[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5379-5380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02011]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD047


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Generic Accountability Measure and Dolphin Allocation Amendment

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a draft environmental impact 
statement (DEIS); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the South 
Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), intends to prepare a 
DEIS to describe and analyze a range of alternatives for management 
actions to be included in the Generic Accountability Measure (AM) and 
Dolphin Allocation Amendment. The Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation 
Amendment would amend the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for: the 
Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic; the Snapper-Grouper Fishery 
of the South Atlantic Region; and the Golden Crab Fishery of the South 
Atlantic Region. The Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation Amendment will 
consider alternative AMs for snapper-grouper species and golden crab, 
as well as alternatives to modify existing commercial and recreational 
sector allocations for dolphin. The purpose of this NOI is to solicit 
public comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the DEIS.

[[Page 5380]]


DATES: Written comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the 
DEIS will be accepted until March 3, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the NOI identified by ``NOAA-
NMFS-2013-0181'' by any of the following methods:
     Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0181, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Jack McGovern, Southeast 
Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in 
Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack McGovern, Southeast Regional 
Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email: [email protected]. Kim 
Iverson, Public Information Officer, South Atlantic Fisheries 
Management Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North 
Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: 843-571-4366, or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council and NMFS have implemented AMs 
for snapper-grouper species, AMs for golden crab, and sector 
allocations for dolphin.
    AMs for snapper-grouper species were established in 2010 through 
Amendments 17A and 17B to the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South 
Atlantic Region (75 FR 76874, December 9, 2010, and 75 FR 82280, 
December 30, 2010, respectively) and in 2012 through the Comprehensive 
ACL Amendment (77 FR 15916, March 16, 2012) and Amendment 24 to the 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (77 FR 34254, June 
11, 2012). AMs for golden crab were established in 2012 through the 
Comprehensive ACL Amendment (77 FR 15916, March 16, 2012). The DEIS for 
the Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation Amendment would consider 
alternatives to modify existing AMs for these species to provide 
consistency of AMs among species, and ensure overfishing does not 
occur.
    Sector allocations for dolphin were established in 2012 through the 
Comprehensive ACL Amendment (77 FR 15916, March 16, 2012), using a 
formula which provided equal weighting to long-term and short-term 
trends in landings. The long-term landings trend was from 1986 through 
2008, and the short-term trend used landings from 2006 through 2008. 
The DEIS for the Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation Amendment would 
consider alternatives to modify existing sector allocations for 
dolphin.
    NMFS, in collaboration with the Council, will develop a DEIS to 
describe and analyze alternatives to address the management needs 
described above including the ``no action'' alternative. In accordance 
with NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6, Section 5.02(c), Scoping 
Process, NMFS, in collaboration with the Council, has identified 
preliminary environmental issues as a means to initiate discussion for 
scoping purposes only. The public is invited to provide written 
comments on the preliminary issues, which are identified as actions and 
alternatives in the Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation Amendment scoping 
document. These preliminary issues may not represent the full range of 
issues that eventually will be evaluated in the DEIS.
    After the DEIS associated with Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation 
Amendment is completed, it will be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA). After filing, the EPA will publish a notice of 
availability of the DEIS for public comment in the Federal Register. 
The DEIS will have a 45-day comment period. This procedure is pursuant 
to regulations issued by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for 
implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA; 40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and to NOAA's Administrative 
Order 216-6 regarding NOAA's compliance with NEPA and the CEQ 
regulations.
    The Council and NMFS will consider public comments received on the 
DEIS in developing the final environmental impact statement (FEIS), and 
before voting to submit the final amendment to NMFS for Secretarial 
review, approval, and implementation. NMFS will announce in the Federal 
Register the availability of the final amendment and FEIS for public 
review during the Secretarial review period, and will consider all 
public comments prior to final agency action to approve, disapprove, or 
partially approve the final amendment.
    NMFS will announce, through a document published in the Federal 
Register, all public comment periods on the final amendment, its 
proposed implementing regulations, and the availability of its 
associated FEIS. NMFS will consider all public comments received during 
the Secretarial review period, whether they are on the final amendment, 
the proposed regulations, or the FEIS, prior to final agency action.

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

    Dated: January 28, 2014.
Sean F. Corson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-02011 Filed 1-30-14; 8:45 am]
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