[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 214 (Monday, November 5, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55910-55911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27723]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 101901E]


Caribbean Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft supplemental environmental 
impact statement (DSEIS); request for comments; notice of public 
hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to 
prepare a DSEIS to assess the impacts on the natural and human 
environment of the management measure proposed in its draft Amendment 2 
to the Fishery Management Plan for the Queen Conch Resources of Puerto 
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (FMP). The purpose of this document is 
to solicit public comments on the scope of the issues to be addressed 
in the DSEIS and to provide information on the Council's intended 
schedule for hearings for completing the DSEIS and submitting it to 
NMFS for filing with the Environmental Protection Agency for 
publication of a notice-of-availability for public comment.

DATES: The two public hearings will be held on Monday, November 26, 
2001; see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Written comments on the scope of 
issues to be addressed in the DSEIS will be accepted through November 
26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Miguel A. Rolon, 
Executive Director, Caribbean Fishery Management Council, 268 Munoz 
Rivera Avenue, Suite 1108, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918-1920, telephone: 
787-766-5926; fax: 787-766-6239; or you can send comments by e-mail to: 
[email protected] or [email protected]. Copies of 
the draft Amendment 2 and the preliminary DSEIS may be obtained by 
contacting the Caribbean Fishery Management Council, 268 Munoz Rivera 
Avenue, Suite 1108, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918-2577, phone: 787-766-
5926. Public hearings will meet at Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas, VI; for 
specific locations, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caribbean Fishery Management Council, 
268 Munoz Rivera Avenue, Suite 1108, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918-2577, 
phone: 787-766-5926, or Dr. Peter J. Eldridge, Southeast Regional 
Office, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702, 
phone: 727-570-5305; fax: 727-570-5583; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The FMP was prepared by the Council and approved and implemented by 
NMFS under procedures of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The FMP's management measures 
for queen conch apply in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the U.S. 
Caribbean. For the purposes of the FMP and its implementing 
regulations, the U.S. Caribbean consists of the Federal waters beyond 
the 9 nautical mile boundary in Puerto Rico, and beyond the 3 nautical 
mile boundary in St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin 
Islands. The FMP currently establishes the following

[[Page 55911]]

management measures for queen conch: (1) A 9-inch overall minimum size 
limit, or a 3/8-inch shell-lip thickness limitation on the possession 
of queen conch; (2) a requirement that all species in the management 
unit be landed in the shell, and that the sale of undersized queen 
conch and queen conch shells be prohibited; (3) a bag limit of three 
queen conch/day for recreational fishers, not to exceed 12 per boat, 
and 150 queen conch/day for licensed commercial fishers; (4) the 
closure of the harvest season from July 1 through September 30 of each 
consecutive year; and (5) the prohibition of harvesting queen conch by 
HOOKAH gear in the EEZ.
    The Council is preparing draft FMP Amendment 2. The objectives of 
Amendment 2 are to address NMFS' determination that queen conch is 
overfished and is undergoing overfishing. Amendment 2, in addressing 
these issues, proposes to prohibit the harvest and possession of queen 
conch in the Caribbean EEZ. The Council is preparing a DSEIS as an 
integrated part of Amendment 2. The DSEIS will describe the amendment's 
proposed management measure and reasonable alternatives and will assess 
the environmental impacts of the proposed and alternative measures. The 
Council is requesting written comments on the scope of the issues to be 
addressed in the DSEIS. Based on input received during eight public 
hearings held previously in July 2000 (see notice of these hearings at 
65 FR 40600), the Council intends to revise draft Amendment 2, as 
appropriate, and to finalize the DSEIS. At the July 2000 hearings, the 
Council changed the number of the Amendment from Amendment 1 to 
Amendment 2. The proposed management measure has not been included in a 
previous FMP amendment.
    The Council intends that the public hearings scheduled for November 
26, 2001, supplement, for scoping purposes, the eight public hearings 
that the Council conducted from July 10, 2000, through July 26, 2000, 
on a preliminary draft of Amendment 2 and associated preliminary DSEIS. 
The Council also invites the public to comment on the scope of the 
issues to be addressed by Amendment 2 and its DSEIS and on the types of 
environmental impacts associated with alternative management measures, 
including the proposed measure discussed above.
    Once the Council completes the DSEIS, it will submit it to NMFS for 
filing with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA will publish 
in the Federal Register a notice of availability of the DSEIS for 
public comment. This procedure is pursuant to regulations issued by the 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for implementing the procedural 
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 
parts 1500-1508) and to NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6 regarding 
NOAA's compliance with NEPA and the CEQ regulations.
    The Council intends to consider public comments received on the 
DSEIS before adopting final management measures for a final Amendment 2 
and to prepare a final supplemental environmental impact statement 
(FSEIS) in support of its final Amendment 2. The Council would then 
submit the final Amendment 2 and supporting FSEIS to NMFS for 
Secretarial review, approval, and implementation under the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. NMFS will announce availability of Amendment 2 for public 
review during the Secretarial review period though notice published in 
the Federal Register. During Secretarial review, NMFS will also file 
the FSEIS with EPA for a final public comment period on the FSEIS. This 
comment period will be concurrent with the Secretarial review period 
and will end prior to final agency action to approve, disapprove, or 
partially approve Amendment 2. All public comment periods on Amendment 
2, its proposed implementing regulations, and its associated FSEIS will 
be announced through notice published in the Federal Register. NMFS 
will consider all public comments received during the Secretarial 
review period for Amendment 2 (60-day period), whether they are on the 
amendment, the FSEIS, or the proposed regulations, prior to final 
agency action.

Time and Location for Public Hearings

    Both hearings are scheduled on, Monday, November 26, 2001, at the 
following times and locations.
    1. Puerto Rico, Pierre Hotel, De Diego Avenue, Condado, Puerto 
Rico, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
    2. US Virgin Islands, Windward Passage Holiday Inn Hotel, Veterans 
Drive, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, VI, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.. 
Written comments will be accepted through November 26, 2001.

Special Accommodations

    These hearings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to the Council office (see ADDRESSES) 
by November 16, 2001.

    Dated: October 30, 2001.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-27723 Filed 10-31-01; 4:27 pm]
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