[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 202 (Monday, October 20, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59889-59891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-26391]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 021213310-3251-03; I.D. 100203C]
RIN 0648-AP92


Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program for Pacific Halibut and 
Sablefish; Technical Amendment

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

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document reinstates recordkeeping and reporting 
regulations implementing the IFQ Cost Recovery Program which were 
inadvertently removed from regulations in a final rule published in the 
Federal Register on July 29, 2003. That final rule implemented 
Amendment 72 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery 
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (Amendment 72) and 
Amendment 64 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery 
of the Gulf of Alaska (Amendment 64) (collectively, Amendments 72/64) 
and revised recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the IFQ and 
CDQ halibut programs. This action is necessary to correct the error and 
restore the regulations implementing the IFQ Cost Recovery Program.

DATES: Effective October 15, 2003.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The IFQ Cost Recovery Program is managed by 
the NMFS, Alaska Region, Restricted Access Management (RAM). 
Regulations implementing the IFQ Cost Recovery Program were published 
in the Federal Register on March 20, 2000 (65 FR 14919) and amended by 
publication in the Federal Register on January 28, 2002 (67 FR 4100). 
Under the regulations, an IFQ permit holder incurs a cost recovery fee 
liability for each pound of IFQ halibut or sablefish landed on his/her 
permit(s). The regulations included recordkeeping and reporting 
requirements at Sec. 679.5(l)(7) necessary to implement the IFQ Cost 
Recovery Program. See 65 FR 14923 (March 20, 2000), amended at 67 FR 
4130 (January 28, 2002). A final rule published in the Federal Register 
on

[[Page 59890]]

July 29, 2003, implemented additional amendments to Sec. 679.5(l) as 
NMFS intended, but erroneously removed Sec. 679.5(l)(7) in its entirety 
(68 FR 9907). NMFS intended to amend Sec.  Sec. 679.5(l)(1) through 
(l)(6), but amendatory instruction number 4 incorrectly removed 
Sec. 679.5(l)(7). This final rule restores Sec. 679.5(l)(7) to the 
recordkeeping and reporting regulations implementing the IFQ Cost 
Recovery Program.
    This final rule must be effective by October 15 to collect 
information necessary to carry out the IFQ Cost Recovery Program. Under 
Sec.  679.5(l)(7), an IFQ Registered Buyer that also operates as a 
shoreside processor and receives and purchases IFQ landings of 
sablefish or halibut must submit annually to NMFS a complete IFQ Buyer 
Report for each reporting period in which the Registered Buyer receives 
IFQ fish. A complete IFQ Buyer Report must be postmarked or received by 
the Regional Administrator by October 15 following the reporting period 
in which the IFQ Registered Buyer receives the IFQ fish. Submission of 
these reports is essential to implementation of the IFQ Cost Recovery 
Program.

Classification

    The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), 
has determined that this final rule is necessary for the conservation 
and management of the groundfish fisheries of the BSAI and GOA. The 
Regional Administrator also has determined that this action is 
consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws.
    This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
Executive Order 12866.
    By this action, NMFS restores the IFQ Cost Recovery Program 
recordkeeping and reporting requirements that had been in effect from 
March 15, 2000, to August 28, 2003, when they were erroneously 
rescinded. The rescission has had no substantive effect on the conduct 
of persons subject to these recordkeeping and reporting requirements 
because, the information gathered for the report is collected as part 
of normal business practices. Additionally, the October 15 deadline for 
submission of the IFQ Buyer Report had not yet arrived so participants 
in this fishery have not missed any relevant deadlines.
    Accordingly, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries finds good 
cause to waive prior notice and opportunity for public comment pursuant 
to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) because prior notice and opportunity for public 
comment is unnecessary: neither the erroneous rescission nor this final 
rule has a substantive effect on the conduct of regulated persons. 
Because the affected industry gathers this information as part of their 
normal business practices, additional time is not required to allow 
them to come into compliance since they are already undertaking the 
obligation. The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries also finds that 
there exists good cause to waive the requirement of a 30 day delay in 
the effective date of this rule pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), in 
order to allow participants in the fishery to meet the next deadline 
for submission of reports.
    This rule contains collection-of-information requirements subject 
to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and which have been approved by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 
0648-0398 (see 65 FR 14922, col. 1; March 20, 2000).
    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 
requirement displays a currently valid OMB control number.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

    Alaska, Fisheries, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

    Dated: October 14, 2003.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended 
as follows:

PART 679--FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA

0
1. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 679 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq., and 3631 et 
seq., Title II of Division C, Pub. L. 105 277; Sec. 3027, Pub. L. 
106 31; 113 Stat. 57; 16 U.S.C. 1540(f); and Sec. 209, Pub. L. 106 
554.

0
2. In Sec.  679.5, paragraph (l)(7) is added to read as follows:


Sec.  679.5  Recordkeeping and reporting (R&R).

* * * * *
    (l) * * *
    (7) IFQ cost recovery program.--(i) IFQ buyer report.
    (A) Applicability. An IFQ registered buyer that also operates as a 
shoreside processor and receives and purchases IFQ landings of 
sablefish or halibut must submit annually to NMFS a complete IFQ Buyer 
Report as described in this paragraph (l) and as provided by NMFS for 
each reporting period, as described at Sec.  679.5(1)(7)(i)(E), in 
which the registered buyer receives IFQ fish.
    (B) Due date. A complete IFQ Buyer Report must be postmarked or 
received by the Regional Administrator not later than October 15 
following the reporting period in which the IFQ registered buyer 
receives the IFQ fish.
    (C) Information required. A complete IFQ Buyer Report must include 
the following information:
    (1) IFQ registered buyer identification, including:
    (i) Name,
    (ii) Registered buyer number,
    (iii) Social Security number or tax identification number,
    (iv) NMFS person identification number (if applicable),
    (v) Business address,
    (vi) Telephone number,
    (vii) Facsimile telephone number,
    (viii) Primary registered buyer activity,
    (ix) Other registered buyer activity, and
    (x) Landing port location;
    (2) Pounds purchased and values paid. (i) The monthly total 
weights, represented in IFQ equivalent pounds by IFQ species, that were 
landed at the landing port location and purchased by the IFQ registered 
buyer;
    (ii) The monthly total gross ex-vessel value, in U.S. dollars, of 
IFQ pounds, by IFQ species, that were landed at the landing port 
location and purchased by the IFQ registered buyer;
    (3) Value paid for price adjustments. (i) The monthly total U.S. 
dollar amount of any IFQ retro-payments (correlated by IFQ species, 
landing month(s), and month of payment) made in the current year to IFQ 
permit holders for landings made during the previous calendar year;
    (ii) Certification, including the signature or electronic PIN of 
the individual authorized by the IFQ registered buyer to submit the IFQ 
Buyer Report, and date of signature or date of electronic submittal.
    (D) Submission address. The registered buyer must complete an IFQ 
Buyer Report and submit by mail or FAX to:
    Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: RAM Program,P.O. Box 
21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668, FAX: (907) 586-7354
    or electronically to NMFS via forms available from RAM or on the 
RAM area

[[Page 59891]]

of the Alaska Region Home Page at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/ram .
    (E) Reporting period. The reporting period of the IFQ Buyer Report 
shall extend from October 1 through September 30 of the following year, 
inclusive.
    (ii) IFQ permit holder Fee Submission Form--(A) Applicability. An 
IFQ permit holder who holds an IFQ permit against which a landing was 
made must submit to NMFS a complete IFQ permit holder Fee Submission 
Form provided by NMFS.
    (B) Due date and submittal. A complete IFQ permit holder Fee 
Submission Form must be postmarked or received by the Regional 
Administrator not later than January 31 following the calendar year in 
which any IFQ landing was made.
    (C) Contents of an IFQ Fee Submission Form. For each of the 
sections described here, a permit holder must provide the specified 
information.
    (1) Identification of the IFQ permit holder. An IFQ permit holder 
with an IFQ landing must accurately record on the identification 
section of the IFQ Fee Submission Form the following information:
    (i) The printed name of the IFQ permit holder;
    (ii) The NMFS person identification number;
    (iii) The Social Security number or tax ID number of the IFQ permit 
holder;
    (iv) The business mailing address of the IFQ permit holder; and
    (v) The telephone and facsimile number (if available) of the IFQ 
permit holder.
    (2) IFQ landing summary and estimated fee liability. NMFS will 
provide to an IFQ permit holder an IFQ Landing Summary and Estimated 
Fee Liability page as required by Sec.  679.45(a)(2). The IFQ permit 
holder must either accept the accuracy of the NMFS estimated fee 
liability associated with his or her IFQ landings for each IFQ permit, 
or calculate a revised IFQ fee liability in accordance with paragraph 
(l)(7)(ii)(C)(2)(i) of this section. The IFQ permit holder may 
calculate a revised fee liability for all or part of his or her IFQ 
landings.
    (i) Revised fee liability calculation. To calculate a revised fee 
liability, an IFQ permit holder must multiply the IFQ percentage in 
effect by either the IFQ actual ex-vessel value or the IFQ standard ex-
vessel of the IFQ landing. If parts of the landing have different 
values, the permit holder must apply the appropriate values to the 
different parts of the landings.
    (ii) Documentation. If NMFS requests in writing that a permit 
holder submit documentation establishing the factual basis for a 
revised IFQ fee liability, the permit holder must submit adequate 
documentation by the 30th day after the date of such request. Examples 
of such documentation regarding initial sales transactions of IFQ 
landings include valid fish tickets, sales receipts, or check stubs 
that clearly identify the IFQ landing amount, species, date, time, and 
ex-vessel value or price.
    (3) Fee calculation section.--(i) Information required. An IFQ 
permit holder with an IFQ landing must record the following information 
on the Fee Calculation page: The name of the IFQ permit holder; the 
NMFS person identification number; the fee liability amount due for 
each IFQ permit he or she may hold; the IFQ permit number corresponding 
to such fee liability amount(s) due; the total price adjustment payment 
value for all IFQ halibut and/or sablefish (e.g., IFQ retro-payments) 
received during the reporting period for the IFQ Fee Submission Form as 
described in Sec.  679.5(l)(7)(ii)(D); and the fee liability amount due 
for such price adjustments.
    (ii) Calculation of total annual fee amount. An IFQ permit holder 
with an IFQ landing must perform the following calculations and record 
the results on the Fee Calculation page: add all fee liability 
amount(s) due for each IFQ permit and record the sum as the sub-total 
fee liability for all permits; multiply price adjustment payment(s) 
received for each IFQ species by the fee percentage in effect at the 
time the payment(s) was received by the IFQ permit holder; add the 
resulting fee liability amounts due for all price adjustment payments 
for each IFQ species, then enter the sum as the sub-total fee for price 
adjustments; add the sub-total fee liability for all permits and the 
sub-total fee for price adjustments, then enter the resulting sum as 
the total annual fee amount on the Fee Calculation page and on the Fee 
Payment page.
    (4) Fee payment and certification section.--(i) Information 
required. An IFQ permit holder with an IFQ landing must provide his or 
her NMFS person identification number, signature, and date of signature 
on the Fee Payment section of the form or provide the electronic 
equivalent and record the following: his or her printed name; the total 
annual fee amount as calculated and recorded on the Fee Calculation 
page; the total of any pre-payments submitted to NMFS that apply to the 
total annual fee amount; the remaining balance fee; and the enclosed 
payment amount.
    (ii) Calculation of balance fee payment. An IFQ permit holder with 
an IFQ landing must perform the following calculation on the Fee 
Payment section of the Fee Submission Form: Subtract from the total 
annual fee amount the total of all pre-payments made (if any) to NMFS 
and any credits held by NMFS that are applicable to that year's total 
IFQ cost recovery fees, and record the result as the balance of the fee 
amount due.
    (D) Reporting Period. The reporting period of the IFQ Fee 
Submission Form shall extend from January 1 to December 31 of the year 
prior to the January 31 due date described in Sec.  679.5(l)(7)(ii)(B).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 03-26391 Filed 10-15-03; 3:31 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S