[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 7, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26419-26422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11815]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Chapters II, III, IV, V, and VI

RIN 0648-XF326


Plan for Periodic Review of Regulations

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the existing rules that it is reviewing, as 
required, under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which 
had, or will have a significant impact on a substantial number of small 
entities, such as small businesses, small organizations, and small 
governmental jurisdictions. The intended effect of this document is to 
inform the public of the rules under review, to outline NMFS' review 
process, and to provide an opportunity to comment. In addition, 
information compiled through this routine action will be relevant to 
the regulatory reviews required under Executive Order 13771, ``Reducing 
Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' and Executive Order 
13777, ``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda.''

DATES: Written comments must be received by July 7, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2017-0054, by either of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0054, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Kelly Denit, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 1315 
East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (mark outside of envelope 
``Comments on 610 Review'').
    Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above 
methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and 
considered by NMFS. 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. 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.) submitted voluntarily by the 
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will 
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you 
wish to remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara Scott, (301) 427-8579 or Heather 
Sagar, (301) 427-8019.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., 
requires that Federal agencies including NMFS take into account how 
their regulations affect ``small entities,'' including small 
businesses, small Governmental jurisdictions, and small organizations. 
Under the RFA, we must either prepare a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
or certify that the regulation, if put in place, will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
for any regulation proposed after January 1, 1981. Section 602 of the 
RFA requires that NMFS issue an Agenda of Regulations identifying rules 
under development that are likely to have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities.
    Section 610 of the RFA requires Federal agencies to review existing 
regulations. It requires that NMFS publish a plan in the Federal 
Register explaining how it will review its existing regulations which 
have or will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number 
of small entities. Regulations that became effective after January 1, 
1981, must be reviewed within 10 years of the publication date of the 
final rule. Section 610(c) requires that we annually publish a list of 
final rules we will review during the succeeding 12 months in the 
Federal Register. The list must describe, explain the need for, and 
provide the legal basis for the rules being reviewed, as well as invite 
public comment on the rule.
    In addition, information compiled through this routine action under 
Section 610 of the RFA will be relevant to the regulatory reviews 
required under Executive Order 13771, ``Reducing Regulation and 
Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' and Executive Order 13777, ``Enforcing 
the Regulatory Reform Agenda.''

Criteria for Review of Existing Regulations

    The purpose of the review is to determine whether existing rules 
should be left unchanged, or whether they should be revised or 
rescinded to minimize significant economic impacts on a substantial 
number of small entities, consistent with the objectives of other 
applicable statutes. In deciding whether change is necessary, the RFA 
establishes five factors that NMFS must consider:
    (1) Whether the rule is still needed;
    (2) What type of complaints or comments were received concerning 
the rule from the public;
    (3) The complexity of the rule;
    (4) How much the rule overlaps, duplicates or conflicts with other 
Federal rules, and, to the extent feasible, with State and local 
governmental rules; and
    (5) How long it has been since the rule has been evaluated or how 
much the technology, economic conditions, or

[[Page 26420]]

other factors have changed in the area affected by the rule.

Plan for Periodic Review of Rules

    Below is the list of rules and their summaries issued in 2010 that 
we will review by December 31, 2017, consistent with RFA Section 610. 
This list includes rules issues in 2010 for which initial and final 
regulatory flexibility analyses were completed.
    1. Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Limited Access for Guided Sport 
Charter. RIN 0648-AW92 (75 FR 553; January 5, 2010). NMFS issued 
regulations creating a limited access system for charter vessels in the 
guided sport fishery for Pacific halibut in waters of International 
Pacific Halibut Commission Regulatory Areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 
3A (Central Gulf of Alaska). This limited access system limited the 
number of charter vessels that may participate in the guided sport 
fishery for halibut in these areas. NMFS issued a charter halibut 
permit to a licensed charter fishing business owner based on his or her 
past participation in the charter halibut fishery and to a Community 
Quota Entity representing specific rural communities. All charter 
halibut permit holders were subject to limits on the number of permits 
they may hold and on the number of charter vessel anglers who may catch 
and retain halibut on permitted charter vessels. This action was 
necessary to achieve the approved halibut fishery management goals of 
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The intended effect was 
to curtail growth of fishing capacity in the guided sport fishery for 
halibut. This action was conducted by NMFS under authority of the 
Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982.
    2. International Fisheries; Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 
for Highly Migratory Species; Initial Implementation of the Western and 
Central Pacific Fisheries Convention. RIN 0648-AV63 (75 FR 3335; 
January 21, 2010). NMFS issued regulations under authority of the 
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act, 
which authorized the Secretary of Commerce to promulgate regulations 
needed to carry out the obligations of the U.S. under the Convention on 
the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the 
Western and Central Pacific Ocean, including implementing the decisions 
of the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly 
Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. The 
regulations included requirements related to permitting, vessel 
monitoring systems, vessel observers, vessel markings, reporting and 
recordkeeping, at-sea transshipment, and boarding and inspection on the 
high seas, among others. NMFS has determined that this action was 
necessary for the United States to satisfy its international 
obligations under the Convention, to which it is a Contracting Party. 
It has the effect of requiring that all relevant U.S. fishing vessels 
were operated in conformance with the provisions of the Convention.
    3. Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to Commercial Fishing 
Operations; Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan Regulations. RIN 0648-
AW51 (75 FR 7383; February 19, 2010). NMFS issued this final rule to 
amend the regulations implementing the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction 
Plan to address the increased incidental mortality and serious injury 
of the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy stock of harbor porpoises (Phocoena 
phocoena) in gillnet fisheries throughout the stock's U.S. range. This 
action was conducted by NMFS under the authority of the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act.
    4. Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel, 
Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; Amendment 10. RIN 0648-AY00 (75 FR 
11441; March 11, 2010). NMFS implemented approved measures in Amendment 
10 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 10 was developed by the Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council to bring the FMP into compliance with 
Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements by establishing a rebuilding program 
that allows the butterfish stock to rebuild and protects the long-term 
health and stability of the stock; and by minimizing bycatch and the 
fishing mortality of unavoidable bycatch, to the extent practicable, in 
the MSB fisheries. Amendment 10 increased the minimum codend mesh size 
requirement for the long fin squid fishery; established a butterfish 
rebuilding program with a butterfish mortality cap for the long fin 
squid fishery; established a 72-hr trip notification requirement for 
the long fin squid fishery; and required an annual assessment of the 
butterfish rebuilding program by the Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee. This rule also made minor, technical corrections 
to the existing regulations. This action was conducted by NMFS under 
the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    5. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast (NE) 
Multispecies Fishery; Amendment 16; Final Rule. RIN 0648-AW72 (75 FR 
18261; April 9, 2010). NMFS issued the final rule to implement measures 
approved under Amendment 16 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management 
Plan. Amendment 16 was developed by the New England Fishery Management 
Council as part of the biennial adjustment process in the FMP to update 
status determination criteria for all regulated NE multispecies and 
ocean pout stocks; to adopt rebuilding programs for NE multispecies 
stocks newly classified as being overfished and subject to overfishing; 
and to revise management measures, including significant revisions to 
the sector management measures, necessary to end overfishing, rebuild 
overfished regulated NE multispecies and ocean pout stocks, and 
mitigate the adverse economic impacts of increased effort controls. 
This final rule also implemented new requirements under Amendment 16 
for establishing acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limits 
(ACLs), and accountability measures (AMs) for each stock managed under 
the FMP, pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Finally, this action 
added Atlantic wolffish to the list of species managed by the FMP. This 
action was necessary to address the results of the most recent stock 
assessment, which indicate that several additional regulated species 
are overfished and subject to overfishing, and that stocks currently 
classified as overfished require additional reductions in fishing 
mortality to rebuild by the end of their rebuilding periods. This 
action was conducted by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act
    6. Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 31. RIN 0648-AX67. 
(75 FR 21512; April 26, 2010). NMFS issued this final rule to implement 
Amendment 31 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources 
of the Gulf of Mexico prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council. This final rule implemented restrictions applicable to the 
bottom longline component of the reef fish fishery in the exclusive 
economic zone (EEZ) of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The restrictions 
included a bottom longline endorsement requirement, a seasonal closed 
area, and a limitation on the number of hooks that can be possessed and 
fished. The intent of this rule was to balance the continued operation 
of the bottom longline component of the reef fish fishery in the 
eastern Gulf while maintaining adequate protective measures for sea 
turtles. This action was conducted by NMFS under

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the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    7. Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Shark Management 
Measures; Amendment 3; Final Rule. RIN 0648-AW65 (75 FR 30483; June 1, 
2010). NMFS published this final rule to implement the Final Amendment 
3 to the Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP). As it developed Amendment 3, NMFS examined a 
full range of management alternatives available to rebuild blacknose 
sharks and end overfishing of blacknose and shortfin mako sharks, 
consistent with recent stock assessments, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and 
other applicable law, and evaluated options for managing smooth dogfish 
as a highly migratory species under the HMS FMP. This final rule 
implemented the final conservation and management measures in Amendment 
3 for blacknose sharks, shortfin mako sharks, and smooth dogfish. In 
order to reduce confusion with spiny dogfish regulations, this final 
rule places both smooth dogfish and Florida smoothhound into the 
``smoothhound shark complex.'' This final rule also announced the 
opening date and 2010 annual quotas for small coastal sharks. These 
changes could have affected all fishermen, commercial and recreational, 
who fish for sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the 
Caribbean Sea. This action was conducted by NMFS under the authority of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    8. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Final Rulemaking 
to Establish Take Prohibitions for the Threatened Southern Distinct 
Population Segment of North American Green Sturgeon. RIN 0648-AV94 (75 
FR 30714; June 2, 2010). This final Endangered Species Act (ESA) 
section 4(d) rule represented the regulations that we, NMFS, believe 
necessary and advisable to conserve the threatened Southern Distinct 
Population Segment of North American green sturgeon (Acipenser 
medirostris; hereafter Southern DPS). We applied the prohibitions 
listed under ESA section 9 for the Southern DPS, and we highlighted 
specific categories of activities that were likely to result in take of 
Southern DPS fish. We did not find it necessary and advisable to apply 
the take prohibitions to certain categories of activities that 
contribute to conserving the Southern DPS. We also provided a variety 
of methods by which take of the Southern DPS may have been authorized. 
This document also announces the availability of a final environmental 
assessment that analyzed the environmental impacts of promulgating the 
4(d) regulations for the Southern DPS. This action was conducted by 
NMFS under the authority of the ESA.
    9. Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Limited Access for Guided Sport 
Charter Vessels in Alaska. RIN 0648-AY85 (75 FR 56903; September 17, 
2010). NMFS issued regulations amending the limited access program for 
charter vessels in the guided sport fishery for Pacific halibut in the 
waters of International Pacific Halibut Commission Regulatory Area 2C 
(Southeast Alaska) and Area 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska). These 
regulations revised the method of assigning angler endorsements to 
charter halibut permits to more closely align each endorsement with the 
greatest number of charter vessel anglers reported for each vessel that 
a charter business used to qualify for a charter halibut permit. This 
action was necessary to achieve the halibut fishery management goals of 
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. This action was conducted 
by NMFS under authority of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982.
    10. Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Modified 
Nonpelagic Trawl Gear and Habitat Conservation in the Bering Sea 
Subarea. RIN 0648-AY34 (75 FR 61642; October 6, 2010). NMFS issued a 
final rule that implemented Amendment 94 to the Fishery Management Plan 
for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area. 
Amendment 94 required participants using nonpelagic trawl gear in the 
directed fishery for flatfish in the Bering Sea subarea to modify the 
trawl gear to raise portions of the gear off the ocean bottom. 
Amendment 94 also changed the boundaries of the Northern Bering Sea 
Research Area to establish the Modified Gear Trawl Zone (MGTZ) and to 
expand the Saint Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area. Nonpelagic 
trawl gear also was required to be modified to raise portions of the 
gear off the ocean bottom if used in any directed fishery for 
groundfish in the MGTZ. This action was necessary to reduce potential 
adverse effects of nonpelagic trawl gear on bottom habitat, to protect 
additional blue king crab habitat near St. Matthew Island, and to allow 
for efficient flatfish harvest as the distribution of flatfish in the 
Bering Sea changes. This action was intended to promote the goals and 
objectives of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws. This action was conducted by 
NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    11. Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Regulatory Amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish 
Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. RIN 0648-AY05 (75 
FR 67247; November 2, 2010). NMFS issued this final rule that 
implemented a regulatory amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for 
the Reef Fish Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands 
prepared by the Caribbean Fishery Management Council. This rule 
modified the Bajo de Sico seasonal closure from a 3-month closure to a 
6-month closure, and prohibits fishing for and possession of Caribbean 
reef fish in or from the EEZ portion of Bajo de Sico during the 
closure. The final rule also prohibited anchoring in the EEZ portion of 
Bajo de Sico year-round. In addition to the measures contained in the 
regulatory amendment, this final rule also added spear to the list of 
allowable gears in the commercial sector of the Caribbean reef fish 
fishery and revises the title of the FMP in the list of authorized 
fisheries and gear. The intended effect of this rule was to provide 
further protection for red hind spawning aggregations and large 
snappers and groupers, and better protect the essential fish habitat 
where these species reside. This action was conducted by NMFS under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    12. Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish 
Observer Program. RIN 0648-AW24 (75 FR 69016; November 10, 2010). NMFS 
issued a final rule to amend regulations implementing the North Pacific 
Groundfish Observer Program (Observer Program). This action was 
necessary to improve the operational efficiency of the Observer 
Program, as well as to improve the catch, bycatch, and biological data 
collected by observers for conservation and management of the North 
Pacific groundfish fisheries, including those data collected through 
scientific research activities. The final rule was intended to promote 
the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish 
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area and the Fishery 
Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. This action was 
conducted by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    13. Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Red Grouper Management 
Measures. RIN 0648-BA04 (75 FR74656; December 1, 2010). NMFS issued 
this final rule to implement actions identified in a regulatory 
amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish

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Resources of the Gulf of Mexico prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery 
Management Council. This final rule reduced the commercial quota for 
red grouper and, thus, the combined commercial quota for shallow water 
grouper species, and requires vessels with valid commercial Gulf of 
Mexico reef fish permits to mark their buoy gear with the official 
vessel number. This rule also implemented minor revisions to codified 
text, including a revised definition of buoy gear, re-codification of 
the commercial and recreational quotas for greater amberjack, revision 
of the recreational accountability measure for greater amberjack, and 
removal of outdated language for the red snapper individual fishing 
quota program. The intended effect of this final rule was to help 
prevent overfishing of red grouper while achieving optimum yield by 
reducing red grouper harvest, consistent with the findings of the 
recent stock assessment for this species, and to implement technical 
corrections to the regulations. This action was conducted by NMFS under 
the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    14. Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 2011 Commercial Fishing 
Season and Adaptive Management Measures for the Atlantic Shark Fishery. 
RIN 0648-AY98 (75 FR 76302; December 8, 2010). This final rule 
established opening dates and adjusted quotas for the 2011 fishing 
season for sandbar sharks, non-sandbar large coastal sharks (LCS), 
blacknose shark, non-blacknose small coastal shark (SCS), blue sharks, 
porbeagle sharks, and pelagic sharks (other than porbeagle or blue 
sharks) based on any over- and/or underharvests experienced during the 
2009 and 2010 Atlantic commercial shark fishing seasons. NMFS was 
taking this action to establish the 2011 adjusted fishing quotas and to 
open the commercial fishing seasons for the Atlantic sandbar shark, 
non-sandbar LCS, blacknose shark, non-blacknose SCS, and pelagic shark 
fisheries based on over- and underharvests from the 2009 and 2010 
fishing season. This action was expected to affect commercial shark 
fishermen in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions. In addition to 
establishing opening dates and adjusting annual quotas, this final rule 
implemented adaptive management measures, including flexible opening 
dates for the fishing season, as well as inseason adjustments to shark 
trip limits, to provide flexibility in management in the furtherance of 
equitable fishing opportunities, to the extent practicable, for 
commercial shark fishermen in all regions and areas. These actions were 
expected to affect commercial shark fishermen in the Atlantic and Gulf 
of Mexico regions. This action was conducted by NMFS under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    15. Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery Off the Southern Atlantic States; Amendment 
17A; Emergency Rule To Delay Effectiveness of the Snapper-Grouper Area 
Closure; Final Rule and Temporary Rule. RIN 0648-AY10 (75 FR 76873; 
December 9, 2010). NMFS issued this final rule to implement Amendment 
17A to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of 
the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South 
Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This final rule established an ACL 
of zero for red snapper, which means all harvest and possession of red 
snapper in or from the South Atlantic EEZ is prohibited, and for a 
vessel with a Federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for 
South Atlantic snapper-grouper, harvest and possession of red snapper 
is prohibited in or from State or Federal waters. This rule also 
implemented an area closure for South Atlantic snapper-grouper that 
extends from southern Georgia to northern Florida where harvest and 
possession of all snapper-grouper species is prohibited (except when 
fishing with black sea bass pots or spearfishing gear for species other 
than red snapper), and requires the use of non-stainless steel circle 
hooks when fishing for snapper-grouper species with hook and line gear 
north of 28 degrees N. latitude in the South Atlantic EEZ. 
Additionally, Amendment 17A established a rebuilding plan for red 
snapper and requires a monitoring program as the AM for red snapper. 
The intended effects of this rule were to end overfishing of South 
Atlantic red snapper and rebuild the stock. This action was conducted 
by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    16. Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery Off the Southern Atlantic States; Amendment 
17B. RIN 0648-AY11 (75 FR 82280; December 20, 2010). NMFS issued this 
final rule to implement Amendment 17B to the Fishery Management Plan 
for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region, as 
prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council. This final rule established ACLs and AMs for eight snapper-
grouper species in the FMP that were undergoing overfishing, and for 
black grouper, which was recently assessed and determined to not be 
undergoing overfishing or overfished; modified management measures to 
limit total mortality of those species to the ACL; and added ACLs, 
annual catch targets (ACTs), and AMs to the list of management measures 
that may be amended via the framework process. The intent of this final 
rule was to address overfishing of eight snapper-grouper species while 
maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield. This 
action was conducted by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act.

Availability of Completed Reviews

    NMFS will make available a copy of this notice and the completed 
reviews to the public at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/laws_policies/economic_social/index.html.

    Dated: June 2, 2017.
Margo B. Schulze-Haugen,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-11815 Filed 6-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P