Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 153 / Friday, August 8, 1997 / Notices 42767

Office of Sustainable Fisheries, NMFS

1315 East-West Highway

Silver Spring, MD 20910

301–713–2276

Reduction of Incidental Catch of

Seabirds in Longline Fisheries

Tens of thousands of seabirds are

being killed incidental to various

commercial longline fisheries in the

world. Some of the seabirds are species

of management concern and

populations of several other seabird

species may be declining because of

longline bycatches. Seabird bycatch also

has an adverse impact on catch rates

and profitability of fishing operations.

Governments, nongovernmental

organizations, and commercial fishery

associations are petitioning for

regulatory measures to reduce the

mortality of seabirds in the world’s

longline fisheries.

The goal for the Seabird TWG and the

subsequent FAO Consultation is to

produce an action plan to implement

FAO guidelines on mitigating measures

to reduce incidental catches of seabirds

in longline fisheries. Japan and the U.S.

will co-host the session, and the U.S. colead agencies are NMFS and the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

NMFS Contact: Kim Rivera

National Marine Fisheries Service

Fisheries Management Division

P.O. Box 21668

Juneau, AK 99802

907–586–7228

FWS Contact: Kent Wohl

Migratory Bird Management

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

1011 East Tudor

Anchorage, AK 99503

907–783–3503

Shark Conservation and Management

Global landings of sharks and related

species have dramatically increased in

recent years. Sharks are particularly

vulnerable to overexploitation due to

life history characteristics, particularly

relatively low rates of reproduction. In

addition, fishing mortality due to

bycatch exceeds that due to directed

fisheries. The expanding international

market for shark fins, cartilage, meat,

and skins is an important factor

motivating recent increased mortality.

An international consensus is

emerging on the need for improved

control of fishing effort on sharks and

related species by both directed and

bycatch fleets. The goal for the

upcoming Shark TWG and subsequent

FAO Consultation is to develop a global

strategy (action plan) and guidelines for

sustainable international and regional

management of elasmobranch species by

national, regional, and highly migratory

management groups.

The intent of the strategy is to provide

an effective web of management regimes

sufficient to arrest the declines of

sharks, skates, and rays where they have

occurred and to put the harvest of these

species on a sustainable basis.

NMFS Contact: Dean Swanson

International Fisheries Division

National Marine Fisheries Service

1315 East-West Highway

Silver Spring, MD 20910

301–713–2276

Dated: August 4, 1997.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–20925 Filed 8–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 072897E]

South Atlantic Fishery Management

Council; Public Scoping Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery

Management Council (Council) will

hold an Atlantic Coastal Cooperative

Statistics Program (ACCSP) public

scoping meeting and a public scoping

meeting on dolphin fish management.

DATES: The meetings will be held from

August 18–20, 1997, in conjunction

with the Council meeting. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific

dates and times.

ADDRESSES: The scoping meetings will

be held at the Town and Country Inn,

2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston,

SC; telephone: (803) 571–1000 or (800)

334–6660.

Council address: South Atlantic

Fishery Management Council, One

Southpark Circle, Suite 306; Charleston,

SC 29407–4699.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Buchanan, Public Information

Officer; telephone: (803) 571–4366; fax:

(803) 769–4520; E-mail address:

susan.buchanan@noaa.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

ACCSP public scoping meeting will be

held August 18, 1997, from 6:00 p.m.

until all business is complete. The

purpose of this scoping meeting is to

provide members of the public an

opportunity to express their views on

ways to improve commercial and

recreational fisheries data collection.

The public scoping meeting on

dolphin management will be held

August 20, 1997, from 6:00 p.m. until all

business is complete. The purpose of

this scoping meeting is to provide

members of the public an opportunity to

express their views on the need for and

the type of management the Council

should consider for the dolphin fish

resource.

Special Accommodations

These meetings are physically

accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to the Council office

(see ADDRESSES) by August 11, 1997.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: August 4, 1997.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–20954 Filed 8–5–97; 11:27 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

Defense Intelligence Agency, Science

and Technology Advisory Board;

Closed Meeting

AGENCY: Department of Defense, Defense

Intelligence Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of

Subsection (d) of Section 10 of Public

Law 92–463, as amended by Section 5

of Public Law 94–409, notice is hereby

given that a closed meeting of the DIA

Science and technology Advisory board

has been scheduled as follows:

DATES: 21 August 1997 (8 a.m. to 4

p.m.).

ADDRESSES: The Defense Intelligence

Agency, Bolling AFB, Washington, DC

20340–5100.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Maj. Michael W. Lamb, USAF,

Executive Secretary, DIA Science and

Technology Advisory Board,

Washington, DC 20340–1328 (202) 231–

4930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The entire

meeting is devoted to the discussion of

classified information as defined in

Section 552b(c)(I), Title 5 of the U.S.

Code and therefore will be closed to the

public. The Board will receive briefings

on and discuss several current critical

intelligence issues and advise the

Director, DIA, on related scientific and

technical matters.
42768 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 153 / Friday, August 8, 1997 / Notices

Dated: August 4, 1997.

L.M. Bynum,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison

Officer, Department of Defense.

[FR Doc. 97–20902 Filed 8–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 5000–04–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Air Force

Notice of Comment Period Extension

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(DEIS) for the Enhanced Training in

Idaho Proposal Mountain Home Air

Force Base, ID

The Air Force and the Bureau of Land

Management are extending the public

comment period for the Enhanced

Training in Idaho DEIS to September 8,

1997. The DEIS prepared by the Air

Force in accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act and the

Federal Land Policy and Management

Act and its associated regulations for

public land withdrawals, was released

for public comment on May 9, 1997.

The Bureau of Land Management is a

cooperating agency for the

environmental and land renewal

processes associated with the proposed

action.

The DEIS analyses three range

development alternatives to enhance

training for the 366th Wing, Mountain

Home AFB, Idaho, as well as a NoAction alternative. Development of one

of the range alternatives would

substantially enhance the realism,

quality, and flexibility of local training.

Each of the three range development

alternatives includes a ground

component and an airspace component.

The ground component consists of

development of a 12,000-acre tactical

air-to-ground training range, 5 no-drop

targets, 30 electronic emitter sites, and

an associated road network, all of which

would be located on federal and State of

Idaho school endowment lands. For use

of the federal lands, the Air Force

proposes to initiate a Department of

Defense military withdrawal under the

Engle Act for the larger portions and to

obtain rights-of-way from the Bureau of

Land Management for the smaller

portions. For use of the state school

endowment lands, the Air Force

proposes to enter into lease agreements

with the State of Idaho. The airspace

component of the three alternatives

would involve modification of special

use airspace, including establishment of

restricted airspace over the tactical

training range and reconfiguration and

expansion of existing Military

Operations Areas (MOAs), under

approval of the Federal Aviation

Administration.

Written comments on this document

should be directed to U.S. Air Force/

Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box

329, Boise, ID 83702–0329; for

telephone inquiries, please contact Capt.

Melissa Miller, Chief 366th Wing Public

Affairs, Mountain Home Air Force Base,

ID, (208) 828–6800.

Barbara A. Carmichael,

Alternate Air Force Federal Register Liaison

Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–20909 Filed 8–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3901–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[FERC–525]

Proposed Information Collection and

Request for Comments

August 4, 1997.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed information

collection and request for comments.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

requirements of Section 3506(c)(2) (2)

(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (Pub. L. No. 104–13), the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission

(Commission) is soliciting public

comment on the specific aspects of the

information collection described below.

DATES: Consideration will be given to

comments submitted on or before

October 7, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed

collection of information can be

obtained from and written comments

may be submitted to the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, Attn: Michael

Miller, Information Services Division,

ED–12.4, 888 First Street NE,

Washington, DC 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Miller may be reached by

telephone at (202) 208–1415, by fax at

(202) 273–0873, and by e-mail at

mmiller@ferc.fed.us.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

information collected under the

requirements of FERC–525 ‘‘Financial

Audits’’ (OMB No. 1902–0092) is used

by the Commission to implement the

statutory provisions of Sections 4(b),

301(b), 302, 307 and 308 of the Federal

Power Act (FPA), 16 U.S.C. 792–8280,

Sections 6, 8(b), 9 and 10 of the Natural

Gas Act (NGA), and Sections 19 and 20

of the Interstate Commerce Act, 49

U.S.C. 20. FERC–525 involves field

audits of books and records of public

utilities and licenses, natural gas

companies and oil pipeline carriers.

The Commission periodically

performs audits to ensure that

companies’ financial records conform

with the Commission’s accounting,

financial reporting, and other

regulations established under the

mandatory provisions of the statutes

listed above. Also audits are conducted

to assess and evaluate the regulatory

implication of certain industry

accounting practices and standards.

Over time, more of the audit focus will

be shifted to the later type of audits. The

Commission implements these filing

requirements in the Code of Federal

Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR parts

41, 101, 104, 125, 141, 158, 201, 225,

260, 351, 352, 356, 357.

Action: The Commission is requesting

a three-year extension of the current

expiration date.

Burden Statement: Public Reporting

burden for this collection is estimated

as:

Number of

respondents

annually

(1)

Number of

responses per

respondent

(2)

Average burden

hours per

response (hours)

(3)

Total annual

burden hours

(1) × (2) × (3)

77 1 100 7,700

Estimated cost burden to respondents:

7,700 hours divided by 2087 hours per

year times $110,000 per year equals

$405,846. The cost per respondent is

equal to $5,271.

The reporting burden includes the

total time, effort, or financial resources

expended to generate, maintain, retain,

disclose, or provide the information

including: (1) Reviewing instructions;

(2) developing, acquiring, installing, and