Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 15, 2017 / Notices 38671 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). 

Agency: National Institute of 

Standards and Technology. 

Title: Manufacturing Extension 

Partnership (MEP) Client Impact 

Survey. 

OMB Control Number: 0693–0021. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular. 

Number of Respondents: 10,000. 

Average Hours per Response: 12 

minutes. 

Burden Hours: 2,000. 

Needs and Uses: The objective of the 

NIST Manufacturing Extension 

Partnership Program (MEP) is to 

enhance productivity, technological 

performance, and strengthen the global 

competitiveness of small-and mediumsized U.S.-based manufacturing firms. 

Through this client impact survey, the 

MEP will collect data necessary for 

program accountability; analysis and 

research into the effectiveness of the 

MEP program; reports to stakeholders; 

GPRA; continuous improvement efforts; 

knowledge sharing across the MEP 

system; and identification of best 

practices. Collection of this data is 

needed in order to comply with the 

MEP charter, as mandated by Congress. 

Affected Public: Business or other for 

profit institutions. 

Frequency: Annually. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow 

the instructions to view Department of 

Commerce collections currently under 

review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to OIRA_Submission@

omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Departmental PRA Lead, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17189 Filed 8–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XF600 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Establishment of Annual Catch 

Limits for the Subsistence Harvest of 

Bowhead Whales by Alaska Natives 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of intent; announcement 

of public scoping period; request for 

written comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA), in order to assess the impacts 

of issuing annual catch limits for the 

subsistence harvest of bowhead whales 

by Alaska Natives from 2019 onward. 

Publication of this document begins the 

official scoping period that will help 

identify issues and alternatives to be 

considered in the EIS. 

DATES: Written comments on this 

scoping process must be received no 

later than September 14, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments on 

this scoping notice, by including 

NOAA–NMFS–2017–0098 by either of 

the following methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017- 

0098. Click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Carolyn Doherty, Office of 

International Affairs and Seafood 

Inspection, NOAA Fisheries, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910. 

Instructions: NMFS may not consider 

comments if they are sent by any other 

method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the 

comment period ends at 11:59 p.m. 

eastern time on the date of comment 

period closure. All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

For posted comments, all personal 

identifying information (e.g., name, 

address, etc.), confidential business 

information, or otherwise sensitive 

information submitted voluntarily by 

the sender is 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, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe portable document file (PDF) 

formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carolyn Doherty, Office of International 

Affairs and Seafood Inspection, NOAA 

Fisheries (phone: 301–427–8385 or 

email: Carolyn.Doherty@noaa.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is 

initiating this EIS process in order to 

comprehensively assess impacts of the 

subsistence harvest of Western Arctic 

bowhead whales by Alaska Natives from 

2019 onward. 

Background 

Alaska Natives have hunted bowhead 

whales for over 2,000 years as the 

whales migrate in the spring and fall 

along the coast of Alaska. Their 

traditional subsistence hunts for these 

whales have been regulated by catch 

limits and other limitations under the 

authority of the International Whaling 

Commission (IWC) since 1977. Alaska 

Native subsistence hunters from 11 

northern Alaskan communities take less 

than 1 percent of the stock of bowhead 

whales per year. Since 1977, the number 

of whales struck by harpoons has ranged 

between 14 and 72 animals per year, 

depending in part on changes in IWC 

management strategy due to higher 

estimates of both bowhead whale 

abundance and increased hunter 

efficiency in recent years. The IWC sets 

an overall aboriginal subsistence catch 

limit for this stock, based on the request 

of IWC member countries on behalf of 

the aboriginal hunters. The IWC’s catch 

limit for bowhead whales includes a 

limit on the number of landed whales 

and a limit on the number of whales 

that may be struck. In the case of Alaska 

and Russian Native subsistence hunts, 

the United States and the Russian 

Federation make a joint request to the 

IWC for subsistence catch limits for 

bowhead whales. 

NMFS must annually publish a notice 

of aboriginal subsistence whale hunting 

catch limits and any other limitations 

on such hunting in the Federal Register 

(50 CFR 230.6). The subsistence hunt is 

directly managed by the Alaska Eskimo 

Whaling Commission (AEWC) and the 

catch limits are issued through annual 

amendments to a cooperative agreement 

between the AEWC and NOAA, 

consistent with the mandates codified 

in the Whaling Convention Act, 16 

U.S.C. 916–916l. 

In order to comprehensively assess 

the effects of these annual removals, this 

proposed action would extend from 

2019 onward, subject to IWC-set catch 

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38672 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 15, 2017 / Notices 

limits. IWC-set catch limits are, in turn, 

based on IWC Scientific Committee 

advice on the sustainability of proposed 

catch limits using a population model, 

referred to as a Strike Limit Algorithm. 

The Strike Limit Algorithm used by the 

IWC is specific to this population of 

bowhead whales and is the IWC’s 

formula for calculating sustainable 

aboriginal subsistence whaling removal 

levels, based on the size and 

productivity of a whale population, in 

order to satisfy subsistence need. The 

Strike Limit Algorithm also allows for 

an inter-annual variation of strikes up to 

50 percent of the annual strike limit in 

order to provide flexibility for the hunt 

while meeting the Commission’s 

conservation objectives. 

Alternatives 

NMFS preliminarily anticipates four 

alternatives: 

Alternative 1 (no action): Do not grant 

the AEWC a catch limit. 

Alternative 2: Grant the AEWC an 

annual strike limit of 67 bowhead 

whales, not to exceed a total of 336 

landed whales over any 6-year period, 

with no unused strikes from previous 

years added to a subsequent annual 

limit. 

Alternative 3: Grant the AEWC an 

annual strike limit of 67 bowhead 

whales, not to exceed a total of 336 

landed whales over any 6-year period, 

with unused strikes from previous years 

carried forward and added to the annual 

strike limit of subsequent years (subject 

to limits), provided that no more than 

15 additional strikes are added to any 

one year’s allocation of strikes. This 

alternative would maintain the status 

quo for any six-year period with respect 

to management of the hunt. 

Alternative 4: Grant the AEWC an 

annual strike limit of 67 bowhead 

whales, not to exceed a total take of 336 

landed whales over any 6-year period, 

with unused strikes from previous years 

carried forward and added to the annual 

strike quota of subsequent years (subject 

to limits), provided that no more than 

50 percent of the annual strike limit is 

added for any one year. This would 

maintain the status quo for any 6-year 

period with respect to management of 

the hunt for landed whales and employ 

the Commission’s 50 percent carryover 

principle. 

NOAA prepared an EIS in 2013 that 

analyzed issuing annual strike limits to 

the AEWC for a subsistence hunt on 

bowhead whales from 2013 through 

2018. That analysis concluded that the 

overall effects of human activities 

associated with subsistence whaling 

results in only minor impacts on the 

western Arctic bowhead whale stock. In 

light of the stability of the IWC 

subsistence harvest allocations and the 

subsistence bowhead harvests by Alaska 

Natives, the 2013 EIS estimated 

environmental consequences for a 25- or 

30-year period, recognizing that every 5 

or 6 years, when new catch limits are 

considered by the IWC, NMFS would 

prepare an Environmental Assessment 

(EA) to determine whether any new 

circumstances would result in 

significant environmental impacts 

warranting a new EIS. 

NMFS decided to prepare an EIS 

rather than an EA in order to assess the 

impacts of issuing annual quotas for the 

subsistence hunt by Alaska Natives from 

2019 onward. This decision was not 

based on any new determination that 

significant effects occur as a result of the 

bowhead subsistence hunt, but rather to 

take advantage of the greater 

transparency and public involvement in 

decision-making afforded through an 

EIS process. 

Major issues to be addressed in this 

EIS include: The impact of subsistence 

removal of bowhead whales from the 

Western Arctic stock of bowhead 

whales; the impacts of these harvest 

levels on the traditional and cultural 

values of Alaska Natives, and the 

cumulative effects of the action when 

considered along with environmental 

conditions and past, present, and future 

actions potentially affecting bowhead 

whales. 

Public Comment 

We begin this NEPA process by 

soliciting input from the public and 

interested parties on the type of impacts 

to be considered in the EIS, the range of 

alternatives to be assessed, and any 

other pertinent information. 

Specifically, this scoping process is 

intended to accomplish the following 

objectives: 

1. Invite affected Federal, state, and 

local agencies, Alaska Natives, and 

other interested persons to participate in 

the EIS process. 

2. Determine the potential significant 

environmental issues to be analyzed in 

the EIS. 

3. Identify and eliminate issues 

determined to be insignificant or 

addressed in other documents. 

4. Allocate assignments among the 

lead agency and cooperating agencies 

regarding preparation of the EIS, 

including impact analysis and 

identification of mitigation measures. 

5. Identify related environmental 

documents being prepared. 

6. Identify other environmental 

review and consultation requirements. 

The official scoping period is from 

August 15, 2017, until September 14, 

2017. Please visit the NOAA Fisheries’ 

Alaska Regional Office’s Web page at 

https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/pr/ 

whales-bowhead for more information 

on this EIS. NMFS estimates the draft 

EIS for 2019 onward will be available in 

May 2018. 

Authority 

The preparation of the EIS for the 

subsistence harvest of Western Arctic 

bowhead whales by Alaska Natives will 

be conducted under the authority and in 

accordance with the requirements of 

NEPA, Council on Environmental 

Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500– 

1508), other applicable Federal laws and 

regulations, and policies and procedures 

of NMFS for compliance with those 

regulations. 

Dated: August 9, 2017. 

John Henderschedt, 

Director, Office of International Affairs and 

Seafood Inspection, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17173 Filed 8–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[Docket No. 170718681–7735–01] 

RIN 0648–XF575 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Initiation of a Status Review for Alewife 

and Blueback Herring Under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of initiation of a status 

review; request for information. 

SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce the 

initiation of a new status review of 

alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and 

blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) to 

determine whether listing either species 

as endangered or threatened under the 

Endangered Species Act is warranted. A 

comprehensive status review must be 

based on the best scientific and 

commercial data available at the time of 

the review. Therefore, we are asking the 

public to provide such information on 

alewife and blueback herring that has 

become available since the listing 

determination in 2013. 

DATES: To allow us adequate time to 

conduct this review, we must receive 

your information no later than October 

16, 2017. 

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