59164 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 4, 2000 / Proposed Rules

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 73

[DA 00–2161; MM Docket No. 00–172, RM–

9963

Radio Broadcasting Services;

McConnelsville, OH

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Commission requests

comments on a petition filed by Donald

Staats proposing the allotment of

Channel 279A at McConnelsville, Ohio,

as the community’s second local aural

transmission service. Channel 279A can

be allotted to McConnelsville in

compliance with the Commission’s

minimum distance separation

requirements with a site restriction of

0.7 kilometers (0.4 miles) east of city

reference coordinates. The coordinates

for Channel 279A at McConnelsville are

39–38–48 North Latitude and 81–50–43

West Longitude.

DATES: Comments must be filed on or

before November 13, 2000, and reply

comments on or before November 28,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications

Commission, Washington, DC 20554. In

addition to filing comments with the

FCC, interested parties should serve the

petitioner, as follows: Donald Staats,

2503 Twelfth Ave., Vienna, WV. 26105

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Arthur D. Scrutchins, Mass Media

Bureau, (202) 418–2180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

synopsis of the Commission’s Notice of

Proposed Rule Making, MM Docket No.

00–172; adopted September 13, 2000

and released September 22, 2000. The

full text of this Commission decision is

available for inspection and copying

during normal business hours in the

FCC Reference Information Center

(Room CY–A257), 445 12th Street, SW,

Washington, DC. The complete text of

this decision may also be purchased

from the Commission’s copy contractor,

International Transcription Service,

Inc., (202) 857–3800, 1231 20th Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20036.

Provisions of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act of 1980 do not apply to

this proceeding.

Members of the public should note

that from the time a Notice of Proposed

Rule Making is issued until the matter

is no longer subject to Commission

consideration or court review, all ex

parte contacts are prohibited in

Commission proceedings, such as this

one, which involve channel allotments.

See 47 CFR 1.1204(b) for rules

governing permissible ex parte contacts.

For information regarding proper

filing procedures for comments, see 47

CFR 1.415 and 1.420.

Federal Communications Commission.

John A. Karousos,

Chief, Allocations Branch, Policy and Rules

Division, Mass Media Bureau.

[FR Doc. 00–25395 Filed 10–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 216

[Docket No. 000922272-0272-01;I.D.

061600A]

RIN 0648-AO16

Taking of the Cook Inlet (CI), Alaska,

Stock of Beluga Whales by Alaska

Natives

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of hearing;

request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS is proposing

regulations under the Marine Mammal

Protection Act (MMPA) that would limit

the harvest and use of CI beluga whales.

The management objectives of the

proposed regulations are to recover this

depleted stock to its Optimum

Sustainable Population (OSP) level, and

to provide for the continued traditional

subsistence use by Alaska Natives. The

MMPA imposes a general moratorium

on the taking of marine mammals;

however, it provides an exception to the

moratorium that allows Alaska Natives

to harvest marine mammals for

subsistence use or for traditional Native

handicrafts. Under the MMPA, the

Federal government may regulate Native

subsistence harvest when the stock in

question is designated as depleted

pursuant to the MMPA and after

regulations specific to the depleted

stock are issued. NMFS designated the

CI beluga whale stock as depleted on

May 31, 2000 and believes that control

of the harvest is necessary to promote

recovery of this stock. NMFS has also

prepared a National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) Draft Environmental

Impact Statement (DEIS) on this

proposed action. NMFS solicits public

comments on the proposed rule and the

DEIS..

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule

and on the DEIS must be received in the

Office of Protected Resources (see

ADDRESSES no later than 5 pm, eastern

standard time, on November 27, 2000.

NMFS has scheduled a formal on-therecord hearing regarding these proposed

regulations before Administrative Law

Judge Parlen McKenna, to commence at

9 am, December 5, 2000, in Anchorage,

Alaska, at the Federal Building. A prehearing conference is scheduled at 9 am,

November 15, 2000.

Filing Deadlines: By November 1,

2000, any interested person or party

must file an initial notice of intent to

participate in the hearing, any direct

testimony and any documentary

evidence. By November 15, 2000, any

rebuttal testimony and documentary

evidence must be filed. Interested

parties should consult procedural

regulations at 50 CFR part 228 (65 FR

39560, June 27, 2000) for additional

deadlines and hearing procedures.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the

proposed rule and DEIS should be sent

to Chief, Marine Mammal Division,

Office of Protected Resources, Silver

Spring, MD 20910. Comments will not

be accepted if submitted via e-mail or

Internet.

All filings, including those of NMFS,

become part of the record. The record

for the proposed rule and the DEIS are

available and all original filings and

written comments should be filed at:

Chief, Marine Mammal Division, Office

of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315

East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD

20910. One copy should also be filed at:

ALJ Docketing Center, 40 South Gay

Street, Room 412, Baltimore, Maryland

21202-4022. Fax copies are accepted at

(410) 962-1746 or -1742. Another copy

should also be filed at: Judge Parlen

McKenna, U.S. Coast Guard Island,

Building 54-C, Alameda, California

94501, email

PMcKenna@D11.USCG.mil, (510) 437-

3361, fax (510) 437-2717.

Also, the record for the proposed rule

and the DEIS is available at NMFS

Alaska Region, 709 W. 9th St, Federal

Building room 461, Juneau, AK 99802.

Information related to the hearing and

the DEIS will be available on the NMFS,

Alaska Region Protected Resources

website at: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/

protectedresources/whales/beluga.htm

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Barbara Mahoney, NOAA/NMFS,

Alaska Region, Anchorage Field Office,

(907) 271-5006, fax (907) 271-3030, or

Michael Payne, NOAA/NMFS, Alaska

Region, (907) 586-7235, fax (907) 586-

7012, or Thomas Eagle, Office of