[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 249 (Tuesday, December 29, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 81194-81198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32564]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 200
[Docket No. 150227193-5999-02]
RIN 0648-BE92
Establish a Single Small Business Size Standard for Commercial
Fishing Businesses
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to establish a small business size
standard of $11 million in annual gross receipts for all businesses in
the commercial fishing industry (NAICS 11411), for Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA) compliance purposes only. For the purposes of
this final rule, a ``commercial fishing business'' is a business
primarily engaged in commercial fishing, the ``commercial fishing
industry'' is composed of all such businesses, and the $11 million
standard only applies to this industry. This standard does not apply to
businesses primarily engaged in seafood processing (NAICS 311170),
seafood wholesale activities (NAICS 424460), or any other activity
within the seafood industry. The $11 million standard will be used in
RFA analyses in place of the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA)
current standards of $20.5 million, $5.5 million, and $7.5 million for
the finfish (NAICS 114111), shellfish (NAICS 114112), and other marine
fishing (NAICS 114119) sectors of the U.S. commercial fishing industry,
respectively. Establishing a single size standard of $11 million for
the commercial fishing industry will simplify the RFA analyses done in
support of NMFS' rules, better meet the RFA's intent by more accurately
representing expected disproportionate effects of NMFS' rules between
small and large commercial fishing businesses, create a standard that
more accurately reflects the size distribution of all businesses in the
commercial fishing industry, and allow NMFS to determine when changes
to the standard are necessary and appropriate.
DATES: This final rule is effective July 1, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), proposed rule
and associated comments are available via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, docket NOAA-NMFS-2015-0061.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Travis, Industry Economist, at
(727) 209-5982, or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
For the purposes of this final rule, a ``commercial fishing
business'' is a business primarily engaged in commercial fishing and
the ``commercial fishing industry'' (NAICS 11411) is composed of all
such businesses. Prior to 2013, SBA had established a single small
business size standard for all businesses in the commercial fishing
industry. Since 2005, this standard had been $4 million in annual gross
receipts (revenues). Effective July 22, 2013, SBA established
significantly different and higher size standards for the three
separate sectors of the industry (78 FR 37398, June 20, 2013): $19
million for commercial finfish fishing businesses (NAICS 114111), $5.0
million for commercial shellfish fishing businesses (NAICS 114112), and
$7.0 million for other commercial marine fishing businesses (NAICS
114119). These standards were subsequently adjusted for inflation to
$20.5 million, $5.5 million, and $7.5 million, respectively, via an
interim final rule, effective July 14, 2014 (79 FR 33647, June 12,
2014). The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 requires SBA to review all
size standards every five years to account for changes in industry
structure and market conditions. SBA is also required to assess the
impact of inflation on its monetary-based size standards at least once
every five years (13 CFR 121.102). However, as reflected by the timing
of the two recent rulemakings adjusting the size standards, SBA is not
required to conduct the reviews for these two purposes simultaneously.
Thus, these size standards are likely to change on a regular basis.
Under the RFA, an agency must prepare an initial and final
regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA/FRFA) for each proposed and final
rule, respectively, unless it certifies that a rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Agencies generally rely on the SBA size standards to identify small
entities for RFA purposes. For NMFS, rulemaking activities that have
been impacted by changes to the size standards for defining ``small''
businesses include, but are not limited to, regulatory actions and
analyses undertaken pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA),
Endangered Species Act (ESA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Between 2012 and 2014, NMFS
published an average of 285 final rules per year, more than 40 percent
of which required an RFA analysis, and a majority of those directly
regulated commercial fishing businesses. Thus, NMFS' costs of complying
with the RFA are significant even when the small business size
standards are stable, and those costs increase substantially when the
standards are changing on a recurring basis.
NMFS and the Regional Fishery Management Councils (Councils) have
encountered significant difficulties implementing and adjusting to the
new standards because: (1) The change was from a single size standard
for all commercial fishing businesses to three very different
standards, (2) many commercial fishing businesses participate in both
finfish and shellfish fishing activities, making it unclear which
standard to apply in the RFA analyses, and (3) a number of rules
simultaneously implement regulations under fishery management plans for
both finfish and shellfish species (for e.g., 76 FR 82044, December 29,
2011; 76 FR 82414, December 30, 2011; 77 FR 15916, March 26, 2012; and
80 FR 41472, July 15, 2015), again making it unclear which standard to
apply in the RFA analyses.
Furthermore, one of the RFA's primary purposes is to determine if
proposed regulations are expected to have disproportionate economic
impacts on small businesses relative to large businesses and, if so, to
consider alternatives that would minimize any significant adverse
economic impacts on small businesses. Under SBA's current standards for
commercial fishing businesses, practically all commercial fishing
businesses, and particularly commercial finfish fishing businesses,
would likely be determined to be small. Thus, in their RFA analyses,
NMFS and the Councils would not be able to discern, consider, or
address any disproportionate economic impacts that various regulatory
alternatives might have on businesses NMFS and the Councils think are
``small'' in the commercial fishing industry. Such an
[[Page 81195]]
outcome effectively precludes NMFS from fulfilling one of the RFA's
primary purposes and thus is not desirable.
Section 601(3) of the RFA provides that an agency, after
consultation with SBA's Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) and after an
opportunity for public comment, may establish one or more definitions
of ``small business'' which are appropriate to the activities of the
agency and publish such definition(s) in the Federal Register. Further,
13 CFR 121.903(c) provides that where the agency head is developing a
size standard for the sole purpose of performing a Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis pursuant to section 601(3) of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, the department or agency may, after consultation with
the SBA Office of Advocacy, establish a size standard different from
SBA's which is more appropriate for such analysis.
SBA has expressed support for the idea of creating a single size
standard in instances where industries are closely related, as is the
case for the finfish and shellfish sectors of the commercial fishing
industry. In the preamble to its proposed rule to change the size
standard for businesses in manufacturing industries (79 FR 54146, Sept.
10, 2014), SBA stated: ``To simplify size standards and for other
reasons, SBA may propose a common size standard for closely related
industries. Although the size standard analysis may support a separate
size standard for each industry, SBA believes that establishing
different size standards for closely related industries may not always
be appropriate. For example, in cases where many of the same businesses
operate in the same multiple industries, a common size standard for
those industries might better reflect the Federal marketplace. This
might also make size standards among related industries more consistent
than separate size standards for each of those industries.'' (79 FR
54146, 54150, Sept. 10, 2014).
NMFS has determined that the data used by SBA to develop the new
standards are incomplete and, as a result, not representative of all
commercial fishing businesses. Specifically, the data used by Size
Standards only account for commercial fishing businesses that have
employees (i.e., employer firms), and thus do not include commercial
fishing businesses that do not have employees (i.e., non-employer
firms). Non-employer commercial fishing businesses typically pay their
self-employed crew a percentage of the gross or net revenue on each
commercial fishing trip rather than a standard wage or salary, and thus
self-employed crew are not considered employees. Commercial fishing
businesses with employees represent only about 3 percent of all
commercial fishing businesses, while the other 97 percent are non-
employer firms.
Further, according to SBA, annual gross revenues for finfish and
shellfish commercial fishing businesses with employees average $1.6 and
$0.6 million, respectively. Conversely, NMFS determined the annual
gross revenues for commercial fishing businesses without employees are
only about $44,000 on average. Thus, NMFS concluded that the exclusion
of commercial fishing businesses without employees is primarily
responsible for the magnitude of the size standard increases,
particularly for finfish fishing businesses, and the standards would
have been very different if SBA had used data for all commercial
fishing businesses. Because the size standards apply to all commercial
fishing businesses, not just those with employees, when used to analyze
the economic impacts of management actions on directly regulated
entities under the RFA, NMFS thinks it is more appropriate to have size
standards for RFA purposes that are based on all commercial fishing
businesses.
In conjunction with its recent review of size standards, SBA
developed a ``Size Standards Methodology'' for establishing, reviewing,
and modifying size standards, where necessary. SBA included it as a
supporting document (at www.regulations.gov) of the September 11, 2012,
proposed rule (77 FR 55755) to change the size standards for the three
sectors of the commercial fishing industry. Application of this new
methodology resulted in the significantly different size standards for
the three separate sectors of the industry. NMFS referenced this
document in developing the size standard in this final rule. Consistent
with that methodology, SBA used the following industry factors to
establish the current size standards for NAICS Sector 11 (Agriculture,
Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting): Average firm size, as measured by
simple average receipts and weighted average receipts; average assets
size; the four-firm concentration ratio (i.e., the percentage of
receipts accounted for by the four largest firms in the industry); and
the Gini coefficient, which measures the degree of inequality in the
distribution of firms by receipts size class under SBA's approach.
SBA's primary source of industry data used in the rule to establish
the new size standards for the three sectors of the commercial fishing
industry was a special tabulation of the 2007 County Business Patterns
data from the U.S. Bureau of Census (Census Bureau). This special
tabulation provided SBA with data on the number of employer firms,
number of establishments, number of employees, annual payroll, and
annual receipts of companies by U.S. industry (6-digit NAICS code).
These data were arrayed by various classes of firms' size based on the
overall number of employees and gross receipts of the entire enterprise
(all establishments and affiliated firms) from all industries. These
data allowed SBA to estimate average firm size, the four-firm
concentration ratio, and the Gini coefficient.
SBA provided these data upon request to NMFS. NMFS subsequently
requested and received from the Census Bureau comparable data for non-
employer businesses. NMFS aggregated data to the industry level (i.e.,
NAICS 11411) for employer and non-employer businesses and then combined
these data. Although data confidentiality was not an issue with the
non-employer data, prior to aggregation NMFS had to estimate total
gross receipts in certain receipts classes for employer firms where the
Census Bureau determined the data were confidential and thus could not
be released. The combined data provide a complete accounting of the
distribution of businesses and receipts by receipt size class category
for all commercial fishing businesses. NMFS used these data to generate
estimates of certain industry factors needed to establish a single size
standard for the commercial fishing businesses, consistent with SBA's
methodology to the extent practicable.
Specifically, NMFS used the data it received from SBA and the
Census Bureau to generate estimates of simple average receipts,
weighted average receipts, and the Gini coefficient. For simple average
receipts, each firm's share of the industry's total receipts is
weighted equally, whereas the shares of larger firms receive larger
weights in estimating weighted average receipts. Weighted average
receipts and the Gini coefficient were estimated using the equations
provided in SBA's Size Standards Methodology document. NMFS generated
the following estimates for the commercial fishing industry: $77,178
for simple average receipts, $12,322,365 for weighted average receipts,
and 0.755 for the Gini coefficient. Based on the information in Table 2
of SBA's proposed rule to change the size standards for the finfish,
shellfish, and other marine fishing sectors of the commercial fishing
industry (77 FR 55755), these estimates
[[Page 81196]]
support size standards of $5 million, $5 million, and $19 million,
respectively.
SBA also considers the average assets size of firms to be an
important factor in establishing a size standard. NMFS does not possess
and was not able to procure assets size data for non-employer
businesses. SBA has such data for employer firms in the finfish and
shellfish sectors, though not for employer firms in the other marine
fishing sector because of the very small number of firms in that
sector. The number of firms in the other marine fishing sector is very
small because it includes firms primarily involved in the harvest of
corals, sponges, reef associated plants (e.g., algae), and aquarium
trade species, whose allowable harvest levels are very small. However,
SBA had to purchase the assets size data for employer firms in the
finfish and shellfish sectors from a private source and thus could not
share the data with NMFS due to their proprietary nature. Therefore,
NMFS created an estimate based on data that SBA published in its
proposed rule, using the following approach.
According to SBA's proposed rule, the average assets sizes for the
finfish and shellfish commercial fishing sectors are $1.4 million and
$0.4 million, respectively. Finfish fishing firms and shellfish fishing
firms represent approximately 54 percent and 46 percent, respectively,
of the 2,039 employer firms in those two sectors combined. Based on
these percentages, the weighted average assets size of the combined
finfish and shellfish commercial fishing sectors is approximately $0.94
million. Based on Table 2 in SBA's proposed rule, this estimate
supports a $7 million size standard.
SBA does not consider the average receipts of the four largest
firms to be an important factor in establishing a size standard for
industries where the four-firm concentration ratio is below 40 percent
(i.e., receipts of the 4 largest firms account for less than 40 percent
of the total receipts). According to the data SBA provided to NMFS, the
four largest firms in the commercial fishing industry are commercial
finfish fishing businesses. Within the finfish sector, these firms only
account for 29 percent of total receipts. Therefore, within the larger
commercial fishing industry as a whole, the percentage of receipts they
account for must be less than 29 percent. Because the four largest
firms account for less than 40 percent of the total receipts for the
commercial fishing industry, consistent with SBA's methodology, NMFS
did not use the four-firm concentration ratio in establishing a single
size standard for the commercial fishing industry.
According to SBA's methodology, all factors should be weighted
equally. Therefore, NMFS averaged the standards supported by the simple
average receipts ($5 million), weighted average receipts ($5 million),
Gini coefficient ($19 million), and average assets size ($7 million)
estimates, which results in a size standard of $9 million. However, SBA
only allowed for eight size standards in its final rule (79 FR 54146,
September 10, 2014): $5 million, $7 million, $10 million, $14 million,
$19 million, $25.5 million, $30 million, and $35.5 million. When the
estimated size standard is not equivalent to one of these eight
standards, SBA rounds up to the next highest size standard. For NMFS'
estimated $9 million size standard, the next highest size standard
would be $10 million. If the average assets size factor is not
included, because it is based on aggregated employer data only rather
than a combination of employer and non-employer data, the average of
the other 3 factors is $9.67 million. Thus, the next highest size
standard would still be $10 million.
NMFS is aware the Census Bureau has recently released the 2012
County Business Patterns data for employer firms. However, 2012 data
for non-employer firms has not yet been released. As previously
discussed, NMFS does not think it is prudent to establish a size
standard based only on employer data because 97 percent of the
commercial fishing businesses are non-employers. Further, even if the
2012 non-employer data is released and NMFS generates new estimates of
the various industry factors, NMFS would still not be able to determine
what standards are implied by the new estimates until SBA generates an
updated version of Table 2 in its proposed rule to change the size
standards for the finfish, shellfish, and other marine fishing sectors
of the commercial fishing industry (77 FR 55755) using 2012 rather than
2007 data.
As previously stated, SBA recently implemented a final rule to
adjust all of its receipts based size standards for inflation using the
chain-type price index for the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP price
index) (79 FR 33647, June 12, 2014). According to that final rule, for
all industries with a non-inflation-adjusted size standard of $10
million, the new inflation-adjusted size standard is $11 million.
Thus, this final rule establishes a small business size standard of
$11 million for all businesses in the commercial fishing industry
(NAICS 11411) for RFA compliance purposes only. The $11 million
standard only applies to the commercial fishing industry and thus does
not apply to businesses primarily engaged in seafood processing (NAICS
311170), seafood wholesale activities (NAICS 424460), or any other
activity within the seafood industry. This single size standard for
commercial fishing businesses would be used in all RFA analyses
conducted in support of NMFS' regulatory actions. Establishing this
single size standard would simplify the RFA analyses done in support of
NMFS' rules, better meet the RFA's intent by more accurately
representing expected disproportionate effects of NMFS' rules between
small and large commercial fishing businesses, create a standard that
more accurately reflects the size distribution of all businesses in the
commercial fishing industry, and allow NMFS to determine when changes
to the standard are necessary and appropriate.
NMFS and the Councils have numerous regulatory actions at various
stages of the rulemaking process at any point in time, and thus RFA
analyses at various stages in development. As a result, NMFS has chosen
to delay the effective date of this rule until July 1, 2016, to allow
sufficient time for the Councils and NMFS to transition to the $11
million size standard. The delayed effective date will allow regulatory
actions that are relatively far along in the rulemaking process and
which used SBA's current standards for commercial fishing businesses in
their RFA analyses to be in compliance and thus proceed on their
current timeline. However, RFA analyses conducted in association with
all proposed and final rules published after July 1, 2016, should use
the $11 million size standard for commercial fishing businesses.
Consistent with SBA's review requirements under the Small Business
Jobs Act of 2010 and 13 CFR 121.102, NMFS will review this standard at
least once every 5 years to determine if a change is warranted. A
change may be warranted because of changes in industry structure,
market conditions, inflation, or other relevant factors. The reviews
for these potential reasons will be conducted simultaneously in order
to minimize the frequency of changes to the standard and additional
rulemakings.
On September 18, 2015, NMFS published a proposed rule to establish
a single small business size standard of $11 million in annual gross
receipts for the commercial fishing industry, for RFA compliance
purposes only, and
[[Page 81197]]
requested public comments (80 FR 56432).
Comments and Responses
NMFS received five public comment letters in response to the
proposed rule. These letters were mostly from businesses which
participate in commercial fishing activities but are primarily engaged
in seafood processing or organizations representing such businesses. No
change has been made to the proposed size standard or regulations as a
result of these comments.
Comment 1: The proposed size standard of $11 million in annual
gross receipts should not be applied to businesses primarily engaged in
seafood processing (NAICS 311170).
Response: NMFS agrees with this comment, as it is not NMFS' intent
that the proposed size standard be applied to such businesses. Per the
commenters' requests, NMFS has clarified the size standard established
by this rule only applies to businesses primarily engaged in commercial
fishing (NACIS 11411) and thus does not apply to businesses primarily
engaged in seafood processing (NAICS 311170), seafood wholesale
activities (NAICS 424460), or any other activity within the seafood
industry.
Comment 2: The proposed size standard of $11 million in annual
gross receipts should not be applied to any businesses that engage in
both commercial fishing and seafood processing activities.
Response: NMFS does not agree with this comment. Consistent with
statements by other commenters, the determination of which NAICS code
and thus which standard will be applied to each business for RFA
analysis purposes is an empirical question that cannot be known until
an analysis is conducted for a particular NMFS rulemaking. If a
business is determined to be primarily engaged in commercial fishing
when an RFA analysis is conducted for a NMFS rulemaking, the $11
million size standard will apply.
Comment 3: NMFS' rule should include a broader discussion of all
size standards and how they are applied.
Response: NMFS does not agree with this comment as the background
information provided is adequate and appropriate for the scope of this
rule. As the commenter acknowledges, SBA has established small business
size standards for all industries with a NAICS code. NMFS' rulemakings
directly regulate businesses in only a small percentage of the
industries for which SBA establishes size standards. Information
regarding SBA's size standards can be found in the recent rules SBA has
published and which are referenced in this rule as well as on SBA's Web
site. With respect to how size standards are applied in practice, that
is also beyond the scope of this rule, both with respect to how size
standards are applied in general and how NMFS typically applies them in
the RFA analyses for its rulemakings. NMFS does not know and thus
cannot address how all of SBA's size standards are applied in practice
by other agencies. Further, this rule only establishes NMFS' small
business size standard for the commercial fishing industry for RFA
purposes; it does not change how NMFS determines the industry in which
a business is primarily engaged and thus how NMFS applies size
standards in its RFA analyses.
Comment 4: NMFS should not consider individual members of a fishery
cooperative to be affiliated under SBA's principles of affiliation and
thereby treated as a single entity in NMFS' RFA analyses.
Response: This comment is beyond the scope of this rule. This rule
will not change how NMFS applies SBA's principles of affiliation to
businesses directly regulated by NMFS' rulemakings.
Comment 5: NMFS did not provide sufficient opportunity for public
comment on the proposed size standard or adequately inform or involve
the Fishery Management Councils or the fishing industry in the
rulemaking process and thus violated the Administrative Procedure Act
(APA).
Response: NMFS does not agree with this comment. Consistent with
the requirements of the APA, NMFS properly published the proposed rule
in the Federal Register and provided the public, including the Fishery
Management Councils, entities involved in commercial fisheries, and any
other interested parties, with the appropriate 30 days to provide
comments. Thus, NMFS has met the APA's requirements. Further, as stated
in the preamble to the proposed rule, the Fishery Management Councils
do not support SBA's disparate size standards for the three sectors of
the commercial fishing industry, but rather, support having a single
size standard. NMFS' single size standard was determined using SBA's
methodology for establishing size standards, to the extent practicable
given available data.
Comment 6: NMFS did not adequately consult Advocacy when proposing,
for RFA purposes only, the $11 million size standard for the commercial
fishing industry.
Response: NMFS does not agree with this comment. As explained in
the proposed rule, NMFS and the Department of Commerce General
Counsel's Office had preliminary discussions with Advocacy. Advocacy
was supportive of NMFS publishing for notice and comment an alternative
size standard pursuant to RFA section 601(3) and 13 CFR 121.903(c) in
order to establish its own size standard for the commercial fishing
industry for purposes of RFA analyses only. Thereafter, NMFS formally
consulted Advocacy on the $11 million size standard and the proposed
rule prior to its publication. Advocacy provided comments on the
proposed rule and NMFS addressed those comments prior to its
publication. NMFS also formally consulted Advocacy on this final rule
prior to its publication. Advocacy provided comments on a draft of this
rule and NMFS addressed those comments prior to its publication. Thus,
NMFS has adequately consulted with Advocacy, consistent with RFA
section 601(3) and 13 CFR 121.903(c).
Classification
Pursuant to section 601(3) of the RFA, the NMFS Assistant
Administrator has determined that this final rule is consistent with
the RFA and other applicable law.
This final rule has been determined by the Office of Management and
Budget to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA during the
proposed rule stage that this action, if adopted, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The factual basis for the certification was published in the proposed
rule and is repeated below.
The purposes of the rule are to establish a single small business
size standard of $11 million in annual gross receipts for the
commercial fishing industry (NAICS 11411), for RFA compliance purposes
only, and a requirement for NMFS to assess at least once every 5 years
whether this size standard should be changed. The objectives of the
rule are to simplify the RFA analyses done in support of NMFS' rules,
better meet the RFA's intent by more accurately representing expected
disproportionate effects of NMFS' rules between small and large
businesses, create a standard that more accurately reflects the size
distribution of all businesses in the commercial fishing industry, and
allow NMFS to determine when changes to the standard are
[[Page 81198]]
necessary and appropriate. The RFA and 13 CFR 121.903(c) serve as the
legal basis for the rule.
The actions in this rule are administrative in nature and thus
would only potentially generate indirect economic effects on commercial
fishing businesses. Specifically, the $11 million size standard would
only affect how NMFS and the Councils determine whether commercial
fishing businesses directly regulated by future regulatory actions are
small or large, whether and to what extent those actions have
disproportionate economic impacts on those two classes of businesses,
and when it is appropriate for NMFS to change the standard in the
future. This rule would not impose any new requirements on commercial
fishing businesses. Therefore, no small entities would be directly
regulated by this rule. This rule would not be expected to affect the
behavior or operations of commercial fishing businesses. As such, this
rule is not expected to generate any direct economic effects on
commercial fishing businesses.
Based on the information above, a reduction in profits for a
substantial number of small entities is not expected. The Chief Counsel
for Regulation of the Department of Commerce hereby certifies that the
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Because this rule, if implemented, is not
expected to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number
of small entities and no comments were received on this certification,
a final regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and none was
prepared.
No duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting Federal rules have been
identified. This rule would not establish any new reporting or record-
keeping requirements.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 200
Commercial fishing, Small businesses.
Dated: December 18, 2015.
Eileen Sobeck,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, under the authority of 5
U.S.C. 601 et seq., NMFS amends 50 CFR chapter II as follows:
PARTS 200 THROUGH 215--[REMOVED]
0
1. Remove reserved parts 200 through 215 from subchapter C.
0
2. Add subchapter A, consisting of part 200, to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A--GENERAL PROVISIONS
PART 200--SMALL BUSINESS SIZE STANDARDS ESTABLISHED BY NMFS FOR
REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ACT COMPLIANCE PURPOSES ONLY
Sec.
200.1 Purpose and scope.
200.2 Small business size standards and frequency of review.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
Sec. 200.1 Purpose and scope.
(a) This part sets forth the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) small business size standards for NMFS to use in conducting
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) analyses for NMFS actions subject to
the RFA. This part also sets forth the timeframe for NMFS to review its
small business size standards.
(b) NMFS has established the alternative size standards in this
part, for RFA compliance purposes only, in order to simplify the RFA
analyses done in support of NMFS' rules, better meet the RFA's intent
by more accurately representing expected disproportionate effects of
NMFS' rules between small and large businesses, create a standard that
more accurately reflects the size distribution of all businesses in the
industry, and allow NMFS to determine when changes to the standard are
necessary and appropriate.
Sec. 200.2 Small business size standards and frequency of review.
(a) NMFS' small business size standard for businesses, including
their affiliates, whose primary industry is commercial fishing is $11
million in annual gross receipts. This standard applies to all
businesses classified under North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) code 11411 for commercial fishing, including all
businesses classified as commercial finfish fishing (NAICS 114111),
commercial shellfish fishing (NAICS 114112), and other commercial
marine fishing (NAICS 114119) businesses.
(b) NMFS will review each of the small business size standards in
paragraph (a) of this section at least once every 5 years to determine
if a change is warranted. A change may be warranted because of changes
in industry structure, market conditions, inflation, or other relevant
factors.
[FR Doc. 2015-32564 Filed 12-28-15; 8:45 am]
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