Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 235 / Monday, December 8, 2014 / Notices 72631 

Dated: December 2, 2014. 

Julia Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28638 Filed 12–5–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD340 

Marine Mammals; File No. 18523 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a 

permit has been issued to Heather 

Liwanag, Ph.D., Adelphi University, 

Biology Department, 1 South Avenue, 

Garden City, NY 11530, to receive, 

import, and export marine mammal 

specimens for scientific research 

purposes. 

ADDRESSES: The permit and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the Permits and Conservation 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301) 427–8401; fax (301) 713–0376. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Sloan or Jennifer Skidmore, (301) 

427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 2, 

2014, notice was published in the 

Federal Register (79 FR 37719) that a 

request for a permit to receive, import, 

and export marine mammal specimens 

for scientific research had been 

submitted by the above-named 

applicant. 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.), the 

regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216), the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.), the regulations governing the 

taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species (50 

CFR parts 222–226), and the Fur Seal 

Act of 1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1151 

et seq.). 

Permit No. 18523–00 authorizes the 

holder to receive, import, and export 

unlimited samples from up to 1,500 

individuals of each species of cetacean, 

and from up to 1,500 individuals of 

each species of pinniped (excluding 

walrus), annually. Marine mammal 

samples may be obtained from the 

following sources: (1) Animals killed 

during legal subsistence harvests; (2) 

animals that died incidental to legal 

commercial fishing operations; (3) 

animals stranded in foreign countries; 

(4) samples collected from captive 

animals; and (5) samples from other 

authorized researchers and collections. 

Samples collected from stranded 

animals in the U.S. and received under 

separate authorization may be exported 

and re-imported. The permit expires on 

October 31, 2019. 

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. 

As required by the ESA, issuance of 

this permit was based on a finding that 

such permit: (1) Was applied for in good 

faith; (2) will not operate to the 

disadvantage of such endangered 

species; and (3) is consistent with the 

purposes and policies set forth in 

section 2 of the ESA. 

Dated: December 2, 2014. 

Julia Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28676 Filed 12–5–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD593 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to the U.S. Air 

Force Conducting Maritime Weapon 

Systems Evaluation Program 

Operational Testing Within the Eglin 

Gulf Test and Training Range 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; proposed incidental 

harassment authorization; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS received an 

application from the U.S. Department of 

the Air Force, Headquarters 96th Air 

Base Wing (Air Force), Eglin Air Force 

Base (Eglin AFB), requesting an 

Incidental Harassment Authorization 

(Authorization) to take marine 

mammals, by harassment, incidental to 

a Maritime Weapon Systems Evaluation 

Program (Maritime WSEP) within the 

Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range in 

the Gulf of Mexico. 

Eglin AFB’s activities are military 

readiness activities per the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as 

amended by the National Defense 

Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal 

Year 2004. Per the MMPA, NMFS 

requests comments on its proposal to 

issue an Authorization to Eglin AFB to 

take, by harassment, two species of 

marine mammals during the specified 

activity for a period of one year. 

DATES: NMFS must receive comments 

and information no later than January 7, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: Address comments on the 

application to Jolie Harrison, Chief, 

Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

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

20910. The mailbox address for 

providing email comments is ITP.Cody@

noaa.gov. Please include 0648–XD593 

in the subject line. Comments sent via 

email to ITP.Cody@noaa.gov, including 

all attachments, must not exceed a 25- 

megabyte file size. NMFS is not 

responsible for email comments sent to 

addresses other than the one provided 

here. 

Instructions: All submitted comments 

are a part of the public record and 

NMFS will post them to http://

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

incidental/military.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. 

To obtain an electronic copy of the 

application, a list of the references used 

in this document, and Eglin AFB’s Draft 

Environmental Assessment (DEA) titled, 

‘‘Maritime Weapons System Evaluation 

Program,’’ visit the internet at: http://

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

incidental/military.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeannine Cody, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 101(a)(5)(D) of the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as 

amended (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 

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