[Federal Register: October 1, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 189)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 50759-50761]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01oc09-27]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 0909011267-91269-01]
RIN 0648-AY19
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is proposing to implement a regulatory amendment to
modify the fishing vessel permit regulations to include specific terms
and conditions for Federal fishing vessel permits obtained through the
purchase of fishing vessels using Federal grant awards. The terms and
conditions would authorize the NMFS Administrator, Northeast Region
(Regional Administrator), to suspend, cancel, fail to renew, modify, or
otherwise rescind any Federal fishing vessel permit, or the rights
thereto, if the terms and conditions of any Federal grant award used to
obtain said permit, or an associated memorandum of understanding, are
violated by the grant recipient.
DATES: Written comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., eastern
standard time, on November 2, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-AY19, by any
of the following methods:
Electronic submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal http://
www.regulations.gov.
Fax: (978) 281-9135, Attn: Michael Pentony.
Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS,
Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA
01930. Mark the outside of the envelope: ``Comments on Vessel Permit
Regulatory Amendment.''
Instructions: All comments received are part of the public record
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name,
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted via Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel,
WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
Copies of the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) are available upon
request from Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS,
Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA
01930.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Pentony, Senior Fishery Policy
Analyst, phone (978) 281-9283.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This proposed rule would implement changes to the Northeast (NE)
fisheries regulations at 50 CFR part 648 to authorize the Regional
Administrator to suspend, cancel, fail to renew, modify, or otherwise
rescind any Federal fishing vessel permit, including the rights
thereto, held by a person, corporation, non-profit organization, or
government entity if the terms and conditions of any Federal grant
award used to obtain said permit, or an associated memorandum of
understanding, are violated by the grant recipient. The intent of this
proposed action is to establish a new regulatory mechanism through
which NOAA would be able to enforce the terms and conditions of any
Federal grant award used to obtain Federal fishing vessel permits in
the NE Region.
As several fisheries in the NE Region begin to transition to catch-
share management strategies, various fishing organizations,
conservations groups, and states are exploring alternatives to the
traditional vessel-permit ownership model. Traditionally, an individual
or corporation invests in a fishing vessel and obtains the appropriate
vessel permits necessary to participate in the target fishery. An
individual or corporation may own multiple vessels, but each of these
vessels is generally associated with a unique vessel permit (or, a
unique set of permits to operate in different fisheries may be
associated with each vessel). An alternative model known as ``permit
banking'' is developing in the Northeast, whereby an organization
obtains a suite of permits in a particular fishery, with the option to
lease out the fishing rights associated with those permits.
Permit banks hold promise for addressing two important issues
related to the development and implementation of effective catch-share
management programs: First, permit banks can be
[[Page 50760]]
used to ease the transition to catch-share management by expanding the
pool of catch shares available for use; and, second, permit banks could
demonstrate that small fishing operations and small communities can be
successful participants in catch-share management programs. Depending
on the structure of the permit bank, and the criteria used for
participation, permit banks could be very effective at protecting the
fishing interests of small communities and small fishing operations by
mitigating some of the consolidation of fishing rights that often
follows implementation of catch-share programs.
Examples of new permit banks in the Northeast Region include those
being developed by the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust, the Northeast Seafood
Coalition, and The Nature Conservancy in partnership with the Penobscot
East Resource Center. These groups are using donations and other funds
to purchase fishing vessels with NE multispecies fishing permits. The
permits would be held by the permit bank organization, which would then
make the fishing rights associated with the permits available to its
members or other qualified applicants. The fishing rights associated
with the permits initially would include days-at-sea, to be leased out
at generally below-market value. With the development of sector
management in the NE multispecies fishery, the fishing rights may
include annual catch entitlements (ACEs) associated with the permits
(i.e., the shares of the overall quotas allocated to each permit based
on fishing history). The ACEs may be used in establishing a new fishing
sector, or to bolster the total catch shares available to an existing
sector.
Interest in developing permit banking programs is expanding in the
NE and, because of NOAA's policy position promoting catch-share
management, the NMFS NE Regional Office has proposed a pilot program
designed to guide the development and expansion of permit banks in
order to facilitate the implementation of effective catch-share
programs. In the spending plan for a recent Congressional authorization
for New England fisheries assistance, NOAA proposed to award a $1
million grant to develop this pilot permit banking program in the State
of Maine. Since then, we have been working in partnership with Maine's
Division of Marine Resources on a program that would allow the state to
use the grant award to purchase fishing vessels with associated
permits. The fishing rights associated with those permits would then
serve as the basis for a permit bank to be operated by the state to
facilitate the transition to catch-share management by leasing
additional fishing opportunities to qualified vessels in small ports.
The State of Maine is very interested in developing such a partnership
and establishing a permit bank. If the pilot program proves successful,
NOAA may consider expanding the program throughout other parts of the
NE Region.
Absent a regulatory change such as the proposed action, NOAA would
not be able to retain sufficient control and oversight of the resulting
permit banking program to ensure its success. Under current grant
management rules and fishing vessel permit regulations, once a grant
award is made to an organization, and the award is used to obtain
fishing vessel permits, NOAA would lose all control over the
implementation and operation of the resulting permit bank. Even if the
grant includes special award conditions specifying the criteria to be
used in operation of the permit bank, NOAA would have no effective
mechanism to enforce those criteria once an organization obtains the
permits. In order to protect NOAA's and the public's interests in the
successful development, implementation, and operation of such a
program, a regulatory change is required to provide NOAA with an
appropriate enforcement mechanism.
The proposed action would amend the NMFS NE Region regulations
regarding fishing vessel permits to include specific terms and
conditions that would apply to Federal fishing vessel permits obtained
through the purchase of fishing vessels using Federal grant awards. The
terms and conditions would authorize the Regional Administrator to
suspend, cancel, fail to renew, modify, or otherwise rescind any
Federal fishing vessel permit, including the rights thereto, held by a
person, corporation, non-profit organization, or government entity if
the terms and conditions of any Federal grant award used to obtain said
permit, or an associated memorandum of understanding, are violated by
the grant recipient.
Classification
Pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) of the NE Region,
other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law,
and is necessary to discharge the general responsibility to carry out
said FMPs, subject to further consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The intent of this proposed action is to establish a new
regulatory mechanism through which NOAA would be able to enforce the
terms and conditions of any Federal grant award used to obtain
Federal fishing vessel permits. This action would have no effect on
any Federal fishing vessel permit currently held by a person,
corporation, non-profit organization, or government entity, and
would only affect such permits obtained in the future if the person,
corporation, non-profit organization, or government entity obtains a
Federal fishing vessel permit using funds awarded to that entity
through a Federal grant award. Further, the proposed action would
have no effect on any entity unless that entity violates the terms
and conditions of the Federal grant award used to obtain such a
permit, or an associated memorandum of understanding. If the terms
and conditions of a Federal grant award, or associated memorandum of
understanding, are violated, this action would authorize the
Regional Administrator to take appropriate action to enforce the
terms and conditions of the grant award or memorandum of
understanding. These administrative changes are intended to ensure
NOAA has available appropriate enforcement mechanisms when awarding
Federal grants that may be used to obtain Federal fishing vessel
permits. As such, the rule will not have significant direct or
indirect economic impacts on small entities.
As a result, an initial flexibility analysis is not required and none
has been prepared.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: September 28, 2009.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In Sec. 648.4, paragraph (n) is added to read as follows:
[[Page 50761]]
Sec. 648.4 Vessel permits.
* * * * *
(n) Federal grant awards. The Regional Administrator may suspend,
cancel, fail to renew, modify, or otherwise rescind any Federal fishing
vessel permit, issued pursuant to this section, including the rights
thereto, held by a person, corporation, non-profit organization, or
government entity if the terms and conditions of any Federal grant
award used to obtain said permit, or an associated memorandum of
understanding, are violated by the grant recipient.
[FR Doc. E9-23704 Filed 9-30-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S