38170 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 146 / Friday, July 31, 2009 / Notices 

the facsimile is confirmed by hard copy 

submitted by mail and postmarked no 

later than the closing date of the 

comment period. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

e-mail. The mailbox address for 

providing e-mail comments is 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Include 

in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the following document 

identifier: File No. 14508 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Swails or Patrick Opay, (301) 713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject permit is requested under the 

authority of 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 purpose of the proposed research 

is to continue to collect long-term data 

on species comparison, size frequencies, 

disease rates, seasonal abundance, 

genetic origin and feeding ecology of sea 

turtles using Lake Worth Lagoon in 

Palm Beach County, Florida. Up to 50 

green, 5 loggerhead, 2 hawksbill, and 1 

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles would be 

captured annually. Turtles would be 

flipper and passive integrated 

transponder tagged, blood and tissue 

sampled, measured, photographed, and 

weighed. A subset of green sea turtles 

would be lavaged. The permit would be 

issued for five years. 

Dated: July 27, 2009. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–18384 Filed 7–30–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XQ27 

Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; 

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental 

to the Explosive Removal of Offshore 

Structures in the Gulf of Mexico 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of a letter of 

authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA) and implementing regulations, 

notification is hereby given that NMFS 

has a issued one-year Letter of 

Authorization (LOA) to take marine 

mammals incidental to the explosive 

removal of offshore oil and gas 

structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico. 

DATES: The authorization is effective 

from August 1, 2009, through July 31, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: The application and LOA is 

available for review by writing to P. 

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, 

Conservation, and Education Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910–3235 or by telephoning the 

contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT), or online at: 

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

incidental.htm. Documents cited in this 

notice may be viewed, by appointment, 

during regular business hours, at the 

aforementioned address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Howard Goldstein or Ken Hollingshead, 

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 

301–713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 

1361 et seq.) directs the NMFS to allow, 

upon request, the incidental, but not 

intentional, taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals by United States 

citizens who engage in a specified 

activity (other than commercial fishing) 

within a specified geographical region, 

if certain findings are made by NMFS 

and regulations are issued. Under the 

MMPA, the term ‘‘taking’’ means to 

harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to 

attempt to harass, hunt capture, or kill 

marine mammals. 

Authorization for incidental taking, in 

the form of an annual LOA, may be 

granted by NMFS for periods up to five 

years if NMFS finds, after notification 

and opportunity for public comment, 

that the taking will have a negligible 

impact on the species or stock(s) of 

marine mammals, and will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

subsistence uses (where relevant). In 

addition, NMFS must prescribe 

regulations that include permissible 

methods of taking and other means 

effecting the least practicable adverse 

impact on the species and its habitat 

(i.e., mitigation), and on the availability 

of the species for subsistence uses, 

paying particular attention to rookeries, 

mating rounds, and areas of similar 

significance. The regulations also must 

include requirements pertaining to the 

monitoring and reporting of such taking. 

Regulations governing the taking 

incidental to EROS were published on 

June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34889), and remain 

in effect through July 19, 2013. For 

detailed information on this action, 

please refer to that Federal Register 

notice. The species that applicants may 

take in small numbers during EROS 

activities are bottlenose dolphins 

(Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted 

dolphins (Stenella frontalis), 

pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella 

attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella 

clymene), striped dolphins (Stenella 

coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins 

(Stenella longirostris), rough-toothed 

dolphins (Steno bredanensis), Risso’s 

dolphins (Grampus griseus), melonheaded whales (Peponocephala electra), 

short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala 

macrorhynchus), and sperm whales 

(Physeter macrocephalus). 

Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS 

has issued an LOA to ATP Oil & Gas 

Corporation. Issuance of the LOA is 

based on a finding made in the 

preamble to the final rule that the total 

taking by these activities (with 

monitoring, mitigation, and reporting 

measures) will result in no more than a 

negligible impact on the affected species 

or stock(s) of marine mammals and will 

not have an unmitigable adverse impact 

on subsistence uses. NMFS also finds 

that the applicant will meet the 

requirements contained in the 

implementing regulations and LOA, 

including monitoring, mitigation, and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: July 28, 2009. 

James H. Lecky, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–18383 Filed 7–30–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XO28 

Listing Endangered and Threatened 

Species: Initiation of a Status Review 

for the Oregon Coast Evolutionarily 

Significant Unit of Coho Salmon 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Reopening of public comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: On April 29, 2009, we, NMFS, 

announced the initiation of a status 

review under the Endangered Species 

Act (ESA) for the Oregon Coast coho 

salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) 

evolutionarily significant unit (ESU). As 

part of that proposal, we provided a 90– 


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