Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2017 / Notices 40141 

they also will become a matter of public 

record. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Departmental PRA Lead, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17976 Filed 8–23–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–HE–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XE467 

Taking and Importing Marine 

Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 

Incidental to Testing and Training 

Activities Conducted in the Eglin Gulf 

Test and Training Range 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for 

Letter of Authorization; request for 

comments and information. 

SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request 

from the United States Air Force 

(USAF), Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) 

96th Test Wing (AFMC) for 

authorization to take marine mammals 

incidental to conducting testing and 

training activities in the Eglin Gulf Test 

and Training Range (EGTTR) in the Gulf 

of Mexico over the course of five years, 

from February 4, 2018 through February 

3, 2023. Pursuant to regulations 

implementing the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is 

announcing receipt of Eglin AFB’s 

request for the development and 

implementation of regulations 

governing the incidental taking of 

marine mammals and inviting 

information, suggestions, and comments 

on Eglin AFB’s application and request. 

DATES: Comments and information must 

be received no later than September 25, 

2017. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the 

application should be addressed to Jolie 

Harrison, Chief, Permits and 

Conservation Division, Office of 

Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 1315 East-West 

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910– 

3225 and electronic comments should 

be sent ITP.Pauline@noaa.gov. 

Instructions: NMFS is not responsible 

for comments sent by any other method, 

to any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period. Comments sent via email, 

including all attachments, must not 

exceed a 25-megabyte file size. 

Attachments to electronic comments 

will be accepted in Microsoft Word or 

Excel or Adobe PDF file formats only. 

All comments received are a part of the 

public record and will generally be 

posted to www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/ 

permits/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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob 

Pauline, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability 

An electronic copy of Eglin AFB’s 

application may be obtained online at: 

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

incidental/military.htm. In case of 

problems accessing the document, 

please call the contact listed above. 

Background 

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct 

the Secretary of Commerce to allow, 

upon request, the incidental, but not 

intentional, taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals of a species or 

population stock, by U.S. citizens who 

engage in a specified activity (other than 

commercial fishing) within a specified 

geographical region if certain findings 

are made and either regulations are 

issued or, if the taking is limited to 

harassment, a notice of a proposed 

authorization is provided to the public 

for review. 

An authorization for incidental 

takings for marine mammals shall be 

granted if NMFS finds that the taking 

will have a negligible impact on the 

species or stock(s), will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

subsistence uses (where relevant), and if 

the permissible methods of taking and 

requirements pertaining to the 

mitigation, monitoring, and reporting of 

such taking are set forth. NMFS has 

defined ‘‘negligible impact’’ in 50 CFR 

216.103 as an impact resulting from the 

specified activity that cannot be 

reasonably expected to, and is not 

reasonably likely to, adversely affect the 

species or stock through effects on 

annual rates of recruitment or survival. 

The NDAA of 2004 (Pub. L. 108–136) 

removed the ‘‘small numbers’’ and 

‘‘specified geographical region’’ 

limitations indicated earlier and 

amended the definition of harassment as 

it applies to a ‘‘military readiness 

activity’’ to read as follows (Section 

3(18)(B) of the MMPA): (i) Any act that 

injures or has the significant potential to 

injure a marine mammal or marine 

mammal stock in the wild (Level A 

Harassment); or (ii) any act that disturbs 

or is likely to disturb a marine mammal 

or marine mammal stock in the wild by 

causing disruption of natural behavioral 

patterns, including, but not limited to, 

migration, surfacing, nursing, breeding, 

feeding, or sheltering, to a point where 

such behavioral patterns are abandoned 

or significantly altered (Level B 

Harassment). Eglin AFB has identified 

these testing and training activities as 

military readiness activities. 

On April 23, 2012, NMFS 

promulgated a rulemaking and issued a 

Letter of Authorization (LOA) for takes 

of marine mammals incidental to Eglin 

AFB’s Naval Explosive Ordnance 

Disposal School (NEODS) training 

operations at Eglin AFB. This rule 

expired on April 24, 2017 (77 FR 16718, 

March 22, 2012). On March 5, 2014, 

NMFS promulgated rulemaking and 

issued a LOA for takes of marine 

mammals incidental to Eglin AFB’s Air 

Force Special Operations Command 

(AFSOC) precision strike weapons 

(PSW) and air-to-surface (AS) gunnery 

activities in the EGTTR, which is valid 

through March 4, 2019 (79 FR 13568, 

March 11, 2014). In addition to these 

rules and LOAs, NMFS has issued 

Incidental Harassment Authorizations 

(IHA) for take of marine mammals 

incidental to Eglin AFB’s Maritime 

Strike Operations (78 FR 52135, August 

22, 2013; valid August 19, 2013 through 

August 18, 2014) and Maritime 

Weapons Systems Evaluations Program 

(WSEP) annually in 2015 (81 FR 7307) 

and 2016 (82 FR 10747). Eglin AFB 

complied with all conditions of the 

LOAs and IHAs issued, including 

submission of final reports. Based on 

these reports, NMFS has determined 

that impacts to marine mammals were 

not beyond those anticipated. On 

November 10, 2015, Eglin Natural 

Resources submitted an LOA request to 

consolidate all EGTTR activities into 

one authorization for five years. NMFS 

Office of Protected Resources planned to 

issue the EGTTR LOA by January 2017. 

However, it became apparent that the 

LOA would not be issued in time to 

cover February 2017 Maritime WSEP 

missions based on concerns associated 

with the acoustic model methodology 

and mission-day scenario versus perdetonation approach. Eglin Natural 

Resources requested and received a 

separate IHA (82 FR 10747, February 15, 

2017) valid from February 4, 2017 

through February 3, 2018 for those 


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40142 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2017 / Notices 

WSEP missions that incorporated such 

methodology revisions, which has also 

served as interim coverage for a small 

number of other 2017 missions while 

the EGTTR LOA was being revised. 

Eglin AFB’s current rulemaking/LOA 

application would also supersede the 

existing PSW and AS gunnery rule that 

is in effect until March 4, 2019, and 

would include all of Eglin AFB’s testing 

and training activities, including WSEP 

activities, into one new rule with the 

exception of NEODS training activities. 

Eglin AFB has never conducted any 

NEODS training activities and is not 

including these activities as part of the 

new rulemaking. 

Summary of Request 

On May 3, 2017, NMFS received an 

adequate and complete application from 

Eglin AFB requesting authorization for 

the take of marine mammals incidental 

to testing and training activities in the 

EGTTR (defined as the area and airspace 

over the Gulf of Mexico controlled by 

Eglin AFB, beginning at a point three 

nautical miles (nmi) off the coast of 

Florida) for a period of five years. These 

testing and training activities have the 

potential to result in take of marine 

mammals in the waters of the EGTTR. 

Therefore, Eglin AFB requests 

authorization to take two species of 

marine mammals that may occur in this 

area, Atlantic bottlenose dolphins 

(Tursiops truncatus) and Atlantic 

spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). 

Specified Activities 

Eglin AFB proposes the following 

actions in the EGTTR: (1) 86th Fighter 

Weapons Squadron (FWS) Maritime 

WSEP test missions that involve the use 

of multiple types of live and inert 

munitions (bombs and missiles) 

detonated above, at, or slightly below 

the water surface; (2) Advanced Systems 

Employment Project actions that involve 

deployment of a variety of pods, air-toair missiles, bombs, and other 

munitions (all inert ordnances in 

relation to EGTTR); (3) AFSOC training, 

including air-to-surface gunnery 

missions involving firing live gunnery 

rounds at targets on the water surface in 

EGTTR, small diameter bomb (SDB) and 

Griffin/Hellfire missile training 

involving the use of live missiles and 

SDBs in the EGTTR against small towed 

boats, and CV–22 training involving the 

firing of 0.50 caliber (cal.)/7.62 mm 

ammunition at flares floating on the 

EGTTR water surface; (4) 413th Flight 

Test Squadron (FLTS) Precision Strike 

Program (PSP) activities involving firing 

munitions at flare targets on the EGTTR 

water surface and Stand-Off Precision 

Guided Munitions (SOPGM) testing 

involving captive-carry, store 

separation, and weapon employment 

tests; (5) 780th Test Squadron (TS) 

activities involving PSW test missions 

(launch of munitions against targets in 

the EGTTR) and Longbow Littoral 

Testing (data collection on tracking and 

impact ability of the Longbow missile 

on small boats); (6) 96th Test Wing Inert 

Missions (developmental testing and 

evaluation for wide variety of airdelivered weapons and other systems 

using inert bombs); and (7) 96 

Operations Group (OG) missions, which 

involve the support of air-to-surface 

missions for several user groups within 

EGTTR. 

During these activities, ordnances 

may be delivered by multiple types of 

aircraft, including bombers and fighter 

aircraft. The actions include air-toground missiles (AGM); air intercept 

missiles (AIM); bomb dummy units 

(BDU); guided bomb units (GBU); 

projectile gun units (PGU); cluster bomb 

units (CBU); wind-corrected munitions 

dispensers (WCMD); (SDB) and laser 

small diameter bombs (LSDB); high 

explosive incendiary units (HEI); joint 

direct attack munitions (JDAM) and 

laser joint direct attack munitions 

(LJDAM); research department 

explosives (RDX); joint air-to-surface 

stand-off missiles (JASSM); high 

altitude anti-submarine warfare 

weapons (inert); high-speed 

maneuverable surface targets; and 

gunnery rounds. Net explosive weight 

(NEW) of the live munitions ranges from 

0.1 to 945 pounds (lb). 

Eglin AFB testing and training 

activities involving live munitions are 

summarized in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—LIVE MUNITIONS PLANNED FOR TESTING AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES IN THE EGTTR 

Mission Groups 

Mission 

category 

day 

Munition NEW 

(lb) Detonation type Munitions/day Mission days/yr Munitions/yr 

86 FWS Maritime 

WSEP.

A .............. GBU–10/–24/–31 ...... 945 Subsurface * ....... 1 2 2 

GBU–49 .................... 300 Surface ............... 2 ........................ 4 

AGM–158 (JASSM) .. 240 Surface ............... 2 ........................ 4 

GBU–12/–54 

(LJDAM/–38/–32 

(JDAM).

192 Subsurface * ....... 5 ........................ 10 

B .............. AGM–65 (Maverick) .. 86 Surface ............... 2 4 8 

GBU–39 (SDB) ......... 37 Surface ............... 1 ........................ 4 

AGM–114 (Hellfire) ... 20 Subsurface * ....... 5 ........................ 20 

C .............. AGM–176 (Griffin) ..... 13 Surface ............... 5 2 10 

2.75 rocket ................ 12 Surface ............... 50 ........................ 100 

AIM–9X ..................... 7.9 Surface ............... 1 ........................ 2 

PGU–12 HEI 30 mm 0.1 Surface ............... 500 ........................ 1,000 

AFSOC AS gunnery ... D .............. 105 mm HE (FU) ...... 4.7 Surface ............... 30 25 750 

40 mm HE ................. 0.87 Surface ............... 64 ........................ 1,600 

30 mm HE ................. 0.1 Surface ............... 500 ........................ 12,500 

25 mm HE ................. 0.067 Surface ............... 560 ........................ 14,000 

E .............. 105 mm HE (TR) ...... 0.35 Surface ............... 30 45 1,350 

40 mm HE ................. 0.87 Surface ............... 64 ........................ 2,880 

30 mm HE ................. 0.1 Surface ............... 500 ........................ 22,500 

25 mm HE ................. 0.067 Surface ............... 560 ........................ 25,200 

413 FLTS PSP gunnery.F .............. 30 mm HE ................. 0.1 Surface ............... 33 3 99 

G .............. 105 mm FU ............... 4.7 Surface ............... 15 4 60 

H .............. 105 mm TR ............... 0.35 Surface ............... 15 4 60 

413 FLTS SOPGM ..... I ............... AGM–176 (Griffin) ..... 4.58 Surface ............... 5 2 10 


rmajette on DSKBCKNHB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2017 / Notices 40143 

TABLE 1—LIVE MUNITIONS PLANNED FOR TESTING AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES IN THE EGTTR—Continued 

Mission Groups 

Mission 

category 

day 

Munition NEW 

(lb) Detonation type Munitions/day Mission days/yr Munitions/yr 

J ............... AGM–114 (Hellfire) ... 20 Surface ............... 5 2 10 

K .............. GBU–39 (SDB I) ....... 36 Surface ............... 3 2 6 

L ............... GBU–39 (LSDB) ....... 36 Surface ............... 5 2 10 

780 TS PSW .............. M .............. AGM–158 (JASSM) .. 240 Surface ............... 2 1 2 

N .............. GBU–39 (SDB I) ....... 37 Surface ............... 2 1 2 

GBU–39 (SDB I) 

Double shot *.

74 Surface ............... 2 ........................ 2 

O .............. GBU–53 (SDB II) ...... 22.84 Surface ............... 2 1 2 

780 TS other tests ..... P .............. Joint air-ground missile.27.41 Surface ............... 1 1 1 

Q .............. LSDB and SDB II 

(live fuse only).

0.4 Surface ............... 2 4 8 

96 OG Future Missions.R .............. GBU–10/–24 ............. 945 Subsurface * ....... 1 1 1 

AGM–158 (JASSM) .. 240 Surface ............... 1 ........................ 1 

GBU–12 or –54 ......... 192 Subsurface * ....... 1 ........................ 1 

S .............. AGM–65 (Maverick) .. 86 Surface ............... 1 2 2 

GBU–39 (SDB I or 

LSDB).

37 Subsurface * ....... 2 ........................ 4 

AGM–114 (Hellfire) ... 29 Subsurface * ....... 10 ........................ 20 

T .............. 105 mm HE (FU) ...... 4.7 Surface ............... 13 10 130 

40 mm HE ................. 0.9 Surface ............... 60 ........................ 60 

Live fuse ................... 0.4 Surface ............... 20 ........................ 200 

30 mm HE ................. 0.1 Surface ............... 500 ........................ 5,000 

FU = Full Up; TR = Training Round (lessened NEW). 

* Subsurface detonations occur at 10 feet water depth. 

Information Solicited 

Interested persons may submit 

information, suggestions, and comments 

concerning Eglin AFB’s request (see 

ADDRESSES). Comments should be 

supported by data or literature citations 

as appropriate. We will consider all 

relevant information, suggestions, and 

comments related to the request during 

the development of proposed 

regulations governing the incidental 

taking of marine mammals by Eglin 

AFB, if appropriate. 

Dated: August 21, 2017. 

Cathryn E. Tortorici, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17938 Filed 8–23–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XF624 

Pacific Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting 

(conference call). 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Pacific Council) 

Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory 

Subpanel (CPSAS) will hold a meeting 

via conference call that is open to the 

public. 

DATES: The conference call will be held 

Wednesday, September 6, 2017, from 2 

p.m. to 4 p.m. or until business for the 

day has been completed. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held 

via conference call. To attend the 

conference call, dial this toll free 

number: (866) 692–4538; enter 

participant code 2366028. A public 

listening station is available at the 

Pacific Council office (address below). 

Council Address: Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 7700 NE 

Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland, 

OR 97220–1384. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kerry Griffin, Pacific Council; 

telephone: (503) 820–2409. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the meeting is to discuss 

items on the Pacific Council’s 

September 2017 meeting agenda. Major 

topics include, but are not limited to, (1) 

a draft Terms of Reference for the 2018 

review of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration’s AcousticTrawl Survey Methodology Review 

Terms of Reference for coastal pelagic 

species stocks; and (2) the Ecosystem 

Workgroup Report on Fishery Ecosystem 

Plan Initiatives: Scoping and Selection. 

Both topics are to be considered at the 

September Council meeting, and the 

CPSAS may develop supplemental 

reports on these topics. The CPSAS may 

also address one or more of the Pacific 

Council’s scheduled Administrative 

Matters including future meeting 

planning. Public comment may be taken 

at the discretion of the CPSAS CoChairs. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in the meeting agenda may be 

discussed, those issues may not be the 

subject of formal action during this 

meeting. Action will be restricted to 

those issues specifically listed in this 

document and any issues arising after 

publication of this document that 

require emergency action under section 

305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the intent to take final action to address 

the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Mr. 

Kris Kleinschmidt at (503) 820–2411 at 

least 10 days prior to the meeting date. 


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