Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 77 / Thursday, April 21, 2016 / Proposed Rules 23447 

compliance with these regulations 

during routine vessel operations and 

during training exercises designed to 

make USCG personnel ready for search 

and rescue missions and use of force 

missions using live fire exercises. 

NOAA is concerned with protecting 

sanctuary resources and habitats, 

resolving any conflicts that could occur 

among sanctuary user groups (e.g., 

fishing and USCG live fire training), and 

ensuring continued USCG enforcement 

of sanctuary regulations. 

To ensure the rule did not impair 

USCG operations necessary to fulfill its 

multi-purpose missions while the 

agencies were in consultation, the 

document postponed for six months the 

effective date for the discharge 

requirements in the expansion areas for 

both sanctuaries with regard to USCG 

activities. NOAA committed to 

considering exempting certain USCG 

discharge activities from the GFNMS 

and CBNMS regulations. An additional 

six month postponement of the 

effectiveness of the discharge 

requirements was published in the 

Federal Register December 1, 2015, to 

provide adequate time for completion of 

an environmental assessment and to 

determine NOAA’s action. Without 

further NOAA action, the discharge 

regulations would become effective with 

regard to USCG activities on June 9, 

2016. 

Potential Options 

NOAA is exploring a variety of 

options on how to best protect sanctuary 

resources while ensuring the 

operational capacity for USCG to 

conduct mission-essential activities. 

NOAA has identified two options for 

this: 1. Changing the regulations to 

allow USCG discharges; and 2. issuing 

a national marine sanctuary general 

permit, if the activity is eligible for a 

permit and is conducted in accordance 

with the terms and conditions in the 

permit (see http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/ 

management/permits/). In either case, 

discharges could be allowed in all 

waters of the sanctuaries; only in 

Federal waters (further than 3 nautical 

miles from shore); in certain zones 

delineated based on biological factors 

(such as oceanographic features or 

density of significant species) and other 

factors (such as high use for recreation, 

shipping, or other human activities); in 

the expanded waters of CBNMS and 

GFNMS based on the March 12, 2015 

rulemaking; or not at all. NOAA is 

interested in receiving public comment 

on the best way to address the need for 

continued USCG operations in CBNMS 

and GFNMS while fulfilling its primary 

objective of resource protection in 

national marine sanctuaries. 

Request for Information 

NOAA anticipates that these changes, 

whether regulatory or non-regulatory 

will require preparation of an 

environmental assessment under the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA). Therefore, NOAA is also 

interested in receiving public comment 

that could contribute to the 

environmental analysis that will be 

prepared for this action; specifically, 

information related to the potential 

impacts of Coast Guard operational 

vessel discharges of sewage and 

graywater and training discharges 

within GFNMS and CBNMS on 

biological, physical and oceanographic 

features of the sanctuaries as well as on 

human activities taking place in the 

sanctuaries. 

Timeline 

The process for this action is 

composed of four major stages: 

1. Information collection and 

characterization (scoping); 2. 

preparation and release of a draft 

environmental assessment under NEPA, 

and any proposed amendments to the 

regulations if appropriate; 3. public 

review and comment; 4. preparation and 

release of a final environmental 

assessment, and any final amendments 

to the regulations if appropriate. This 

document also advises the public that 

NOAA will coordinate any consultation 

responsibilities under section 7 of the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA), 

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) under the 

Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation 

and Management Act (MSA), section 

106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act (NHPA, 16 U.S.C. 470), 

and Federal Consistency review under 

the Coastal Zone Management Act 

(CZMA), along with its ongoing NEPA 

process including the use of NEPA 

documents and public and stakeholder 

meetings to also meet the requirements 

of other federal laws. 

In fulfilling its responsibility under 

the NHPA and NEPA, NOAA intends to 

identify consulting parties; identify 

historic properties and assess the effects 

of the undertaking on such properties; 

initiate formal consultation with the 

State Historic Preservation Officer, the 

Advisory Council of Historic 

Preservation, and other consulting 

parties as appropriate; involve the 

public in accordance with NOAA’s 

NEPA procedures, and develop in 

consultation with identified consulting 

parties alternatives and proposed 

measures that might avoid, minimize or 

mitigate any adverse effects on historic 

properties as appropriate and describe 

them in any environmental assessment 

or draft environmental impact 

statement. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq. 

Dated: April 15, 2016. 

John Armor, 

Acting Director for the Office of National 

Marine Sanctuaries. 

[FR Doc. 2016–09248 Filed 4–20–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–NK–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R06–OAR–2016–0132; FRL–9945–08– 

Region 6] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; State of 

Louisiana; Revisions to the State 

Implementation Plan; Fee Regulations 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve 

revisions to the Louisiana State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) related to the 

Fee Regulations section of the Louisiana 

SIP that were submitted by the State of 

Louisiana on February 23, 2016. The 

EPA has evaluated the SIP submittal 

from Louisiana and preliminarily 

determined these revisions are 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Clean Air Act (Act or CAA). The EPA 

is proposing this action under section 

110 of the Act. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

received on or before May 23, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket No. EPA–R06– 

OAR–2016–0132, at http://

www.regulations.gov or via email to 

donaldson.tracie@epa.gov. For 

additional information on how to 

submit comments see the detailed 

instructions in the ADDRESSES section of 

the direct final rule located in the rules 

section of this Federal Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tracie Donaldson, 214–665–6633, 

donaldson.tracie@epa.gov. To inspect 

the hard copy materials, please schedule 

an appointment with Tracie Donaldson 

or Bill Deese at 214–665–7253. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

final rules section of this Federal 

Register, the EPA is approving the 

State’s SIP submittal as a direct rule 

without prior proposal because the 

Agency views this as a noncontroversial 


jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
23448 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 77 / Thursday, April 21, 2016 / Proposed Rules 

submittal and anticipates no adverse 

comments. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no relevant adverse comments 

are received in response to this action, 

no further activity is contemplated. If 

the EPA receives relevant adverse 

comments, the direct final rule will be 

withdrawn and all public comments 

received will be addressed in a 

subsequent final rule based on this 

proposed rule. The EPA will not 

institute a second comment period. Any 

parties interested in commenting on this 

action should do so at this time. 

For additional information, see the 

direct final rule which is located in the 

rules section of this Federal Register. 

Dated: April 6, 2016. 

Ron Curry, 

Regional Administrator, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 2016–09065 Filed 4–20–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 424 

[Docket Nos. FWS–HQ–ES–2015–0016; DOC 

150506429–5429–01; 4500030113] 

RIN 1018–BA53; 0648–BF06 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Revisions to the 

Regulations for Petitions 

AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(FWS), Interior; National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS), National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; revision and 

reopening of comment period. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service and the National 

Marine Fisheries Service (Services), 

announce revisions to the May 21, 2015, 

proposed rule that would revise the 

regulations pertaining to submission of 

petitions and the reopening of the 

public comment period. In this 

document, we are setting forth modified 

proposed amendments to the 

regulations based on comments and 

information we received during the May 

21, 2015, proposed rule’s public 

comment period. We are reopening the 

comment period to allow all interested 

parties an opportunity to comment on 

these revisions, as described in this 

document, and on the information 

collection requirements. Comments 

previously submitted need not be 

resubmitted, as they have been 

considered in development of this 

revised proposed rule and will be fully 

considered in preparation of the final 

rule. 

DATES: We will consider comments 

received or postmarked on or before 

May 23, 2016. Comments submitted 

electronically using the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES, 

below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time on the closing date. 

Comments on the information collection 

aspects of this proposed rule must be 

received on or before May 23, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the Proposed 

Rule. You may submit comments by one 

of the following methods: 

• Electronically: Go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, 

enter the docket number for this 

proposed rule, which is FWS–HQ–ES– 

2015–0016. Then click on the Search 

button. In the Search panel on the left 

side of the screen, under the Document 

Type heading, click on the Proposed 

Rules link to locate this document. You 

may submit a comment by clicking on 

‘‘Comment Now!’’ Please ensure that 

you have found the correct document 

before submitting your comment. 

• By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail 

or hand delivery to: Public Comments 

Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–HQ– 

ES–2015–0016; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, MS: BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike, 

Falls Church, VA 22041–3803. 

We will post all comments on 

http://www.regulations.gov. This 

generally means that we will post any 

personal information you provide us 

(see Request for Information, below, for 

more information). 

If you submit information via http:// 

www.regulations.gov, your entire 

submission—including any personal 

identifying information—will be posted 

on the Web site. If your submission is 

made via a hardcopy that includes 

personal identifying information, you 

may request at the top of your document 

that we withhold this personal 

identifying information from public 

review. However, we cannot guarantee 

that we will be able to do so. We will 

post all hardcopy submissions on 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Comments on the Information 

Collection Aspects of the Proposed Rule: 

You may review the Information 

Collection Request online at http://

www.reginfo.gov. Follow the 

instructions to review Department of the 

Interior collections under review by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). Send comments (identified by 

1018–BA53) specific to the information 

collection aspects of this proposed rule 

to both the: 

• Desk Officer for the Department of 

the Interior at OMB–OIRA at (202) 295– 

5806 (fax) or OIRA_Submission@

omb.eop.gov (email); and 

• Service Information Collection 

Clearance Officer; Division of Policy, 

Performance, and Management 

Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, MS: BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike; 

Falls Church, VA 22041–3803 (mail); or 

hope_grey@fws.gov (email). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bridget Fahey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Division of Conservation and 

Classification, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls 

Church, VA 22041–3803, telephone 

703–358–2171, facsimile 703–358–1735; 

or Angela Somma, National Marine 

Fisheries Service, Office of Protected 

Resources, 1315 East-West Highway, 

Silver Spring, MD 20910, telephone 

301–427–8403. If you use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD), call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On May 21, 2015, the Services 

proposed revising the regulations at 50 

CFR 424.14 concerning petitions to 

improve the content and specificity of 

petitions and to enhance the efficiency 

and effectiveness of the petition process 

to support species conservation (80 FR 

29286). Our revisions to § 424.14 are 

intended to clarify and enhance the 

procedures and standards by which the 

Services will evaluate petitions under 

section 4(b)(3) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA 

or Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and to 

provide greater clarity to the public on 

the petition-submission process and, 

thereby, assist petitioners in providing 

complete, robust petitions. The 

proposed changes will improve the 

quality of petitions through expanded 

content requirements and guidelines, 

and, in so doing, better focus the 

Services’ resources on species that merit 

further analysis. However, in response 

to the comments and information we 

received during the May 21, 2015, 

proposed rule’s public comment period, 

the Services are revising the proposed 

rule to streamline the process for 

according States notice of petitions, to 

reduce the amount of information that 

would need to be submitted with 

petitions, and to provide additional 

clarifications. It is our intent to discuss 

here only those topics directly relevant 


jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS