[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 195 (Friday, October 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62433-62435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25378]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Public Hearings and the Availability of a Draft 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental 
Impact Statement (PEIS/OEIS)

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings and request for public comments on a 
Draft PEIS/OEIS for Marine Seismic Research Funded by the National 
Science Foundation (NSF) or Conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey 
(USGS).

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SUMMARY: NSF gives notice of the availability of a Draft PEIS/OEIS 
(hereafter Draft PEIS) for marine seismic research funded by NSF or 
conducted by the USGS and requests public review and comment on the 
document. NSF also provides notice of public hearings on the Draft 
PEIS.
    The Division of Ocean Sciences in the Directorate for Geosciences 
(GEO/OCE) has prepared the Draft PEIS as the lead agency with support 
from the cooperating agencies, USGS and the National Marine Fisheries 
Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA).
    The Draft PEIS assesses the potential impacts of marine seismic 
research on the human and natural environment. Under the Proposed 
Action, a variety of

[[Page 62434]]

acoustic sources used for research activities funded by NSF or 
conducted by the USGS would be operated from various research vessels 
operated by U.S. academic institutions or government agencies. The 
seismic acoustic sources would include various airgun configurations 
(particularly strings or arrays with as little as 2 to as many as 36 
seismic airguns), as well as low-energy seismic and non-seismic 
acoustic sources.
    The Draft PEIS examines the potential impacts that may result from 
geophysical exploration and scientific research using seismic surveys 
that are funded by NSF or conducted by the USGS in non-Arctic waters. 
The Proposed Action is for academic and U.S. government scientists in 
the U.S., and possible international collaborators, to conduct marine 
seismic research from research vessels operated by U.S. academic 
institutions and government agencies. The purpose of the Proposed 
Action is to fund the investigation of the geology and geophysics of 
the seafloor by collecting seismic reflection and refraction data that 
reveal the structure and stratigraphy of the crust and/or overlying 
sediment below the world's oceans. NSF has a continuing need to fund 
seismic surveys that enable scientists to collect data essential to 
understanding the complex Earth processes beneath the ocean floor.
    Two action alternatives and the No-Action Alternative have been 
carried forward for analysis. The Draft PEIS is available for public 
review for a 45-day period. Comments must be submitted on or before 
November 22, 2010.
    NSF will conduct two public hearings to receive oral and written 
comments on the Draft PEIS. Federal, state, and local agencies and 
interested individuals are invited to be present or represented at the 
public hearings. This notice announces the dates and locations of the 
public hearings for this Draft PEIS.
    An open house session will precede the scheduled public hearing at 
each of the locations listed below and will allow individuals to review 
the information presented in the Draft PEIS. NSF and USGS 
representatives will be available during the open house sessions to 
clarify information related to the Draft PEIS.
    Dates & Addresses: All hearings will start with an open house 
session, followed by a presentation, and then the formal oral public 
comment period. Public hearings will be held on the following dates and 
at the following locations:
    <bullet> Monday, October 25, 2010, 5-7 p.m. at Scripps Institution 
of Oceanography, University California-San Diego, Vaughn Hall, Room 
100, Discovery Way, La Jolla, CA.
    <bullet> Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 5-7 p.m. at the National 
Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 110, Arlington, VA.
    The Draft PEIS is available on NSF's Web site at: http://www.nsf.gov/geo/oce/envcomp/index.jsp. Electronic or printed copies of 
the Draft PEIS are also available upon request from: Holly Smith, 
National Science Foundation, Division of Ocean Sciences, 4201 Wilson 
Blvd., Suite 725, Arlington, VA 22230. Telephone: (703) 292-8583. E-
mail: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8de3e8fdeceee2e0e0e8e3f9fecde3feeba3eae2fb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="640a011405070b0909010a1017240a17024a030b12">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently, individual Environmental 
Assessments (EAs) are prepared for individual or small numbers of 
related cruises to assess the impact of the generated seismic survey 
noise on the marine environment. In the 7 years from 2003 through 2009, 
NSF prepared 31 EAs assessing the impact of sound from seismic surveys 
on marine resources and species listed under the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act (MMPA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA) during research 
projects investigating the geology and geophysics of the seafloor. 
These EAs were prepared for various worldwide, academic research 
cruises that required the use of various marine seismic sources 
involving different airgun configurations deployed from the primary 
U.S. academic seismic survey ship, or smaller airgun sources deployed 
from other research vessels, often with concurrent operations of non-
seismic acoustic sources such as echosounders and bottom profilers.
    For past seismic research cruise actions, an EA has been used as 
the basis for consultation with the NOAA Office of Protected Resources 
(OPR) under section 7(a)(2) of the ESA. For each of the research 
cruises, NOAA OPR issued a Biological Opinion (BO) and related 
Incidental Take Statements (ITSs), which included terms and conditions 
to reduce impacts on threatened and endangered species. In parallel 
with this effort, when applicable, a separate application for an 
Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) under Section 101(a)(5)(D) of 
the MMPA was submitted for each cruise to another division within NOAA 
OPR, which subsequently issued the IHA. The MMPA procedures for 
issuance of an IHA involve publication of a proposed IHA notice in the 
Federal Register and solicitation of comments on that notice.
    To reduce this apparent duplication of effort in environmental 
documentation and to address the potential for cumulative effects of 
marine seismic research acoustic sources upon marine resources, NSF and 
the USGS have decided that a PEIS should be prepared. Preparing a PEIS 
for NSF and USGS marine seismic research serves several purposes. 
First, it provides a format for a comprehensive cumulative impacts 
analysis by taking a view of the planned marine seismic research 
activities as a whole. This is accomplished by assembling and analyzing 
the broadest range of direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts 
associated with all marine seismic research activities in addition to 
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable projects in the region 
of influence. Furthermore, the collective analysis of representative 
project locations will provide a strong technical basis for a more 
global assessment of the potential cumulative impacts of NSF-funded and 
USGS marine seismic activities in the future.
    A PEIS also sets up a framework for streamlining the preparation of 
subsequent environmental documents where needed for individual cruises. 
It is expected that time- and location-specific aspects, or similarly 
detailed technical information if necessary to evaluate unique impacts 
of specific cruises and projects, will be addressed in EIS supplements, 
tiered EAs, or other appropriate environmental documentation that would 
follow the publication of this Draft PEIS. Thus, while NSF-funded and 
USGS marine seismic research is reviewed under this Draft PEIS, the 
analysis of site-specific impacts from future cruises may be reserved 
for future analysis. Tiering of environmental documents in this manner 
makes subsequent documents of greater use and meaning to the public as 
NSF's and USGS's marine seismic research develops, without duplicating 
previous paperwork and environmental analyses. Finally, a PEIS enables 
the identification of an appropriate and prudent set of standard 
mitigation measures to be integrated into future NSF-funded and USGS 
cruises, which is a key goal of NSF and USGS.
    Federal, state, local agencies, Native American Tribes and Nations, 
and interested parties are invited to be present or represented at the 
public hearings. Written comments can also be submitted anytime during 
the public hearings or during the 45-day public review period of the 
Draft PEIS. Comments must be submitted on or before November 22, 2010.
    Oral statements will be heard and transcribed by a stenographer; 
however, to ensure the accuracy of the record, all statements should be 
submitted in writing. All statements, both oral and

[[Page 62435]]

written, will become part of the public record on the Draft PEIS and 
will be responded to in the Final PEIS. Equal weight will be given to 
both oral and written statements. In the interest of time, and to 
ensure all who wish to give an oral statement have the opportunity to 
do so, each speaker's comments will be limited to three (3) minutes. If 
a long statement is to be presented, it should be summarized at the 
public hearing with the full text submitted either in writing at the 
hearing or mailed to: Holly Smith, National Science Foundation, 
Division of Ocean Sciences, Room 725, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 
22230. In addition, comments may be submitted via e-mail at: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#204e455041434f4d4d454e5453604e53460e474f56"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="701e150011131f1d1d151e0403301e03165e171f06">[email protected]</span></a>. All written comments must be postmarked by 
November 22, 2010 to ensure they become part of the official record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding the 
Draft PEIS contact: Holly Smith, National Science Foundation, Division 
of Ocean Sciences, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite 725, Arlington, VA 22230; 
telephone: (703) 292-8583; e-mail: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b8d6ddc8d9dbd7d5d5ddd6cccbf8d6cbde96dfd7ce"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="442a213425272b2929212a3037042a37226a232b32">[email protected]</span></a>.

    Dated: October 5, 2010.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2010-25378 Filed 10-7-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P


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