11130 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 46 / Wednesday, March 10, 2010 / Notices 

has made clear that the action of the 

Omnibus Amendment will be confined 

to a description of process and the 

preparation of an EIS no longer appears 

to be necessary. Rather, the Council will 

develop an EA; if, during the 

development of the EA or at such time 

that the analysis indicates a Finding of 

No Significant Impact (FONSI) 

statement cannot be supported, the 

Council will re-initiate development of 

an EIS. A public hearing draft of the 

Omnibus Amendment is expected to be 

available mid–2010, and the Council 

will conduct several public hearings on 

the draft once it is completed. 

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

Dated: March 5, 2010. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5183 Filed 3–9–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XU93 

Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

Environmental Assessment for a 

Proposed Rule to Revise Marine 

Mammal Special Exception Permit 

Requirements 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare 

environmental assessment. 

SUMMARY: The National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces its 

intent to prepare an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) to analyze the 

potential environmental impacts of a 

proposed rule to revise Federal 

regulations implementing the Section 

104 permit provisions of the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA; 16 

U.S.C. 1361 et seq.). NMFS proposes 

changes to the regulations to clarify 

existing permitting procedures and to 

codify procedures currently being 

implemented through agency policy. By 

this notice, NMFS requests public 

participation in the scoping process that 

will help identify alternatives and 

determine the scope of environmental 

issues to be addressed in the EA. This 

notice also provides information on how 

to participate in the scoping process. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments must be 

postmarked by May 10, 2010, and 

should be mailed to: P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and 

Education Division, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries 

Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910–3226. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

facsimile to (301)713–0376, or by email 

to mmpermitregs.comments@noaa.gov. 

Please include ‘‘Permit Regulations NOI’’ 

in the subject line of the email. The 

facsimile must be confirmed by hard 

copy submitted by mail and postmarked 

no later than the closing date of the 

comment period. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Sloan or Jennifer Skidmore, 

(301)713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is 

the Federal agency responsible for 

management of cetaceans and 

pinnipeds, except walrus. NMFS Office 

of Protected Resources administers a 

program that issues permits to various 

individuals and institutions to take 

marine mammals in lands and waters 

under U.S. jurisdiction, and to U.S. 

citizens operating in international 

waters. These permits are issued 

pursuant to the provisions of the MMPA 

and NMFS regulations governing the 

taking and importing of marine 

mammals (50 CFR part 216), and in 

accordance with agency policy. For 

threatened and endangered marine 

mammal species, permits are also 

governed by the requirements of the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) and the regulations 

governing the taking, importing, and 

exporting of endangered and threatened 

species (50 CFR 222–226). 

Permits provide an exemption to the 

statutory take prohibitions to facilitate 

bona fide scientific research or enhance 

the survival and propagation of marine 

mammals, and to allow for import, 

public display, and commercial and 

educational photography of marine 

mammals as provided for in the MMPA. 

The MMPA and the ESA prohibit 

’’takes’’ of marine mammals, and 

threatened and endangered species, 

respectively. Under the MMPA, ’’take’’ is 

defined as to ’’harass, hunt, capture, 

collect or kill, or attempt to harass, 

hunt, capture, collect or kill any marine 

mammal.’’ The ESA defines ’’take’’ as ’’to 

harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 

wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or 

to attempt to engage in any such 

conduct.’’ The MMPA further defines 

two levels of harassment. Level A 

harassment includes actions with a 

potential to injure a marine mammal or 

marine mammal stock in the wild. Level 

B harassment includes actions with a 

potential to disturb a marine mammal or 

marine mammal stock in the wild by 

causing disruption of behavioral 

patterns. 

Many activities, including 

photography, aerial and vessel-based 

surveys, tagging and marking 

procedures, attachment of scientific 

instruments, and collection of tissue 

samples require closely approaching or 

capturing animals and may result in 

harassment or other acts prohibited 

under the MMPA and ESA except where 

allowed by permit. 

The statutory requirements for 

permits to allow import, public display, 

research, enhancement, and commercial 

and educational photography on marine 

mammals are described in Section 104 

of the MMPA. Section 10 of the ESA 

describes the requirements for permits 

for scientific purposes or to enhance the 

propagation or survival of listed species. 

In addition to the requirements of 

section 10 of the ESA, NMFS must 

comply with section 7 of the ESA in 

issuing permits. According to Section 7 

of the ESA, NMFS must ensure that any 

action it authorizes (such as by permit) 

is not likely to jeopardize the continued 

existence of listed species or result in 

destruction or adverse modification of 

critical habitat. Information requested of 

permit applicants is used to evaluate 

compliance with issuance criteria and 

in analyses of environmental impacts 

required under Section 7 of the ESA and 

by the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

NMFS issuance of permits is governed 

by the procedural requirements of NEPA 

and the Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA; 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.). NEPA 

requires Federal agencies to integrate 

environmental values into their decision 

making process by considering the 

environmental impacts of their 

proposed actions, such as permit 

issuance, and reasonable alternatives to 

those actions. The APA governs 

procedures related to imposition of 

permit sanctions, and requirements for 

NMFS to maintain records related to 

determinations on applications. 

In 2007, NMFS published an Advance 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) 

(72 FR 52339; Sep. 13, 2007) soliciting 

comments from the public regarding 

changes being considered to the NMFS 

permit regulations, including criteria for 

issuance of scientific research and 

enhancement permits. NMFS sought 

public comment to inform efforts to 

further streamline and clarify general 

permitting requirements, simplify 

procedures for transferring marine 

mammal parts for research, consider 

application of the General Authorization 

to research involving level A 

harassment for non-ESA listed species, 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 46 / Wednesday, March 10, 2010 / Notices 11131 

and develop a cycle for submission and 

processing of applications for permits. 

Some commenters indicated that the 

ANPR was too general to allow for 

meaningful comment. Others provided 

suggestions for modifications or 

expressed support for or opposition to 

changes proposed in the ANPR. Based 

on comments received, and an internal 

scoping process, NMFS has developed 

more specific proposed revisions, 

additions, and restructuring to form the 

basis of one or more alternatives to be 

evaluated in an EA for a Proposed Rule 

to revise NMFS marine mammal permit 

application procedures and permit 

requirements. This internal scoping 

summary document contains proposed 

regulatory language but does not 

represent a preferred alternative. Rather, 

it indicates where NMFS believes 

changes to the permit regulations are 

needed. The internal scoping summary 

document and comments on the ANPR 

are available at https:// 

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

mmpalregulations.htm. 

NMFS is preparing an EA to evaluate 

the potential environmental impacts of 

promulgating revised regulations 

governing permit application 

submission, review, and decision 

procedures including issuance criteria, 

penalties and permit sanctions, and 

permit conditions related to reporting, 

permit modifications, and restrictions. 

The purpose of the proposed revisions 

to the regulations is to improve their 

utility by clarifying, reorganizing, and 

updating the regulatory language. These 

improvements are needed to enhance 

readability, compliance, and 

enforcement. 

This notice initiates a public scoping 

period that will inform the structure of 

alternatives and relevant information 

considered in the EA. The number and 

structure of the alternatives analyzed in 

the EA will be determined based on 

information gathered during scoping. 

NMFS is seeking public comments on 

the following: 

(1) New and revised definitions. 

NMFS is considering a number of new 

definitions and revision of some 

existing definitions to clarify terms 

related to permit application 

submission, review, and decision 

procedures and permit terms and 

conditions. 

(2) Restructuring and re-ordering 

some sections. NMFS is considering 

consolidating some sections of Subparts 

B (Prohibitions), C (General Exceptions), 

and D (Special Exceptions) of the 

regulations, reordering the regulations 

to parallel the structure of the MMPA, 

and adding sections on the Marine 

Mammal Inventory, public display, and 

photography permits. For example, 

NMFS proposes consolidation of all 

marine mammal parts collection and 

transfer regulations into sections within 

subpart C, rather than the current 

distribution across multiple subparts. 

(3) Revisions and additions to 

application and permit requirements. 

NMFS is considering substantial 

revisions and additions to the sections 

specific to permits for scientific research 

and enhancement, commercial and 

educational photography, and public 

display. For example, NMFS proposes 

insertions describing permit 

requirements for educational and 

commercial photography, which do not 

have specific regulations and are 

currently processed according to 

regulations for scientific research and 

enhancement. 

(4) Factors to consider in evaluating 

significance of impacts. NMFS seeks 

comment from persons affected by or 

otherwise interested in the marine 

mammal permitting process related to 

how proposed regulatory changes may 

affect marine mammals and their 

environment, as well as on potential 

impacts on the regulated public. 

NMFS will consider all comments 

received during the comment period. 

All hardcopy submissions must be 

unbound, on paper no larger than 8 1/ 

2 by 11 inches (216 by 279 mm), and 

suitable for copying and electronic 

scanning. NMFS requests that you 

include in your comments: (1) Your 

name and address; and (2) Any 

background documents to support your 

comments, as you feel necessary. A draft 

EA will be made available for public 

review concurrent with publication of a 

notice of proposed rulemaking. 

Dated: March 4, 2010. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5142 Filed 3–9–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XR52 

Marine Mammals; File No. 14534 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of amended 

application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Ned Cyr, Director, NOAA Office of 

Science and Technology, Silver Spring, 

MD, has submitted a revised application 

for a permit to conduct research on 

marine mammals in the Pacific Ocean. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or e-mail 

comments must be received on or before 

April 9, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: The application and related 

documents are available for review by 

selecting ‘‘Records Open for Public 

Comment’’ from the ‘‘Features’’ box on 

the Applications and Permits for 

Protected Species (APPS) home page, 

https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then 

selecting File No. 14534 from the list of 

available applications. 

These documents are also available 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following office(s): 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301) 713–2289; fax (301) 713–0376; and 

Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West 

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, 

CA 90802–4213; phone (562) 980–4001; 

fax (562) 980–4018. 

Written comments on this application 

should be submitted to the Chief, 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, at the address listed above. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

facsimile to (301) 713–0376, or by email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. 

Please include the File No. in the 

subject line of the e-mail comment. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

to the Chief, Permits, Conservation and 

Education Division at the address listed 

above. The request should set forth the 

specific reasons why a hearing on this 

application would be appropriate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tammy Adams or Carrie Hubard, (301) 

713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

September 11, 2009, notice was 

published (74 FR 46745) of a request for 

a permit under the authority of the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, 

as amended (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et 

seq.), the regulations governing the 

taking and importing of marine 

mammals (50 CFR part 216), the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 

and the regulations governing the 

taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species (50 

CFR 222–226). 

The original application is a request 

for a five-year permit to conduct a 

research program involving studies of 

sound production, diving and other 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES