Economic Research Service July 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the Secretary of Commerce has determined that the establishment of the Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment (Committee) is necessary and in the public interest. Accordingly, NOAA has chartered the Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment. NOAA is also soliciting nominations for membership on the Committee. The Committee's mission is to provide advice on sustained National Climate Assessment activities and products to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (Under Secretary) who will forward the advice to the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The Committee's scope isas requested by the Under Secretaryto advise on the engagement of stakeholders and on sustained assessment activities and the quadrennial National Climate Assessment report. Points of View: Individuals are sought with expertise in communications, engagement, and education; risk management and risk assessment; economics and social sciences; technology, tools, and data systems; and other disciplines relevant to the sustained National Climate Assessment process. In addition, individuals are sought with expertise in climate change and variability, spanning the range from climate science (physical, biological, chemical) to impacts and societal responses. Individuals with experience in the private sector, academia, public sector, non-governmental organizations, and others will all be given consideration. Nominations: Interested persons may nominate themselves or third parties. Applications: An application is required to be considered for membership, regardless of whether a person is nominated by a third party or self-nominated. The application package must include: (1) The nominee's full name, title, institutional affiliation, and contact information; (2) the nominee's area(s) of expertise; (3) a short description of his/her qualifications relative to the kinds of advice being solicited by NOAA in this Notice; and (4) a current resume (maximum length four pages). Information obtained as a result of this request may be used by the government for program planning on a non- attribution basis. Do not include any information that might be considered proprietary or confidential. If selected, members will be appointed as special government employees (SGEs) and will be subject to the ethical standards applicable to SGEs. They will also be asked to certify that they are not required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and that they are not Federally-registered lobbyists.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council), in collaboration with NMFS and NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), will convene a scientific workshop to consider the distribution of the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine. The workshop is open to the public.

This action closes the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool trawl and gillnet vessels for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2015. The closure is required by regulation because the common pool fishery has caught over 90 percent of its Trimester 1 quota for Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder. This closure is intended to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's allocation for this stock.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), 8901 La Jolla Shore Dr., La Jolla, CA 92037, [Responsible Party: Lisa Ballance, Ph.D.], has applied in due form for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

Notice is hereby given that the NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), 8901 La Jolla Shore Dr., La Jolla, CA 92037, [Responsible Party: Lisa Ballance, Ph.D.], has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on five species of pinnipeds, over 50 species of cetaceans, and five species of sea turtles.

Notice is hereby given that Briana Witteveen, Ph.D., University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, 118 Trident Way, Kodiak, AK 99615, has been issued a minor amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 14296-01.

Notice is hereby given that a permit has been issued to NMFS Office of Protected Resources, Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (Responsible Party: Teri Rowles, D.V.M., Ph.D.), 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, to take, import, and export marine mammals and marine mammal parts for research and enhancement purposes.

NMFS is adjusting the Swordfish (SWO) General Commercial permit retention limits for the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean regions for the remainder of 2015, unless otherwise noticed. The SWO General Commercial permit retention limit in each of these three regions is increased to six SWO per vessel per trip. The SWO General Commercial permit retention limit in the Florida SWO Management Area will remain unchanged at zero SWO per vessel per trip. This adjustment applies to SWO General Commercial permitted vessels and HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels when on a non-for-hire trip. This action is based upon consideration of the applicable inseason regional retention limit adjustment criteria.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Legislative Committee is cancelling the teleconference meeting scheduled for August 4, 2015, from 1 to 5 p.m. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Council will hold a scoping meeting via webinar on August 10, 2015 to solicit public input on management actions affecting the snapper grouper fishery.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Ecosystem Work Group (EWG) will hold a webinar, which is open to the public.

A post workshop webinar #2 will be held, if necessary, following the June 22-26, 2015 SEDAR Procedural Workshop 7 in Atlanta, GA. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS has received a request from the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) for an authorization to take small numbers of four species of marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to proposed San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (SFOBB) Pier E3 demolition via controlled implosion in San Francisco Bay (SFB or Bay). Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an authorization to CALTRANS to incidentally take, by harassment, small numbers of marine mammals for its proposed controlled implosion.

The NMFS Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit renewal application from the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration; and that the activities authorized under the Exempted Fishing Permit would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for American lobster. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on Exempted Fishing Permit applications.

NMFS issues regulations under authority of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act (WCPFC Implementation Act) to establish a catch limit of 3,502 metric tons (mt) of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) for vessels in the U.S. pelagic longline fisheries operating in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) for calendar year 2015. The limit does not apply to vessels in the longline fisheries of American Samoa, Guam, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Once the limit of 3,502 mt is reached in 2015, retaining, transshipping, or landing bigeye tuna caught in the area of application of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Convention), which comprises the majority of the WCPO, will be prohibited for the remainder of the calendar year, with certain exceptions. This action is necessary for the United States to satisfy its obligations under the Convention, to which it is a Contracting Party.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that we have issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, four species of marine mammals during activities related to the construction of Pier 3 of the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (SF-OBB) in California

NMFS announces two inseason actions in the ocean salmon fisheries. These inseason actions modified the commercial salmon fisheries in the area from the U.S./Canada border to the Oregon/ California border.

NMFS issues regulations to implement Regulatory Amendment 20 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP) (Regulatory Amendment 20), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule revises the snowy grouper annual catch limits (ACLs), commercial trip limit, and recreational fishing season. The purpose of this rule is to help achieve optimum yield (OY) and prevent overfishing of snowy grouper while enhancing socio-economic opportunities within the snapper-grouper fishery.

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 North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Ecosystem Committee will meet in Juneau, AK.

This final rule implements an information collection program for the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries. The information collection program is intended to obtain more detailed information about individuals and businesses that hold fishery quota allocation in these individual transferable quota fisheries. This action is necessary to ensure that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has the information needed to develop a future management action intended to establish an excessive share cap in these fisheries.

NMFS publishes notification of a 1.48 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 fee percentage for the 2015/2016 crab fishing year so they can calculate the required payment for cost recovery fees that must be submitted by July 31, 2016.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold five public hearings and one webinar to solicit Public comments on Draft Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, announce the extension of the public comment period on our May 21, 2015, proposed revisions to the regulations concerning petitions under section 4(b)(3) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.