[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5379-5380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02011]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XD047
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Generic Accountability Measure and Dolphin Allocation Amendment
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a draft environmental impact
statement (DEIS); request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the South
Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), intends to prepare a
DEIS to describe and analyze a range of alternatives for management
actions to be included in the Generic Accountability Measure (AM) and
Dolphin Allocation Amendment. The Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation
Amendment would amend the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for: the
Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic; the Snapper-Grouper Fishery
of the South Atlantic Region; and the Golden Crab Fishery of the South
Atlantic Region. The Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation Amendment will
consider alternative AMs for snapper-grouper species and golden crab,
as well as alternatives to modify existing commercial and recreational
sector allocations for dolphin. The purpose of this NOI is to solicit
public comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the DEIS.
[[Page 5380]]
DATES: Written comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the
DEIS will be accepted until March 3, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the NOI identified by ``NOAA-
NMFS-2013-0181'' by any of the following methods:
Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0181, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Jack McGovern, Southeast
Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: 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 by NMFS. 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.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in
Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack McGovern, Southeast Regional
Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email: [email protected]. Kim
Iverson, Public Information Officer, South Atlantic Fisheries
Management Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North
Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: 843-571-4366, or email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council and NMFS have implemented AMs
for snapper-grouper species, AMs for golden crab, and sector
allocations for dolphin.
AMs for snapper-grouper species were established in 2010 through
Amendments 17A and 17B to the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South
Atlantic Region (75 FR 76874, December 9, 2010, and 75 FR 82280,
December 30, 2010, respectively) and in 2012 through the Comprehensive
ACL Amendment (77 FR 15916, March 16, 2012) and Amendment 24 to the
Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (77 FR 34254, June
11, 2012). AMs for golden crab were established in 2012 through the
Comprehensive ACL Amendment (77 FR 15916, March 16, 2012). The DEIS for
the Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation Amendment would consider
alternatives to modify existing AMs for these species to provide
consistency of AMs among species, and ensure overfishing does not
occur.
Sector allocations for dolphin were established in 2012 through the
Comprehensive ACL Amendment (77 FR 15916, March 16, 2012), using a
formula which provided equal weighting to long-term and short-term
trends in landings. The long-term landings trend was from 1986 through
2008, and the short-term trend used landings from 2006 through 2008.
The DEIS for the Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation Amendment would
consider alternatives to modify existing sector allocations for
dolphin.
NMFS, in collaboration with the Council, will develop a DEIS to
describe and analyze alternatives to address the management needs
described above including the ``no action'' alternative. In accordance
with NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6, Section 5.02(c), Scoping
Process, NMFS, in collaboration with the Council, has identified
preliminary environmental issues as a means to initiate discussion for
scoping purposes only. The public is invited to provide written
comments on the preliminary issues, which are identified as actions and
alternatives in the Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation Amendment scoping
document. These preliminary issues may not represent the full range of
issues that eventually will be evaluated in the DEIS.
After the DEIS associated with Generic AM and Dolphin Allocation
Amendment is completed, it will be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). After filing, the EPA will publish a notice of
availability of the DEIS for public comment in the Federal Register.
The DEIS will have a 45-day comment period. This procedure is pursuant
to regulations issued by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for
implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA; 40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and to NOAA's Administrative
Order 216-6 regarding NOAA's compliance with NEPA and the CEQ
regulations.
The Council and NMFS will consider public comments received on the
DEIS in developing the final environmental impact statement (FEIS), and
before voting to submit the final amendment to NMFS for Secretarial
review, approval, and implementation. NMFS will announce in the Federal
Register the availability of the final amendment and FEIS for public
review during the Secretarial review period, and will consider all
public comments prior to final agency action to approve, disapprove, or
partially approve the final amendment.
NMFS will announce, through a document published in the Federal
Register, all public comment periods on the final amendment, its
proposed implementing regulations, and the availability of its
associated FEIS. NMFS will consider all public comments received during
the Secretarial review period, whether they are on the final amendment,
the proposed regulations, or the FEIS, prior to final agency action.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: January 28, 2014.
Sean F. Corson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-02011 Filed 1-30-14; 8:45 am]
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