[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 174 (Friday, September 9, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55317-55318]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19481]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No: 220902-0183]
RTID 0648-XB877


Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species 
Fisheries; Annual Specifications; 2022-2023 Annual Specifications and 
Management Measures for Pacific Sardine; Correction

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

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

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SUMMARY: This action contains a correction to the final rule for 2022-
2023 harvest specifications and management measures for the northern 
subpopulation of Pacific sardine (hereafter Pacific sardine), which 
published on July 1, 2022. Specifically, NMFS is correcting the tonnage 
amount that would trigger a trip limit for the live bait fishery: 2,500 
metric tons (mt).

DATES: Effective September 9, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Taylor Debevec, West Coast Region, 
NMFS, (562) 619-2052, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the Pacific sardine fishery in 
the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast 
(California, Oregon, and Washington) in accordance with the Coastal 
Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP and its 
implementing regulations require NMFS to set annual catch levels for 
the Pacific sardine fishery based on the annual specification framework 
and control rules in the FMP and in accordance with the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1801 
et seq.
    The final rule to implement the annual catch levels, reference 
points, and management measures for the July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023, 
fishing season for Pacific sardine, published July 1, 2022 (87 FR 
39384), contained a transcription error. The final rule inadvertently 
listed the tonnage limit that would trigger a trip limit for the live 
bait fishery as 1,800 mt, when it should have been 2,500 mt. The 
proposed specifications (87 FR 27557, May 9, 2022), the recommendation 
by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the analysis by NMFS 
during the proposed and final specifications process all referenced 
2,500 mt. NMFS did not receive any public comments on the proposed 
specifications that warranted a change, and, as stated in the final 
rule, NMFS did not intend any changes between the proposed and final 
rules: ``The final rule adopts, without changes, the catch levels and 
restrictions that NMFS proposed in the rule published on May 9, 2022.'' 
(87 FR at 39385).
    As such, NOAA corrects the management measure for commercial 
sardine harvest during the 2022-2023 fishing year.

Correction

    In FR Rule Doc. No. 14122, appearing on page 39384 in the Federal 
Register of Friday, July 1, 2022, the following correction is made:
    1. On page 39385, in the first column, the second paragraph under 
table 1, ``(1) If landings in the live bait fishery reach 1,800 mt of 
Pacific sardine, then a 1 mt per-trip limit of sardine would apply to 
the live bait fishery.'' is corrected to read ``(1) If landings in the 
live bait fishery reach 2,500 mt of Pacific sardine, then a 1 mt per-
trip limit of sardine would apply to the live bait fishery.''

[[Page 55318]]

    There are no other corrections to the final rule published July 1, 
2022.

Classifications

    Section 553(b)(B) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) 
authorizes agencies to dispense with notice and comment procedures for 
rules when the agency for ``good cause'' finds that those procedures 
are ``impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' 
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries determined there is good 
cause to waive prior notice and an opportunity for public comment on 
this action as notice and comment would be impracticable and contrary 
to public interest because this action is simply to correct an 
inadvertent error in the July 1, 2022, final rule (87 FR 39384). 
Immediate correction of the error is necessary to prevent confusion 
among participants in the fishery and to ensure management of the 
fishery is consistent with both the Council's intent for regulations 
and the public's expectations based on representations in the proposed 
and final specifications. Thus, delaying this correction to engage in 
notice-and-comment rulemaking would be contrary to the public interest.
    Under section 553(d) of the APA, an agency must delay the effective 
date of regulations for 30 days after the date of publication, unless 
the agency finds good cause to make the regulations effective sooner. 
For the same reasons stated above, the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries has determined good cause exists to waive the 30-day delay in 
the date of effectiveness. This rule makes only a minor correction to 
the final rule, which was effective July 1, 2022. Delaying 
effectiveness of this correction would result in conflicts in the 
regulations and confusion among fishery participants and would 
therefore be contrary to the public interest.
    The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604, requires an 
agency to prepare an initial and a final regulatory flexibility 
analysis whenever an agency is required by section 553 of the APA or 
any other law to publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking. 
Because NMFS found good cause under section 553(b)(3)(B) of the APA to 
forgo publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking, the regulatory 
flexibility analyses described in 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604 are not required 
for this rulemaking.
    This final rule is not significant under Executive Order 12866.
    This final rule contains no information collection requirements 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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

    Dated: September 2, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-19481 Filed 9-8-22; 8:45 am]
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