Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 1997 / Notices 58941

from: Joseph A. Uravitch, Chief, Coastal

Programs Division (N/ORM3), Office of

Ocean and Coastal Resource

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

20910, tel. (301) 713–3155, x195.

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 11.419

Coastal Zone Management Program

Administration)

Dated: October 28, 1997.

Nancy Foster,

Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services

and Coastal Zone Management, National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Robert H. Wayland, III,

Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and

Watersheds, Environmental Protection

Agency.

[FR Doc. 97–28903 Filed 10–30–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–12–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control

Program: Conditional Approvals,

Findings Documents, Responses to

Comments, and Records of Decision

AGENCY: National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration, U.S.

Department of Commerce and the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of conditional approval

of Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control

Programs and availability of Findings

Documents, Responses to Comments,

and Records of Decision for America

Samoa, the Commonwealth of the

Northern Mariana Islands, Guam,

Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the

conditional approval of the Coastal

Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs

(coastal nonpoint programs) and of the

availability of the Findings Documents,

Responses to Comments, and Records of

Decision for American Samoa, the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands, Guam, Delaware, Maryland, and

Pennsylvania. Section 6217 of the

Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization

Amendments (CZARA), 16 U.S.C.

section 1455b, requires states and

territories with coastal zone

management programs that have

received approval under section 306 of

the Coastal Zone Management Act to

develop and implement coastal

nonpoint programs. Coastal states and

territories were required to submit their

coastal nonpoint programs to the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) and the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

for approval in July 1995.

NOAA and EPA have approved, with

conditions, the coastal nonpoint

programs submitted by American

Samoa, the Commonwealth of the

Northern Mariana Islands, Guam,

Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

NOAA and EPA have prepared a

Findings Document for each 6217

program submitted for approval. The

Findings Documents were prepared by

NOAA and EPA to provide the rationale

for the agencies’ decision to approve

each state and territory coastal nonpoint

program. Proposed Findings

Documents, Environmental

Assessments, and Findings of No

Significant Impact prepared for the

coastal nonpoint programs submitted by

American Samoa, the Commonwealth of

the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam,

Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania

were made available for public

comment in the Federal Register. Public

comments were received and responses

prepared on the programs submitted by

Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

No public comments were received on

the programs submitted by American

Samoa, the Commonwealth of the

Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam.

In accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),

NOAA has also prepared a Record of

Decision on each program. The

requirements of 40 CFR Parts 1500–1508

(Council on Environmental Quality

(CEQ) regulations to implement the

National Environmental Policy Act)

apply to the preparation of a Record of

Decision. Specifically, 40 CFR section

1505.2 requires an agency to prepare a

concise public record of decision at the

time of its decision on the action

proposed in an environmental impact

statement. The Record of Decision shall:

(1) State what the decision was; (2)

identify all alternatives considered,

specifying the alternative considered to

be environmentally preferable; and (3)

state whether all practicable means to

avoid or minimize environmental harm

from the alternative selected have been

adopted.

In March 1996, NOAA published a

programmatic environmental impact

statement (PEIS) that assessed the

environmental impacts associated with

the approval of state and territory

coastal nonpoint programs. The PEIS

forms the basis for the environmental

assessment NOAA has prepared for each

state and territorial coastal nonpoint

program submitted to NOAA and EPA

for approval. In the PEIS, NOAA

determined that the approval and

conditional approval of coastal

nonpoint programs will not result in

any significant adverse environmental

impacts and that these actions will have

an overall beneficial effect on the

environment. Because the PEIS served

only as a ‘‘framework for decision’’ on

individual state and territorial coastal

nonpoint programs, and no actual

decision was made following its

publication, NOAA has prepared a

NEPA Record of Decision on each

individual state and territorial program

submitted for review.

Copies of the Findings Documents,

Responses to Comments, and Records of

Decision may be obtained upon request

from: Joseph A. Uravitch, Chief, Coastal

Programs Division (N/ORM3), Office of

Ocean and Coastal Resource

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

20910, tel. (301) 713–3155, x195.

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 11.419

Coastal Zone Management Program

Administration)

Dated: October 28, 1997.

Nancy Foster,

Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services

and Coastal Zone Management, National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Robert H. Wayland, III,

Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and

Watersheds, Environmental Protection

Agency.

[FR Doc. 97–28904 Filed 10–30–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–12–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 102297B]

Pacific Fishery Management Council;

Public Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery

Management Council’s Coastal Pelagic

Species Plan Development Team will

hold a series of public meetings.

DATES: The meetings will be held

Thursday, November 13, 1997;

Thursday, December 11, 1997; Friday,

January 16, 1998; Thursday, February

19, 1998. All sessions will begin at 10

a.m. and may go into the evening until

business for the day is completed. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for the

schedule of meetings.

ADDRESSES: Meetings in La Jolla will be

in the large conference room at NMFS

Southwest Fisheries Science Center,