Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 227 / Monday, November 27, 2006 / Notices 68555 

Individuals and representatives of 

organizations who would like to offer 

comments and suggestions related to the 

Committee’s affairs, or the WTC 

Investigation are invited to request a 

place on the agenda. Approximately 

one-half hour will be reserved for public 

comments, and speaking times will be 

assigned on a first-come, first-served 

basis. The amount of time per speaker 

will be determined by the number of 

requests received, but is likely to be 5 

minutes each. Questions from the public 

will not be considered during this 

period. Speakers who wish to expand 

upon their oral statements, those who 

had wished to speak but could not be 

accommodated on the agenda, and those 

who were unable to attend in person are 

invited to submit written statements to 

the National Construction Safety Team 

Advisory Committee, National Institute 

of Standards and Technology, 100 

Bureau Drive, MS 8611, Gaithersburg, 

MD 20899–8611, via fax at (301) 975–

6122, or electronically by e-mail to 

ncstac@nist.gov. 

Since the meeting will be held by 

teleconference, all those wishing to 

speak must submit their request by 

e-mail to the attention of Mr. Stephen 

Cauffman, cauffman@nist.gov by 5 p.m. 

EST on December 12, 2006. Instructions 

on how and when to call in for the 

public comment period will be provided 

to registered speakers by e-mail on 

December 13, 2006. 

Dated: November 16, 2006. 

James E. Hill, 

Deputy Director. 

[FR Doc. E6–20010 Filed 11–24–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

National Voluntary Laboratory 

Accreditation Program Workshop for 

Laboratories Interested in the Personal 

Body Armor Testing Program 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Public Workshop. 

SUMMARY: The National Voluntary 

Laboratory Accreditation Program 

(NVLAP) will hold a public workshop 

on December 8, 2006, at the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) headquarters in Gaithersburg, 

MD. The purpose of the workshop is the 

exchange of information among NVLAP, 

the NIST Office of Law Enforcement 

Standards (OLES), the National Institute 

of Justice’s (NIJ) National Law 

Enforcement and Corrections 

Technology Center (NLECTC), 

laboratories interested in seeking 

accreditation for the testing of personal 

body armor, and other interested 

parties. The results of the workshop 

discussions will be used in the 

development of the NVLAP Personal 

Body Armor Program. 

There is no charge for the workshop; 

however, because of security 

regulations, advance registration is 

mandatory. There will be no on-site, 

same-day registration. The registration 

deadline is Wednesday, December 6, 

2006. Please note admittance 

instructions under the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of this notice. 

DATES: The workshop will be held on 

Friday, December 8, 2006, from 9 a.m. 

to 4:30 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held 

in the Administration Building 

(Building 101), Lecture Room B, 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, 

Gaithersburg, MD, 20899. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Hazel M. Richmond, (301) 975–3024, 

e-mail: hazel.richmond@nist.gov. The 

mailing address is 100 Bureau Drive, 

Mail Stop 2140, Gaithersburg, MD, 

20899–2140. Information regarding 

NVLAP and the accreditation process 

can be viewed at http://www.nist.gov/ 

nvlap. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

response to a request from the U.S. 

Department of Justice (DOJ), National 

Institute of Justice (NIJ) and Office of 

Science and Technology, the NIST 

National Voluntary Laboratory 

Accreditation Program (NVLAP) is 

considering establishing an 

accreditation program for laboratories 

that test ballistic- and stab-resistant 

body armor models. 

NVLAP accreditation criteria are 

established in accordance with the Code 

of Federal Regulations (CFR, title 15, 

Part 285), NVLAP Procedures and 

General Requirements. To be accredited 

by NVLAP, laboratories conducting 

testing of personal body armor will be 

required to meet ISO/IEC International 

Standard 17025, general requirements 

for the competence of testing and 

calibration laboratories. In addition, for 

each new laboratory accreditation 

program (LAP), NVLAP works with the 

affected testing community to develop 

program-specific technical 

requirements. These requirements tailor 

the general accreditation criteria 

referenced in Sections 4 and 5 of the 

NIST Handbook 150 to the test and 

services in the new LAP. Programspecific requirements include the 

details of the scope of accreditation, test 

and measurement equipment, personnel 

requirements, validation of test 

methods, and reporting of test results. 

NVLAP accreditation does not imply 

any guarantee (certification) of 

laboratory performance or test/ 

calibration data. NVLAP accreditation is 

a finding of laboratory competence. All 

visitors to the NIST site are required to 

pre-register to be admitted. Anyone 

wishing to attend this meeting must 

register by close of business Wednesday, 

December 6, 2006, in order to attend. 

Please submit your name, time of 

arrival, e-mail address and phone 

number to Hazel M. Richmond and she 

will provide you with instructions for 

admittance. 

Non-U.S. citizens must also submit 

their country of citizenship, title, 

employer/sponsor, and address. Ms. 

Richmond’s e-mail address is 

hazel.richmond@nist.gov and her phone 

number is (301) 975–3024. 

Dated: November 16, 2006. 

James E. Hill, 

Acting Deputy Director. 

[FR Doc. E6–19958 Filed 11–24–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[I.D. 110206F] 

Notice of Availability of Final 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Final Green Diamond Resource 

Company Aquatic Habitat 

Conservation Plan/Candidate 

Conservation Agreement with 

Assurances, Del Norte and Humboldt 

Counties, CA 

AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries 

Service, National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce; Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) and the Fish and Wildlife 

Service (FWS) (together, the Services) 

advise the public of the availability of 

the Final EIS on the applications by 

Simpson Resource Company, now 

Green Diamond Resource Company 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
68556 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 227 / Monday, November 27, 2006 / Notices 

(Green Diamond), for a Section 10 

incidental take permit and an 

enhancement of survival permit 

(together, the Permits), and a Final 

multi-species Aquatic Habitat 

Conservation Plan/ Candidate 

Conservation Agreement with 

Assurances (AHCP/CCAA, or Plan) 

pursuant to the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (ESA). The 

Services and Green Diamond also have 

developed an Implementation 

Agreement. The applicant seeks the 

Permits to authorize incidental take of 

specified covered species, including 

some that may become listed during the 

term of the Permits. The Permits are 

sought to authorize incidental take of 

the covered species during forest 

management and timber harvest in Del 

Norte and Humboldt Counties, CA, 

where Green Diamond owns lands or 

harvesting rights, during the term of the 

proposed 50 year Permits and Plan. 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

applicable NEPA regulations (40 CFR 

1506.6) to inform the public of the 

proposed action, and to make available 

for 30 days’ review the Final EIS, Plan, 

and Implementation Agreement. The 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

also is publishing a similar notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before December 27, 

2006. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent by 

any of the following methods: 

• Mail: Please sed comments to Mr. 

John Clancy, National Marine Fisheries 

Service, Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office, 

1655 Heindon Road, Arcata, California 

95521. 

• E-mail: Comments can be submitted 

by e-mail to GDR.FEIS@noaa.gov. 

• Fax: You may fax comments to 

(707) 822–8411. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Amedee Brickey, Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office, 

1655 Heindon Road, Arcata, CA 95521, 

(707) 822–7201; or Mr. John P. Clancy, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, 1655 

Heindon Road, Arcata, CA 95521, (707) 

825–5175. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Documents 

Copies of the Final EIS, Plan, 

Applications for Permits and 

Implementation Agreement are available 

for public inspection during regular 

business hours at the Arcata National 

Marine Fisheries Office and Arcata Fish 

and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT). 

The documents can also be 

downloaded from the World Wide Web 

at http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov. Copies are 

also available for viewing in each of the 

following libraries: 

1. Eureka Main Library, 1313 3rd 

Street, Eureka, CA; Telephone: (707) 

269–1900 

2. Fortuna Branch, Humboldt County 

Library, 775 14th Street, Fortuna, CA; 

Telephone: (707) 725–3460 

3. Arcata Branch, Humboldt County 

Library, 500 7th Street, Arcata, CA; 

Telephone: (707) 822–5924 

4. Crescent City Library, 190 Price 

Mall, Crescent City, CA; Telephone: 

(707) 464–9793 

Background Information 

Section 9 of the ESA and Federal 

regulation prohibit the taking of an 

animal 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. ‘‘Harm’’

has been defined by FWS to include 

‘‘significant habitat modification or 

degradation where it actually kills or 

injures wildlife by significantly 

impairing essential behavioral patterns, 

including breeding, feeding, and 

sheltering.’’ Consistent with FWS, 

NMFS has defined ‘‘harm’’ as an act 

which actually kills or injures fish or 

wildlife, and emphasizes that such acts 

may include ‘‘significant habitat 

modification or degradation which 

actually kills or injures fish or wildlife 

by significantly impairing essential 

behavioral patterns, including breeding, 

spawning, rearing, migrating, feeding, or 

sheltering.’’

The Services may issue two types of 

permits under section 10(a) of the ESA 

to non-federal landowners to take listed 

species, under certain terms and 

conditions. FWS’ regulations governing 

permits for threatened and endangered 

species are promulgated at 50 CFR 17.32 

and 50 CFR 17.22; NMFS’ regulations 

governing permits for threatened and 

endangered species are promulgated at 

50 CFR 222.307. Green Diamond has 

prepared their Plan to satisfy the 

application requirements for a section 

10(a)(1)(B) incidental take permit under 

the ESA for, listed and non-listed, 

covered species under the jurisdiction 

of NMFS. Green Diamond’s Plan was 

also prepared to satisfy the application 

requirements for a section 10(a)(1)(A) 

enhancement of survival permit under 

the ESA for non-listed covered species 

under the jurisdiction of the FWS. 

Though the names of these two 

permitting tools are different, the goals 

are similar, and the strategies for 

achieving those goals can overlap. Green 

Diamond’s conservation strategy was 

designed to fulfill section 10(a)(1)(A) 

and section 10(a)(1)(B) permit 

requirements in a single Plan. If the Plan 

is approved and the Permits issued, take 

authorization of covered listed species 

would be effective at the time of permit 

issuance. Take of the currently nonlisted species would be authorized 

concurrent with species’ listing under 

the ESA, should they be listed during 

the duration of the Permits. 

Green Diamond owns and manages 

approximately 439,000 acres of 

commercial timberland in Del Norte and 

Humboldt Counties, CA. Approximately 

417,000 acres of this property occurs in 

watersheds with habitat important to 

the conservation of salmonid species in 

the North Coast region of California, 

including, but not limited to, the 

Winchuck River, Smith River, Klamath 

River and its tributaries, Redwood 

Creek, Little River, Mad River, 

tributaries to Humboldt Bay, Eel River, 

the Van Duzen River and others. Some 

forest management and timber harvest 

activities have the potential to impact 

species subject to protection under the 

ESA. 

Green Diamond has developed a Plan, 

with technical assistance from the 

Services, to obtain Permits for take 

incidental to specified covered activities 

on approximately 417,000 acres of its 

commercial timberlands. Activities 

proposed for Permit coverage include 

the following: timber-product harvest; 

forest product transportation; road and 

landing construction, use, maintenance 

and decommissioning; site preparation; 

tree planting; silvicultural thinning; 

controlled burns; rock quarries and 

borrow pit operations; aquatic habitat 

restoration; and the management, 

harvest, and sale of minor forest 

products. The Plan also covers certain 

monitoring activities and related 

scientific experiments in the Plan area. 

The proposed duration of the Plan is 50 

years. 

Green Diamond seeks a section 

10(a)(1)(B) incidental take permit from 

NMFS that would authorize the take of 

fish in two Evolutionarily Significant 

Units (ESUs) and one Distinct 

Population Segment (DPS), which are 

listed as threatened, incidental to 

otherwise lawful management activities: 

California Coastal Chinook salmon 

(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) ESU, 

Southern Oregon/Northern California 

Coast coho salmon (O. kisutch) ESU, 

and Northern California steelhead (O. 

mykiss) DPS. Green Diamond also is 

seeking coverage of fish in three 

unlisted ESUs (Klamath Mountains 

Province steelhead ESU, Upper 

Klamath/Trinity Rivers Chinook salmon 

ESU, and Southern Oregon and 

Northern California Coastal Chinook 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 227 / Monday, November 27, 2006 / Notices 68557 

salmon ESU) under specific provisions 

of the incidental take permit, should 

these species be listed in the future. 

Green Diamond also has requested a 

section 10(a)(1)(A) enhancement of 

survival permit from FWS that would 

authorize the take of the non-listed 

coastal cutthroat trout (O. clarki clarki), 

rainbow trout (O. mykiss), southern 

torrent salamander (Rhyacotriton 

variegatus), and tailed frog (Ascaphus 

truei) under specific provisions of the 

enhancement of survival permit, should 

these species be listed in the future. 

On July 11, 2000, the Services 

formally initiated an environmental 

review of the project through a Notice 

of Intent to prepare an EIS in the 

Federal Register (65 FR 42674). The 

project proponent was Simpson Timber 

Company. In December of 2001, 

Simpson Timber Company transferred 

all of its timberlands to Simpson 

Resource Company, and Simpson 

Resource Company became the project 

proponent. The Notice of Intent also 

announced a 30–day public scoping 

period, during which other agencies, 

tribes, and the public were invited to 

provide comments and suggestions 

regarding issues and alternatives to be 

included in the EIS. Four public scoping 

meetings were held over a two-day 

period on July 11 and July 12, 2000, in 

Eureka and Crescent City, California, 

and a series of six informational 

meetings with cooperating agencies and 

local tribal groups also were held in 

August and September 2000. 

On August 16, 2002, the Services 

published a Notice of Availability of the 

Draft Simpson Resource Company 

Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plan/ 

Candidate Conservation Agreement with 

Assurances and Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement, Del Norte and 

Humboldt Counties, California in the 

Federal Register (67 FR 53567). The 

public review period was scheduled for 

90 days from August 16, 2002, to 

November 14, 2002. Two public 

meetings were held on September 4, 

2002, in Eureka, California. A total of 20 

oral questions and comments were 

received from two public meetings, and 

25 comment letters were received, 

comprising 1,267 separate comments. A 

response to each of these comments is 

included in the Final EIS. 

Effective May 1, 2004, Simpson 

Resource Company, the project 

proponent, changed its name to Green 

Diamond Resource Company, and the 

Final EIS reflects that change. 

The Final EIS is intended to 

accomplish the following: Inform the 

public of the proposed action and 

alternatives; disclose the direct, 

indirect, and cumulative environmental 

effects of the proposed action and each 

of the alternatives; and indicate any 

irreversible commitment of resources 

that would result from implementation 

of the proposed action. 

Alternatives 

The Final EIS analyzes Green 

Diamond’s proposal and four 

alternatives. Under the Proposed 

Action, the Services would issue the 

Permits and Green Diamond would 

implement their proposed Plan on 

approximately 417,000 acres of Green 

Diamond ’s California timberlands. 

Under the No Action Alternative, 

Permits would not be issued and Green 

Diamond would remain subject to the 

prohibition on unauthorized taking of 

listed species. Under a Listed Species 

Only Alternative (Alternative A), the 

Services would issue Permits only for 

currently listed species. The Simplified 

Prescriptions Alternative (Alternative B) 

would provide coverage for the same 

species as the Proposed Action, with 

modified management obligations. The 

Expanded Species/Geographic Area 

Alternative (Alternative C) would 

expand the area of coverage and the 

number of species covered under the 

Permits. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Proposed permit issuance triggers the 

need for compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 

accordingly the Services have prepared 

a joint NEPA document. The Services 

are Co-Leads responsible for compliance 

under NEPA. As NEPA Co-Lead 

agencies, the Services are providing 

notice of the availability of the Final EIS 

and are making available for public 

review the responses to comments on 

the Draft EIS. 

Public Review 

The Services invite the public to 

review the Final EIS, Plan, and 

Implementing Agreement during a 30–

day waiting period [see DATES]. Any 

comments received, including names 

and addresses, will become part of the 

administrative records and may be made 

available to the public. 

Our practice is to make comments, 

including names, home addresses, home 

phone numbers, and email addresses of 

respondents, available for public 

review. Individual respondents may 

request that we withhold their names 

and /or homes addresses, etc., but if you 

wish us to consider withholding this 

information you must state this 

prominently at the beginning of your 

comments. In addition, you must 

present a rationale for withholding this 

information. This rationale must 

demonstrate that disclosure would 

constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of privacy. Unsupported 

assertions will not meet this burden. In 

the absence of exceptional, 

documentable circumstances, this 

information will be released. We will 

always make submissions from 

organization or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives of or officials of 

organizations or businesses, available 

for public inspection in their entirety. 

The Services will evaluate the 

application, associated documents, and 

comments submitted to them in 

preparation of the two Records of 

Decision. Permit decisions will be made 

no sooner than 30 days after the 

publication of the Final EIS and 

completion of the Records of Decision. 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

section 10(a) of the Federal ESA and the 

applicable regulations for implementing 

NEPA, as amended (40 CFR 1506.6). We 

provide this notice in order to allow the 

public, agencies, or other organizations 

the opportunity to review these 

documents. 

Dated: November 16, 2006. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

Dated: November 7, 2006. 

Ken McDermond, 

Deputy Operations Manager, California/ 

Nevada Operations Office, Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 06–9408 Filed 11–24–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODES 3510–22–S, 4310–55–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 101206B] 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Exempted Fishing, Scientific Research, 

Display Permits, and Chartering 

Permits 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to 

issue Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs), 

Scientific Research Permits (SRPs), 

Display Permits, Letters of 

Acknowledgment (LOAs) and 

Chartering Permits for the collection of 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES