Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 209 / Monday, October 31, 2005 / Notices 62299 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[Docket No. 051019272–5272–01; I.D. 

092905B] 

Open Rivers Initiative Barrier Removal 

Project Grants 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of 

financial assistance. 

SUMMARY: The NOAA Open Rivers 

Initiative (ORI) provides funding to 

catalyze the implementation of locallydriven barrier removal projects that 

remove dams and other barriers, in 

order to benefit living marine resources, 

particularly diadromous fish. Projects 

funded through ORI grants will have 

strong on-the-ground habitat restoration 

components that foster economic, 

educational, and social benefits for 

citizens and their communities in 

addition to long-term ecological habitat 

improvements for NOAA trust 

resources. The role of NOAA in this 

initiative is to provide funding and 

technical assistance for barrier removal 

projects. Proposals selected for funding 

through this solicitation will be 

implemented through a cooperative 

agreement. Funding of up to $6,000,000 

is expected to be available for the ORI 

Project Grants competition in FY 2007. 

The NOAA Restoration Center (RC) 

within the Office of Habitat 

Conservation will administer this grants 

initiative, and anticipates that typical 

awards will range from $50,000 to 

$250,000 per project. Although a select 

few may exceed this range, project 

proposals requesting over $1,000,000 

will not be accepted or reviewed. To 

help expedite the implementation of onthe-ground components of barrier 

removal projects in 2007, up to 

$1,000,000 may be made available in 

2006 from a related NOAA grants 

program to support feasibility, 

engineering, and/or design elements of 

a small number of projects where the 

same application also seeks funding for 

on-the-ground removal activities. 

DATES: Applications must be 

postmarked or submitted no later than 

11:59 PM EST on January 13, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Applications should be 

submitted via www.grants.gov. If 

applicants do not have access to the 

internet, applications must be mailed to: 

NOAA Fisheries, Office of Habitat 

Conservation, Restoration Division (F/ 

HC3), 1315 East West Highway, Silver 

Spring, MD 20910–3282. ATTN: Open 

Rivers Initiative Project Applications. 

No facsimile or electronic mail 

applications will be accepted. Electronic 

Access to the full funding 

announcement for this program is 

available via the Grants.gov Web site: 

http://www.grants.gov. The 

announcement will also be available at 

the NOAA Web site http:// 

www.ofa.noaa.gov/%7Eamd/ 

SOLINDEX.HTML or by contacting the 

program official identified below. All 

application requirements contained in 

the full funding announcement must be 

adhered to in submitted proposals. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robin Bruckner, (301) 713–0174, or by 

e-mail at Robin.Bruckner@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Summary 

The principal objectives of the ORI 

are to provide Federal financial and 

technical assistance to locally-driven 

removals of dams and other barriers to 

enhance watershed health, to foster 

sustainable fish populations, and to 

improve community vitality and 

economic growth. This will help restore 

living marine and coastal resources and 

their habitats and promote stewardship 

and a conservation ethic for NOAA trust 

resources, particularly diadromous fish. 

The ORI focus is on implementing 

projects that will directly benefit 

diadromous species such as salmon, 

sturgeon, shad, river herring, striped 

bass, and American eel. 

Successful applications will be those 

that: 

• Demonstrate collaboration among 

entities such as public and nonprofit 

organizations, citizen and watershed 

groups, industry, corporations and 

businesses, youth conservation corps, 

students, landowners, academia, and 

local, state, tribal governments and 

Federal agencies to cooperatively 

implement barrier removal projects; 

• Document community benefits 

related to: increased business 

opportunities, removal of potential 

liability, reduced flood impacts, and/or 

improved opportunities for recreation, 

park use, or other tangible community 

benefits; and 

• Are able to: achieve a net gain in 

diadromous fish-accessible stream 

miles, increase the number of barrier 

removals in a particular watershed, 

document education and outreach or 

volunteer hours involved, and maximize 

project partnerships. 

Project partners may contribute 

funding, land, technical assistance, 

workforce support or other in-kind 

services; promote grass-roots 

participation in the improvement of 

locally important living marine 

resources; and engender local 

stewardship and monitoring activities to 

sustain and evaluate the performance of 

the barrier removal. Previous locallydriven barrier removal projects 

supported by NOAA have been 

successful because they had significant 

local backing, depended upon citizens’

hands-on involvement, and drew 

community support through strategic 

outreach and education. 

Electronic Access 

Information on barrier removal 

proposals funded to date under the 

NOAA Community-based Restoration 

Program can be found on the World 

Wide Web at: http:// 

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration. 

As has been the case since October 1, 

2004, applicants can access the full 

funding announcement and download 

and submit electronic grant applications 

for NOAA Financial Assistance at the 

grants.gov web site: http:// 

www.grants.gov. Applicants responding 

to the ORI are strongly encouraged to 

submit applications through the 

grants.gov web site (see ADDRESSESS). 

Initiative Priorities 

Initiative priorities are focused on the 

removal of fish passage barriers within 

historic or present diadromous fish 

habitat to achieve a net gain in 

diadromous fish-accessible stream miles 

and fish population recovery. Priority 

consideration will be given to those 

proposals that: include fish population 

health benefits; are expected to have 

environmentally-compatible economic 

benefits resulting from the barrier 

removal; will have synergistic results 

due to related fish passage or restoration 

activities upstream or downstream; will 

improve watershed health with 

measurable outcomes; and will result in 

community revitalization and 

stewardship. Priority will also be given 

to those proposals that maximize the 

number of stream miles for which 

access is restored, and/or maximize the 

potential for the recovery of fish 

populations. Removal of complete 

barriers to fish passage will be given 

priority consideration, as will proposals 

for which the bulk of funding will 

support on-the-ground implementation 

activities. Proposals that address partial 

barriers will also be considered for 

funding, but may receive lower priority. 

In limited circumstances, the initiative 

will consider remedies such as fish 

ladders that are dependent on proper 

stream flows, operation, and 

maintenance to ensure free passage. 

Proposals that request funds for 

62300 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 209 / Monday, October 31, 2005 / Notices 

feasibility, engineering and/or design in 

addition to construction elements may 

be considered to receive partial funding 

in 2006 on a limited basis so that 

construction elements can move 

forward in a timely fashion with 

funding made available in 2007. This 

initiative does not fund feasibility 

studies, removal, partial removal, or 

replacement of barriers owned by the 

Federal government or dams licensed by 

the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (FERC). Such proposals 

will be disqualified. 

Restoration of access may include, but 

is not limited to: complete dam removal; 

notching or breaching of dams; removal 

of barriers such as culverts that 

completely or partially block fish 

passage and replacement with bridges, 

fish passable culverts or tide gates; 

removal of temporary or seasonal dams 

that block fish migration; or removal of 

other barriers to diadromous fish 

passage. Restoration activities may 

include upstream and/or downstream 

passage of diadromous fish. 

The ORI will emphasize the selection 

of barrier removal projects that 

demonstrate a coordinated effort to 

maximize quality diadromous fish 

habitat within a watershed. Proposals 

should assess the state of fish barriers/ 

fish access in the watershed to receive 

greater consideration than those that 

demonstrate little knowledge of other 

barriers in the system. 

Projects that restore habitats found to 

be socio-economically important within 

their region with regard to such issues 

as commercial (e.g., fisheries) and 

recreational use and/or aesthetic and 

stewardship values will be favored. This 

may include projects that result in 

beneficial uses of newly available land 

previously inundated by a reservoir. 

Projects that document community 

benefits related to increased business 

opportunities, removal of potential 

liability, and/or improved opportunities 

for recreation, park use, or other 

tangible community benefits will be 

given priority. However, this initiative 

does not fund urban redevelopment 

components. 

While the focus of this initiative is to 

provide funding and technical expertise 

to support on-the-ground 

implementation of barrier removal 

projects that involve significant 

community support, NOAA recognizes 

that accomplishing barrier removal is a 

multi-faceted effort involving feasibility 

studies, project design, engineering 

services, permitting, construction, legal 

considerations, oversight, pre- and postremoval monitoring, and education and 

outreach. Applicants may therefore 

apply for funding to support a 

combination of these activities in 

addition to the barrier removal itself. 

NOAA anticipates that up to $1,000,000 

may be made available from a related 

grants program to support the 

feasibility, engineering, and/or design 

elements of a proposal in 2006 so that 

the removal activities can proceed with 

additional funding awarded through 

ORI to successful applicants in 2007 

using a multi-year award process. 

Although barrier removals themselves 

are often not suitable for volunteer 

involvement, projects should involve an 

outreach and/or volunteer component 

tied to the overall barrier removal goals 

and activities to receive greater 

consideration. Additionally, projects 

must have pre- and post-project 

monitoring components. 

Implementation of on-the-ground 

barrier removal projects must have 

clearly identified goals (broad in scope) 

and specific, measurable objectives. 

Evaluating these objectives must involve 

monitoring during the project period of 

at least one structural and one 

functional parameter, as supported by 

Title I of the Estuaries and Clean Waters 

Act of 2000, to ensure a basic level of 

assessment of project success. 

Monitoring must be conducted in a 

timely fashion with a frequency and 

length of time appropriate for each 

parameter in the context of the project 

objectives and type. Examples of 

structural and functional monitoring 

parameters for barrier removal project 

types are available on the World Wide 

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

habitat/restoration, and assistance in 

refining the objectives and/or selecting 

appropriate parameters is available from 

NOAA staff working with the ORI (see 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 

NOAA will consider funding more 

than one project under a single award, 

however all projects should be 

sufficiently developed as per the 

guidelines and information 

requirements listed in this document for 

an application to be competitive, and all 

projects should be able to be completed 

within the award period specified 

below. 

Funding Availability 

This solicitation announces that 

funding of up to $6,000,000 is expected 

to be available for ORI Project Grants in 

FY 2007. NOAA anticipates that typical 

project awards will range from $50,000 

to $250,000. Applications requesting 

less than $30,000 or more than 

$1,000,000 from ORI will not be 

accepted under this solicitation. To help 

expedite the implementation of on-theground components of barrier removal 

projects in 2007, up to $1,000,000 may 

be available in 2006 from a related 

NOAA grant program to support 

feasibility, engineering, and/or design 

elements of a small number of projects 

where the same application also seeks 

funding for on-the-ground removal 

activities. NOAA does not guarantee 

that sufficient funds will be available to 

make awards for all proposals. The 

number of awards to be made as a result 

of this solicitation will depend on the 

number of eligible applications 

received, the amount of funds requested 

for initiating barrier removal projects by 

the applicants, the merit and ranking of 

the proposals, and the amount of funds 

made available to the ORI by Congress. 

NOAA anticipates that between 30 

and 50 awards will be made as a result 

of this solicitation. The exact amount of 

funds that may be awarded will be 

determined in pre-award negotiations 

between the applicant and NOAA 

representatives. Publication of this 

document does not obligate NOAA to 

award any specific project or obligate all 

or any parts of any available funds. 

Authority 

The Secretary of Commerce is 

authorized under the Fish and Wildlife 

Coordination Act, 16 U.S.C. 661, as 

amended by the Reorganization Plan 

No. 4 of 1970, to provide grants or 

cooperative agreements for dam and 

barrier removal activities to restore 

fisheries habitat. 

Catalogue of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) 

11.463, Habitat Conservation 

Eligibility 

Eligible applicants are institutions of 

higher education, other non-profits, 

industry and commercial (for profit) 

organizations, organizations under the 

jurisdiction of foreign governments, 

international organizations, and state, 

local and Indian tribal governments 

whose projects have the potential to 

benefit NOAA trust resources. 

Applications from Federal agencies or 

employees of Federal agencies will not 

be considered. Federal agencies are 

strongly encouraged to work with states, 

non-governmental organizations, 

national service clubs or youth corps 

organizations and others that are eligible 

to apply. 

The Department of Commerce/ 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (DOC/NOAA) is 

strongly committed to broadening the 

participation of historically black 

colleges and universities, Hispanicserving institutions, tribal colleges and 

universities, and institutions that work 

in under served areas. The ORI 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 209 / Monday, October 31, 2005 / Notices 62301 

encourages proposals from or involving 

any of the above institutions. 

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirements 

A major goal of the ORI will be to 

provide seed money for projects that 

leverage funds and other contributions 

from a broad public and private sector 

to implement locally important barrier 

removals to benefit living marine and 

coastal resources. To this end, 

applicants are encouraged to 

demonstrate a minimum 1:1 nonFederal match for ORI funds requested 

to conduct the proposed project. NOAA 

strongly encourages applicants to 

leverage as much investment as 

possible. Applicants with less than 1:1 

match will not be disqualified, however, 

applicants should note that cost sharing 

is an element considered in Evaluation 

Criterion ι4: ‘‘Project Costs.’’

Match to NOAA funds can come from 

a variety of public and private sources 

and can include in-kind goods and 

services and volunteer labor. Federal 

funds are not considered matching 

funds. Applicants are permitted to 

combine contributions from additional 

non-Federal partners in order to meet 

the 1:1 match expected, as long as such 

contributions are not being used to 

match any other funds. Applicants are 

also permitted to apply federally 

negotiated indirect costs in excess of 

Federal share limits. 

Applicants whose proposals are 

selected for funding will be bound by 

the percentage of cost sharing reflected 

in the award document signed by the 

NOAA Grants Officer. Successful 

applicants should be prepared to 

carefully document matching 

contributions, including the overall 

number of volunteers and in-kind 

participation hours devoted to 

individual barrier removal projects. 

Letters of commitment for any secured 

resources that will be used as match for 

an award under this solicitation should 

be submitted as an attachment to the 

application. Applicants should consider 

the timing of potential match and 

awards to reflect the fact that the 

majority of funds will not be available 

until fiscal year 2007. Match must be 

applied to the project during the award 

period. 

Intergovernmental Review 

Applications under this initiative are 

subject to the provisions of Executive 

Order 12372, ‘‘Intergovernmental 

Review of Federal Programs.’’

Applicants are required to complete 

item 16 on SF–424 regarding clearance 

by the State Single Point of Contact 

(SPOC) established as a result of the 

Executive Order. To find out about and 

comply with a State’s process under 

Executive Order 12372, the names, 

addresses and phone numbers of 

participating SPOC’s are available on 

the internet at: http:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/ 

spoc.html. 

Evaluation and Selection 

Reviewers will assign scores to 

proposals ranging from 0 to 100 points 

based on the following five standard 

NOAA evaluation criteria and 

respective weights specified below. 

1. Importance and Applicability of 

Proposal (30 points) 

This criterion ascertains whether 

there is intrinsic value in the proposed 

work and/or relevance to NOAA, 

Federal, regional, state or local 

activities. 

2. Technical/Scientific Merit (30 points) 

This criterion assesses whether the 

approach is technically sound and/or 

innovative, if the methods are 

appropriate, and whether there are clear 

project goals and objectives. 

3. Overall Qualifications of Applicants 

(10 points) 

This criterion ascertains whether the 

applicant possesses the necessary 

education, experience, demonstrated 

commitment, training, facilities, and 

administrative resources to accomplish 

the project. 

4. Project Costs (15 points) 

This criterion evaluates the project’s 

budget to determine if it is realistic and 

commensurate with the project needs 

and time-frame. 

5. Outreach, Education and Community 

Involvement (15 points) 

NOAA assesses whether the project 

provides a focused and effective 

education and outreach strategy 

regarding NOAA’s mission. 

Applications will be screened by 

NOAA staff to determine if they are 

eligible, complete and in accordance 

with instructions detailed in the 

standard NOAA Grants Application 

Package. Applications that present 

narrative information in the same order 

as the evaluation criteria set out above 

are likely to be more competitive, as 

reviewers will be more easily able to 

identify information that directly 

translates to scoring. Eligible barrier 

removal proposals will undergo a 

technical review, ranking, and selection 

process. As appropriate during this 

process, the NOAA Restoration Center 

will solicit individual technical 

evaluations of each project proposed 

and may request evaluations from other 

NOAA offices, the Regional Fishery 

Management Councils, other Federal 

and state agencies, such as state coastal 

management agencies and state fish and 

wildlife agencies, and private and 

public sector barrier removal experts 

who have knowledge of a specific 

applicant or project. Proposals also will 

be reviewed by NOAA regional and 

headquarters staff to determine how 

well they meet the stated aims of the 

ORI, and how well the proposal meets 

the goals of the NOAA Office of Habitat 

Conservation (OHC) and the NOAA 

Habitat Program as these goals are 

incorporated into the evaluation criteria. 

Applications for barrier removal 

projects will be evaluated by at least 

three individual technical reviewers, 

including those mentioned in the above 

paragraph, according to the criteria and 

weights listed in this solicitation and 

described in detail in the Federal 

Funding Opportunity. The reviewers 

will independently evaluate each 

application and provide a score. 

Composite project scores, a rank order 

of applications, and reviewer comments 

and will be presented to the Director of 

the NOAA Restoration Center (Director). 

The Director, in consultation with OHC 

staff, will select the proposals to be 

recommended to the Grants 

Management Division (GMD) for 

funding and will determine the amount 

of funds available for each approved 

proposal. The proposals shall be 

recommended in rank order unless the 

proposal is justified to be selected out 

of rank order based upon one or more 

of the following factors: 

1. The availability of funding; 

2. The balance/distribution of funds: 

(a) geographically, (b) by type of 

institutions, (c) by type of partners, (d) 

by research areas, and (e) by project 

types; 

3. Duplication of other projects 

funded or considered for funding by 

NOAA and/or other Federal agencies; 

4. Initiative priorities and policy 

factors as set out in the full funding 

opportunity available on grants.gov; 

5. The applicant’s prior award 

performance; 

6. Partnerships and/or participation of 

targeted groups; and 

7. Adequacy of information necessary 

for NOAA staff to make a NEPA 

determination and draft necessary 

documentation before funding 

recommendations are acted upon by 

GMD. 

Hence, awards may not necessarily be 

made to the highest scoring proposals. 

Unsuccessful applicants will be notified 

that their proposal was not among those 

recommended for funding. Unsuccessful 

applications submitted in hard copy 

will be kept on file until the close of the 

following fiscal year then destroyed. 

Successful applicants generally will 

be identified approximately 90–120 

62302 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 209 / Monday, October 31, 2005 / Notices 

days after the close of this solicitation 

on January 13, 2006. The earliest date 

for receipt of most awards will be 

approximately 60 days after the 2007 

fiscal year appropriation is enacted, 

when all NOAA/applicant final 

negotiations and NEPA analysis and 

documentation supporting cooperative 

agreement activities have been 

completed. Applicants should consider 

this selection and processing time in 

developing requested start dates for 

proposed barrier removal activities; 

NOAA suggests reasonable start dates of 

winter/spring 2007. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) 

NOAA must analyze the potential 

environmental impacts, as required by 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), for applicant projects or 

proposals which are seeking NOAA 

federal funding opportunities. Detailed 

information on NOAA compliance with 

NEPA can be found at the following 

NOAA NEPA website: http:// 

www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our 

NOAA Administrative Order 216–6 for 

NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/ 

NAO216l6lTOC.pdf, and the Council 

on Environmental Quality 

implementation regulations, http:// 

ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/ 

toclceq.htm). 

Consequently, as part of an 

applicant’s package, and under their 

description of their program activities, 

applicants are required to provide 

detailed information on the activities to 

be conducted, locations, sites, species 

and habitat to be affected, possible 

construction activities, and any 

environmental concerns that may exist 

(e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous 

or toxic chemicals, introduction of nonindigenous species, impacts to 

endangered and threatened species, 

aquaculture projects, and impacts to 

coral reef systems). 

In addition to providing specific 

information that will serve as the basis 

for any required impact analyses, 

applicants may also be requested to 

assist NOAA in drafting of an 

environmental assessment, if NOAA 

determines an assessment is required. 

Applicants will also be required to 

cooperate with NOAA in identifying 

and implementing feasible measures to 

reduce or avoid any identified adverse 

environmental impacts of their 

proposal. The failure to do so shall be 

grounds for the denial of an application. 

Pre-Award Notification Requirements 

for Grants and Cooperative Agreements 

The Department of Commerce PreAward Notification Requirements for 

Grants and Cooperative Agreements 

contained in the Federal Register notice 

of December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389) are 

applicable to this solicitation. 

Limitation of Liability 

In no event will NOAA or the 

Department of Commerce be responsible 

for proposal preparation costs if this 

initiative fails to receive funding or is 

cancelled because of other agency 

priorities. Publication of this 

announcement does not oblige NOAA to 

award any specific project or to obligate 

any available funds. Recipients and subrecipients are subject to all Federal 

laws, agency policies, regulations and 

procedures applicable to Federal 

financial assistance awards. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This notification involves collectionof-information requirements subject to 

the Paperwork Reduction Act. The use 

of Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, and 

SF-LLL and CD–346 has been approved 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) under OMB control 

numbers 0348–0043, 0348–0044, 0348–

0040, 0348–0046 and 0605–0001 

respectively. Notwithstanding any other 

provision of law, no person is required 

to respond to, nor shall any person be 

subject to a penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

Executive Order 12866 

It has been determined that this notice 

is not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

Executive Order 13132 (Federalism) 

It has been determined that this notice 

does not contain policies with 

Federalism implications as that term is 

defined in Executive Order 13132. 

Administrative Procedure Act/ 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Prior notice and an opportunity for 

public comment are not required by the 

Administrative Procedure Act or any 

other law for rules concerning public 

property, loans, grants, benefits, and 

contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2)). Because 

notice and opportunity for comment are 

not required pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or 

any other law, the analytical 

requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are 

inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory 

flexibility analysis has not been 

prepared. 

Dated: October 26, 2005. 

William T. Hogarth, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–21617 Filed 10–26–05; 1:26 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 102505A] 

Endangered Species; File No. 1450 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Jane Provancha, Dynamac Corporation, 

100 Spaceport Way, Cape Canaveral, FL 

32920, has been issued a permit to take 

green (Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead 

(Caretta caretta) sea turtles for purposes 

of scientific research. 

ADDRESSES: The permit and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following office(s): 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301)713–2289; fax (301)427–2521; 

Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th 

Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 

phone (727)824–5312; fax (727)824–

5309. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Hapeman or Carrie Hubard, 

(301)713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 26, 2004, notice was published 

in the Federal Register (69 FR 3568) 

that a request for a scientific research 

permit to take green and loggerhead sea 

turtles had been submitted by the abovenamed individual. The requested permit 

has been issued under the authority of 

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

and the regulations governing the 

taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species (50 

CFR parts 222–226). 

The permit holder has been 

authorized to conduct research on green 

and loggerhead sea turtles in the waters 

of Mosquito Lagoon, Florida. Turtles 

will be captured in a large mesh (9 in/ 

22 cm) tangle net and retained on a 

vessel for the collection of 

morphometric data, flipper and PIT 

tagging, photographs, blood sampling,