[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 122 (Wednesday, June 25, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37772-37773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16085]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 030617153-3153-01; I.D. 061203E]
RIN 0648-AR29


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fisheries; Vessel 
Monitoring Systems (VMS)

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

ACTION: Final rule; amendment of effective date.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the effective date for the requirement to 
have a NOAA-approved, VMS unit installed and operating on any vessel 
leaving port to fish for HMS with pelagic longline gear on board to 
September 1, 2003.

DATES: Effective September 1, 2003.

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the list of NOAA-approved VMS mobile 
transmitting units and NOAA-approved VMS communications service 
providers, write to NMFS Office for Law Enforcement (OLE), 8484 Georgia 
Avenue, Suite 415, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding the 
requirement contact Chris Rilling, Highly Migratory Species Management 
Division (F/SF1), Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 
phone 301-713-2347. For current listing of approved VMS units contact 
Mark Oswell, Outreach Specialist, phone 301-427-2300, fax 301-427-2055. 
For questions regarding VMS installation and activation checklists, 
contact Jonathan Pinkerton, National VMS Program Manager, phone 301-
427-2300, fax 301-427-2055.
    The public may acquire this notice, installation checklist, and 
relevant updates via the ``fax-back'' service, or at the OLE website 
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/vms.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 28, 1999, NMFS issued a regulation 
(64 FR 29090) codified at 50 CFR 635.69(a), requiring all commercial 
pelagic longline vessels fishing for Atlantic HMS to install a NMFS-
approved VMS unit. Due to litigation, the requirement was stayed 
indefinitely on October 1, 2000 (66 FR 1907, January 10, 2001). On 
October 15, 2002, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 
issued a final order upholding the VMS regulation. Following the 
favorable court ruling, NMFS began working to reinstate the VMS 
requirement.
    On March 11, 2003, NMFS published a notice in the Federal Register 
(68 FR 11534) and corrected it on March 27, 2003 (68 FR 14949), to 
provide a list of the NMFS-approved VMS units for use by pelagic 
longline vessels in the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) 
Fisheries and set forth relevant features of each VMS. The notification 
was issued to update and replace the approval notice published on 
September 9, 1999. An additional type approval notice was published on 
May 1, 2003 (68 FR 23285).
    NMFS also submitted a request to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) to reinstate approval for VMS information collection under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act. A notice regarding this 
collection was published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2002 
(67 FR 69506). The second notice of OMB review was published in the 
Federal Register on March 19, 2003 (68 FR 13280). OMB approved the VMS 
information collection request on May 10, 2003.
    The placement of VMS units on fishing vessels in this fishery will 
enable NMFS to determine vessel locations and will complement the 
Agency's efforts to monitor and enforce compliance with applicable 
regulations. Because fishermen need time to purchase and install VMS, 
the VMS rule will be effective September 1, 2003, which provides 
approximately 60 days for affected fishermen to come into compliance.

Classification

    This action is published under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Assistant 
Administrator (AA) has determined that implementation of a VMS program 
in the pelagic longline fishery is necessary to monitor and enforce 
closed areas implemented to reduce bycatch. The AA finds that good 
cause exists to waive the requirement to provide prior notice and the 
opportunity for comment, pursuant to authority set forth at 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(B), as such procedures would be unnecessary and contrary to the 
public interest. This amendment establishes a new effective date for 
the HMS VMS rule, which had been suspended due to litigation. NMFS 
provided for prior notice and comment before promulgating the HMS VMS 
rule in 1999, then provided for additional

[[Page 37773]]

public comment pursuant to a court order. The court upheld the rule on 
all counts and issued a final order in October, 2002. Subsequently, 
NMFS renewed its Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) approval, which included 
additional public comment on the information collection under the rule, 
and completed type approvals for VMS units for the fishery. This 
amendment does not change any substantive provisions of the HMS VMS 
rule, but provides a new effective date, as the original date was 
suspended because of the court case. Further delay of this rule to 
provide additional opportunity for public comment is contrary to the 
public interest because fishing is currently underway, and VMS would 
facilitate efficient allocation of limited enforcement resources to 
meet management objectives, including time and area closures 
established to protect juvenile fish and protected species. U.S. 
Atlantic pelagic longline vessels operate in fishing areas in the 
Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico, and given increased 
commitments to homeland security, VMS will play an important role in 
determining deployment of at-sea resources.
    This rule refers to collection-of-information requirements subject 
to the PRA and which have been approved by OMB under control number 
0648-0372. Public reporting burden for these requirements is estimated 
to average 4 hours for installation of equipment, 2 hours for annual 
maintenance of the equipment (beginning in the second year), 0.3 
seconds per automated position report from the automated equipment, and 
5 minutes to complete and return a one-time installation checklist. 
These estimates include the time for reviewing instructions, searching 
existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and 
completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments 
regarding this burden estimate, or any other aspect of this data 
collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to NMFS (see 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) and OMB at the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, 
DC. 20503 (Attention: NOAA Desk Officer).
    Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty 
for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays 
a currently valid OMB Control Number.

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

    Dated: June 20, 2003.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-16085 Filed 6-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S