Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 21, 2025 / Notices 7101 

monitoring, and reporting requirements 

are incorporated. A draft of the 

proposed IHA can be found at: https:// 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/incidentaltake-authorizations-constructionactivities. 

Request for Public Comments 

We request comment on our analyses, 

the proposed authorization, and any 

other aspect of this notice of proposed 

IHA for the proposed construction 

project. We also request comment on the 

potential renewal of this proposed IHA 

as described in the paragraph below. 

Please include with your comments any 

supporting data or literature citations to 

help inform decisions on the request for 

this IHA or a subsequent renewal IHA. 

On a case-by-case basis, NMFS may 

issue a one-time, 1-year renewal IHA 

following notice to the public providing 

an additional 15 days for public 

comments when (1) up to another year 

of identical or nearly identical activities 

as described in the Description of 

Proposed Activity section of this notice 

is planned or (2) the activities as 

described in the Description of 

Proposed Activity section of this notice 

would not be completed by the time the 

IHA expires and a renewal would allow 

for completion of the activities beyond 

that described in the Dates and Duration 

section of this notice, provided all of the 

following conditions are met: 

• A request for renewal is received no 

later than 60 days prior to the needed 

renewal IHA effective date (recognizing 

that the renewal IHA expiration date 

cannot extend beyond 1 year from 

expiration of the initial IHA). 

• The request for renewal must 

include the following: 

(1) An explanation that the activities 

to be conducted under the requested 

renewal IHA are identical to the 

activities analyzed under the initial 

IHA, are a subset of the activities, or 

include changes so minor (e.g., 

reduction in pile size) that the changes 

do not affect the previous analyses, 

mitigation and monitoring 

requirements, or take estimates (with 

the exception of reducing the type or 

amount of take). 

(2) A preliminary monitoring report 

showing the results of the required 

monitoring to date and an explanation 

showing that the monitoring results do 

not indicate impacts of a scale or nature 

not previously analyzed or authorized. 

• Upon review of the request for 

renewal, the status of the affected 

species or stocks, and any other 

pertinent information, NMFS 

determines that there are no more than 

minor changes in the activities, the 

mitigation and monitoring measures 

will remain the same and appropriate, 

and the findings in the initial IHA 

remain valid. 

Dated: January 15, 2025. 

Kimberly Damon-Randall, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01383 Filed 1–17–25; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XE618] 

Marine Mammals; File Nos. 28286 and 

22095 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; extension of comment 

period and proposed permit extension. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the National Marine Fisheries Service is 

extending the public comment period 

associated with the notice of receipt for 

an application for a permit (File No. 

28286) to conduct research and 

enhancement activities on one stranded, 

non-releasable beluga whale 

(Delphinapterus leucas) from the 

endangered Cook Inlet distinct 

population segment (DPS). The 

application has been updated to reflect 

additional information received from 

the applicant. Additionally, we propose 

extending SeaWorld’s current permit, 

No. 22095–01, under which the subject 

beluga whale is currently held, for six 

months to allow additional processing 

of the updated application (File No. 

28286). 

DATES: The comment period for the 

notice published December 17, 2024, at 

89 FR 102117, is extended. Written 

comments must be received on or before 

March 3, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: The application for a new 

permit and related documents are 

available for review by selecting 

‘‘Records Open for Public Comment’’ 

from the ‘‘Features’’ box on the 

Applications and Permits for Protected 

Species home page, https://

apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then selecting 

File No. 28286 from the list of available 

applications. These documents are also 

available upon written request via email 

to NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. 

Written comments on this application 

(File No. 28286) and the proposed 

extension to Permit No. 22095–01 

should be submitted via email to 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Please 

include File Nos. 28286 and 22095, 

respectively, in the subject line of the 

email comment. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

via email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@

noaa.gov. The request should set forth 

the specific reasons why a hearing on 

this application would be appropriate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Courtney Smith, Ph.D., or Jennifer 

Skidmore, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

December 17, 2024 (89 FR 102117), the 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) published notice of a permit 

application (File No. 28286) submitted 

by SeaWorld LLC, 6240 Sea Harbor 

Drive, Orlando, FL 32821 (Responsible 

Party: Chris Dold, DVM). 

The applicant proposes to conduct 

research and enhancement activities on 

and provide long-term care for one male 

beluga whale (NOA0010477/‘‘Tyonek’’) 

from the depleted and endangered Cook 

Inlet DPS. The permit is requested for a 

5-year period. NMFS received a request 

for an extension of the public comment 

period. Additionally, NMFS received 

updated information from the applicant 

in response to preliminary questions 

from the Marine Mammal Commission 

(MMC), clarifying research sampling 

and enhancement activity details in the 

take tables, educational programs, and 

captive breeding of the subject whale. 

These changes have been incorporated 

into the application in APPS (see also 

new uploaded document, ‘‘28286_

Response to MMC Comments_

1.2.2024.pdf’’. In addition, NMFS is 

proposing to extend SeaWorld’s current 

research and enhancement permit for 

Tyonek, No. 22095–01 (75 FR 27418, 

April 17, 2024), for six months to allow 

additional processing of the updated 

application (File No. 28286). That 

extended permit would expire on 

September 15, 2025. Thus, NMFS is 

extending the public comment period 

for an additional 30 days. 

Dated: January 14, 2025. 

Julia M. Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01282 Filed 1–17–25; 8:45 am] 

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