Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to the Explosive Removal of Offshore Structures in the Gulf of Mexico, 28219-28220 [E9-14024]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 113 / Monday, June 15, 2009 / Notices
Dated in Washington, DC, June 9, 2009.
Christopher Byrnes,
Chief, Regional Programs Coordination Unit.
[FR Doc. E9–13931 Filed 6–12–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6335–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XP70
Fisheries in the Western Pacific;
Amended Marine Conservation Plan
for Pacific Insular Areas; Western
Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of agency decision.
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval of
an amended marine conservation plan
(MCP) for Pacific Insular Areas other
than American Samoa, Guam, and the
Northern Mariana Islands.
DATES: This agency decision is effective
April 11, 2008, through April 10, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the MCP are
available from the Western Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council),
1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu,
HI 96813, tel 808–522–8220, fax 808–
522–8226.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jarad Makaiau, Sustainable Fisheries,
NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office,
808–944–2108.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under
Section 204(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the
Secretary of State, with the concurrence
of the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary) and in consultation with the
Council, may negotiate and enter into a
Pacific Insular Area fishery agreement
(PIAFA) to allow foreign fishing within
the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
adjacent to any Pacific Insular Area
other than American Samoa, Guam or
the Northern Mariana Islands, which, by
definition, does not include the State of
Hawaii. Before entering into a PIAFA,
the Council must develop a three-year
Marine Conservation Plan (MCP)
providing details on uses for any funds
collected by the Secretary under the
PIAFA.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act authorizes
that any payments received under a
PIAFA, in support of conservation and
management objectives in an MCP, shall
be deposited into the Western Pacific
Sustainable Fisheries Fund (Fund) for
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16:47 Jun 12, 2009
Jkt 217001
use by the Council. Amounts received
by the Secretary attributable to fines and
penalties imposed under the MagnusonStevens Act for violations by foreign
vessels occurring within the EEZ off any
Pacific Insular Area (other than
American Samoa, Guam or the Northern
Mariana Islands) shall also be deposited
into the Fund for use by the Council.
An MCP must be consistent with the
Council’s fishery management plans,
must identify conservation and
management objectives (including
criteria for determining when such
objectives have been met), and must
prioritize planned marine conservation
projects. Although no foreign fishing is
contemplated at this time, the Council
developed an MCP for the Pacific
Insular Areas, here defined as the U.S.
EEZ around Johnston and Palmyra
Atoll, Kingman Reef and Jarvis,
Howland, Baker, and Wake Islands.
These areas are sometimes known as the
Pacific remote island areas.
In August 2007, the Council approved
an MCP for the Pacific Insular Area and
recommended its submission to the
Secretary for approval. NMFS, as
designee of the Secretary, received the
MCP on November 6, 2007. That MCP,
dated August 27, 2007, satisfied the
requirements of Magnuson-Stevens Act
Section 204(e), and was approved for
the three-year period April 11, 2008,
through April 10, 2011 (73 FR 21111;
April 18, 2008).
At its 144th meeting in March 2009,
the Council approved amendments to
the MCP. On April 3, 2009, the Council
submitted to NMFS the amended MCP,
dated March 2009, for approval. The
amended MCP revises the previouslyapproved August 2007 MCP by
streamlining the descriptions of the
projects associated with the MCP’s
conservation and management
objectives, and also includes evaluative
criteria for each program or project.
The amended MCP contains seven
conservation and management
objectives, listed below. These
objectives are based upon the Council’s
guiding principles and five year
Program Plan, and are consistent with
the Council’s fishery management plans:
1. Support quality research and obtain
the most complete scientific information
available to assess and manage fisheries;
2. Promote an ecosystem approach in
fisheries management, including
reducing waste in fisheries and
minimizing impacts on marine habitat
and impacts on protected species;
3. Conduct education and outreach to
foster good stewardship principles and
broad and direct public participation in
the Council’s decision making process;
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Fmt 4703
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28219
4. Recognize the importance of island
cultures and traditional fishing practices
in managing fishery resources and foster
opportunities for participation;
5. Promote responsible domestic
fisheries development to provided long
term economic growth and stability and
local food production;
6. Promote regional cooperation to
manage domestic and international
fisheries; and
7. Encourage development of
technologies and methods to achieve the
most effective level of monitoring,
control and surveillance and to ensure
safety at sea.
The amended MCP identifies major
task areas that include data collection
and monitoring, fishery management,
social economic research and
assessment, policy development,
protected species conservation, public
outreach, media activities and products,
meeting and event participation,
workshops, plans and training,
infrastructure development, etc. Projects
are ranked in order of priority and
would aid in fulfilling the Council’s
conservation and management
objectives. The MCP also outlines a
process by which the Council’s
Executive Committee could revisit the
project ranking to adapt to changing
management needs.
This notice announces that NMFS has
determined that the amended MCP for
the Western Pacific Sustainable
Fisheries Fund satisfies the
requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act and approves the amended MCP for
the three-year period April 11, 2008,
through April 10, 2011.
Dated: June 9, 2009.
Kristen C. Koch,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9–14032 Filed 6–12–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XP74
Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals;
Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental
to the Explosive Removal of Offshore
Structures in the Gulf of Mexico
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of a letter of
authorization.
E:\FR\FM\15JNN1.SGM
15JNN1
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
28220
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 113 / Monday, June 15, 2009 / Notices
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA) and implementing regulations,
notification is hereby given that NMFS
has issued a one-year Letter of
Authorization (LOA) to take marine
mammals incidental to the explosive
removal of offshore oil and gas
structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: This authorization is effective
from June 17, 2009 through June 16,
2010.
ADDRESSES: The application and LOA
are available for review by writing to P.
Michael Payne, Chief, Permits,
Conservation, and Education Division,
Office of Protected Resources, National
Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910–3235 or by telephoning the
contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT), or online at:
https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/
incidental.htm. Documents cited in this
notice may be viewed, by appointment,
during regular business hours, at the
aforementioned address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Howard Goldstein or Ken Hollingshead,
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS,
301–713–2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.
1361 et seq.) directs the NMFS to allow,
upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking of small numbers of
marine mammals by United States
citizens who engage in a specified
activity (other than commercial fishing)
within a specified geographical region,
if certain findings are made by NMFS
and regulations are issued. Under the
MMPA, the term ‘‘taking’’ means to
harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to
attempt to harass, hunt capture, or kill
marine mammals.
Authorization for incidental taking, in
the form of annual LOAs, may be
granted by NMFS for periods up to five
years if NMFS finds, after notification
and opportunity for public comment,
that the taking will have a negligible
impact on the species or stock(s) of
marine mammals, and will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for
subsistence uses (where relevant). In
addition, NMFS must prescribe
regulations that include permissible
methods of taking and other means
effecting the least practicable adverse
impact on the species and its habitat
(i.e., mitigation), and on the availability
of the species for subsistence uses,
paying particular attention to rookeries,
mating rounds, and areas of similar
significance. The regulations also must
include requirements pertaining to the
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:47 Jun 12, 2009
Jkt 217001
monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Regulations governing the taking
incidental to EROS were published on
June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34889), and remain
in effect through July 19, 2013. For
detailed information on this action,
please refer to that Federal Register
notice. The species that applicants may
take in small numbers during EROS
activities are bottlenose dolphins
(Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted
dolphins (Stenella frontalis),
pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella
attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella
clymene), striped dolphins (Stenella
coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins
(Stenella longirostris), rough-toothed
dolphins (Steno bredanensis), Risso’s
dolphins (Grampus griseus), melonheaded whales (Peponocephala electra),
short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala
macrorhynchus), and sperm whales
(Physeter macrocephalus).
Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS
has issued an LOA to SPN Resources,
LLC. Issuance of the LOAs is based on
a finding made in the preamble to the
final rule that the total taking by these
activities (with monitoring, mitigation,
and reporting measures) will result in
no more than a negligible impact on the
affected species or stock(s) of marine
mammals and will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on
subsistence uses. NMFS also finds that
the applicant will meet the
requirements contained in the
implementing regulations and LOA,
including monitoring, mitigation, and
reporting requirements.
Dated: June 9, 2009.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9–14024 Filed 6–12–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C–570–944]
Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods
from the People’s Republic of China:
Postponement of Preliminary
Determination in the Countervailing
Duty Investigation
AGENCY: Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 15, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joseph Shuler or Nancy Decker, AD/
CVD Operations, Import
Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230;
telephone: (202) 482–1293 and (202)
482–0196, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On May 5, 2009, the Department of
Commerce (the ‘‘Department’’) initiated
an investigation of certain oil country
tubular goods from the People’s
Republic of China (‘‘PRC’’). See Certain
Oil Country Tubular Goods from the
People’s Republic of China: Initiation of
Countervailing Duty Investigation, 74 FR
20678 (May 5, 2009). Currently, the
preliminary determination is due no
later than July 2, 2009.
Postponement of Due Date for
Preliminary Determination
Under section 703(c)(1)(B) of the
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the
‘‘Act’’), the Department may extend the
period for reaching a preliminary
determination in a countervailing duty
investigation until no later than the
130th day after the date on which the
administering authority initiates an
investigation, if the administration
determines that the parties are
cooperating and the case is
extraordinarily complicated. The
Department finds that the instant case is
extraordinarily complicated by reason of
the number and complexity of the
alleged countervailable subsidy
practices, the need to determine the
extent to which particular
countervailable subsidies are used by
individual manufacturers, producers,
and exporters, and the number of firms
whose activities must be investigated.
Accordingly, we are fully extending the
due date for the preliminary
determination to no later than 130 days
after the day on which the investigation
was initiated (i.e., September 5, 2009).
However, September 5, 2009, falls on a
Saturday and it is the Department’s
long–standing practice to issue a
determination the next business day
when the statutory deadline falls on a
weekend, federal holiday, or any other
day when the Department is closed. See
Notice of Clarification: Application of
‘‘Next Business Day’’ Rule for
Administrative Determination Deadlines
Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, As
Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
Accordingly, the deadline for
completion of the preliminary
determination is now no later than
September 8, 2009.
This notice is issued and published
pursuant to section 703(c)(2) of the Act
and 19 CFR 351.205(e).
E:\FR\FM\15JNN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 113 (Monday, June 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28219-28220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14024]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XP74
Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals
Incidental to the Explosive Removal of Offshore Structures in the Gulf
of Mexico
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of a letter of authorization.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 28220]]
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)
and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS
has issued a one-year Letter of Authorization (LOA) to take marine
mammals incidental to the explosive removal of offshore oil and gas
structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: This authorization is effective from June 17, 2009 through June
16, 2010.
ADDRESSES: The application and LOA are available for review by writing
to P. Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, Conservation, and Education
Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3235 or by
telephoning the contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT), or online at: https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. Documents cited in this notice may be viewed, by
appointment, during regular business hours, at the aforementioned
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Goldstein or Ken Hollingshead,
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 301-713-2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.
1361 et seq.) directs the NMFS to allow, upon request, the incidental,
but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by
United States citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than
commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region, if certain
findings are made by NMFS and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA,
the term ``taking'' means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to
attempt to harass, hunt capture, or kill marine mammals.
Authorization for incidental taking, in the form of annual LOAs,
may be granted by NMFS for periods up to five years if NMFS finds,
after notification and opportunity for public comment, that the taking
will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) of marine
mammals, and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where
relevant). In addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations that include
permissible methods of taking and other means effecting the least
practicable adverse impact on the species and its habitat (i.e.,
mitigation), and on the availability of the species for subsistence
uses, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating rounds, and
areas of similar significance. The regulations also must include
requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Regulations governing the taking incidental to EROS were published on
June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34889), and remain in effect through July 19,
2013. For detailed information on this action, please refer to that
Federal Register notice. The species that applicants may take in small
numbers during EROS activities are bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops
truncatus), Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), pantropical
spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella
clymene), striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins
(Stenella longirostris), rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis),
Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), melon-headed whales (Peponocephala
electra), short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and
sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus).
Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to SPN
Resources, LLC. Issuance of the LOAs is based on a finding made in the
preamble to the final rule that the total taking by these activities
(with monitoring, mitigation, and reporting measures) will result in no
more than a negligible impact on the affected species or stock(s) of
marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on
subsistence uses. NMFS also finds that the applicant will meet the
requirements contained in the implementing regulations and LOA,
including monitoring, mitigation, and reporting requirements.
Dated: June 9, 2009.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E9-14024 Filed 6-12-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S