, 58643-58653 [2014-23319]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Vol. 79
Monday,
No. 188
September 29, 2014
Part VII
The President
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
Proclamation 9173—Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
Expansion
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 4717
Sfmt 4717
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4717
Sfmt 4717
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
58645
Presidential Documents
Federal Register
Vol. 79, No. 188
Monday, September 29, 2014
Title 3—
Proclamation 9173 of September 25, 2014
The President
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument Expansion
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Through Proclamation 8336 of January 6, 2009, the President established
the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (‘‘Monument’’) to
protect and preserve the marine environment around Wake, Baker, Howland,
and Jarvis Islands, Johnston and Palmyra Atolls, and Kingman Reef for
the care and management of the historic and scientific objects therein. The
Monument is an important part of the most widespread collection of marineand terrestrial-life protected areas on the planet, sustaining many endemic
species including corals, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, seabirds, water
birds, land birds, insects, and vegetation not found elsewhere. The Monument
includes the lands, waters, and submerged and emergent lands of the seven
Pacific Remote Islands to lines of latitude and longitude that lie approximately 50 nautical miles from the mean low water lines of those seven
Pacific Remote Islands. The islands of Jarvis, Howland, and Baker were
also the location of notable bravery and sacrifice by a small number of
¯
voluntary Hawaiian colonists, known as Hui Panala‘au, who occupied the
islands from 1935 to 1942 to help secure the U.S. territorial claim over
the islands.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
The area around the Monument includes the waters and submerged lands
to the extent of the seaward limit of the United States Exclusive Economic
Zone (‘‘U.S. EEZ’’) up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which
the breadth of the territorial sea of these seven Pacific Remote Islands
is measured. The U.S. EEZ areas adjacent to Wake and Jarvis Islands and
Johnston Atoll (‘‘adjacent areas’’) contain significant objects of scientific
interest that are part of this highly pristine deep sea and open ocean ecosystem with unique biodiversity. These adjacent areas hold a large number
of undersea mountains (‘‘seamounts’’) that may provide habitat for colonies
of deepwater corals many thousands of years old. These adjacent areas’
pelagic environment provides habitat and forage for tunas, turtles, manta
rays, sharks, cetaceans, and seabirds that have evolved with a foraging
technique that depends on large marine predators.
A significant geological feature of the adjacent areas is the undersea mountains. A seamount is a mountain rising from the seabed that does not
reach the sea surface. Most often seamounts occur in chains or clusters.
Nearly all of the seamounts in the adjacent areas are volcanoes: some are
still erupting actively, and others stopped erupting long ago. The Monument
includes 33 seamounts; the adjacent areas include approximately 132 more.
The additional seamounts provide important opportunities for scientific exploration and study. Estimates are that 15 to 44 percent of the species
on a seamount or seamount group are found nowhere else on Earth. Roughly
5 to 10 percent of invertebrates found on each survey of a seamount are
new to science. Some seamounts have pools of undiscovered species. The
approximately 132 seamounts in the adjacent areas provide the opportunity
for identification and discovery of many species not yet known to humans,
with possibilities for research, medicines, and other important uses.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
58646
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 188 / Monday, September 29, 2014 / Presidential Documents
The adjacent areas also provide an important ecosystem for scientific study
and research. The pristine waters provide a baseline comparison for important
scientific research that monitors and evaluates impacts of global climate
change, including benchmarking coral bleaching and ocean acidification.
The scale of the adjacent areas significantly enhances opportunities for such
scientific research beyond the Monument boundaries established in Proclamation 8336.
The available scientific information indicates that the adjacent areas include
important deep-coral species. For example, sampling from the U.S. Line
Islands has identified deep-sea coral species not previously recorded from
the central Pacific. Tropical coral reefs and associated marine ecosystems
are among the most vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change
and ocean acidification. Protection of the ecosystem in the adjacent areas
will provide the scientific opportunity to identify and further study the
important deep sea corals.
The adjacent areas provide significant habitat and range for species identified
in Proclamation 8336. They include waters used by five species of protected
turtles. In addition to the Green and Hawksbill turtles that use the nearshore waters of the Monument, the adjacent areas include waters used
by the endangered leatherback, loggerhead, and Olive Ridley turtles. All
five species use the adjacent areas for their migratory paths and feeding
grounds.
The adjacent areas provide the foraging habitat for several of the world’s
largest remaining colonies of Sooty Terns, Lesser Frigatebirds, Red-footed
Boobies, Red-tailed Tropicbirds, and other seabird species. Many of these
wide-ranging species make foraging trips of 300 miles or more from their
colonies on the Monument’s islands, atolls, and reefs. For example, since
the Monument was established, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists
have documented the return of seabird populations once absent at Johnston
Atoll, including Great Frigatebirds, Sooty Terns, Red-tailed Tropicbirds, and
other species that are known to feed as much as 300 to 600 miles offshore.
Jarvis Island alone has nearly three million nesting pairs of Sooty Terns,
which forage more than 300 miles from shore even when rearing chicks
on the island. These seabirds forage, in part, by seeking schools of tuna
and other large marine predators that drive prey fish to the surface. Blackfooted and Laysan Albatross, species that forage across the entire North
Pacific, recently recolonized Wake Atoll, making it one of the few northern
albatross colonies outside of the Hawaiian archipelago. At Jarvis Island,
the Monument and its adjacent area provide an important undisturbed ecosystem that supports many rare seabird species, including the endangered
White-throated Storm-petrel.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
Manta rays are abundant around the Monument’s reefs. Since the Monument
was established, scientific research on manta ray movement has shown
that manta rays frequently travel over 600 nautical miles away from the
coastal environment, and well outside of the Monument boundaries established in Proclamation 8336. Scientific study of the multi-species ecological
cycle at the Monument illustrates a very diverse and balanced habitat used
by manta rays, many of which are found in the adjacent areas.
The ecosystem of the Monument and adjacent areas also is part of the
larger Pacific ecosystem. The Monument land and atoll groups and the
adjacent areas share geographic isolation, as well as climate, bathymetric,
geologic, and wildlife characteristics that define them as individual biogeographic regions. However, the Pacific Remote Islands area, including
the adjacent areas, is tied together by regional oceanographic currents that
drive marine species larval transport and adult migrations that shape the
broader Pacific ecosystem.
WHEREAS the waters and submerged lands surrounding Jarvis and Wake
Islands and Johnston Atoll from the lines of latitude and longitude depicted
on the maps accompanying Proclamation 8336 to the seaward limit of the
U.S. EEZ of the three Pacific Remote Islands contain objects of historic
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 188 / Monday, September 29, 2014 / Presidential Documents
58647
or scientific interest that are situated upon lands owned or controlled by
the Government of the United States;
WHEREAS section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C.
431) (the ‘‘Antiquities Act’’), authorizes the President, in his discretion,
to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric
structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated
upon lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States
to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land,
the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area
compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected;
WHEREAS it is in the public interest to preserve the marine environment,
including the waters and submerged lands, in the U.S. EEZ adjacent to
the Monument at Jarvis and Wake Islands and Johnston Atoll for the care
and management of the historic and scientific objects therein;
WHEREAS the security of the United States, the prosperity of its citizens,
and the protection of the ocean environment are complementary and reinforcing priorities; and the United States continues to act with due regard
for the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea enjoyed by other nations
under the law of the sea in managing the Pacific Remote Islands Marine
National Monument and adjacent areas, and does not compromise the readiness, training, and global mobility of U.S. Armed Forces when establishing
marine protected areas:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States
of America, by the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Antiquities
Act, do hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are situated upon
lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Government of
the United States to be part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National
Monument Expansion (‘‘Monument Expansion’’) and, for the purpose of
protecting those objects, reserve as a part thereof all lands and interests
in lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States within
the boundaries described on the accompanying maps entitled ‘‘Pacific Remote
Islands Marine National Monument Expansion’’ attached hereto, which form
a part of this proclamation. The Monument Expansion includes the waters
and submerged lands of Jarvis and Wake Islands and Johnston Atoll that
lie from the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument boundary
established in Proclamation 8336 to the seaward limit of the U.S. EEZ
(as established in Proclamation 5030 of March 10, 1983) of Jarvis and Wake
Islands and Johnston Atoll. The Federal lands and interests in lands reserved
consist of approximately 308,316 square nautical miles, which is the smallest
area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to
be protected.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries of the Monument Expansion are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms
of entry, location, selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under the
public land laws to the extent that those laws apply. Lands and interests
in lands within the Monument Expansion not owned or controlled by the
United States shall be reserved as a part of the Monument Expansion upon
acquisition of title or control by the United States.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
Management of the Marine National Monument
Nothing in this proclamation shall change the management of the Pacific
Remote Islands Marine National Monument as specified in Proclamation
8336. The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of
Commerce, shall have primary responsibility for management of the Monument Expansion pursuant to applicable legal authorities. The Secretary of
Commerce, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
and in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall within the
Monument Expansion have primary responsibility with respect to fishery-
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
58648
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 188 / Monday, September 29, 2014 / Presidential Documents
related activities regulated pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and any other
applicable legal authorities. The Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce
shall not allow or permit any appropriation, injury, destruction, or removal
of any object of the Monument Expansion except as provided for by this
proclamation and shall prohibit commercial fishing within the boundaries
of the Monument Expansion.
The Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce shall take appropriate action
pursuant to their respective authorities under the Antiquities Act, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and such other
authorities as may be available to implement this proclamation, to regulate
fisheries, and to ensure proper care and management of the Monument
Expansion.
The United States shall continue to preserve the freedom of the seas (i.e.,
all of the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law enjoyed by all nations, including the conduct of military activities, exercises, and surveys in or over the exclusive economic zone), and
to protect the training, readiness, and global mobility of U.S. Armed Forces
as U.S. national interests that are essential to the peace and prosperity
of civilized nations.
The Secretary of Defense shall continue to manage Wake Island and Johnston
Atoll as specified in Proclamation 8336.
Regulation of Scientific Exploration and Research
Subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior or
Commerce, as appropriate, deems necessary for the care and management
of the objects of the Monument and Monument Expansion, the Secretaries
may permit scientific exploration and research within the Monument Expansion, including incidental appropriation, injury, destruction, or removal of
features of the Monument Expansion for scientific study, and the Secretary
of Commerce may permit fishing within the Monument Expansion for scientific exploration and research purposes to the extent authorized by the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The prohibitions required by this proclamation shall not restrict scientific exploration
or research activities by or for the Secretaries of the Interior or Commerce,
and nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to require a permit
or other authorization from the other Secretary for their respective scientific
activities.
Regulation of Fishing and Management of Fishery Resources
The Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce may permit noncommercial
fishing upon request, at specific locations in accordance with this proclamation and Proclamation 8336. The Secretaries shall provide a process to
ensure that recreational fishing continues to be managed as a sustainable
activity in the Monument and Monument Expansion, in accordance with
this proclamation, Proclamation 8336, and consistent with Executive Order
12962 of June 7, 1995, as amended, and other applicable law.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
Monument Management Planning
The Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce shall, within 2 years of the
date of this proclamation, prepare management plans, using their respective
authorities, for the Monument and Monument Expansion and promulgate
implementing regulations that address any further specific actions necessary
for the proper care and management of the objects and areas identified
in this proclamation and those in Proclamation 8336. The Secretaries shall
revise and update the management plans as necessary. In developing and
implementing any management plans and any management rules and regulations, the Secretaries shall consult and designate and involve as cooperating
agencies the agencies with jurisdiction or special expertise, including the
Department of Defense and Department of State, in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and its implementing regulations.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 188 / Monday, September 29, 2014 / Presidential Documents
58649
This proclamation shall be applied in accordance with international law.
The management plans and their implementing regulations shall impose
no restrictions on innocent passage in the territorial sea or otherwise restrict
navigation and overflight and other internationally recognized lawful uses
of the sea in the Monument and Monument Expansion and shall incorporate
the provisions of this proclamation regarding Armed Forces actions and
compliance with international law. No restrictions shall apply to or be
enforced against a person who is not a citizen, national, or resident alien
of the United States (including foreign flag vessels) unless in accordance
with international law. Also, in accordance with international law, no restrictions shall apply to foreign warships, naval auxiliaries, and other vessels
owned or operated by a state and used, for the time being, only on Government non-commercial service, in order to fully respect the sovereign immunity of such vessels under international law.
Emergencies, National Security, and Law Enforcement Activities
1. The prohibitions required by this proclamation shall not apply to activities necessary to respond to emergencies threatening life, property, or the
environment, or to activities necessary for national security or law enforcement purposes.
2. Nothing in this proclamation shall limit agency actions to respond
to emergencies posing an unacceptable threat to human health or safety
or to the marine environment and admitting of no other feasible solution.
Armed Forces Actions
1. The prohibitions required by this proclamation shall not apply to activities and exercises of the Armed Forces (including those carried out by
the United States Coast Guard).
2. The Armed Forces shall ensure, by the adoption of appropriate measures
not impairing operations or operational capabilities, that its vessels and
aircraft act in a manner consistent, so far as is reasonable and practicable,
with this proclamation.
3. In the event of threatened or actual destruction of, loss of, or injury
to a Monument Expansion resource or quality resulting from an incident,
including but not limited to spills and groundings, caused by a component
of the Department of Defense or the United States Coast Guard, the cognizant
component shall promptly coordinate with the Secretary of the Interior
or Commerce, as appropriate, for the purpose of taking appropriate actions
to respond to and mitigate any actual harm and, if possible, restore or
replace the Monument Expansion resource or quality.
4. Nothing in this proclamation or any regulation implementing it shall
limit or otherwise affect the Armed Forces’ discretion to use, maintain,
improve, manage, or control any property under the administrative control
of a Military Department or otherwise limit the availability of such property
for military mission purposes, including, but not limited to, defensive areas
and airspace reservations.
The establishment of this Monument Expansion is subject to valid existing
rights.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its
officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the Monument Expansion
shall be the dominant reservation.
Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate,
excavate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature of this Monument Expansion
and not to locate or settle upon any lands thereof.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
58650
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 188 / Monday, September 29, 2014 / Presidential Documents
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth
day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred
and thirty-ninth.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
OB#1.EPS</GPH>
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
Billing code 3295–F4–P
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 188 / Monday, September 29, 2014 / Presidential Documents
58651
Pacific Remote Islands
Marine National Monument Expansion
164'0'0'W
160'0'0'W
156'0'0W
Pacific
Ocean
2'0'0"N
2'0'0"N
2'0'0"S
2'0'0"S
0
50
200
100
I
I
Nautical Miles
I
ME RCA-OR
NAD83
css•o·o·w
16J'O'OW
104'0'0''1'11
Pacific Remote Islands MNM Boundary Expanded - seaward limits of
-·-·- U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone
[::J Pacific Remote Islands MNM Boundary - 50 nmi
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
ED29SE14.004</GPH>
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
9J'5f2014 FWS·R1·NWRS·RRI14..096-11.MXD
58652
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 188 / Monday, September 29, 2014 / Presidential Documents
Pacific Remote Islands
Marine National Monument Expansion
168"00"E
Pacific
Ocean
22"0'0"N
22'0'0''N
Wake Island
•
18"0'0"N
18'0'0"N
0
50
I
100
I
I
200
I
Nautical Miles
MERCATOR
~AD83
164.0'0"E
168'0'0"E
Pacific Remote Islands MNM Boundary Expanded - seaward limits of
-·-·- U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone
c=J Pacific Remote Islands MNM Boundary- 50 nmi
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
ED29SE14.005</GPH>
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
911512014 FWS-R1-'iWRS-RRJ 14-<l96-8.MXO
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 188 / Monday, September 29, 2014 / Presidential Documents
58653
Pacific Remote Islands
Marine National Monument Expansion
,n_•o·o·vv
168"C'O'W
Pacific
Ocean
1B"O'D''N
18"0'C·"N
.
\
I
'
f
l
Johnston AtoJI
•
14"0'0"N
~
MERCATOR
NAD83
0
172"0'0'W
50
100
200
1GO"O'O'W
-·-·- Pacific Remote Islands MNM Boundary Expanded- seaward limits of
U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone
[FR Doc. 2014–23319
Filed 9–26–14; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4310–10–C
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:21 Sep 26, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4705
Sfmt 4790
E:\FR\FM\29SED0.SGM
29SED0
ED29SE14.006</GPH>
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with D0
c=J Pacific Remote Islands MNM Boundary - 50 nmi
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 188 (Monday, September 29, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 58643-58653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23319]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD29SE14.006
[FR Doc. 2014-23319
Filed 9-26-14; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4310-10-C
