Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 32845 

622.435(a)(1)(i) & (ii) & (iii)). The 

applicant does not intend to retain any 

of these species caught during the 

respective seasonal closures. However, 

the EFP would allow the applicant to 

possess these species during those 

closure periods for sufficient time to 

collect and record length measurements, 

consistent with the goals of the EFP. If 

these species were caught outside of a 

closed season, the contracted 

commercial fishers would be able retain 

them, consistent with applicable law. 

These species also may be encountered 

in the Bajo de Sico closed area (50 CFR 

622.435(a)(2)(iv)), and the EFP would 

allow the applicant to possess the 

species during the seasonal area closure 

for sufficient time to collect and record 

length measurements. No species caught 

as incidental catch during the seasonal 

or area closures would be retained 

during the EFP. 

NMFS finds this application warrants 

further consideration based on a 

preliminary review. Possible conditions 

the agency may impose on this permit, 

if it is granted, include but are not 

limited to, a prohibition on conducting 

sampling activities within marine 

protected areas, marine sanctuaries, or 

special management zones, without 

additional authorization, and requiring 

compliance with best practices in the 

event of interactions with any protected 

species. NMFS may also require annual 

reports summarizing the amount of reef 

fish species harvested during the 

seasonal and area closures, as well as 

during the period of effectiveness of any 

issued EFP. Additionally, NMFS would 

require any sea turtles taken 

incidentally during the course of the 

activities to be handled with due care to 

prevent injury to live specimens, 

observed for activity, and returned to 

the water. 

A final decision on issuance of the 

EFP will depend on NMFS’ review of 

public comments received on the 

application, consultations with the 

affected state(s), the Council, and the 

U.S. Coast Guard, and a determination 

that it is consistent with all applicable 

laws. 

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

Dated: July 10, 2018. 

Margo B. Schulze-Haugen, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15074 Filed 7–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XG299 

Nominations to the Marine Mammal 

Scientific Review Groups 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for nominations. 

SUMMARY: As required by of the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the 

Secretary of Commerce established three 

independent regional scientific review 

groups (SRGs) to provide advice on a 

range of marine mammal science and 

management issues. NMFS conducted a 

membership review of the Alaska, 

Atlantic, and Pacific SRGs, and is 

soliciting nominations for new members 

to fill vacancies and gaps in expertise. 

DATES: Nominations must be received 

by August 15, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Nominations can be 

emailed to Shannon.Bettridge@

noaa.gov, or mailed to: Marine Mammal 

and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910–3226, Attn: SRGs. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shannon Bettridge, Office of Protected 

Resources, 301–427–8402, 

Shannon.Bettridge@noaa.gov. 

Information about the SRGs, including 

the SRG Terms of Reference, is available 

at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

national/marine-mammal-protection/ 

scientific-review-groups. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

117(d) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1386(d)) 

directs the Secretary of Commerce to 

establish three independent regional 

SRGs to advise the Secretary (authority 

delegated to NMFS). The Alaska SRG 

advises on marine mammals that occur 

in waters off Alaska that are under the 

jurisdiction of the United States. The 

Pacific SRG advises on marine 

mammals that occur in waters off the 

U.S. West Coast, Hawaiian Islands, and 

the U.S. Territories in the Central and 

Western Pacific that are under the 

jurisdiction of the United States. The 

Atlantic SRG advises on marine 

mammals that occur in waters off the 

Atlantic coast, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. 

Territories in the Caribbean that are 

under the jurisdiction of the United 

States. 

SRGs members are highly qualified 

individuals with expertise in marine 

mammal biology and ecology, 

population dynamics and modeling, 

commercial fishing technology and 

practices, and stocks taken under 

section 101(b) of the MMPA. The SRGs 

provide expert reviews of draft marine 

mammal stock assessment reports and 

other information related to the matters 

identified in section 117(d)(1) of the 

MMPA, including: 

A. Population estimates and the 

population status and trends of marine 

mammal stocks; 

B. Uncertainties and research needed 

regarding stock separation, abundance, 

or trends, and factors affecting the 

distribution, size, or productivity of the 

stock; 

C. Uncertainties and research needed 

regarding the species, number, ages, 

gender, and reproductive status of 

marine mammals; 

D. Research needed to identify 

modifications in fishing gear and 

practices likely to reduce the incidental 

mortality and serious injury of marine 

mammals in commercial fishing 

operations; 

E. The actual, expected, or potential 

impacts of habitat destruction, 

including marine pollution and natural 

environmental change, on specific 

marine mammal species or stocks, and 

for strategic stocks, appropriate 

conservation or management measures 

to alleviate any such impacts; and 

F. Any other issue which the 

Secretary or the groups consider 

appropriate. 

SRG members collectively serve as 

independent advisors to NMFS and the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 

provide their expert review and 

recommendations through participation 

in the SRG. Members attend annual 

meetings and undertake activities as 

independent persons providing 

expertise in their subject areas. 

Members are not appointed as 

representatives of professional 

organizations or particular stakeholder 

groups, including government entities, 

and are not permitted to represent or 

advocate for those organizations, 

groups, or entities during SRG meetings, 

discussions, and deliberations. 

SRG membership is voluntary; and, 

except for reimbursable travel and 

related expenses, service is without pay. 

The term of service for SRG members is 

three years, and members may serve up 

to three consecutive terms if 

reappointed. 

NMFS annually reviews the expertise 

available on the SRG and identifies gaps 

in the expertise that is needed to 

provide advice pursuant to section 

117(d) of the MMPA. In conducting the 

reviews, NMFS attempts to achieve, to 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
32846 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 

the maximum extent practicable, a 

balanced representation of viewpoints 

among the individuals on each SRG. 

Expertise Solicited 

For the Atlantic SRG (including 

waters off the Atlantic coast, Gulf of 

Mexico, and U.S. Territories in the 

Caribbean), NMFS seeks individuals 

with expertise in one or more of the 

following priority areas (not in order of 

priority): Acoustics methodology and 

anthropogenic effects of sound on 

cetaceans; line-transect methodology, 

mark-recapture methods and survey 

design, and quantitative ecology; Gulf of 

Mexico/southeast U.S. bottlenose 

dolphin population dynamics; and 

manatees. Additional areas of expertise 

areas include marine mammal bycatch 

reduction, Caribbean marine mammal 

species, and genetics. 

For the Pacific SRG (including waters 

off the Pacific coast, Hawaiian Islands 

and the U.S. Territories in the Central 

and Western Pacific), NMFS seeks 

individuals with expertise in one or 

more of the following areas (not in order 

of priority): Marine mammal stock 

definition and assessment under the 

MMPA and ESA; abundance estimation, 

especially distance sampling and markrecapture methods and survey design; 

West Coast and Alaska fishing gear/ 

techniques; West Coast pinnipeds, 

including assessment, life history, 

ecology, and human-pinniped 

interactions; large whales, particularly 

with regard to entanglement issues; 

ocean health and veterinary expertise, 

especially relative to disease and habitat 

change; fisheries oceanography and 

ecology, particularly decadal and longterm understanding; quantitative 

ecology, population dynamics, 

modeling, and statistics, especially as 

related to abundance and bycatch 

estimation, Bayesian methods, 

applications of new technologies, and 

methods for data-limited circumstances; 

State, Tribal, or regional/local fishery 

and/or marine mammal entanglement 

issues in the Pacific Islands and West 

Coast states; sea otters; sciencemanagement interface, such as 

management approaches with imperfect 

data; and interdisciplinary skills 

combining different fields of research. 

For the Alaska SRG, NMFS seeks 

individuals with expertise in one or 

more of the following areas, in order of 

priority: The Alaska commercial fishing 

industry and commercial fishery 

methods/gear, particularly fisheries 

with marine mammal bycatch 

interactions; population dynamics, 

modeling, and statistics; and abundance 

estimation, especially distance sampling 

and mark-recapture methods and survey 

design; and knowledge of the MMPA 

and processing of marine mammal stock 

assessments. 

Submitting a Nomination 

Nominations for new members should 

be sent to Dr. Shannon Bettridge in the 

NMFS Office of Protected Resources 

(see ADDRESSES) and must be received 

by August 15, 2018. Nominations 

should be accompanied by the 

individual’s curriculum vitae and 

detailed information regarding how the 

recommended person meets the 

minimum selection criteria for SRG 

members (see below). Nominations 

should also include the nominee’s 

name, address, telephone number, and 

email address. Self-nominations are 

acceptable. 

Selection Criteria 

Although the MMPA does not 

explicitly prohibit Federal employees 

from serving as SRG members, NMFS 

interprets MMPA section 117(d)’s 

reference to the SRGs as ‘‘independent’’ 

bodies that are exempt from Federal 

Advisory Committee Act requirements 

to mean that SRGs are intended to 

augment existing Federal expertise and 

are not composed of Federal employees 

or contractors. Therefore, NMFS will 

not consider any nominee who is 

currently a Federal employee or a fulltime contractor supporting a Federal 

agency. 

When reviewing nominations, NMFS, 

in consultation with the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, will consider the 

following six criteria: 

(1) Ability to make time available for 

the purposes of the SRG; 

(2) Knowledge of the species (or 

closely related species) of marine 

mammals in the SRG’s region; 

(3) Scientific or technical 

achievement in a relevant discipline, 

particularly the areas of expertise 

identified above, to be considered an 

expert peer reviewer for the topic; 

(4) Demonstrated experience working 

effectively on teams; 

(5) Expertise relevant to current and 

expected needs of the SRG, in 

particular, expertise required to provide 

adequate review and knowledgeable 

feedback on current or developing stock 

assessment issues, techniques, etc. In 

practice, this means that each member 

should have expertise in more than one 

topic as the species and scientific issues 

discussed in SRG meetings are diverse; 

and 

(6) No conflict of interest with respect 

to their duties as a member of the SRG. 

Next Steps 

Following review, nominees who are 

identified by NMFS as potential new 

members must be vetted and cleared in 

accordance with Department of 

Commerce policy. NMFS will contact 

these individuals and ask them to 

provide written confirmation that they 

are not registered Federal lobbyists or 

registered foreign agents, and to 

complete a confidential financial 

disclosure form, which will be reviewed 

by the Ethics Law and Programs 

Division within the U.S. Department of 

Commerce’s Office of General Counsel. 

All nominees will be notified of a 

selection decision in advance of the 

2019 SRG meetings. 

Dated: July 10, 2018. 

Donna S. Wieting, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15064 Filed 7–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket ID: DOD–2018–OS–0023] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Acquisition and 

Sustainment, DoD. 

ACTION: 30-Day information collection 

notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense 

has submitted to OMB for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act. 

DATES: Consideration will be given to all 

comments received by August 15, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Comments and 

recommendations on the proposed 

information collection should be 

emailed to Ms. Jasmeet Seehra, DoD 

Desk Officer, at oira_submission@

omb.eop.gov. Please identify the 

proposed information collection by DoD 

Desk Officer, Docket ID number, and 

title of the information collection. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred 

Licari, 571–372–0493, or whs.mcalex.esd.mbx.dd-dod-informationcollections@mail.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title; Associated Form; and OMB 

Number: Base Realignment and Closure 

(BRAC) Military Base Reuse Status; DD 

Form 2740; OMB Control Number 0790– 

0003. 

Type of Request: Reinstatement. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES