National Sea Grant Review Panel, 63445 [E8-25370]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 207 / Friday, October 24, 2008 / Notices
The JTA will notify NMFS and the
Regional Office prior to initiation of
each explosive demolition session. Any
takes of marine mammals other than
those authorized by the IHA, as well as
any injuries or deaths of marine
mammals, will be reported to the
Southeast Regional Administrator,
within 24 hours. A draft final report
must be submitted to NMFS within 90
days after the conclusion of the blasting
activities. The report will include a
summary of the information gathered
pursuant to the monitoring
requirements set forth in the IHA,
including dates and times of
detonations as well as pre- and postblasting monitoring observations. A
final report must be submitted to the
Regional Administrator within 30 days
after receiving comments from NMFS on
the draft final report. If no comments are
received from NMFS, the draft final
report will be considered to be the final
report.
ESA
For the reasons already described in
this Federal Register Notice, NMFS has
determined that the described proposed
blasting activities and the
accompanying IHA may have the
potential to adversely affect species
under NMFS jurisdiction and protected
by the ESA. The ACOE, on behalf of the
JTA, requested a section 7 consultation
pursuant to the ESA with NMFS. Since
ESA-listed species are not expected to
be adversely affected by the proposed
activities provided the described
protected species avoidance measures
for the use of explosives are
implemented, a Letter of Concurrence
was prepared by the NMFS Southeast
Regional Office, dated October 9, 2008.
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National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA)
NMFS prepared an Environmental
Assessment (EA) on an Authorization
for the Incidental Take of Marine
Mammals Associated with Confined
Underwater Blasting as a Construction
Method for Civil Works Projects along
the Coast of Florida by the Jacksonville
District of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, which analyzed the issuance
of multiple IHAs over several years for
these activities, as well as is currently
preparing a Supplemental
Environmental Assessment (SEA) for
the proposed action. The proposed
action is similar to the action that was
analyzed in the 2005 EA and the EA and
2008 Supplemental EA remains
applicable. A copy of the EA and SEA
are available upon request (see
ADDRESSES).
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Preliminary Determinations
Based on JTA’s application, as well as
the analysis contained herein, NMFS
has preliminarily determined that the
impact of the described blasting project
will result, at most, in a temporary
modification in behavior by small
numbers of Atlantic bottlenose dolphin,
in the form of temporarily vacating the
Beach Boulevard AICWW Bridge area to
avoid blasting activity and potential for
minor visual and acoustic disturbance
from dredging and detonations. The
effect of the blasting project is expected
to be limited to short-term and localized
TTS-related behavioral changes.
Due to the infrequency, short timeframe, and localized nature of these
activities, the number of marine
mammals, relative to the population
size, potentially taken by harassment is
small. In addition, no take by injury or
death is anticipated, and take by Level
B Harassment will be at the lowest level
practicable due to incorporation of the
proposed monitoring and mitigation
measures mentioned previously in this
document. NMFS has further
preliminarily determined that the
anticipated takes will have a negligible
impact on the affected species or stock
of marine mammals. No injury (Level A
Harassment), serious injury, and/or
mortality is authorized for marine
mammals. The provision requiring that
the activity not have an unmitigable
adverse impact on the availability of the
affected species or stock for subsistence
uses does not apply to this proposed
action as there are no subsistence users
within the geographic area of the
proposed project.
Proposed Authorization
As a result of these preliminary
determinations, NMFS proposes to issue
an IHA to the JTA for the harassment of
small numbers (based on populations of
the species and stock) of Atlantic
bottlenose dolphin incidental to the
explosive demolition of bridge support
structures, provided the previously
mentioned mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting requirements are incorporated.
Information Solicited
NMFS requests interested persons to
submit comments and information
concerning this proposed project and
NMFS’ preliminary determination of
issuing an IHA (see ADDRESSES).
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.
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63445
Dated: October 20, 2008.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8–25414 Filed 10–23–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
National Sea Grant Review Panel
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration,
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the
schedule and proposed agenda of a
forthcoming meeting of the Sea Grant
Review Panel. Panel members will
discuss and provide advice on the
National Sea Grant College Program in
the areas of program evaluation,
strategic planning, education and
extension, science and technology
programs, and other matters as
described in the Agenda below.
DATES: The announced meeting is
scheduled for two and one half days:
Tuesday, November 11 through
Thursday, November 13, 2008.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at
the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Melissa Pearson, National Sea Grant
College Program, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, 1315 EastWest Highway, Room 11717, Silver
Spring, Maryland 20910, 301–713–1083.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Panel,
which consists of a balanced
representation from academia, industry,
state government and citizens groups,
was established by Section 209 of the
Sea Grant Program Improvement Act of
1976 (Pub. L. 94–461, 33 U.S.C. 1128).
The Panel advises the Secretary of
Commerce and the Director of the
National Sea Grant College Program
with respect to operations under the
Act, and such other matters as the
Secretary refers to them for review and
advice. The agenda for the meeting can
be found at https://
www.seagrant.noaa.gov/leadership/
review_panel.html.
Dated: October 17, 2008.
Mark E. Brown,
Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative
Officer, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research.
[FR Doc. E8–25370 Filed 10–23–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–KA–P
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[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 207 (Friday, October 24, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 63445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-25370]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Sea Grant Review Panel
AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a
forthcoming meeting of the Sea Grant Review Panel. Panel members will
discuss and provide advice on the National Sea Grant College Program in
the areas of program evaluation, strategic planning, education and
extension, science and technology programs, and other matters as
described in the Agenda below.
DATES: The announced meeting is scheduled for two and one half days:
Tuesday, November 11 through Thursday, November 13, 2008.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol
Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Melissa Pearson, National Sea
Grant College Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
1315 East-West Highway, Room 11717, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, 301-
713-1083.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Panel, which consists of a balanced
representation from academia, industry, state government and citizens
groups, was established by Section 209 of the Sea Grant Program
Improvement Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-461, 33 U.S.C. 1128). The Panel
advises the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the National Sea
Grant College Program with respect to operations under the Act, and
such other matters as the Secretary refers to them for review and
advice. The agenda for the meeting can be found at https://
www.seagrant.noaa.gov/leadership/review_panel.html.
Dated: October 17, 2008.
Mark E. Brown,
Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer, Office of Oceanic
and Atmospheric Research.
[FR Doc. E8-25370 Filed 10-23-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-KA-P
