30056 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 120 / Wednesday, June 24, 2009 / Notices 

5 found no injured or dead marine 

mammals. 

An observer from the Moss Landing 

Marine Laboratory conducted a preevent survey on July 3 for the City of 

Monterey’s Independence Day 

Fireworks and enumerated 394 

California sea lions, two sea otters 

(Enhydra lutris), and 10 harbor seals. 

Post-event monitoring on July 5 

revealed no injured or dead marine 

mammals. 

Observers monitored the Pillar Point 

Harbor area for the Half Moon Bay 

Independence Day Fireworks on July 3 

and recorded two harbor seals. Postevent monitoring on July 5 revealed no 

injured or dead marine mammals. 

The Pacific Grove Feast of Lanterns 

Fireworks display consisted of 

enumerating all marine mammals 

within 400 meters of the fireworks 

launch site (survey area). On July 25, 

observers reported the presence of two 

sea otters within the survey area and 

more than 200 harbor seals outside of 

the survey area. A post-event 

monitoring survey found no injured or 

dead animals. 

Finally, pre-event monitoring of the 

Monte Foundation Fireworks Display on 

October 10 found two harbor seals and 

one to two dozen California sea lions 

500 yards offshore the Seacliff Beach 

area. On October 12, the observers 

reported that there were no injured or 

dead marine mammals. 

In summary, the total number of 

potentially harassed California sea lions 

(406) and harbor seals (14) for all 

fireworks displays, was well below the 

authorized limits as stated in the final 

rule (71 FR 40928, July 19, 2006). 

No dead or injured marine mammals 

were reported for any of the events. 

Hence, these monitoring results support 

NMFS’ initial findings that fireworks 

display will result in no more than 

Level B behavioral harassment of small 

numbers of California sea lions and 

harbor seals and that the effects will be 

limited to short term behavioral 

changes, including temporary 

abandonment of haul-out areas to avoid 

the sights and sounds of commercial 

fireworks. 

Authorization 

NMFS has issued an LOA to MBNMS 

authorizing the Level B harassment of 

marine mammals incidental to the 

coastal commercial fireworks display 

within the Sanctuary. Issuance of this 

LOA is based on the results of the 

MBNMS 2008 monitoring report which 

verify that the total number of 

potentially harassed sea lions and 

harbor seals was well below the 

authorized limits as stated in the final 

rule (71 FR 40928, July 19, 2006). Based 

on these findings and the information 

discussed in the preamble to the final 

rule, the activities described under this 

LOA will have a negligible impact on 

marine mammal stocks and will not 

have an unmitigable adverse impact on 

the availability of the affected marine 

mammal stock for subsistence uses. No 

mortality or injury of affected species is 

anticipated. 

Dated: June, 19, 2009 

James H. Lecky, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–14878 Filed 6–23–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement on an Application for 

a Department of the Army Permit 

Under Section 404 of the Clean Water 

Act by The Sabine Mining Company for 

the Construction, Operation, and 

Reclamation of the South Hallsville No. 

1 Lignite Mine—Rusk Permit Area, 

Rusk, Panola, and Harrison Counties, 

TX 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, Fort Worth District (USACE) 

has received an application for a 

Department of the Army permit under 

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act 

(CWA) from The Sabine Mining 

Company (SMC) to construct, operate, 

and reclaim the South Hallsville No. 1 

Lignite Mine—Rusk Permit Area. In 

accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the 

USACE has determined that issuance of 

such a permit may have a significant 

impact on the quality of the human 

environment and, therefore, requires the 

preparation of an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS). 

The USACE intends to prepare an EIS 

to assess the environmental, social, and 

economic effects of issuance of a 

Department of the Army permit under 

Section 404 of the CWA for discharges 

of dredged and fill material into waters 

of the United States (U.S.) associated 

with the construction of the proposed 

surface lignite mine. In the EIS, the 

USACE will assess potential impacts 

associated with a range of alternatives. 

DATES: A public scoping meeting will be 

held on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, from 5 

p.m. to 8 p.m. The purpose of this 

meeting is to disseminate information 

about the proposed project and its 

potential effects to the human 

environment, and to seek public 

comments on the scope of the proposed 

project. 

ADDRESSES: The public scoping meeting 

will be held at the Tatum Middle 

School, 410 North Hill, Tatum, Texas. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information and/or questions 

about the proposed action and EIS, 

please contact Ms. Jennifer R. Walker, 

Regulatory Permits Section Chief, by 

letter at Regulatory Branch, CESWF– 

PER–R, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

P.O. Box 17300, Fort Worth, TX 76102– 

0300 or by telephone at (817) 886–1863. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Description of the Proposed Project: 

The proposed South Hallsville No. 1 

Lignite Mine—Rusk Permit Area would 

be located approximately 1 mile north 

of the City of Tatum, Rusk County, 

Texas. The approximately 20,377-acre 

mine site would recover approximately 

130 million tons of lignite during the 

30-year life of the mine, for sole use at 

the existing H.W. Pirkey Power Plant, 

which is owned and operated by 

American Electric Power (AEP). Overall, 

the proposed project would result in 

adverse impacts to approximately 300 

acres of waters of the U.S., including 

approximately 186 acres of wetlands, 65 

acres of ponds, and approximately 

349,320 linear feet of streams, including 

a navigable reach of the Sabine River. 

Adverse impacts would occur in 

conjunction with the removal and 

stockpiling of overburden and 

interburden in an effort to recover 

approximately 90% of the in-place 

tonnage. As part of this project, several 

public roads, approximately 400 gas 

wells, and approximately 350 miles of 

pipeline would require modification. 

Other potential adverse effects 

associated with this project would 

include loss of forested floodplain and 

upland habitats, impacts to 

archeological sites, relocation of 

residential dwellings and one cemetery, 

and cumulative effects associated with 

the operation of four surface lignite 

mines within an approximately 20-mile 

radius. 

2. Alternatives: Alternatives available 

to the USACE are to: (1) Issue the 

Department of the Army permit; (2) 

issue the Department of the Army 

permit with special conditions; or (3) 

deny the Department of the Army 

permit. Alternatives available to SMC 

include: (1) Construct, operate, and 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 120 / Wednesday, June 24, 2009 / Notices 30057 

reclaim the South Hallsville No. 1 

Lignite Mine—Rusk Permit Area as 

proposed by SMC; (2) construct, 

operate, and reclaim the South 

Hallsville No. 1 Lignite Mine—Rusk 

Permit Area with modifications; (3) 

develop or acquire other lignite supply 

sources; or (4) no action. 

3. Scoping and Public Involvement 

Process: A public scoping meeting to 

disseminate information about the 

proposed project and its potential 

effects to the human environment, and 

to seek public comments on the 

proposed project will be conducted (see 

DATES & ADDRESSES). A Public Notice 

will be issued June 23, 2009, to extend 

the opportunity for Federal, State, and 

local agencies and officials, and 

interested individuals to further 

comment on the proposed project and 

the scope of the EIS. 

4. Significant Issues: Issues to be 

given significant analysis in the EIS are 

likely to include, but will not be limited 

to: The effects to surface water and 

groundwater resources, including water 

quantity and quality, effects on the 

immediate and adjacent property 

owners and nearby communities, 

downstream hydraulics and hydrology, 

geologic resources, vegetation, fish and 

wildlife, threatened and endangered 

species, soils, prime farmland, noise, 

light, aesthetics, historic and prehistoric cultural resources, 

socioeconomics, land use, public roads, 

and air quality. 

5. Cooperating Agencies: At this time, 

no other Federal or State agencies have 

been established as cooperating agencies 

in preparation of the EIS. However, 

numerous federal and state agencies, 

including the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, the Texas Commission 

on Environmental Quality, the Texas 

Parks and Wildlife Department, the 

Railroad Commission of Texas, and the 

Texas Historical Commission are 

expected to be involved in the 

preparation of, and provide comments 

on, the EIS. 

6. Additional Review and 

Consultation: Compliance with other 

Federal and State requirements that will 

be addressed in the EIS include, but will 

not be limited to, state water quality 

certification under Section 401 of the 

Clean Water Act, protection of water 

quality under the Texas Pollutant 

Discharge Elimination System, 

protection of air quality under the Texas 

Air Quality Act, protection of 

endangered and threatened species 

under Section 7 of the Endangered 

Species Act, and protection of cultural 

resources under Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act. 

7. Availability of the Draft EIS: The 

Draft EIS is projected to be available by 

August 2009. A public hearing will be 

conducted following the release of the 

Draft EIS. 

Stephen L. Brooks, 

Chief, Regulatory Branch. 

[FR Doc. E9–14836 Filed 6–23–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DELAWARE RIVER BASIN 

COMMISSION 

Notice of Revised Methodology for the 

Delaware River and Bay Integrated List 

Water Quality Assessment 

AGENCY: Delaware River Basin 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the methodology proposed to be used in 

the 2010 Delaware River and Bay 

Integrated List Water Quality 

Assessment is available for review and 

comment. The proposed methodology is 

a substantially modified version of the 

methodology used for the 2008 

assessment. 

DATES: Comments must be received in 

writing by close of business on August 

14, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments will be accepted 

via e-mail to 

john.yagecic@drbc.state.nj.us; via fax to 

609–883–9522; by U.S. Mail to DRBC, 

Attn: Integrated Assessment 2010, P.O. 

Box 7360, West Trenton, NJ 08628– 

0360; via private carrier to DRBC, Attn: 

Integrated Assessment 2010, 25 State 

Police Drive, West Trenton, NJ 08628– 

0360; or by hand. All submissions 

should have the phrase ‘‘Integrated 

Assessment 2010’’ in the subject line 

and should include the name, address 

(street address optional) and affiliation, 

if any, of the commenter. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

John Yagecic, Supervisor, Standards and 

Assessment Section, DRBC Modeling, 

Monitoring and Assessment Branch, via 

e-mail to john.yagecic@drbc.state.nj.us 

or by telephone to 609–883–9500, ext. 

271. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Delaware River Basin Commission 

(‘‘DRBC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) is an 

interstate and Federal compact agency 

that was created in 1961 by concurrent 

legislation of the States of Delaware, 

New Jersey, and New York, the 

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the 

United States Government for purpose 

of jointly managing the water resources 

of the Delaware River Basin. 

DRBC currently is compiling data for 

the 2010 Delaware River and Bay 

Integrated List Water Quality 

Assessment (‘‘2010 Assessment’’) 

required by the federal Clean Water Act 

(CWA). The 2010 Assessment will 

present the extent to which waters of 

the Delaware River and Bay are 

attaining designated uses in accordance 

with Section 305(b) of the CWA and 

will identify impaired waters, which 

consist of waters that exceed surface 

water quality standards. 

Substantial changes from the 2008 

methodology have been proposed, 

including the consideration of biological 

monitoring results in the assessment 

process. The assessment methodology to 

be used in the 2010 Assessment is 

available for review at the following 

URL: http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/ 

10IntegratedList-DraftMethod.htm. 

In the 2008 Assessment DRBC 

proposes to reduce the number of 

assessment units from the number used 

in 2006 by consolidating the units into 

DRBC’s Water Quality Management 

Zones 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 2, 3, 4, and 

5, the boundaries of which are defined 

in DRBC’s Water Quality Regulations 

(18 CFR Part 410), available on the Web 

at http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/regs/ 

WQRegs_092607.pdf. The 2008 

Assessment will continue, however, to 

include subunits within Zone 6 that are 

defined in part by shellfish management 

directives issued by the States of 

Delaware and New Jersey. The 2010 

Assessment will continue this process 

and also will include consideration of 

biological monitoring results. 

June 17, 2009. 

Pamela M. Bush, 

Commission Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–14749 Filed 6–23–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6360–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The Acting Director, 

Information Collection Clearance 

Division, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of 

Management invites comments on the 

submission for OMB review as required 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before July 24, 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be addressed to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs,