[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 116 (Tuesday, June 16, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36379-36381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12891]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XW016]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Trawl Rationalization Program; 2020 
Cost Recovery

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

ACTION: Notice, 2020 cost recovery fee percentage correction.

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

SUMMARY: This action provides participants in the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Program (Trawl Program), Shorebased 
Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program

[[Page 36380]]

with the updated 2020 fee percentage needed to calculate the required 
payments for the cost recovery fees due for the remainder of 2020. For 
the remainder of calendar year 2020, NMFS announces that the Shorebased 
IFQ Program fee percentage will be 2.88 percent.

DATES: Applicable June 16, 2020.

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 
Mothership (MS) Co-op Program, and the Catcher Processer (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, NMFS began collecting mandatory fees of up 
to 3 percent of the ex[hyphen]vessel value of 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), 660.140 (Shorebased IFQ Program), 660.150 (MS Co-op 
Program), and 660.160 (CP Co-op Program).
    To calculate the fee percentages, NMFS uses the formula specified 
in regulation at Sec.  660.115(b)(1), where the fee percentage by 
sector equals the lower of 3 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 2018 as reported in 
Pacific Fisheries Information Network (PacFIN) from shorebased IFQ 
electronic fish tickets, as this was the most recent complete set of 
data.
    NMFS announced the 2020 cost recovery fees in the Federal Register 
on December 11, 2019 (84 FR 67720). Subsequently, NMFS determined that 
the DPC for the Shorebased IFQ Program inadvertently included costs 
that were not recoverable as well as some staff costs that should have 
been included. The recalculation has resulted in an updated cost 
recovery fee that will be in effect for the remainder of the 2020 
calendar year.
    The adjustments were associated with the West Coast Region (WCR) 
staff time and contracting, Northwest Fisheries Science Center 
Scientific Data Management Program (SDM) contracting, and the Pacific 
States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) grant. These adjustments are 
shown below (in Table 1).

                                                                         Table 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                           WCR                                                           Adjustment  for
                               Sector                                  contracting       WCR staff     SDM  adjustment       PSMFC             2021
                                                                        adjustment       adjustment                        adjustment      calculation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IFQ................................................................      -$6,300.00        $3,200.00     -$196,423.00      -$31,751.89     -$231,273.89
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The redetermination resulted in an adjustment to the Shorebased IFQ 
Program 2020 cost recovery fee percentage. This adjustment is shown 
below (in Table 2).

                                                     Table 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Final IFQ       IFQ  ex-vessel       IFQ fee
              IFQ total costs                  Correction         totals            value           percentage
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1,807,551.12.............................    -$231,273.87    $1,576,277.25     $54,795,365.00             2.88
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Because the adjustment has resulted in a lower fee for the 
Shorebased IFQ Program, NMFS will calculate the fees that should have 
been collected under the 2.88 percent fee and include the excess as a 
credit in the 2021 fee calculation.
    Cost recovery fees are submitted to NMFS by Fish buyers via Pay.gov 
(https://www.pay.gov/paygov/). The fee percentage will be updated upon 
publication of this notice. 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

[[Page 36381]]

registered with Pay.gov can go to the cost recovery forms directly from 
the website below. A link to the IFQ Pay.gov form is listed below: IFQ: 
https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/58062865.

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

    Dated: June 10, 2020.
H[eacute]l[egrave]ne M.N. Scalliet,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-12891 Filed 6-15-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P