[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 96 (Tuesday, May 18, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28106-28107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-11226]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 040506142-4142-01; I.D. 042204B]
RIN 0648-AS07


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fisheries; Vessel 
Monitoring System (VMS) Requirement; Effective Date for Atlantic Shark 
Fisheries

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

ACTION: Proposed rule, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to establish an effective date for the 
requirement to have a NOAA-approved VMS unit installed and operating on 
vessels with directed shark limited access permits (LAPs) and with 
gillnet or bottom longline gear on board. VMS will aid in the 
enforcement of time/area closures.

DATES: Public comments must be received by July 2, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket Number 
040506142-4142-01 or RIN Number 0648-AS07, by any of the following 
methods:
    [bul] Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    [bul] E-mail: [email protected]. Include the following 
document identifier: ``RIN 0648-AS07 and I.D. 042204B'' in the subject 
line of the message.
    [bul] Fax: 301-713-1917.
    [bul] Mail: HMS Management Division, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910. Please mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on 
Proposed VMS Requirement''.
    Comments regarding the collection-of-information requirements 
contained in this rule should be sent to the HMS Management Division at 
the address noted above and to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) by e-mail to [email protected] or by fax to (202) 395-
7285.
    To obtain copies of the list of NOAA-approved VMS mobile 
transmitting units and NOAA-approved VMS communications service 
providers, write to the NMFS Office for Law Enforcement (OLE), 8484 
Georgia Avenue, Suite 415, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    For copies of Amendment 1 to the Fisheries Management Plan for 
Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks or of its implementing 
regulations please write to Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Management 
Division (F/SF1), Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 
Copies are also available on the internet at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information regarding 
the proposed effective date specified in this document, contact Mike 
Clark, Chris Rilling, or Karyl Brewster-Geisz, phone 301-713-2347 or 
fax 301-713-1917.
    For a current listing of NOAA-approved VMS units, contact Mark 
Oswell, phone 301-427-2300, fax 301-427-2055.
    For questions regarding VMS installation and activation checklists, 
contact Jonathan Pinkerton, phone 301-427-2300, fax 301-427-2055.
    An installation checklist, and relevant updates are available at 
the OLE website: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/vms.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 24, 2003, NMFS issued a final 
rule (68 FR 74746) requiring the installation of a NOAA- approved VMS 
unit on: (1) all commercial vessels issued a directed shark LAP with 
bottom longline gear on board that are located between 33[deg]00' and 
36[deg]30' N. latitudes between January 1 and July 31 and (2) all 
commercial vessels issued a directed shark LAP with gillnet gear on 
board during the right whale calving season (November 15 - March 31), 
regardless of location. As specified in the final rule, the requirement 
to have VMS on board coincides with the start of time/area closures for 
the right whale calving season (effective as of November 15, 2004, for 
Sec.  635.69(a)(3)) and the mid-Atlantic time/area closure (effective 
as of January 1, 2005, for Sec.  635.69(a)(2)) for shark gillnet and 
bottom longline vessels, respectively.
    The December 24, 2003, (68 FR 74746) VMS requirements were stayed 
pending the publication of a type-approval notice which was published 
in the Federal Register on April 15, 2004 (69 FR 19979). The type-
approval notice describes the relevant features of each unit for use by 
vessels engaged in HMS fisheries. The units may be used by vessels 
participating in any HMS fishery including vessels with pelagic 
longline gear on board.
    This proposed rule does not revise any other requirement or 
management measure published in the December 24, 2003, final rule, but 
would establish the effective date for the VMS requirement as 30 days 
after publication of any final rule associated with this rulemaking.

Classification

    This action is published under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries previously determined that the 
implementation of a VMS program in the shark gillnet and bottom 
longline fisheries is necessary to monitor and enforce closed areas 
implemented to reduce bycatch.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed action would not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This 
proposed rule would impact approximately 13 vessels, all of which are 
considered small entities. As required under the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., NMFS prepared an Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) for the VMS requirement in draft Amendment 
1 and its proposed rule (68 FR 45196, August 1, 2003) and prepared a 
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) for the final rule, (68 FR 
74746, December 24, 2003). Economic impacts of the VMS requirement were 
addressed in those analyses. Establishing an effective date will not 
result in any further economic impacts. NMFS has certified that the 
preparation of an IRFA, specific to this proposed rule was not 
necessary.
    Pursuant to the procedures established to implement Executive Order 
12866, the Office of Management and Budget has determined that this 
proposed rule is not significant.
    NMFS notified all states, consistent with the Coastal Zone 
Management Act, of the VMS requirement during the rulemaking for 
Amendment 1 of the HMS FMP. No states indicated that the VMS 
requirement is inconsistent with their coastal zone management 
programs. Thus, this proposed action is consistent to the maximum 
extent practicable with the enforceable policies of those Atlantic, 
Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean states and territories that have approved 
coastal zone management programs.
    VMS are intended to aid in the enforcement of time/area closures 
and thereby reduce interactions with endangered species. The 
environmental impacts of the VMS requirement were analyzed during the 
development of Amendment 1 to the HMS FMP and the December 24, 2003 (68 
FR 74746) final rule. Establishing an effective date for

[[Page 28107]]

this requirement is not expected to increase endangered species or 
marine mammal interaction rates beyond that considered permissible in 
the October 29, 2003, Biological Opinion on the continued operation of 
Atlantic shark fisheries under the FMP and Draft Amendment 1 to the HMS 
FMP issued by NMFS Office of Protected Resources.
    This proposed rule establishing the effective date on the VMS 
requirement refers to collection-of-information requirements subject to 
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) which have been approved by OMB under 
control number 0648-0483. The public's reporting burden for this 
collection of information is estimated at: 4 hours for the installation 
of a VMS, 5 minutes for the completion of a VMS certification 
statement, 2 hours per year for VMS maintenance, and < 1 second for an 
automated position report from a VMS.
    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 
requirements. Written comments regarding these burden estimates or any 
other aspect of these data collection requirements, including 
suggestions for reducing the burden must be sent to NMFS and OMB (see 
ADDRESSES).
    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 requirement of 
the PRA unless that collection of information displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 635

    Fisheries, Fishing, Fishing vessels, Foreign relations, Imports, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Treaties.

    Dated: May 12, 2004.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 50 CFR part 635 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 635--ATLANTIC HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES

    1. The authority citation for 50 CFR 635 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
    2. In Sec.  635.69, paragraphs(a)(2) and (a)(3) are revised to read 
as follows:


Sec.  635.69  Vessel monitoring systems.

    (a) * * *
    (2) As of January 1, 2005, whenever a vessel issued a directed 
shark LAP, is away from port with bottom longline gear on board, is 
located between 33[deg]00' N. lat. and 36[deg]30' N. lat., and the mid-
Atlantic shark closed area is closed as specified in 635.21(d)(1); or
    (3) As of November 15, 2004, whenever a vessel, issued a directed 
shark LAP, is away from port with a gillnet on board during the right 
whale calving season specified in the Atlantic Large Whale Take 
Reduction Plan in Sec.  229.32(f) of this title.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 04-11226 Filed 5-17-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S