Proposed Rule2026-08507
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Greater Atlantic Region Catch Share Cost Recovery Program Updates
Primary source
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Published
May 1, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS proposes regulatory and administrative changes to implement improvements to the Greater Atlantic Region's Catch Share Cost Recovery Programs. These updates are intended to simplify regulations and reduce costs for the Scallop Individual Fishing Quota, Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota, and Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Individual Transferable Quota fisheries. This action would result in improved administration and management of the scallop, tilefish, and surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 84 (Friday, May 1, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 84 (Friday, May 1, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23385-23387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08507]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 260428-0116]
RIN 0648-BM54
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Greater Atlantic
Region Catch Share Cost Recovery Program Updates
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulatory and administrative changes to
implement improvements to the Greater Atlantic Region's Catch Share
Cost Recovery Programs. These updates are intended to simplify
regulations and reduce costs for the Scallop Individual Fishing Quota,
Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota, and Surfclam and Ocean Quahog
Individual Transferable Quota fisheries. This action would result in
improved administration and management of the scallop, tilefish, and
surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries.
DATES: Comments must be received on June 1, 2026.
ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available
at: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2023-0135">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2023-0135</a>. You may
submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2023-0135, by
the following methods:
<bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and type NOAA-NMFS-2023-0135 in the Search box.
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
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 part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address), 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).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Potts, Fishery Policy Analyst,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ee8a819b89828f9dc09e819a9a9dae80818f8fc0898198"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e3878c96848f8290cd938c979790a38d8c8282cd848c95">[email protected]</span></a>, (978) 281-9341.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) manages
three Limited Access Privilege Programs (LAPPs): Limited Access General
Category (LAGC) Scallop Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ); Tilefish IFQ;
and Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ). The
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act) requires the collection of fees to recover the ``actual
costs directly related to the management, data collection, and
enforcement'' of a LAPP at 16 U.S.C. 1854(d)(2). Permit holders in the
three cost recovery programs must pay an annual cost recovery fee,
based on the ex-vessel value of fish landed under the program. The fee
may be up to, but cannot exceed, 3 percent of the ex-vessel value of
the fish harvested under the LAPP. Vessel permits cannot be renewed
until the previous year's fee is paid.
Centralized Receivables Service (CRS) is an initiative of the U.S.
Department of Treasury (Treasury) to manage non-tax debts on behalf of
Federal agencies. GARFO works with CRS to issue cost recovery bills for
fees owed and to process payments. CRS attempts to collect debts owed
through the cost recovery programs when fee payments become past due.
If initial collection efforts fail and a debt is over 120 days past
due, CRS sends the debt to Cross-Servicing, another program within the
Treasury, for debt collection. Pursuant to 31 CFR 285.12(c)(2), Cross-
Servicing's default minimum debt amount that can be collected is $25.
GARFO's current minimum cost recovery bill threshold is $10 (that
is, if the fee that would be charged to a permit holder is less than
$10, GARFO waives the fee for that permit holder). The difference
between GARFO's fee threshold and Cross-Servicing's minimum debt
collection amount creates a substantial administrative burden that
results in higher costs for running LAPP programs, which, ultimately,
drives up the total fees charges to the industry in future years. If
CRS forwards a bill under $25 to Cross-Servicing for collection due to
non-payment, GARFO staff must work with Cross-Servicing to ensure that
the bill is not automatically canceled and that it remains open for
payment. If Cross-Servicing cancels a bill because it is less than the
$25 minimum, the permit holder remains in arrears but cannot make a
payment and would be prohibited from renewing their permit (a LAPP
permit holder is required to pay their cost recovery bill in full
before receiving a permit for the next fishing year). There are
typically five or fewer bills under $25 from all of GARFO's LAPP cost
recovery programs annually.
This proposed action would waive fees under $25 to avoid the
disproportionate costs associated with administering these bills. The
cost of staff time spent working on billing for fees less than the
Treasury's $25 minimum threshold for debt collection significantly
exceeds the value of the bills themselves, ultimately costing the
industry more in the subsequent billing cycle. The unbilled amounts
would be rolled over into the following year's cost recovery
accounting, so GARFO would still collect the total ``actual costs'' of
the LAPPs as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Waiving these fee
amounts would also mitigate permit holders being unable to renew their
permits, including permits for other non-LAPP fisheries, because of
cost recovery bills that are overdue but have been canceled by Cross-
Servicing. Should the Treasury revise its procedures in a manner that
allows for collection of bills below $25, NMFS could consider, through
a future rule, whether to resume billing of such amounts in LAPP
fisheries.
The proposed action would also standardize the billing timeline for
GARFO, and payment periods for permit holders, across the regulations
implementing the three LAPPs administered by GARFO. These programs were
developed at different times and by different regional fishery
management councils, and include different billing and payment cycles
as a result. Setting a standard timeline for billing and payment
periods would reduce uncertainty for members of the fishing industry
and reduce the administrative burden on the agency. The proposed action
would require the agency to send out bills within 6 months of the end
of the cost recovery period and set payments due within 30 days from
the date bills are sent for all three LAPPs. Currently, Surfclam and
Ocean Quahog ITQ bills are due within 30 days, Tilefish IFQ bills are
due within 45 days, and LAGC Scallop IFQ bills are due within 60 days.
Requiring payment within 30 days of the bill date, also known as ``Net
30,'' is standard practice across many industries. Providing 6 months
from the end of the cost recovery period to send fee notices would
allow time for GARFO staff to
[[Page 23386]]
compile the cost of managing the LAPPS as well as sufficient time to
receive, review, and correct, if necessary, landings and price data
from fishing vessels and dealers. The LAGC Scallop IFQ cost recovery
year runs from October 1 through September 31, and GARFO would send out
bills before the end of the following March. The cost recovery year for
Tilefish IFQ and Surfclam and Ocean Quahog ITQ follows the calendar
year and GARFO would send bills before the end of June.
Classification
NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to section 305(d) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. The reason for using this regulatory authority is
that this action addresses the agency's administration of the cost
recovery provisions of the Scallop, Tilefish, and Atlantic Surfclam and
Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plans (FMP) in order to minimize agency
inefficiencies and unnecessary costs for the industry. NMFS notified
the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils of its
intention to implement these changes using this authority. Neither
Council objected, nor did they express interest in addressing these
issues through the Council process. The NMFS Assistant Administrator
has determined that this proposed rule is consistent with the Scallop,
Tilefish, and Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog FMPs, other provisions
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to
further consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined 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 Small Business
Administration (SBA) that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
The measures proposed by this action apply to quota shareholders in
the LAGC Scallop IFQ, Tilefish IFQ, and Surfclam and Ocean Quahog ITQ
fisheries. For Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) purposes, NMFS defines
a small commercial fishing business as a firm that is independently
owned and operated with receipts of less than $11 million annually (see
50 CFR 200.2). Under the North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS), most firms with surfclam or ocean quahog ITQ quota share are
commercial fishing firms (NAICS 11411). However, some quota share is
held by firms that are more properly classified as fish and seafood
wholesalers (NAICS 42446), commercial banks (NAICS 52211), credit
unions (NAICS 52213), trusts (NAICS 525920), or the public
administration sector (NAICS 92). For those entities, the appropriate
SBA size standard to categorize small versus large businesses was used.
Those thresholds are 100 employees for fish and seafood wholesalers,
$850 million in assets for commercial banks and credit unions, and $40
million in annual receipts for trusts (13 CFR 121.201). Small business
size standards are not established for the public administration
sector.
In 2023, there were 545 total regulated entities across the LAGC
Scallop IFQ, Tilefish IFQ, and Surfclam and Ocean Quahog ITQ fisheries.
Of these, 515 are considered small entities, 25 are large entities, and
5 are public administration sector entities. Holdings by the public
administration sector reflect quota share formally held by the NOAA
Fisheries Finance Program as collateral on loans to different members
of the fishing industry. The proposed measures are administrative in
nature and are not expected to have impacts on the nature or operation
of the scallop, tilefish, or surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries;
including landings levels, ex-vessel revenues, fishery distribution, or
fishing methods and practices. The proposed action would improve the
efficiency of NMFS's internal process for calculating, issuing, and
collecting cost recovery bills. Improving efficiency is expected to
lead to a minor decrease in management costs, which would result in
minor savings for the fishing industry because NMFS is required to
recover the management costs of these programs. Waiving cost recovery
fees under $25 is expected to result in annual decreases in cost
recovery costs of $86 for 12 large entities and $52 for 29 small
entities in the surfclam fishery, and of $13 for 2 large entities and
$120 for 100 small entities in the scallop fishery. No economic impacts
are projected for firms in the tilefish or ocean quahog fisheries.
Based on the analysis provided above, the proposed measures are not
expected to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number
of small entities. As a result, an initial regulatory flexibility
analysis is not required and none has been prepared.
This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: April 29, 2026.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 648 as follows:
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 648.53, revise paragraph (h)(4)(ii) to read as follows:
Sec. 648.53 Overfishing limit (OFL), acceptable biological catch
(ABC), annual catch limits (ACL), annual catch targets (ACT), annual
projected landings (APL), DAS allocations, and individual fishing
quotas (IFQ).
* * * * *
(h) * * *
(4) * * *
(ii) Fee Payment Procedure. Within 6 months from the end of a cost
recovery billing period, NMFS shall mail a cost recovery bill to each
IFQ scallop permit holder. An IFQ scallop permit holder who has
incurred a cost recovery fee must pay the fee to NMFS within 30 days
from the date of mailing of the recovery bill. Cost recovery payments
shall be made electronically via the Federal web portal, <a href="https://www.pay.gov">https://www.pay.gov</a>, or other internet sites as designated by the Regional
Administrator. Instructions for electronic payment shall be available
on both the payment website and the paper bill. Payment options shall
include payment via a credit card, as specified in the cost recovery
bill, or via direct automated clearing house (ACH) withdrawal from a
designated checking account. Payment by check may be authorized by NMFS
if it has determined that electronic payment is not possible (for
example, if the geographical area of an individual(s) is affected by
catastrophic conditions).
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec. 648.74, revise paragraph (c)(5) introductory text to read
as follows:
Sec. 648.74 Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) Program.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(5) Fee payment and collection. NMFS will send a bill to ITQ permit
holders within 6 months from the end of a cost recovery billing period
for any applicable ITQ cost recovery fee.
* * * * *
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0
4. In Sec. 648.294, revise paragraph (h)(3) introductory text, and
paragraph (h)(3)(i) to read as follows:
Sec. 648.294 Golden tilefish individual fishing quota (IFQ) program.
* * * * *
(h) * * *
(3) Fee payment procedure. NMFS will create an annual IFQ
allocation bill for each cost recovery billing period and provide it to
IFQ allocation permit holders with quota share within 6 months from the
end of a cost recovery billing period. The bill will include
information regarding the amount and value of IFQ allocation landed
during the prior cost recovery billing period, and the associated cost
recovery fees.
(i) Payment due date. An IFQ allocation permit holder who has
incurred a cost recovery fee must pay the fee to NMFS within 30 days of
the date of the bill.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2026-08507 Filed 4-30-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 1, 2026.
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