[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 17, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50716-50717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-20325]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 680
[Docket No. 100106010-0074-01]
RIN 0648-AY52
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program; Emergency Rule
Extension
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; emergency action extension.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is extending the emergency action, implemented on
February 18, 2010, to exempt individual fishing quota (IFQ) and
individual processing quota (IPQ) issued for the Western Aleutian
Islands golden king crab fishery from the West regional designation.
Under the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program,
Federal regulations require that golden king crab harvested with IFQ
with a West regional designation be delivered to a processor with West
designated IPQ in the West region of the Aleutian Islands. An emergency
exists because, due to a recent unforeseen event, no crab processing
facility is open in the West region. This emergency rule extension is
necessary to ensure that the exemption remains in effect to prevent
disruption to the Aleutian Islands golden king crab fishery by allowing
fishermen to deliver crab harvested with West designated IFQ to
processors outside the West region and allow processors with West
designated IPQ to process that crab outside the West region for the
2010/2011 fishing season. This action is intended to promote the goals
and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian
Islands King and Tanner Crabs, and other applicable law.
DATES: Effective from August 18, 2010, through February 20, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)
prepared for this action may be obtained from http://www.regulations.gov or from the NMFS Alaska Region website at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gretchen Harrington, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) provides
authority for rulemaking to address an emergency. Under that section, a
Regional Fishery Management Council may recommend emergency rulemaking,
if it finds an emergency exists. At its December 2009 meeting, the
North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) voted 10 to 1 to
request that NMFS promulgate an emergency rule to relieve the existing
regional delivery and processing requirement in the Western Aleutian
Islands golden king crab fishery.
On February 18, 2010, NMFS published an emergency action to exempt
West designated IFQ and West designated IPQ for the Western Aleutian
Islands golden king crab fishery from the West regional designation in
regulations at 50 CFR 680.40(c)(4) and Sec. 680.40(e)(2),
respectively, until August 17, 2010 (75 FR 7205). NMFS invited public
comments until March 22, 2010. NMFS received no public comments.
Removing the West regional designation from this IFQ and IPQ
removes the requirement that these shares be used in the West region.
With this exemption, Western Aleutian Islands golden king crab
harvested with West designated IFQ could be delivered to a processor
with IPQ in any location, and processors could process crab using West
designated IPQ in any location. The preamble to the emergency rule (75
FR 7205, February 18, 2010) provides additional background information.
Section 305(c)(3)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act authorizes NMFS to
extend the emergency action for up to 186 days beyond the August 17,
2010, expiration of the initial emergency action, provided the public
has had an opportunity to comment on the emergency regulation and, in
the case of a Council recommendation, the Council is actively preparing
a fishery management plan amendment to address the emergency on a
permanent basis.
At its April 2010 meeting, the Council adopted Amendment 37 to the
FMP to permanently address the emergency by establishing a process for
quota share holders, processor quota share holders, and the
municipalities of Adak and
[[Page 50717]]
Atka to agree to and notify NMFS when deliveries are exempt from the
West regional designation requirements. The Council and NMFS are
preparing the amendment and rulemaking documents for review by the
Secretary of Commerce.
With this emergency rule extension, NMFS would extend the exemption
for Class A IFQ and IPQ issued for the Western Aleutian Islands golden
king crab fishery from the West regional designation for an additional
186 days. The emergency rule extension would provide relief for the
2010/2011 crab fishing season and enable the fishery to occur during
the time period Amendment 37 and its implementing regulations are under
Secretarial review.
Classification
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, has determined
that this emergency rule extension is consistent with the national
standards and other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other
applicable laws. NMFS has the authority to extend the emergency action
for up to 186 days beyond the August 17, 2010, expiration of the
initial emergency action, as authorized under section 305(c)(3)(B) of
the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice and the
opportunity for public comment because it would be impracticable and
contrary to the public interest. In the initial emergency rule
published on February 18, 2010 (75 FR 7205), NMFS requested comments
and received none.
The measures of this emergency rule extension remain unchanged from
the measures contained in the initial emergency action. If the initial
emergency action were allowed to lapse, a substantial portion of the
fishery will likely remain unharvested, causing economic harm to
fishery participants. Extending the provisions of the emergency rule
without additional notice and opportunity for public comment will
ensure the 2010/2011 Aleutian Islands golden king crab fishery
continues uninterrupted and will prevent unnecessary adverse economic
impacts. Therefore, for the reasons outlined above, the Assistant
Administrator finds it is unnecessary and contrary to the public
interest to provide any additional notice and opportunity for public
comment under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) prior to publishing the emergency rule
extension.
Because this rule relieves a restriction by exempting IFQ and IPQ
from the West region designation, it is not subject to the 30-day
delayed effectiveness provision of the APA pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
553(d)(1).
This emergency rule extension has been determined to be not
significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866. The regulatory
impact review prepared for this action is available from NMFS (see
ADDRESSES).
No duplication, overlap, or conflict between this action and
existing Federal rules has been identified.
This emergency rule is exempt from the procedures of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act because the rule is not subject to the requirement to
provide prior notice and opportunity for public comment pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553 or any other law.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109-241; Pub. L. 109-479.
Dated: August 11, 2010.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-20325 Filed 8-16-10; 8:45 am]
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