34442 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 30, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D.051800F]

Availability of a Draft Environmental

Assessment/Finding of No Significant

Impact and Receipt of an Application

for an Incidental Take Permit (1255).

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration,

Commerce

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: NMFS has received an

application for an incidental take permit

(Permit) from the Oregon Department of

Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the

Washington Department of Fish and

Wildlife (WDFW) pursuant to section

10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species

Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). As

required by section 10 (a)(2)(B) of the

ESA, ODFW and WDFW have also

prepared a conservation plan (Plan)

designed to minimize and mitigate any

such take of endangered or threatened

species. The Permit application is for

the incidental take of ESA-listed adult

and juvenile salmonids associated with

otherwise lawful sport and commercial

fisheries on non-listed species in the

lower and middle Columbia River and

its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest.

The duration of the proposed Permit

and Plan is one year. The Permit

application includes the proposed Plan

submitted by ODFW and WDFW. NMFS

also announces the availability of a draft

Environmental Assessment (EA) for the

Permit application. NMFS is furnishing

this notice in order to allow other

agencies and the public an opportunity

to review and comment on these

documents. All comments received will

become part of the public record and

will be available for review pursuant to

section 10(c) of the ESA.

DATES: Written comments from

interested parties on the Permit

application, Plan, and draft EA must be

received at the appropriate address or

fax number no later than 5:00pm Pacific

standard time on June 29, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the

application, Plan, or draft EA should be

sent to Enrique Patino, Sustainable

Fisheries Division, F/NWR2, 7600 Sand

point Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98115–

0070. Comments may also be sent via

fax to 206–526–6736. Comments will

not be accepted if submitted via e-mail

or the internet. Requests for copies of

the Permit application, Plan, and draft

EA should be directed to the

Sustainable Fisheries Division (SFD), F/

NWR2, 7600 Sand point Way NE,

Seattle, WA, 98115–0070. Comments

received will also be available for public

inspection, by appointment, during

normal business hours by calling 206–

526–4655.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Enrique Patino, Seattle, WA (ph: 206–

526–4655, fax: 206–526–6736, e-mail:

Enrique.Patino@noaa.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9

of the ESA and Federal regulations

prohibit the ‘‘taking’’ of a species listed

as endangered or threatened. The term

‘‘take’’ is defined under the ESA to

mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot,

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

to attempt to engage in any such

conduct. NMFS may issue permits,

under limited circumstances, to take

listed species incidental to, and not the

purpose of, otherwise lawful activities.

NMFS regulations governing permits for

threatened and endangered species are

promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307.

Species Covered in This Notice

The following species and

evolutionarily significant units (ESU’s)

are included in the Plan and Permit

application:

Fish

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus

tshawytscha): threatened Snake River

(SnR) fall, threatened lower Columbia

River (LCR).

Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened

SnR, endangered naturally produced

and artificially propagated UCR,

threatened middle Columbia River

(MCR), threatened LCR, threatened

Upper Willamette River (UWR).

Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta):

threatened Columbia River (CR).

To date, protective regulations for

threatened LCR chinook salmon,

threatened SnR, MCR, LCR, and UWR

steelhead, and threatened CR chum

salmon under section 4(d) of the ESA

have not been promulgated by NMFS.

This notice of receipt of an application

requesting takes of these species is

issued as a precaution in the event that

NMFS issues protective regulations that

prohibit takes of threatened LCR

chinook salmon, and/or threatened SnR,

MCR, LCR and/or UWR steelhead. The

initiation of a 30-day public comment

period on the application, including its

proposed takes of threatened LCR

chinook salmon, and threatened SnR,

MCR, and LCR steelhead does not

presuppose the contents of the eventual

protective regulations.

Background

Fall season fisheries in the Columbia

River have been managed since 1996

under provisions of the 1996–1998

Management Agreement for Upper

Columbia River Spring Chinook,

Summer Chinook and Sockeye. The

Management Agreement modified

provisions of the CRFMP to include

additional provisions for listed species.

The CRFMP and thus the associated

Management Agreement expired by

their own terms on December 31, 1998,

but were extended by agreement of the

parties and court order through July 31,

1999. Since NMFS was a signatory party

to the CRFMP, and approval of the

CRFMP was a federal action subject to

section 7 consultation, incidental take

associated with the ODFW and WDFW

fisheries was authorized in biological

opinions issued on the CRFMP. NMFS

has advised the states that, with the

expiration of the CRFMP, and absent

any subsequent agreement among the

parties to U.S. v. Oregon, there is no

longer a federal action that provides a

nexus for section 7 consultation.

Because the immediate prospects for

reaching an agreement remain

uncertain, ODFW and WDFW have

applied for a one-year ESA section

10(a)(1)(B) permit for incidental takes of

ESA-listed adult and juvenile salmonids

associated with sport and commercial

fisheries during the fall season 2000 on

non-listed species in the lower and

middle Columbia River and its

tributaries in the Pacific Northwest.

Conservation Plan

The Conservation Plan prepared by

ODFW and WDFW describes measures

designed to monitor, minimize, and

mitigate the incidental takes of ESAlisted anadromous salmonids associated

with some or all of the following

fisheries which are expected to occur

during the fall season 2000 with

approximate dates as specified:

Mainstem Commercial Salmon/

Sturgeon Fisheries: mid-August through

mid-September.

Fall Commercial Fishery—Select

Areas: August through October.

Smelt Commercial Fishery/Test

Fishery: December 1 through March 31.

Commercial anchovy and herring bait

fishery: open year round.

Mainstem Salmon/Steelhead

Recreational Fishery: August 1 through

December 31.

Warmwater Recreational Fishery:

open year round.

Columbia River Tributary

Recreational Salmon and Steelhead

Fisheries: August through December.

Select Area Recreational fisheries:

open under permanent regulations for

the entire year.

Sturgeon Recreational Fishery: open

year-round

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 30, 2000 / Notices 34443

Steelhead Recreational Fishery—

Ringold: August 1 through December 31.

Sturgeon tagging stock assessment:

May through July.

Fall Selective Gear Test Fishery:

September through October.

Wanapum Tribe Subsistence Fishery :

September.

ESA-listed fish incidental mortalities

associated with the ODFW and WDFW

fishery programs are requested at levels

specified in the Permit application.

ODFW/WDFW are proposing to limit

state in-river fisheries such that the

incidental impacts on ESA-listed

salmonids will be minimized. Eight

alternatives for the ODFW and WDFW

fisheries were provided in the Plan,

including: (1) Historic baseline; (2) 1988

Columbia River Fish Management Plan;

(3) 1996–1998 Management Agreement;

(4) 1999 Management Agreement; (5)

1996–1999 actual impact rates; (6)

equitable non-Indian and treaty Indian

chinook allocation; (7) reasonable nonIndian fishery opportunity (selected

alternative); and (8) No action.

Environmental Assessment/Finding of

No Significant Impact

The EA package includes a draft EA

and a draft Finding of No Significant

Impact (FONSI) which concludes that

issuing the incidental take permit is not

a major Federal action significantly

affecting the quality of the human

environment, within the meaning of

section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of

1969, as amended. Three Federal action

alternatives have been analyzed in the

EA, including: (1) the no action

alternative; (2) issue a permit without

conditions; and (3) issue a permit with

conditions.

This notice is provided pursuant to

section 10(c) of the ESA and the NEPA

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). NMFS will

evaluate the application, associated

documents, and comments submitted

thereon to determine whether the

application meets the requirements of

the NEPA regulations and section 10(a)

of the ESA. If it is determined that the

requirements are met, a permit will be

issued for incidental takes of ESA-listed

anadromous salmonids under the

jurisdiction of NMFS. The final NEPA

and permit determinations will not be

completed until after the end of the 30-

day comment period and will fully

consider all public comments received

during the comment period. NMFS will

publish a record of its final action in the

Federal Register.

Dated: May 24, 2000.

Wanda L. Cain,

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office

of Protected Resources, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–13431 Filed 5–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[Docket No. 000204026–0136–02; I.D.

121799A]

RIN 0648–AN48

Tautog; Interstate Fishery Management

Plans; Cancellation of Moratorium

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of determination of

compliance; cancellation of moratorium.

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Commerce

(Secretary) announces the cancellation

of the Federal moratorium on fishing for

tautog in the coastal waters of the State

of Rhode Island that would have been

implemented on June 15, 2000. The

Secretary has canceled the moratorium

as required by the Atlantic Coastal

Fisheries Cooperative Management Act

(Act), based on his determination that

the State of Rhode Island is now in

compliance with the Atlantic States

Marine Fisheries Commission’s

(Commission) Interstate Fishery

Management Plan (ISFMP) for tautog,

after the Commission had notified the

Secretary that it was withdrawing its

determination of noncompliance.

DATES: Effective May 30, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard H. Schaefer, Chief, Staff Office

for Intergovernmental and Recreational

Fisheries, NMFS, 301–427–2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On February 15, 2000, NMFS

published a document in the Federal

Register (FR) (65 FR 7508) announcing

the Secretary’s determination that the

State of Rhode Island was not in

compliance with the Commission’s

ISFMP for tautog for not implementing

and enforcing the recreational bag limit

contained in the ISFMP for tautog. In

the document a moratorium was

declared on fishing for tautog in Rhode

Island state waters that would be made

effective on June 15, 2000, if Rhode

Island was not in compliance by June 1,

2000. Details were provided in the

February 15, 2000, FR document and are

not repeated here.

The Act specifies that, if, after a

moratorium is declared with respect to

a State, the Secretary is notified by the

Commission that it is withdrawing the

determination of noncompliance, the

Secretary shall immediately determine

whether the State is in compliance with

the applicable plan. If the State is

determined to be in compliance, the

moratorium shall be terminated.

Activities Pursuant to the Act

On April 28, 2000, the Secretary

received a letter from the Commission

prepared pursuant to the Act. The

Commission’s letter stated that the State

of Rhode Island had taken corrective

action to comply with the Commission’s

ISFMP for tautog, and, therefore, the

Commission was withdrawing its

determination of noncompliance.

Cancellation of the Moratorium

Based on the Commission’s April 28,

2000, letter, information received from

the State of Rhode Island, and the

Secretary’s review of Rhode Island’s

revised regulations, which adopted a

recreational bag limit of 3 tautog from

May 1—October 14 annually, and 10

tautog from October 15—December 31

annually with a size limit of 16 inches

total length, the Secretary concurs with

the Commission’s determination that

Rhode Island is now in compliance with

the Commission’s ISFMP for tautog.

This combination of measures is listed

in Table 14 of the ISFMP for tautog as

an acceptable means of achieving the

required recreational harvest reduction.

This combination achieves a 57–percent

reduction whereas the ISFMP requires a

55–percent reduction. Therefore, the

moratorium on fishing for these species

in Rhode Island waters is canceled.

Dated: May 22, 2000.

Penelope D. Dalton,

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–13373 Filed 5–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 052200A]

International Whaling Commission;

Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.