Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2001 / Notices 3989

Dated: January 9, 2001.

Gwellnar Banks,

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief

Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–1374 Filed 1–16–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–JT–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 010901C]

Marine Mammals: Draft Environmental

Assessment on Allocating Gray

Whales to the Makah Tribe for the

years 2001 and 2002

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability and

request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the

availability of a Draft Environmental

Assessment (EA) that examines the

environmental consequences of issuing

the International Whaling Commission

(IWC) quota for gray whales to the

Makah Tribe for the years 2001 and

2002. NMFS has not identified a

preferred alternative in this draft EA

and is soliciting comments on the draft

EA. The Draft EA considers four

alternatives regarding the issuance of

the IWC quota to the Makah Tribe.

DATES: Comments on the EA must be

received by February 16, 2001. A public

hearing on this draft EA will be held in

Seattle, WA on Thursday, February 1,

2001, at 6:00 p.m. The public hearing

will be held at the Sand Point

Magnuson Park Auditorium, 74th Street

Entrance, 7400 Sand Point Way NE,

Seattle, Washington.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the draft EA

should be addressed to Cathy E.

Campbell, NOAA/NMFS, Office of

Protected Resources, 13th Floor, 1315

East-West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD

20910. Mark the outside of the envelope

with ‘‘Comments on Makah EA.’’

Comments received over the Internet or

by electronic mail will not be accepted.

Copies of the EA and directions to the

public hearing may be obtained over the

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

prot—res/prot—res.html under ‘‘New

Arrivals’’.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cathy Campbell, 301–713–2322.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Prior to

the 1997 Annual International Whaling

Commission (IWC) Meeting, NMFS

formally analyzed the environmental

impacts of a decision to support or not

support whaling, and to determine

whether an annual subsistence quota of

up to five Eastern Pacific gray whales

would significantly affect the quality of

the human environment. A draft EA was

distributed for public comment on

August 22, 1997. After reviewing and

addressing the comments received,

NMFS issued a final EA and Finding of

No Significant Impact on October 17,

1997.

At its 1997 annual meeting, the IWC

approved a quota of 620 gray whales for

an aboriginal subsistence harvest during

the years 1998 through 2002. The basis

for the quota was a joint request by the

Russian Federation (for a total of 600

whales) and the United States (for a

total of 20 whales). In 1998 and 1999,

NOAA granted an allocation of up to

five whales a year to the Makah Indian

Tribe, whose subsistence and

ceremonial needs had been the

foundation of the U.S. request to the

IWC.

U.S. Congressman Jack Metcalf,

Breach Marine Protection, and several

other plaintiffs brought a lawsuit,

Metcalf v. Daley, in October 1997,

alleging that the U.S. Government had

violated the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA), the Whaling

Convention Act, and other statutes. In

September 1998, the U.S. District Court

for the Western District of Washington

ruled in favor of the U.S. Government

on all issues.

On June 9, 2000, the Ninth Circuit

Court of Appeals overturned one aspect

of that decision, ruling that the 1997 EA

should have been completed before the

U.S. and the Makah Tribe entered into

a cooperative agreement. That

agreement had provided that, if the

Tribe prepared an adequate needs

statement documenting a cultural and

subsistence need to harvest gray whales,

NOAA would request a quota of gray

whales from the IWC. Two judges on a

three-judge panel held that the timing of

the EA, which was completed after the

1996 agreement was signed and before

the 1997 annual meeting of the IWC,

may have predisposed the preparers to

find that the whaling proposal would

not significantly affect the environment.

The Court ordered NOAA to set aside

that finding and comply with NEPA

under circumstances that would ensure

an objective evaluation of the

environmental consequences of the gray

whale harvest.

Following the Court action, NOAA

rescinded its cooperative agreement

with the Makah Tribe on August 11,

2000. NOAA subsequently set the gray

whale quota for 2000 at zero (65 FR

75186, December 1, 2000), pending

completion of its NEPA analysis.

The National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA) requires that federal

agencies conduct an environmental

analysis of their actions to determine if

the actions may affect the environment.

Accordingly, NMFS prepared a draft EA

that explores the environmental

consequences of four alternatives: (1)

Granting the Makah Tribe the IWC quota

with restrictions to target the hunt on

migrating whales (similar to the 1999

regime); (2) Granting the Makah Tribe

the IWC quota with restrictions that

would allow a limited hunt on the gray

whale summer feeding aggregation; (3)

Granting the Makah Tribe the IWC quota

without time-area restrictions; and (4)

(No Action) - not granting the Makah

Tribe the IWC quota.

The draft EA was prepared in

accordance with NEPA and

implementing regulations at 40 CFR

parts 1500 through 1508 and NOAA

guidelines concerning implementation

of NEPA found in NOAA

Administrative Order 216–6.

NMFS is soliciting public comments

on this draft EA. Oral and written

comments may be presented at the

public hearing [see DATES and

ADDRESSES]. Written comments on the

draft EA may also be sent to the

previously listed address by February

16, 2001. Further details or a copy of the

EA can be obtained from the internet

address above [see ADDRESSES].

Special Accommodations

The public hearing will be physically

accessible to those with disabilities.

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other aids should be

directed to C. Campbell at least 10 days

prior to the hearing date (see

ADDRESSES).

Dated: January 10, 2001.

Wanda L. Cain,

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–1354 Filed 1–11–01; 3:33 pm]

BILLING CODE: 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 120400B]

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Fishery

Management Plan for the Dolphin and

Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic,

Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and