[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 164 (Monday, August 25, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 51146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21451]



[[Page 51145]]

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Part III





Department of Commerce





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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration



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50 CFR Part 679



Fisheries off the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Provisions of the 
American Fisheries Act (AFA); Final and Proposed Rules

  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 164 / Monday, August 25, 2003 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 51146]]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 030808196-3197-02; I. D. 081103B]
RIN 0648-AR42


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Provisions 
of the American Fisheries Act (AFA)

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

ACTION: Final rule: effectiveness of collection-of-information 
requirements.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) of collection-of-information requirements contained in the 
following American Fisheries Act (AFA)-related amendments: Amendment 61 
to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Groundfish Fishery of the 
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Area, Amendment 61 to the FMP 
for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, Amendment 13 to the FMP for BSAI 
King and Tanner Crab, and Amendment 8 to the FMP for the Scallop 
Fishery off Alaska (collectively referred to as Amendment 61/61/13/8), 
and in Amendment 69 to the FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the BSAI 
Area, and issues a final rule to make effective the collections of 
information contained in those amendments. The collections provide that 
if an AFA cooperative contract was previously filed with NMFS and the 
North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), a renewal letter 
may be submitted to NMFS and the Council in lieu of the cooperative 
contract and business review letter. Each AFA cooperative contract must 
include a clause that the parties agree to make payments to the State 
of Alaska for any pollock harvested in the directed pollock fishery 
that are not landed in the State of Alaska; and an AFA cooperative may 
contract with a non-member vessel to harvest a portion of the 
cooperative's annual pollock allocation. The intent of this final rule 
is to inform the public of the effective date of the requirements.

DATES: Sections 679.61(d)(1) and (d)(2), and Sec.  679.61(e)(1)(v), 
published at 67 FR 79692 (December 30, 2002), and Sec.  679.62(c), 
published at 68 FR 6833 (February 11, 2003), are effective on September 
24, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Any comments regarding burden-hour estimates for collection-
of-information requirements contained in this final rule should be sent 
to Lori Durall, NMFS, Alaska Region, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, 
phone: 907-586-7247, email: [email protected] and to OMB, Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
Washington, DC 20503 (Attn: NOAA Desk Officer).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patsy A. Bearden, NMFS, 907-586-7228 
or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A final rule that implemented the measures 
contained in Amendment 61/61/13/8 was published in the Federal Register 
on December 30, 2002 (67 FR 79692), and most of the measures were 
effective January 29, 2003. A final rule that implemented the measures 
contained in Amendment 69 was published in the Federal Register on 
February 11, 2003 (68 FR 6833), and most of the measures were effective 
March 13, 2003. However, because OMB approval of the reporting 
requirements contained in these amendments had not yet been received as 
of the effective date of each rule, effectiveness of the requirements 
contained in the amendments was delayed.
    OMB approval for those measures was received on July 14, 2003. No 
comments were received in response to this review. Consequently, this 
rule makes the following requirements effective:
    OMB 0648-0393, AFA Vessel and Processor Permit Applications. 
Approval of this collection included: Sec.  679.61(d)(1) and (d)(2), 
cooperative contract renewal letter, and Sec.  679.61(e)(1)(v), 
contract clause regarding payments to the State of Alaska, codified in 
the final rule published on December 30, 2002 (67 FR 79692).
    OMB 0648-0401, American Fisheries Act: Recordkeeping and Reporting. 
Approval of this collection included Sec.  679.62(c), contract fishing 
by non-member vessels, codified in the final rule published on February 
11, 2003 (68 FR 6833).

Classification

    This rule has been determined to be not significant for the 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    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.
    This rule contains collection-of-information requirements subject 
to the PRA that have been approved by OMB under control numbers 0648-
0393 (AFA Vessel and Processor Permit Applications) and 0648-0401 
(American Fisheries Act: Recordkeeping and Reporting). The estimated 
time per response to submit a cooperative contract renewal letter and a 
contract clause regarding payments to the State of Alaska is estimated 
as part of the permit process (0648-0393), which is 2.5 hours. The 
estimated time per response to contract fishing by non-member vessels 
(0648-0401) is 30 minutes.
    The estimated response time includes the time needed for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information. Send comments regarding these reporting 
burden estimates or any other aspect of the collection-of-information, 
including suggestions for reducing the burden, to NMFS and OMB (see 
ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: August 15, 2003.
William T. Hogarth,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 03-21451 Filed 8-22-03; 8:45 am]
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