[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 57 (Friday, March 22, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11749-11751]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6855]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 11750]]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 215 and 216
[Docket No. 960313071-6071-01; I.D. 022796E]
RIN 0648-AI20
Taking and Importing of Marine Mammals; Consolidation of
Regulations
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: To simplify NMFS' Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), NMFS
issues this final rule to redesignate those regulations governing the
take of northern fur seals for subsistence purposes on the Pribilof
Island and aspects of the administration of the Pribilof Islands. By
this rule, an entire part within the CFR is removed. This final rule
does not make substantive changes to the existing regulations. The
purpose of this final rule is to make the regulations more concise,
better organized, and thereby easier for the public to use. This action
is consistent with the President's Regulatory Reform Initiative to
simplify regulations and reduce the regulatory burden on the public.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective March 22, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margot L. Bohan, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 713-2322.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In March 1995, President Clinton issued a directive to Federal
agencies regarding their responsibilities under his Regulatory
Reinvention Initiative. This initiative is part of the National
Performance Review and calls for comprehensive regulatory reform. The
President directed all agencies to undertake a review of all their
regulations, with an emphasis on eliminating or modifying those that
are obsolete, duplicative, or otherwise in need of reform. This final
rule is intended to carry out the President's directive with respect to
those regulations implementing the annual Pribilof Island fur seal
subsistence harvest.
NMFS is consolidating the provisions of 50 CFR part 215, critical
to the management of the northern fur seal subsistence harvest on the
Pribilof Island, into 50 CFR part 216--Regulations Governing the Taking
and Importing of Marine Mammals. This final rule moves definitions in
Sec. 215.2 to Sec. 216.3 and makes definition additions and revisions
in Sec. 216.3. Subparts C and D of part 215 are redesignated,
respectively, as subpart G--Pribilof Island Administration and subpart
F--Pribilof Islands, Taking for Subsistence Purposes of part 216, and
part 215 is removed.
Classification
This final rule is exempt from review under E.O. 12866. Because
this rule makes only nonsubstantive changes to existing regulations, no
useful purpose would be served by providing advance notice and
opportunity for public comment. Accordingly, the Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), for good
cause finds that it is unnecessary to provide prior notice and
opportunity for public comment on this rule or to delay for 30 days its
effective date. Because this rule is being issued without public
comment, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required under the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, and none has been prepared. This final rule
is expected to result in no economic costs to the public.
This action is categorically excluded from the requirement to
prepare an environmental assessment by section 6.02b.3(b)(ii)(aa) of
NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 as revised. This final rule does not
contain a collection-of-information requirement for purposes of the
Paperwork Reduction Act.
This rule does not directly affect the coastal zone of any state
with an approved coastal zone management program.
List of Subjects
50 CFR Part 215
Administrative practice and procedure, Marine mammals, Penalties,
Pribilof Islands, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
50 CFR Part 216
Adminstrative practice and procedure, Imports, Indians, Marine
mammals, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Transportation.
Dated: March 15, 1996.
Charles Karnella,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR parts 215 and 216
are amended as follows:
PART 215--PRIBILOF ISLANDS
1. The authority citation for part 215 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1151-1175, 1361 et seq.
2. In Sec. 215.2, paragraphs (d), (g) and (h) are redesignated to
Sec. 216.3, in alphabetical order, and the paragraph designations are
removed.
3. Subpart C, consisting of Secs. 215.21 through 215.27, and
subpart D, consisting of Secs. 215.31 through 215.34, of part 215 are
redesignated as subpart G, Pribilof Islands Administration, consisting
of Secs. 216.81 through 216.87, and subpart F, Pribilof Islands, Taking
for Subsistence Purposes, consisting of Secs. 216.71 through 216.74, of
part 216, respectively and the subpart headings are revised to read as
set forth above.
PART 215--[REMOVED]
4. Part 215 is removed.
PART 216--REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE TAKING AND IMPORTING OF MARINE
MAMMALS
5. The authority citation for part 216 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.
6. In 216.3, the definition, ``Article of Handicraft'', is added
and the definition, ``Wasteful Manner'', is revised, in alphabetical
order, to read as follows:
Sec. 216.3 Definitions.
* * * * *
Article of Handicraft means items made by an Indian, Aleut or
Eskimo from the nonedible byproducts of fur seals taken for personal or
family consumption which--
(1) Were commonly produced by Alaskan Natives on or before October
14, 1983;
(2) Are composed wholly or in some significant respect of natural
materials, and;
(3) Are significantly altered from their natural form and which are
produced, decorated, or fashioned in the exercise of traditional native
handicrafts without the use of pantographs, multiple carvers, or
similar mass copying devices. Improved methods of production utilizing
modern implements such as sewing machines or modern tanning techniques
at a tannery registered pursuant to Sec. 216.23(c) may be used so long
as no large scale mass production industry results. Traditional native
handicrafts include, but are not limited to, weaving, carving,
stitching, sewing, lacing, beading, drawing, and painting. The
formation of traditional
[[Page 11751]]
native groups, such as a cooperative, is permitted so long as no large
scale mass production results.
* * * * *
Wasteful Manner means any taking or method of taking which is
likely to result in the killing of marine mammals beyond those needed
for subsistence, subsistence uses, or for the making of authentic
native articles of handicrafts and clothing, or which results in the
waste of a substantial portion of the marine mammal and includes,
without limitation, the employment of a method of taking which is not
likely to assure the capture or killing of a marine mammal, or which is
not immediately followed by a reasonable effort to retrieve the marine
mammal.
[FR Doc. 96-6855 Filed 3-21-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
