Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 177 / Wednesday, September 12, 2018 / Notices 46193 

the above address, 703–292–8030, or 

ACApermits@nsf.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An 

Antarctic meteorite collection, 

documentation, and curation plan has 

been received from Ralph Harvey and 

James Karner of Case Western 

University. 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19823 Filed 9–11–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Sunshine Act Meetings; National 

Science Board 

The National Science Board, pursuant 

to NSF regulations (45 CFR part 614), 

the National Science Foundation Act, as 

amended, (42 U.S.C. 1862n–5), and the 

Government in the Sunshine Act (5 

U.S.C. 552b), hereby gives notice of 

RESCHEDULING a meeting for the 

transaction of National Science Board 

business. 

FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF ORIGINAL

ANNOUNCEMENT: 83 FR 43710, published 

on August 27, 2018. The teleconference 

meeting was originally scheduled for 

Thursday, August 30, 2018, from 3:00– 

4:00 p.m. EDT. 

FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF

POSTPONEMENT: 83 FR 44675, published 

on August 30, 2018. 

NEW TIME AND DATE OF MEETING: This 

closed teleconference meeting of the 

National Science Board has been 

rescheduled and will be held on 

Tuesday, September 18, 2018, from 

4:00–5:00 p.m. EDT. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Brad Gutierrez, bgutierr@nsf.gov, 703– 

292–7000. Please refer to the National 

Science Board website for additional 

information. Meeting information and 

schedule updates (time, place, subject 

matter, and status of meeting) may be 

found at http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/ 

meetings/notices.jsp#sunshine. 

Chris Blair, 

Executive Assistant, National Science Board 

Office. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19927 Filed 9–10–18; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Notice of Permit Modification Received 

Under the Antarctic Conservation Act 

of 1978 

AGENCY: National Science Foundation. 

ACTION: Notice of Permit Modification 

Request. 

SUMMARY: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) is required to publish 

a notice of requests to modify permits 

issued to conduct activities regulated 

under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 

1978. This is the required notice of a 

requested permit modification. 

DATES: Interested parties are invited to 

submit written data, comments, or 

views with respect to this permit 

application by October 12, 2018. Permit 

applications may be inspected by 

interested parties at the Permit Office, 

address below. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

addressed to Permit Office, Office of 

Polar Programs, National Science 

Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 

Alexandria, Virginia 22314. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nature McGinn, ACA Permit Officer, at 

the above address, 703–292–8030, or 

ACApermits@nsf.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

National Science Foundation, as 

directed by the Antarctic Conservation 

Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95–541), as 

amended by the Antarctic Science, 

Tourism and Conservation Act of 1996, 

has developed regulations for the 

establishment of a permit system for 

various activities in Antarctica and 

designation of certain animals and 

certain geographic areas a requiring 

special protection. The regulations 

establish such a permit system to 

designate Antarctic Specially Protected 

Areas. 

1. Description of Permit Modification 

Requested: NSF issued a permit (ACA 

2018–012) to Jay J. Rotella on October 

16, 2017. The issued permit allows the 

permit holder to continue long-term 

studies of Weddell seal populations in 

Erebus Bay and the McMurdo Sound 

region to evaluate how temporal 

variation in the marine environment 

affects individual life histories and 

population dynamics of a long-lived 

mammal. These studies may require the 

permit holder and agents to enter into 

six ASPAs in the area. Research 

involves capture and release of up to 

675 Weddell seal pups at one to four 

days after birth for flipper tagging per 

year. A recent modification to this 

permit, dated November 22, 2017, 

permitted the permit holder to increase 

the total take of Weddell seal pups for 

flipper tagging from 675 to 1000. 

Now the permit holder proposes a 

modification to the permit to increase 

the number of takes allocated to certain 

permitted activities to reflect the same 

increases authorized earlier this year in 

NMFS Permit No. 21158–02. The take 

increases from those allowed under the 

ACA permit, as originally issued, would 

be as follows: Increase from 515 to 800 

pups, flipper tagged once; increase from 

10 to 20 pups, flipper tagged twice; 

increase from 285 to 385 adults, flipper 

tagged once; increase from 1325 to 1800 

adults, harassment takes (4 per animal); 

increase from 675 to 910 pups, 

harassment takes (4 per animal); 

increase from 10 to 35 adults, salvage 

parts and vibrissae samples (3 per 

animal). These proposed changes would 

set the total number of takes of Weddell 

seal pups for flipper tagging to 970. The 

permit holder has also requested that a 

documentary film crew be allowed to 

accompany and film the permit holder 

and agents as they conduct the 

permitted activities this season. 

Location: Erebus Bay, McMurdo 

Sound; ASPA 137, North-West White 

Island, McMurdo Sound; ASPA 155, 

Cape Evans; ASPA 121, Cape Royds; 

ASPA 157, Backdoor Bay, Cape Royds, 

Ross Island; ASPA 158, Hut Point, Ross 

Island; ASPA 161, Terra Nova Bay, Ross 

Sea. 

Dates of Permitted Activities: October 

1, 2018—September 30, 2022. 

2. Description of Permit Modification 

Requested: The Foundation issued a 

permit (ACA 2018–013) to Linnea 

Pearson on October 16, 2017. The issued 

permit allows the permit holder to 

handle Weddell seal pups per year for 

the purposes of studying the 

thermoregulatory strategies by which 

the pups maintain euthermia in air and 

in water and examine the development 

of diving capability as the animals 

prepare for independent foraging. Each 

of the ten seal pups, separated into two 

cohorts of five each, were to be handled 

at four time points between one and 

eight weeks of age. Flipper-mounted 

ime/depth recorder tags were to be 

attached to 1-week-old seal pups and 

removed from the pups at 7–8 weeks of 

age. At the 3-week time point, 

accelerometer tags were to be attached 

to the dorsal pelage of the pups and 

then removed at 7–8 weeks of age. VHF 

radio transmitters were allowed to be 

attached to the seal pups dorsal, caudal 

pelage after molting. The collection of a 

single whisker by plucking from each 

seal pup was allowed at 7–8 weeks of 

age. Protocols not requiring sedation 

(mass, morphometrics, core and surface 

temperatures, metabolic rates) and 

protocols requiring anesthesia (body 

composition, biopsies, blood volume 

analysis) were to be conducted on the 

first cohort of five pups at all four time 

points. The sedative midazolam was to 

be used alone on 1-week-old pups in the 

first cohort, while a combination of 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
46194 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 177 / Wednesday, September 12, 2018 / Notices 

midazolam and butorphanol was 

allowed for use in the first cohort at 3, 

5, and 7–8 weeks of age time points. A 

combination of midazolam and 

ketamine could have been used on 7–8- 

week-old pups, if deemed necessary. 

Metabolic and morphometric 

measurements were to be conducted on 

a second, separate cohort of five pups at 

each of the four time points. Sedation of 

seal pups in the second cohort, with a 

combination of midazolam and 

butorphanol, was only allowed for study 

animals at 3 weeks of age for the 

purposes of attaching an accelerometer 

tag. The permit holder was also allowed 

to conduct behavioral observations, 

imaging, and may disturb up to 350 

Weddell seals. An additional seven 

Weddell seal pups, 15 Weddell seal 

adult females, and 20 crabeater seals 

were allowed to be disturbed during 

procedures on study animals. Up to two 

pup mortalities were requested per year, 

not to exceed three over the course of 

two field seasons. The permit holder 

was also allowed to collect tissues from 

Weddell seals (any age or gender) found 

dead from natural causes. 

Now the applicant proposes a 

modification to the permit to allow the 

following: Sedation of all seal pups at 

all time points using midazolam with or 

without butorphanol (and continue to 

have the option of using midazolam in 

combination with ketamine at 7–8 

weeks of age); collection of blood 

samples from seal pups in the second 

cohort, at all four time points, while the 

pups are under sedation; use of a 

cannulated biopsy needle for muscle 

tissue sampling of seal pups in the first 

cohort (rather than a dermal biopsy 

punch), at all four time points; 

attachment of a flipper-mounted VHF 

transmitter tag to seal pups in both 

cohorts at 3 weeks of age, on the flipper 

opposite the one with the time/depth 

tag attached, with removal at the final 

time point; attachment of accelerometer 

tags to the dorsal pelage of 1-week-old 

pups in both cohorts with removal of 

the tags at 3 weeks of age; 

administration of antibiotics to treat 

local or systemic infections in seal pups 

involved in the study; and increased 

takes of seal pups and adult females 

such that a total of 12 pups would be 

handled for study purposes compared 

with 10 in the original permit (six pups 

in each cohort compared with five in 

the original permit) and a total of 12 

adult females, the mothers of the pups, 

would be disturbed during the handling 

of the pups (10 in the original permit). 

The permit holder has also requested a 

modification of NMFS Permit No. 

21006. 

Location: Erebus Bay, McMurdo 

Sound; ASPA 121, Cape Royds. 

Dates of Permitted Activities: October 

1, 2018—September 30, 2020. 

3. Description of Permit Modification 

Requested: The Foundation issued a 

permit (ACA 2017–005) to David Ainley 

on July 27, 2016. The issued permit 

allows the permit holder and agents to 

enter three Antarctic Specially Protected 

Areas (ASPAs); observe Adelie 

penguins; mark and measure penguin 

nests; attach tags, flipper bands, and 

special instruments to penguins; take 

small feather samples; and weigh and 

measure penguin chicks and adults. The 

permitted activities also include 

maintaining a webcam just inside the 

boundary of the Cape Royds ASPA. 

Now the permit holder proposes a 

modification to the permit to attach a 

miniature video camera to adult Adelie 

penguins (n=40) to document activities 

during diving. The permit holder also 

proposes to engage the services of 

experienced pilots to operate remotely 

piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) to 

capture video imagery of penguin 

colonies for the purposes of census and 

quantifying habitat characteristics. The 

RPAS operations would occur within 

the boundaries of ASPA 121, Cape 

Royds, and ASPA 124, Cape Crozier. 

Location: ASPA 121, Cape Royds; 

ASPA 124, Cape Crozier; ASPA 105, 

Beaufort Island; Cape Bird (outside 

ASPA boundary). 

Dates of Permitted Activities: October 

1, 2018—February 5, 2020. 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19822 Filed 9–11–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Advisory Committee for Environmental 

Research and Education Notice of 

Meeting 

In accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, as amended), the National Science 

Foundation (NSF) announces the 

following meeting: 

Name and Committee Code: Advisory 

Committee for Environmental Research 

and Education (9487). 

Date and Time: October 24, 2018; 9:00 

a.m.–5:30 p.m. (EDT); October 25, 2018; 

9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. (EDT). 

Place: National Science Foundation, 

2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Room E 2020, 

Alexandria, VA 22314. 

Type of Meeting: Open. 

Contact Person: Dr. Leah Nichols, 

Staff Associate, Office of Integrative 

Activities/Office of Director/National 

Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower 

Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314; (Email: 

lenichol@nsf.gov/. Telephone: (703) 

292–2983). 

Minutes: May be obtained from 

https://www.nsf.gov/ere/ereweb/ 

minutes.jsp. 

Purpose of Meeting: To provide 

advice, recommendations, and oversight 

concerning support for environmental 

research and education. 

Agenda: Approval of minutes from 

past meeting. Updates on agency 

support for environmental research and 

activities. Discussion with NSF Director 

and Assistant Directors. Plan for future 

advisory committee activities. Updated 

agenda will be available at https://

www.nsf.gov/ere/ereweb/minutes.jsp. 

Dated: September 6, 2018. 

Crystal Robinson, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19781 Filed 9–11–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Proposal Review Panel for Computing 

and Communication Foundations; 

Notice of Meeting 

In accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, as amended), the National Science 

Foundation (NSF) announces the 

following meeting: 

Name and Committee Code: Proposal 

review panel for Computing and 

Communication Foundations (#1192)— 

Expeditions in Computing Division— 

Year 2 Site Visit at Cornell University. 

Date and Time: September 12, 2018; 

7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.; September 13, 

2018; 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; September 

14, 2018: 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. 

Place: BU George Sherman Union, 

Metcalf Hall, 775 Commonwealth Ave., 

Boston, MA 02215. 

Type of Meeting: Part-Open. 

Contact Person: Sylvia Spengler, 

Expeditions in Computing Program, 

National Science Foundation, 2415 

Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, 

Virginia 22314; Telephone 703/292– 

8930. 

Purpose of Meeting: Site visit to assess 

the progress of the EIC Award: CCF– 

1522054, ‘‘Collaborative Research: 

CompSustNet: Expanding the Horizons 

of Computational Sustainability,’’ and to 

provide advice and recommendations 

concerning further NSF support for the 

project. 

Agenda 

Wednesday, September 12, 2018 

7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.: Closed 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES