Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 222 / Thursday, November 16, 2000 / Notices 69287

another appeal from the Puerto Rico

Planning Board’s objection to his

original consistency certification. This

is a final agency action for purposes of

judicial review.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Mary Gray Holt, Attorney-Adviser,

Office of the Assistant General Counsel

for Ocean Services, National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.

Department of Commerce, 1305 EastWest Highway, Room 6111, Silver

Spring, MD 20910, 301–713–2967.

[Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog No.

11.419 Coastal Zone Management Program

Assistance]

Dated: November 2, 2000.

Craig O’Connor,

Acting General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 00–29388 Filed 11–15–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 091300A]

Small Takes of Marine Mammals

Incidental to Specified Activities;

Explosives Testing at Eglin Air Force

Base, FL

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal of a

request for a small take exemption

authorization.

SUMMARY: On October 26, 2000, NMFS

was notified by the U.S. Air Force that

it was withdrawing its request for an

authorization under the Marine

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to take

small numbers of bottlenose and spotted

dolphins, by harassment, incidental to

explosive testing of obstacle and mine

clearance systems at Eglin Air Force

Base, FL (Eglin).

ADDRESSES: A copy of the application

and/or letter of withdrawal may be

obtained by writing to Donna Wieting,

Chief, Marine Mammal Conservation

Division, Office of Protected Resources,

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver

Spring, MD 20910, or by telephoning

the contact listed here.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenneth Hollingshead 301-713-2055

ext. 128.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August

6, 2000, NMFS received a small take

application, under section 101(a)(5)(D)

of the MMPA, from the U.S. Air Force

at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. The Air

Force, in cooperation with the Naval

Surface Warfare Center-Coastal Systems

Station, U.S. Navy, requested, on that

date, an authorization to take, by

harassment and non-serious injury,

bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops

truncatus), and spotted dolphins

(Stenella frontalis), incidental to

explosive testing of an obstacle

clearance system at Eglin. Eglin is

located in the Florida Panhandle

approximately midway between the

cities of Pensacola and Panama City, FL.

The location of the proposed action is

on the beach areas on Santa Rosa Island,

approximately 27 kilometers (17 mi)

west of Destin, FL.

A notice of receipt of the application

and proposed incidental harassment

authorization (IHA) under the MMPA

was published on October 20, 2000 (65

FR 63059), and a 30-day public

comment period was provided on the

application and proposed authorization.

Please refer to that document for

additional information on the Air Force

request.

On October 26, 2000, NMFS received

a letter from the Air Force at Eglin

noting that the U.S. Navy does not

support the acoustic modeling that was

performed for the Biological Assessment

under section 7 of the Endangered

Species Act or the application for an

IHA; in particular, a marine mammal

injury threshold criterion of 5 pounds/

inch2-milliseconds. The Navy believes

that the methodologies and criteria

developed by acousticians, energetic

scientists, and independent scientific

review for the SEAWOLF ship shock

trial (63 FR 66069, December 1, 1998),

as updated in the shock trial of the USS

WINSTON CHURCHILL (65 FR 11542,

March 3, 2000), are the appropriate

means to establish harassment to marine

mammals. As a result, the Air Force has

requested NMFS to withdraw the

application. The Air Force will inform

NMFS if the Navy requests to use Eglin

to conduct this or other tests in the

future.

Dated: November 6, 2000.

Phil Williams,

Acting Deputy Director, Office of protected

Resourses, National marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–29413 Filed 11–15–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 110800D]

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Recordkeeping and

Reporting Requirements; Public

Workshops

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of workshops.

SUMMARY: NMFS, Alaska Region, and

the U.S. Coast Guard North Pacific

Regional Fisheries Training Center will

present workshops on the 2001

recordkeeping and reporting

requirements for the Alaska groundfish

fisheries.

DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

under the heading, ‘‘Meeting Dates and

Addresses,’’ for dates the workshops

will be held.

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION under the heading,

‘‘Meeting Dates and Addresses,’’ for

meeting addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patsy A. Bearden, 907-586-7008.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

workshops will include discussion of

proposed 2001 changes to the

recordkeeping and reporting

requirements for Alaska groundfish

fisheries along with instructions for

completion and submittal of the

required forms and logsheets.

Suggestions and feedback on existing

procedures are welcome.

Meeting Dates and Addresses

1. November 17, 2000, 10 a.m. to 12

noon Pacific standard time—FISH

EXPO, Washington State Trade and

Convention Center, Room 310, Seattle,

WA.

2. December 4, 2000, 9 a.m to 11 a.m.

for vessels, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for

shoreside processors, Alaska local

time—Anchorage Federal Building,

Room 154, 222 West Seventh Avenue,

Anchorage, AK.

3. January 4, 2001, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

for vessels, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for

shoreside processors, Pacific standard

time—NOAA Western Regional Center,

7600 Sandpoint Way, N.E., Building 9,

Room A/B, Seattle, WA.

4. January 16, 2001, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

for vessels, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for

shoreside processors, Alaska local

time—U.S. Coast Guard Base, North

Pacific Regional Fisheries Training

Center, Kodiak, AK.