Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2022 / Notices 3283 

disturbance on seals. The LOC expires 

on August 31, 2026. 

File No. 25811: Issued to the Naval 

Facilities Engineering Systems 

Command Atlantic (RP: Deanna Rees; 

PI: Danielle Jones), 6506 Hampton 

Boulevard, Norfolk, Virginia 23508. 

This LOC authorizes close approach, 

counts, unintentional disturbance, 

photo-identification, photography/ 

videography, and behavioral 

observations of harbor and gray seals via 

vessel surveys, ground surveys, and 

UAS along the coast of Virginia. Harp 

seals may be observed during research. 

The objective of the research is to 

collect data on pinniped occurrence, 

movement, habitat use, and haul-out 

patterns at known haul-out areas near 

the lower Chesapeake Bay and the 

Eastern Shore, Virginia. The LOC 

expires on September 30, 2026. 

File No. 20346: This LOC, held by 

Ann Weaver, Ph.D., Good-natured 

Statistics Consulting, P.O. Box 8732, St 

Petersburg, Florida 33738, was extended 

on September 13, 2021, while the 

holder’s new application (File No. 

25957) is in process. The LOC 

authorizes vessel-based research of 

bottlenose dolphins, including 

abundance surveys, behavioral 

observations, photography and video in 

and around a 6.5-mile stretch of the 

Intracoastal Waterway near John’s Pass, 

Florida. The objectives of the research 

would not change. The extended LOC 

expires on September 1, 2022, or until 

a decision is made on the new 

application, whichever occurs first. 

File No. 25574: Issued to Wendy Noke 

Durden, Hubbs-Sea World Research 

Institute, 3830 South Highway A1A #4– 

181, Melbourne Beach, Florida 32951, 

on September 23, 2021. This LOC 

authorizes vessel-based surveys and 

UAS flights for photo-identification, 

behavioral observations, focal follows, 

passive acoustic recordings, and breath 

sampling of bottlenose dolphins. 

Research may occur in the inland waters 

along the east coast of Florida from 

northernmost limits of Flagler County to 

Jupiter Inlet, including the Indian River 

Lagoon, with a focus on Mosquito 

Lagoon and the Halifax River estuary. 

The objective of the research is to 

evaluate the abundance, stock 

association, distribution, residency, 

social structure, population dynamics, 

habitat use, health, demography, 

behavior, anthropogenic interactions, 

and contact calls of dolphins within the 

study area. The LOC expires on 

September 30, 2026. 

File No. 25895: Issued to Jacalyn 

Sullivan, Stockton University, 101 Vera 

King Farris Drive, Galloway, New Jersey 

08205, on October 29, 2021. This LOC 

authorizes UAS surveys of harbor seals 

for count/survey, behavioral observation 

monitoring, photo-identification, and 

videography. The objective of the 

research is to determine temporal 

patterns of harbor seal habitat use in 

Great Bay, New Jersey, population size, 

and shifts over time as a nearby wind 

farm becomes operational. The LOC 

expires on October 31, 2026. 

File No. 25835: Issued to Tampa Bay 

Watch (PI: Savannah Gandee), 3000 

Pinellas Bayway South, Tierra Verde, 

Florida 33715, on December 21, 2021. 

This LOC authorizes vessel-based 

surveys of bottlenose dolphins for 

behavioral observations, photoidentification, passive acoustics, count/ 

survey, and photography/videography 

in Tampa Bay. The objective of the 

research is to provide an updated 

account of the common bottlenose 

dolphin population that utilizes 

understudied regions of Tampa Bay for 

management and conservation 

purposes. The LOC expires on 

December 31, 2021. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final 

determination has been made that the 

activities are categorically excluded 

from the requirement to prepare an 

environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement. 

Dated: January 7, 2022. 

Julia M. Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–00496 Filed 1–20–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Review of Nomination for Hudson 

Canyon National Marine Sanctuary 

AGENCY: Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean 

Service (NOS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce (DOC). 

ACTION: Notice; request for written 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is 

seeking written comments on its fiveyear review of the nomination for 

Hudson Canyon National Marine 

Sanctuary (NMS). Comments should 

focus solely on any new and relevant 

information relating to NOAA’s 11 

sanctuary nomination evaluation 

criteria. NOAA will pay particular 

attention to any additional details about 

the significance of the area’s natural or 

cultural resources, changes to any 

threats to these resources, and evolving 

management efforts, or human uses in 

the proposed area (e.g., wind energy 

proposals in the area). NOAA will make 

a final determination on whether the 

Hudson Canyon NMS nomination 

remains relevant and responsive to the 

evaluation criteria after it analyzes the 

comments it receives and, if so, whether 

Hudson Canyon NMS is to remain in the 

nomination inventory for another fiveyear period. With this five-year review, 

NOAA is not seeking comments on 

whether to start the sanctuary 

designation process for the Hudson 

Canyon NMS proposal. 

DATES: Comments are due by February 

7, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. Submit 

electronic comments via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal and search for 

Docket Number NOAA–NOS–2022– 

0010. 

• Mail: LeAnn Hogan, Regional 

Operations Coordinator, NOAA 

Sanctuaries Eastern Region, 1305 East 

West Highway, N/NMS, Silver Spring, 

MD 20910. 

Email: LeAnn.Hogan@noaa.gov. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record. All 

personally identifiable information (for 

example, name and address) voluntarily 

submitted by the commenter may be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

confidential business information or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. NOAA will accept 

anonymous comments (enter N/A in the 

required fields to remain anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

LeAnn Hogan, Regional Operations 

Coordinator, NOAA Sanctuaries Eastern 

Region, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ 

NMS, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or at 

LeAnn.Hogan@noaa.gov, or 202–731– 

0678. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background Information 

In June 2014, NOAA issued a final 

rule establishing the sanctuary 

nomination process (SNP), which 

details how communities may submit 

nominations to NOAA for consideration 

of national marine sanctuary 

designation (79 FR 33851). NOAA 

moves successful nominations to an 

inventory of areas that could be 

considered for national marine 


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3284 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2022 / Notices 

sanctuary designation. The final rule 

establishing the SNP included a fiveyear limit on any nomination added to 

the inventory that NOAA does not 

advance for designation. 

In November 2019, NOAA issued a 

Federal Register notice (84 FR 61546) to 

clarify procedures for evaluating and 

updating a nomination as it approaches 

the five-year mark on the inventory of 

areas that could be considered for 

national marine sanctuary designation. 

This notice explained that if a 

nomination remains responsive to the 

evaluation criteria for inclusion on the 

inventory, NOAA could keep the 

nomination on the inventory for another 

five years. The notice also established a 

process for NOAA to consider the 

continuing viability of nominations 

nearing the five-year expiration mark. 

The nomination for Hudson Canyon 

proposal is scheduled to expire in 

February 2022. The full nomination can 

be found at https://nominate.noaa.gov/ 

nominations/. 

NOAA is not proposing to designate 

Hudson Canyon as a national marine 

sanctuary with this action. Instead, 

comments should identify any new or 

changing information relative to 

NOAA’s 11 sanctuary nomination 

evaluation criteria (https://

nominate.noaa.gov/guide.html). 

Comments that do not pertain to 

information supporting the evaluation 

criteria, or present new information on 

the Hudson Canyon NMS nomination, 

will not be considered in NOAA’s 

decision on whether to retain this 

nomination in the inventory. 

Should NOAA conclude that the 

Hudson Canyon NMS nomination no 

longer meets its evaluation criteria and 

decide to remove it from the inventory, 

NOAA would notify the nominator 

directly via letter, and the public via 

notice in the Federal Register and a web 

posting at ‘‘nominate.noaa.gov.’’ 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq. 

John Armor, 

Director, Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries, National Ocean Service, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[FR Doc. 2022–01085 Filed 1–20–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–NK–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Review of Nomination for Mariana 

Trench National Marine Sanctuary 

AGENCY: Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean 

Service (NOS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce (DOC). 

ACTION: Notice; request for written 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries (ONMS) of the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) is requesting 

written comments to facilitate ONMS’ 

five-year review of the nomination for 

the Mariana Trench National Marine 

Sanctuary (NMS) at the five-year 

interval. In particular, NOAA is 

requesting relevant information as it 

pertains to its 11 evaluation criteria for 

inclusion in the inventory. In this fiveyear review, NOAA will pay particular 

attention to any new information about 

the significance of the area’s natural or 

cultural resources, changes to any 

threats to these resources, and any 

updates to the management framework 

of the area. NOAA has provided the 

original nominating parties, The Pew 

Charitable Trusts and Friends of the 

Marianas Trench, an opportunity to 

share their views on these same 

questions. Following this information 

gathering and internal analysis, NOAA 

will make a final determination on 

whether or not the Mariana Trench 

NMS nomination will remain in the 

inventory for another five-year period. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by February 22, 2022. NOAA 

will conduct a virtual meeting on 

Saturday, February 12, 2022, from 10 

a.m.–12 p.m. ChST (Guam/ 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands)/Friday, February 11, 2022, from 

2 p.m.–4 p.m. HST (Hawai1i). NOAA 

may end the meeting before the time 

noted above if all those participating 

have completed their oral comments. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. Submit 

electronic comments via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal and search for 

Docket Number NOAA–NOS–2022– 

0005. 

• Mail: Kristina Kekuewa, Pacific 

Islands Regional Director, NOAA Office 

of National Marine Sanctuaries, 1845 

Wasp Blvd., Honolulu, Hawaii 96818. 

• Email: Kristina.Kekuewa@noaa.gov. 

• Public Scoping Meeting: Provide 

oral comments during a virtual public 

scoping meeting, as described under 

DATES. Webinar registration details and 

additional information about how to 

participate in the public scoping 

meeting is available at https://

nominate.noaa.gov/5-year-review.html. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record. All 

personal identifying information (for 

example, name and address) voluntarily 

submitted by the commenter may be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

confidential business information or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. NOAA will accept 

anonymous comments (enter N/A in the 

required fields to remain anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristina Kekuewa, Pacific Islands 

Regional Director, NOAA Office of 

National Marine Sanctuaries, 1845 

Wasp Blvd., Honolulu, Hawaii 96818, or 

at kristina.kekuewa@noaa.gov, or at 

808–725–5252. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background Information 

In 2014, NOAA issued a final rule reestablishing the sanctuary nomination 

process (SNP), which details how 

communities may submit nominations 

of areas of the marine and Great Lakes 

environment for NOAA to consider for 

designation as national marine 

sanctuaries (79 FR 33851). NOAA 

moves successful nominations to an 

inventory of areas that could be 

considered for national marine 

sanctuary designation. The final rule reestablishing the SNP included a fiveyear limit on any nomination added to 

the inventory that NOAA does not 

advance for designation. 

In November 2019, NOAA issued a 

Federal Register notice (84 FR 61546) to 

clarify procedures for evaluating and 

updating a successful nomination as it 

approaches the five-year mark in the 

inventory of areas that could be 

considered for national marine 

sanctuary designation. This notice 

explained that if a nomination remains 

responsive to the evaluation criteria for 

inclusion in the inventory, it may be 

appropriate to allow the nomination to 

remain in the inventory for another five 

years. The notice also established a 

process for NOAA to consider the 

continuing viability of nominations 

nearing the five-year expiration mark. 

The nomination for Mariana Trench 

NMS was accepted to the national 

inventory on March 13, 2017, and is 

therefore scheduled to expire on March 

13, 2022. The full nomination can be 

found at https://nominate.noaa.gov/ 

nominations/. 

NOAA is not proposing to designate 

the Mariana Trench NMS with this 

action. Instead, NOAA is seeking public 

comment on ONMS’ five-year review of 

the nomination for Mariana Trench 

NMS. Accordingly, written comments 

submitted as part of this request should 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1