§ 600.615 - Commencement of proceedings.

§ 600.615 Commencement of proceedings.

(a) Notice of proposed preemption.

(1) If a proceeding under this part is deemed necessary, the Administrator must issue a notice of proposed preemption to the Attorney General of the State or States concerned. The notice will contain:

(i) A recital of the legal authority and jurisdiction for instituting the proceeding.

(ii) A concise statement of the § 600.610 factual findings for Federal preemption upon which the notice is based.

(iii) The time, place, and date of the hearing.

(2) The notice of proposed preemption will also be published in the Federal Register. This notification may be combined with any notice of proposed rulemaking published under paragraph (d)(1) of this section.

(b) Response. The state will have the opportunity to respond in writing to the notice of proposed preemption.

(c) Amendment. The Administrator may, at any time prior to the Secretary's decision, withdraw the notice of proposed preemption. Upon motion of either party before the record is closed, the administrative law judge may amend the notice of proposed preemption.

(d) Proposed regulations -

(1) In general. If additional regulations are required to govern fishing within the boundaries of a state, the Administrator may publish proposed regulations in the Federal Register concurrently with issuing the notification indicated in paragraph (a) of this section.

(2) Emergency actions. Nothing in this section will prevent the Secretary from taking emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

[61 FR 32540, June 24, 1996, as amended at 63 FR 7075, Feb. 12, 1998]