of one in-person workshop and a series of webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS issues this final rule to amend the regulations implementing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. This action will change the minimum number of traps per trawl to allow fishing with a single trap in certain Massachusetts and Rhode Island state waters; and modifies the requirement to use one endline on trawls within certain areas in Massachusetts state waters. Also, this rule creates a \1/4\ mile buffer in waters surrounding certain islands in Maine to allow fishing with a single trap. In addition, this rule includes additional gear marking requirements for those waters allowing single traps as well as two new high use areas for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis).

The NOAA Office for Coastal Management announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the New York and Florida Coastal Management Programs. The Coastal Zone Management Program (CMP) evaluations will be conducted pursuant to section 312 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (CZMA) and regulations at 15 CFR part 923, subpart L. The CZMA requires continuing review of the performance of states with respect to CMP implementation. Evaluation of a CMP requires findings concerning the extent to which a state has met the national objectives, adhered to its CMP document approved by the Secretary of Commerce, and adhered to the terms of financial assistance awards funded under the CZMA. The evaluations will include a public meeting, consideration of written public comments and consultations with interested Federal, state, and local agencies and members of the public. When the evaluation is completed, the Office for Coastal Management will place a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Evaluation Findings. Notice is hereby given of the date, local time, and location of the public meeting. Date and Time: The New York CMP public meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. local time in room #505 on the 5th floor of 1 Commerce Plaza at 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY. The Florida CMP public meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 15, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. local time in Conference Rooms A and B, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Building, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 3900 Commonwealth Blvd., Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3000.

Notice is hereby given that Daniel P. Costa, Ph.D., University of California at Santa Cruz, Long Marine Laboratory, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) throughout their range.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold meetings of its 119th Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and its 163rd Council meeting to take actions on fishery management issues in the Western Pacific Region. The Council will also convene meetings of the Pelagic and International Standing Committee, Fishery Data Collection and Research Committee (FDCRC), Hawaii Standing Committee, and Executive and Budget Standing Committee.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an IHA to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), on behalf of SIO and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), to take marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to conducting a low-energy marine geophysical (seismic) survey in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, East of New Zealand, May to June 2015.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) and its advisory entities will hold public meetings.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold public meetings of the Council and its Committees.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold meetings of the: Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management Committee; Protected Resources Committee; Shrimp Committee; Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) Committee; Golden Crab Committee; Personnel Committee (Closed Session); Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) Selection Committee; Law Enforcement Committee (partially closed); Data Collection Committee; King and Spanish Mackerel Committee; Executive Finance Committee; Snapper Grouper Committee; and a meeting of the Full Council. The Council will also hold a Council Member Visioning Workshop for the Snapper Grouper Fishery and conduct a joint Council Session with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The Council will take action as necessary. The Council will also hold a formal public comment session.

NMFS proposes to implement annual management measures and harvest specifications to establish the allowable catch levels (i.e. annual catch limit (ACL)/harvest guideline (HG)) for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine (hereafter, simply Pacific sardine), in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016. This rule is proposed according to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The proposed would include a prohibition on directed non-tribal Pacific sardine commercial fishing for Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California, which is required because the estimated 2015 biomass of Pacific sardine has dropped below the cutoff threshold in the HG control rule. Under the proposed action Pacific sardine may still be harvested as part of either the live bait or tribal fishery or incidental to other fisheries; the incidental harvest of Pacific sardine would initially be limited to 40-percent by weight of all fish per trip when caught with other CPS or up to 2 metric tons (mt) when caught with non-CPS. The proposed annual catch limit (ACL) for 2015-2016 Pacific sardine fishing year is 7,000 mt. This proposed rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council announces its intent to prepare, in cooperation with NMFS, either an amendment to the fishery management plan for golden tilefish or a new fishery management plan. In either case, the reason for action is to develop conservation and management measures for blueline tilefish off the Mid-Atlantic. To support this effort, the Council may prepare an environmental impact statement in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act to analyze the impacts of any proposed management measures. This notice announces a public process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed, for identifying concerns and potential alternatives related to management of blueline tilefish off the Mid-Atlantic, and for determining the appropriate level of environmental analysis. This notice alerts the interested public of the scoping process, the potential development of an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment as appropriate, and provides for public participation in that process. Five scoping hearings will be held in June 2015 for this action.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Mariana Archipelago Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) Advisory Panels (AP) to discuss and make recommendations on fishery management issues in the Western Pacific Region.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to take, by harassment, small numbers of 11 species of marine mammals incidental to construction activities for a tie-up slips dolphin and wingwall replacement project in Anacortes, Washington State, between September 1, 2015, and August 31, 2016.

NMFS publishes regulations to implement Amendment 45 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (Crab FMP). Amendment 45 establishes, for a limited period of time, a process for NMFS to permanently remove Pacific cod catch limits, known as sideboard limits, which are applicable to certain hook-and-line catcher/processors in the Central and Western Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Regulatory Areas. This action authorizes NMFS to remove these Pacific cod sideboard limits in the Central and/or Western GOA if each eligible participant in the hook-and-line catcher/processor sector in a regulatory area signs and submits a request that NMFS remove the sideboard limit. Each eligible participant will be required to submit the request to NMFS within 1 year of the date of publication of this final rule. This action is necessary to provide participants in the Central and Western GOA hook-and-line catcher/processor sectors with an opportunity to cooperatively coordinate harvests of Pacific cod through private arrangement to the participants' mutual benefit, which would remove the need for sideboard limits in these regulatory areas. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Crab FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act), and other applicable law.

NMFS has received an application from the City of San Diego for an IHA to take small numbers of marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to construction activities at the Children's Pool Lifeguard Station in La Jolla, California. NMFS has reviewed the IHA application, including all supporting documents, and determined that it is adequate and complete. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to the City of San Diego to take, by Level B harassment only, three species of marine mammals during the specified activities.

The purpose of this notice is to announce the policies and application procedures for the FY 2015 Regional Coastal Resilience Grants Program. Awards made under this program will support eligible entities as they develop or implement activities that build resilience of coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors to the negative impacts from extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions. Funds will be available to support activities that: (1) Identify and address priority data, information, and capacity gaps; (2) develop tools, as needed, to inform sound, science-based decisions, which support regional efforts to plan for a resilient ocean and coastal economy; (3) acquire and integrate socioeconomic information with physical and biological information to improve the assessment of risk and vulnerability for planning and decision making; (4) understand how hazards and changing ocean conditions affect coastal economies, including existing and emerging sectors that depend on the ocean and coasts; (5) develop the information and approaches needed for improved risk communication, and the necessary tools, technical assistance and training tailored toward enhanced resilience to weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions; (6) evaluate the costs, benefits, and tradeoffs of systems-based development or redevelopment approaches that incorporate both natural defenses and hard structural solutions; or (7) support the development of sustainable recovery, redevelopment, and adaptation plans and implement programs and projects that incentivize rebuilding and development approaches which reduce risk and increase resilience. See the full FY 2015 Regional Coastal Resilience Grants Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO), located on Grants.gov, as described in the ADDRESSES section, for a complete description of program goals and how applications will be evaluated. Note that this funding opportunity is one of two competitions being administered by NOAA to build coastal resilience. The companion competition, the Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants program, is being administered by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service to implement projects that use a proactive approach to improve or restore coastal habitat to strengthen the resilience of communities, protected resources and fisheries.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council's) Cooperative Research Committee will hold a public meeting.

The SAFMC will hold a meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) to review stock projections for blueline tilefish. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Joint Ecosystem Based Fishery Management (EBFM) and Herring Committees to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from these groups will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils have submitted an Omnibus Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the Northeastern United States to simplify vessel baselines. This amendment incorporates a draft Environmental Assessment and preliminary Regulatory Impact Review, for review and approval by the Secretary of Commerce, and NMFS is requesting comments from the public. The Omnibus Amendment to Simplify Vessel Baselines would eliminate the one-time limit on vessel upgrades and remove gross and net tonnages from vessel baseline specifications considered when determining a vessel's baseline for replacement purposes. Implementing these measures would reduce the administrative burden to permit holders and NMFS, and would have little effect on fleet capacity. This action would also remove the requirement for vessels to send in negative fishing reports (i.e., ``did not fish'' reports) during months or weeks when fishing did not occur.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory committees will hold public meetings, June 1-9, 2015.