Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 53 / Friday, March 18, 2011 / Proposed Rules 14883 

Public Hearings 

Joint Commerce-Interior ESA 

implementing regulations state that the 

Secretary shall promptly hold at least 

one public hearing if any person 

requests one within 45 days of 

publication of a proposed regulation to 

list a species or to designate critical 

habitat (see 50 CFR 424.16(c)(3)). In 

response to requests from various 

parties to hold public hearings in a 

number of locations in Alaska, we 

published a notice in the Federal 

Register announcing public hearings to 

be held in Anchorage and Barrow, AK 

(76 FR 9733, February 22, 2011). We are 

announcing a separate hearing in Nome, 

AK, to provide greater opportunity for 

public comment. We will accept oral 

and written comments on both the 

proposed rule for ringed seals and the 

proposed rule for bearded seals (75 FR 

77496; December 10, 2010) during these 

hearings. 

People wishing to make an oral 

statement for the record at a public 

hearing are encouraged to provide a 

written copy of their statement and 

present it to us at the hearing. In the 

event that attendance at the public 

hearings is large, the time allotted for 

oral statements may be limited. Oral and 

written statements receive equal 

consideration. There are no limits on 

the length of written comments 

submitted to us. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1533 et seq. 

Dated: March 15, 2011. 

James H. Lecky, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6465 Filed 3–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 223 

RIN 0648–XZ58 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Proposed Threatened Status for 

Distinct Population Segments of the 

Bearded Seal 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: On December 10, 2010, we, 

NMFS, published a proposed rule to list 

the Beringia and Okhotsk Distinct 

Population Segments (DPSs) of the 

bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) as 

threatened under the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). 

As part of that proposal, we announced 

a public comment period to end on 

February 8, 2011, and then extended the 

comment period to March 25, 2011. 

NMFS has received requests for public 

hearings on this issue. In response, in a 

previous notice we announced public 

hearings to be held in Anchorage and 

Barrow, AK. In addition, in this notice 

NMFS is announcing a separate hearing 

that will be held in Nome, AK, to 

provide greater opportunity for public 

comment. 

DATES: A hearing will be held on April 

5, 2011, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Nome, 

AK. Written comments must be received 

on or before March 25, 2011, or during 

the hearing in Nome. 

ADDRESSES: The April 5, 2011, hearing 

will be held at the Mini-Convention 

Center, 409 River Street, Nome, AK. 

Send written comments to Kaja Brix, 

Assistant Regional Administrator, 

Protected Resources Division, Alaska 

Region, NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. 

You may submit comments, identified 

by RIN 0648–XZ59, by any one of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 

99802. 

• Fax: (907) 586–7557. 

• Hand delivery to the Federal 

Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room 

420A, Juneau, AK. 

All comments received are a part of 

the public record. Comments will 

generally be posted without change. All 

Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

We will accept anonymous comments 

(enter N/A in the required fields, if you 

wish to remain anonymous). You may 

submit attachments to electronic 

comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, 

WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats 

only. 

The proposed rule, status review 

report, and other materials relating to 

this proposal can be found on the 

Alaska Region Web site at: http:// 

alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tamara Olson, NMFS Alaska Region, 

(907) 271–5006; Kaja Brix, NMFS 

Alaska Region, (907) 586–7235; or Marta 

Nammack, Office of Protected 

Resources, Silver Spring, MD (301) 713– 

1401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On December 10, 2010 (75 FR 77496), 

we published a proposed rule to list the 

Beringia and Okhotsk Distinct 

Population Segments (DPSs) of the 

bearded seal as threatened under the 

ESA. Based on the status of these DPSs, 

we also proposed protective regulations 

pursuant to section 4(d) of the ESA for 

these DPSs to include all of the 

prohibitions in section 9(a)(1) of the 

ESA. The original due date for 

comments on these proposed actions 

(February 8, 2011) was extended to 

March 25, 2011 (76 FR 6755; February 

8, 2011). 

Public Hearings 

Joint Commerce—Interior ESA 

implementing regulations state that the 

Secretary shall promptly hold at least 

one public hearing if any person 

requests one within 45 days of 

publication of a proposed regulation to 

list a species or to designate critical 

habitat (see 50 CFR 424.16(c)(3)). In 

response to requests from various 

parties to hold public hearings in a 

number of locations in Alaska, we 

published a notice in the Federal 

Register announcing public hearings to 

be held in Anchorage and Barrow, AK 

(76 FR 9734, February 22, 2011). We are 

announcing a separate hearing in Nome, 

AK, to provide greater opportunity for 

public comment. We will accept oral 

and written comments on both the 

proposed rule for bearded seals and the 

proposed rule for ringed seals (75 FR 

77476; December 10, 2010) during these 

hearings. 

People wishing to make an oral 

statement for the record at a public 

hearing are encouraged to provide a 

written copy of their statement and 

present it to us at the hearing. In the 

event that attendance at the public 

hearings is large, the time allotted for 

oral statements may be limited. Oral and 

written statements receive equal 

consideration. There are no limits on 

the length of written comments 

submitted to us. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1533 et seq. 

Dated: March 15, 2011. 

James H. Lecky, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6466 Filed 3–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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