53408 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 16, 2008 / Notices 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting, public 

hearing, and scoping meetings. 

SUMMARY: NMFS will hold a 3-day 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species 

(HMS) Advisory Panel (AP) meeting in 

September and October 2008. The intent 

of the meeting is to consider options for 

the conservation and management of 

Atlantic HMS. The meeting is open to 

the public. A public hearing and 

scoping meetings will be held in 

conjunction with the AP meeting. 

DATES: The AP meeting will be held 

from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 

September 30, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. to 

6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1, 2008; 

and from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon on 

Thursday, October 2, 2008. See 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for public 

hearing and scoping meeting dates, 

times, and locations. 

ADDRESSES: All meetings will be held at 

the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 8777 Georgia 

Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Othel Freeman or Chris Rilling at 301– 

713–2347. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson–Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 16 

U.S.C. 1801 et seq., as amended by the 

Sustainable Fisheries Act, Public Law 

104–297, provided for the establishment 

of an AP to assist in the collection and 

evaluation of information relevant to the 

development of any Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) for HMS. 

NMFS consults with and considers the 

comments and views of AP members 

when preparing and implementing 

FMPs or FMP amendments for Atlantic 

tunas, swordfish, billfish, and sharks. 

The AP has previously consulted with 

NMFS on: the HMS FMP (April 1999), 

Amendment 1 to the HMS FMP 

(December 2003), Amendment 1 to the 

Billfish FMP (April 1999), the 

Consolidated HMS FMP (October 2006), 

and Amendments 1 and 2 to the 

Consolidated HMS FMP (April 2008). 

The September and October 2008 AP 

meeting will focus on conservation and 

management options for Atlantic tunas, 

swordfish, billfish, and sharks. NMFS is 

considering several amendments to the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP, including 

an amendment to update essential fish 

habitat, an amendment to rebuild 

blacknose sharks which are overfished 

with overfishing occurring, and an 

amendment to improve permitting and 

reporting and address other relevant 

management issues in Caribbean HMS 

fisheries. As listed in the table below, 

NMFS will hold a public hearing and 

scoping meetings to receive comments 

from the AP and members of the public. 

Public Hearing and 

Scoping 

Meetings 

Date Location 

Public hearing for Essential Fish 

Habitat Draft 

Amendment 

1 to the Consolidated 

HMS FMP 

September 

30, 2008; 

3:30–4:30 

p.m. 

Crowne 

Plaza Hotel, 

8777 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, 

MD 20910 

Scoping 

meeting for 

Small Coastal Shark 

Draft Amendment 3 to the 

Consolidated 

HMS FMP 

October 1, 

2008; 3:30– 

4:30 p.m. 

Crowne 

Plaza Hotel, 

8777 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, 

MD 20910 

Scoping 

meeting for 

Caribbean 

Draft Amendment 4 to the 

Consolidated 

HMS FMP 

October 2, 

2008; 8:30– 

9:30 a.m. 

Crowne 

Plaza Hotel, 

8777 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, 

MD 20910 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Othel Freeman at (301) 713–2347, at 

least 7 days prior to the meeting. 

Dated: September 11, 2008. 

James P. Burgess 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–21596 Filed 9–15–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XK34 

Taking and Importing Marine 

Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 

Incidental to Target and Missile 

Launch Activities at San Nicolas 

Island, CA 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for 

letter of authorization; request for 

comments and information. 

SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request 

from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for 

authorization for the take of marine 

mammals incidental to vehicle launches 

from San Nicolas Island (SNI), 

California, for the period 2009 2014. 

Pursuant to the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is 

announcing receipt of the Navy’s 

request for the development and 

implementation of regulations 

governing the incidental taking of 

marine mammals and inviting 

information, suggestions, and comments 

on the Navy’s application and request. 

DATES: Comments and information must 

be received no later than October 16, 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the 

application should be addressed to P. 

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, 

Conservation and Education Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910–3225. The mailbox address for 

providing email comments is 

PR1.0648XK34@noaa.gov. Comments 

sent via e-mail, including all 

attachments, must not exceed a 10– 

megabyte file size. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Candace Nachman, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 713–2289, ext. 

156. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability 

A copy of the Navy’s application may 

be obtained by writing to the address 

specified above (ADDRESSES), 

telephoning the contact listed above 

(FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or 

visiting the internet at http:// 

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/ 

incidental.htm. The Navy’s Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) 

for the Point Mugu Sea Range was made 

available to the public in March, 2002. 

To obtain a copy of the FEIS, contact 

Steven Schwartz, Naval Air Warfare 

Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), 

via email at steven.schwartz@navy.mil. 

Background 

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct 

the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) 

to allow, upon request, the incidental, 

but not intentional taking of marine 

mammals by U.S. citizens who engage 

in a specified activity (other than 

commercial fishing) if certain findings 

are made and regulations are issued or, 

if the taking is limited to harassment, 

notice of a proposed authorization is 

provided to the public for review. 

Authorization for incidental takings 

may be granted if NMFS finds that the 

taking will have a negligible impact on 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 16, 2008 / Notices 53409 

the species or stock(s) and will not have 

an unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

subsistence uses and if the permissible 

methods of taking and requirements 

pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring 

and reporting of such taking are set 

forth. 

NMFS has defined ‘‘negligible 

impact’’ in 50 CFR 216.103 as: 

an impact resulting from the specified 

activity that cannot be reasonably 

expected to, and is not reasonably likely 

to, adversely affect the species or stock 

through effects on annual rates of 

recruitment or survival. 

With respect to military readiness 

activities, the MMPA defines 

‘‘harassment’’ as: 

(i) any act that injures or has the 

significant potential to injure a marine 

mammal or marine mammal stock in the 

wild [Level A Harassment]; or (ii) any 

act that disturbs or is likely to disturb 

a marine mammal or marine mammal 

stock in the wild by causing disruption 

of natural behavioral patterns, 

including, but not limited to, migration, 

surfacing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or 

sheltering, to a point where such 

behavioral patterns are abandoned or 

significantly altered [Level B 

Harassment]. 

Summary of Request 

On September 3, 2008, NMFS 

received an application from the Navy 

requesting authorization for the take of 

three pinniped species incidental to 

vehicle launches to be conducted from 

the western part of SNI (see pages 3–4 

of the application), over the course of 5 

years. These activities are classified as 

military readiness activities. The Navy 

plans to launch up to 40 vehicles from 

SNI per year, with up to 10 launches per 

year during nighttime hours. The Navy 

states that these activities may have 

both acoustic and non-acoustic effects 

on pinnipeds. Aircraft and helicopter 

flights between the Pt Mugu airfield on 

the mainland, the airfield on SNI, and 

the target sites in the Sea Range will be 

a routine part of a planned launch 

operation. These flights generally do not 

pass at low levels over the beaches 

where pinnipeds are expected to be 

hauled out. The Navy requests 

authorization to take three species of 

pinnipeds by Level B Harassment: 

harbor seals, northern elephant seals, 

and California sea lions. Injury or 

mortality is unlikely during launch 

activities, and take by Level A 

harassment (including injury) or 

mortality is not requested in the Navy’s 

application. 

Specified Activities 

The Navy issued a FEIS, which 

analyzed the effects on the human 

environment of implementing their 

preferred alternative (among other 

alternatives), which includes 

conducting five general categories of 

tests to evaluate sea, land, and air 

weapons systems (i.e., air-to-air tests, 

air-to-surface tests, surface-to-air tests, 

surface-to-surface tests, and subsurfaceto-surface tests) and three general 

categories of training (i.e., fleet training 

exercises, small-scale amphibious 

warfare training, and special warfare 

training). NAWCWD plans to continue a 

launch program for missiles and targets 

from several launch sites on SNI, the 

purpose of which is to support test and 

training activities associated with 

operations on the NAWCWD Point 

Mugu Sea Range. 

Information Solicited 

Interested persons may submit 

information, suggestions, and comments 

concerning the Navy’s request 

(ADDRESSES). All information, 

suggestions, and comments related to 

the Navy’s request and NMFS’ potential 

development and implementation of 

regulations governing the incidental 

taking of marine mammals by the Navy 

on SNI will be considered by NMFS in 

developing regulations governing the 

issuance of letters of authorization. 

Dated: September 10, 2008. 

Helen M. Golde, 

Deputy Director, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–21598 Filed 9–15–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The IC Clearance Official, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management invites 

comments on the submission for OMB 

review as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before October 

16, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be addressed to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Attention: Education Desk Officer, 

Office of Management and Budget, 725 

17th Street, NW., Room 10222, 

Washington, DC 20503. Commenters are 

encouraged to submit responses 

electronically by e-mail to 

oira_submission@omb.eop.gov or via fax 

to (202) 395–6974. Commenters should 

include the following subject line in 

their response ‘‘Comment: [insert OMB 

number], [insert abbreviated collection 

name, e.g., ‘‘Upward Bound 

Evaluation’’]. Persons submitting 

comments electronically should not 

submit paper copies. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 

statutory obligations. The IC Clearance 

Official, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of 

Management, publishes that notice 

containing proposed information 

collection requests prior to submission 

of these requests to OMB. Each 

proposed information collection, 

grouped by office, contains the 

following: (1) Type of review requested, 

e.g., new, revision, extension, existing 

or reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary 

of the collection; (4) Description of the 

need for, and proposed use of, the 

information; (5) Respondents and 

frequency of collection; and (6) 

Reporting and/or Recordkeeping 

burden. OMB invites public comment. 

Dated: September 10, 2008. 

Angela C. Arrington, 

IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of Management. 

Office of Planning, Evaluation and 

Policy Development 

Type of Review: New Collection. 

Title: The Evaluation of the 

Implementation of the Rural and Low 

Income Schools (RLIS) Program. 

Frequency: Annually. 

Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal 

Gov’t, SEAs or LEAs. 

Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour 

Burden: 

Responses: 666. 

Burden Hours: 250. 

Abstract: This OMB package requests 

clearance for data collection 

instruments to be used in the Evaluation 

of the Implementation of the Rural and 

Low-Income Schools (RLIS) Program 

which will be administered by Berkeley 

Policy Associates (BPA). The purpose of 

the study is to obtain information useful 


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