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 


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