[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 246 (Wednesday, December 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66251-66253]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27872]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF888


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Trawl Rationalization Program; 2019 
Cost Recovery

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

ACTION: Notice; 2019 cost recovery fee percentages and mothership (MS) 
pricing.

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SUMMARY: This action provides participants in the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Program with the 2019 fee percentages 
and MS pricing needed to calculate the required payments for the cost 
recovery fees due in 2019.
    For calendar year 2019, NMFS announces the following fee 
percentages by sector specific program:
     2.9 percent for the Shorebased Individual Fishing Quota 
(IFQ) Program,
     0 percent for the MS Co-op Program,
     0 percent for the Catcher/Processer (CP) Co-op Program.
    For 2019, the MS pricing to be used as a proxy by the CP Co-op 
Program is: $0.07./lb for Pacific whiting.

DATES: Applicable January 1, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Biegel, Cost Recovery 
Program Coordinator, (503) 231-6291, fax (503) 872-2737, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson[hyphen]Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires NMFS to collect fees to 
recover the costs directly related to the management, data collection 
and analysis, and enforcement directly related to and in support of a 
limited access privilege program (LAPP) (16 U.S.C. 1854(d)(2)), also 
called ``cost recovery.'' The Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl 
Rationalization Program is a LAPP, implemented in 2011, and consists of 
three sector-specific programs: The Shorebased IFQ Program, the MS Co-
op Program, and the CP Co-op Program. In accordance with the MSA, and 
based on a recommended structure and methodology developed in 
coordination with the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), 
NMFS began collecting mandatory fees of up to three percent of the 
ex[hyphen]vessel value of

[[Page 66252]]

groundfish from each program (Shorebased IFQ Program, MS Co-op Program, 
and CP Co-op Program) in 2014. NMFS collects the fees to recover the 
incremental costs of management, data collection and analysis, and 
enforcement of the Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Program. Additional 
background can be found in the cost recovery proposed and final rules, 
78 FR 7371 (February 1, 2013) and 78 FR 75268 (December 11, 2013), 
respectively. The details of cost recovery for the Groundfish Trawl 
Rationalization Program are in regulation at 50 CFR 660.115 (Trawl 
fishery -cost recovery program), Sec.  660.140 (Shorebased IFQ 
Program), Sec.  660.150 (MS Co-op Program), and Sec.  660.160 (CP Co-op 
Program).
    By December 31 of each year, NMFS must announce the next year's fee 
percentages and the applicable MS pricing for the CP Co-op Program. 
NMFS calculated the 2019 fee percentages by sector using the best 
available information. For 2019, the fee percentages by program, taking 
into account the adjusted direct program costs (DPCs), are:
     2.9 percent for the Shorebased IFQ Program,
     0 percent for the MS Co-op Program, and
     0 percent for the CP Co-op Program.

MS Co-Op and CP Co-Op program fee percentages are 0 percent because of 
the application of a credit from overpayment of cost recovery fees in 
prior years.
    To calculate the fee percentages, NMFS used the formula specified 
in regulation at Sec.  660.115(b)(1), where the fee percentage by 
sector equals the lower of three percent or DPC for that sector divided 
by total ex-vessel value (V) for that sector multiplied by 100 (Fee 
percentage = the lower of 3 percent or (DPC/V) x 100).
    `DPC,' as defined in the regulations at Sec.  660.115(b)(1)(i), are 
the actual incremental costs for the previous fiscal year directly 
related to the management, data collection and analysis, and 
enforcement of each program (Shorebased IFQ Program, MS Co-op Program, 
and CP Co-op Program). Actual incremental costs means those net costs 
that would not have been incurred but for the implementation of the 
Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Program, including both increased 
costs for new requirements of the program and reduced costs resulting 
from any program efficiencies.
    ``V'', as specified at Sec.  660.115(b)(1)(ii), is the total ex-
vessel value, as defined at Sec.  660.111, for each sector from the 
previous calendar year. The regulations define ex-vessel value slightly 
differently for each sector, thus NMFS uses slightly different methods 
to calculate ``V'' for each sector. For the Shorebased IFQ Program, 
NMFS used the ex-vessel value for calendar year 2017 as reported in 
Pacific Fisheries Information Network (PacFIN) from shorebased IFQ 
electronic fish tickets. For the MS Co-op Program and the CP Co-op 
Program, NMFS uses the average price of Pacific whiting as reported in 
PacFIN from the shorebased IFQ sector in 2017 and the retained catch 
estimates (weight) from the observer data, as reported in the North 
Pacific Observer Program database. NMFS does not collect pricing data 
for these two sectors so it uses the shorebased IFQ sector data as a 
proxy.

Redetermination of Past DPCs and Adjustment of DPCs

    On August 10, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 
issued its opinion in Glacier Fish Co. LLC v. Pritzker, 832 F.3d 1113 
(9th Cir. 2016), a case involving a challenge to NMFS' authority to 
collect cost recovery fees from members of the CP Co-op Program and the 
reasonableness of NMFS' calculation of the CP Co-op Program's 2014 fee 
percentage. In response to the court decision, NMFS re-evaluated and 
modified the methodology used to determine the CP Co-op Program's DPC 
for the 2014 fee calculation. NMFS elected to apply a similar revised 
methodology for all programs for 2014-2016 to redetermine the DPC for 
those years and to continue to use the revised methodology for all 
programs going forward, including the 2017-2019 fee calculations.
    The redetermination resulted in overpayments of the cost recovery 
fee by the CP and MS Co-op Programs. NMFS adjusted the fees for these 
two sectors in subsequent years to account for this overpayment, as 
specified at Sec.  660.115(b)(1)(i).
    In addition, for the 2019 fee calculation, the NMFS Northwest 
Fishery Science Center (NWFSC) determined that some of the observer 
hours attributed to the CP Co-op Program in 2017 were not incremental. 
Therefore, these hours were removed and used as a $1,207 credit to the 
2018 CP Co-op Program DPC in the 2019 fee calculation. This credit is 
reflected in the NWFSC initial DPC.
    Based on the estimated fees received in 2018 and adjustments for 
overpayments by the MS and CP Co-op Programs, the adjusted DPCs for 
2019 are:

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                                                                     Total by        2017 Fee      Final sector
                                                                      sector        adjustment        totals
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IFQ.............................................................   $1,753,653.57           $0.00   $1,753,653.57
MS..............................................................       71,400.39     -145,328.85      -73,928.46
CP..............................................................       47,178.23     -116,563.48      -69,385.25
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    The fee calculations using the adjusted 2018 DPCs are described 
below.
    Shorebased IFQ Program:
    2.9 percent = the lower of 3 percent or ($1,753,653.57/
$60,624,195.00) x 100
    MS Co-op Program:
    -0.7 percent = the lower of 3 percent or (-$73,928.46/
$11,350,915.58) x 100
    CP Co-op Program:
    -0.3 percent = the lower of 3 percent or (-$69,385.25/
$24,656,732.10) x 100.
    The 2019 fee percentages for the MS and CP Co-op Programs will be 
set at 0.0 percent to reflect the application of a credit from 
overpayment of cost recovery fees in prior years.
    MS pricing is the average price per pound that the CP Co-op Program 
will use to determine their fee amount due (MS pricing multiplied by 
the value of the Pacific whiting harvested by the vessel registered to 
a CP-endorsed limited entry trawl permit, multiplied by the CP fee 
percentage, equals the fee amount due). MS pricing is based on the 
average price per pound of Pacific whiting as reported in PacFIN from 
the shorebased IFQ sector. In other words, data from the IFQ fishery 
was used as a proxy for the MS average price per pound to determine the 
MS pricing used in the calculation for the CP Co-op Program's fee 
amount due. NMFS has calculated the 2019 MS pricing to be used as a 
proxy by the CP Co-op Program as: $0.07/lb for Pacific whiting.

[[Page 66253]]

    Cost recovery fees are submitted to NMFS by Fish buyers via Pay.gov 
(https://www.pay.gov/paygov/). Fees are only accepted in Pay.gov by 
credit/debit card or bank transfers. Cash or checks cannot be accepted. 
Fish buyers registered with Pay.gov can login in the upper left-hand 
corner of the screen. Fish buyers not registered with Pay.gov can go to 
the cost recovery forms directly from the website below. The links to 
the pay.gov forms for each program (IFQ, MS, or CP) are listed below:

IFQ: https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/58062865
MS: https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/58378422
CP: https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/58102817

    As stated in the preamble to the cost recovery proposed and final 
rules, in the spring of each year, NMFS will release an annual report 
documenting the details and data used for the above calculations. The 
report includes information such as the fee percentage calculation, 
program costs, and ex-vessel value by sector. The 2017-2018 annual 
report was delayed until November 2018 to allow for changes to the 
report following discussions with members of industry. Annual reports 
are available at: http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish_catch_shares/rules_regulations/costrecovery.html.

Corrections to the 2018 Cost Recovery Fee Calculations

    Between the publication of the 2018 cost recovery fees in the 
Federal Register (82 FR 61752) and the presentation of the 2017-2018 
Cost Recovery Annual Report to the Council, NMFS identified two costs 
(totaling $163,614.41) that had been included in the 2017 IFQ DPCs that 
were not recoverable. This does not affect the 2019 fees, and a 
description of these costs is included below as an explanation.
    While reviewing the DPCs for the 2018 cost recovery fee, NMFS 
identified a total of $163,614.41 in costs that were not recoverable 
and, therefore, removed that amount from the fee calculations. Part of 
that total consisted of a contracting cost of $74,480.64, which NMFS 
removed because these contracting costs were to fund a database that 
supports both catch share and non-catch share data and is not 
considered incremental. The remainder, i.e., $89,133.77, was associated 
with a task code that staff used on their timesheet intended for cost 
recovery for non-recoverable tasks, and NMFS also removed that cost. 
Both of these costs were only associated with the Shorebased IFQ 
Program and their removal did not affect the 2018 fee percentage for 
that program because the IFQ DPC remained above the three percent cap.
    IFQ DPC adjustment from the Federal Register notice announcing the 
2018 cost recovery fees

$2,179,402.10--Original 2017 IFQ DPC
-$163,614.41--Adjustment to the 2017 IFQ DPC
$2,015,787.69--Adjusted 2017 IFQ DPC

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C.773 et seq., and 16 
U.S.C. 7001 et seq.

    Dated: December 19, 2018.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-27872 Filed 12-21-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P