NOAA has published the Amendment 16 proposed rule. The comment period ends January 20, 2010. The proposed rule includes an unexpected new provision allowing that "A state- operated permit bank sponsored by NOAA shall be considered a Sector for the exclusive purpose of transferring ACE to qualifying Sectors."
According to the New England Fisheries Management Council, this issue was not addressed in Amendment 16, a fact that was noted during review of the draft regulations when NEFMC was asked to "deem" them consistent with the amendment, and the changes were added by NMFS.
According to the proposed rule "NMFS is currently working with the Maine Department of Marine Resources on a Memorandum of Agreement that would establish a permit bank operated by the State of Maine and sponsored by NMFS. Allowing a permit bank to lease ACE to Sectors would facilitate the ability of the permit bank to minimize any adverse socio-economic impacts to fishing communities associated with catch- share programs."
Industry groups are currently examining the potential ramifications of this unexpected addition.