Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 185 / Friday, September 24, 2010 / Notices 58365 

Dated: September 17, 2010. 

Andrew McGilvray, 

Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–24035 Filed 9–23–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XY60 

Taking and Importing Marine 

Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 

Incidental to Missile Launch 

Operations from San Nicolas Island, 

CA 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments 

on proposed revised Letter of 

Authorization. 

SUMMARY: In June, 2009, pursuant to the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA), NMFS issued regulations to 

govern the unintentional taking of 

marine mammals incidental to U.S. 

Navy (Navy) missile launch operations, 

a military readiness activity, from San 

Nicolas Island (SNI), California, for the 

period of June 2009 through June 2014. 

The second Letter of Authorization 

(LOA) for the incidental take of marine 

mammals during the described activities 

and specified timeframes is effective 

from June 4, 2010, through June 3, 2011. 

Following issuance of the LOA, the 

Navy submitted a revised monitoring 

plan for their activities at SNI. NMFS is 

proposing to issue a revised LOA, which 

would incorporate the revised 

monitoring plan, to replace the one that 

is currently in effect. 

DATES: Comments and information must 

be received no later than October 25, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the revised 

monitoring plan should be addressed to 

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, 

Conservation, and Education Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

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

20910. The mailbox address for 

providing email comments is PR1.0648– 

XY60@noaa.gov. NMFS is not 

responsible for email comments sent to 

addresses other than the one provided 

here. Comments sent via email, 

including all attachments, must not 

exceed a 10–megabyte file size. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

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

incidental.htm without change. All 

Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

A copy of the revised monitoring plan 

may be obtained by writing to the 

address specified above, telephoning the 

contact listed below (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT), or visiting the 

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

pr/permits/incidental.htm. Documents 

cited in this notice may also be viewed, 

by appointment, during regular business 

hours, at the aforementioned address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michelle Magliocca, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, 301–713–2289, or 

Monica DeAngelis, NMFS, 562–980– 

3232. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 

U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs the Secretary 

of Commerce to allow, upon request, the 

incidental, but not intentional, taking of 

small numbers of marine mammals by 

U.S. citizens who engage in a specified 

activity (other than commercial fishing) 

within a specified geographical region if 

certain findings are made and 

regulations are issued. However, for 

military readiness activities, the 

National Defense Authorization Act 

(Public Law 108–136) removed the 

‘‘small numbers’’ and ‘‘specified 

geographical region’’ limitations. Under 

the MMPA, the term ‘‘take’’ means to 

harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or to 

attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill 

marine mammals. 

Authorization may be granted for 

periods up to 5 years if NMFS finds, 

after notification and opportunity for 

public comment, that the taking will 

have a negligible impact on the species 

or stock(s) of marine mammals and will 

not have an unmitigable adverse impact 

on the availability of the species or 

stock(s) for subsistence uses. In 

addition, NMFS must prescribe 

regulations that include permissible 

methods of taking and other means of 

effecting the least practicable adverse 

impact on the species and its habitat 

and on the availability of the species for 

subsistence uses, paying particular 

attention to rookeries, mating grounds, 

and areas of similar significance. The 

regulations must include requirements 

for monitoring and reporting of such 

taking. 

Regulations governing the taking of 

Northern elephant seals (Mirounga 

angustirostris), Pacific harbor seals 

(Phoca vitulina richardsi), and 

California sea lions (Zalophus 

californianus), by harassment, 

incidental to missile launch operations 

at SNI, were issued on June 2, 2009, and 

remain in effect until June 2, 2014 (74 

FR 26580). The most recent LOA under 

these regulations was issued on June 4, 

2010 (75 FR 28587). For more detailed 

information on this action, please refer 

to these documents. The regulations and 

LOA include mitigation, monitoring, 

and reporting requirements for the 

incidental take of marine mammals 

during missile launches at SNI. 

Northern elephant seals, Pacific harbor 

seals, and California sea lions are found 

on various haul-out sites and rookeries 

on SNI. The current LOA authorizes 

take of the three pinniped species listed 

above that may result from the 

launching of up to 40 missiles from SNI 

per year. Up to 10 launches per year 

may occur at night. Nighttime launches 

will only occur when required by the 

test objectives, e.g., when testing the 

Airborne Laser system. The noise 

generated by Navy activities may result 

in the incidental harassment of 

pinnipeds, both behaviorally and in 

terms of physiological (auditory) 

impacts. The noise and visual 

disturbances from missile launches may 

cause the animals to move towards or 

enter the water. The current LOA 

authorizes the following numbers of 

pinnipeds to be incidentally taken by 

Level B harassment annually: 474 

Northern elephant seals; 467 Pacific 

harbor seals; and 1,606 California sea 

lions. 

Summary of the Modification 

On June 7, 2010, NMFS received a 

revised monitoring plan for vehicle 

launches at SNI, California, in 

association with an LOA issued on June 

4, 2010 and in effect through June 3, 

2011. The revised monitoring plan was 

updated to reflect new equipment and 

procedures proposed by the Navy, along 

with a proposal to discontinue targeted 

monitoring of Northern elephant seals. 

After reviewing the revised monitoring 

plan, the Marine Mammal Commission 

(Commission) further recommended 

that the Navy obtain, analyze, and 

review existing information regarding 

potential displacement of Northern 

elephant seals, Pacific harbor seals, and 

California sea lions from those rookeries 

and haul out sites affected by launch 

activities. NMFS marine mammal 

surveys from SNI have since been 

reviewed for any indications of 

decreasing trends in pinniped 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
58366 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 185 / Friday, September 24, 2010 / Notices 

abundance or changes in distribution 

since the take of marine mammals 

incidental to launches from SNI were 

authorized beginning in August 2001. 

The surveys do not indicate any 

significant changes in abundance or 

distribution; therefore, NMFS proposes 

that the Navy’s revised monitoring plan 

remain as is. The following are the only 

proposed modifications to the current 

LOA; all other mitigation and 

monitoring requirements would remain 

unchanged. 

Nighttime Launches 

The Navy recently acquired forward 

looking infrared (FLIR) HS–324 

Command thermal imaging cameras for 

nighttime monitoring of pinnipeds 

before, during, and after each missile 

launch. Previously, no cameras were 

available for nighttime monitoring of 

pinniped haul out sites. The thermal 

imaging cameras, made by FLIR 

Systems, Inc., would be located to 

overlook haul out sites up to 6 hours 

prior to a launch, depending on safety 

restrictions. Placement of the cameras 

would cause minimal disturbance to 

pinnipeds and would focus on a 

subgroup of pinnipeds within the haul 

out aggregation. The cameras record 

data internally and are capable of 

storing more than 5 hours of video; 

however, they do not record sound, so 

no simultaneous audio recording 

separate from the acoustic monitoring 

data, collected as described in the 

regulations (74 FR 26580) and current 

LOA (75 FR 28587), would be available. 

Navy biologists would make direct 

visual observations of the pinniped 

groups, prior to deployment of the 

thermal imaging cameras, in order to 

record weather conditions, species, 

locations of any pinnipeds hauled out, 

etc. 

Monitoring of Northern Elephant Seals 

The Navy proposes to eliminate 

targeted monitoring of Northern 

elephant seals during all future 

launches of Vandal- and Coyote-size, 

and smaller, vehicles on SNI. During the 

majority of launches monitored over the 

past 9 years, Northern elephant seals 

exhibited little reaction to vehicle 

launches. The Navy’s most recent 

monitoring report estimated that zero 

Northern elephant seals were harassed 

by launches from SNI. During future 

launches, Northern elephant seals 

would only be monitored if they happen 

to be alongside other monitored 

pinniped species (i.e., Pacific harbor 

seals and California sea lions) and in the 

camera’s field of view. Monitoring sites 

would be chosen based primarily on the 

presence of Pacific harbor seals and 

California sea lions. By eliminating 

targeted monitoring of Northern 

elephant seals, the Navy would focus on 

these more responsive pinniped species 

and remaining questions about the 

frequency and extent of these responses. 

All other aspects of the Navy’s 

monitoring requirements, as stated in 

the regulations (74 FR 26580) and 

current LOA (75 FR 28587), would 

remain the same. 

Summary of Activity and Monitoring 

Conducted During 2010 

The Navy submitted a preliminary, 

qualitative review of marine mammal 

monitoring activities between June 4, 

2010, and September 1, 2010, as part of 

their proposal for a revised monitoring 

plan. The review briefly describes two 

single launches from SNI on two 

different days. These launches occurred 

during daylight hours. A single Coyote 

missile was launched on each of two 

days, June 9 and July 8, 2010, from the 

Alpha Launch Complex located 190 m 

(623 ft) above sea level on the westcentral part of SNI. For each launch, 

three remote video cameras and three or 

four audio recorders were deployed at 

varying distances from the launch site. 

Trained staff also collected general 

information on environmental 

conditions and the status and behavior 

of focal animal groups prior to and 

following each launch. Behavioral 

responses were similar to those 

observed during previously monitored 

launches. The authorized level of take 

was not exceeded, and no evidence of 

injury or mortality was observed during 

or immediately succeeding the launches 

for the monitored pinniped species. 

Proposed Authorization 

The Navy continues to comply with 

the requirements of the current 2010 

LOA. NMFS has preliminarily 

determined that this action would 

continue to have a negligible impact on 

the affected species or stocks of marine 

mammals on SNI, and there are no 

subsistence uses of these three pinniped 

species in California waters. 

Accordingly, NMFS proposes to issue a 

revised LOA to the Navy authorizing the 

take of three marine mammal species, 

by harassment, incidental to missile 

launch activities from SNI. The revised 

LOA would expire one year from the 

date of issuance. 

Dated: September 20, 2010. 

Helen M. Golde, 

Deputy Director, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–24026 Filed 9–23–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM 

PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR 

SEVERELY DISABLED 

Procurement List Additions 

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From 

People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled. 

ACTION: Additions to the Procurement 

List. 

SUMMARY: This action adds services to 

the Procurement List that will be 

provided by nonprofit agencies 

employing persons who are blind or 

have other severe disabilities. 

DATES: Effective Date: 10/25/2010. 

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase 

From People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled, Jefferson Plaza 2, Suite 10800, 

1421 Jefferson Davis Highway, 

Arlington, Virginia 22202–3259. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barry S. Lineback, Telephone: (703) 

603–7740, Fax: (703) 603–0655, or email CMTEFedReg@AbilityOne.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Additions 

On 6/11/2010 (75 FR 33270–33271) 

and 7/16/2010 (75 FR 41451), the 

Committee for Purchase From People 

Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled 

published notices of proposed additions 

to the Procurement List. 

After consideration of the material 

presented to it concerning capability of 

qualified nonprofit agencies to provide 

the services and impact of the additions 

on the current or most recent 

contractors, the Committee has 

determined that the services listed 

below are suitable for procurement by 

the Federal Government under 41 U.S.C. 

46–48c and 41 CFR 51–2.4. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification 

I certify that the following action will 

not have a significant impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The major factors considered for this 

certification were: 

1. The action will not result in any 

additional reporting, recordkeeping or 

other compliance requirements for small 

entities other than the small 

organizations that will provide the 

services to the Government. 

2. The action will result in 

authorizing small entities to provide the 

services to the Government. 

3. There are no known regulatory 

alternatives which would accomplish 

the objectives of the Javits-WagnerO’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46–48c) in 

connection with the services proposed 

for addition to the Procurement List. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES