National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration July 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Science Advisory Board (SAB) was established by a Decision Memorandum dated September 25, 1997, and is the only Federal Advisory Committee with responsibility to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere on strategies for research, education, and application of science to operations and information services. SAB activities and advice provide necessary input to ensure that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) science programs are of the highest quality and provide optimal support to resource management. Time and Date: The meeting will be held Wednesday August 22, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Thursday August 23, 2007, from 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. These times and the agenda topics described below are subject to change. Please refer to the web page https:// www.sab.noaa.gov/Meetings/meetings.html for the most up-to-date meeting agenda. Place: The meeting will be held both days at the Mystic Hilton Hotel, 20 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, Connecticut 06355, pending approval of a purchase order. Please check the SAB Web site https:// www.sab.noaa.gov for confirmation of the venue. Status: The meeting will be open to public participation with a 30- minute public comment period on August 22 (check Web site to confirm time). The SAB expects that public statements presented at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously submitted verbal or written statements. In general, each individual or group making a verbal presentation will be limited to a total time of five (5) minutes. Written comments (at least 35 copies) should be received in the SAB Executive Director's Office by August 15, 2007 to provide sufficient time for SAB review. Written comments received by the SAB Executive Director after August 15, 2007, will be distributed to the SAB, but may not be reviewed prior to the meeting date. Seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Matters To Be Considered: The meeting will include the following topics: (1) the Merger of the Ocean Exploration and National Undersea Research Programs; (2) the Results from the Ocean Exploration Advisory Working Group Workshop on Planning the Maiden Voyage of the Okeanos Explorer; (3) Nekton Studies around Bear Seamount; (4) Extended Continental Shelf Exploration; (5) Update on the NOAA Response to the External Review of NOAA's Ecosystem Research and Science Enterprise; (6) Report on the NOAA Response to the National Research Council Decadal Survey; (7) Update on the NOAA Response to the Hurricane Intensity Research Working Group Reports; (8) the Results of the SAB Climate Working Group's Climate Observations and Analysis Program Review; (9) Report on the Recommendations from the Data Archive and Access Requirements Working Group; and (10) Updates from SAB Working Groups on Partnerships, Fire Weather Research, and Social Science.

Notice is hereby given that a request for a permit to conduct scientific research on marine mammals, submitted by Brent Stewart, Ph.D, J.D, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, 2595 Ingraham Street, San Diego, CA 92109, has been denied.

NMFS publishes a notification of fee percentages for cost recovery under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program (Program). This action is intended to provide holders of crab allocations with the fee percentage for the 2007-2008 crab fishing year to calculate the required payment for cost recovery fees due by July 31, 2008.

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce is announcing a thirty day public comment period on the revised Wells (Maine) National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan which will begin on the day this announcement is published. Comments should be sent within the comment period in hard copy or e-mail to Doris Grimm at Doris.Grimm@noaa.gov or NOAA's Estuarine Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in February 1984 pursuant to Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1461. Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), a state must revise its management plan every five years. The reserve has been operating under a management plan approved in 1996. The submission of this plan fulfills this requirement and sets a course for successful implementation of the goals and objectives of the reserve. Since the last management plan, the Wells Reserve acquired two key parcels of land, changed its boundary, constructed needed facilities, and has implemented several system-wide programs. It acquired the 27- acre Alheim property and the 2\1/2\-acre Lord parcel, and changed its boundary to include 359 acres of the watershed areas of the Reserve. The Reserve built the Maine Coastal Ecology Center, new interpretive exhibits, the Alheim Commons dormitory, and the Forest Learning Shelter, and equipped and opened the Coastal Resource Library. This new management plan serves as the primary guidance document for the operation of the Wells Reserve's core and system-wide programs in research and monitoring, education and coastal training, and resource management and stewardship. The plan provides guidance on the acquisition of land to be added to the Reserve and on the construction and renovation of buildings and exhibits that support NERR programs. It also guides the Reserve in important related programs, such as volunteerism and outreach to communities to encourage stewardship of coastal resources in southern Maine. The Wells Reserve is a public/private partnership whose administrative oversight is vested in the Reserve Management Authority (RMA). This independent state agency was established in 1990 to support and promote the interests of the Wells Reserve. The RMA has a Board of Directors composed of representatives having a property, management, or program interest in the Wells Reserve. The RMA members represent the Maine Department of conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Town of Wells, the Laudholm Trust, the Maine State Planning Office, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Notice is hereby given that Permit No. 715-1883 for conduct of research on northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) has been issued to the North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium (NPUMMRC), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.; and Permit Amendment No. 881-1745-02 has been issued to the The Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC), Seward, AK, for conduct of research on Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in captivity at the ASLC.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze management alternatives to be included in an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Spiny Lobster Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and the FMP for the Spiny Lobster Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic. These alternatives will consider measures to implement a minimum import size on spiny lobster. The purpose of this notice of intent is to solicit public comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the DEIS.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Committee, in August, 2007, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pelagic shelf rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2007 total allowable catch (TAC) of pelagic shelf rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

Notice is hereby given that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) is preparing a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) to supplement and/or replace information contained in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS or Sanctuary) management plan review. The SDEIS will analyze revisions to the Sanctuary's proposed action that would, in effect, prohibit the following discharges within the Sanctuary: (1) All sewage from vessels 300 gross registered tons (GRT) or more, including cruise ships and oceangoing ships; and (2) graywater from vessels 300 GRT or more, including from cruise ships, and from oceangoing ships with the capability to hold graywater while within the Sanctuary.

NMFS adjusts the 2007 Winter II commercial scup quota and possession limit. This action complies with Framework Adjustment 3 (Framework 3) to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan, which established a process to allow the rollover of unused commercial scup quota from the Winter I period to the Winter II period.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pelagic shelf rockfish in the West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2007 total allowable catch (TAC) of pelagic shelf rockfish in the West Yakutat District of the GOA.

NMFS is implementing Amendment 14 to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) developed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). The measures of Amendment 14 include a plan to rebuild the scup stock from an overfished condition to the level associated with maximum sustainable yield, as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This action will also allow the regulations concerning the Gear Restricted Areas (GRAs) to be modified through framework adjustments to the FMP. The intended effect of this change is to improve the timing of developing and implementing modifications to the GRAs.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NMFS, (Assistant Administrator) has renewed the affirmative finding for the Government of Mexico under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This affirmative finding will allow yellowfin tuna harvested in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean(ETP) in compliance with the International Dolphin Conservation Program (IDCP) by Mexican-flag purse seine vessels or purse seine vessels operating under Mexican jurisdiction to be imported into the United States. The affirmative finding was based on review of documentary evidence submitted by the Government of Mexico and obtained from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the U.S. Department of State.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Western Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2007 Pacific ocean perch total allowable catch (TAC) in the Western Aleutian District of the BSAI.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publish this notice to announce the availability for public comments of the draft Report for one of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment Products (SAP). This draft Report of SAP 4.6 addresses the following CCSP Topic: ``Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health, Welfare, and Human Systems'' and analyzes the effects of global change, especially the effects of climate variability and change, along with the associated impacts of land use and population dynamics on three broad dimensions of the human condition: human health, human settlements, and human welfare. After consideration of comments received, a revised Report along with the comments received will be published on the CCSP web site.

NMFS announces the date, time, and location for the small coastal shark (SCS) Peer Review Workshop, the final of three stock evaluation workshops for the SCS stock assessment to be conducted in 2007. Any potential changes to existing management measures for SCS will be based, in large part, on the results of this 2007 stock assessment. The workshop is open to the public.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Greenland turbot in the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2007 Greenland turbot total allowable catch (TAC) in the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI.

NMFS announces that the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area (CAI) will close to general category scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2007 scallop fishing year. This action is based on the determination that 216 general category scallop trips into CAI are projected to be taken as of 0001 hr local time, July 15, 2007. This action is being taken to prevent the allocation of general category trips in CAI from being exceeded during the 2007 fishing year, in accordance with the regulations implementing Framework 18 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Notice is hereby given of the intent to fully approve the Guam Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program (coastal nonpoint program) and of the availability of the draft Approval Decisions on conditions for the Guam coastal nonpoint program. Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA), 16 U.S.C. section 1455b, requires States and Territories with coastal zone management programs that have received approval under section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act to develop and implement coastal nonpoint programs. Coastal States and Territories were required to submit their coastal nonpoint programs to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval in July 1995. NOAA and EPA conditionally approved the Guan coastal nonpoint program on October 3, 1997. NOAA and EPA have drafted approval decisions describing how Guam has satisfied the conditions placed on its program and therefore has a fully approved coastal nonpoint program. NOAA and EPA are making the draft decisions for the Guam coastal nonpoint program available for a 30-day public comment period. If comments are received, NOAA and EPA will consider whether such comments are significant enough to affect the decision to fully approve the program. Copies of the draft Approval Decisions can be found on the NOAA Web site at https://coastalmanagement.noaa.gov/czm/6217/findings.html or be obtained upon request from: Allison Castellan, Coastal Programs Division (N/ORM3), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOS, NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, phone (301) 713-3155, x125, e-mail Allison.Castellan@noaa.gov.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in a specified area of the Western Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to limit incidental catch of rougheye rockfish and prevent overfishing of rougheye rockfish in the BSAI.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2007 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch in the West Yakutat District of the GOA.

The New England Fishery Management Council's (Council) Multispecies (Groundfish) Committee will meet to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

NMFS restores 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of unused research set-aside (RSA) to the 2007 black sea bass TAL and 151,235 lb (68.60 mt) of unused RSA to the Loligo squid IOY, and makes corresponding adjustments to the 2007 black sea bass commercial quota, the 2007 black sea bass recreational harvest limit, and the 2007 Loligo squid commercial Trimester II and III quotas. The adjustments are intended to return unallocated RSA quotas to the respective fisheries.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene its SEDAR Selection Committee via Conference Call to select appointees to the SEDAR 16 King Mackerel workshops for recommendation to the Council.