National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration March 8, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a public meeting of its Advisory Panels (AP) for management plans requiring commercial permits.

The SEDAR 61 stock assessment process for Gulf of Mexico red grouper will consist of an In-person Workshop, and a series of data and assessment webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by hook- and-line catcher/processors in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2019 Pacific cod total allowable catch apportioned to hook-and-line catcher/processors in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

On May 19, 2015, Line 901, a 24-inch diameter underground oil pipeline owned by Plains All-American Pipeline Company (``Plains'') ruptured, releasing what has been estimated to be at least 2,940 barrels of crude oil. Much of the heavy crude oil flowed into the Pacific Ocean near Refugio Beach State Park in Santa Barbara County, California. The oil spread southward and eastward impacting adjoining shorelines in Santa Barbara county and downcoast. The discharge affected natural resources in the general area. All of the foregoing is referred to as the ``Incident.'' Pursuant to section 1006 of the Oil Pollution Act (``OPA''), 33 U.S.C. 2701, et seq., federal and state trustees for natural resources are authorized to (1) assess natural resource injuries resulting from a discharge of oil or the substantial threat of a discharge and response activities, and (2) develop and implement a plan for restoration of such injured resources. The federal trustees are designated pursuant to the National Contingency Plan, 40 CFR Section 300.600 and Executive Order 12777. State trustees for California are designated pursuant to the National Contingency Plan, 40 CFR Section 300.605 and the Governor's Designation of State Natural Resource Trustees under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and California Health and Safety Code section 25352(c), dated October 5, 2007. The natural resources trustees (``Trustees'') under OPA for this Incident are the United States Department of Commerce, acting through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (``NOAA''); the United States Department of the Interior (``DOI''), acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (``FWS''); the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (``CDFW''); and the California Department of Parks and Recreation (``CDPR''). The California State Lands Commission (``CSLC'') is participating as a Trustee for the Incident pursuant to its jurisdiction under California state law over all state sovereign lands, including un-granted tidelands and submerged lands. The Regents of the University of California (``UC'') is participating as a Trustee for the Incident pursuant to its jurisdiction under California state law over lands within the Natural Land and Water Reserves System. Plains is the Responsible Party (``RP'') for this Incident. The Trustees have coordinated with representatives of the RP on Natural Resource Damage Assessment (``NRDA'') activities. The Trustees began the Preassessment Phase of the NRDA in accordance with 15 CFR 990.40, to determine if they had jurisdiction to pursue restoration under OPA, and, if so, whether it was appropriate to do so. During the Preassessment Phase, the Trustees collected and analyzed the following: (1) Data reasonably expected to be necessary to make a determination of jurisdiction or a determination to conduct restoration planning, (2) ephemeral data (i.e., environmental data collected in the immediate aftermath of the spill), and/or (3) information needed to design or implement anticipated emergency restoration and/or assessment activities as part of the Restoration Planning Phase. The NRDA Regulations under OPA, 15 CFR part 990 (``NRDA regulations''), provide that the Trustees are to prepare a Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning (Notice) if they determine certain conditions have been met, and if they decide to quantify the injuries to natural resources and to develop a restoration plan. This Notice is to announce, pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44, that the Trustees, having collected and analyzed data, intend to proceed with restoration planning actions to address injuries to natural resources resulting from the Incident. The purpose of this restoration planning effort is to further evaluate injuries to natural resources and services and to use that information to determine the need for, type of, and scale of restoration actions. Opportunity to comment: Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.14(d), the Trustees seek public involvement in restoration planning for this Incident through public review of, and comment on, documents contained in the Record. The Trustees also intend to seek public comment on a draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan. Comments should be sent to the following email address: refugiorestoration@fws.gov.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received four scientific research permit application requests relating to Pacific salmon, steelhead, and eulachon. The proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide management and conservation efforts. The applications may be viewed online at: https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/preview/ preview_open_for_comment.cfm.