12070 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2011 / Notices 

members act as liaisons between the 

Sanctuary and their constituent groups. 

The council holds a minimum of four 

regular meetings per year, and an 

annual retreat in the summer. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431, et seq. 

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 

Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary Program) 

Dated: February 23, 2011. 

Daniel J. Basta, 

Director, Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries, National Ocean Service, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2011–4709 Filed 3–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–NK–M 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Availability of Seats for the Gray’s Reef 

National Marine Sanctuary Advisory 

Council 

AGENCY: Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean 

Service (NOS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce (DOC). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

applications. 

SUMMARY: The ONMS is seeking 

applications for the following vacant 

seat on the Gray’s Reef National Marine 

Sanctuary Advisory Council: Georgia 

conservation. Applicants are chosen 

based upon their particular expertise 

and experience in relation to the seat for 

which they are applying; community 

and professional affiliations; philosophy 

regarding the protection and 

management of marine resources; and 

possibly the length of residence in the 

area affected by the sanctuary. 

Applicants who are chosen as members 

should expect to serve 3-year terms, 

pursuant to the council’s Charter. 

DATES: Applications are due by April 8, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: Application kits may be 

obtained from Becky Shortland, Council 

Coordinator (becky.shortland@noaa.gov, 

10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA 

31411; 912–598–2381) Completed 

applications should be sent to the same 

address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Becky Shortland, Council Coordinator 

(becky.shortland@noaa.gov, 10 Ocean 

Science Circle, Savannah, GA 31411; 

912–598–2381. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

sanctuary advisory council was 

established in August 1999 to provide 

advice and recommendations on 

management and protection of the 

sanctuary. The advisory council, 

through its members, also serves as 

liaison to the community regarding 

sanctuary issues and represents 

community interests, concerns, and 

management needs to the sanctuary and 

NOAA. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431, et seq. 

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 

Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary Program) 

Dated: February 23, 2011. 

Daniel J. Basta, 

Director, Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries, National Ocean Service, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2011–4706 Filed 3–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–NK–M 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA253 

Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; 

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental 

to the Explosive Removal of Offshore 

Structures in the Gulf of Mexico 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of letters of 

authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA) and implementing regulations, 

notification is hereby given that NMFS 

has issued three one-year Letters of 

Authorization (LOA) to take marine 

mammals incidental to the explosive 

removal of offshore oil and gas 

structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico. 

DATES: These authorizations are 

effective from February 27, 2011, 

through February 26, 2012, and May 15, 

2011, through May 14, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: The application and LOAs 

are available for review by writing to P. 

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, 

Conservation, and Education Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910–3235 or by telephoning the 

contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT), or online at: 

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/ 

incidental.htm. Documents cited in this 

notice may be viewed, by appointment, 

during regular business hours, at the 

aforementioned address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Howard Goldstein or Jolie Harrison, 

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 

301–713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 

1361 et seq.) directs the Secretary of 

Commerce (who has delegated the 

authority to NMFS) to allow, upon 

request, the incidental, but not 

intentional, taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals by United States 

citizens who engage in a specified 

activity (other than commercial fishing) 

within a specified geographical region, 

if certain findings are made and 

regulations are issued. Under the 

MMPA, the term ‘‘take’’ means to harass, 

hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to 

harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine 

mammal. 

Authorization for incidental taking, in 

the form of annual LOAs, may be 

granted by NMFS for periods up to five 

years if NMFS finds, after notice and 

opportunity for public comment, that 

the taking will have a negligible impact 

on the species or stock(s) of marine 

mammals, and will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

subsistence uses (where relevant). In 

addition, NMFS must prescribe 

regulations that include permissible 

methods of taking and other means of 

effecting the least practicable adverse 

impact on the species and its habitat 

(i.e., mitigation), and on the availability 

of the species for subsistence uses, 

paying particular attention to rookeries, 

mating rounds, and areas of similar 

significance. The regulations also must 

include requirements pertaining to the 

monitoring and reporting of such taking. 

Regulations governing the taking of 

marine mammals incidental to EROS 

were published on June 19, 2008 (73 FR 

34875), and remain in effect through 

July 19, 2013. For detailed information 

on this action, please refer to that 

Federal Register notice. The species 

that applicants may take in small 

numbers under LOAs during EROS 

activities are bottlenose dolphins 

(Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted 

dolphins (Stenella frontalis), 

pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella 

attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella 

clymene), striped dolphins (Stenella 

coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins 

(Stenella longirostris), rough-toothed 

dolphins (Steno bredanensis), Risso’s 

dolphins (Grampus griseus), melonheaded whales (Peponocephala electra), 

short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala 

macrorhynchus), and sperm whales 

(Physeter macrocephalus). NMFS 

received requests for LOA renewals 


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