Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 43 / Monday, March 5, 2012 / Notices 13097 

Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 

1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, 

Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone (301) 

427–8401; fax (301) 713–0376; and 

Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL 

33701; phone (727) 824–5312; fax (727) 

824–5309. 

Written comments on this application 

should be submitted to the Chief, 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division: 

• By email to 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov (include 

the File No. in the subject line of the 

email), 

• By facsimile to (301) 713–0376, or 

• At the address listed above. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

to the Chief, Permits, Conservation and 

Education Division at the address listed 

above. The request should set forth the 

specific reasons why a hearing on this 

application would be appropriate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Hapeman or Colette Cairns, (301) 

427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject permit is requested under the 

authority of the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) and the regulations 

governing the taking, importing, and 

exporting of endangered and threatened 

species (50 CFR 222–226). 

The applicant requests a 5-year permit 

to continue long-term research on the 

demographics and movements of green, 

loggerhead, hawksbill, and Kemp’s 

ridley sea turtles in the Key West 

National Wildlife Refuge and extend 

this work to an additional study area, 

the Big Bend of Florida. The objectives 

of the research are to: (1) Obtain 

information on sea turtle abundance, 

size frequencies, and sex ratios; (2) 

determine the genetic origin of sea turtle 

populations in the region; (3) continue 

to monitor turtle foraging habits; (4) 

track prevalence of fibropapilomatosis 

in sea turtles; (5) track green sea turtle 

movements west of the Marquesas Keys; 

and (6) identify habitat preferences of 

hawksbill sea turtles in the Key West 

National Wildlife Refuge. Up to 160 

green, 160 loggerhead, 75 hawksbill, 

and 66 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles would 

be captured annually for flipper and 

passive integrated transponder tagging, 

blood and tissue sampling, 

morphometrics, photography, and 

weights. A subset of sea turtles would 

be lavaged and/or satellite tagged. In 

addition to captures, researchers would 

conduct vessel surveys to observe and 

count sea turtles in the area. 

Dated: February 29, 2012. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5309 Filed 3–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XB053 

Endangered Species; File Nos. 15661, 

10027, and 15685 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Issuance of permits and permit 

modification. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

NMFS has issued two permits and one 

permit modification to take green 

(Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill 

(Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles for 

scientific research. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for information regarding 

permittees. 

ADDRESSES: The permit and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following offices: 

Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 

1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, 

Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone (301) 

427–8401; fax (301) 713–0376; and 

Pacific Islands Region, NMFS, 1601 

Kapiolani Blvd., Rm. 1110, Honolulu, 

HI 96814–4700; phone (808) 944–2200; 

fax (808) 973–2941. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Hapeman or Colette Cairns, (301) 

427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

11, 2011, notice was published in the 

Federal Register (76 FR 27306) that a 

request for a scientific research permit 

to take green and hawksbill sea turtles 

had been submitted by the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands (CNMI) Division of Fish and 

Wildlife, (Arnold Palacios, Responsible 

Party). On June 15, 2011, notice was 

published in the Federal Register (76 

FR 34967) that a request for a scientific 

research permit modification to take 

green sea turtles had been submitted by 

the Center for Biodiversity and 

Conservation, American Museum of 

Natural History (AMNH; Responsible 

Party: Eleanor Sterling, Ph.D.). On June 

20, 2011, notice was published in the 

Federal Register (76 FR 35842) that a 

request for a scientific research permit 

to take green and hawksbill sea turtles 

had been submitted by the NMFS 

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 

(PIFSC; Samuel Pooley, Ph.D., 

Responsible Party). The requested 

permits and permit modification have 

been issued under the authority of the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

and the regulations governing the 

taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species 

(50 CFR parts 222–226). The following 

summarizes each permit. 

The CNMI was issued a five-year 

permit, No. 15661, to conduct research 

on sea turtles to characterize population 

structure, size class composition, 

foraging ecology, and migration patterns 

for green and hawksbill sea turtles in 

the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Authorized research consists of counts 

and hand captures of sea turtles during 

vessel surveys. Captured sea turtles may 

be measured, weighed, flipper tagged, 

passive integrated transponder (PIT) 

tagged, temporarily marked, tissue 

sampled, photographed, and released. A 

subset of the turtles may be satellite 

tagged before release and then tracked 

from the vessel. A small number of sea 

turtle carcasses, tissues or parts may be 

opportunistically salvaged each year. 

The AMNH was issued a modification 

to Permit No. 10027–03, originally 

issued on July 30, 2008 (73 FR 44224). 

Permit No. 10027–03 authorized the 

AMNH to study the population biology 

and connectivity of green and hawksbill 

sea turtles focusing on distribution and 

abundance, ecology, health, and threats 

to sea turtles at the Palmyra Atoll in the 

Pacific Ocean. This modification, Permit 

No. 10027–04, increases the number of 

green sea turtles taken during research 

and the number of green sea turtles that 

may be sonic tagged annually. These 

data will help determine if temporal, 

stage-specific, or sex-specific movement 

patterns exist for the population of sea 

turtles at Palmyra. The modified permit 

expires on July 31, 2013. 

The PIFSC was issued a five-year 

permit, No. 15685, to continue longterm monitoring of green and hawksbill 

sea turtles in the Hawaiian Islands to 

determine growth rates, health status, 

stock and population structure, foraging 

ecology, habitat use, and movements. 

Researchers may capture, measure, 

flipper and PIT tag, weigh, biologically 

sample (tissue, blood, scute, and 

lavage), and attach transmitters to green 

and hawksbill sea turtles before release. 

Issuance of the permits, as required by 

the ESA, was based on a finding that 

such permits (1) were applied for in 


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13098 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 43 / Monday, March 5, 2012 / Notices 

1Privacy and Innovation Blueprint at 2, available 

at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ 

privacy-final.pdf (proposing a privacy 

multistakeholder process that consists of ‘‘open, 

transparent forums in which stakeholders who 

share an interest in specific markets or business 

contexts will work toward consensus on 

appropriate, legally enforceable codes of conduct’’); 

id. at 23–25, 37 (discussing importance of 

consensus in multistakeholder processes that 

develop Internet policy and standards). 

2See Privacy and Innovation Blueprint at 23–24, 

37 (discussing importance of consensus in 

multistakeholder processes). 

3Currently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 

brings cases based on violations of a company’s 

public commitments in its privacy statements under 

the FTC’s authority to prevent deceptive acts or 

practices. See 15 U.S.C. 45. A code of conduct 

developed through a multistakeholder process 

likely would be enforceable under this authority. 

4Privacy and Innovation Blueprint at 24. 

5 Id. 

6 Id. at 27. 

good faith, (2) will not operate to the 

disadvantage of such endangered or 

threatened species, and (3) are 

consistent with the purposes and 

policies set forth in section 2 of the 

ESA. 

Dated: February 28, 2012. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5307 Filed 3–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration 

[Docket No. 120214135–2135–01] 

RIN 0660–XA27 

Multistakeholder Process To Develop 

Consumer Data Privacy Codes of 

Conduct 

AGENCY: National Telecommunications 

and Information Administration, U.S. 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Request for public comments. 

SUMMARY: The National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration (NTIA) is requesting 

comment on substantive consumer data 

privacy issues that warrant the 

development of legally enforceable 

codes of conduct, as well as procedures 

to foster the development of these 

codes. NTIA invites public comment on 

these issues from all stakeholders with 

an interest in consumer data privacy, 

including the commercial, academic 

and civil society sectors, and from 

federal and state enforcement agencies. 

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time on 

March 26, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted by email to 

privacyrfc2012@ntia.doc.gov. Comments 

submitted by email should be machinesearchable and should not be copyprotected. Written comments also may 

be submitted by mail to 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4725, 

Washington, DC 20230. Responders 

should include the name of the person 

or organization filing the comment, as 

well as a page number, on each page of 

their submissions. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted to http:// 

www.ntia.doc.gov/category/internetpolicy-task-force without change. All 

personal identifying information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. NTIA will accept 

anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in 

the required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Aaron Burstein, National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 

NW., Room 4725, Washington, DC 

20230; telephone (202) 482–1055; email 

aburstein@ntia.doc.gov. Please direct 

media inquiries to NTIA’s Office of 

Public Affairs, (202) 482–7002. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Executive Office of the President 

released Consumer Data Privacy in a 

Networked World: A Framework for 

Protecting Privacy and Promoting 

Innovation in the Global Digital 

Economy (the ‘‘Privacy and Innovation 

Blueprint’’) on February 23, 2012. Two 

central elements of the Privacy and 

Innovation Blueprint are: (1) A 

Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, which 

is a set of principles the Administration 

believes should govern the handling of 

personal data in commercial sectors that 

are not subject to existing Federal 

privacy statutes; and (2) a 

multistakeholder process, which NTIA 

will convene, to develop legally 

enforceable codes of conduct that 

specify how the Consumer Privacy Bill 

of Rights applies in specific business 

contexts. 

These discussions will be open to 

participation by all interested 

stakeholders, transparent, and 

consensus-driven.1 Open participation 

is necessary to ensure that codes of 

conduct reflect input from the broad 

array of stakeholders that have interests 

in putting the Consumer Privacy Bill of 

Rights into practice. Any person or 

organization may choose to participate, 

no one is under an obligation to 

participate once discussions have 

started, and NTIA anticipates that there 

will be opportunities to join a process 

once it is underway. Transparency is 

necessary to allow those who do not 

participate in the process to understand 

how participants reached their 

decisions. Consensus of a broad set of 

stakeholders, achieved through a 

transparent process, will lend 

legitimacy to the code of conduct. At the 

same time, consensus will encourage 

companies to adopt codes of conduct; 

the decision to adopt a code of conduct 

is voluntary, and companies are 

unlikely to adopt a code about which 

they have serious reservations.2

The privacy multistakeholder process 

is voluntary. A code of conduct will not 

be binding on a company unless and 

until that company affirmatively 

commits to follow it. NTIA expects that 

a company’s public commitment to 

follow a code of conduct will be legally 

enforceable, provided the company is 

subject to the Federal Trade 

Commission’s jurisdiction.3 Enforceable 

codes of conduct based on the 

principles set forth in the Consumer 

Privacy Bill of Rights will provide 

consumers clear, understandable 

baseline protections and give businesses 

greater certainty about how agreed upon 

privacy principles apply to them. 

Companies will build consumer trust by 

engaging directly with consumers and 

other stakeholders during the process 

and adopting a code of conduct that 

stakeholders develop through this 

process.4 Moreover, in any enforcement 

action based on conduct covered by a 

code, the FTC would likely consider a 

company’s adherence to such a code 

favorably.5

NTIA’s role in the privacy 

multistakeholder process will be to 

provide a forum for discussion and 

consensus-building among stakeholders. 

In situations in which stakeholders 

disagree over how best to interpret the 

Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, NTIA’s 

role, as explained in the Privacy and 

Innovation Blueprint, ‘‘will be to help 

the parties reach clarity on what their 

positions are and whether there are 

options for compromise toward 

consensus, rather than substituting its 

own judgment.’’ 6 Furthermore, 

stakeholder groups convened to develop 

codes of conduct will not be advisory 

committees, as neither NTIA nor any 

other Federal agency or office will seek 

consensus advice or recommendations 


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