75186 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 232 / Friday, December 1, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

TABLE 1.—GENERAL SUPERFUND SECTION—Continued

State Site name City/county Notes a

*******

OR ......... Portland Harbor ............................................................................................................ Portland.

*******

SD ......... Gilt Edge Mine .............................................................................................................. Lead.

*******

aA = Based on issuance of health advisory by Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (if scored, HRS score need not be ≤ 28.50).

C = Sites on Construction Completion list.

S = State top priority (included among the 100 top priority sites regardless of score).

P = Sites with partial deletion(s).

TABLE 2.—FEDERAL FACILITIES SECTION

State Site name City/county Notes a

*******

VA ......... Naval Weapons Station Yorktown—Cheatham Annex ................................................ Williamsburg.

*******

aA = Based on issuance of health advisory by Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (if scored, HRS score need not be ≤ 28.50).

C = Sites on Construction Completion list.

S = State top priority (included among the 100 top priority sites regardless of score).

P = Sites with partial deletion(s).

[FR Doc. 00–30630 Filed 11–30–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 230

[Docket No. 001120325-0325-01: I.D.

110800B]

RIN 0648-A077

Whaling Provisions: Aboriginal

Subsistence Whaling Quotas

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Aboriginal subsistence whaling

quota.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the

aboriginal subsistence whaling quota for

gray whales, and other limitations

deriving from regulations adopted at the

1997 Annual Meeting of the

International Whaling Commission

(IWC). For 2000, the quota is zero gray

whales landed. This quota and other

limitations will govern the harvest of

gray whales by members of the Makah

Indian Tribe (Tribe).

DATES: Effective November 28, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Office of Protected

Resources, National Marine Fisheries

Service, 1315 East West Highway, Silver

Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cathy Campbell, (202) 482-2652.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Aboriginal

subsistence whaling in the United States

is governed by the Whaling Convention

Act (16 U.S.C. 916 et seq.), which

requires the Secretary of Commerce 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 1997 Annual Meeting of the

IWC, the Commission set quotas for

aboriginal subsistence use of gray

whales from the Eastern stock in the

North Pacific. The gray whale quota was

based on a joint request by the Russian

Federation and the United States, with

documentation of the needs of 2 Native

groups, the Chukotka Natives and the

Tribe in Washington State.

This action by the IWC thus

authorized aboriginal subsistence

whaling by the Tribe for gray whales, as

discussed in greater detail in the 1999

notification (64 FR 28413). This

aboriginal subsistence harvest is

conducted in accordance with a

cooperative agreement between NOAA

and the Makah Tribal Council (Council).

The IWC set a 5-year block quota

(1998 through 2002) of 620 gray whales,

with an annual cap of 140 animals

taken. The IWC regulation does not

address the number of allowed strikes.

The requested quota and accompanying

documentation assumed an average

annual harvest of 120 whales by the

Chukotka people and an average annual

harvest of 4 whales by the Tribe.

The United States and the Russian

Federation have concluded an

arrangement providing that the Tribe

may take no more than five gray whales,

and the Russian natives may take no

more than 135 gray whales. On June 9,

however, the United States Court of

Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that

the Department of Commerce’s

environmental assessment (EA) under

the National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) should have been completed

before agreeing to request a gray whale

quota from the IWC. The Court ordered

the agency to prepare a new EA under

circumstances that would ensure an

objective evaluation of the

environmental consequences of the gray

whale harvest.

NOAA has begun preparation of the

new EA. In the meantime, NOAA is

setting the gray whale quota at zero,

pending completion of the NEPA

process. NOAA has also rescinded its

cooperative agreement with the Council.

November 28, 2000.

Penelope D. Dalton,

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–30650 Filed 11–28–00; 3:53 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S