22520 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 13, 2009 / Notices 

proposes to deploy biotelemetry 

instruments on the captives to develop 

and validate methods for monitoring 

wild Steller sea lions. Research would 

be conducted on one adult male, up to 

four adult females, and up to six 

offspring, and would include the 

following activities: mass and 

morphometric measurements; 

ultrasound; capture, sedation, and 

anesthesia; blood sampling and 

administration of Evan’s blue dye and 

deuterium oxide; feces, urine, semen, 

and milk collection; video/audio 

recordings; genital swabs; radiographs; 

dietary supplements; blubber biopsy; 

and attachment of biotelemetry 

instrumentation. ASLC also requests 

authorization to transfer to and import 

from approved North American 

facilities up to two male and four female 

Steller sea lions, not to exceed 11 

animals held at ASLC for use in 

research. ASLC requests up to two 

research-related mortalities over the 

course of the permit. No research would 

occur on wild populations or affect nontarget species. 

File No. 14335: The applicant, ASLC, 

(Principal Investigator: JoAnn Mellish, 

Ph.D.), requests a five-year permit to 

investigate the decline of the western 

stock of Steller sea lions and its failure 

to recover, and to assist recovery efforts. 

Data would be obtained on juvenile 

survival, epidemiology, endocrinology, 

immunology, virology, physiology, 

ontogenetic and annual body condition 

cycles, foraging behavior and habitat 

selection. Up to 20 pups (8–11 months) 

and 32 juveniles (12–48 months) of both 

sexes may be captured per year, with a 

subset of up to 12 juveniles (12- 48 

months) of both sexes selected for 

temporary quarantine captivity at the 

South Beach facility at the ASLC. 

Research activities would include 

capture/handle/release (floating trap, 

underwater lasso), drug administration 

(IM, IV, oral, subcutaneous, topical), 

anesthesia, temporary captivity, fecal 

and urine collection, instrument 

attachment (external and internal), 

marking, measuring, behavioral 

observations, photogrammetry, restraint, 

sampling (blood, blubber biopsy, clip 

hair, fecal swab, blubber and muscle 

biopsy, nasal swab, oral swab, skin 

biopsy, vibrissae pull, stable isotopes 

and serial blood samples), transport, 

ultrasound, unintentional mortality, 

weigh and x-ray. Up to 3,500 

individuals of all ages, either sex, may 

be incidentally harassed annually. Two 

research-related mortalities per year are 

requested. The location of activities 

would include the Gulf of Alaska and 

the ASLC. 

File No. 14336: The applicant, Dr. 

Horning, requests a five-year permit to 

determine survival rates, emigration, 

causes of mortality, predation, and 

collect long-term forage effort data, in 

juvenile eastern DPS sea lions, using 

surgically implanted scientific 

instruments called Life History 

Transmitters (LHX tags). Up to 50 pups 

and 50 juveniles of both sexes would be 

captured for sampling and LHX tag 

deployment at Hazy Islands and in 

Frederick Sound, AK annually (100 

animals total per age class). LHX tags 

would also be opportunistically 

deployed in carcasses of dead Steller sea 

lions in AK, OR, and CA, and in 

California sea lions in OR and CA to 

assess uplink failure rates. Remote 

monitoring (using still, video, and 

infrared cameras) for censusing, brand 

re-sighting, attendance patterns, and 

estimating body mass, condition and 

health trends would be conducted at 

Long Island, AK and Sea Lion Caves and 

Cascade Head, OR. Up to 900 

individuals of all ages and either sex in 

the western DPS and 8,800 in the 

eastern DPS of all ages may be 

incidentally harassed annually. The 

applicant also requests authorization for 

5 research-related mortalities of eastern 

DPS animals per year. 

File No. 14337: The applicant, 

NPUMMRC, (Principal Investigator: 

Andrew Trites, Ph.D.), requests a fiveyear permit to conduct studies of Steller 

sea lion diets, distributions, life history 

traits, physiology and the timing of 

weaning in AK. NPUMMRC also 

proposes to evaluate pain experienced 

by Steller sea lions during hot-iron 

branding conducted by researchers 

operating under separate permits. 

Research activities would involve 

(maximum number of animals per year 

in parentheses): disturbance associated 

with capture, observational studies, and 

scat collection (10,720 eastern DPS; 

28,220 western DPS); and capture, 

restraint, tissue sampling, and marking 

(126 eastern DPS; 206 western DPS). 

NPUMMRC requests authorization for 

the annual research-related mortality of 

2 eastern DPS pups, 2 western DPS pups 

during marking and 4 eastern DPS sea 

lions of any age, and 4 western DPS sea 

lions of any age during other studies. 

NPUMMRC also requests authorization 

for harassment of 15 northern fur seals, 

5 California sea lions, 10 northern 

elephant seals, 60 harbor seals, and 5 

killer whales (Orcinus orca) in AK 

annually incidental to the research on 

Steller sea lions. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial 

determination has been made that the 

activities proposed are consistent with 

the Preferred Alternative in the Final 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (PEIS) for Steller Sea Lion 

and Northern Fur Seal Research (NMFS 

2007), and that issuance of the permits 

would not have a significant adverse 

impact on the human environment. 

As established under the Preferred 

Alternative, NMFS proposes to 

authorize annual cumulative researchrelated mortality of up to 15 percent of 

the Potential Biological Removal levels 

for each stock. These annual allowances 

would include observed and 

unobserved mortalities, and be 

calculated based on the nature of the 

research. The numbers of researchrelated mortalities permitted may be 

higher or lower than those requested by 

the applicants. 

Concurrent with the publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register, 

NMFS is forwarding copies of the 

applications to the Marine Mammal 

Commission and its Committee of 

Scientific Advisors. 

Dated: May 7, 2009. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–11198 Filed 5–12–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

Second Smart Grid Interoperability 

Standards Interim Roadmap Public 

Workshop 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST), United States 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public workshop. 

SUMMARY: The National Institute of 

Standards and Technology announces 

that a free two-day public workshop on 

Smart Grid standards will be held on 

May 19–20, 2009, in the Washington, 

DC area. 

DATES: The free public workshop will be 

held on May 19 and 20, 2009, from 8 

a.m. to 5 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The free public workshop 

will be held in the Washington, DC, area 

at the Gaylord National Hotel and 

Convention Center, 201 Waterfront 

Street, National Harbor, MD 20745. The 

location and registration information 

will be posted at: http://www.nist.gov/ 

smartgrid/. Those interested in 

attending also can call Ashley Eldrege of 

the Electric Power Research Institute, on 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 13, 2009 / Notices 22521 

650–855–2063 to register, or send a 

message to smartgrid@nist.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Zulma Lainez at 301–975–2232 or by email at smartgrid@nist.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

Energy Independence and Security Act 

(EISA) of 2007 (Pub. L. 110–140), the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) has ‘‘primary 

responsibility to coordinate 

development of a framework that 

includes protocols and model standards 

for information management to achieve 

interoperability of smart grid devices 

and systems * * *’’ (EISA, section 

1305) 

In 2008, responding to this mandate, 

NIST initiated a government/industry 

effort to develop and achieve consensus 

on an Interoperability Framework and to 

engage the many Smart Grid 

stakeholders in a coordinated approach 

to identify or develop needed standards. 

This coordinated effort was designed 

and initiated in full collaboration with 

the Department of Energy. In early 2009, 

responding to President Obama’s 

energy-related national priorities, NIST 

intensified and expedited efforts to 

accelerate progress toward stakeholder 

consensus on Smart Grid standards. 

On April 28–29, 2009 an initial 

workshop was held in Reston, VA at 

which stakeholders engaged in 

discussions of Smart Grid architecture 

and requirements, and existing 

standards or standards under 

development that could be used as a 

foundation for Smart Grid 

interoperability standards. The May 19– 

20 workshop will continue the 

stakeholder consensus process by 

identifying additional standardization 

needs and providing input to a roadmap 

for their development. NIST has 

contracted with EPRI to facilitate both 

workshops. As specified in its contract 

with NIST, EPRI will utilize its 

technical expertise to compile, distill 

and organize stakeholder contributions 

into a draft interim roadmap for Smart 

Grid interoperability standards. The 

workshops and the interim roadmap 

document, coordinated by EPRI under 

its contract, provide an input to the 

NIST effort to expedite development of 

key standards for the Smart Grid. By 

early fall, NIST expects to describe an 

initial Smart Grid architecture, priorities 

for interoperability standards, including 

cybersecurity; an initial set of standards 

to support support implementation; and 

plans to meet remaining standards 

needs. 

NIST will submit standards that are 

identified or developed through this 

process to the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC). Once 

FERC determines that there is sufficient 

consensus, EISA instructs FERC to 

institute a rulemaking proceeding to 

adopt the standards and protocols that 

may be necessary to ensure that there is 

Smart Grid functionality and 

interoperability in interstate 

transmission of electric power, and in 

regional and wholesale electricity 

markets. 

Plenary and break-out sessions at the 

May 19–20 workshop will cover a range 

of power, communication, and 

cybersecurity issues. Particular 

emphasis will be given to four highpriority Smart Grid applications 

identified by FERC: Demand Response, 

Electric Transportation, Wide-Area 

Visualization, and Storage. 

Additional Information: More 

information is available on the NIST 

Smart Grid project Web site at: http:// 

www.nist.gov/smartgrid/. To help it 

fulfill its mandate to facilitate Smart 

Grid standards interoperability, NIST 

also manages a Smart Grid collaboration 

Web site at: http://collaborate.nist.gov/ 

twiki-sggrid/bin/view/SmartGrid/ 

WebHome. NIST recently contracted 

with the Electric Power Research 

Institute (EPRI) to perform services 

related to NIST’s effort to coordinate 

development of Smart Grid standards. 

The contract requires EPRI to help NIST 

organize and facilitate two workshops at 

which stakeholders will present, review, 

develop, and work toward consensus on 

roadmap content and to use its technical 

expertise to compile, distill, and 

organize stakeholder contributions into 

a draft interim roadmap for smart grid 

interoperability standards. This notice 

announces the second of those 

workshops. All EPRI outputs under the 

contract are subject to NIST review and 

approval and are owned by NIST. 

Dated: May 6, 2009. 

Richard F. Kayser, 

Chief Scientist. 

[FR Doc. E9–11096 Filed 5–12–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Transmittal Nos. 09–17] 

36(b)(1) Arms Sales Notification 

AGENCY: Department of Defense, Defense 

Security Cooperation Agency. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense is 

publishing the unclassified text of a 

section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification. 

This is published to fulfill the 

requirements of section 155 of Public 

Law 104–164 dated 21 July 1996. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

B. English, DSCA/DBO/CFM, (703) 601– 

3740. 

The following is a copy of a letter to 

the Speaker of the House of 

Representatives, Transmittals 09–17 

with attached transmittal, policy 

justification, and Sensitivity of 

Technology. 

Dated: May 4, 2009. 

Patricia L. Toppings, 

OSD Federal Register, Liaison Officer, 

Department of Defense.