61348 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 200 / Monday, October 18, 2004 / Notices 

public hearings at eight locations in the 

Pacific Northwest and six locations in 

California to provide additional 

opportunities and formats to receive 

public input. To date NMFS has held 

seven of these public hearings in 

Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and all 

six public hearings in California.

Extension of Public Comment Period

NMFS has received a request from a 

U.S. congressional representative to 

extend the public comment period and 

postpone any remaining public 

meetings to provide additional 

opportunity for the public to consider 

the proposed hatchery listing policy and 

to provide comment. In this notice 

NMFS is extending the public comment 

period through November 12, 2004.

Rescheduling of Public Hearing

In addition to extending the public 

comment period, NMFS is rescheduling 

a public hearing in Portland, OR 

(originally to be held on October 13, 

2004) to be held on November 9, 2004 

(see ADDRESSES for hearing location).

Public Hearing Format

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 past 

ESA rule-making, NMFS has conducted 

traditional public hearings, consisting of 

recorded oral testimony from interested 

individuals. This format, although 

providing an alternative means of public 

input, is time consuming for the 

attendees and does not provide 

opportunities for dialogue and 

information exchange. In the Federal 

Register notice published on August 31, 

2004 (69 FR 53039), NMFS described an 

alternative ‘‘open-house’’ format aimed 

at providing all hearing participants 

with the opportunity to obtain 

information on and discuss the 

proposed hatchery listing policy. NMFS 

has held seven of these ‘‘open-house’’

style public hearings, and believes that 

the new format improves the ability of 

the public to engage effectively in the 

rulemaking process.

Afternoon Practitioners’ Session

An afternoon session (1:30 p.m. to 

4:30 p.m., November 9, 2004) in 

Portland (Oregon) will be provided for 

local practitioners and stakeholders 

involved with managing the ESA on a 

regular basis, including: tribal 

governments; forestry and agricultural 

interests; home builders and developers; 

the sport and commercial fishing 

community; the environmental 

community; the business community; 

utility and special districts; local 

government elected officials and their 

staff; other locally based Federal and 

state agencies; and public interest 

groups. Attendance at the afternoon 

sessions in Portland (Oregon) will be on 

a pre-registration basis. Information on 

attending the practitioners’ afternoon 

session in Portland is available from 

NMFS upon request (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT, above) as well as 

on the Internet at http://

www.nwr.noaa.gov/AlseaResponse/

20040528/PortlandMeeting.html.

Evening Open House and Public 

Testimony

An evening ‘‘open house’’ session, 

designed for broader public 

participation, will be conducted in 

Portland (Oregon) on the same day as 

the afternoon practitioners’ session 

(November 9, 2004) from 6:30 p.m. to 

9:30 p.m. The ‘‘open house’’ format will 

provide the general public with an 

opportunity to meet with NMFS staff in 

small groups on specific topics. This 

evening meeting will also provide 

opportunities for the public to make 

formal recorded comments on the 

proposal. There is no need to register; 

just drop in anytime during the course 

of the evening event.

Special Accommodations

This hearing is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language or other aids should be 

directed to Garth Griffin (see 

ADDRESSES) 7 days before the meeting 

date.

References

Copies of the Federal Register notices 

and related materials cited in this 

document are available on the Internet 

at http://nwr.noaa.gov, or upon request 

(see ADDRESSES section above).

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

Dated: October 12, 2004.

Laurie K. Allen,

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 04–23281 Filed 10–15–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration

[I.D. 052104F]

Endangered and Threatened Species: 

Extension of Public Comment Period 

and Notice of Rescheduled Public 

Hearing on Proposed Listing 

Determinations for West Coast 

Salmonids

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce.

ACTION: Extension of public comment 

period; notice of rescheduled public 

hearing.

SUMMARY: In June 2004, NMFS proposed 

to list 27 Evolutionarily Significant 

Units (ESUs) of salmon (chum, 

Oncorhynchus keta; coho, O. kisutch, 

sockeye, O. nerka; chinook, O. 

tshawytscha) and O. mykiss as 

threatened and endangered under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) and 

subsequently extended the public 

comment period and announced public 

hearings. NMFS is again extending the 

public comment period on the proposed 

listing determinations through 

November 12, 2004. Additionally, 

NMFS is rescheduling a public hearing 

in Portland, Oregon (originally to be 

held on October 13, 2004) to be held on 

November 9, 2004.

DATES: The due date for written 

comments is extended from October 20, 

2004, to November 12, 2004. A public 

hearing is rescheduled to November 9, 

2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the proposed hatchery listing policy 

(69 FR 31354; June 3, 2004) by any of 

the following methods:

E-mail: The mailbox address for 

submitting e-mail comments on the 

proposed listing determinations is 

salmon.nwr@noaa.gov. Please include 

in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the document identifier 

‘‘Proposed Listing Determinations.’’

Mail: Submit written comments and 

information to Chief, NMFS, Protected 

Resources Division, 525 NE Oregon 

Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232–

2737. Please identify the comment as 

regarding the ‘‘Proposed Listing 

Determinations.’’ You may hand-deliver 

written comments to our office at the 

street address given above, suite 210. 

Business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays.

Hand Delivery/Courier: NMFS, 

Protected Resources Division, 525 NE 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 200 / Monday, October 18, 2004 / Notices 61349

Oregon Street, Suite 210, Portland, OR 

97232–2737. Business hours are noted 

above.

Fax: 503–230–5435. Please identify 

the fax comment as regarding the 

‘‘Proposed Listing Determinations.’’

The public hearing will be held at the 

Doublettree Hotel Portland-Columbia 

River, 1401 N. Hayden Island Drive, 

Portland, OR 97217. You may obtain 

information updates on the public 

hearing on the Internet at the following 

web address: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/

AlseaResponse/20040528/

meetings.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Garth Griffin, NMFS, Northwest Region, 

(503) 231–2005. Copies of the Federal 

Register notices cited herein and 

additional salmon-related materials are 

available on the Internet at http://

www.nwr.noaa.gov/1srd/

ProplDetermins/. For information 

regarding public hearings on the 

proposed listing determinations held in 

California, please contact Craig Wingert, 

NMFS, Southwest Region, (562) 980–

4021. Information on public hearings in 

California is also available on the 

Internet at http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/

news/SalmonidHearings.NR.pdf.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On June 14, 2004, NMFS published 

proposed ESA listing determinations for 

27 salmon and O. mykiss ESUs, 

including 18 ESUs that occur in Oregon, 

Washington and Idaho (69 FR 33101). 

The 27 proposed listing determinations 

include 162 total hatchery programs as 

part of 4 ESUs being proposed for 

endangered status and 23 ESUs being 

proposed for threatened status. In 

addition, NMFS proposed amendments 

to the existing ESA 4(d) protective 

regulations for the proposed threatened 

ESUs.

With the publication of the proposed 

listing determinations NMFS 

announced a 90–day public comment 

period extending through September 13, 

2004. In Federal Register notices 

published on August 31, 2004 (69 FR 

53031) and September 9, 2004 (69 FR 

54620), NMFS extended the public 

comment period for the proposed policy 

through October 20, 2004. Additionally, 

NMFS announced that it would hold 

public hearings at eight locations in the 

Pacific Northwest and six locations in 

California to provide additional 

opportunities and formats to receive 

public input. To date NMFS has held 

seven of these public hearings in 

Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and all 

six public hearings in California.

Extension of Public Comment Period

NMFS has received a request from a 

U.S. congressional representative to 

extend the public comment period and 

postpone any remaining public 

meetings to provide additional 

opportunity for the public to consider 

the proposed listing determinations and 

to provide comment. In this notice 

NMFS is extending the public comment 

period through November 12, 2004.

Rescheduling of Public Hearing

In addition to extending the public 

comment period, NMFS is rescheduling 

a public hearing in Portland, Oregon 

(originally to be held on October 13, 

2004) to be held on November 9, 2004 

(see ADDRESSES for hearing location).

Public Hearing Format

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 past 

ESA rule-making, NMFS has conducted 

traditional public hearings, consisting of 

recorded oral testimony from interested 

individuals. This format, although 

providing an alternative means of public 

input, is time consuming for the 

attendees and does not provide 

opportunities for dialogue and 

information exchange. In the Federal 

Register notice published on August 31, 

2004 (69 FR 53039), NMFS described an 

alternative ‘‘open-house’’ format aimed 

at providing all hearing participants 

with the opportunity to obtain 

information on and discuss the 

proposed listing determinations. NMFS 

has held seven of these ‘‘open-house’’

style public hearings, and believes that 

the new format improves the ability of 

the public to engage effectively in the 

rulemaking process.

Afternoon Practitioners’ Session

An afternoon session (1:30 p.m. to 

4:30 p.m., November 9, 2004) in 

Portland (Oregon) will be provided for 

local practitioners and stakeholders 

involved with managing the ESA on a 

regular basis, including: tribal 

governments; forestry and agricultural 

interests; home builders and developers; 

the sport and commercial fishing 

community; the environmental 

community; the business community; 

utility and special districts; local 

government elected officials and their 

staff; other locally based Federal and 

state agencies; and public interest 

groups. Attendance at the afternoon 

sessions in Portland (Oregon) will be on 

a pre-registration basis. Information on 

attending the practitioners’ afternoon 

session in Portland is available from 

NMFS upon request (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT, above) as well as 

on the Internet at http://

www.nwr.noaa.gov/AlseaResponse/

20040528/PortlandMeeting.html.

Evening Open House and Public 

Testimony

An evening ‘‘open house’’ session, 

designed for broader public 

participation, will be conducted in 

Portland (Oregon) on the same day as 

the afternoon practitioners’ session 

(November 9, 2004) from 6:30 p.m. to 

9:30 p.m. The ‘‘open house’’ format will 

provide the general public with an 

opportunity to meet with NMFS staff in 

small groups on specific topics. This 

evening meeting will also provide 

opportunities for the public to make 

formal recorded comments on the 

proposal. There is no need to register; 

just drop in anytime during the course 

of the evening event.

Special Accommodations

This hearing is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language or other aids should be 

directed to Garth Griffin (see 

ADDRESSES) 7 days before the meeting 

date.

References

Copies of the Federal Register notices 

and related materials cited in this 

document are available on the Internet 

at http://nwr.noaa.gov, or upon request 

(see ADDRESSES section above).

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

Dated: October 12, 2004.

Laurie K. Allen,

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 04–23283 Filed 10–15–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration

[I.D. 100804C]

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Southeast Data, 

Assessment and Review (SEDAR) 7 

Assessment Workshop for Gulf of 

Mexico Red Snapper.