[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 23645-23649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-09308]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 679 and 680

[Docket No. 150904826-6336-02]
RIN 0648-BF35


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Fixed-Gear 
Commercial Halibut and Sablefish Fisheries; Bering Sea and Aleutian 
Islands Crab Rationalization Program; Cost Recovery Authorized Payment 
Methods

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues regulations to revise the authorized methods for 
payment of cost recovery fees for the Halibut and Sablefish Individual 
Fishing Quota Program and the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab 
Rationalization Program. These regulations are necessary to improve 
data security procedures and to reduce administrative costs of 
processing cost recovery fee payments. This final rule is intended to 
promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 
1982, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands Management Area, the Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, the Fishery Management Plan for 
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs, and other applicable 
laws.

DATES: Effective May 23, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the following documents are available 
from http://www.regulations.gov or from the NMFS Alaska Region Web site 
at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov:
     The Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (RIR/IRFA), the final Regulatory Impact Review 
(RIR), and the Categorical Exclusion prepared for this action.
    Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other 
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this 
rule may be submitted by mail to NMFS Alaska Region, P.O. Box 21668, 
Juneau, AK 99802-1668, Attn: Ellen Sebastian, Records Officer; in 
person at NMFS Alaska Region, 709 West 9th Street, Room 420A, Juneau, 
AK; by email to [email protected]; or by fax to 202-395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keeley Kent, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    NMFS published a proposed rule to revise the authorized methods for 
payment of cost recovery fees for the Halibut and Sablefish Individual 
Fishing Quota Program (IFQ Program) and the Bering Sea and Aleutian 
Islands Crab Rationalization Program (CR Program) on December 31, 2015 
(80 FR 81798). The comment period on the proposed rule ended on 
February 1, 2016.

Background

    The following is a brief description of the IFQ Program and CR 
Program cost recovery and the authorized payment methods. For a more 
detailed description, please see Section 1.2 of the RIR (see ADDRESSES) 
and the preamble of the proposed rule (80 FR 81798, December 31, 2015) 
for this action.

[[Page 23646]]

Cost Recovery--General

    Section 304(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) specifies that the Secretary of 
Commerce is authorized, and shall collect a fee, to recover the actual 
costs directly related to the management, data collection, and 
enforcement of any limited access privilege program (LAPP) and 
community development quota program (CDQ) that allocates a percentage 
of the total allowable catch of a fishery to such program. Section 
304(d) also specifies that such fee shall not exceed three percent of 
the ex-vessel value of fish harvested under any such program.
    The IFQ Program is a LAPP as defined in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 
NMFS implemented cost recovery for the IFQ Program in 2000 (65 FR 
14919, March 20, 2000). Regulations implementing IFQ Program cost 
recovery are located at Sec.  679.45. The CR Program is also a LAPP as 
defined in section 304(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Section 313(j) 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act provides supplementary authority to section 
304(d) and additional detail for cost recovery provisions specific to 
the CR Program. NMFS implemented cost recovery with the final rule to 
implement the CR Program in 2005 (70 FR 10174, March 2, 2005). 
Regulations implementing CR Program cost recovery are located at Sec.  
680.44.
    NMFS recovers the incremental costs of managing and enforcing the 
IFQ Program and CR Program annually through a fee paid by persons who 
hold a permit granting an exclusive access privilege to a portion of 
the total allowable catches in IFQ Program and CR Program fisheries. 
NMFS calculates cost recovery fees for fish (including crab) that are 
landed and deducted from the total allowable catch in the fisheries 
subject to cost recovery. NMFS annually calculates the cost recovery 
fee percentage for the halibut and sablefish IFQ Program and for the CR 
Program by dividing the total program costs for each program by the 
total ex-vessel value of the catch subject to the cost recovery fee for 
the current year. Section 1.2 of the RIR and the preamble of the 
proposed rule (80 FR 81798, December 31, 2015) for this action describe 
these processes in greater detail.

Cost Recovery for the IFQ Program

    The method used by NMFS to calculate the IFQ cost recovery fee 
percentage is described at Sec.  679.45(d)(2)(ii). The IFQ permit 
holder is responsible for submitting their cost recovery payment to 
NMFS on or before the due date of January 31 following the year in 
which the IFQ halibut and sablefish landings were made. Additional 
information on the administration of IFQ Program cost recovery is 
provided in Section 3.5.1.1 of the RIR.

Cost Recovery for the CR Program

    The method used by NMFS to calculate the CR Program cost recovery 
fee percentage is described at Sec.  680.44(c)(2). The Registered Crab 
Receiver (RCR) is responsible for submitting payment to NMFS on or 
before the due date of July 31, following the crab fishing year in 
which payment for the crab is made. Additional information on the 
administration of CR Program cost recovery is provided in Section 
3.5.2.2 of the RIR.

This Final Rule

    This final rule revises the authorized cost recovery fee payment 
methods for the IFQ and CR Programs by revising regulations at Sec.  
679.45(a)(4)(ii) through (iv), Sec.  680.5(g)(3)(iii), and Sec.  
680.44(a)(4)(iii) and (iv), and eliminates the option for IFQ permit 
holders and CR Program RCRs to submit credit card payment information 
by mail or facsimile upon the effective date of this final rule. Prior 
to this final rule, cost recovery regulations for the IFQ Program and 
CR Program (Sec.  679.45(a)(4)(iv) and Sec.  680.44(a)(4)(iv), 
respectively) allowed permit holders to pay their fee electronically or 
non-electronically in U.S. dollars by personal check drawn on a U.S. 
bank account, money order, bank-certified check, or credit card. 
Electronic payments could be made using credit card or electronic check 
via the pay.gov web-based system, or by wiring payment directly from 
the permit holder's financial institution via the Fedwire Funds Service 
(Fedwire) funds transfer system. Non-electronic payments could be made 
by submitting a paper form to NMFS with credit card information via 
mail or facsimile, or by submitting a paper check or money order via 
mail.
    Non-electronic submission of payment information to NMFS via mail 
or facsimile is less secure and results in higher administrative costs 
than electronic payments because it results in transmission of permit 
holders' financial information over the NMFS information network and 
requires NMFS to manually process payments. Before this final rule, 
permit holders could pay a cost recovery fee with a credit card by 
submitting a form via mail or facsimile with their credit card 
information to NMFS. Manual credit card processing results in the 
possession and transmission of IFQ Program and CR Program permit 
holders' credit card information over the NMFS information network. 
Manual credit card processing is a less secure method of payment than 
the permit holder directly entering their credit card information into 
pay.gov, and results in higher administrative costs for NMFS. 
Administrative costs to collect fees are subject to cost recovery. 
Therefore, the higher administrative costs to process credit cards 
manually results in an increased fee liability for the IFQ and CR 
Programs relative to electronic payments.
    This final rule also eliminates paper checks, money orders, and 
bank-certified checks as authorized payment methods beginning with the 
2020 cost recovery fee payment billing cycle. Payment with a paper 
check, money order, or bank-certified check can also increase 
administrative costs. Payment with paper check, money order, or bank 
certified check requires NMFS to manually update the internal cost 
recovery payment tracking system to reflect the payment. Discrepancies 
or errors between the cost recovery amount owed and the amount paid by 
check must be addressed by NMFS. Payment with paper check, money order, 
or bank-certified check results in higher administrative costs for 
NMFS, and those additional costs increase the fee liability for the IFQ 
and CR Programs relative to electronic payments.
    This final rule requires all permit holders to submit payments 
through pay.gov or Fedwire beginning with the IFQ Program cost recovery 
fee payment due by January 31, 2020, and beginning with the CR Program 
cost recovery fee payment due by July 31, 2020. All cost recovery fee 
payments must be made electronically for any payment made on or after 
the first day of the billing cycle for IFQ Program and CR Program cost 
recovery fee payments that will be due in 2020. NMFS will allow non-
electronic payments via paper check or money order until the 2020 cost 
recovery fee billing cycle to provide a transition period for permit 
holders to become familiar with, and begin transitioning to, electronic 
payment methods.
    Electronic payments via the pay.gov system and the Fedwire system 
are the most secure methods of transmitting financial information and 
result in the lowest administrative costs for NMFS. IFQ Program and CR 
Program permit holders can access pay.gov through the NMFS Alaska 
Region online system called eFISH. Pay.gov is operated by the U.S. 
Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and offers the highest level of

[[Page 23647]]

security for the personal and financial information submitted to pay 
fees to NMFS. Pay.gov uses the latest industry-standard methods and 
encryption to safely collect, store, and transmit information that is 
submitted.
    Through pay.gov, permit holders can make cost recovery payments 
using a credit card, debit card, or direct debit (electronic check). 
Due to the transaction fee incurred by the Treasury, there is a payment 
limit of $24,999.99 on credit card transactions through pay.gov (see 
notice online at: http://tfm.fiscal.treasury.gov/v1/announc/a-14-04.html). There is currently no payment limit on debit card or direct 
debit payments. Payments made through pay.gov automatically update the 
NMFS internal cost recovery payment tracking system to reflect the 
payment.
    Permit holders may also make cost recovery fee payments through 
Fedwire. Fedwire is a real-time transfer system that allows financial 
institutions to electronically transfer funds. Fedwire allows wire 
transfers of fee payments from any bank or wire transfer service to 
NMFS to fulfill cost recovery fee obligations. Payments are processed 
individually through Fedwire, which uses a highly secure electronic 
network.
    Table 1 contains the implementation schedule for this final rule to 
revise authorized cost recovery fee payment methods.

          Table 1--Implementation Schedule for Changes to Authorized Cost Recovery Fee Payment Methods
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 2016-2019 fee  payment    2020 and future year
             Payment type                 Current authorized        cycle authorized        fee-payment cycle
                                               options                  options             authorized options
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-electronic.......................  Credit card form.......
                                       Paper check............  Paper check............
                                       Money order............  Money order............
Electronic...........................  Pay.gov................  Pay.gov................  Pay.gov.
                                       Fedwire................  Fedwire................  Fedwire.
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Comments and Responses

    NMFS received no public comments on the proposed rule for this 
action.

Changes From the Proposed Rule

    This final rule includes a change to the regulatory text and 
amendatory instructions published in the proposed rule. This final rule 
modifies amendatory instructions and removes Sec.  680.5(g)(3)(iii), 
which describes the requirement for RCRs to submit the fee submission 
form, includes a description of the authorized payment methods for 
RCRs, and includes a reference to payment methods that are modified by 
this final rule in Sec.  680.44(a)(4)(iv). Although the proposed rule 
did not include the removal of Sec.  680.5(g)(3)(iii), NMFS has 
determined that it would be inconsistent with the objectives of this 
action to include duplicative descriptions of the authorized payment 
methods for CR Program cost recovery within the regulations.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 
Assistant Administrator has determined this final rule is consistent 
with the fishery management plans, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.

Small Entity Compliance Guide

    Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for 
which an agency is required to prepare a final regulatory flexibility 
analysis, the agency shall publish one or more guides to assist small 
entities in complying with the rule, and shall designate such 
publications as ``small entity compliance guides.'' The agency shall 
explain the actions a small entity is required to take to comply with a 
rule or group of rules. NMFS has posted a small entity compliance guide 
on the NMFS Alaska Region Web site (http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov) as 
a plain language guide to assist small entities in complying with this 
rule. Contact NMFS to request a hard copy of the guide (see ADDRESSES).

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA)

    Section 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act requires an agency to 
prepare a FRFA after being required by that section or any other law to 
publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking and when an agency 
promulgates a final rule under section 553 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code. 
The following paragraphs constitute the FRFA for this action. Section 
604 describes the required contents of a FRFA: (1) A statement of the 
need for, and objectives of, the rule; (2) a statement of the 
significant issues raised by the public comments in response to the 
initial regulatory flexibility analysis, a statement of the assessment 
of the agency of such issues, and a statement of any changes made in 
the proposed rule as a result of such comments; (3) the response of the 
agency to any comments filed by the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 
Small Business Administration in response to the proposed rule, and a 
detailed statement of any change made to the proposed rule in the final 
rule as a result of the comments; (4) a description of and an estimate 
of the number of small entities to which the rule will apply or an 
explanation of why no such estimate is available; (5) a description of 
the projected reporting, recordkeeping and other compliance 
requirements of the rule, including an estimate of the classes of small 
entities which will be subject to the requirement and the type of 
professional skills necessary for preparation of the report or record; 
and (6) a description of the steps the agency has taken to minimize the 
significant economic impact on small entities consistent with the 
stated objectives of applicable statutes, including a statement of the 
factual, policy, and legal reasons for selecting the alternative 
adopted in the final rule and why each one of the other significant 
alternatives to the rule considered by the agency which affect the 
impact on small entities was rejected.

Need for and Objectives of the Rule

    The purpose of this rule is to improve security procedures for 
protecting financial information and to reduce costs associated with 
administering cost recovery. The current regulations for IFQ Program 
and the CR Program cost recovery allow permit holders to submit credit 
card information for manual credit card processing by NMFS. This 
results in the possession and electronic transmission of financial 
information on the NMFS information network, which

[[Page 23648]]

is a security vulnerability and an administrative cost to both the 
permit holder and to NMFS.
    This rule also reduces administrative costs for the IFQ Program and 
CR Program by eliminating other non-electronic payment methods that 
require manual processing. Manual processing of cost recovery fee 
payments made by check and money order generates significant costs for 
the administration of these programs. Eliminating these non-electronic 
payment methods from authorized payment method options reduces the 
staffing burden for processing cost recovery fee payments and further 
reduces the costs of administering cost recovery. Reduced 
administrative costs will result in lower overall fee liabilities for 
the IFQ and CR Programs.

Summary of Significant Issues Raised During Public Comment

    NMFS published a proposed rule to revise the authorized methods for 
payment of cost recovery fees for the IFQ Program and the CR Program on 
December 31, 2015 (80 FR 81798). The comment period on the proposed 
rule ended on February 1, 2016. An IRFA was prepared and summarized in 
the Classification section of the preamble to the proposed rule. NMFS 
received no comments on this proposed rule, the IRFA, or the economic 
impacts of this action generally. The Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 
Small Business Administration did not file any comments on the proposed 
rule.

Number and Description of Small Entities Directly Regulated by the Rule

    The entities directly regulated by this rule are permit holders who 
make halibut and sablefish landings in the IFQ Program fisheries and 
RCRs who receive landings of crab in the CR Program fisheries. The 
universe of entities was defined based on who is directly billed by 
NMFS for cost recovery fees, and therefore who will be directly 
impacted by a change in the authorized payment methods.
    The Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small commercial 
finfish fishing entity as one that has annual gross receipts, from all 
activities of all affiliates, of less than $20.5 million (79 FR 33647, 
June 12, 2014). All of the IFQ permit holders are considered to be 
commercial finfish fishing entities. Based upon available data, and 
more general information concerning the probable economic activity of 
vessels in the IFQ Program fisheries, no entity could have landed more 
than $20.5 million in combined gross receipts in 2014. Therefore, all 
2,038 IFQ permit holders are classified as small entities.
    For the CR Program, 18 RCRs were directly billed for cost recovery 
fee liabilities in the crab fishing year 2014/2015. These 18 RCRs 
include persons who operate as non-profit entities, seafood dealers 
that receive but do not process crab, shellfish harvesters, and seafood 
processors. Section 4.6 of the RIR/IRFA prepared for this rule 
describes how RCRs operating in these different categories were 
assessed under the SBA business size criteria (see ADDRESSES). The one 
RCR operating as a non-profit entity and the seven RCRs operating as 
seafood dealers were estimated to be small entities under the 
applicable SBA standard. One RCR operates as a catcher/processor and 
was evaluated under the shellfish harvesting size criteria. This RCR 
exceeds the entity size criterion of $5.5 million in combined annual 
gross receipts and does not qualify as a small business. Nine of the 18 
RCRs are shoreside processing entities and were evaluated under the 
seafood processor size criteria.
    At the time that NMFS conducted the analysis for the IRFA, the SBA 
defined a seafood processor as a small entity if that entity was 
independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field of 
operation, and had a combined annual employment of fewer than 500 
employees. On January 26, 2016, the SBA issued a final rule revising 
the small business size standards for several industries, effective 
February 26, 2016 (81 FR 4469). SBA's final rule modified the size 
standard for ``seafood product preparation and packaging'' (NAICS code 
311710) that applies to seafood processors. SBA's final rule modified 
the definition of a small entity operating as a seafood processor to 
include all entities that are independently owned and operated, not 
dominant in their field of operation, and have a combined annual 
employment of fewer than 750 employees. In this FRFA, NMFS has analyzed 
the nine RCRs operating as seafood processors using the revised 
definition of a small entity. The new definition of a small entity did 
not change the number of seafood processors classified as small. NMFS 
estimates that three of the nine RCRs classified as seafood processors 
are small entities. Cumulatively, NMFS estimates that 11 of the 18 RCRs 
operating across all of the business size categories are small 
entities.

Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other Compliance Requirements

    This rule requires modifications to the current recordkeeping and 
reporting requirements for IFQ Program and CR Program cost recovery in 
the Alaska Cost Recovery and Observer Fee collection (OMB Control 
Number 0648-0727). Specifically, this rule eliminates the option for 
payment by credit card using the paper fee submission form submitted to 
NMFS by mail or facsimile. Beginning with the 2020 cost recovery fee 
billing cycle, the paper fee submission form will be eliminated 
completely for the CR Program as permit holders will be required to 
submit all cost recovery fee payments electronically through the 
pay.gov or Fedwire systems. For the IFQ Program, beginning in 2020, the 
paper fee submission form will be revised to specify that all fee 
payments must be made electronically through pay.gov or the Fedwire 
systems.

Description of Significant Alternatives to This Rule That Minimize 
Economic Impacts on Small Entities

    The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that participants in LAPP and CDQ 
programs pay up to three percent of the ex-vessel value of the fish 
they are allocated to cover specific costs that are incurred by the 
management agencies as a direct result of implementing the programs. 
NMFS has identified this rule as necessary to improve data security 
procedures for permit holders' financial information and to reduce 
administrative costs of processing cost recovery payments. There are no 
alternatives that, consistent with applicable law, will accomplish the 
objectives of this rule and result in lower adverse economic impacts on 
directly regulated small entities.
    NMFS considered eliminating the submission of credit card payment 
information by phone, in person, facsimile, and mail and retaining the 
use of paper checks and money orders as authorized payment methods 
under Alternative 2 in the RIR. However, Alternative 2 failed to meet 
the objective of reducing administrative costs associated with 
administering cost recovery because processing these payments results 
in a greater staff burden than processing payments made by the pay.gov 
or Fedwire systems (see Section 3.7 of the RIR). NMFS also considered 
Alternative 3, which would have simultaneously implemented both the 
elimination of credit card payment by phone, in person, facsimile, and 
mail, and the elimination of paper check and money order payment (see 
Section 3.8 of the RIR). However, NMFS rejected Alternative 3 in favor 
of Alternative 3 Option 1, which provided accommodation for the 
transition costs to permit holders in complying with the

[[Page 23649]]

rule by delaying full implementation of the changes until the 
applicable cost recovery fee payment due date in 2020. NMFS determined 
that Alternative 3 Option 1 provides an opportunity for the permit 
holders to become familiar with either pay.gov or Fedwire and change to 
a new payment method. Additionally, Alternative 3 Option 1 spreads out 
any transition costs for NMFS staff in providing customer service to 
help permit holders affected by the change (see Section 3.8.1 of the 
RIR).

Collection-of-Information Requirements

    This final 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 control 
number 0648-0727. Public reporting burden per response is estimated to 
average one minute for electronic fee submission and 30 minutes for 
non-electronic fee submission. Estimates for public reporting burden 
include the time 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 burden estimates or any other aspect 
of this data collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden, 
to NMFS (see ADDRESSES), and by email to [email protected] or 
fax to 202-395-5806. 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. All currently approved 
NOAA collections of information may be viewed at: http://www.cio.noaa.gov/services_programs/prasubs.html.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Parts 679 and 680

    Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: April 15, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS amends 50 CFR parts 
679 and 680 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.; 3631 et seq.; 
Pub. L. 108-447; Pub. L. 111-281.


0
2. In Sec.  679.45, revise paragraphs (a)(4)(ii) through (iv) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  679.45  IFQ cost recovery program.

    (a) * * *
    (4) * * *
    (ii) Payment recipient. Make payment payable to NMFS.
    (iii) Payment address. Submit payment and related documents as 
instructed on the fee submission form. Payments may be made 
electronically through the NMFS Alaska Region Web site at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. Instructions for electronic payment will be 
made available on both the payment Web site and a fee liability summary 
letter mailed to the IFQ permit holder.
    (iv) Payment method--(A) Prior to December 1, 2019, payment must be 
made in U.S. dollars by personal check drawn on a U.S. bank account, 
money order, bank-certified check, or electronically by credit card.
    (B) On or after December 1, 2019, payment must be made 
electronically in U.S. dollars by automated clearing house, credit 
card, or electronic check drawn on a U.S. bank account.
* * * * *

PART 680--SHELLFISH FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF 
ALASKA

0
3. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 680 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109-241; Pub. L. 109-479.


Sec.  680.5  [Amended]

0
4. In Sec.  680.5, remove paragraph (g)(3)(iii).

0
5. In Sec.  680.44, revise paragraphs (a)(4)(iii) and (iv) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  680.44  Cost recovery.

    (a) * * *
    (4) * * *
    (iii) Payment address. Submit payment and related documents as 
instructed on the fee submission form. Payments may be made 
electronically through the NMFS Alaska Region Web site at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. Instructions for electronic payment will be 
made available on both the payment Web site and a fee liability summary 
letter mailed to the RCR permit holder.
    (iv) Payment method--(A) Prior to June 1, 2020, payment must be 
made in U.S. dollars by personal check drawn on a U.S. bank account, 
money order, bank-certified check, or electronically by credit card.
    (B) On or after June 1, 2020, payment must be made electronically 
in U.S. dollars by automated clearing house, credit card, or electronic 
check drawn on a U.S. bank account.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2016-09308 Filed 4-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P