Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2015 / Notices 4881 

Competition; (2) unauthorized human 

intervention in any part of the Entry 

process for the Competition; (3) 

technical or human error that may occur 

in the administration of the Competition 

or the processing of Entries; or (4) any 

injury or damage to persons or property 

that may be caused, directly or 

indirectly, in whole or in part, from a 

participant’s participation in the 

Competition or receipt or use or misuse 

of a cash award. If for any reason an 

Entry is confirmed to have been deleted 

erroneously, lost, or otherwise 

destroyed or corrupted, the participant’s 

sole remedy is to submit another Entry 

in the Competition. 

No obligation: 

You acknowledge that multiple 

participants may submit Entries that 

contain concepts or technologies similar 

to your Entry and that the Competition 

Sponsors or their subsidiaries and 

business partners may already be 

investigating or developing technical 

solutions or business activities that are 

related or similar to those that you 

disclose in your Entry. You 

acknowledge and agree that any actions 

or omissions of the Competition 

Sponsors with respect to another Entry 

or one of its own solutions or business 

activities, even if similar to your Entry, 

shall not create in the Competition 

Sponsors, as applicable, any liability to 

you or others. Further, none of the 

Competition Sponsors is or shall be 

restricted in any way from pursuing, 

developing, or commercializing, in any 

way that such Competition Sponsor sees 

fit, independent of you and at the 

Competition Sponsor’s sole discretion, 

any technology that is created 

independent of your Entry. You 

acknowledge that none of the 

Competition Sponsors is obligated to 

take any action whatsoever with regard 

to your Entry. You agree that these 

terms and the relationship between you 

and the Competition Sponsors shall be 

governed by the laws of the United 

States. 

Termination and Disqualification: 

The Competition Sponsors reserve the 

authority to cancel, suspend, and/or 

modify the Competition, or any part of 

it, if any fraud, technical failures, or any 

other factor beyond the Competition 

Sponsors’ reasonable control impairs 

the integrity or proper functioning of the 

Competition, as determined by 

Competition Sponsors in their sole 

discretion. 

The Competition Sponsors reserve the 

right to disqualify any participant or 

participant team it believes to be 

tampering with the Entry process or the 

operation of the Competition or to be 

acting in violation of any applicable rule 

or condition. 

Any attempt by any person to 

undermine the legitimate operation of 

the Competition may be a violation of 

criminal and civil law, and, should such 

an attempt be made, the Competition 

Sponsors reserve the authority to seek 

damages from any such person to the 

fullest extent permitted by law. 

Verification of Potential Winner(s): 

All potential winners of a First Round 

Award or Grand Prize Award are subject 

to verification by the Competition 

Sponsors, whose decisions are final and 

binding in all matters related to the 

Competition. 

Potential winner(s) must continue to 

comply with all terms and conditions of 

the Competition rules, and winning is 

contingent upon fulfilling all 

requirements. In the event that a 

potential winner, or an announced 

winner, is found to be ineligible or is 

disqualified for any reason, the 

Competition Sponsors may make award, 

instead, to another participant, as may 

be determined by the Judges. 

Prior to awarding the Grand Prize 

Award, NIST will verify that the 

potential winner is not suspended, 

debarred, or otherwise excluded from 

doing business with the U.S. Federal 

Government. Suspended, debarred, or 

otherwise excluded participants will not 

be eligible to win the Grand Prize 

Award. 

Privacy and Disclosure under FOIA: 

Personal and contact information is 

not collected for commercial or 

marketing purposes. Except as provided 

herein, information submitted 

throughout the Competition will be 

used only to communicate with 

participants regarding Entries and/or the 

Competition. Participant Entries and 

submissions to the Competition may be 

subject to disclosure under the Freedom 

of Information Act (‘‘FOIA’’). 

Authority: 15 U.S. C. 3719. 

Richard Cavanagh, 

Acting Associate Director for Laboratory 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01743 Filed 1–28–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD513 

Draft 2014 Marine Mammal Stock 

Assessment Reports 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS reviewed the Alaska, 

Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine 

mammal stock assessment reports 

(SARs) in accordance with the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act. SARs for 

marine mammals in the Alaska, 

Atlantic, and Pacific regions were 

revised according to new information. 

NMFS solicits public comments on the 

draft 2014 SARs. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

April 29, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: The 2014 draft SARs are 

available in electronic form via the 

Internet at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/

pr/sars/draft.htm. 

Copies of the Alaska Regional SARs 

may be requested from Dee Allen, 

Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, 

7600 Sand Point Way, NE BIN 15700, 

Seattle, WA 98115–0070. 

Copies of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, 

and Caribbean Regional SARs may be 

requested from Gordon Waring, 

Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 

Water St., Woods Hole, MA 02543. 

Copies of the Pacific Regional SARs 

may be requested from Jim Carretta, 

Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 

8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 

92037–1508. 

You may submit comments, identified 

by NOAA–NMFS–2014–0117, by any of 

the following methods: 

Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http://

www.regulations.gov. 

Mail: Send comments or requests for 

copies of reports to: Chief, Marine 

Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 

East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910–3226, Attn: Stock Assessments. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http://

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shannon Bettridge, Office of Protected 

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4882 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2015 / Notices 

Resources, 301–427–8402, 

Shannon.Bettridge@noaa.gov; Dee Allen 

206–526–4048, Dee.Allen@noaa.gov, 

regarding Alaska regional stock 

assessments; Gordon Waring, 508–495– 

2311, Gordon.Waring@noaa.gov, 

regarding Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and 

Caribbean regional stock assessments; or 

Jim Carretta, 858–546–7171, 

Jim.Carretta@noaa.gov, regarding 

Pacific regional stock assessments. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 117 of the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act (MMPA) (16 U.S.C. 1361 

et seq.) requires NMFS and the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service (FWS) to prepare 

stock assessments for each stock of 

marine mammals occurring in waters 

under the jurisdiction of the United 

States, including the Exclusive 

Economic Zone. These reports must 

contain information regarding the 

distribution and abundance of the stock, 

population growth rates and trends, 

estimates of annual human-caused 

mortality and serious injury from all 

sources, descriptions of the fisheries 

with which the stock interacts, and the 

status of the stock. Initial reports were 

completed in 1995. 

The MMPA requires NMFS and FWS 

to review the SARs at least annually for 

strategic stocks and stocks for which 

significant new information is available, 

and at least once every three years for 

non-strategic stocks. The term ‘‘strategic 

stock’’ means a marine mammal stock: 

(A) For which the level of direct humancaused mortality exceeds the potential 

biological removal level; (B) which, 

based on the best available scientific 

information, is declining and is likely to 

be listed as a threatened species under 

the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 

within the foreseeable future; or (C) 

which is listed as a threatened species 

or endangered species under the ESA. 

NMFS and the FWS are required to 

revise a SAR if the status of the stock 

has changed or can be more accurately 

determined. NMFS, in conjunction with 

the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific 

independent Scientific Review Groups 

(SRGs), reviewed the status of marine 

mammal stocks as required and revised 

reports in the Alaska, Atlantic, and 

Pacific regions to incorporate new 

information. 

NMFS updated its serious injury 

designation and reporting process, 

which uses guidance from previous 

serious injury workshops, expert 

opinion, and analysis of historic injury 

cases to develop new criteria for 

distinguishing serious from non-serious 

injury. The NMFS Serious Injury 

Determination Policy was finalized in 

January 2012 and was first applied to 

the draft 2013 marine mammal SARs. 

The SARs report five-year averages for 

serious injury; thus, application of the 

new procedure involved retroactively 

reviewing the past five years of injury 

determinations for 2008–2012. NMFS 

defines serious injury as an ‘‘injury that 

is more likely than not to result in 

mortality’’ (50 CFR 229.2). Injury 

determinations for stock assessments 

revised in 2013 or later incorporate the 

new serious injury guidelines, based on 

the most recent five-year period for 

which data are available. NMFS solicits 

public comments on the draft 2013 

SARs. 

On April 16, 2013, NMFS received a 

petition from the Hawaii Fishermen’s 

Alliance for Conservation and Tradition, 

Inc., to classify the North Pacific 

humpback whale population as a 

distinct population segment (DPS) and 

delist the DPS under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA). On February 26, 

2014, the State of Alaska submitted a 

petition to delineate the Central North 

Pacific stock of the humpback whale as 

a DPS and remove the DPS from the List 

of Endangered and Threatened Species 

under the ESA. After reviewing the 

petitions, the literature cited in the 

petitions, and other literature and 

information available in our files, NMFS 

found that both petitioned actions may 

be warranted and issued positive 90-day 

findings (78 FR 53391, August 29, 2013; 

79 FR 36281, June 26, 2014). Currently, 

the four humpback whale stocks have 

depleted status under the MMPA due to 

their listing as endangered under the 

ESA. Consideration of both petitioned 

actions may affect their depleted status. 

Alaska Reports 

In the Alaska region, SARs for 21 

Alaska stocks (19 ‘‘strategic’’, 2 ‘‘nonstrategic’’) were updated. All stocks 

were reviewed and the following stocks 

were revised for 2014: Steller sea lion 

(western U.S. and eastern U.S. stocks), 

northern fur seal (eastern Pacific stock), 

spotted seal (Alaska stock), bearded seal 

(Alaska stock), ringed seal (Alaska 

stock), beluga whale (Beaufort Sea, 

eastern Chukchi Sea, eastern Bering Sea, 

Bristol Bay, and Cook Inlet stocks), 

killer whale (AT1 transient stock), 

harbor porpoise (Southeast Alaska, Gulf 

of Alaska, and Bering Sea stocks), sperm 

whale (North Pacific stock), humpback 

whale (Western North Pacific and 

central North Pacific stocks), fin whale 

(northeast Pacific stock), North Pacific 

right whale (eastern North Pacific 

stock), bowhead whale (western Arctic 

stock). Most revisions to the Alaska 

SARs included updates of abundance 

and/or mortality and serious injury 

estimates. Information on the remaining 

Alaska region stocks can be found in the 

final 2013 reports (Allen and Angliss, 

2014). 

The Eastern stock of Steller sea lions 

was depleted under the MMPA due to 

its ESA listing as endangered. NMFS is 

currently evaluating the depleted status 

of the eastern Steller sea lion following 

delisting from the ESA. If not depleted, 

the recovery factor used to calculate 

potential biological removal level (PBR) 

would be adjusted from 0.75 to 1.0 per 

the Guidelines for Assessing Marine 

Mammal Stocks, and PBR would be 

2,193. If the stock continues to be 

classified as depleted, the recovery 

factor would remain at 0.75, and PBR 

would be 1,645. 

New survey data provided calculated 

values of abundance, minimum 

abundance (Nmin), and PBR for the 

spotted seal stock. Nmin is now 

reported as ‘‘unknown’’ and PBR as 

‘‘undetermined’’ rather than a 

calculated estimate based on age of 

population estimate (>8 years old) for 

two stocks of beluga whales: Eastern 

Chukchi Sea and eastern Bering Sea. 

Atlantic Reports 

In the Atlantic region (including the 

Atlantic coast, Gulf Coast, and U.S. 

territories in the Caribbean), reports for 

53 stocks were updated and three 

added. Of the updated stocks, 9 stocks 

are ‘‘strategic,’’ and 44 are ‘‘nonstrategic.’’ Three new Atlantic region 

reports for strategic stocks were added 

this year, false killer whales (Western 

North Atlantic stock), common 

bottlenose dolphin (Central Georgia 

estuarine stock), and common 

bottlenose dolphin (Mississippi Sound, 

Lake Borgne, Bay Boudreau stock, 

previously contained in the common 

bottlenose dolphin, northern Gulf of 

Mexico bay, sound and estuary SAR). 

The Lemon Bay stock of common 

bottlenose dolphin was combined with 

the Gasparilla Sound, Charlotte Harbor, 

Pine Island Sound stock of common 

bottlenose dolphin, based on recent 

photo-ID data. 

All stocks were reviewed and the 

following stocks were revised for 2014: 

North Atlantic right whale; humpback 

whale, Gulf of Maine; fin whale, 

Western North Atlantic (WNA); sei 

whale; sperm whale, WNA; North 

Atlantic killer whale, WNA; common 

bottlenose dolphin, Gulf of Mexico 

northern coastal; common bottlenose 

dolphin, Gulf of Mexico western coastal; 

common bottlenose dolphin, Barataria 

Bay; minke whale, Canadian east coast; 

Northern bottlenose whale; Sowerby’s 

beaked whale; Risso’s dolphin, WNA; 

long-finned pilot whale; short-finned 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2015 / Notices 4883 

pilot whale, WNA; Atlantic white-sided 

dolphin; short-beaked common dolphin; 

common bottlenose dolphin, Western 

North Atlantic/offshore ; harbor 

porpoise, Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy; 

harbor seal, WNA; gray seal, WNA; 

common bottlenose dolphin, Gulf of 

Mexico continental shelf; common 

bottlenose dolphin, Gulf of Mexico 

eastern coastal; common bottlenose 

dolphin, Gulf of Mexico Oceanic; 

common bottlenose dolphin, northern 

Gulf of Mexico bay, sound and estuary 

(27 stocks); pantropical spotted dolphin, 

Gulf of Mexico; and Risso’s dolphin 

Gulf of Mexico. Information on the 

remaining Atlantic region stocks can be 

found in the final 2013 reports (Waring 

et al., 2014). 

Most revisions included updates of 

abundance and/or mortality and serious 

injury estimates. The status of one stock, 

Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy harbor 

porpoise, changed from strategic to nonstrategic. New survey data provided 

calculated values of abundance, Nmin, 

and PBR for the following stocks of 

common bottlenose dolphin: Gulf of 

Mexico continental shelf, Gulf of 

Mexico eastern coastal stock, Gulf of 

Mexico northern coastal stock, Gulf of 

Mexico western coastal, Mississippi 

River Delta, and Mississippi Sound, 

Lake Borgne, Bay Boudreau. 

Pacific Reports 

In the Pacific region (waters along the 

west coast of the United States, within 

waters surrounding the main and 

Northwest Hawaiian Islands, and within 

waters surrounding U.S. territories in 

the Western Pacific), SARs were revised 

for 10 stocks under NMFS jurisdiction 

(5 ‘‘strategic’’ and 5 ‘‘non-strategic’’ 

stocks) and one was added for the 

Western North Pacific gray whale (a 

‘‘strategic’’ stock). All stocks were 

reviewed and the following stocks were 

revised for 2014: Hawaiian monk seal; 

southern Resident killer whale; false 

killer whale, Main Hawaiian Islands 

Insular; false killer whale, Hawaii 

Pelagic; sperm whale, California/

Oregon/Washington; Western North 

Pacific gray whale; California sea lion; 

Harbor seal, California; Northern 

elephant seal, California; Eastern North 

Pacific gray whale; and false killer 

whale, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. 

Information on the remaining Pacific 

region stocks can be found in the final 

2013 reports (Carretta et al., 2014). 

New estimates of abundance for the 

California/Oregon/Washington stock of 

sperm whales are based on a Bayesian 

trend analysis that utilizes previously 

collected line-transect data (Moore and 

Barlow, 2014), resulting in a more stable 

time series of abundance estimates. 

Mortality and serious injury estimates of 

California/Oregon/Washington sperm 

whales in California drift gillnets are 

updated, based on pooling additional 

years of data (>5 years) to reduce bias 

and improve precision in mean annual 

bycatch estimates (Carretta and Moore, 

2014). The combination of new 

abundance estimates and pooling of 

bycatch estimates over a longer time 

period for this stock of sperm whales 

results in mean annual bycatch 

estimates that no longer exceed PBR. 

Dated: January 23, 2015. 

Wanda Cain, 

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01751 Filed 1–28–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD546 

Notice of Availability of the Draft NOAA 

Restoration Center Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Draft 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the 

availability of the NOAA Restoration 

Center Programmatic Environmental 

Impact Statement. Publication of this 

notice begins the public comment 

period for this Draft Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(DPEIS). The purpose of the DPEIS is to 

evaluate, in compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), the potential direct, indirect, 

and cumulative impacts of 

implementing the alternative 

programmatic approaches to coastal 

habitat restoration within the NOAA 

Restoration Center and other NOAA 

programs implementing similar habitat 

restoration activities. 

DATES: Interested parties should provide 

written comments by March 20, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties that wish 

to send comments may send an email to 

rc.compliance@noaa.gov. Interested 

parties that wish to send comments 

through regular mail may use the 

following mailing address: NOAA 

Restoration Center (F/HC3), ATTN: 

Restoration DPEIS Comments, 1315 East 

West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910. The NOAA Restoration Center 

Web site that contains information and 

updates relevant to this DPEIS can be 

found at: http://www.restoration.noaa.

gov/environmentalcompliance. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melanie Gange at 301–427–8664 or via 

the following email address: 

rc.compliance@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In the DPEIS, NOAA proposes to fund 

or otherwise implement coastal habitat 

restoration activities through its existing 

programmatic framework and related 

procedures. NOAA contains multiple 

programs that carry out habitat 

restoration projects throughout the 

coastal United States, which includes 

the Great Lakes and territories. Many of 

these programs are housed within the 

National Marine Fisheries Service, 

Office of Habitat Conservation’s 

Restoration Center (NOAA RC). Projects 

implemented by NOAA vary in terms of 

their size, complexity, geographic 

location and NOAA involvement, and 

often benefit a wide range of habitat 

types and affect a number of different 

species. Fish passage, hydrologic/tidal 

reconnection, shellfish restoration, coral 

recovery, salt marsh and barrier island 

restoration, erosion prevention, debris 

removal, and invasive species removal, 

are all examples of project types 

implemented by NOAA through its 

various programs. 

The DPEIS includes a suite of 

restoration approaches that NOAA 

proposes will most effectively conserve 

and restore the coastal and marine 

resources under NOAA trusteeship. 

This analysis builds upon and replaces 

the Programmatic Environmental 

Assessment (PEA) and Supplemental 

(SPEA) published in 2002 and 2006, 

respectively. The analyses in the PEA 

and SPEA, where relevant, along with 

NOAA’s analyses of individual project 

impacts, have informed the updated 

analyses in this DPEIS. NOAA believes 

that this DPEIS will promote an efficient 

NEPA compliance process for future 

NOAA-supported habitat restoration 

activities, through various programs. 

Alternatives: This document provides 

a programmatic-level environmental 

analysis to support NOAA’s proposal to 

continue habitat restoration activities 

involving trust resources throughout the 

coastal United States. The DPEIS takes 

a broad look at issues and 

programmatic-level alternatives 

(compared to a document for a specific 

project or action) and provides guidance 

for future restoration activities to be 

carried out by NOAA. In addition to 

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