Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 8 / Thursday, January 11, 2024 / Notices 1909 

address a new study objective to 

understand the factors influencing 

humpback whale migration along the 

east coast of Australia within the 

context of a rapidly changing 

environment. Specifically, the study 

aims to analyze the size, age, and body 

condition of the sub-population of 

whales undertaking migration in a given 

year to provide insights into the overall 

health and status of the regional 

humpback whale population. The 

permit is valid through April 30, 2028. 

All other terms and conditions of the 

permit would remain the same. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial 

determination has been made that the 

activity proposed is categorically 

excluded from the requirement to 

prepare an environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement. 

Concurrent with the publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register, 

NMFS is forwarding copies of this 

application to the Marine Mammal 

Commission and its Committee of 

Scientific Advisors. 

Dated: January 8, 2024. 

Julia M. Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00450 Filed 1–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD644] 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council, NEFMC) 

will hold a three-day hybrid meeting 

with both in-person and remote 

participation to consider actions 

affecting New England fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 

January 30, January 31, and February 1, 

2024, beginning at 9 a.m. each day. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place 

at The Venue at Portwalk Place, 22 

Portwalk Place, Portsmouth, NH 03801; 

telephone (603) 422–6114; online at 

https://www.thevenueatportwalk

place.com. Join the webinar at https://

attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/

4656306835494284629. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; 

telephone (978) 465–0492; 

www.nefmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cate 

O’Keefe, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492, ext. 113. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda 

Tuesday, January 30, 2024 

The Council will begin this meeting 

in Closed Session to discuss 

appointments to its Scientific and 

Statistical Committee. At 9:30 a.m., the 

open session will begin with brief 

announcements, followed by reports on 

recent activities from the Council’s 

Chair and Executive Director, the 

GARFO Regional Administrator, the 

NOAA Office of General Counsel, the 

Northeast Fisheries Science Center 

(NEFSC) Director, the Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council liaison, 

and representatives from the Atlantic 

States Marine Fisheries Commission 

(ASMFC), the U.S. Coast Guard, 

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the 

Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section 

of the International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). 

The Council then will receive a progress 

report from its Risk Policy Working 

Group that will focus on addressing 

Terms of Reference 1 and 2 to revise the 

Council’s Risk Policy. Next, the Council 

will receive an update from GARFO and 

the NOAA National Centers for Coastal 

Ocean Science on revised siting for the 

Blue Water Fisheries offshore 

aquaculture project in federal waters off 

the coast of New Hampshire. 

After the lunch break, members of the 

public will have the opportunity to 

speak during an open comment period 

on issues that relate to Council business 

but are not included on the published 

agenda for this meeting. The Council 

asks the public to limit remarks to 3–5 

minutes. These comments will be 

received both in person and through the 

webinar. A guide for how to publicly 

comment through the webinar is 

available on the Council website at 

https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/ 

NEFMC-meeting-remote-participation_

generic.pdf. The Council then will hear 

from its Herring Committee, which will 

provide an update on Amendment 10 to 

the Atlantic Herring Fishery 

Management Plan. This is an action to 

minimize user conflicts in the herring 

fishery. The Council will review a draft 

scoping document and scoping meeting 

schedule to gather public input on the 

range of issues that potentially could be 

addressed in this amendment. To close 

out the day, the Council will receive a 

congressional update on current 

legislative activities. Following the 

adjournment of official business, the 

Council will host a public outreach 

session to foster open lines of 

communication among Council 

members, staff, industry, and all 

meeting attendees. This event will be 

held at the AC Hotel on the Lobby 

Level, 299 Vaughn Street, which is a 

four-minute walk from the Council 

meeting room at The Venue at Portwalk 

Place in Portsmouth, NH. 

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 

The Council will begin the second 

day of its meeting with a presentation 

on the three-year review of the 

Northeast Region’s Standardized 

Bycatch Reporting Methodology. Next, 

the Council will receive a report on 

activities within the Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center’s Fishery Monitoring 

and Research Division, including: (1) 

the status of ongoing responsibilities; (2) 

at-sea monitoring and observer program 

activities; and (3) cooperative research 

updates. This report will be followed by 

an overview of a Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center white paper outlining 

potential plans for industry-based 

surveys to complement federal spring 

and fall bottom trawl surveys on the 

NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow. The 

Council will have an opportunity to 

provide input on research priorities for 

consideration in future industry-based 

survey as they relate to its own research 

priorities. 

Following the lunch break, the 

Council will receive a NOAA Fisheries 

presentation on the Marine Recreational 

Information Program (MRIP), which will 

include an update on the status of 

MRIP’s Fishing Effort Survey (FES). 

This will be followed by the Groundfish 

Committee report, which will cover four 

items as follows. (1) Recreational 

Measures: the Council will provide 

recommendations to GARFO on fishing 

year 2024 recreational measures for 

Georges Bank cod, Gulf of Maine cod, 

and Gulf of Maine haddock. (2) The 

Atlantic Cod Management Transition 

Plan: the Council will receive an update 

on transition planning. (3) Metrics for 

the Groundfish Amendment 23 

Monitoring System Review: the Council 

will receive a progress report on this 

action. And (4) 2024 Groundfish 

Priorities: the Council will receive a 

preliminary overview of the groundfish 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
1910 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 8 / Thursday, January 11, 2024 / Notices 

workplan for year ahead. As the final 

item of business for the day, the Council 

will revisit fishing year 2024–2026 

specifications approved in December 

2023 for the small-mesh multispecies 

(whiting) fishery to address southern 

red hake rebuilding. 

Thursday, February 1, 2024 

The Council will lead off the third 

day of its meeting with a Spiny Dogfish 

Committee report, where it will review, 

discuss, and approve fishing year 2024– 

2026 spiny dogfish specifications. Next, 

the Council will receive a progress 

report on Monkfish Framework 15, 

which is part of a joint New England/ 

Mid-Atlantic Council action to reduce 

monkfish/dogfish large-mesh gillnet 

fishery interactions with Atlantic 

sturgeon. Then, the Council will receive 

an update from its On-Demand Fishing 

Gear Conflict Working Group on 

activities to prevent or reduce potential 

gear conflicts between mobile, fixed, 

and recreational gear and on-demand 

(ropeless) fishing gear. This update will 

be followed by a presentation on the 

peer-reviewed 2023 Black Sea Bass 

Research Track Stock Assessment. The 

Council then will close out the meeting 

with other business. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained on this agenda may come 

before the Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Council 

action will be restricted to those issues 

specifically listed in this notice and any 

issues arising after publication of this 

notice that require emergency action 

under section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act, provided the public 

has been notified of the Council’s intent 

to take final action to address the 

emergency. The public also should be 

aware that the meeting will be recorded. 

Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy 

of the recording is available upon 

request. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Executive Director Cate O’Keefe (see 

ADDRESSES) at least 5 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

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

Dated: January 8, 2024. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00471 Filed 1–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD638] 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Take of Anadromous Fish 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of intent 

to prepare an environmental impact 

statement. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is issuing this notice to 

advise Federal, state, and local 

government agencies and the public of 

withdrawal of the Notice of Intent (NOI) 

to prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) for the proposed 

operation of salmon hatchery programs 

in the Nooksack River Basin in 

Washington. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Morgan Robinson, Lacey, WA (phone: 

253–307–2670, email: 

morgan.robinson@noaa.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

published a NOI in the Federal Register 

on June 20, 2016 (81 FR 39911) to 

prepare an EIS in accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) to analyze the impacts on the 

human environment resulting from the 

operation of salmon hatchery programs 

in the Nooksack River Basin in 

Washington. NMFS hereby advises the 

public of the rescission of this NOI. This 

change occurred because the proposed 

hatchery and genetic management plans 

jointly submitted by the Washington 

Department of Fish and Wildlife, the 

Lummi Nation, the Nooksack Indian 

Tribe, the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, 

and the Swinomish Indian Tribal 

Community as co-managers were 

withdrawn since the NOI was 

published. 

Any future hatchery and genetic 

management plans submitted by the 

above parties to NMFS will comply with 

the environmental review requirements 

of NEPA. 

Dated: January 8, 2024. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00473 Filed 1–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket ID: DoD–2024–OS–0005] 

Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Notice of a new matching 

program. 

SUMMARY: This Computer Matching 

Agreement (CMA) verifies the eligibility 

of Military Health System (MHS) 

beneficiaries who are Medicare eligible 

to receive TRICARE Benefits. 

DATES: Comments will be accepted on or 

before February 12, 2024. This proposed 

action will be effective the day 

following the end of the comment 

period unless comments are received 

which result in a contrary 

determination. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number and title, 

by any of the following methods: 

* Federal Rulemaking Portal: https:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments. 

* Mail: Department of Defense, Office 

of the Assistant to the Secretary of 

Defense for Privacy, Civil Liberties, and 

Transparency, 4800 Mark Center Drive, 

Mailbox #24, Suite 08D09, Alexandria, 

VA 22350–1700. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number for this Federal Register 

document. The general policy for 

comments and other submissions from 

members of the public is to make these 

submissions available for public 

viewing on the internet at https://

www.regulations.gov as they are 

received without change, including any 

personal identifiers or contact 

information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Mindy Smith, Management and Program 

Analyst, Privacy and Civil Liberties 

Directorate at (703) 571–0070. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DoD, 

Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) 

will provide the Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS), Centers for 

Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 

a list of specific data elements for all 

DoD eligible beneficiaries both over and 

under the age of 65. CMS will: (1) match 

the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of 

beneficiaries provided by DMDC against 

the information found in CMS’s 

‘‘Enrollment Database (EDB)’’ system of 

records; (2) validate the identification of 

the individual against CMS beneficiary 

records based on SSN and date of birth 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1