26584 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 89 / Monday, May 8, 2000 / Notices

Zone Management Program and the

North Carolina National Estuarine

Research Reserve (NERR).

The Coastal Zone Management

Program evaluation will be conducted

pursuant to section 312 of the Coastal

Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA),

as amended and regulations at 15 CFR

part 923.

The NERR evaluation will be

conducted pursuant to section 315 of

the Coastal Zone Management Act of

1972 (CZMA), as amended and

regulations at 15 CFR part 921, subpart

E and part 923, subpart L.

The CZMA requires a continuing

review of the performance of states with

respect to coastal program and research

reserve program implementation.

Evaluation of Coastal Zone Management

Programs and National Estuarine

Research Reserves require findings

concerning the extent to which a state

has met the national objectives, adhered

to its coastal program document or the

Reserve’s final management plan

approved by the Secretary of Commerce,

and adhered to the terms of financial

assistance awards funded under the

CZMA.

The evaluations will include a site

visit, consideration of public comments,

and consultations with interested

Federal, State, and local agencies and

members of the public. Public meetings

are held as part of the site visits.

Notice is hereby given of the dates of

the site visits for the listed evaluations,

and the dates, local times, and locations

of public meetings during the site visits.

The Ohio Coastal Zone Management

Program evaluation site visit will be

from June 26–30, 2000. The public

meeting will be held on Wednesday,

June 28, 2000, at 7:30 P.M., in the

Visitor’s Center at the Old Woman Creek

National Estuarine Research Reserve,

2514 Cleveland Road, Huron, Ohio.

The North Carolina National

Estuarine Research site visit will be

from May 22–26, 2000. Public meetings

will be held on Tuesday, May 23, 2000,

at 7:00 P.M., in the Currituck County

Satellite Office, Corolla, North Carolina;

Wednesday, May 24, 2000, at 7:00 P.M.,

in the Marine Laboratory Auditorium,

Duke University, Beaufort, North

Carolina; and Thursday, May 25, 2000,

at 7:00 P.M., at the Bryan Auditorium in

Morton Hall, University of North

Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington,

North Carolina.

Copies of the State’s most recent

performance reports, as well as OCRM’s

notifications and supplemental request

letters to the States, are available upon

request from OCRM. Written comments

from interested parties regarding these

Programs are encouraged and will be

accepted until 15 days after the public

meeting. Please direct written comments

to Margo E. Jackson, Deputy Director,

Ocean and Coastal Resource

Management, NOS/NOAA, 1305 EastWest Highway, 10th Floor, Silver

Spring, Maryland, 20910. When the

evaluation is completed, OCRM will

place a notice in the Federal Register

announcing the availability of the Final

Evaluation Findings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Margo E. Jackson, Deputy Director,

Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource

Management, NOS/NOAA, 1305 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland,

20910, (301) 713–3155, Extension 114.

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 11.419,

Coastal Zone Management Program

Administration)

Dated: May 2, 2000.

John Oliver,

Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative

Officer, National Ocean Service.

[FR Doc. 00–11346 Filed 5–05–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 041900C]

Incidental Take of Marine Mammals;

Bottlenose Dolphins and Spotted

Dolphins

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of letters of

authorization.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Marine Mammal Protection Act

(MMPA), as amended, and

implementing regulations, notification

is hereby given that letters of

authorization (LOAs) to take bottlenose

and spotted dolphins incidental to oil

and gas structure removal activities

were issued on February 4, 2000, to

Taylor Energy Company of New

Orleans, LA, and to Unocal Corporation

of Lafayette, LA, on February 13, 2000,

to Chevron U.S.A. of New Orleans, LA,

on March 6, 2000 to Energy Resource

Technology, Inc, on March 22, 2000, to

Torch Operating Company, on April 21,

2000 to PennzEnergy, Newfield

Exploration Company, and The Houston

Exploration Company, all from Houston,

TX, and to CNG Producing Company

from New Orleans, Louisiana.

ADDRESSES: The applications and letters

are available for review in the following

offices: Office of Protected Resources,

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver

Spring, MD 20910, and the Southeast

Region, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center

Drive N, St. Petersburg, FL 33702.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenneth R. Hollingshead, Office of

Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 713–

2055, ext 128.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

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

1361 et seq.) directs NMFS to allow, on

request, the incidental, but not

intentional, taking of small numbers of

marine mammals by U.S. citizens who

engage in a specified activity (other than

commercial fishing) within a specified

geographical region, if certain findings

are made 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.

Permission may be granted for periods

up to 5 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. 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,

and on the availability of the species for

subsistence uses, paying particular

attention to rookeries, mating grounds,

and areas of similar significance. The

regulations must include requirements

pertaining to the monitoring and

reporting of such taking. Regulations

governing the taking of bottlenose and

spotted dolphins incidental to oil and

gas structure removal activities in the

Gulf of Mexico were published on

October 12, 1995 (60 FR 53139), and

remain in effect until November 13,

2000. However, because these

regulations will expire on November 13,

2000, that is the expiration date for all

LOAs issued under these regulations.

Dated: May 2, 2000.

Art Jeffers,

Deputy Director, Office of Protected

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–11448 Filed 5–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F