67166 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Proposed Rules

You may send comments by

electronic mail (e-mail) to

FW6_PipingPlover@fws.gov. See the

Public Comments Solicited section

below for file format and other

information on electronic filing. Copies of the draft economic analysis,

draft environmental assessment, and

proposed rule for designation of critical

habitat for the northern Great Plains

breeding population of the piping

plover are available from the

aforementioned address or on the

Internet at http://mountainprairie.fws.gov/pipingplover. You may view comments and

materials received, as well as supporting

documentation used in the preparation

of this proposed rule, by appointment,

during normal business hours at the

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nell

McPhillips, Fish and Wildlife Biologist,

at the above address or at 605–224–

8693, extension 32.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

We published a proposed rule to

designate critical habitat for the

northern Great Plains breeding

population of the piping plover in the

Federal Register (66 FR 31760, June 12,

2001). Section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered

Species Act (Act) requires that we

designate or revise critical habitat based

upon the best scientific and commercial

data available and after taking into

consideration the economic impacts,

and any other relevant impact, of

specifying any particular area as critical

habitat. We may exclude an area from

critical habitat if we determine that the

benefits of excluding the area outweigh

the benefits of including the area as

critical habitat, provided such exclusion

will not result in the extinction of the

species. The proposed designation includes 11

areas of prairie alkali wetlands and

reservoir lakes in 5 counties in

Montana, 18 counties in North Dakota,

and 1 county at Lake-of-the-Woods,

Minnesota, totaling approximately

196,576.5 acres [79,553.1 hectares]. It

also includes five areas of portions of

four rivers in the States of Montana,

North Dakota, South Dakota, and

Nebraska, totaling approximately 1,338

miles [2,152.9 kilometers] of river. If

this proposal is made final, section 7 of

the Act would prohibit destruction or

adverse modification of critical habitat

by any activity funded, authorized, or

carried out by any Federal agency.

Public Comments Solicited

We will accept written comments and

information during this comment

period. If you wish to comment, you

may submit your comments and

materials concerning this proposal by

any one of several methods (see

ADDRESSES). If you would like to submit

comments by electronic format, please

submit them in ASCII file format and

avoid the use of special characters and

encryption. Please include your name

and return e-mail address in your e-mail

message. Please note that the e-mail

address will be closed out at the

termination of the public comment

period. If you do not receive

confirmation from the system that we

have received your message, contact us

directly by calling our South Dakota

Field Office at 605–224–8693.

Comments and materials received, as

well as supporting documentation used

in preparation of the proposal to

designate critical habitat, will be

available for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business

hours at the above address. Copies of

the draft Environmental Assessment are

available on the Internet at http://

mountain-prairie.fws.gov/pipingplover

or by writing to Pete Gober, Field

Supervisor (see ADDRESSES).

Author

The primary authors of this notice are

the South Dakota Field Office staff (see

ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: November 30, 2001.

John A. Blankenship,

Deputy Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.

[FR Doc. 01–31586 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 122001A]

New England Fishery Management

Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Public meeting.

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery

Management Council (Council) will

hold a 3-day Council meeting on

January 15 through 17, 2002, to consider

actions affecting New England fisheries

in the U.S. exclusive economic zone

(EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday,

January 15, 16, and 17, 2002. The

meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday

and 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and

Thursday.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Courtyard by Marriott, 1000 Market

Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801;

telephone (603) 436–2121. Requests for

special accommodations should be

addressed to the New England Fishery

Management Council, 50 Water Street,

Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950;

telephone (978) 465–0492.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul

J. Howard, Executive Director, New

England Fishery Management Council,

(978) 465–0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Tuesday, January 15, 2002

Following introductions, the Council

will receive a briefing on the status of

the U.S./Canada shared resources

agreement. The Enforcement Committee

will discuss its recommendations

concerning the Council’s Enforcement

Policy in view of the 9/11 attacks

because of United States Coast Guard

(USCG) redirection of USCG resources

to national security. The Enforcement

Committee may possibly discuss

Enforcement Committee progress on

reviewing Amendment 10 to the

Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery

Management Plan (FMP) and

Framework Adjustment 1 to the

Monkfish FMP. Later in the morning,

there will be a Stock Assessment Public

Review Workshop during which an

advisory report on the status of

monkfish, Georges Bank winter

flounder, and Loligo squid developed at

the 34th Stock Assessment Workshop

will be presented. The Council will then

begin consideration of monkfish

management issues. It intends to

approve final action on Framework

Adjustment 1 to the Monkfish FMP.

Options under consideration include,

but are not limited to: (1) taking no

action and allowing the FMP Year 4

default measures to take effect (and

eliminating the directed fishery); (2)

postponing the Year 4 default measures

for one year and adjusting trip limits

and days-at-sea allocations to achieve

fishing year 2000 landings levels (after

accounting for the court-ordered

adjustment to the gillnet trip limits) (the

preferred alternative); and (3) adjusting

management measures to reduce catches

to the Years 2 and 3 total allowable

catch (TAC) targets. The Council also

will consider scoping comments on

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Proposed Rules 67167

Amendment 2 to the Monkfish FMP.

Amendment 2 will consider updated

scientific information in revising

overfishing definitions, rebuilding

targets and management measures, as

appropriate to rebuild stocks to

maximum sustainable levels by 2009;

reduce overall FMP complexity; update

environmental impact documents;

consider modifications to the limited

entry program for vessels fishing south

of the North Carolina/Virginia border;

and update the Essential Fish Habitat

components.

Wednesday, January 16, 2002

The meeting will reconvene with

reports on recent activities from the

Council Chairman and Executive

Director, the NMFS Regional

Administrator, Northeast Fisheries

Science Center and Mid-Atlantic

Fishery Management Council liaisons,

NOAA General Counsel and

representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard,

NMFS Enforcement and the Atlantic

States Marine Fisheries Commission. A

brief period for general comments from

the public concerning fisheries

management issues will follow. During

the Scallop Committee Report the

committee will request approval of

additional management alternatives to

be included in draft Amendment 10 to

the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP and

analyzed in the Draft Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement

(DSEIS). Primary issues include

alternatives to manage effort by vessels

with limited access and general category

scallop permits, minimize habitat and

bycatch impacts, and address

monitoring and data collection issues.

Thursday, January 17, 2002

On the final day of the meeting, the

Council plans to approve final

management measures to be included in

the Deep-Sea Red Crab FMP. Measures

under consideration include controlled

access, days-at-sea and trip limit

programs for the directed red crab

fishery, and the establishment of a

fishing year for management purposes.

There will be an update on the initial

meeting of the Council’s Marine

Protected Area Committee followed by a

report from the Capacity Committee.

The Capacity Committee will discuss

and seek Council guidance on capacity

reduction proposals to be included in

Amendment 13 to the Northeast

Multispecies FMP. The Groundfish

Committee will provide an update on

the development of Amendment 13 as

well as Framework 36 to the Northeast

Multispecies FMP. Prior to addressing

any other outstanding business, the

Council will consider the development

of an FMP for hagfish and possible

approval of a control date to determine

future access to the fishery.

Although other non-emergency issues

not contained in this agenda may come

before this Council for discussion, those

issues may not be the subjects of formal

action during this meeting. Council

action will be restricted to those issues

specifically listed in this notice and any

issues arising after publication of this

notice that require emergency action

under section 305 (c) of the MagnusonStevens Act, provided that the public

has been notified of the Council’s intent

to take final action to address the

emergency.

The New England Council will

consider public comments at a

minimum of two Council meetings

before making recommendations to the

National Marine Fisheries Service

Regional Administrator on any

framework adjustment to a fishery

management plan. If the Regional

Administrator concurs with the

adjustment proposed by the Council, the

Regional Administrator may publish the

action either as proposed or final

regulations in the Federal Register.

Documents pertaining to framework

adjustments are available for public

review 7 days prior to a final vote by the

Council.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul

J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5

days prior to the meeting date.

Dated: December 21, 2001.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service

[FR Doc. 01–31973 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S