[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 31, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16072-16074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7264]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XV46


Fisheries Finance Program; Final Program Notice and Announcement 
of Availability of Federal Financial Assistance

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

ACTION: Announcement of availability of Federal financial assistance.

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

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the availability of long-term direct loans made 
underthe Fisheries Finance Program (FFP). The FFP provides financing 
for the purchase of used vessels or the reconstruction of vessels 
(limited to reconstructions that do not add to fishing capacity); 
refinancing for existing debt obligations; financing or refinancing 
fisheries shoreside facilities or aquacultural facilities; and the 
purchase or refinancing of Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) in the North 
Pacific. FFP loans are not issued for purposes which could contribute 
to over capitalization of the fishing industry.

DATES: All loan funds available for FY 2010 must be obligated before 
September 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Applicants may obtain information and send loan applications 
to the nearest Financial Services Branch (FSB). FSB locations and 
contact information are:
    1. Northwest Financial Services Branch, F/MB53, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
7600 Sand Point Way NW, (BIN C15700), Seattle, WA 98115, Branch Chief: 
Scott Houghtaling, Phone: (206) 526-6122.
    2. Northeast Financial Services Branch, F/MB51, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 55 
Great Republic Drive, Suite 02-700, Gloucester, MA 01930-2209, Branch 
Chief: Ron Linsky, Phone: (978) 281-9154.
    3.Southeast Financial Services Branch, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, F/MB52, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 263 
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33702-2432, Branch Chief: Shawn 
Berry, Phone: (727) 824-5342.
    In addition, information is available at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/mb/financial_services/ffp.htm

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

A. Background

    The FFP's primary statutory authority is found in Title XI of the 
Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended and now recodified at 46 U.S.C. 
53701, et seq(Title XI). The Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA) (Pub. L. 
104-297) amended section 1104A(a)(7) of Title XI of the Merchant Marine 
Act (46 U.S.C. App. 1274) and section 303(d)(4) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) (16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) to authorize IFQ financing.
    Title XI is the credit authority under which NMFS will make these 
loans. This authority is subject to the Federal Credit Reform Act of 
1990 (FCRA) (2 U.S.C. 661) which requires estimated net loan losses 
(FCRA cost) to be appropriated at the time Congress authorizes annual 
loan ceilings.
    The amount of annual FCRA credit authority available is a ratio of 
the FCRA cost rate and the FCRA cost appropriated. The current cost 
rate estimate based on the historical performance of FFP's loan 
programs is zero. Consequently, no loan subsidy is required. For Fiscal 
Year 2010 (FY10),

[[Page 16073]]

however, there is appropriated $59,000,000.00 in loan authority for the 
traditional loan program and $16,000,000.00 for the IFQ loan program.
    It is estimated that these credit authorities will fund 
approximately 31 traditional loans and 54 IFQ loans. Applications will 
generally be reviewed in the order they are received. The FFP's 
traditional priorities are:
    1. Aquacultural facilities construction, reconstruction, 
reconditioning, and acquisition
    2. Fisheries shoreside facilities construction, reconstruction, 
reconditioning, and acquisition;
    3. Fishing vessel reconstruction, reconditioning and acquisition. 
The FFP rule, however, prohibits loans that increase existing 
harvesting capacity, as does the FFP's loan authority appropriations 
language. FFP loans may not consequently originally finance either 
vessel construction or reconstruction that increases vessel harvesting 
capacity. The FFP will not make vessel loans in fisheries listed as 
overfished or subject to overfishing in the recent Status of the U.S. 
Fisheries, published by the National Marine Fisheries Service, at the 
time of application.

B. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

    The FFP is listed in the ``Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance'' 
under number 11.415: Fisheries Finance Program.

II. Eligible Applicants

    An applicant, either an individual or a business entity must be a 
citizen of the United States as described in 46 U.S.C. 104, or an 
entity who is a citizen for the purpose of documenting a vessel in the 
coastwise trade under 46 U.S.C. 50501.
    Applicants for an IFQ loan must be eligible to hold the IFQ in the 
North Pacific fishery that is subject of the loan.

III. Loan Terms and Conditions

    1. Down payment. Applicants for financing the purchase of 
traditional loan assets or IFQ (rather than refinancing) must fund 20 
percent of the purchase cost from funds other than loan proceeds. 
Applications for refinancing a traditional loan can not exceed 80 
percent of the project's depreciated actual cost. For IFQ applicants if 
the current market value of QS, whose purchase cost is being refinanced 
(rather than financed), is higher than its original purchase price, 
applicants may need less, or no, down payment. However, if the current 
value of QS whose purchase cost is being refinanced (rather than 
financed) is lower than its original purchase price, applicants may be 
required to provide an additional down payment.
    2. Loan amount. There is no maximum or minimum loan amount
    3. Interest rate. Each loan's annual interest rate will be 2 
percent higher than the U.S. Treasury's cost of borrowing public funds 
of an equivalent maturity. For example, the annual loan interest rate 
would, on January 15, 2010, have been approximately 6.09 percent for a 
15-year maturity. Interest is simple interest and the rate is fixed.
    4. Maturity. Loan maturity may not exceed 25 years, but may be 
shorter depending on the useful life of the assets being financed and 
credit and other considerations.
    5. Repayment. Repayment will be by equal quarterly installments of 
principal and interest.
    6. Security. For IFQ loans, the loan QS will, in every case, be the 
primary security for the loan. For traditional loans, the FFP will 
require, at a minimum, a pledge of the property being financed or 
refinanced or adequate substitute collateral. NMFS may require 
additional collateral to ensure the security position of the primary 
collateral. NMFS may require all parties with significant ownership 
interests (eg. the applicant, a corporation or partnership) to 
personally guarantee the loan repayment. Some credit risks may require 
additional security.
    7. Application fee. The application fee is 0.5 percent of the loan 
amount for which an applicant applies. Half the application fee is 
fully earned at the time NMFS accepts the application. The other half 
is fully earned only when NMFS issues an approval in principle letter 
approving an application. Once it has issued an approval in principle 
letter, NMFS will not return the second half of the application fee.

IV. Administrative Requirements

    1. In accordance with the provisions of the Debt Collection 
Improvement Act of 1996, a person may not obtain any Federal financial 
assistance in the form of a loan (other than a disaster loan) or loan 
guarantee if the person has an outstanding debt (other than a debt 
under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) with any Federal agency which 
is in a delinquent status, as determined under standards prescribed by 
the Secretary of the Treasury.
    2. Applicants may be subject to a name-check review process. Name 
checks are intended to reveal if any key individuals associated with 
the applicant have been convicted of or are presently facing such 
criminal charges as fraud, theft, perjury, or other matters which 
significantly reflect on the applicant's management honesty or 
financial integrity.
    3. A false statement on an application is grounds for denial or 
termination of funds and grounds for possible punishment by a fine or 
imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.
    4. Applicants must submit a completed Form CD-511, ``Certifications 
Regarding Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; Drug-
Free Workplace Requirements and Lobbying,'' and the following 
explanations are hereby provided:
    i. Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension. Prospective 
participants (as defined at 15 CFR 26.105) are subject to 15 CFR part 
26, ``Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension,'' and the related 
section of the certification form applies;
    ii. Anti-Lobbying. Persons (as defined at 15 CFR 28.105) are 
subject to the lobbying provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1352. ``Limitation on 
use of appropriated funds to influence certain Federal contracting and 
financial transactions,'' and the lobbying section of the certification 
form prescribed above applies to applications/bids for grants, 
cooperative agreements, and contracts for more than $100,000, and loans 
and loan guarantees for more than $150,000 the certification form 
applies.
    5. An applicant classified for tax purposes as in individual, 
partnership, proprietorship, corporation, or medical corporation is 
required to submit a taxpayer identification number (TIN) (either 
social security number, employer identification number as applicable, 
or registered foreign organization number) on Form W-9, ``Payers 
Request for Taxpayer Identification Number.'' Tax-exempt organizations 
and corporations (with the exception of medical corporations) are 
excluded from this requirement. Recipients who either fail to provide 
their TIN or provide an incorrect TIN may have funding suspended until 
the requirement is met.
    Disclosure of a Recipient's TIN is mandatory for Federal income tax 
reporting purposes under the authority of 26 U.S.C., Section 6011 and 
6109(d), and 26 CFR, Section 301.6109-1. This is to ensure the accuracy 
of income computation by the IRS. This information will be used to 
identify an individual who is compensated with DOC funds or paid 
interest under the Prompt Payment Act.
    6. An audit of a Program loan may be conducted at any time. 
Auditors, selected at the discretion of the Department of Commerce's 
Office of

[[Page 16074]]

Inspector General, shall have access to any and all books, documents, 
papers and records of the obligor or any other party to a financing, 
that the auditor(s) deem pertinent, whether written, printed, recorded, 
produced or reproduced by any mechanical, magnetic or other process or 
medium.

Classification

    Neither the Administrative Procedure Act nor any other law requires 
prior notice and opportunity for public comment about this document 
(which concerns loans). Consequently, the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
does not require a regulatory flexibility analysis.
    This notice is not significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.
    This notice contains and refers to collection-of-information 
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The application 
requirements contained in the Notice have been approved under OMB 
control number 0648-0012. Notwithstanding any other provision of 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 Paperwork Reduction Act unless that 
collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

    Dated: March 26, 2010.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator For Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-7264 Filed 3-30-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S