[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 27, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 12438]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-4745]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 000105004-0260-02; I.D. 063099A]
RIN 0648-AI78


Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic 
Herring Fishery; Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan; Partial 
Delay

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule; partial delay.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2001, from 
the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled 
``Regulatory Review Plan,'' published in the Federal Register on 
January 24, 2001, this action temporarily delays for 60 days the 
effective date of certain portions of the final rule implementing the 
Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan published in the Federal 
Register on December 11, 2000.

DATES: In the final rule, published at 65 FR 77450, December 11, 2000, 
the effective date of 50 CFR 648.14(bb)(15) and (16) and 648.205(a) is 
delayed from March 12, 2001, until May 11, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: E. Martin Jaffe, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 978-281-9272.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final rule published on December 11, 
2000 (65 FR 77450), implemented approved measures contained in the FMP, 
which was partially approved by NMFS on behalf of the Secretary of 
Commerce on October 27, 1999. The requirement to install and use a VMS 
unit on vessels in the directed herring fishery that caught greater 
than 500 mt in the previous year, or vessels whose owner intends to 
harvest greater than 500 mt in the current year would have become 
effective March 12, 2001. Prohibitions related to this requirement were 
also scheduled to become effective on March 12. However, consistent 
with the guidance contained in the ``Regulatory Review Plan,'' NMFS is 
delaying the effectiveness of the VMS requirement until May 11. 2001. 
All other measures implemented in the final rule implementing the 
Atlantic Herring FMP published December 11, 2000, remain in effect.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    To the extent that 5 U.S.C. 553 applies to this action, it is 
exempt from notice and comment because it constitutes a rule of 
procedure under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A). Alternatively, NMFS' implementation 
of this rule without opportunity for public comment is based on the 
good cause exceptions in 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 553(d)(3), in that 
seeking public comment is impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to 
the public interest. Given the imminence of the effective date, seeking 
prior public comment on this temporary stay would have been 
impractical, as well as contrary to the public interest in the orderly 
promulgation and implementation of regulations. Delays in publishing 
the final rule implementing the delay of the effectiveness while 
seeking public comment would have led to confusion in the fishing 
industry concerning whether to purchase and install VMS equipment 
during this interim period.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: February 21, 2001.
William T. Hogarth,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 01-4745 Filed 2-22-01; 3:12 pm]
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