Department of Commerce May 11, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO) to incidentally harass marine mammals during survey activities associated with a marine geophysical survey off North Carolina in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.

NMFS has received a request from [Oslash]rsted Wind Power North America, LLC ([Oslash]rsted) and its designees, Garden State Offshore Energy, LLC (Garden State) and Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC (Skipjack), for the re-issuance of a previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of marine mammals incidental to marine site characterization surveys in coastal waters off of Delaware and New Jersey. The project has been delayed and none of the work covered in the initial IHA has been conducted. The scope of the activities and anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers are not changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remains the same as included in the initial IHA. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a second identical IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the initial IHA.

Through this final rule, NMFS establishes fishery management measures for the 2023 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California, and the 2024 salmon seasons opening earlier than May 16, 2024, under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The fishery management measures vary by fishery and by area, and establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (3-200 nautical miles (nm); 5.6-370.4 kilometers (km)) off Washington, Oregon, and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indian, non- Indian commercial, and recreational fisheries. The measures are also intended to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries in order to provide for spawning escapement, comply with applicable law, and to provide fishing opportunity for inside fisheries (fisheries occurring in state waters).

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) announces the termination of the Wood-Based Products Testing Laboratory Accreditation Program (LAP) offered by NVLAP. The Wood-Based Products Testing LAP includes the following areas of testing: chemical, physical, mechanical, fire performance, formaldehyde, and treated-wood characteristics.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan Local Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, and Subsistence Taskforce (LKTKS) meeting will be held on June 22, 2023.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel (EAS) will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (the Federal agencies) invite public comment on the Federal agencies' proposed finding that Michigan has satisfied all conditions the agencies established as part of their 1997 approval of the state's coastal nonpoint pollution control program (coastal nonpoint program). The Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA) directs states and territories with coastal zone management programs previously approved under section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act to develop and implement coastal nonpoint programs, which must be submitted to the Federal agencies for approval. Prior to making such a finding, NOAA and the EPA invite public input on the two Federal agencies' rationale for this proposed finding.