Endangered Species; File No. 27551, 56343-56344 [2024-15018]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 131 / Tuesday, July 9, 2024 / Notices
comment period. The requested permit
has been issued under the authority of
the ESA of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and the regulations
governing the taking, importing, and
exporting of endangered and threatened
species (50 CFR parts 222–226).
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XE087]
Endangered Species; File No. 27551
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit.
AGENCY:
Notice is hereby given that
the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources (GA DNR) has been issued a
permit for the incidental take of
shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum) and
Atlantic sturgeon (A. oxyrinchus)
associated with the otherwise lawful
commercial shad fishery in Georgia.
ADDRESSES: The permit and related
documents are available on the NMFS
Office of Protected Resources website at:
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/
incidental-take-permit-georgiadepartment-natural-resources-0.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Celeste Stout, phone: (301) 427–8436;
email: Celeste.Stout@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9
of the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
and Federal regulations prohibits the
‘taking’ of a species listed as endangered
or threatened. The ESA defines ‘‘take’’
to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt,
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or
collect, or to attempt to engage in any
such conduct. NMFS may issue permits,
under limited circumstances to take
listed species when the takes are
incidental to, and not the purpose of,
otherwise lawful activities. Section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides for
authorizing incidental take of listed
species. The regulations for issuing
incidental take permits for threatened
and endangered species are
promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307.
SUMMARY:
Species Covered in This Notice
The following species are included in
the conservation plan and permit
application: Atlantic (Acipenser
oxyrinchus) and shortnose (A.
brevirostrum) sturgeon.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Background
On August 21, 2023, notice was
published in the Federal Register (88
FR 56804) that a request for a permit for
the incidental take of shortnose and
Atlantic sturgeon associated with the
otherwise lawful commercial shad
fishery in Georgia had been submitted
by GA DNR. No comments were
received during the 30 day public
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:00 Jul 08, 2024
Jkt 262001
Permit No. 27551
The permit authorizes take of ESAlisted shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon
that are caught incidental to the Georgia
commercial shad fishery. GA DNR
incidental capture will not exceed 60
shortnose sturgeon per year (no more
than 180 in a 3-year period) and 40
Atlantic sturgeon per year (no more than
120 in a 3-year period) in the Altamaha
River; 5 shortnose sturgeon per year (no
more than 15 in a 3-year period) and 25
Atlantic sturgeon per year (no more than
75 in a 3-year period) in the Savannah
River. No lethal takes were requested by
GA DNR because no mortalities have
been observed over the last 10 years.
However, due to the risks posed by
capture in set and drift gill nets in the
GA shad fishery, 10 percent of sturgeon
that are captured are expected to be
injured and 2.3 percent of both
shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon are
expected to suffer mortality. Thus, from
the above authorized take of shortnose
sturgeon, no more than 17 of the
interactions may result in injury and no
more than 8 mortalities may occur over
the duration of the permit. From the
above authorized take of Atlantic
sturgeon, no more than 17 of the
interactions may result in injury and no
more than 8 mortalities may occur over
the duration of the permit.
Conservation Plan
Section 10 of the ESA specifies that
no permit may be issued unless an
applicant submits an adequate
conservation plan. The conservation
plan prepared by GA DNR describes
measures designed to minimize and
mitigate the impacts of any incidental
take of ESA-listed shortnose sturgeon
and Atlantic sturgeon. The State of
Georgia has amended its commercial
fishing regulations for the Georgia
commercial shad fishery to minimize
the incidental capture of ESA-listed
shortnose sturgeon and the South
Atlantic, Carolina, Chesapeake Bay,
New York Bight, and Gulf of Maine
Distinct Population Segments (DPS) of
Atlantic sturgeon. The new regulations
restrict fishing to the lower portions of
the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers as
follows: Waters of the Altamaha River
system open to commercial shad fishing
are the Ohoopee River upstream to the
U.S. Hwy. 1 bridge and the Altamaha
River downstream of the US Hwy. 1
PO 00000
Frm 00068
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
56343
bridge to the estuarine waters of the
sound/beach boundary. Although they
historically were open prior to 2011, all
waters upstream of the U.S. Hwy. 1
bridge are closed to commercial shad
fishing. These upstream waters include
a significant portion of the preferred
spawning area and habitat utilized by
sturgeon, hence their closure and
protection by the GADNR. Waters of the
Savannah River system open to
commercial shad fishing are the
Savannah River downstream of the US
Hwy. 301 bridge to the estuarine waters
of the sound/beach boundary. The
waters upstream of the US Hwy. 301
bridge are considered to include a
significant portion of the preferred
spawning area and habitat utilized by
sturgeon, hence their closure and
protection by the GADNR.
The Georgia shad fishery is open from
January 1 to as late as April 30 each
year, but would typically end March 31.
In addition, GA DNR will implement
measures described in the conservation
plan that accompanies the permit to
minimize, monitor, and mitigate the
incidental take of ESA-listed sturgeon.
The conservation plan includes
continued implementation of Georgia’s
amended commercial fishing
regulations for the Georgia shad fishery,
which are expected to minimize the
bycatch of sturgeon by closing to shad
fishing sections of the rivers that
previously had the highest bycatch
rates. These closures would also protect
known and suspected sturgeon
spawning sites. Georgia regulations
require that sturgeon captured in shad
nets be released unharmed into the
waters from which they were taken. GA
DNR is also expected to incidentally
capture sturgeon during monitoring of
the shad run. GA DNR will set drift nets
in the Altamaha River during the fishing
season to monitor the shad run and
approximate the rate of incidentally
captured shortnose and Atlantic
sturgeon. This take is covered in the
take authorizations provided above, no
mortalities are anticipated. GA DNR will
continue to educate commercial shad
fisherman on identification of sturgeon
species; proper handling techniques to
minimize impacts to incidentally
captured sturgeon, including the
importance of frequently checking nets
and immediately releasing sturgeon that
were incidentally captured; the
biological and legal importance of
reporting incidental capture of sturgeon;
and the importance of accurately
recording sturgeon intercepts and
returning the trip tickets in a timely
manner. GA DNR has also committed to
will insert passive integrated
E:\FR\FM\09JYN1.SGM
09JYN1
56344
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 131 / Tuesday, July 9, 2024 / Notices
transponder (PIT) tags and collect
genetic samples from Atlantic sturgeon
incidentally captured during monitoring
in order to better determine what DPSs
of Atlantic sturgeon are being captured
in the fishery. The cost associated with
the PIT tagging and the genetic sampling
components of the conservation plan
will be funded through the sources
identified in the application.
National Environmental Policy Act
Issuing an ESA section 10(a)(1)(B)
permit constitutes a Federal action
requiring NMFS to comply with the
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as
implemented by 40 CFR parts 1500–
1508 and NOAA Administrative Order
216–6, Environmental Review
Procedures for Implementing the
National Policy Act (1999). NMFS has
determined that the activity proposed is
categorically excluded from the
requirement to prepare an
environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement. This
action falls within the B3 category—
Issuance of, and amendments to, ‘‘low
effect’’ Incidental Take Permits and
their supporting ‘‘low effect’’ Habitat
Conservation Plans under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. Additionally
there are no extraordinary
circumstances with the potential for
significant environmental effects that
would preclude the issuance of this
permit type from being categorically
excluded.
Dated: July 3, 2024.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office
of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–15018 Filed 7–8–24; 8:45 am]
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
[Docket ID: DoD–2024–HA–0076]
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
The Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
(OASD(HA)), Department of Defense
(DoD).
ACTION: 60-Day information collection
notice.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
AGENCY:
In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Defense Health Agency (DHA)
announces a proposed public
information collection and seeks public
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:00 Jul 08, 2024
Jkt 262001
You may submit comments,
identified by docket number and title,
by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Department of Defense, Office of
the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense
for Privacy, Civil Liberties, and
Transparency, Regulatory Directorate,
4800 Mark Center Drive, Mailbox #24,
Suite 08D09, Alexandria, VA 22350–
1700.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name, docket
number and title for this Federal
Register document. The general policy
for comments and other submissions
from members of the public is to make
these submissions available for public
viewing on the internet at https://
www.regulations.gov as they are
received without change, including any
personal identifiers or contact
information.
ADDRESSES:
To
request more information on this
proposed information collection or to
obtain a copy of the proposal and
associated collection instruments,
please write to Defense Health Agency,
7700 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, VA
22042, Amanda Grifka, 703–681–1771.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title; Associated Form; and OMB
Number: DHA Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) Complaints Program;
DHA Form 28, DHA Form 30, EEO
Contact Request E-Form; OMB Control
Number 0720–EEOC.
Needs and Uses: Individuals have the
right to file an EEO complaint with the
DHA if they believe their employment,
privileges, benefits, and/or working
conditions have been adversely
impacted due to their protected activity
(race, color, etc.), resulting in disparate
treatment or impact(s). Individuals
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
SUMMARY:
comment on the provisions thereof.
Comments are invited on: whether the
proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed information collection; ways
to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and ways to minimize the
burden of the information collection on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
DATES: Consideration will be given to all
comments received by September 9,
2024.
PO 00000
Frm 00069
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
wishing to initiate the EEO Complaint
Process must provide the necessary
information to avoid processing
delay(s). Information collected from
individuals throughout the EEO
Complaint Process and Reasonable
Accommodation Process will be used (a)
for processing of complaints of
discrimination because of race, color,
national origin, religion, sex, age,
physical and/or mental disability,
genetic information, or reprisal; (b) for
processing of reasonable
accommodation requests; (c) as a data
source for complaint and reasonable
accommodation information used for
production of summary descriptive
statistics and analytical studies of
complaints and reasonable
accommodation processing and
resolution efforts; (d) to respond to
general requests for information under
the Freedom of Information Act; (e) to
respond to requests from legitimate
outside individuals or agencies
(Congress, White House, Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC)) regarding the status of an EEO
complaint, appeal, or reasonable
accommodation request; or (f) to
adjudicate an EEO complaint or appeal.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households.
Annual Burden Hours: 425.8 hours.
Number of Respondents: 511.
Responses per Respondent: 1.
Annual Responses: 511.
Average Burden per Response: 50
minutes.
Frequency: As required.
Dated: July 2, 2024.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2024–15042 Filed 7–8–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6001–FR–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
[Docket ID: DoD–2024–OS–0077]
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
National Defense University
(NDU), Department of Defense (DoD).
ACTION: 60-Day information collection
notice.
AGENCY:
In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
NDU announces a proposed public
information collection and seeks public
comment on the provisions thereof.
Comments are invited on: whether the
proposed collection of information is
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\09JYN1.SGM
09JYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56343-56344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15018]
[[Page 56343]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE087]
Endangered Species; File No. 27551
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources (GA DNR) has been issued a permit for the incidental take of
shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum) and Atlantic sturgeon (A.
oxyrinchus) associated with the otherwise lawful commercial shad
fishery in Georgia.
ADDRESSES: The permit and related documents are available on the NMFS
Office of Protected Resources website at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-permit-georgia-department-natural-resources-0.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Celeste Stout, phone: (301) 427-8436;
email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) and Federal regulations prohibits the `taking' of a species
listed as endangered or threatened. The ESA defines ``take'' to mean
harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or
collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. NMFS may issue
permits, under limited circumstances to take listed species when the
takes are incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful
activities. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides for authorizing
incidental take of listed species. The regulations for issuing
incidental take permits for threatened and endangered species are
promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307.
Species Covered in This Notice
The following species are included in the conservation plan and
permit application: Atlantic (Acipenser oxyrinchus) and shortnose (A.
brevirostrum) sturgeon.
Background
On August 21, 2023, notice was published in the Federal Register
(88 FR 56804) that a request for a permit for the incidental take of
shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon associated with the otherwise lawful
commercial shad fishery in Georgia had been submitted by GA DNR. No
comments were received during the 30 day public comment period. The
requested permit has been issued under the authority of the ESA of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the regulations governing
the taking, importing, and exporting of endangered and threatened
species (50 CFR parts 222-226).
Permit No. 27551
The permit authorizes take of ESA-listed shortnose and Atlantic
sturgeon that are caught incidental to the Georgia commercial shad
fishery. GA DNR incidental capture will not exceed 60 shortnose
sturgeon per year (no more than 180 in a 3-year period) and 40 Atlantic
sturgeon per year (no more than 120 in a 3-year period) in the Altamaha
River; 5 shortnose sturgeon per year (no more than 15 in a 3-year
period) and 25 Atlantic sturgeon per year (no more than 75 in a 3-year
period) in the Savannah River. No lethal takes were requested by GA DNR
because no mortalities have been observed over the last 10 years.
However, due to the risks posed by capture in set and drift gill nets
in the GA shad fishery, 10 percent of sturgeon that are captured are
expected to be injured and 2.3 percent of both shortnose and Atlantic
sturgeon are expected to suffer mortality. Thus, from the above
authorized take of shortnose sturgeon, no more than 17 of the
interactions may result in injury and no more than 8 mortalities may
occur over the duration of the permit. From the above authorized take
of Atlantic sturgeon, no more than 17 of the interactions may result in
injury and no more than 8 mortalities may occur over the duration of
the permit.
Conservation Plan
Section 10 of the ESA specifies that no permit may be issued unless
an applicant submits an adequate conservation plan. The conservation
plan prepared by GA DNR describes measures designed to minimize and
mitigate the impacts of any incidental take of ESA-listed shortnose
sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon. The State of Georgia has amended its
commercial fishing regulations for the Georgia commercial shad fishery
to minimize the incidental capture of ESA-listed shortnose sturgeon and
the South Atlantic, Carolina, Chesapeake Bay, New York Bight, and Gulf
of Maine Distinct Population Segments (DPS) of Atlantic sturgeon. The
new regulations restrict fishing to the lower portions of the Savannah
and Altamaha Rivers as follows: Waters of the Altamaha River system
open to commercial shad fishing are the Ohoopee River upstream to the
U.S. Hwy. 1 bridge and the Altamaha River downstream of the US Hwy. 1
bridge to the estuarine waters of the sound/beach boundary. Although
they historically were open prior to 2011, all waters upstream of the
U.S. Hwy. 1 bridge are closed to commercial shad fishing. These
upstream waters include a significant portion of the preferred spawning
area and habitat utilized by sturgeon, hence their closure and
protection by the GADNR. Waters of the Savannah River system open to
commercial shad fishing are the Savannah River downstream of the US
Hwy. 301 bridge to the estuarine waters of the sound/beach boundary.
The waters upstream of the US Hwy. 301 bridge are considered to include
a significant portion of the preferred spawning area and habitat
utilized by sturgeon, hence their closure and protection by the GADNR.
The Georgia shad fishery is open from January 1 to as late as April
30 each year, but would typically end March 31. In addition, GA DNR
will implement measures described in the conservation plan that
accompanies the permit to minimize, monitor, and mitigate the
incidental take of ESA-listed sturgeon. The conservation plan includes
continued implementation of Georgia's amended commercial fishing
regulations for the Georgia shad fishery, which are expected to
minimize the bycatch of sturgeon by closing to shad fishing sections of
the rivers that previously had the highest bycatch rates. These
closures would also protect known and suspected sturgeon spawning
sites. Georgia regulations require that sturgeon captured in shad nets
be released unharmed into the waters from which they were taken. GA DNR
is also expected to incidentally capture sturgeon during monitoring of
the shad run. GA DNR will set drift nets in the Altamaha River during
the fishing season to monitor the shad run and approximate the rate of
incidentally captured shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon. This take is
covered in the take authorizations provided above, no mortalities are
anticipated. GA DNR will continue to educate commercial shad fisherman
on identification of sturgeon species; proper handling techniques to
minimize impacts to incidentally captured sturgeon, including the
importance of frequently checking nets and immediately releasing
sturgeon that were incidentally captured; the biological and legal
importance of reporting incidental capture of sturgeon; and the
importance of accurately recording sturgeon intercepts and returning
the trip tickets in a timely manner. GA DNR has also committed to will
insert passive integrated
[[Page 56344]]
transponder (PIT) tags and collect genetic samples from Atlantic
sturgeon incidentally captured during monitoring in order to better
determine what DPSs of Atlantic sturgeon are being captured in the
fishery. The cost associated with the PIT tagging and the genetic
sampling components of the conservation plan will be funded through the
sources identified in the application.
National Environmental Policy Act
Issuing an ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit constitutes a Federal
action requiring NMFS to comply with the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as implemented by 40 CFR parts 1500-
1508 and NOAA Administrative Order 216-6, Environmental Review
Procedures for Implementing the National Policy Act (1999). NMFS has
determined that the activity proposed is categorically excluded from
the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental
impact statement. This action falls within the B3 category--Issuance
of, and amendments to, ``low effect'' Incidental Take Permits and their
supporting ``low effect'' Habitat Conservation Plans under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. Additionally there are no extraordinary
circumstances with the potential for significant environmental effects
that would preclude the issuance of this permit type from being
categorically excluded.
Dated: July 3, 2024.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-15018 Filed 7-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P