Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 69 / Tuesday, April 10, 2012 / Notices 21539 

Dated: March 30, 2012. 

Willie E. May, 

Associate Director for Laboratory Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8573 Filed 4–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XB094 

Taking and Importing Marine 

Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 

Incidental to Sturgeon Research in the 

Gulf of Mexico 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for 

letter of authorization; request for 

comments and information. 

SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request 

from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS) for authorization to take small 

numbers of marine mammals incidental 

to conducting sturgeon research in the 

Gulf of Mexico, over the course of 5 

years from the date of issuance. 

Pursuant to regulations implementing 

the Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt 

of USFWS’s request for the development 

and implementation of regulations 

governing the incidental taking of 

marine mammals and inviting 

information, suggestions, and comments 

on USFWS’s application and request. 

DATES: Comments and information must 

be received no later than May 10, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the 

application should be addressed to 

Tammy Adams, Acting Chief, Permits 

and Conservation Division, Office of 

Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West 

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910– 

3225. The mailbox address for providing 

email comments is ITP.Laws@noaa.gov. 

Comments sent via email, including all 

attachments, must not exceed a 10- 

megabyte file size. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben 

Laws, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability 

A copy of USFWS’s application may 

be obtained by writing to the address 

specified above (see ADDRESSES), 

telephoning the contact listed above (see 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or 

visiting the internet at: http:// 

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/ 

incidental.htm#applications. 

Background 

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct 

the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) 

to allow, upon request, the incidental, 

but not intentional taking of small 

numbers of marine mammals by U.S. 

citizens who engage in a specified 

activity (other than commercial fishing) 

if certain findings are made and 

regulations are issued or, if the taking is 

limited to harassment, notice of a 

proposed authorization is provided to 

the public for review. 

Authorization for incidental takings 

may be granted if NMFS finds that the 

taking will have a negligible impact on 

the species or stock(s) and will not have 

an unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

certain subsistence uses, and if the 

permissible methods of taking and 

requirements pertaining to the 

mitigation, monitoring and reporting of 

such taking are set forth. 

NMFS has defined ‘negligible impact’ 

in 50 CFR 216.103 as ‘‘an impact 

resulting from the specified activity that 

cannot be reasonably expected to, and is 

not reasonably likely to, adversely affect 

the species or stock through effects on 

annual rates of recruitment or survival.’’ 

Except with respect to certain activities 

not pertinent here, the MMPA defines 

‘harassment’ as: ‘‘any act of pursuit, 

torment, or annoyance which (i) has the 

potential to injure a marine mammal or 

marine mammal stock in the wild [Level 

A harassment]; or (ii) has the potential 

to disturb a marine mammal or marine 

mammal stock in the wild by causing 

disruption of behavioral patterns, 

including, but not limited to, migration, 

breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or 

sheltering [Level B harassment].’’ 

Summary of Request 

On January 27, 2012, NMFS received 

a complete application from USFWS 

requesting authorization for take of four 

species of marine mammals incidental 

to sturgeon research conducted by and 

in collaboration with USFWS. The 

requested regulations would be valid for 

5 years from the date of issuance. As a 

result of this research, it is possible that 

marine mammals may be entangled in 

gill nets, resulting in injury, serious 

injury, or mortality. Because the 

specified activities have the potential to 

take marine mammals present within 

the action area, USFWS requests 

authorization to take bottlenose 

dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic 

spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), 

pantropical spotted dolphins (S. 

attenuata), and striped dolphins (S. 

coeruleoalba). 

Specified Activities 

The USFWS is working with NMFS, 

the U.S. Geological Survey, and other 

partners on several wide-ranging 

projects across inshore waters of the 

Gulf of Mexico in designated critical 

habitat areas for the Gulf sturgeon 

(Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi). The 

Gulf sturgeon was listed in 1991 as 

threatened under the Endangered 

Species Act. Sturgeon research projects 

include: (1) A Natural Resource Damage 

Assessment (NRDA) project entitled 

‘‘Mississippi Canyon 252 Assessment 

Plan for the Collection of Data to 

Determine Potential Exposure and 

Injuries of Threatened Gulf Sturgeon’’; 

(2) an annual summer and fall census; 

and (3) fine-scale movement and habitat 

assessment within and nearby 

Choctawhatchee Bay, FL. Sampling 

locations will occur in Florida, 

Mississippi, and Louisiana, throughout 

the Pearl, Pascagoula, Escambia, Yellow, 

Blackwater, Choctawhatchee, 

Apalachicola, and Suwannee rivers and 

their associated bays near the river 

mouths. 

These research projects involve the 

use of gill nets to capture sturgeon in 

order to assess physical condition, 

implant telemetry transmitters, and 

collect census information, among other 

objectives. The USFWS recorded two 

deaths of bottlenose dolphins in 2011 as 

a result of entanglement and subsequent 

asphyxiation in gill nets deployed for 

sturgeon research—the only two records 

of interactions with marine mammals in 

26 years of USFWS survey effort. Since 

that incident, USFWS has begun 

implementing avoidance measures 

designed in consultation with NMFS. 

Although entanglement of marine 

mammals in gill nets deployed for 

sturgeon research is extremely rare, and 

the likelihood of such an event is 

further reduced by the use of avoidance 

measures, the possibility remains that 

USFWS could incidentally take marine 

mammals in the course of conducting 

future sturgeon research. 

A more detailed description of the 

sturgeon research conducted by USFWS 

may be found in USFWS’ application, 

which is available at: http:// 

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/ 

incidental.htm. 

Information Solicited 

Interested persons may submit 

information, suggestions, and comments 

concerning USFWS’s request (see 

ADDRESSES). All information, 

suggestions, and comments related to 

USFWS’s request and NMFS’ potential 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
21540 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 69 / Tuesday, April 10, 2012 / Notices 

development and implementation of 

regulations governing the incidental 

taking of marine mammals by USFWS 

will be considered by NMFS in 

developing, if appropriate, regulations 

governing the issuance of letters of 

authorization. 

Dated: April 4, 2012. 

Helen M. Golde, 

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8602 Filed 4–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA967 

Whaling Provisions; Aboriginal 

Subsistence Whaling Quotas 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; notification of quota for 

bowhead whales. 

SUMMARY: NMFS notifies the public of 

the aboriginal subsistence whaling 

quota for bowhead whales that it has 

assigned to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

Commission (AEWC), and of limitations 

on the use of the quota deriving from 

regulations adopted at the 59th Annual 

Meeting of the International Whaling 

Commission (IWC). For 2012, the quota 

is 75 bowhead whales struck. This quota 

and other applicable limitations govern 

the harvest of bowhead whales by 

members of the AEWC. 

DATES: Effective April 10, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Office of International 

Affairs, National Marine Fisheries 

Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 

Spring, MD 20910. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melissa Andersen, (301) 427–8385. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Aboriginal 

subsistence whaling in the United States 

is governed by the Whaling Convention 

Act (16 U.S.C. 916 et seq.). Regulations 

that implement the Act, found at 50 CFR 

230.6, require the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary) to publish, at 

least annually, aboriginal subsistence 

whaling quotas and any other 

limitations on aboriginal subsistence 

whaling deriving from regulations of the 

IWC. 

At the 59th Annual Meeting of the 

IWC, the Commission set catch limits 

for aboriginal subsistence use of 

bowhead whales from the BeringChukchi-Beaufort Seas stock. The 

bowhead catch limits were based on a 

joint request by the United States and 

the Russian Federation, accompanied by 

documentation concerning the needs of 

two Native groups: Alaska Eskimos and 

Chukotka Natives in the Russian Far 

East. 

The IWC set a 5-year block quota of 

280 bowhead whales landed. For each 

of the years 2008 through 2012, the 

number of bowhead whales struck may 

not exceed 67, except that any unused 

portion of a strike quota from any prior 

year, including 15 unused strikes from 

the 2003 through 2007 quota, may be 

carried forward. No more than 15 strikes 

may be added to the strike quota for any 

one year. At the end of the 2011 harvest, 

there were 15 unused strikes available 

for carry-forward, so the combined 

strike quota set by the IWC for 2012 is 

82 (67 + 15). 

An arrangement between the United 

States and the Russian Federation 

ensures that the total quota of bowhead 

whales landed and struck in 2012 will 

not exceed the limits set by the IWC. 

Under this arrangement, the Russian 

natives may use no more than seven 

strikes, and the Alaska Eskimos may use 

no more than 75 strikes. 

Through its cooperative agreement 

with the AEWC, NOAA has assigned 75 

strikes to the Alaska Eskimos. The 

AEWC will in turn allocate these strikes 

among the 11 villages whose cultural 

and subsistence needs have been 

documented, and will ensure that its 

hunters use no more than 75 strikes. 

Other Limitations 

The IWC regulations, as well as the 

NOAA regulation at 50 CFR 230.4(c), 

forbid the taking of calves or any whale 

accompanied by a calf. 

NOAA regulations (at 50 CFR 230.4) 

contain a number of other prohibitions 

relating to aboriginal subsistence 

whaling, some of which are summarized 

here: 

• Only licensed whaling captains or 

crew under the control of those captains 

may engage in whaling. 

• Captains and crew must follow the 

provisions of the relevant cooperative 

agreement between NOAA and a Native 

American whaling organization. 

• The aboriginal hunters must have 

adequate crew, supplies, and equipment 

to engage in an efficient operation. 

• Crew may not receive money for 

participating in the hunt. 

• No person may sell or offer for sale 

whale products from whales taken in 

the hunt, except for authentic articles of 

Native American handicrafts. 

• Captains may not continue to whale 

after the relevant quota is taken, after 

the season has been closed, or if their 

licenses have been suspended. They 

may not engage in whaling in a wasteful 

manner. 

Dated: April 5, 2012. 

Rebecca J. Lent, 

Director, Office of International Affairs, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8611 Filed 4–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Notice of Submission for OMB Review; 

Federal Student Aid; Comprehensive 

Transition Programs (CTP) for 

Students With Intellectual Disabilities 

Expenditure Report 

SUMMARY: The Higher Education 

Opportunity Act, Public Law 110–315, 

added provisions for the Higher 

Education Act, as amended in section 

750 and 766 that enable eligible 

students with intellectual disabilities to 

receive Federal Pell Grant, 

Supplemental Educational Opportunity 

Grant, and Federal Work Study funds if 

they are enrolled in an approved 

program. The CTP Expenditure Report 

is the tool for reporting the use of these 

specific funds. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before May 10, 

2012. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments 

regarding burden and/or the collection 

activity requirements should be 

electronically mailed to 

ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or mailed to U.S. 

Department of Education, 400 Maryland 

Avenue SW., LBJ, Washington, DC 

20202–4537. Copies of the proposed 

information collection request may be 

accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov, 

by selecting the ‘‘Browse Pending 

Collections’’ link and by clicking on 

link number 04770. When you access 

the information collection, click on 

‘‘Download Attachments’’ to view. 

Written requests for information should 

be addressed to U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., 

LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537. 

Requests may also be electronically 

mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed 

to 202–401–0920. Please specify the 

complete title of the information 

collection and OMB Control Number 

when making your request. 

Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES