This action implements the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Amendment 28 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, which modifies the Federal regulations to protect benthic habitats that are important to groundfish while balancing sustainable fishing practices for important stocks. These regulatory changes apply in Federal waters off Washington, Oregon, and California, and complement rules governing state waters. In doing so, this rulemaking establishes and revises essential fish habitat (EFH) conservation areas where the use of bottom trawl gear is prohibited based on the results of the periodic review of EFH, as required by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as well as re-open historically productive fishing grounds that were closed to bottom trawling in 2002 to support rebuilding of several overfished groundfish species. NMFS declared these overfished groundfish species rebuilt between 2015 and 2018, so the closures are no longer necessary.