Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2011 / Notices 335 

sounds from the USFWS’ proposed 

activities are the principal concerns 

related to subsistence use of the area. 

Subsistence remains the basis for Alaska 

Native culture and community. Marine 

mammals are legally hunted in Alaskan 

waters by coastal Alaska Natives. In 

rural Alaska, subsistence activities are 

often central to many aspects of human 

existence, including patterns of family 

life, artistic expression, and community 

religious and celebratory activities. 

Additionally, the animals taken for 

subsistence provide a significant portion 

of the food that will last the community 

throughout the year. The main species 

that are hunted include bowhead and 

beluga whales, ringed, spotted, and 

bearded seals, walruses, and polar bears. 

[As mentioned previously in this 

document, both the walrus and the 

polar bear are under the USFWS’ 

jurisdiction.] The importance of each of 

these species varies among the 

communities and is largely based on 

availability. 

The subsistence communities in the 

Chukchi Sea that have the potential to 

be impacted by the USFWS’ proposed 

action include Point Hope and Kivalina. 

During the spring months that the 

USFWS’ capture work is proposed to be 

conducted both of these communities 

hunt bowhead whales and ice seals. 

Hunting for both bowhead whales and 

ice seals typically occurs within 15 mi 

(24 km) or less of the community, 

according to local residents. At Point 

Hope, hunters have informed the 

USFWS that they hunt only to the west 

and south of Point Hope. 

Potential Impacts to Subsistence Uses 

NMFS has defined ‘‘unmitigable 

adverse impact’’ in 50 CFR 216.103 as: 

* * * an impact resulting from the specified 

activity: (1) That is likely to reduce the 

availability of the species to a level 

insufficient for a harvest to meet subsistence 

needs by: (i) Causing the marine mammals to 

abandon or avoid hunting areas; (ii) Directly 

displacing subsistence users; or (iii) Placing 

physical barriers between the marine 

mammals and the subsistence hunters; and 

(2) That cannot be sufficiently mitigated by 

other measures to increase the availability of 

marine mammals to allow subsistence needs 

to be met. 

Noise and general activity during the 

USFWS’ proposed polar bear program 

have the potential to impact marine 

mammals hunted by Native Alaskans. 

The helicopter overflights have the 

potential to disturb hauled out 

pinnipeds by causing them to vacate the 

area, which could potentially make the 

animals unavailable to subsistence 

hunters if the animals do not return to 

the area. 

Plan of Cooperation (POC) 

Regulations at 50 CFR 216.104(a)(12) 

require IHA applicants for activities that 

take place in Arctic waters to provide a 

POC or information that identifies what 

measures have been taken and/or will 

be taken to minimize adverse effects on 

the availability of marine mammals for 

subsistence purposes. Over the past 3 

years, as part of this work, the USFWS 

regularly consults extensively with local 

communities to identify temporal and 

spatial no fly zones. These no fly zones 

occur in areas of subsistence activities. 

In consultation with local residents, the 

USFWS has determined that flying to 

the north and northwest of Point Hope 

would not interfere with subsistence 

activities. Therefore, the USFWS will 

restrict flights to avoid the areas 15 mi 

(24 km) to the south and west of Point 

Hope and within a 15 mi (24 km) radius 

of Kivalina. The majority of the USFWS’ 

polar bear work occurs greater than 30 

mi (48 km) offshore, which also 

minimizes the potential for flights to 

affect availability of ice seals to local 

hunters. The USFWS holds two 

meetings in Point Hope each year (the 

community in closest proximity to 

much of the work). For 2011, the 

USFWS has agreed with local whaling 

captains and community leaders to have 

regular, weekly communications to 

identify no fly zones and ensure that 

flight paths do not intersect areas of 

subsistence activity. The USFWS also 

regularly communicates with the 

community of Kivalina, although polar 

bears tend not to be concentrated in 

close proximity to this community, thus 

flight paths tend to occur well away 

from subsistence use areas. 

Unmitigable Adverse Impact Analysis 

and Preliminary Determination 

NMFS has preliminarily determined 

that the USFWS’ polar bear capturerecapture program will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of species or stocks for 

taking for subsistence uses. This 

preliminary determination is supported 

by the information contained in this 

document and the POC contained in the 

USFWS’ application (see ADDRESSES). 

The USFWS has agreed to certain no fly 

zones prior to beginning their activities. 

Additionally, the USFWS will meet 

regularly with subsistence use leaders in 

both Point Hope and Kivalina to 

redefine the no fly zones throughout the 

season, if necessary. There will be no 

impacts to beluga hunting, as this 

project occurs well before the summer 

beluga hunts in the Chukchi Sea. Lastly, 

the majority of the USFWS’ flight tracks 

will occur much further offshore than 

the typical sites for subsistence sealing 

during the mid-March to early May time 

period. 

Based on the measures contained in 

the USFWS’ POC, the proposed 

mitigation and monitoring measures 

(described earlier in this document), 

and the project design itself, NMFS has 

determined preliminarily that there will 

not be an unmitigable adverse impact on 

subsistence uses of marine mammals 

from the USFWS’ proposed polar bear 

capture-recapture program. 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) 

The Arctic subspecies of ringed seal 

and the Beringia distinct population 

segment of bearded seals are currently 

proposed for listing under the ESA. 

Pursuant to section 7(a)(4) of the ESA, 

NMFS’ Permits, Conservation and 

Education Division will work with 

NMFS’ Endangered Species Division to 

determine if a conference is necessary 

for these proposed species. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) 

NMFS is currently conducting an 

analysis, pursuant to NEPA, to 

determine whether or not this proposed 

activity may have a significant effect on 

the human environment. This analysis 

will be completed prior to the issuance 

or denial of this proposed IHA. 

Proposed Authorization 

As a result of these preliminary 

determinations, NMFS proposes to 

authorize the take of marine mammals 

incidental to helicopter flights during 

the USFWS’ polar bear capturerecapture program in the U.S. Chukchi 

Sea, provided the previously mentioned 

mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 

requirements are incorporated. 

Dated: December 28, 2010. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33226 Filed 1–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

Notice of Advisory Committee Meeting 

Date Change 

AGENCY: Missile Defense Agency (MDA), 

DoD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: On Tuesday, December 28, 

2010 (75 FR 81589) the Department of 

Defense announced meeting date 

changes to the closed meetings of the 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
336 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2011 / Notices 

Missile Defense Advisory Committee. 

Due to administrative matters, these 

meetings have been rescheduled from 

January 6–7, 2011 to January 19–20, 

2011. There are no other changes to the 

notice announced on Tuesday, 

December 14, 2010 (75 FR 77848). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David Bagnati, Designated Federal 

Officer at MDAC@mda.mil, phone/voice 

mail 703–695–6438, or mail at 7100 

Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 

20301–7100. 

Dated: December 29, 2010. 

Morgan F. Park, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33168 Filed 1–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare a Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(SEIS) for PacRim Coal’s Proposed 

Chuitna Coal Project 

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent. 

SUMMARY: The Alaska District, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 

intends to prepare an SEIS to identify 

and analyze the potential impacts 

associated with the proposed Chuitna 

Coal Project. It is anticipated that the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA), the Native Village of Tyonek 

(NVT), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (USFWS), and the Alaska 

Department of Natural Resources 

(ADNR) will participate as cooperating 

agencies in the SEIS development 

process. The USACE will be evaluating 

a permit application for work under 

Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act 

and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. 

The SEIS will be used as a basis for the 

Corps’ permit decision and to ensure 

compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The 

SEIS will also address issues related to 

the Alaska Surface Coal Mining Control 

and Reclamation Act (ASCMCRA) 

permit, which governs all aspects of the 

mining operation and infrastructure. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions about the proposed action 

and the DSEIS can be answered by: Ms. 

Serena Sweet, Regulatory Division, 

telephone: (907) 753–2819, toll free in 

AK: (800) 478–2712, fax: (907) 753– 

5567, e-mail: 

serena.e.sweet@usace.army.mil, or mail: 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CEPOA– 

RD, Post Office Box 6898, Elmendorf 

AFB, Alaska 99506–0898. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. The Chuitna Coal Project (Project) 

is located in the Beluga Coal Field, 

approximately 10 miles northwest of the 

Native Village of Tyonek and 45 miles 

west of Anchorage, Alaska. The Project 

is based on the development of a +1 

billion metric ton, ultra low sulfur subbituminous coal resource located within 

the Chuitna Coal Lease Area. The 

proposed Project includes a surface coal 

mine, the Ladd Landing coal export 

terminal and other associated support 

facilities (including: Shop/office/ 

warehouse facility, fuel storage facility 

and fueling station, ready line for 

parking and fueling of rolling stock, 

electrical substation, truck dump with 

stilling shed and coal crusher, 35,000 to 

40,000-ton covered surge bin, overland 

conveyor loading station, roads, and a 

power distribution system). The project 

proponent, PacRim Coal, LP, targets a 

coal production rate of approximately 

12 million tons per year (facilities are 

designed for up to 18–20 million tons 

per year), and a 25-year mine life based 

on current estimated coal reserves. 

2. A previous project design was 

evaluated in an EIS and permitted by 

most of the applicable State and Federal 

regulatory programs in the early 1990s; 

however, this project did not proceed to 

development. Since 2006, EPA has been 

lead federal agency for the development 

of an SEIS for the Project and the 

USACE, ADNR, USFWS and NVT 

participated as cooperating agencies (71 

FR 33446). On October 31, 2010, the 

EPA’s authority to issue and enforce 

mining permits in Alaska for wastewater 

discharges issued under the Clean Water 

Act National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System program was 

transferred to the Alaska Department of 

Environmental Conservation. 

Consequently, the EPA recently 

discontinued their role as lead federal 

agency for the Chuitna SEIS. 

3. Alternatives: The alternatives to be 

evaluated include the ‘‘no-action’’ 

alternative, wastewater discharge 

alternatives and alternative discharge 

locations. In addition, the SEIS will 

evaluate mine access road and conveyor 

alignment alternatives, and coal export 

terminal alternatives. Additional 

alternatives may be developed. 

4. Scoping for the proposed project 

was completed by EPA in 2006. Based 

on the comments received during this 

scoping period, PacRim Coal, LP has 

made revisions to the proposed Project. 

In accordance with NEPA, the Corps has 

reviewed the revised project description 

and determined that because these 

revisions are the result of the original 

scoping process and remain within the 

original scope of review, additional 

scoping processes will not be conducted 

at this time. 

5. Estimated Date of DSEIS Release: 

December 2011. 

Dated: December 28, 2010. 

Serena E. Sweet, 

Project Manager, Alaska District U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33214 Filed 1–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, Corps of 

Engineers 

Notice of NEPA Public Scoping 

Meeting Information for the Great 

Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin 

Study (‘‘GLMRIS’’) 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In a November 16, 2010, 

Federal Register Notice (75 FR 69983), 

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

(USACE), Chicago District announced in 

a notice of intent that it will prepare a 

feasibility report and an environmental 

impact statement (EIS) for GLMRIS, and 

it will host a public scoping meeting in 

Chicago, Illinois, on December 15, 2010. 

In a December 8, 2010, Federal Register 

Notice (75 FR 76447), USACE 

announced the metropolitan locations 

where USACE would be hosting nine (9) 

additional public scoping meetings for 

GLMRIS. The December 8, 2010, notice 

did not include specific meeting details. 

This notice announces the venues, dates 

and times of these nine (9) public 

scoping meetings and also announces 

USACE’s intent to host two (2) 

additional public scoping meetings in 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin and New 

Orleans, Louisiana. 

USACE, in consultation with other 

federal agencies, Native American 

tribes, state agencies, local governments 

and non-governmental organizations, is 

conducting a feasibility study of the 

options and technologies that could be 

applied to prevent aquatic nuisance 

species (ANS) transfer between the 

Great Lakes and Mississippi River 

basins through aquatic pathways. 

DATES: Until March 31, 2011, USACE 

will be accepting public comments on 

the scope of GLMRIS. Please refer to the 

‘‘Scoping and Public Involvement’’ 

section below for instructions on how to 

submit public comments, the dates of 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES