TITLE 15A – DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Rulemaking Agency: NC Marine Fisheries Commission
Codifier of Rules approved this rule as an emergency
rule effective October 14, 2003 and received for publication the following
notice and proposed temporary rule on October 6, 2003.
Rule Citations: 15A
NCAC 03S .0103
Public Hearing:
Date: November 17, 2003
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Ramada Inn, 1701 S. Virginia Dare Trail,
Kill Devil Hills, NC
Reason: In early
March 2003, Congress authorized a $5 million federal aid package for assistance
to blue crab fisheries impacted by excessive foreign imports along the south
Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Each state
must develop a system to distribute its share of the fund expediently, since
the money will only be available for a short period.
Comment Procedures: Comments
from the public shall be directed to Belinda Loftin, P.O. Box 769, Morehead
City, NC 28557, phone (252) 726-7021, fax (252) 726-0254, and email belinda.loftin@ncmail.net (accepted only with name and
address provided) The comment period
begins October 13, 2003 and ends November 17, 2003.
CHAPTER 03 – MARINE FISHERIES
Subchapter 03S – economic assistance to the fishing industry
SECTION .0100 - ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
15A NCAC 03s .0103 GRANTS TO COMMERCIAL BLUE CRABBING INDUSTRY
(a) Eligibility
(1) Economic assistance from this program
is available for the following:
(A) Fishermen: Only fishermen who landed blue crab
(Callinectes spp.) using crab pots,
peeler pots, crab trawls, crab dredges, and trotlines, as defined by the North
Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Trip Ticket Program, in North Carolina
during calendar years 2000, 2001 or 2002 and who held a valid Standard (SCFL)
or Retired Standard Commercial Fishing License (RSCFL) at the time of landing
for at least one of those years.
(B) Fish Dealers: Only fish dealers who
reported blue crab (Callinectes spp.) landings
from crab pots, peeler pots, crab trawls, crab dredges, and trotlines, as
defined by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Trip Ticket Program,
during calendar years 2000, 2001 or 2002 and who held a valid North Carolina
Fish Dealer License at the time of transaction for at least one of those three
years.
(C) Crab Processors: Only blue crab
processors who held a valid certification as a Department of Environment and
Natural Resources, Division of Environmental Health certified crustacean meat
processor, and employed persons who processed domestic blue crab meat during
calendar years 2000, 2001 or 2002. For
the purposes of this Section, processing means any of the following operations
when carried out in conjunction with the cooking of crustacea or crustacea
meat: receiving, refrigerating, air-cooling, picking, packing, repacking,
thermal processing, or pasteurizing.
(2) The Division of Marine
Fisheries shall identify which fishermen and fish dealers are eligible for
economic assistance under this program based upon blue crabs landed in North
Carolina and reported on North Carolina trip tickets at the time of landing or
transaction and submitted in accordance with 15A NCAC 03I .0114.
(A) Where assignment of a
license occurred, the SCFL holder who assigned the SCFL will be credited with
landings under this program.
(B) Where a SCFL or RSCFL
was transferred during 2000, 2001or 2002, each SCFL or RSCFL holder will be
credited with landings under this program based upon issuance of the
transferred license at the start of the day in which the landings were
reported.
(3) The Division will
identify eligible crab processors by using Division of Environment Health
certification and inspection records to verify processing activities.
(A) Eligible crab processors will be
determined by the name listed on the Permit and Certificate of Compliance
document or permit application provided by the Division of Environmental
Health.
(B) Where ownership of a crab processor
was transferred during 2000, 2001 or 2002, each owner's
eligibility for their period of ownership shall be determined by the criteria
in Part (a)(1)(C) of this
Rule.
(b) Process
(1) Funds from the grant
will be utilized as follows:
(A) Five percent of the total funds will
be used for administration of the program.
(B) 12
percent of the total funds will be set aside for use by the Division of Marine
Fisheries to resolve economic assistance disputes, with the remainder of the
funds being provided to the N.C. Department of Agriculture for a North Carolina
blue crab marketing program.
(C) The remaining funds shall be divided
equally among blue crab fishermen, fish dealers and crab processors except for
an amount determined by the Division to be reserved for use in settling any
further disputes on the final decision on economic assistance, as follows:
(i) One third of the remaining funds
will be awarded to eligible fishermen based upon each fisherman’s proportional
contribution, in percentage, to the total weight of landed blue crabs reported
on North Carolina Trip Tickets for the calendar years 2000, 2001 and 2002 except
that fishermen with recorded cumulative landings less than 10,000 pounds will
receive economic assistance in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00);
(ii) One third of the
remaining funds will be awarded to eligible fish dealer's
based upon each fish dealer's
proportional contribution, in percentage, to the total weight of landed blue
crabs reported on North Carolina trip tickets for the calendar years 2000, 2001
and 2002 except that fish dealer's
with recorded cumulative landings less than 10,000 pounds will receive economic
assistance in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00); and
(iii) One third of the
remaining funds will be awarded to eligible crab processors based upon each
processors proportional contribution, in percentage, to the highest annual
employment of employees processing blue crabs, as reported by the Division of
Environmental Health during the calendar years of 2000, 2001, or 2002.
(2) Notification and distribution of
assistance:
(A) Each
fisherman, fish dealer and crab processor determined by the Division of Marine
Fisheries to be eligible for economic assistance under this program shall be
notified by certified mail, return receipt requested of their eligibility. Notification of eligibility will include the
total verified blue crab landings for fishermen or fish dealers, the reported
employment levels for crab processors, credited to each person for the purpose
of this program, and an economic assistance check in the amount qualified for.
(B) Any fisherman, fish
dealer or processor claiming blue crab landings who does not receive an
eligibility notification letter and economic assistance check shall contact the
Morehead City Office of the Division of Marine Fisheries within the time period
specified in the published legal notice setting forth the economic assistance
award determination period.
(C) The
right to dispute the amount of assistance awarded is waived when the fisherman,
fish dealer or crab processor cashes the economic assistance check.
(D) If
a fisherman or dealer claims additional blue crab landings, beyond those
identified by the Division of Marine Fisheries upon which to base the level of
economic assistance, that person must provide copies of North Carolina trip
tickets that were completed at the time of landing with the signed response
form to document the claim within 20 days of receipt of the notification letter
and economic assistance check. The
Division of Marine Fisheries will evaluate such claims, and the fisherman or
dealer landings will be adjusted accordingly if the claims are deemed
valid. If a crab processor disputes the
number of employees involved in blue crab processing, as reported to the
Division of Environmental Health, that person must provide the Division of
Marine Fisheries with documentation that substantiates blue crab processing
employment, and blue crab production reports for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002
to document the claim.
(E) The Grants to
Commercial Blue Crabbing Industry for Economic Losses Program shall terminate
upon depletion of funds appropriated by the United States Congress to North
Carolina for this purpose.
Authority G.S. 113-226, 143B-289.52 (d); 150B-21.1 (a)(2),(3).