41938 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2017 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD900 

Marine Mammals; File No. 18786–02 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for 

permit amendment. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the NMFS Office of Protected Resources, 

Marine Mammal Health and Stranding 

Response Program (Responsible Party: 

Teri Rowles, D.V.M., Ph.D.), 1315 East 

West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910, has applied for an amendment to 

Scientific Research Permit No. 18786– 

01. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email 

comments must be received on or before 

October 5, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: The application and related 

documents are available for review by 

selecting ‘‘Records Open for Public 

Comment’’ from the ‘‘Features’’ box on 

the Applications and Permits for 

Protected Species home page, https://

apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then selecting 

File No. 18786–02 from the list of 

available applications. 

These documents are also available 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the Permits and Conservation 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301) 427–8401; fax (301) 713–0376. 

Written comments on this application 

should be submitted to the Chief, 

Permits and Conservation Division, at 

the address listed above. Comments may 

also be submitted by facsimile to (301) 

713–0376, or by email to 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Please 

include the File No. in the subject line 

of the email comment. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

to the Chief, Permits and Conservation 

Division at the address listed above. The 

request should set forth the specific 

reasons why a hearing on this 

application would be appropriate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shasta McClenahan or Amy Sloan, (301) 

427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject amendment to Permit No. 

18786–02 is requested under the 

authority of the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 

U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the regulations 

governing the taking and importing of 

marine mammals (50 CFR part 216), the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

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

the regulations governing the taking, 

importing, and exporting of endangered 

and threatened species (50 CFR 222– 

226), and the Fur Seal Act of 1966, as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.). 

Permit No. 18786, issued on June 30, 

2015 (80 FR 44939), authorizes the 

permit holder to: (1) Carry out response, 

rescue, rehabilitation and release of 

threatened and endangered marine 

mammals under NMFS jurisdiction 

(Cetacea and Pinnipedia [excluding 

walrus]), and disentanglement of all 

marine mammals under NMFS 

jurisdiction, pursuant to sections 109(h), 

112(c), and Title IV of the MMPA; and, 

carry out such activities as enhancement 

pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the 

ESA; (2) Conduct health-related, bona 

fide scientific research studies on 

marine mammals and marine mammal 

parts under NMFS jurisdiction pursuant 

to sections 104(c) and Title IV of the 

MMPA and section 10(a)(1)(A) of the 

ESA, including research related to 

emergency response that may involve 

compromised animals, and research on 

healthy animals that have not been 

subject to emergency response (e.g., 

baseline health studies); (3) Conduct 

Level B harassment on all marine 

mammal species under NMFS 

jurisdiction incidental to MMHSRP 

activities in the U.S.; and (4) Collect, 

salvage, receive, possess, transfer, 

import, export, analyze, and curate 

marine mammal specimens under 

NMFS jurisdiction for purposes 

delineated in numbers (1) and (2) above. 

The permit holder is requesting the 

permit be amended to include 

authorization to: (1) Increase the 

number of dolphins captured, handled, 

and released for research by 200 takes; 

(2) increase the number of research 

takes for non-ESA listed pinniped 

species by 200 takes for directed 

research and by 500 takes for sampling 

under other permitted research; (3) 

increase the number of research takes 

for non-ESA listed large whales by 400 

takes; (4) add 10 dedicated research 

takes for the proposed ESA-listed Gulf 

of Mexico subspecies of Bryde’s whale 

(Balaenoptera edeni); and (5) clarify that 

new methods and tools may be used 

during emergency response. 

An environmental assessment (EA) 

was prepared for the original permit 

(No. 18786) in compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

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

examine whether significant 

environmental impacts could result 

from issuance of the proposed scientific 

research permit. Based on the analyses 

in the EA, NMFS determined that 

issuance of the permit would not 

significantly impact the quality of the 

human environment and that 

preparation of an environmental impact 

statement was not required. That 

determination is documented in a 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI), signed on June 29, 2017. The 

activities in this proposed amendment 

are consistent with the analyses in the 

original EA and no additional NEPA 

analysis is required for the issuance of 

this amendment. The original EA and 

FONSI are available upon request. 

Concurrent with the publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register, 

NMFS is forwarding copies of this 

application to the Marine Mammal 

Commission and its Committee of 

Scientific Advisors. 

Dated: August 30, 2017. 

Julia Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18681 Filed 9–1–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XF665 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Assessment on the 

Issuance of Incidental Take 

Authorizations in Cook Inlet, Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Marine 

Fisheries Service announces its intent to 

prepare an Environmental Assessment 

(EA) to analyze the environmental 

impacts of issuing annual incidental 

harassment authorizations (IHAs) 

pursuant to the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act (MMPA) for the taking of 

marine mammals incidental to 

anthropogenic activities in the waters of 

Cook Inlet, Alaska, for the 2018 season; 

and its intent to continue an annual 

cycle for issuing MMPA IHAs in Cook 

Inlet such that companies planning to 

submit IHA applications for work to be 

conducted in Cook Inlet in 2018 do so 

by no later than October 1, 2017. We 

refer prospective applicants to our 2016 

Technical Guidance for Assessing the 

Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on 

Marine Mammal Hearing (http://

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES