Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Essential Fish Habitat Final 5-Year Review, 37598-37599 [2015-16191]

Download as PDF 37598 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 126 / Wednesday, July 1, 2015 / Notices DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Institute of Standards and Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Advisory Committee Meeting National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. AGENCY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Advisory Committee (SGAC or Committee), will meet in open session on Thursday, July 30, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time and Friday, July 31, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern time. This meeting was originally scheduled for March 10– 11, 2015 and was rescheduled for administrative reasons. The primary purposes of this meeting are to discuss the Grid 3.0 Strategic Planning Effort and NIST Transactive Energy, Distributed Energy Resources, Microgrid, and Smart City activities. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the Smart Grid Web site at https://www.nist.gov/ smartgrid. SUMMARY: The SGAC will meet on Thursday, July 30, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time and Friday, July 31, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern time. ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the Executive Conference Room, Building 101 (Administration), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899. Please note admittance instructions under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Cuong Nguyen, Smart Grid and CyberPhysical Systems Program Office, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8200, Gaithersburg, MD 20899– 8200; telephone 301–975–2254, fax 301–948–5668; or via email at cuong.nguyen@nist.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Committee was established in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. The Committee is composed of nine to fifteen members, appointed by the Director of NIST, who were selected on the basis of established records of distinguished service in their professional community and their knowledge of issues affecting Smart tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES DATES: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:30 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 235001 Grid deployment and operations. The Committee advises the Director of NIST in carrying out duties authorized by section 1305 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110–140). The Committee provides input to NIST on Smart Grid standards, priorities, and gaps, on the overall direction, status, and health of the Smart Grid implementation by the Smart Grid industry, and on Smart Grid Interoperability Panel activities, including the direction of research and standards activities. Background information on the Committee is available at https://www.nist.gov/ smartgrid/committee.cfm. Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App., notice is hereby given that the NIST Smart Grid Advisory Committee (SGAC or Committee) will meet in open session on Thursday, July 30, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time and Friday, July 31, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern time. The meeting will be open to the public and held in the Executive Conference Room, Building 101 (Administration) at NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The primary purposes of this meeting are to discuss the Grid 3.0 Strategic Planning Effort and NIST Transactive Energy, Distributed Energy Resources, Microgrid, and Smart City activities. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the Smart Grid Web site at https://www.nist.gov/ smartgrid. Individuals and representatives of organizations who would like to offer comments and suggestions related to the Committee’s affairs are invited to request a place on the agenda by submitting their request to Cuong Nguyen at cuong.nguyen@nist.gov or (301) 975–2254 no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, Friday, July 24, 2015. On Friday, July 31, 2015, approximately one-half hour will be reserved at the end of the meeting for public comments, and speaking times will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis. The amount of time per speaker will be determined by the number of requests received, but is likely to be about three minutes each. Questions from the public will not be considered during this period. Speakers who wish to expand upon their oral statements, those who had wished to speak but could not be accommodated on the agenda, and those who were unable to attend in person are invited to submit written statements to Mr. Cuong Nguyen, Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8200, PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Gaithersburg, MD 20899–8200; telephone 301–975–2254, fax 301–948– 5668; or via email at cuong.nguyen@ nist.gov. All visitors to the NIST site are required to pre-register to be admitted. Anyone wishing to attend this meeting must register by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, Friday, July 24, 2015, in order to attend. Please submit your full name, time of arrival, email address, and phone number to Cuong Nguyen. Non-U.S. citizens must submit additional information; please contact Mr. Nguyen. Mr. Nguyen’s email address is cuong.nguyen@nist.gov and his phone number is (301) 975–2254. Also, please note that under the REAL ID Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109–13), federal agencies, including NIST, can only accept a stateissued driver’s license or identification card for access to federal facilities if issued by states that are REAL ID compliant or have an extension. NIST also currently accepts other forms of federal-issued identification in lieu of a state-issued driver’s license. For detailed information please contact Mr. Nguyen or visit: https://www.nist.gov/ public_affairs/visitor/. Richard Cavanagh, Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs. [FR Doc. 2015–16190 Filed 6–30–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–13–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration RIN 0648–XD990 Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Essential Fish Habitat Final 5-Year Review National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of intent. AGENCY: NMFS announces the availability of the Final Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) 5-Year Review and intent to initiate an amendment to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to revise Atlantic HMS EFH descriptions and designations. The purpose of the Atlantic HMS EFH 5-Year Review was to gather relevant new information and determine whether revisions to existing EFH descriptions and designations are warranted, in compliance with the SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\01JYN1.SGM 01JYN1 tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 126 / Wednesday, July 1, 2015 / Notices requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and implementing regulations. NMFS has determined that revisions to EFH descriptions and designations are warranted, and an amendment to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS FMP will be initiated. DATES: The Final Atlantic HMS EFH 5Year Review will be available on July 1, 2015. ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Draft Atlantic HMS EFH 5-Year Review may be obtained on the internet at: https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/ documents/2015_final_efh_review.pdf. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Cooper at 301–427–8503, or Jennifer Cudney at 727–824–5399. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) includes provisions concerning the identification and conservation of EFH (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). EFH is defined in 50 CFR 600.10 as ‘‘those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity.’’ NMFS must identify and describe EFH, minimize to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing on EFH, and identify other actions to encourage the conservation and enhancement of EFH (§ 600.815(a)). EFH maps are presented online in the NMFS EFH Mapper (https:// www.habitat.noaa.gov/protection/efh/ habitatmapper.html). Federal agencies that authorize, fund, or undertake actions that may adversely affect EFH must consult with NMFS, and NMFS must provide conservation recommendations to Federal and state agencies regarding any such actions (§ 600.815(a)(9)). In addition to identifying and describing EFH for managed fish species, a review of EFH must be conducted every 5 years, and EFH provisions must be revised or amended, as warranted, based on the best available scientific information. The EFH 5-Year Review evaluates published scientific literature, unpublished scientific reports, information solicited from interested parties, and previously unavailable or inaccessible data. NMFS announced the initiation of this review and solicited information for this review from the public in a Federal Register notice on March 24, 2014 (79 FR 15959). The initial public review/submission period ended on May 23, 2014. The draft EFH 5-Year Review was made available in March 2015 and public comments on the draft were solicited in a Federal Register notice on March 5, VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:30 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 235001 2015 (80 FR 11981). The public comment period for the draft EFH 5Year Review ended on April 6, 2015. The final EFH 5-Year Review for Atlantic HMS includes tunas (bluefin, bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack), oceanic sharks, swordfish, and billfishes (blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish, roundscale spearfish, and longbill spearfish). The Atlantic HMS EFH 5-Year Review considers data regarding Atlantic HMS and their habitats that have become available since 2009 that were not included in Final Amendment 1 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS (Amendment 1; June 1, 2010, 75 FR 30484); Final Environmental Impact Statement for Amendment 3 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (June 1, 2010, 75 FR 30484); and the interpretive rule that described EFH for roundscale spearfish (September 22, 2010, 75 FR 57698). NMFS analyzed the information gathered through the EFH review process in this final 5-year review and determined that revision of EFH is warranted, and an amendment to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS FMP will be undertaken. In reviewing literature since 2009, new data emerged for certain Atlantic HMS that warrant revision to those species’ EFH geographic boundaries. For other Atlantic HMS, new data were either unavailable or it was determined that the new data did not warrant revisions to their EFH geographic boundaries. However, in the upcoming amendment, new observer, survey, and tag/recapture data collected since 2009 will be used to revise EFH geographic boundaries for all species. The current EFH methodology to designate EFH geographic boundaries for Atlantic HMS was first applied in Amendment 1, and Atlantic HMS EFH geographic boundaries have not since been updated using this methodology. It is unknown how data that have been consistently collected since 2009 (e.g., observer, survey, tag/recapture) will impact EFH geographic boundaries. Therefore, all Atlantic HMS EFH geographic boundaries will be updated to see how these data will impact EFH geographic boundaries, even for species where there was limited or no new EFH data found in the literature review. The upcoming EFH amendment will consider all 10 EFH components, including individual species EFH descriptions, EFH conservation and enhancement recommendations for fishing and non-fishing effects on EFH, and identification of HAPCs, as well as scientific feedback and public comment. PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 37599 Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq., and 1801 et seq. Dated: June 26, 2015. Emily H. Menashes, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 2015–16191 Filed 6–30–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–22–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration RIN 0648–XE021 Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice; request for comments. AGENCY: The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would allow eight commercial fishing vessels to fish outside of the limited access sea scallop regulations in support of a study on seasonal bycatch distribution and optimal scallop meat yield on Georges Bank. Regulations under the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits. DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 16, 2015. ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following methods: • Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov. Include in the subject line ‘‘DA15–036 CFF Georges Bank Optimization Study EFP.’’ • Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope ‘‘DA15–036 CFF Georges Bank Optimization Study EFP.’’ FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannah Jaburek, Fisheries Management Specialist, 978–282–8456. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA awarded the Coonamesset Farm SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\01JYN1.SGM 01JYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37598-37599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-16191]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD990


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Essential Fish Habitat Final 
5-Year Review

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of intent.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the availability of the Final Atlantic Highly 
Migratory Species (HMS) Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) 5-Year Review and 
intent to initiate an amendment to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to revise Atlantic HMS EFH descriptions 
and designations. The purpose of the Atlantic HMS EFH 5-Year Review was 
to gather relevant new information and determine whether revisions to 
existing EFH descriptions and designations are warranted, in compliance 
with the

[[Page 37599]]

requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act and implementing regulations. NMFS has determined that 
revisions to EFH descriptions and designations are warranted, and an 
amendment to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS FMP will be initiated.

DATES: The Final Atlantic HMS EFH 5-Year Review will be available on 
July 1, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Draft Atlantic HMS EFH 5-Year 
Review may be obtained on the internet at: https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/documents/2015_final_efh_review.pdf.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Cooper at 301-427-8503, or 
Jennifer Cudney at 727-824-5399.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) includes provisions 
concerning the identification and conservation of EFH (16 U.S.C. 1801 
et seq.). EFH is defined in 50 CFR 600.10 as ``those waters and 
substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth 
to maturity.'' NMFS must identify and describe EFH, minimize to the 
extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing on EFH, and identify 
other actions to encourage the conservation and enhancement of EFH 
(Sec.  600.815(a)). EFH maps are presented online in the NMFS EFH 
Mapper (https://www.habitat.noaa.gov/protection/efh/habitatmapper.html). 
Federal agencies that authorize, fund, or undertake actions that may 
adversely affect EFH must consult with NMFS, and NMFS must provide 
conservation recommendations to Federal and state agencies regarding 
any such actions (Sec.  600.815(a)(9)).
    In addition to identifying and describing EFH for managed fish 
species, a review of EFH must be conducted every 5 years, and EFH 
provisions must be revised or amended, as warranted, based on the best 
available scientific information. The EFH 5-Year Review evaluates 
published scientific literature, unpublished scientific reports, 
information solicited from interested parties, and previously 
unavailable or inaccessible data. NMFS announced the initiation of this 
review and solicited information for this review from the public in a 
Federal Register notice on March 24, 2014 (79 FR 15959). The initial 
public review/submission period ended on May 23, 2014. The draft EFH 5-
Year Review was made available in March 2015 and public comments on the 
draft were solicited in a Federal Register notice on March 5, 2015 (80 
FR 11981). The public comment period for the draft EFH 5-Year Review 
ended on April 6, 2015.
    The final EFH 5-Year Review for Atlantic HMS includes tunas 
(bluefin, bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack), oceanic sharks, 
swordfish, and billfishes (blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish, 
roundscale spearfish, and longbill spearfish). The Atlantic HMS EFH 5-
Year Review considers data regarding Atlantic HMS and their habitats 
that have become available since 2009 that were not included in Final 
Amendment 1 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS (Amendment 1; June 1, 
2010, 75 FR 30484); Final Environmental Impact Statement for Amendment 
3 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (June 1, 2010, 75 FR 30484); and the 
interpretive rule that described EFH for roundscale spearfish 
(September 22, 2010, 75 FR 57698).
    NMFS analyzed the information gathered through the EFH review 
process in this final 5-year review and determined that revision of EFH 
is warranted, and an amendment to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS 
FMP will be undertaken. In reviewing literature since 2009, new data 
emerged for certain Atlantic HMS that warrant revision to those 
species' EFH geographic boundaries. For other Atlantic HMS, new data 
were either unavailable or it was determined that the new data did not 
warrant revisions to their EFH geographic boundaries. However, in the 
upcoming amendment, new observer, survey, and tag/recapture data 
collected since 2009 will be used to revise EFH geographic boundaries 
for all species. The current EFH methodology to designate EFH 
geographic boundaries for Atlantic HMS was first applied in Amendment 
1, and Atlantic HMS EFH geographic boundaries have not since been 
updated using this methodology. It is unknown how data that have been 
consistently collected since 2009 (e.g., observer, survey, tag/
recapture) will impact EFH geographic boundaries. Therefore, all 
Atlantic HMS EFH geographic boundaries will be updated to see how these 
data will impact EFH geographic boundaries, even for species where 
there was limited or no new EFH data found in the literature review.
    The upcoming EFH amendment will consider all 10 EFH components, 
including individual species EFH descriptions, EFH conservation and 
enhancement recommendations for fishing and non-fishing effects on EFH, 
and identification of HAPCs, as well as scientific feedback and public 
comment.

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 971 et seq., and 1801 et seq.

    Dated: June 26, 2015.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-16191 Filed 6-30-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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