1618 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 8 / Tuesday, January 13, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

TABLE 2—U.S. DISTRIBUTION OF FIVE NEWLY-LISTED CARIBBEAN CORALS

Florida— 

Atlantic Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands Gulf of Mexico 

Mycetophyllia ferox .......................................................................................... X X X ........................

Dendrogyra cylindrus ....................................................................................... X X X ........................

Orbicella annularis ........................................................................................... X X X X 

Orbicella faveolata ........................................................................................... X X X X 

Orbicella franksi ............................................................................................... X X X X 

Request for Information 

We are soliciting information from 

other agencies and the public that will 

help us determine what, if any, 

protective regulations are necessary and 

advisable for the conservation of these 

20 newly listed coral species. This 

includes information that will help us 

understand and analyze impacts of 

various activities, the existence and 

efficacy of ongoing conservation 

activities, and prohibitions that are both 

necessary and advisable to reduce 

threats and amenable to management for 

the conservation of these 20 species. 

Specifically, we are soliciting 

information including the following: (1) 

Current or planned activities within the 

range of these species and their possible 

impact on these species; (2) impacts 

within the species’ ranges that fall 

within any of the nine major threat 

categories: Ocean warming, disease, 

ocean acidification, sea-level rise, 

nutrient enrichment, sedimentation, 

predation, trophic effects of fishing, and 

collection and trade; (3) information on 

which of the section 9(a)(1) prohibitions 

on take are necessary and advisable for 

the conservation of these species, with 

associated justification; (4) specific 

activities that should be prohibited for 

the conservation of the 20 coral species, 

with associated justification; (5) specific 

activities that should be excepted from 

any prohibitions that may be applied 

because they either provide a 

conservation benefit or do not detract 

from the conservation of these species, 

with associated justification; (6) existing 

permitting programs that may already 

provide for the conservation of listed 

corals through their activity evaluation 

and permitting process, with associated 

justification; and (7) the economic costs 

and benefits likely to result from 

protective regulations (see DATES and 

ADDRESSES). 

We will fully consider all relevant 

information received in our 

determination of what protective 

regulations are necessary and advisable 

for the conservation of the species. 

References Cited 

A complete list of references is 

available at http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/

PRD/prd_coral.html and upon request 

(see ADDRESSES). 

Authority 

The authority for this action is the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

Dated: January 2, 2015. 

Eileen Sobeck, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00366 Filed 1–12–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 226 

RIN 0648–BC56 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Proposed Designation of Critical 

Habitat for the Arctic Ringed Seal; 

Public Hearings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearings. 

SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce the 

specific dates and locations for four 

public hearings in Alaska, one each in 

Nome, Anchorage, Kotzebue, and 

Barrow, on our proposed rule to 

designate critical habitat for the 

threatened Arctic subspecies (Phoca 

hispida hispida) of the ringed seal 

(Phoca hispida) under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA), which published in 

the Federal Register on December 9, 

2014. We also announce that a hearing 

will be held in Bethel, AK. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed rule must be received by 

March 9, 2015. For specific dates of the 

public hearings, see SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: Five public hearings will be 

held in Alaska, one each in Nome, 

Anchorage, Kotzebue, Barrow, and 

Bethel: For specific locations of these 

hearings, see SUPPLMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

You may submit written comments on 

the proposed rule, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2013–0114, by any one of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013- 

0114, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Address written comments to 

Jon Kurland, Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Protected Resources, 

Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: Ellen 

Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. Box 

21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on http://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). Attachments to 

electronic comments will be accepted in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF 

file formats only. 

Electronic copies of the proposed 

rule, list of references and supporting 

documents, and the draft economic 

report (i.e., Regulatory Impact Review 

(RIR)/4(b)(2) Preparatory Assessment/

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act (IRFA) 

report) prepared for this action are 

available from http://

www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013- 

0114 or from the NMFS Alaska Region 

Web site at http://

alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tamara Olson, NMFS Alaska Region, 

(907) 271–2373; Jon Kurland, NMFS 

Alaska Region, (907) 586–7638; or Marta 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 8 / Tuesday, January 13, 2015 / Proposed Rules 1619 

Nammack, NMFS Office of Protected 

Resources, (301) 427–8469. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On December 9, 2014, we published 

a proposed rule to designate critical 

habitat for the threatened Arctic ringed 

seal under the ESA (79 FR 73010). At 

that time, we opened a public comment 

period on the proposed rule through 

March 9, 2015, and announced that four 

public hearings will be held on the 

proposed rule in Alaska, one each in 

Anchorage, Barrow, Kotzebue, and 

Nome. In this notice, we announce the 

specific dates and locations for these 

four public hearings (see Public Hearing 

Schedule). We also announce that a fifth 

public hearing will be held in Bethel, 

AK. 

Public Hearings 

During each public hearing, a brief 

opening presentation on the proposed 

rule will be provided before accepting 

public testimony. Written comments 

may be submitted at the hearing or via 

the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal (see 

ADDRESSES) until the scheduled close of 

the comment period on March 9, 2015. 

In the event that attendance at the 

public hearings is large, the time 

allotted for oral statements may be 

limited. Oral and written statements 

receive equal consideration. There are 

no limits on the length of written 

comments submitted to us. 

Public Hearing Schedule 

The specific date and location for the 

hearing in Bethel, AK, will be 

announced in a subsequent Federal 

Register notice. The dates and locations 

for the other four hearings are as 

follows: 

1. Nome: January 28, 2015, from 4 

p.m. to 7 p.m. at Old St. Joe’s, 407 

Bering Street, Nome, AK. 

2. Anchorage: February 2, 2015, 4 

p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Z. J. Loussac Public 

Library, Wilda Marston Theatre, 3600 

Denali Street, Anchorage, AK. 

3. Kotzebue: February 17, 2015, 4 p.m. 

to 7 p.m., at the Northwest Arctic 

Borough Assembly Chambers, 163 

Lagoon Street, Kotzebue, AK. 

4. Barrow: February 23, 2015, 7 p.m. 

to 10 p.m., at the In ̃upiat Heritage 

Center, 5421 North Star Street, Barrow, 

AK. 

Special Accommodations 

These hearings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other accommodations 

should be directed to Tamara Olson (see 

ADDRESSES) as soon as possible, but no 

later than 7 business days prior to the 

hearing date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. 

Dated: January 7, 2015. 

Donna S. Wieting, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00368 Filed 1–12–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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