Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 200 / Monday, October 18, 2004 / Notices 61351

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration

[I.D. 100804B]

Western Pacific Fishery Management 

Council; Public Scoping Meetings on 

Ecosystem-based Fisheries 

Management Within the U.S. Exclusive 

Economic Zone of the Western Pacific 

Region

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a 

programmatic environmental impact 

statement (PEIS); notice of scoping 

meetings; request for written comments.

SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) and 

NMFS announce their intent to prepare 

a PEIS in accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) on the development of an 

ecosystem-based fisheries management 

regime in the Western Pacific Region. 

The Council and NMFS are jointly 

holding public scoping meetings 

throughout the region to solicit 

comments on management options for 

ecosystem-based fisheries management. 

The scoping meetings and written 

comments will provide for public input 

on the issues, range of alternatives, 

impacts, and any other issues or 

concerns related to the proposed action 

which should be analyzed in detail in 

the PEIS, as described in this scoping 

notice.

DATES: Public scoping meetings will be 

held in October, November and 

December 2004. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for specific dates, times, 

and locations of hearings. Written 

comments must be received by January 

3, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

to Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director, 

Western Pacific Fishery Management 

Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, 

Honolulu, HI 96813, and/or William L. 

Robinson, Administrator, Pacific Islands 

Regional Office (PIRO), NMFS, 1601 

Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110, Honolulu, 

HI 96814. You may submit comments to 

the Council via facsimile (fax) at 808–

522–8226 or PIRO at 808–973–2941. 

You may also submit comments via email to scopePEISecosystem@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line the following 

document identifier: ‘‘scope ecosystem 

PEIS.’’ See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

for specific dates, times, and locations 

of hearings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric 

Kingma (Council) at 808–522–8220 or 

Alvin Katekaru (PIRO) at 808–973–2937.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act (16 

U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), the United States 

has exclusive management authority 

over all living marine resources found 

within the U.S. Exclusive Economic 

Zone (EEZ). The management of these 

resources, with the exception of sea 

birds and some marine mammals, is 

vested in the Secretary of Commerce 

(Secretary). Eight regional fishery 

management councils prepare fishery 

management plans for approval and 

implementation by the Secretary. The 

Council has the responsibility to 

prepare fishery management plans 

(FMPs) for fishery resources in the EEZ 

of the Western Pacific Region, which 

include the Federal waters surrounding 

Hawaii, the Territories of American 

Samoa and Guam, the Commonwealth 

of Northern Mariana Islands, and the 

Pacific Remote Island Areas (Palmyra 

Atoll, Kingman Reef, Jarvis Island, 

Baker Island, Howland Island, Johnston 

Atoll, Wake Island, and Midway Atoll).

The Council has developed FMPs for 

the following fisheries: bottomfish and 

seamount groundfish, coral reef 

ecosystems, crustaceans, pelagics, and 

precious corals. At its 123rd meeting 

(June 2004), the Council decided to 

initiate a process to develop fishery 

ecosystem management plans (FEMPs), 

thereby managing fisheries within an 

ecosystem context. Thus, the primary 

objective of the PEIS is to serve as a 

broad-scale planning tool for the 

Council’s shift toward ecosystem-based 

management, and ultimately the 

development and implementation of 

FMPs, if approved by the Secretary, for 

managed fisheries of the Western Pacific 

Region. The scope of the PEIS analysis 

will, among other things, describe the 

management, monitoring, and conduct 

of fisheries FMPs of the Western Pacific 

Region; examine various options for 

managing fisheries within an ecosystem 

context; consider the potential impacts 

of ecosystem-based management on 

target species, non-target species, 

essential fish habitat, protected species; 

and describe mechanisms for 

community involvement and 

participation in the management of local 

fishery resources.

NEPA requires preparation of an 

environmental impact statement for any 

major Federal action significantly 

impacting the quality of the human 

environment. Regulations implementing 

NEPA at 40 CFR 1502.4(b) state:

Environmental impact statements may be 

prepared, and are sometimes required, for 

broad Federal actions such as adoption of 

new agency programs or regulations. 

Agencies shall prepare statements on broad 

actions so that they are relevant to policy and 

are timed to coincide with meaningful points 

in agency planning and decision making.

Under 40 CFR 1508.25(a), cumulative 

and connected actions require the 

development of a PEIS. However, 

relevant case law since the 

promulgation of NEPA has further 

expanded the PEIS requirement to: (1) 

actions relating to broad program or 

regional planning and, (2) when there 

are cumulative or synergistic 

environmental impacts upon the 

environment from past, present, or 

reasonably foreseeable future actions. In 

this regard, the PEIS serves as an 

analytical tool for regional planning and 

potential implementation of an 

ecosystem-based management regime in 

the Western Pacific.

Alternatives

The Council and NMFS are 

conducting scoping meetings to 

establish a reasonable range of 

alternatives. Preliminary alternatives 

have been drawn from the following 

categories: (1) FEMP boundaries (e.g. 

archipelagic vs. island-by-island),(2) 

management unit species (e.g., multispecies linkages, (3) environmental 

indicators (e.g., productivity cycles), (4) 

the role of communities in ecosystembased management (e.g., monitoring) 

and (5) the Council process relating to 

advisory body structures (e.g., sector 

specific representation vs. ecosystem 

boundary representation). In addition to 

developing possible alternatives, the 

scoping meetings will serve to identify 

and eliminate the issues which are not 

significant or which have been covered 

by prior environmental review.

Public Involvement

Public scoping is an early and open 

process for determining the scope of 

issues to be addressed. A principal 

objective of the scoping and public 

involvement process is to identify a 

reasonable range of management 

alternatives that, with adequate 

analysis, will delineate critical issues 

and provide a clear basis for 

distinguishing between those 

alternatives and selecting a preferred 

alternative.

Other Issues to be Discussed

In order to broaden the public scoping 

opportunity described above, the 

Council and NMFS will also solicit 

public comments on the following 

issues: marine mammal mitigation 

measures, blue marlin, bigeye and 

yellowfin tuna management, and c) 

recreational fisheries data collection. 

61352 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 200 / Monday, October 18, 2004 / Notices 

Depending on public comments 

received and subsequent initial Council 

action, these issues may require the 

preparation of an EIS. If it is decided 

that an EIS will be prepared for any of 

the issues listed above, a corresponding 

Notice of Intent will published in the 

Federal Register.

Dates, Times, and Locations (island and 

address) for Public Scoping Meetings

1. Hilo, HI — Wednesday, October 27, 

2004, from 6–9 p.m. at the Naniloa 

Hotel, 93 Banyon DR, Hilo, HI 96720;

2. Kona, HI — Thursday, October 28, 

2004, from 6–9 p.m. at the King 

Kamehameha Hotel, 75–5660 Palani 

Rd., Kona, HI 96740;

3. Oahu, HI — Monday, November 1, 

2004, from 6–9 p.m. at the Ala Moana 

Hotel, 410 Atkinson Dr., Honolulu, HI 

96815;

4. Kauai, HI — Tuesday, November 2, 

2004, from 6–9 p.m. at the Chiefess 

Kamakahelei Middle School, 4431 

Nuhou St., Lihue, HI 96766;

5. Maui, HI — Wednesday, November 

3, 2004, from 6–9 p.m. at the Maui 

Beach Hotel, 170 Kaahumanu Ave., 

Kahului, HI 96732;

6. Saipan, CNMI — Wednesday, 

November 17, 2004, from 6–9 p.m. at 

the Pedro P. Tenorio Multipurpose 

Building, Susupe, CNMI 96950;

7. Hagatna, Guam — Thursday, 

November 18, 2004 from 6–9 p.m. at the 

Guam Fishermen’s Cooperative, Perez 

Marina, Hagatna, Guam 96932; and

8. Pago Pago, American Samoa —

Wednesday, December 8, 2004, from 7–

9 p.m. at the Department of Marine 

Resources and Wildlife Conference 

Room, Pago Pago, American Samoa 

96799.

Special Accommodations

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds, 

808–522–8220 (voice) or 808–522–8226 

(fax), at least 5 days prior to the meeting 

date.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: October 13, 2004.

Alan D. Risenhoover,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 04–23280 Filed 10–15–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Membership of the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration 

Performance Review Board

AGENCY: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of membership of NOAA 

Performance Review Board. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 

4314(c)(4), NOAA announces the 

appointment of twenty-six members to 

serve on the NOAA Performance Review 

Board (PRB). The NOAA PRB is 

responsible for reviewing performance 

appraisals and ratings of Senior 

Executive Service (SES) members and 

making written recommendations to the 

appointing authority on SES retention 

and compensation matters, including 

performance-based pay adjustments, 

awarding of bonuses and reviewing 

recommendations for potential 

Presidential Rank Award nominees. The 

appointment of members to the NOAA 

PRB will be for a period of 24 months.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The effective date of 

service of the twenty-six appointees to 

the NOAA Performance Review Board is 

October 15, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Claudia McMahon, Executive Resources 

Program Manager, Human Resources 

Management Office, Office of Finance 

and Administration, NOAA, 1305 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910, (301) 713–0530 (ext. 204).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

names and position titles of the 

members of the NOAA PRB are set forth 

below (all are NOAA officials except 

Tyra Smith, Director, Human Resources, 

Bureau of the Census, Department of 

Commerce; Gerald R. Lucas, Director for 

Strategic Initiatives, Office of Human 

Resources Management, Department of 

Commerce; and Timothy J. Hauser, 

Deputy Under Secretary for 

International Trade, International Trade 

Administration, Department of 

Commerce:

John E. Jones, Jr., Deputy Assistant 

Administrator for Weather Services. 

John E. Oliver, Jr., Deputy Assistant 

Administrator for Operations, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

Debra Larson, Director, Office of 

Legislative Affairs, Office of 

Legislative Affairs. 

Louisa Koch, Deputy Assistant 

Administrator for Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Research, Office of 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. 

Carl Staton, Chief Information Officer 

and Director for High Performance 

Computing and Communications, 

Office of the Deputy Under Secretary. 

Alan Neuschatz, Associate Assistant 

Administrator for Management and 

Chief Financial Officer/Chief 

Administrative Officer, National 

Ocean Service.

Mary Glackin, Assistant Administrator 

for Program, Planning and Integration, 

Office of Planning and Program 

Integration. 

Colleen Hartman, Deputy Assistant 

Administrator, National 

Environmental Satellite, Data and 

Information Service. 

Tyra Smith, Director, Human Resources, 

Bureau of the Census. 

David Kennedy, Director, Office of 

Response and Restoration, National 

Ocean Service. 

Ron Baird, Director, National Sea Grant 

College Program, Office of Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Research. 

Helen M. Hurcombe, Director, 

Acquisition and Grants Office, NOAA 

Finance and Administration. 

Ants Leetmaa, Director, Geophysical 

Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Office of 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. 

Gregory Mandt, Director, Office of 

Climate, Water and Weather Services, 

National Weather Service. 

Louis W. Uccellini, Director, National 

Centers for Environmental Prediction, 

National Weather Service. 

Rebecca Lent, Deputy Assistant 

Administrator for Regulatory 

Programs, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

Michael Sissenwine, Director of 

Scientific Programs and Chief Science 

Advisor, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

William Broglie, Chief Administrative 

Officer, NOAA Finance and 

Administration. 

William J. Brennan, Deputy Assistant 

Secretary for International Affairs, 

Office of International Affairs. 

Martha Cuppy, Director, Central 

Administrative Support Center, 

NOAA Finance and Administration. 

Kathleen Kelly, Director, Office of 

Satellite Operations, National 

Environmental Satellite, Data and 

Information Service. 

Jordan P. St. John, Director, Office of 

Public and Constituent Affairs, Office 

of Public and Constituent Affairs, 

NOAA. 

Timothy J. Hauser, Deputy Under 

Secretary for International Trade, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

Bonnie Morehouse, Director, Program 

Analysis & Evaluation, Office of 

NOAA Finance and Administration.