1448 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 2025 / Notices 

activities should be directed to 

Christopher Wright, Fishery Policy 

Analyst, NOAA Fisheries, 1315 East 

West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910, 301–427–8570, and 

chris.wright@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

This request is for an extension of a 

currently approved information 

collection. 

Under section 318(d) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) [16 U.S.C. 

1801, et seq.], as amended by the 

Sustainable Fisheries Act [Pub. L. 104– 

297], the Secretary of Commerce 

(Secretary) is required to promulgate 

regulations that create an expedited, 

uniform, and regionally-based process 

to promote issuance, where practicable, 

of experimental fishing permits. 

Regulations under 50 CFR 648.12 and 

50 CFR 600.745 establish processes for 

scientific research plans as well as 

exempted fishing and exempted 

educational activities that are exempted 

from applicable fishing regulations. 

Fishing regulations do not generally 

affect scientific research activities 

conducted by a scientific research 

vessel. Persons planning to conduct 

such research are encouraged to submit 

a scientific research plan to ensure that 

the activities are considered research 

and not fishing. The researchers are 

requested to submit reports of their 

scientific research activity after its 

completion. Eligible researchers on 

board federally permitted fishing vessels 

that plan to temporarily possess fish in 

a manner not compliant with applicable 

fishing regulations for the purpose of 

collecting scientific data on catch may 

submit a request for a temporary 

possession letter of authorization. The 

researchers are requested to submit 

reports of their scientific research 

activity after its completion. The 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) may also grant exemptions from 

fishery regulations for educational or 

other activities (e.g., using nonregulation gear). The applications for 

these exemptions must be submitted, as 

well as reports on activities. 

II. Method of Collection 

Information may be submitted on 

paper or electronically, and in some 

cases by telephone. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0309. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission 

(extension of a current information 

collection). 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit; individuals or households; not 

for profit organizations; state, local or 

tribal governments. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

121. 

Estimated Time per Response: 

Scientific research plans, 13 hours; 

scientific research reports, 6 hours; 

exempted fishing permit requests, 10 

hours; exempted fishing permit reports, 

4.5 hours; exempted educational 

requests, 5 hours; exempted educational 

reports, 2.5 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 2,141. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost to 

Public: $382.36. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mix of 

Voluntary, Required to Obtain or Retain 

Benefits, or Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: The MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801, et 

seq.). 

IV. Request for Comments 

We are soliciting public comments to 

permit the Department/Bureau to: (a) 

Evaluate whether the proposed 

information collection is necessary for 

the proper functions of the Department, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the 

accuracy of our estimate of the time and 

cost burden for this proposed collection, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (c) 

Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (d) Minimize the 

reporting burden on those who are to 

respond, including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments that you submit in 

response to this notice are a matter of 

public record. We will include or 

summarize each comment in our request 

to OMB to approve this information 

collection request. Before including 

your address, phone number, email 

address, or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that your entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you may ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Departmental PRA Clearance Officer, Office 

of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, 

Commerce Department. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00205 Filed 1–7–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XE603] 

Notice of Availability of Draft 

Environmental Assessment on the 

Effects of Issuing Incidental Take 

Permit No. 27490 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; availability of a Draft 

Environmental Assessment; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the 

availability of the Draft Environmental 

Assessment (EA) on the effects of 

issuing an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) 

(No. 27490) to the University of 

Massachusetts Dartmouth School for 

Marine Science and Technology 

(SMAST), pursuant to the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended, 

for the incidental take of ESA-listed sea 

turtles and sturgeon associated with the 

otherwise lawful fisheries survey 

activities within and adjacent to the 

Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind 

Energy Area. The duration of the 

requested permit is 10 years. NMFS is 

requesting comment on the draft EA. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received at the appropriate address or 

fax number (see ADDRESSES) on or before 

February 7, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: The EA is available for 

download and review at https://

www.regulations.gov (enter NOAA– 

NMFS–2023–0090 in the Search box) 

and at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

national/endangered-speciesconservation/incidental-take-permits 

under the section heading Related 

Documents for the Incidental Take 

Permit to the University of 

Massachusetts Dartmouth School for 

Marine Science and Technology (Sea 

Turtles and Sturgeon). The draft EA is 

also available upon written request (see 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). You 

may submit comments on the draft EA 

identified by NOAA–NMFS–2023–0090, 

by any of the following methods: 


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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 2025 / Notices 1449 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and enter 

NOAA–NMFS–2023–0090 in the Search 

box. Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alison Verkade, NMFS, Office of 

Protected Resources at alison.verkade@

noaa.gov, 301–427–8074. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Publication of this notice begins the 

official public comment period for this 

draft EA. Per the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 

purpose of the draft EA is to evaluate 

the potential direct, indirect, and 

cumulative impacts caused by the 

issuance of Permit No. 27490 to SMAST 

for the incidental take of ESA-listed sea 

turtles and sturgeon associated with the 

otherwise lawful fisheries survey 

activities within and adjacent to the 

Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind 

Energy Area. All comments received 

will become part of the public record 

and will be available for review. 

Section 9 of the ESA and Federal 

regulations prohibit the ‘taking’ of a 

species listed as endangered or 

threatened. The ESA defines ‘‘take’’ to 

mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 

wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or 

to attempt to engage in any such 

conduct (16 U.S.C. 1532(19)). Section 

10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides a 

mechanism for authorizing incidental 

take of listed species. NMFS is 

authorized to issue permits under 

section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, in certain 

circumstances, to take listed species 

incidental to, and not the purpose of, 

otherwise lawful activities. NMFS 

regulations governing permits for 

threatened and endangered species are 

promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307. 

Species Covered in This Notice 

The following species are included in 

the EA: the North Atlantic distinct 

population segments (DPS) of green 

(Chelonia mydas), Kemp’s ridley 

(Lepidochelys kempii), and leatherback 

(Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles; the 

Northwest Atlantic Ocean DPS of 

loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtles; 

and the Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, 

Chesapeake, Carolina, and South 

Atlantic DPSs of Atlantic sturgeon 

(Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus). 

Background 

NMFS received a draft permit 

application and conservation plan from 

SMAST on September 29, 2022. Based 

on our review of the draft application, 

we requested further information and 

clarification. After several draft 

submissions and reviews, on June 13, 

2023, SMAST submitted a complete 

revised application for the incidental 

take of ESA-listed sea turtles and 

sturgeon. On July 6, 2023, we published 

a notice of receipt (88 FR 43082) of 

application and conservation plan from 

SMAST for an incidental take permit. In 

that notice, we made the ITP application 

and associated conservation plan 

available for public comment. During 

the comment period, we received two 

requests to extend the public comment 

period. NMFS provided an additional 

15-day public comment period (88 FR 

55668, August 16, 2023) to the comment 

period, which closed on August 31, 

2023. We received three comments on 

the application and conservation plan, 

and responses to these comments are 

available in the draft EA. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

section 10(c) of the ESA and the NEPA 

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). The draft 

EA was prepared in accordance with 

NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq., 40 CFR 

1500–1508) and applicable NOAA 

policy and procedures (NOAA 

Administrative Order (NAO) 216–6A 

and the NOAA Companion Manual 

(CM) for the NAO 216–6A). 

Alternatives Considered 

NMFS’ proposed action is issuance of 

an ITP to SMAST would authorize take 

of threatened and endangered sea turtle 

and sturgeon species associated with the 

otherwise lawful fisheries survey 

activities within and adjacent to the 

Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind 

Energy Area and require 

implementation of a conservation plan, 

in accordance with the requirements of 

the ESA. In preparing the draft EA, 

NMFS considered the following two 

alternatives for the proposed action. 

Alternative 1: No Action. In 

accordance with the CM for NAO 216– 

6A, section 6.B.i, NMFS is defining the 

no action alternative as not authorizing 

the requested incidental take of ESAlisted sea turtles and sturgeon. This is 

consistent with our statutory obligation 

under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA to 

either: (1) deny the requested ITP or (2) 

grant the requested ITP and prescribe 

mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 

requirements. Under the no action 

alternative, NMFS would not issue the 

ITP, in which case, we assume SMAST 

would either not complete the fisheries 

surveys, or would use alternative 

methods to collect fisheries information 

and the full suite of specific mitigation 

measures, monitoring, reporting 

explained in the Conservation Plan 

would not be implemented. The Council 

on Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations and the CM for NAO 216– 

6A require consideration and analysis of 

a no action alternative for the purposes 

of presenting a comparative analysis to 

the action alternatives. The no action 

alternative, serves as a baseline against 

which the impacts of the action 

alternatives will be compared and 

contrasted. 

Alternative 2: Issue Permit as 

Requested in Application (Preferred 

alternative): Under Alternative 2, an ITP 

would be issued to exempt SMAST from 

the ESA prohibition on taking sturgeon 

and sea turtles during operation of the 

otherwise lawful fisheries survey 

activities within and adjacent to the 

Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind 

Energy Area. As required under section 

10(a)(1)(B), the ITP would require 

SMAST to operate as described in the 

application and conservation plan to 

avoid, minimize, and mitigate take of 

ESA-listed sea turtles and sturgeon. 

Final permit determinations will not 

be completed until after the end of the 

30-day comment period and will fully 

consider all public comments received 

during the comment period. NMFS will 

publish a record of its final action in the 

Federal Register. 

Dated: January 2, 2025. 

Lisa Manning, 

Acting Chief, Endangered Species 

Conservation Division, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00158 Filed 1–7–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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