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                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
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###### Department of Commerce

###### National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

          - RIN 0648-XJ54

# AGENCY:

 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

# ACTION:

 Notice; issuance of permit.

# SUMMARY:

 Notice is hereby given that Niladri Basu, Ph.D., Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan, 109 South Observatory Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, has been issued a scientific research permit to import marine mammal specimens for scientific research.

# ADDRESSES:

 The permit and related documents are available for review upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:

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; and

Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298; phone (978)281-9300; fax (978)281-9394.

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

 Jennifer Skidmore or Kate Swails, (301) 713-2289.

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                    On June 12, 2008, notice was published in the                     **Federal Register**                     (73 FR 33399) that a request for a scientific research permit had been submitted by the above-named individual. The requested permit has been issued under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361*et seq.*) and the regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216).                

                    The permit authorizes the importation of brain tissues from 40 baikal seals (                    *Phoca sibirica*). These samples were collected in 2005 under a joint agreement between the East-Siberian Research and Production Fisheries Center (Russia) and the Center for Marine Environmental Studies (Japan). The purpose of this study is to determine: (1) the types and amounts of heavy metals that baikal seals accumulate in specific brain regions; and (2) whether these exposures are a neurotoxicological concern by using novel biomarker technologies. This permit will expire one year from date of issuance.                

                    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321*et seq.*), a final determination has been made that the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.                

      ( print page 52950)    
Dated: September 8, 2008.

P. Michael Payne,

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. E8-21349 Filed 9-11-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-S